Christmas Awards 2011

Thursday 18 September 2008

Ebony Eyes


Ebony Eyes by Kenra Mei Chailyn


Red Rose Publishing

54 pages

Lea Sharpe can’t take it anymore. Looking at the bruises in the mirror she knows they only way to survive this latest episode of abuse from her boyfriend is to get out fast. Her best friend Morgana takes one look at Lea and tells Lea it is time to pack and leave. Lea knows this will be the only chance she has so she grabs it with both hands and run as fast as she can.

Months later Lea is putting her life back together by starting her own business so that she won’t have to depend on anyone but herself. She has worked hard to make her business work and put the memories behind her. Now she knows she is on the right track.

Morgana introduces Lea to another friend, Shemar Chestnut. The attraction between the two is instantaneous and hot. Shemar takes one look at Lea’s blue eyes and blonde hair and knows he has met someone very special. Now he has to decide if she is worth going against his parents. Shemar has never gone against his parents before and he knows they would never approve of Lea unless he stands up to them.

Lea knows she can find the happiness that has eluded her in the past with Shemar but only if she can overcome her memories and he can overcome his parents. The question becomes will they have the chance they both want?


This is a very sweet short story and will give you the warm fuzzies. This one touches on some dark subjects but still keeps things light.


I give this one 3-1/2 red roses

Saturday 6 September 2008

The Duchess



Rhonda Lee/The Duchess/Eternal Press/ebook/107 pages


The Duchess is bored with her boor of a husband. He treats her as if she were nothing and she is angry when he goes off without telling her where he intends to go. Bored with her life, the Duchess decides to experiment. She taunts a poor farmer into touching her naked body and invites him to bring his wife to court, perhaps with a threesome in mind. However, the next day a handsome peasant name Gabriel arrives asking for an audience. Gabriel is a hunk but even he doesn’t satisfy the Duchess’s whims. She embarks on a series of sexual adventures, learning many new tricks, but what will happen when the Duke returns home?


This is a highly sensual book, almost entirely about sexual encounters. It ended as if a sequel was intended. The story is very definitely not a romance, which is what Red Roses For Authors is all about. However, readers who enjoy erotica will I imagine find this a must. Only for adults! I give the book four red roses but on an erotica site I think it would probably get more. Morna

Mountain's Echo



Mountain’s Echo by Debbie Gould

Red Rose Publishing

ebook / 296 pages


New Mexico present day.

Jake and Scott are doing a job when trouble starts. Scott is injured and asks Jake to call, his sister Maggie. Jake had no intention of talking to Maggie again. After what had happened 10 years earlier he didn’t want to hurt her again. Now he has no choice but to contact her and ask for help. Hopefully she will be willing to do this for her brother.

Maggie never expected the message on her answering machine. The very last person she expected to hear from again was Jake. She knows something is very wrong. When Jake tells Maggie that her brother has been shot and she is his only chance of survival she is sent into a tailspin. She is going to have to learn once again to have Jake around and the emotions that are generated with him being so near. Being a medical assistant in a private clinic, Maggie has access to the medical supplies necessary without having to answer a lot of questions for which she has no answers. Hopefully she will be in time to save her brother.

Arriving in New Mexico she finds Scott in bad shape but it appears she will be able to help. Now she just has to figure out how to deal with her feelings for Jake while her brother recovers. Maggie doesn’t want to give Jake the chance to hurt her again. She thinks she has put the past behind her and has moved on. She is finding out how very wrong she really is.

Jake realizes this is an opportunity to right the wrongs from 10 years ago, a chance he never expected to receive after his treatment of Maggie. He wants to explain to her what happened all those years ago and hopefully make it up to her and get her back in his life. The place she has always belonged. Now he just has to convince her to allow him to explain and hear him out. He is starting to realize that is not going to be as easy as he thought it would be. Jake knows he never stopped loving Maggie and he hopes that she never stopped loving him. The question becomes did he hurt her too badly to be forgiven.

Maggie finally is confronted with the truth about what happened, but she is also discovering what she has always believed isn’t true. The truth is bringing back all the old pain and adding a few twists she never expected to hear or even imagine. She is trying to find her way to forgive both Jake and Scott but is unsure how to go about doing it. Coming to grips with the fact that she will loose the people most important to her if she cannot find it in her heart to forgive them gives her the strength to forgive.

Just when she sees the happiness that she has always wanted within her grasp, trouble comes pounding on their door. Now it is a matter of survival for all of them.


This is a great book. It keeps you on your toes with all the action. The strength of Maggie is very enjoyable to see. It was interesting to see her learn exactly how strong she really is as a person. The way the story flows makes it hard to stop reading.


I give this one 4-1/2 red roses
available from www.redrosepublishing.com

Friday 5 September 2008

A Secret Treasure



Lindsay Townsend/A Secret Treasure/Bookstrand/ebook 102 pages


Eve’s brother David is missing. So when the Governor of Rhodes Island’s henchmen call she is nervous. However, one of them seems genuinely concerned. Both David and her father are outspoken and have made their dislike of Mussolini and his fascists plain – is it possible that David is involved in something dangerous?



Julio Falcone is on holiday in Rhodes. He is an armed policeman and he has been asked to inquire into this case of a missing person. His questions disturb Eve. She is no longer sure if she can trust him. She is determined to find her brother. Her parents won’t tell her anything; annoyed and frustrated, she thinks that Falcone is following her when she goes shopping. Is he following her because he thinks she can lead him to her brother or for a different reason?



When David turns up with only a slight injury, the mystery deepens and things become more dangerous. David has a secret that could get them into big trouble. Can Eve trust Julio?



This is an exciting mystery romance that takes place during troubled times, before the Italians joined the Germans in World War 11. As usual, Townsend carries the reader with her to the finish of this story, which ends with a clever twist. Well worth reading. 4.5 red roses. Linda

Thursday 4 September 2008

A Dangerous Charade


A DANGEROUS CHARADE
ANNE BARBOUR.
Published By ROBERT HALE London.
ISBN 978-0-7090-8465-5.

This Regency Romance is set in Bath, the main character is Miss Alison Fox, who has a dark secret. She is companion to Lady Edith, Aunt to The Earl of Marchford, Alison’s sworn enemy.
Alison, to help a dear friend out of some desperate trouble, takes a false name and uses her very great skill as a card player to win money for her childhood friend Beth. Beth’s husband has stolen money to pay a dept, but the loss of the money had been discovered and he must pay it back or go to prison. Beth was desperate and begged for Alison’s help.


Unfortunately winning the money put Alison in a great deal trouble, with The Earl of Marchford’s family and he has made it known that he would punish the perpetrator, when he eventually found her.


Alison told Lady Edith of her deception and tells her the whole story. Lady Edith has deemed it was not Alison’s fault and feels that Alison should go to Marchford and tell him the real truth, but she is too afraid to face him, knowing that he has been told a very different story, which he believes, so why should he believe her, a perfect stranger?


One day Marchford arrives at his Aunts house in Bath announcing that he has come on a visit merely to spend time with his beloved Aunt. Alison is terrified and longs to run away but cannot let Lady Edith down as she has become very attached to her employer.


Unbeknown to Lady Edith, Marchford has been sent to Bath by his sister on a very different mission. His sister believes Alison Fox to be ingratiating herself into Lady Edith life, so that she will be left a large inheritance from her employer.


At first Alison is terrified that Marchford will unmask her but surprisingly they become attracted to each other. Marchford cannot trust Alison but begins to truly admire her, she is gentle, kind and efficient and his Aunt is very fond of her.


There are many incidents in this engrossing story which try both Alison’s and Marchford's tempers. Can anything possibly develop between them, will he find out it was Alison who won the money from his sister-in-law so causing so much havoc in his family, will he believe the stories spread by his sister-in-law no matter what Alison might tell him?


This is quite an involved story well told and a pleasure to read. I award this book 5 Red Roses. AS

An Improper Suitor



Monica Fairview/An Improper suitor/Robert Hale/hardback/224 £18.99
ISBN 978-0-7090-8620-8


Julia Swifton is living with her grandmother. Her mother died of a broken heart, because Julia’s father deserted her when they were young. Julia has grown up with a dislike of rakes, so when her grandmother says that she must marry within a certain time limit or she will oblige her to marry Lord Thorwynn, a noted rake, she is quite determined that nothing will induce her to do so!


However, after a brush with a most unpleasant character called Captain Neave, who is Thorwynn’s enemy, Julia is pushed into closer contact with him. Discovered in an embarrassing embrace, she expects to be the centre of scandal. Thorwynn is prepared to do the right thing and marry her, but much to their surprise not a word of scandal escapes. What is going on and is there a deeper plot here?


This is a well-paced Regency romance, fun, nicely written and sprinkled with period detail of the right sort. I liked the heroine’s style and the hero was of course delicious. One of the best Regency stories I’ve read for a while. 4.5 red roses. Linda