Showing posts with label Anna James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anna James. Show all posts

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Guilty as Charged by Anna James

My Rating: 4 Stars


Title: Guilty as Charged (Book 1 of the Bradford Sisters Trilogy)

Author: Anna James

Publisher: Sugar and Spice Press
      Cover Art: Cover art designed by the publisher

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Length: 81 Pages






Summary

Passion ignites between Nicole Bradford and Max Paradis the second they lay eyes on each another. Nicole seems to be everything that Max is looking for in a woman. She’s sweet and loving and incredibly sexy. But looks can be deceiving. Hadn’t he learned that the hard way?

Nicole is crazy for Max. He is sensitive, caring and his kisses are to die for. But when secrets from her past are revealed will she be found innocent or is she guilty as charged?


Review

Another entertaining, quick read from Ms. James. This author definitely likes her white collar men and has a nice knack for making them sexy as well. As I mentioned in a review of another book by this author, white collar men usually aren't my thing, but these guys are very deserving of the "sexy" title. Of course, they also seem to be deserving of the "hot headed" and "stubborn" titles as well, but hey, I like a few flaws with my guys. After all, perfect would be boring, right?

After leaving his brother in charge of the very successful company that he built from the ground up, Max Paradis left the country to escape an ex. Now he's returned, angry, jaded and determined not to let another woman close to him. Until he sees Nicole.

Nicole Bradford has been working for Max's brother, Reed, for over a year and is Reed's "right hand man". Talented, charming and loyal, she has the smarts to help build the company up even more. She raised her sisters after the death of her parents and, even though she is attracted to Max, she doesn't have much free time to date.

Meeting under an amusing, yet somewhat appalling (on Max's part), misunderstanding the trouble just snowballs from there. This story is like a comedy of errors from start to finish, with two adults that are used to being independent and who have been burnt by past relationships. The question becomes whether they can set all their preconceived notions aside and give the relationship a real chance. When the past comes back to haunt Nicole, it could be the beginning of the end of everything she has worked for.

Max is a sexy, take charge kind of guy that is capable of helping her if Nicole would only trust him. In Nicole's defense - Max is also the kind of guy that you want just to slap some sense into once in a while but if you can get past his shell, he is also a softhearted, sweet man that will win you over.

The secondary characters are all also very engaging and it will be fun to see more of the other sisters, and the development of the relationship between Nicole's sister, Natalie, and Max's brother, Reed. As I mentioned in a different review, to not only engage you in the story being told, but to also make several other characters intriguing enough to make you want to learn more about them as well, is a very difficult task to accomplish in a novella. This author did an excellent job and I very much look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.


Friday, July 22, 2011

Coming Home by Anna James

My Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

Title: Coming Home

Author: Anna James

Publisher: Mélange Books LLC
      Cover Art: Caroline Andrus

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Length: 135 Pages








Summary

Two years ago, Christine Kincaid found her sister, Andrea, in the arms of her fiancé, James Buchanan. This after Andrea confessed to having an affair with James and being pregnant with his child. Distraught and wanting to escape the pain of James 's betrayal, Christine fled her home, just outside of Washington D.C., to London, England, her birthplace.

As startling details of her parents' tragic romance come to light, Christine now suspects she was deceived by Andrea and is determined to return home and win James back. Only James seems to hate her now. She'd known that it wouldn't be easy. She'd hurt him deeply by leaving. But she believed that somehow he'd forgive her and they would finally be together. Why did he have such a bad opinion of her? And what was she going to do to make him see that he was wrong? 

Review

Ever had a misunderstanding with your significant other that was so huge you thought you would never get past it - that you had to really struggle to overcome? That sums up the gist of Coming Home. A huge misunderstanding, life changing revelations and overcoming major obstacles, with an element of Cinderella in it.

I really enjoyed this story. The author managed to pack a lot into 135 pages and the pacing was perfect. Christine and James come alive on the pages, as do most of the secondary characters. James is a sexy business man and Christine is a determined, independent woman. Both are very stubborn. Ms. James did an excellent job with these characters. Business men are not usually my type. Give me a cowboy over a man in a suit any day. I usually like my men rough and rugged. For me to say that James, as a business man always in suits, is sexy says a lot.

I do wish we could have gotten a bit more of a taste of the evil step-mother. We get to know (and loathe) her quite well through back-story but she only has a brief cameo appearance in the present chain of events. I think seeing her in action would have been a lot of fun. That said, Christine handles herself beautifully in the situation where we finally meet the step-mother and Christine's sister.

The interactions and reactions of the characters among each other is very realistic. I could totally see me or someone I know having the same reactions to things. I did think some things between the parents were rushed a bit. I can't say much more than that without giving something away, so I'll just leave it at that.

The only complaint I could really give about this book would be that the beginning was just a little confusing until you really understand what is going on. It was not enough to make me even think about putting it down though.

Overall, a great read and worth the time and money to invest in this one. There is some mild (but steamy) sex but nothing graphic. This is a great story of true love conquering all without being cheesy. A great first read for this author.