Mills and Boon books. They’re the type of book that nobody (well few people) admit to buying, aren’t they?! And yet they sell in their 1000s! I’ve only read one M&B book in my life – and that was only because my son bought it for me from the school fete when he was about 8 because “you like reading, Mummy” – awww!

However, we got chatting on an online forum I use, and what started out as a joke turned into “the Mills & Boon challenge” – we would each pick a different M&B book to read and then report back - and this book was the result! This was free to download onto the Kindle from Amazon – those of us who were quick enough snapped up a freebie, but others had to pay as much as, oooh, £2.12 for their books as they didn’t get in quickly enough! Some poor souls had to get them out of the library, and therefore will have the rest of their lives (or at least, as long as their library keep records for) blighted with this one withdrawal! Needless to say I deleted my browsing history from Amazon and told them not to use this title for recommendations!

So, where to begin?

Well, the story was, as might be expected, predictable

Here are some choice similes for you…

”Her blue eyes glittered as she turned them up to him and Jefferson’s body stirred like a hungry dog on a short leash.”

And

”The overhead lights were harsh and bright and cast unforgiving shadows over his face until he looked like some pirate with danger on his mind.”

And now for some examples of the classy writing!

”I thought perhaps we might end up back here tonight and I wanted to see the look on your face when I took off the sweater.”
“And was it worth it?” he managed to ask.
“Aye, it was.” She reached up, hooked one hand behind his head and threaded her fingers through his hair. “I’ve been wanting you, Jefferson.”
His body jumped into overdrive, his erection painfully pushing against his slacks. “Have you?”

and

His mouth covered hers as she sighed into him, parting her lips eagerly, hungrily. She matched his need and as their tongues twisted and danced together, the flames they built erupted into an inferno.”

and

”Oh, you’ve a smooth tongue on you, Jefferson King.” And her knees wobbled even more as she thought of the many uses that smooth tongue of his could be put to.”

Thank goodness it was a Kindle freebie, eh?!
( )

Sassy Irish lass sekrit bebeh plot = win! ( )

After finishing JoAnn Ross' Castlelough trilogy I was in the mood for another Ireland-set contemporary. Unfortunately this didn't work as well as Ross' series did.

I didn't care for the arrogant way the hero acted, nor the way he expected the heroine to fall in line with his plans. I expected some romance, and instead got a demanding hero, prickly-yet-somewhat-pathetic heroine and an unbelievable HEA. Why she was "in love" with him is beyond me, and his reasons for holding himself back from love were contrived and silly. The only thing I enjoyed about this was the setting. ( )