Romance Book Review: Proof By Seduction by Courtney Milan – 4 Heart Review

proof-final Romance Book Review: Proof By Seduction
By: Courtney Milan
HQN
4 Heart Review

She was his last chance for a future of happiness…

A gifted fortune-teller from a humble background, Jenny can make even the most sophisticated skeptic believe her predictions simply by batting her smoky eyelashes. Until she meets her match in Gareth Carhart, the Marquess of Blakely, a sworn bachelor and scientist.

He just didn't know it yet

Broodingly handsome, Gareth is scandalized to discover his cousin has fallen under the spell of "Madame Esmerelda," and vows to prove Jenny a fraud. But his unexpected attraction to the fiery enchantress defies logic. Jenny disrupts every facet of Gareth's calculated plan—until he can't decide whether to seduce her or ruin her. Now, as they engage in a passionate battle of wills, two lonely souls must choose between everything they know…and the boundless possibilities of love.

First of all, I’m hugely behind in posting this review but didn’t want to not share my thoughts. If you’re like me, you don’t always rush out to buy new authors so maybe you’re still deciding on this one or somehow hadn’t heard about it yet.

This debut book by Courtney Milan was exciting to read since it introduced a wonderful new historical writer that should provide us with many quality romances in the coming years.

One reason I really enjoyed the book, was the intricate way that Courtney developed her hero. For the first fourth of the book, I was engrossed in the story but not really sure this hero could find redemption. It would take a lot for him to become worthy of Jessica. The story unfolded with Blakely slowing growing in this reader's esteem into Gareth – following the same development that Gareth goes through to find himself and the love he feels for Jenny.

The insight Courtney provides into each character's thoughts and actions make for a rich and balanced story that feels ripe with emotion. From Jenny to Gareth and even to Ned and Laura, Courtney provided deep descriptions of their motivations and insecurities.  This made for a very rich story that wrapped me up in the world Courtney created.

I honestly didn’t find anything about this book that struck me as out of place or something I didn’t like. It’s a well-written and plotted book whose characters I grew to love. Maybe that’s what held it back from being a 5 Heart Review for me – I had to grow to love the Hero and that might have made the first part of the book not as engrossing to me as the second half. The hero was prefect before the end of the book, but it was harder to cheer for him in the beginning. I liked the way Gareth develops, but it did keep me from being as drawn into the story at first.

For fans of historical romance, or those who are looking for a great historical to try, I highly recommend Proof By Seduction. There is so much to like about this book, and so little I can say of negatives!

Purchase Proof by Seduction From Amazon Here

Happy Reading!

Guest Post @ Bria Quinlan's Blog - Real Life Job Description

I'm honored to be a guest at Bria Quinlan's blog today! She asked me to do a guest post about my "real life" job description. Based on some of the past guests, I had a tough act to follow. I LOVED Danielle's Bossy Wench post.

So what is my Real Life Job Description? TREASURE HUNTER!

Head on over to the Bria's blog if you want to check it out. :)

New Release Tuesday

Here are some awesome new releases out today. I've included the amazon links so you can read all the info and the back cover blurbs/descriptions without me having to include it all here.

Make sure to check out the link to the latest Samhain releases as well for those of you who love eBooks!

Succubus Shadows (Georgina Kincaid, Book 5)

Succubus Shadows (Georgina Kincaid, Book 5)

Lois Lane Tells All

Lois Lane Tells All


Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, Book 5)

Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, Book 5)


Flirting with Forever

Flirting with Forever

Pure Temptation

Pure Temptation

Touch of Seduction (Hqn)

Touch of Seduction (Hqn)

The Perfect Poison (Arcane Society, Book 6)

The Perfect Poison (Arcane Society, Book 6)


Tempted: Little Miss Innocent?\Annie, Get Your Guy\Messing Around with Max (Hqn)

Tempted: Little Miss Innocent?\Annie, Get Your Guy\Messing Around with Max (Hqn)

Home in Carolina (Sweet Magnolias)

Home in Carolina (Sweet Magnolias)

On Shadow Beach

On Shadow Beach

Happy Reading!

The Triple Threat Giveaway! So, What Is It?

The Triple Threat Giveaway:

Triple Threat 2
Celebrating Twilight, Supernatural, and Vampire Diaries
Join us for the fun, games, and giveaways

Events:
Supernatural Radio Show New Episode Rundown

Scare Me Up Some Supernatural
Read what Authors have to say about one of our favorite TV shows.

Sexy Sunday Contest and Giveaway
Team Edward – Hottest picture of Edward Cullen – Judged by author Veronica Blake

Sunday – Watch New Moon with Us
Terry Kate and the masterminds behind Teens Read and Write share their take on New Moon.  Get your DVD cued up and when we say play you will be joining us and hundreds others as we go through the movie together.

Monday -
Vampire Diaries Discussion at Novel Reaction
Discuss the books that made the show – see where the series is going.  If you are watching the show are you reading the books?

Tuesday -
What Readers have to Say on The Neverending Shelf
Twilight Lovers and Haters share your thoughts -
Twilight Lovers what is the worst part of the Saga
Twilight Haters, what is the best part of the Twilight Saga

Wednesday -
Twisted Fates Cafe

Thursday -
Battle of the Sexies on Backseat Nightmares
Sam vs Dean
Stefen vs Damon
Edward vs Jacob
On what side of the divide do you fall?

Team Jacob on Book Faery
Hear who’s team Tori is on.

Friday -
Giveaway and Discussion on Cheeky Reads
What is it about the Twilight series that appeals/doesn’t appeal to woman? Is it all about the pretty boys or is there more to it than that?

Saturday -
Discussion and Giveaway on Dark of Knight
10 ways to loose Bella – by Jacob Black
Author Tracey Mitchell shares what she thinks were Jacob’s 10 biggest mistakes in his suit for Bella.
Share your ideas and enter to win a copy of Tracey’s new release coming out this May!

Sunday -
Sexy Sunday Contest and Giveaway
Team Jacob – Hottest picture of Jacob Black

You Love Me…You Really Love Me!

Ok, so I know that has been insanely over-used but it’s the best I got today. :) In the past few weeks Cheeky Reads has been shown the love and been given some awesome blog awards.
Huge thanks to Jillian at Random Ramblings for two awards – the Stylish Blogger Award and the Beautiful Blogger Award! Thank you so much.
awards3 Beautiful blog award
You are supposed to pass these awards on to 15 blogs you think are stunning, beautiful, stylish, etc. etc. LOL
Here are 15 blogs I totally envy their design savvy and pass these two awards to:
  1. All Things Urban Fantasy
  2. SciFiGuy
  3. Book Junkie
  4. Book Soulmates
  5. The Bookette
  6. My Overstuffed Bookshelf
  7. The Neverending Shelf
  8. Cindy’s Love of Books
  9. Erotic Romance Reader
  10. Lynette’s Two Cents
  11. The Daily Dose
  12. Fiction Vixen
  13. Seductive Musings
  14. Good Books And Good Wine
  15. Parajunkee’s View 
I’d also like to thank Steph from Paper Cut Reviews for the awesome “Over The Top” blog award!
overthetopawardI’m supposed to answer following questions and then pass this award on to 5 other blogs. So here goes:
  1. The Book Resort
  2. Book Faery
  3. Smexy Books
  4. The Book Vixen
  5. Marissa’s Booklair
These are all fabulous blogs that if you haven’t check out, you should head on over!

Monday Morning Cuteness!

Ever feel like this…

funny pictures of cats with captions see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Are you a fan of SUPERNATURAL?

Awesome blogger Terry Kate from Romance in The Backseat is hosting a radio chat about the show tonight and I wanted to share the details:

Lets Talk about SUPERNATURAL Tonight - radio show with trivia and giveaways tonight!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/terry-kate/2010/03/27/supernatural-new-episode-rundown

Looking For Awesome Book Blogs?

I’m excited that I found this awesome new weekly feature from Crazy-For-Books and I wanted to share it with you. Basically, it’s a list of all kinds of book blogs and what genres they cover so you can easily discover new sites you’ll love.

Head on over and check it out to see if you happen upon a new favorite blog!

Happy Reading!

Author Interview: 10 Questions with Ashley Ladd

crazyinlove_800 I’m excited to introduce Ashley Ladd, the author of Crazy in Love, a new Erotic Short Romance story from Total-E Bound. Ashley was nice enough to sit down and answer a few questions for us and I hope you enjoy the interview!
Make sure to scroll down after the interview to enter to win a copy of Crazy in Love!
Your newest release Crazy in Love features Kacey and Heath, a married couple who seem to have lost that spark. Can you tell us more about how they got to this point and what readers can look forward to in Crazy in Love? Heath is a young, hot shot attorney who's putting all of himself into his job. He loves his wife but is rarely home. When he is home, he's too tired or too busy working from home to pay attention to her. Thus Kacey feels neglected. When he rejects her advances and is annoyed when she tries to talk to him, she begins to think he doesn't love her anymore. She's ready to leave and start over.
When Kacey claims the ghost of her crazy great-grandfather is threatening to kill her, and her friend tells Heath that Kacey thinks he's fallen out of love with her, he finally realizes he has to take drastic measures to keep the woman he loves and save his marriage.
Characters really make a story for me, so I always love to ask authors what three words would you use to describe your hero? Passionate, work-aholic, sexy
What three words best represent your heroine? Genealogy buff, cat-lover, flirty
What was your favorite part of writing Crazy in Love? Any particular scenes or plot twists you couldn't wait to write? (Ok - we understand, no spoilers allowed!) My favorite part was researching the history, getting the dialogue and medical terms right, and creating a crazy ghost.
The ghost of Kacey's great-grandfather plays a central role in Crazy in Love. Where did your inspiration for the character come from? Have you ever been visited by a ghost? No, I've never been visited by a ghost but my younger daughter used to think a ghost visited her at night when she was little. She thought it was the ghost of my mother, but my daughter was only four, so she couldn't really explain why she thought so. I've had other adult friends who think their houses were haunted, too. One of them told me to put a half full glass of water next to my daughter's bedside at night to keep the ghost away.
My family history inspired this story. It's amazing how many fascinating stories are in the pages of genealogy. This is my second story inspired by our family genealogy. The first was in an anthology that is sadly out of print. But that story was a lot of fun to write, too.
You've authored over 40 books. How do you keep it fresh and what are your favorite stories to write? I'm having fun with ghosts and time-travels in particular. I love throwing a character out of his or her time and comfort zone and see how they cope out of their element.
As per keeping stories fresh, I think I'm succeeding. This year for instance, my stories include a vampire on a mission to save her world, Kacey who's being threatened by a crazy ghost, Colleen who gets whisked back in time to the 1970's and gets a second chance to get things right, a cougar story (older woman, younger man), a story that features military issues (I'm ex-Air Force), a genie story (this one's on submission), and one that involves the inner workings or a reality show. Ideas are everywhere. There's another dysfunctional ghost in the reality show story.
AlwaysABridesmaid_w2864_300[1]Speaking of how prolific you are, you also have another new release out titled Always a Bridesmaid. Can you tell us a little more about it? Certainly. AAB as I call it for short, is a contemporary category type romance. Breanna is summoned home to be her sister's maid of honor. Unfortunately, as much as she misses her sister and father, home holds too many painful memories thus she's been avoiding town for the past eight years, or rather, she's been avoiding her ex-fiancé Troy Youngwolf. He broke her heart when he eloped with her best friend and had a child with her. But Troy is now a widower, single father, and the town's sheriff instead of the town's bad boy. As her sister's wedding guests and parties cause trouble in town, Troy keeps showing up to keep peace in the town much to Bree's dismay.
Always A Bridesmaid is available here.  
I love asking authors what they're reading and if they have any new books or authors they would recommend. Any you want to share with us? This year's Christmas present from my hubby, a Cooler e-book reader is filled with books. Also my dresser has a large stack of dead tree books. What I can see from here are books by: Tawny Weber, Cathy McDavid, Trenae Sumter, Holly Jacobs and Merline Lovelace. At least one of the books on my Cooler reader is also by Merline Lovelace. I'm in the middle of Holly's book entitled "Unexpected Gifts".
Obviously, I enjoy reading Merline's books. I also very much enjoy books by Sheryl Woods, Holly Jacobs, Brynn Paulin, Stephen King, and Stephen White.
Where can our readers find you next? I was recently interviewed at Bookworm Nation and Molly Daniel's blog.
Next week starting on March 29th, I'll be guest blogging all week at http://www.novelspot.com/ and I’ll be the featured guest blogger at Long and Short Reviews.
June 2010 I'll be at Lori Foster's Readers & Writers Event in Cincinnati.
Lastly, would you give our readers a little sneak peak excerpt from Crazy in Love? Absolutely! I hope you enjoy it.
Excerpt From: Crazy in Love
A mixture of awe, disbelief, enlightenment, and grief washing over her, Kacey Carlisle poured over her great-great-grandmother’s pension claim records. The ancient handwriting was almost illegible in places yet it was clear—her grandfather, August, hadn’t left his wife and family as the descendants had believed all these years. Her grandmother, Emma, had kicked him out.
Emma had sworn under deposition she’d feared for her life after August had returned home from the Civil War, physically and mentally ill. Other acquaintances had also testified under oath that
August had suffered from crazy spells, that he’d thought spirits were chasing him. Others claimed August believed Emma to have been unfaithful. For sure, he’d been a tortured soul.
Kacey’s head spun so she took another sip of her soda as she tried to make sense of her readings. Clearly, there were two sides. Still, she sympathized with Emma. Her own husband, Heath, while not insane or abusive, had been ignoring her for a long time and so her thoughts had turned more and more to divorce. It broke her heart, but she could no longer deny it. Heath had fallen out of love with her. If she paraded naked before him, he’d only tell her to quit acting silly and stop blocking the TV.
Oh, yeah. She empathized with her ancestor. Men could be real shits. Who needed them?
Her heart cracked a little more. Who was she fooling? She still loved her husband, desperately, madly. Insanely. At least, they didn’t have kids who would get hurt.
Miffed at herself, she chewed her lower lip. So it would seem she was insane, too. Who would hang on when the situation was so hopeless?
Only a crazy person. Maybe she’d inherited Grandpa August’s crazy streak.
”It’s late. Come to bed,” Heath muttered on a growl. Barefoot, he padded through the hall and scowled at her. He scrubbed the heel of his hand over the beginnings of new stubble on his chin. “I’ll lose my job if you keep me awake all night. I won’t be able to function at work tomorrow.”
Thank you for having me over, Sabrina. I really enjoyed chatting with you. Ashley
You can find out more about Ashley and follow her at the following sites:
http://www.ashleyladd.blogspot.com/ http://www.ashleyladd.com/  http://www.elaineannhopper.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/ashleyladd http://twitter.com/elaine_hopper http://www.myspace.com/ashleyladdromancewriter http://www.facebook.com/ashleyladd
Tell us, have you ever been visited by a ghost? If not, who would you want visiting you from the beyond, or would you rather the ghosts leave you alone? Let us know and you could win a copy of Crazy in Love, compliments of Ashley!
Sorry for the late post! Work has been killer and I didn’t get a chance to post this earlier. Here are just a few of this week’s new releases.

Go forth and check them out! Happy Reading!


Rebels and Lovers


The Chief: A Highland Guard Novel (Highland Guard Novels)


No Chance


The Sheen on the Silk: A Novel


Second Chance

Also - check out the newest releases from Samhain Publishing here.