Harlequin Book Tours Book Review: The Tycoon's Secret Child

THE TYCOON’S SECRET CHILD

By Maureen Child
Buy: Amazon

A Lone Star paternity bombshell, only from USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child!

Texas toy mogul Wes Jackson is on the brink of a billion-dollar breakthrough—until a sinister anonymous tipster reveals Wes is a dad! Suddenly his family-friendly company is in crisis and Wes's sole focus is finding the daughter he never knew. But confronting the child's mother, Isabelle Graystone, means resisting a chemistry that is as fierce as ever.

Wes's failure to commit sent Belle running five years ago. Now he's back, making himself indispensable and stoking Belle's deepest passions. But is his interest in her part of a bigger ploy?

Review: Maureen Child never fails to impress me, even when the plot is very far fetched. Secret babies are my least favorite plot that Harlequin uses but for some reason Maureen makes this work. I think it has to do with the fact that this book focused heavily on Wes and Belle and Caro and their relationship rather than on Wes and Belle having lots of sex. In fact, there really wasn't much sex in this story at all, which is amazing considering this is the Desire line.

There are some things that didn't make sense to me in the modern world, like how Belle got a job and took pay using a phony name. I-9 forms make this a little difficult unless she had fake id made.

I guess that's me overthinking things though, which I'm prone to do.

As to the keeping the baby secret, I was glad that Belle was from a wealthy family to start with because that eliminated the "rich guy using his wealth to force the mother's hand" device that you see in books with this plot.

Belle and Wes were on equal footing. I could understand why Belle didn't tell Wes about her pregnancy. If you were dating someone and they made it pretty clear they weren't in it for the long haul, it would be pretty hard to give out that news, when you could just up and fade into the background.

I liked how Wes owned up to his fatherhood, though I would have liked to have him give the guy from the other toy company, what for, for not letting him give an explanation about the child  he didn't know about.

Speaking of the child. Caro is an adorable little girl. Maureen Child writes great children. Caro is losing her hearing from a bad infection she got as a toddler. I liked how Wes was quick to see what he could do to help his daughter and her condition, as well as the fact that there was no sadness or pity for the child.

This book is part of a new mini-series and the villain aka Maverick is going to play a part in all the stories. I am looking forward to reading the upcoming books to find out who "Maverick" is.

Rating: 4 flowers

Book Tour Book Review: Maid Under The Mistletoe

MAID UNDER THE MISTLETOE

By USA Today bestselling author

Maureen Child

‘Tis the season for a sexy holiday!

Single mom Joy Curran needs this temporary holiday housekeeping job working for a reclusive billionaire. But her sexy, aloof boss pulls at Joy's heartstrings—and her long-denied desires—in unexpected ways…

Sam Henry never got over the loss of his wife and son, and he's shut himself off from happiness, love—and the holidays. But Joy and her sweet daughter bring laughter into his life. And living with his new maid ignites a passion he can't ignore. After one glorious night in Joy's arms, will this beauty be the Christmas miracle that changes the beast forever?

Review: If you read one Christmas romance this year, this is the one you absolutely have to read.

Maureen Child, Hallmark Channel is calling, this book has to be made into a Christmas movie. It absolutely has to!!

I'm not sure how this book ended up in the Desire line, because the heat level is low, but to be perfectly honest, I don't think I would have loved it as much as I did. Joy's daughter Holly is really the star of the show. She's absolutely precious and its really her, that draws Sam out of his cranky anti-social shell that he imposed on himself when tragedy struck him several years prior.

Holly's love of puppies and fairies and her absolutely sweet nature chip away at his shell, which in turn opens his heart to Joy, who is falling hard for him. When they build a fairy house...well, my heart just filled to bursting.

How can you not fall in love with this brooding hero?

There's no arrogance in this man, just a man that's hurting, a lot.

This book gave me faith in romances again, but that's to be expected, because Maureen Child tends to write the best Harlequins. This one is staying on my shelf.

Rating: 5 flowers

MAUREEN CHILD is the author of more than 130 romance novels and novellas that routinely appear on bestseller lists and have won numerous awards, including the National Reader's Choice Award. A seven-time nominee for the prestigious RITA award from Romance Writers of America, one of her books was made into a CBS-TV movie called The Soul Collector. Maureen recently moved from California to the mountains of Utah and is trying to get used to snow.

Book Review: One Night, Two Heirs

Author: Maureen Child
Title: One Night, Two Heirs
Publisher: Harlequin Desire
Publish Date: July 5, 2011
Buy: Amazon
Review Copy Provided By:  Net Galley
Book Blurb: Duty is his world. And upon seeing Sadie Price with twin girls, marine Rick Pruitt realizes he has some proposing to do. He never would have left Royal, Texas, if he'd known Sadie was carrying his babies.

Yet the feisty single mom has no intention of agreeing to a loveless marriage. True, she and Rick share a bond, as well as undeniable passion. But Sadie believes vows should last a lifetime, not be declared out of obligation. Making it Rick's new mission to change her mind….    

Review: Maureen Child is one of my favorite author's for the Desire line. I love her Kings of California series. So when I saw her latest book, I was excited and had to read it. It was a great quick read, but it didn't pack the punch that most of Ms. Child's other offerings have.

The plot is a bit old hat...A one night stand results in a pregnancy and the mother hides it from the father who is a marine on active duty. Really? I always wonder about the women who hide things like this from men who are otherwise honorable. Rick is definitely a guy that do the right thing or at least play an active part in his children's lives. He proves this almost instantly in the story.

Rick is a good guy and Maureen lets us know that. It is a shame Sadie's character isn't as developed or her twins, they felt like props to the story something I'm not used to in Maureen's stories.

The story moves along at a good pace and isn't quite as steamy as some Desire's I've read. It felt more like a Harlequin Romance with some added spice. Still, it was a quick fun afternoon read. Not one of Maureen's best offerings, but still an enjoyable read for someone looking for a romance fix.

Rating: 3 flowers

Book Review: Thirty Day Affair

Author: Maureen Child
Title: Thirty Day Affair
Publisher: Silhouette Desire
Publish Date: March 2007
Rating: 5 Stars
Book Blurb: Hotel Empire Dominant Personality Trait: Always gets what he wants.
When grumpy, rich and gorgeous Nathan Barrister arrives at the Lake Tahoe lodge,
...more Hotel Empire Dominant Personality Trait: Always gets what he wants.
When grumpy, rich and gorgeous Nathan Barrister arrives at the Lake Tahoe lodge, all he can think about is how soon he can leave. His one-month commitment feels like solitary confinement— until a snowstorm traps him with lovely Keira Sanders. Suddenly a thirty-day affair sounds like just the thing to pass the time—if Keira agrees to his no-ties arrangement.

Review: There's a reason why I never hesitate to pick up a book by Maureen Child, her books always have strong characters. This one was no exception. Nathan was the typical alpha male but he wasn't a match for Keira.

Nathan is nothing short of a curmudgeon, but Keira manages to chip away at his defenses, by annoying the hell out of him and throwing his well ordered life into chaos.

Sure the characters are in an unbelievable situation, but you really can't help but loving them, especially Nathan, who is so scheduled in his life that he probably visits the bathroom at designated times.

On the opposite end is Keira, her parents died and she raised her sister, sacrificing her life to make sure her sister had advantages. The good thing is that though you feel a slight woo is me for Keira, she doesn't inspire pity, especially as she's the mayor of Hunter's Landing.

The stuck in a snowstorm scenario may be old, but it works so beautifully here. After all, who would mind being stuck in a snow storm with a hunky millionaire? I know I sure wouldn't mind.

I think Keira is probably one of the best heroines I've seen in the Desire line. I love how she really keeps Nathan in his place, even when he's being his rudest. She doesn't take no for an answer, except when Nathan uses his head instead of his heart, but you'll have to read the book to understand that part.

Maureen Child has definitely created another wonderful story. Desires are all modern day fairy tales and this is one you can really lose yourself in.

Book Review: Marrying For King's Millions

Maureen Child's Kings Of California mini-series for Silhouette Desire is probably one of my favorite mini-series. I was introduced to her books by Harlequin Ambassadors, first with the free ebook Wedding At King's Convenience and then this current book.

Maureen really knows how to write a good, spicy book, without neglecting the plot. Even though its hard to identify with the super rich King family, its easy to fall for Travis King, just as easily as Julie does.

In this story, Travis and Julie have entered into a marriage of convenience. Travis gets a wife for the year so that he can get a distribution deal for the King family wines, and Julie gets paid a tidy sum so that she can open the bakery she's always dreamed of owning.

However things start going wrong from the minute they say "I do" and that's what makes the story so great. Julie's ex shows up with blackmail on the mind, and with a little tidbit of information that causes havoc.

When its discovered that Julie is still married to her first husband Jean-Claude, Travis find it hard to trust Julie, even though he's finding himself passionately attracted to her. But scandal after scandal follows them, threatening his business deal and then Julie ends up pregnant, something Travis wasn't planning for either.

I loved the way the character's interacted. Travis definitely fit the bill as a wealthy celebrity and Julie was properly out of her element as his "Queen."

It was great to watch Travis fall for Julie and the baby, even though he had his doubts about her. You could understand his weariness as a result of each scandal, just as you could understand Julie's frustrations and her inability to control the situation.

Maureen has created a strong cast of characters and a great read that will happily reside on my keeper shelf.

Review: Wedding At King's Convenience

Maureen Child's Wedding At King's Convenience has to be one of the best Silhouette Desires that I've read in a long time.

Maureen wrote all of the characters well, not only just Maura Donohue and Jefferson King, but all their siblings and the townspeople of Craic, Ireland.

This was a book that was hard to stop reading, and that's saying quite a bit as it was the first full length eBook that I've read. So it really kept me staring at the computer screen. I wanted to know what happened next, but most of all, I didn't want the story to end.

In 180 pages I became attached to Maura and Jefferson. I loved the fight scenes because Maura really knew how to give it when she was angry. I also loved Jefferson for the stupid secret that kept them apart. Another thing I liked was that through both characters stubbornness, I found that I didn't want to do either of them bodily harm for it, like some characters. Jefferson was never nasty, maybe a little cunning, but never nasty.

All in all, it was a great read and one I highly recommend to my romance reading friends.

An Author To Rave About

Have you ever read a book and been about halfway through and already you know that this is an author that you'll read no matter what.

Well I'm reading Maureen Child's Wedding At King's Convenience and she's won me over with this one book. I got it as a free download and its really one of the first ebooks I've read.

What I really found impressive about her are the characters. Maura is strong female and not the kind that has hidden wussy traits that come in after a few chapters. Maura wasn't going to let herself be walked on by any man. That's refreshing.

The other thing I found refreshing was the hero who didn't act like a total ass.

But I won't go on anymore about the book. I'll review it when I'm done. What I will tell you is that Maureen Child is an awesome writer and one that you should definitely check out. She's definitely going on my must read everything list.