Book Review: Magically Delicious Kisses

Warning: I read this book over a year ago, so the review might not be so detail driven.

Magically Delicious Kisses (Anthology)

Magically Delicious Kisses is an Anthology with three different authors contributing to the book.  All three stories have a theme of food and some kind of magical properties.  The book was published in 2002 and I read it in 2014.  The three authors that contributed to this book are: Jo Goodman, Hannah Howell and Linda Madl.  I believe I purchased this book when I was working at the book store ages ago, and I can quite remember why I picked it up and bought it.  Because out of all of the authors I've only heard of one, but I had never read anything by her.  In all I remember the stories being quick reads, and fun for little brain dusters.

A Basket of Magic by Jo Goodman is about a girl named Abby Winslow who makes bread that is specific for a person.  When she runs into Dylan Kincannon, she's inspired to bake him a special loaf and travels to the isolated place he calls home.  Dylan who is a Yankee, living in the south shortly after the civil war just wants to be alone, but when an avalanche strands her with him sparks fly.

I found that the story had a nice and easy flow, it was quick but had a good amount of back story with action that pulled me in.  Out of the three stories this was the only one set in America where as the other two were set in Great Britain.  You find that Dylan is suffering from what we know not today as PTSD, after serving as a doctor to Union and Confederate soldiers during the civil war.  I loved that the author wasn't afraid to put in history of the characters and found that it was important to understand them.

The Magic Garden by Hannah Howell is a story set in Scotland where Rose Keith comes from a long like of Keith women who is in charge of the family garden, that many believe hold magical properties.  The new Laird Sir Adair Dundas takes a liking to Rose and finds her quirky and interesting.

Out of the two stories, this one had the most humor, which a lot of times in a romance story is refreshing.  The idea of which craft was an interesting take, and the character Rose is being harassed by another women in the village, which during those earlier times is not something you want to be accused of.  But I do have to say the dialogue was kind of hard to read because it was written like a Scottish brogue would sound.  So I found myself slowing down and trying to follow the story when there was dialogue between the characters.

The Orange Tree by Linda Madl is set in England, where Lady Emmalyn travels to the Isle of Sully to get some of Lord Hughes rare oranges.  She believes that they are an aphrodisiac and wants them for her daughters wedding so that she doesn't suffer the same heartbreaking fate that Lady Emmalyn had when she was married.

What stood out to me the most in this story was that the lead female character wasn't a virgin maid.  In a lot of historical romance stories, the female is always a virgin.  So it was nice and refreshing to read where one wasn't.  But if I remember correctly, this story was one of the most boring.

In the end all of the stories were quick and easy reads with a few minor slow downs, like the language.  For the most part I enjoyed the book.  It was neat to that the stories all had a common theme with food and magic.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (this was the rating that I gave it on goodreads.com)

On Deck: Until I catch up on reviews I won't be posting on decks although I am constantly reading.

Bakers Dozen 2013: 13

Crystal Flame by Jayne Ann Krentz

Just like Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz, Crystal Flame is a romantic, futuristic, supernatural, Sci-Fi type novel.  So as I've mentioned before, this book came in a double bound edition with Sweet Starfire so I just ended up reading this one right after I finished with the first book.  Just like the other book, I don't remember as many little details like I have with other books that I have read but I just remember the feeling and emotion of this book.  I remember a little more detail about this book than other one but for some odd reason my amazing memory to remember little details has just failed me.  I might just have to reread this one also.

Anyway, the book is about female trained assassin Kalena and her mission to kill the man that was behind the destruction of her family.  She has to kill him in order to be free of her familial obligations.  She enters into a marriage contract with a man named Ridge but people call him the Fire Whip.  Neither know that they are in danger from the people who are closest to them and that they trust.  Or course even though their marriage is just really a contract, this is important because even though it's not a forever marriage, it is in a sense permission to be physical.

Again this is another one of those books that I ended up falling in love with just because of the impression that it left on me.  This might just be one of those books that I reread instead of guessing the little details that I wished I could remember.  Again even though I can't remember the specifics, I still love this book.

Bakers Dozen 2013: 12

Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz

Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz is a futuristic, supernatural romance novel.  Before I read this book I had only read one of her other books before this and I remember not being all that enthused by it.  But this book was awesome.  Now I have to admit that there is a lot that I don't really remember about this book but it left just one of those feelings and impressions that just makes me love this book so much.  I bought this book in a double set so it also had Crystal Flame with it and I read both back to back.  But I'm not really all that clear whether or not these two stories are tied together tightly.  They both were set into the future and use the same solar system, but other than that I don't remember

The story follows two people Cidra and Teague.  Cidra is from a race of people who have special telepathic skills, that she apparently lack.  She's considered an outsider and is on the mission to discover the secret that will allow her mind to communicate with others.  Teague Severance is a delivery man, the ultimate delivery man in the Stanza Nine System.  As long as the price is right he'll deliver it.  Cidra takes the risk of hiring him to bring her to the rough area with Stanza Nine system.  Even though Teague is certain that Cidra isn't his type they soon find themselves in a passion that flares between them that could put their lives in jeopardy.

Again, the little details aren't floating in my head as much as other books that I have read, but I just remember the emotion and the sense of awe.  The book just left a magical feeling over me that to this day I still remember.  I think I might have to reread this story just so I can relive how much I loved this story.

Book Review: No Mercy

No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon

No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon is another exciting book that ties both Kenyon's Dark-Hunter and Were-Hunter world.  While in all of her books since she has included the three different types of hunters there is usually a mention or involved in one of the books, but this is the first time that two different types were involved romantically.  Again Kenyon brings her love of history, mythology, humor and suspense with a spice of romance into another one of novels.  This is of course a romance novel but Kenyon has through the years kind of underplayed it and had made it more suspenseful.

The story follows two of Kenyon's characters who have either have had a part of have been mentioned in previous books.  These are characters that we were already familiar with and loved.  The two characters are Dev and Samia.  Dev is a were-hunter who is a bear and Samia is a Dark-Hunter.  These two should never mix in a romantic setting but unfortunately it has happened.  Which is a common theme in the Dark-Hunter series by Kenyon.  Dev is a Were-Hunter who is of mix breeding, his father is an Arcadian and mother is a Katagarian.  He is special because he was chosen by the fates to be a Arcadian sentinel.  Which means he is supposed to hunt the Katagarians.  Because of this knowledge Dev has always been weird and different.  Samia is an ancient Amazonian Queen murdered by her own sister, wishing to take her crown.  As she watched her husband and toddler daughter get murdered she vowed revenge selling her soul to the very goddess Artemis that she served in her mortal life.  Like all Dark-Hunters she was given a gift, but her gift is more her curse than anything else.  She can see a persons past just by touching them.  Because of this her sex life had been seriously lacking.  Dev is special to her because when she touches him she gets nothing making him a safe zone.  With the addition to the romance between Dev and Samia, there are up against what is called a super daimon.  Which is a daimon that has adapted to be able to go into the sunlight, which leaves the Dark-Hunters at a large disadvantage because they aren't allowed to go into the sun still.

Again when it comes to Sherrilyn Kenyon it's hard for me to be objective.  But I do have to say, this book wasn't nearly as memorable as some of her other books.  It was still good and I enjoyed reading it, but almost two months after finishing it and finally writing the review, there really isn't a whole lot of parts that sticks out to me.  One of the few parts that I do remember is in all honestly is the tale of Dev and Samia's pasts.  They are both heartbreaking and you definitely feel their pain, Sherrilyn Kenyon is a very good story teller when it comes to expressing painful experiences.

So in the end, I still enjoyed the book, but like I said, it wasn't as exciting as some of Kenyon's other books, but if you're a fan of the Dark-Hunter Saga by Sherrilyn Kenyon this is a definite must to have to read and to have in your collection.

Rating:
3.5 out of 5

On Deck:
Death at Seaworld by David Kirby
The Warrior by Kinley MacGregor
Keeper of the Crystal Spring by Naomi and Deborah Baltuck

So just as a quick note, I was thinking about doing video reviews to go with my written review.  Tell me what you all think.