Bond of Hatred by Lynne Graham

First Published: 12 May 1995
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 189
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Finished Date: 25 November 2011

Blurb from Goodreads
'I will pay the price. I will marry you.'

Alex Terzakis's words took Sarah's breath away - marriage was the last thing on her mind! She'd wanted two things when she'd impulsively flung her proposal at him: revenge for her young sister's death and the chance to raise her sister's baby son.

True, Alex would fight tooth and nail to keep his nephew but, in her anger and grief, Sarah had believed her demand would send him packing - she'd never expected him to accept!

My Rating

My Review

I really enjoyed this book. But yet, I’m very hesitant to give it 5 stars. The beginning was amazing. But the ending? Not so. But for the emotions I experienced throughout the entire book, and for the sheer admiration I had for the heroine, this book definitely deserves 5 stars.

Can I start by raving about how awesome the heroine is? Seriously, you don’t know how long I’ve waited to find this sort of heroine. This is the kind of heroine that I love in books. Sarah is in a word, cool. I love it when she so easily resists Alex and completely doesn’t even find him attractive. Gosh, I absolutely loved it when Alex was stunned that she was the one woman in the world who could resist him. And she didn’t even have to try. It came so naturally to her. Haha I love it when alpha males just get their egos deflated by that one woman who can just so easily resist them! Its really really funny and well, you know, I love it when the guy is shown that he is not the most amazing person in this world and that every single woman ever born will like him.

Ok, now, back to the plot! Basically what happened was that Sarah’s sister, I forgot her name, died in childbirth cos of a weak heart. The father was Alex’s brother, Damien? And he’s a coward. Seriously. I have no idea what her sister saw in him. Sarah blamed Alex and his whole family because she felt that Damien should have done what was right and married her. However, Sarah never knew that Damien was already married. Her sister knew, yet still had an affair. But before she found out, she completely hated that family. Sarah fought tooth and nail for her nephew, Nikos, or rather Nicky. Alex wanted to take that child cos he felt that Nikos should grow up in luxury. Of course, Sarah didn’t want it and came up with what she thought was the perfect plan to get Alex to back off. She told him that if he wanted Nikos, he had to marry her. Unfortunately, as you can guess, her plan backfired. Alex agreed. Albeit extremely reluctant. Gosh, that guy is mean, I’ll say more later! So basically they got married. They realised they were super attracted to each other, or rather Alex helped Sarah realise their attraction. I think you know what comes next. Yes, they fall in love and have a HEA. Like all romances. But the emotions this book brought out in me was really something. I found myself rooting for them and I really could not wait till he admitted he loved her.

Alex is a jerk sometimes. A jerk who has an overly inflated view of himself. Of course, Sarah helps to burst that bubble. I mean, sure Alex is hot and all, make that really really hot! :D But what he said to Sarah on several occasions, just made me want to hit him. Seriously, it was just so mean to her. He just accused her of a lot of stuff, right after they made love for the first time. I mean, gosh, you really want to say all those things, you can wait till the next day right? But no, just because he was afraid of the emotions and thoughts she brought to him, he had to insult her and scold her. Gah. I felt like hitting him sometimes. Seriously. Oh oh oh! She hit him! Once! And caused a bruise:D Oh well, he deserved that one. Later on, he was so freaking cute! It was so obvious he was trying to win her affection and get her to like him. But honestly, he did try too hard. Heh, it was really cute though! I could see that he did like her. As for love, I’m not too sure about that.

I didn’t like a few things about the book. Firstly, I couldn’t really believe their love. As in, I was really rooting for them to fall in love right from the start. But… when they finally confessed and all, I couldn’t feel the sincerity. I mean, I figured that he did love her, but the words he said didn’t really convey that message. As for Sarah, I really could not tell she truly loved him. At least, not the last forever kind of love. How would I say it? I really don’t know how she came to the conclusion that she loved him. Sure, she missed him. But if she was just infatuated with him, wouldn’t she miss him too? Possessiveness, a bit of jealousy, crazy sexual attraction. All these doesn’t scream true love, instead it shouts infatuation. For me, I take true love as a person being really unhappy without the other. Where both parties just need each other. To me, that’s true love. And no, I didn’t see it in her behaviour. A little bit in his, but not enough.

Nevertheless, the emotions I experienced throughout the book was one of the most intense I’ve felt in a while. And just for that, I’ll give this five stars. As much as I feel that the confession of love and the love between the characters could have been better, the rest of the parts covers it!

All in all, I do think that this is a good book to read, and I really did enjoy myself while I was reading the book. I was literally addicted to it, I simply could not take my eyes of the book, even for a second. So yes, I do recommend it to others. And I really don’t think the confession of love and the love between the characters was as bad as I made it sound. Maybe it was just me being overly sensitive!

Ruthless Magnate, Convenient Wife by Lynne Graham

First Published: November 2009
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 192
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Finished Date: 21 November 2011

Blurb from Goodreads

Russian billionaire Sergei Antonovich was famous for being knee-deep in stunning supermodels and aspiring actresses. But not one was suitable bride material. Would he ever grant his aging babushka her dearest wish and present her with a grandchild?
So, why not handle this challenge as business? Without emotion, but with a contract of convenience that would grant Sergei the perfect deal: a wife he'd bed, wed, get pregnant…and then discard…

My Rating

My Review

I really dunno what to say about this book. It had me hooked right from the beginning, but somehow, I just can't say I love it. I really don't have any complaints about this book, but neither do I have anything that particularly stood out to me.

Sergei and Alissa are just two very different people. Sergei is cold, sometimes unfeeling and have that idea that women are all not very good people. Alissa is just the entire opposite. She's friendly, sweet and sometimes quite gullible. Oh, one thing that they have in common is that both of them are really loyal to their family.

Ok, let's get started with the plot. Pace of the book was alright, it didn’t jump forward too quickly and with barely a word to suggest otherwise. It wasn’t long-winded, each part was elaborated just enough. The plot was interesting and I liked seeing how Sergei was so affected by Alissa.

I really liked Alissa. She was really sweet and even though she was tricked by her sister (I hate that girl), she still manages to adapt. As for Sergei, I didn’t really understand him, so I can’t really comment on his character. He’s kinda a little weird. At first, I couldn’t stand him after he described the coat attendant as just a menial servant and was so rude to her. But later, when he was so sweet to Alissa, like buying her chocs frequently, and his actions to her sister, just made me like him.

I want to rant about Alissa’s sister, Alexa. Pardon my language, but that woman is a bi**h. Seriously. Gosh, what woman could even do what she did? She totally lied to her twin sister without even batting an eyelid. What’s best is that she totally did not feel remorseful. I hate her! Ok, this part may be a little bit of a spoiler. Let’s see, so first she convinced Alissa to marry Sergei because she’s pregnant and want to marry some guy called Henry. Guess what? There’s no baby. Another thing, she can’t stand it that Alissa can actually attract Sergei. Hello Alexa? You practically threw her into his path and now you’re unhappy and jealous that she’s the one with him. Wth? Oh, and she tried making a play for Sergei. In front of Alissa and her husband, Henry. Can I point out the fact that Alissa and Sergei were married at that time? Gosh, wth is wrong with her! Why oh why is she such a slut? And a bitch? Pardon my language, I’m really very annoyed with her right now. Haha I was so happy when Sergei just completely ignored her every move for him and was just so nonchalant about it. Gosh, that girl is soooo immature, childish and seriously, a bi**h. Ok, I’m not gonna talk about her anymore.

I know I said earlier that I didn’t have any complaints about the book. But there is one thing I didn’t really like. I felt that the love between Alissa and Sergei wasn’t very prevalent. Sure, they were wildly attracted to each other, neither having felt the same way before. But I couldn’t feel the love. They hardly spent any time talking to each other, instead most of the scenes containing both of them were of them making love. And they may have good sex, but that doesn’t mean they are in love. I just couldn’t feel it. Sure, all the signs were there. Possessiveness, some jealousy, happiness when they were together, but I just didn’t see the love. And that’s the main problem I have with it. Considering that this is supposed to be a romance, I’m pretty disappointed that it didn’t contain those aspects.

But all in all, this was a pretty good book. Yes, I was hooked from the start, but somehow there was just something missing. I think it’s the lack of love that I felt, or rather, didn’t feel. After I finished the book, I had this feeling of dissatisfaction. Oh well, it was still a rather enjoyable read!

P.S. I don't feel that the blurb was a very accurate description of the book! But maybe, that's just me!

One Night with His Wife by Lynne Graham

First Published: January 2000
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 288
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Finished Date: 15 November 2011

Blurb from Goodreads

Can one passionate night mend a marriage? Luc Sarrazan's marriage to Star was hasty and brief. They separated almost immediately and Star disappeared, but Luc never filed for divorce. Eighteen months later, Luc tracks Star down fearing she's involved in a fraud. When he discovers that Star is the mother of TWINS, he feels doubly deceived! Luc demands his price: he will have the fraud charge dropped if Star will spend just one last time in his bed. But he's not prepared for the cost of that fleeting taste of passion - the morning after, he wants more... even to mend their marriage!

My Rating

My Review

I really enjoyed this book. Though there were some parts I really couldn’t stand and at times, I really wanted to strangle the heroine, Star, overall it was a pretty enjoyable read. Besides the hero, Luc is really hot:P That just takes away the entire focus on the heroine!

Alright, let’s get started. Luc and Star are married. But after a few weeks of a disastrous marriage that Luc never wanted, but Star yearned for, she ran away because she was really ashamed of her behaviour, if I read her right. The story takes place about 18 months after she left him. She has his twins, even though he doesn’t know it. When he goes to find her again, he is extremely angry with her, even to the point of hatred, because of a misunderstanding. He thought she cheated someone close to him of all her life savings. And thus, when he went to confront her, he was really pissed. But in spite of all that, he was extremely attracted to her. Hence, he made her the proposition for them to spend one final night together, before getting a divorce and him not pressing charges against her for fraud. So she, being rather weak and seriously in lust with him, agreed. And when I say seriously in lust, it is way more than just seriously. I can’t find the right words to describe it. Let’s just say that in his every little action, she can find some sexual meaning and get super turned on, super quickly. For that reason, I just didn’t like her at first. I felt that she really accepted a lot of s*** he was giving her, without even feeling pissed or even realizing he doesn’t deserve her. Instead, because she’s blinded with love, she just practically accepts everything.

But at last, I really admired her. She found the strength of will to push him away because she realised his intentions towards her was not at all what she wanted. That really made me happy because she finally stood up for herself and not just give in to all her desires all the time.

As for Luc, he is not a very nice guy. Seriously. At every move he makes, he hurts Star. He doesn’t seem to think about her emotions at all, rather coldly logically calculating every move to give him what he wants. In spite of all that, I could really tell he loved her. Like, when she left, he was so depressed and worried. He even sent people to dig up the moat in order to ensure that she didn’t commit suicide. Now that always tells me beyond doubt that the guy loves the girl. Um, I really couldn’t stand how he always hurt her. It was really sad. But I absolutely loved it when he got so jealous of Rory! I won’t say who Rory is, go read the book! Heh, but I think its actually pretty obvious lol!

Um, I enjoyed the book as a whole. A few complaints though. I hated how he confessed to her. It’s like so… Casual. I dunno, I just couldn’t feel the sincerity in it! Sigh, but well, I could tell that he did love her a little, but not the kind of love that lasts forever. I felt that it was more of those possessiveness one would treat with regard to a beloved belonging. There was sexual attraction to be sure, so strong it was crazy. But well, I just couldn’t reconcile all this to love. And as I’m writing this, I cannot help but wonder. Why am I even analyzing their behaviour so much? Its not like they’re real people, right? They’re just fictional characters with fictional feelings! Wait, not fictional feelings as in love doesn’t exist but fictional as in they don’t have feelings. I’ll always believe in love! And omg, did I seriously write that piece of nonsense down? I apologise, I’m just weird this way. Coupled with sleep deprivation, it’s a wonder I even recognize myself.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book. It was a good book, and I loved the dialogues between them. Star isn’t someone who is THAT smart, while Luc is simply a genius. Honestly, I can’t see any similarities between them, but oh well, isn’t that what they say as opposites attract?

This is another of Lynne Graham’s books that I enjoy. Sure, its rather cliché, ok very, with the married people separated then after one night of passion, the guy (why is it always the guy?), decides that they shouldn’t be separated and starts trying to mend the relationship. Haha but I really loved it when Luc took her and the children to that beautiful place. It was really nice! And I love Luc with the children! He’s so sweet to them! Like a total turn-around from his usual self. He’s actually really good with them! Heh, pace of the book was quite good, I loved their quarrels! It was very stimulating and frustrating at the same time! Its like sometimes, I would be screaming at Star for her to not take everything lying down and to at least stand up for herself. I has also hoped that she would be able to resist him, but to no avail. Oh well, that sucks! But I did have fun reading this book!

Again, I apologise for this review. I just can’t seem to write properly. For those that actually read all the way here, I’m kinda sorry for wasting your time, because I really feel that this review didn’t really say anything!