The Maverick's Greek Island Mistress
Author: Kelly Hunter
UK Title: Taken by the Bad Boy
UK ISBN: 978-0-263-86373-4
UK Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon (Modern Heat)
Copyright: 2008
N. A. Title: The Maverick’s Greek Island Mistress
N. A. ISBN: 978-0-373-12825-9
Published in N. A.: 2009 (Harlequin); 185 pgs.
Series: Harlequin Presents #2825
Sensuality: Warm
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Her: Serena Comino. Serena is on the island to fulfill her obligation to her grandparents by taken her turn at running the family-owned vespa rental stand. Her Greek relations also own a fishing boat, which is being run by her cousin Nico. Serena would rather be pursuing a career in photojournalism. She passes the time, and satisfies her inner shutter-bug, by taking photos to be used in postcards. Her family, even the Australian side, doesn’t understand her desire and considers her photography as a hobby. When she first sees Pete, she views him as someone who would be fun to pass the time with while on the island.
Him: Pete Bennett. Pete was an air-sea search and rescue pilot. One too many “failures” — in situations he had no power to control — have taken a toll. He’s walked away from that life, but he hasn’t made any long-term plans either. He’s in perfect position to sub for a friend, with a broken leg, flying day-trippers to and from the little island. Pete’s attracted to Serena and is willing to be her distraction, but any sort of intimate relationship is hampered by the over-protective friends of Serena’s family. That doesn’t bother Pete too much. He knows a thing or two about over-protective families. After their mother died, Pete and his brothers behave similarly in regards to their baby sister, Hallie.
Taken by the Bad Boy
The relationship progress: Neither of them are looking for a long term relationship when they first meet. Serena is looking for a career and Pete isn’t looking to settle down anytime soon. But, no matter how determined Pete is to keep things casual, he ends up falling for her. He helps her with her search for photojournalism jobs and she helps him deal with his ghosts. Serena also encourages him to return to Australia, and air-sea search and rescue.
The conflict: Just as he’s made the decision to return to his old job, hopefully with Serena at his side, Serena is offered a job in Athens.
What I liked: Pete. He’s a great guy. Good-natured, as he puts up with the crazy locals sabotaging his attempts to be alone with Serena. He supportive of Serena and understands and appreciates her dreams of being a photographer.
What I didn’t like: As it is sometimes the case, the Presents title is a little misleading. It gives the wrong impression about Pete and Serena’s relationship. A more accurate title would have been “The Maverick’s Greek Island Fling”. Pete is not married or in some other serious relationship, and Serena’s is in no way his mistress.
Miscellaneous:
- This is the 3rd book featuring one of the Bennett siblings. Previously, we met Hallie (Wife for a Week) and Tristan (Bedded for Diamonds).
- There will be two more books, featuring Luke Bennett and Jake Bennett, in 2010 (UK release).
- I know I’ve said this before, but Kelly Hunter is still my favorite Presents author. Her books are fun to read.
- There is a secondary romance between Nico and Chloe, the woman who runs the little hotel. Her young nephew Sam, befriends Pete.
- Jake, Luke, and Tristan make an appearance in this book.
Recommended to: Those who wish to try a Presents book, but are leery of over-the-top alpha men, billionaires, etc. Pete’s almost an ordinary guy. And Serena is a strong heroine: she not afraid go after the things she wants.
Favorite Quotes:
“Wedding photographer in Vegas?”
“Only if I’d be working for Elvis.”
“It’s possible.”
– Pete, Serena (looking at jobs for her)
“A British rock god needs a helicopter pilot to keep on retainer.”
“Just shoot me now.”
– Serena, Pete (looking at jobs for him)
Started: 31 August 2009
Finished: 6 September 2009
Rating:
Liked A Lot
Disclaimer: I purchased this book.
forum
What: The Year of Readers 2009
When: 1 January – 31 December 2009
Who: Jodie (Book Gazing)
Rules: The participants of this challenge raise funds for a reading-related charity of their choice. Getting other people to sponsor you — pledge money based on number of books — is strictly voluntary. Due to the nature of the challenge, there are very few restrictions on what counts as a book: for example, graphic novels and poetry anthologies count; newspapers and magazines do not. To read more about the challenge, visit The Year of Readers website.
The charity I chose is First Book.
My personal pledge is $2.00 $3.00 per book. I hope to read 60 books by the end of the year.
I will track my progress on the 2009 Master Reading List.
~~ & ~~
When I realized that I wasn’t going to reach my original goal of 60 books in 2009, I changed my per book dollar amount. I also decided to contribute $1.00 per short story/novella and .50 per book that I did not finish. Below is the breakdown of what I will be sending to First Book:
Completed Books: 36 books x $3.00 = $108.00
DNF: 14 books x .50 = $7.00
SS/Novellas: 3 stories x $1.00 = $3.00
Total: $118.00
Skykeepers
Title: Skykeepers
Author: Jessica Andersen
Copyright: 2009 (Signet); 454 pgs.
ISBN: 978-0-451-22770-6
Series: The Final Prophecy #3
Sensuality: Hot *
Who: Sasha Ledbetter and Michael Stone
Where: New Mexico (primarily)
Skykeepers is the 3rd book in The Final Prophecy series by Jessica Andersen. I would not recommend reading this book without reading the previous books.
In the first book, Nightkeepers, Ms. Andersen introduced the most of the major players and the readers got the opportunity to see a little of their lives just as they were finding out the truth of their heritage. However, one of the characters she did not “introduce” in this manner was Michael Stone. In the first two books, the reader only saw what others thought of him. To his fellow Nightkeepers, he was a pretty boy who liked nice, expensive clothes and probably partied more than he should. I think “shallow as a puddle” was even used in reference to him. He’s a disappointment to his winikin, Tomas, who believes Michael could have done better things with his life than being a tech salesman. Micheal had attended the FBI Academy, but washed out of the program.
The thing is, Micheal wanted to make a difference. He wanted to be an FBI agent, to be one of the good guys, but he has a secret and it is part of the reason he had to wash out of training. Since becoming a fully-fledged Nightkeeper mage, Michael has worked himself to near exhaustion to maintain control of his tainted magic. So far, he’s succeeding. What’s not helping him is the fact he can’t seems to get Sasha Ledbetter out of his head. Ever since her dossier landed on his desk, Micheal has been obsessed with finding her. She was taken prisoner by the Order of Xibalba because they believe she knows where her father hid the Nightkeeper library.
However, they couldn’t be more wrong. Sasha doesn’t believe in the mythical Nightkeepers. She grew up hearing the stories, but Ambrose’s obsession with the mages — his belief that they were real — drove a deep rift between them. She watched him go insane with the conviction. Sasha is Iago’s prisoner for a year, until rescued by the Nightkeepers. However, as far as she’s concerned, all that really happened is that she went from being a “guest” of one group of nut-jobs to another group. Sasha would rather go back to her life as a chef. Instead, she learns that she’s a bonafide Nightkeeper. It’s a lot to take in, and that’s just the beginning. With a missing library to find and a ticking count-down clock, Sasha has very little time to adjust to her new role. The last thing she needs is to get involved with a man who seems on one hand attracted to her and wants her, yet on the other hand is avoiding her and trying to push her away. Naturally, Sasha’s going to be pissed off.
Michael doesn’t want to hurt Sasha; he’s afraid of what might happen if he loses control. He wants to give her time to adjust. But the gods and the Order of Xibalba have their own agendas regarding the pair. Michael tries so hard to do the mature, rational thing — what he feels is the right thing to do — when dealing with Sasha. She’s looking for commitment, having been let down too many times. And as much as he’d like to give her that assurance, he doesn’t think he’ll have a future, and he won’t promise her something he can’t give her. Since this is a romance, Michael eventually finds a way for them to have their HEAWRATTSTW**, by doing things the “newfangled way”.
Unlike it’s predecessors, there is less head hoping in this book. Rabbit and Lucius are the only other “eyes” we see the story from. Rabbit is off at school, along with his girlfriend, Myrinne. As usual, his attempts to do something right, to make up for the mess he made in the past, doesn’t go well — he totally misses the significance of the images he sees, not realizing they point to a specific Nightkeeper, the one who could supposedly help him. I’m still rooting for the guy. Ms. Andersen mentioned that there will be a total of nine books, and I’m guessing that Rabbit and — presumably — Myrinne get their own story. My guess: the last book.
Then there’s Lucius. We don’t see much of him in this book, but he plays a significant part regardless of how little scene time he gets. The poor guy. I said, back when the first book came out, that I thought that Lucius would eventually play a major roll. And I was right. But. . .WOW. I’m looking forward to his book, Demonkeepers, which is due in April.
I continue to enjoy the overall story line and the characters.
* = Though the love scenes are few and not overly long, sex magic is an important part of this group’s culture and therefore a strong motivation for couples to hook up. The whole series should be labeled “Hot”.
** = happily ever after while racing against time to save the world.
Started: 5 August 2009
Finished: 17 August 2009
Favorite Quote:
“Love helps us break the patterns.”
– Rabbit
Rating:
LOVED IT !!
What Others Have Said:
My Thoughts on Nothing Much at All
Night Owl Romance
Joyfully Reviewed
Disclaimer: I purchased this book.
