Title:  Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord

Author:  Sarah MacLean

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2010

Number of Pages: 357 pages

Date Read: 4/15/2011

Series: Love By Numbers #2

Publisher: Avon 

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Sex Scenes)

After reading the first book in Sarah MacLean's “Love By Numbers” series, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake I was practically dying to read the sequel “Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord.” Unfortunately, this novel did not seem to capture my attention like Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and I have often found myself trying to finish this book as quickly as I can.

Ever since Nicholas St. John was named “London's Lord to Land” in a ladies' magazine, he has been avoiding all the women in London. However, when the Duke of Leighton told Nick about his missing sister, Nick was glad to take this opportunity to escape! However, when Nick comes to the secretive Townsend Park, home of Minerva House, he finds the daughter of the late wastrel, Lady Isabel Townsend and he realizes that she is no ordinary woman! But will both lovers ever truly love each other once their dark secrets are revealed?

There were a few good things that I did like about this book. I really loved the love scenes and the hero and heroine! Sarah MacLean had done an awesome job at making Nick the all-time, sexy and ever handsome hero! Whew! I just loved how Nick was willing to help out Isabel and the girls of Minerva House with their financial troubles and I just adored Nick for being honest with his feelings about Isabel. But, not only do I love Nick's personality, but his physical appearance is like the body of a god! I loved how Sarah MacLean described his body as being large and muscular, which are two things I love about my romance heroes! Now about Isabel, I loved the fact that Isabel is such a strong heroine and I loved the way that she stood up to any kind of authority that threatened to tear her apart from the girls of Minerva House. But, probably the best part about this novel were the love scenes between Isabel and Nick! I mean, this book is littered with love scenes galore and man, these scenes are hot and sizzling!

Now, here are some reasons why I gave this book a three star rating. For one thing, I often get annoyed with the heroine, Isabel, since she has some major trust issues to work through. I know that Isabel is scared to trust men because of what her father did to her mother and I do understand what she is going through, but still, I think that she could have at least put a little trust in Nick. I also felt sorry for Nick throughout the book because it is evident that he truly does love Isabel, but Isabel always seem to push him away from her no matter what Nick does to earn her love and it got so irritating after awhile. Also, I thought that this book was a little boring at times because the plot seem to slow down in many scenes and there are barely any action scenes in this book, so it was sometimes hard for me to get through this book without a bit of action.

Overall, this book is an average read for me. Even though “Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord” has some really cute scenes between Nick and Isabel, I just wished that Isabel was a little more trusting of Nick and I wished that there were more action scenes to keep my attention to the plot. Even though this is not my favorite book out of the series, I cannot wait to read the third book, Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Title:  When a Texan Gambles

Author:  Jodi Thomas

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2003

Number of Pages:  304 pages

Date Read: 3/11/2011

Series: Wife Lottery #2

Publisher:  Berkley Books

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Some Language and Gun Violence)

I have been currently reading Jodi Thomas's “Wife Lottery” series and after I have just finished the first book of the series, “The Texan's Wager,” which starred Bailee Moore and Carter McKoy, I finally got the chance to read the second book of the series, “When a Texan Gambles.” “When a Texan Gambles” stars Sarah Andrews and Sam Gatlin and boy, do they have wild adventures throughout this book! Expect a whole lot of drama, adventure and romance in this exciting sequel to “The Texan's Wager!”

After Sarah Andrews confessed to the murder of Zeb Whitaker along with her friends Bailee and Lacy, she was auctioned off in a “Wife Lottery” and ends up with a man named Sam Gatlin. Things were not going well for Sarah until she realized that Sam was stabbed in the back with a knife! Now that Sarah has taken care of Sam's wounds, she will soon discover that she is probably married to the most dangerous man the west have ever known!

Wow! I think this had to be the most action-packed story out of the entire “Wife Lottery” series so far! Jodi Thomas has done an awesome job at providing action throughout this novel, which just had me sitting on the edge of my seat every time I read about Sam and Sarah's escapades in escaping from various crooks who are after Sam's neck! What I really loved about this book were the characters themselves and my favorite characters in this book were Sam Gatlin and Sarah Andrews! I will admit that I really adored Sarah's spunk and kindness towards others as she is an innocent yet kind-hearted woman and I loved the way that she is willing to help anyone in their time of need, which includes helping various families reunite with each other. I also loved the little arguments that Sarah has with Sam because they were so cute and they always seem to make up at the end. Now, I am saving the best character for last and that is the sexiest and bravest cowboy to ever walk the planet, Sam Gatlin! Sam Gatlin is probably the most amazing romance heroes ever created because he is one-hundred percent all muscle on the outside and has a huge heart on the inside and that is what I like about my romance heroes! Here's what I think Sam Gatlin might look like:



Now, this book does not just have adventure, it also has hot and sizzling romantic scenes! The sexual moments between Sarah and Sam were just so steamy that I was literally fanning myself every time I read these scenes between Sarah and Sam!

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating is because I often got a little frustrated with Sarah throughout the book because she does not seem to trust Sam enough and she rarely reciprocates her feelings for Sam. Now, I do understand that she is a little reluctant in loving someone again because of her empty relationship with Mitchell, her first husband, but sometimes I think that Sarah tends to go a little overboard with telling off Sam about showing his love for her and also the fact that Sarah keeps telling Sam about the rules of love sort of makes me a little uncomfortable because I always love seeing how love comes naturally to romance heroes and heroines, rather than base it on a set of rules.

Overall, “When a Texan Gambles” is a great sequel to “The Texan's Wager” that romance fans of Jodi Thomas's works will greatly enjoy. I am definitely looking forward to reading the third book in the series “A Texan's Luck” next!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Animals / Humor / Bedtime / Adventure / Perseverance 

Year Published: 2004

Year Read:  2011

Publisher: Greenwillow Books      

I have been reading Kevin Henkes’ works ever since I was a child and every one of his children’s books always featured mice as the main characters. Well, imagine my surprise when I finally found a book by Kevin Henkes that was about a cat! “Kitten’s First Full Moon” is a Caldecott Medal award winning book by Kevin Henkes and it is about a small kitten who tries to grab a bowl of milk in the sky (the moon!) “Kitten’s First Full Moon” is a truly cute book that every child would definitely love for many years!

I was really interested in how well crafted this book was! Kevin Henkes has done an excellent job at writing this story about a small kitten’s attempts to grab a “bowl of milk” in the sky. The writing is extremely simple yet cute at the same time and I loved all the creative ways that Kitten tries to get to the moon, like trying to lick at it, jump towards the moon and chase after the moon. It was also cute in how the kitten mistakes the full moon for being a bowl of milk as it strongly relates to any child’s first experiences with a certain object, like say a child mistakes a piece of chalk for candy and it was this experience that Kitten has that made this book extremely relatable to everyone who had mistaken objects for something else. Kevin Henkes’ illustrations are truly beautiful and adorable as Kevin Henkes draws the Kitten in an extremely cute manner that my heart literally melted whenever I keep seeing an image of the little white kitten! I also loved the background images in the story as they truly looking dazzling, especially the scene where Kitten is running through the fields and you can see flowers and tall grass as she approaches them. The black and white colorings of the images make this book extremely fascinating to look at as it made the images look both dramatic and effective at the same time!


Overall, “Kitten’s First Full Moon” is a truly cute book for children who love reading about cats and experiencing new things in life. I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since the format of this book is simple for smaller children to read.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Math / India / Folktale / Royalty

Year Published: 1997

Year Read:  2011

Publisher: Scholastic Press

I have read many books by world-renowned children’s book author, Demi, but I have not gotten around to reviewing any of Demi’s books yet. “One Grain of Rice” is the first book by Demi that I am reviewing and it is a folktale from India that is about a young woman named Rani who tries to trick the raja of India into giving her more rice than is needed during a famine. “One Grain of Rice” is truly a worthy folktale that will be loads of fun for children!

When Demi stated in the title of this book that this is a clever tale, she was not kidding! Demi has done an excellent job at both illustrating and writing this clever story that is full of pure wit! What really stood out for me in Demi’s writing was how Demi portrayed the main character Rani as a clever and independent heroine of the story as Rani uses her wits and her talented use of mathematics as a way to teach the raja a lesson he will never forget! I also loved the way that Demi uses mathematics as a major plot device in this book as it helps children learn more about mathematics and Demi made this book even more helpful for children by providing a chart at the back of the book about how Rani doubled each number per day, so you do not have to necessarily use a calculator to work out the formula used by Rani, but you can use a calculator if you want to teach your child about how to work out the problems on their own. Demi’s illustrations are extremely beautiful in this book as she uses watercolor painting to illustrate the characters and the landscapes. My favorite images in this book are of Rani herself as she is a truly beautiful looking character as she wears a gorgeous Indian red dress and has flowing black hair that touches her back. I also enjoyed the images of all the animals that were being used when they were delivering the rice to Rani and the image that truly stood out for me was the image of the elephants bring Rani the rice in baskets as the page is folded out and you can see hundreds of elephants waking across the page.

Overall, “One Grain of Rice” is a truly wonderful and clever folktale for children who love folktales from India and want to learn about mathematics in a creative way! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the mathematical approach in this story might be too difficult for smaller children to understand.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre: Dinosaurs / Friendship / Children's / Magic

 
Year Published: 1958

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers

Series: Danny and the Dinosaur #1

"Danny and the Dinosaur" is a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year Award by Syd Hoff and it is about how a young boy named Danny starts playing with a friendly dinosaur who has come to life when in a museum that Danny goes to. "Danny and the Dinosaur" is a true masterpiece for many children who love books about dinosaurs!

Syd Hoff has done an outstanding job at both illustrating and writing this book. Syd Hoff's illustrations are both creative and cute at the same time as the dinosaur that Danny encounters looks extremely friendly and the dinosaur's body would usually take up the pages that he is on and Danny himself is an extremely cute and friendly looking child as he always has a smile on his face when he is around the dinosaur. Also, what made Syd Hoff's illustrations truly creative is that there would be a set of two pages that are mainly in brown, black and white and then the next set of two pages would be in all kinds of color, which is a similar format that Madeline's Rescue had. Syd Hoff makes this story extremely cute and heartwarming at the same time as Danny learns about the true meaning of friendship when he spends much of his day with the dinosaur and enjoys his time spent with the dinosaur. Syd Hoff also made this book highly creative as this was one of the few children's books that I have read where a human child talks to a dinosaur like a human being and Syd Hoff has made the interaction between the dinosaur and Danny so heartwarming as Danny and the Dinosaur act like true best friends.

"Danny and the Dinosaur" is truly one of the greatest books about dinosaurs ever created and it would be a huge hit for children who love dinosaurs and learning the true meaning of friendship. I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book and the writing format of this book is extremely simple for three year olds and up to read.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog