Task the Second:  The Silent Nights:

- Read a book set in one of the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and/or Denmark), where winter nights are long! 

Blame It on the Blizzard by Jennifer Greene

2.5 stars

He'd flunked the course in understanding women, but this particular look was easy to translate. He could continue to ask questions, but not it he wanted to live unscarred.

This story took place in Alaska with a blizzard trapping the hero and heroine together. The whole thing, story and relationship was very abrupt. I felt like they didn't have great chemistry but there were a couple times were I could see a friendship starting to develop. Heroine was a bit sharp and even though hero was sexily competent, his attitude towards women (of course he was burned Once so he must guard against all women Forever) was a little annoying at times.

Deep Freeze by Merline Lovelace

3.3 stars

"Do you…uh…want a kiss?"

In answer, he pulled off his glove and ran his thumb along her lower kip. Once. Twice. His skin was warm on hers, his voice low and husky. "Oh, yeah."

This was my favorite out of the three stories and it took place in Antarctica. The way the author described the scenery and natural incorporating of everyday life with living in Antarctica made it a very cool story; she did an amazing job placing me there. Along with placing me in the location, this story was the best at building a relationship between the hero and heroine but again, because of the shorter page count, I thought the ending and resolving of the issues our couple had was rushed; if 30 or more so pages could have been added, it would have helped immensely. The hero, former U.S. Air Force and current station manager was sex as all get out, the heroine was a no b.s. taker but vulnerable, and there was a glacier "calving". You can't beat this story's coolness!

Melting Point by Cindi Myers

2 stars

"I thought women liked the sexy stubble." He spoke the w in women as a soft v, the sibilant esses a gentle purr.

This story took place in Iceland and the one that met the 12 tasks challenge. The author listed and had our characters visit a lot of cities and landmarks in Iceland but she failed to create the feeling of them, visually and emotionally, that the Antarctica story did for me. The hero and heroine were pretty dry characters and I never felt like I knew them well and consequentially never warmed up to them. The heroine was pretty brusque and the hero felt a bit cardboard until his brother came into the picture. Honestly, I was more invested in the hero and his relationship with his brother than any romantic one with the heroine. But also, Kristjan Gunnarson is our hero's name and the description of his accent and looks shallowly sold me on him at the beginning and I was able to stay decently invested with that alone :)

Y'all, I can find a romance genre book for ANYTHING. I thought the Halloween bingo might be a challenge but I was able to find romance books for the squares I wanted to and that made me drunk with power. For the 12 festival tasks I have set the parameters that it, of course, has to meet the task and be set during the holidays or very least winter time. Now, I know I've only completed one reading task but....

Task the Second:  The Silent Nights:

- Read a book set in one of the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and/or Denmark), where winter nights are long! 

I found a romance story for this! Granted, this is an anthology, but the last story takes place in Iceland over the holidays. I'm going to just go ahead and read the full book, but really, I already had this in my collection! I truly have a romance story for every occasion.

(She says as there are still 9 more tasks to find books for) 

I love a scientist hero or heroine in my Romance. Curiousity is a huge turn on. 

These heroes and heroines want to know how the world works. They study the flora.

Enjoy these Romance Novels featuring Bontanists. My lists are never in any particular order. Too much work... lol 

1. Power of Learning by Viola Grace 

Yavil suffers from an intellectual infection. Her mind absorbs every detail of everything she sees, and she can force understanding on her students when she goes into lecture mode. Her brainstorms have gotten the attention of the Alliance, and after she speaks with one of their representatives from Citadel Morganti, she is on her way to working as an educator to the best and brightest of talents.

Hosh is a first aid instructor assigned to Citadel Morganti, and when he listens to Yavil’s lecture on the local flora and clotting properties of minerals on Tebr, he is filled with complete understanding of the topic. This is a new experience for him, so he signs up for the entire series of lectures, and by the time they are complete, he knows more than just how to grow plants in a vacuum, he knows that Yavil is the group educator that the Sector Guard has been looking for.

2. To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn 

Miss Eloise Bridgerton at eight and twenty - she wasn't looking for someone perfect - just perfect for her! She didn't think herself beautiful, attractive but she was a Bridgerton after all, but most people liked her because she was nice. She was a wonderful correspondent and spent hours writing letters, birthday greetings, get well notes, etc. On the occasion of hearing of her cousins death she sent along a condolence letter to the bereaved husband, Sir Phillip Crane who in response to that note not only replied with a thank you but sent her a pressed flower in remembrance, and, so began a year long `secret' pen pal correspondence.

Sir Phillip, was a quiet man, a botanist - who while not happy - seemed to find some comfort in his work in his greenhouse. He had two children that he needed to find a mother for and knowing that Eloise Bridgerton was a spinster and more than likely homely and unassuming he would send a note along inquiring that they meet to see if they might not `suit'. However, he was in no way prepared to find a beautiful young woman, unescorted, in the early morning standing on his doorstep - a woman with cool gray eyes he could have drowned in! As Eloise charged through the next couple of days, she found that Sir Phillip wasn't exactly perfect - he needed a lot of work - but there was something about him that she would find was perfect for her!

3. Blame It on Chocolate by Jennifer Greene 

Lucy Fitzhenry didn't just wake up one morning and decide to do something stupid…

But when an experimental strain of chocolate that she'd developed needed testing, someone had to do it. Who knew that overindulging in her creation would turn an introverted plant lover into a wild nymphomaniac? Or that a celebration with Nick, her boss, would lead to a shocking kiss…and a whole lot more.

She blamed it on the chocolate. Her new discovery was supposed to have made her career. Not turn her practical, logical, normal life upside down and get her pregnant with her boss's baby! Though she and Nick butted heads at work, if their one night together was any indication, they were a great match in bed. With a little luck (and chocolate!) maybe they could turn their one-night stand into the chance of a lifetime.

4. Rivers of Gold by Tracie Peterson 

Miranda Colton, presumed dead, finds herself under the care of a native Alaskan and a studious botanist from England, Teddy Davenport. Miranda only longs to find her friends and and continue north. She fears that her chances are diminishing with each passing day. Teddy is deeply committed to his research of the unique landscape of the rugged Alaskan frontier. But despite his intentions, Miranda's presence awakens a deep tenderness in his character. As a friendship with Teddy blossoms, Miranda struggles inwardly with her earlier dreams. Then the menacing force from the past threatens to destroy everything she holds dear....

5. Love in a Bottle by Zoe Archer 

It was the most beautiful fungus botanist Sophie Andrews had ever seen. And the man who came with it was a pretty fine specimen, too: tall, handsome and flashing a grin that promised wickedness. Sophie knew the bottle of love potion the roguish peddler tried to push on her was a hoax, but she had no time to argue. One of England’s most vicious criminals had kidnapped her favorite uncle, and something had to be done. 

Ian Blackpool refused to let the stubborn beauty who’d stumbled into his path track down the notorious Dark Dan McGannon alone. It was his duty to help. Surely it had nothing to do with the thrill he felt at her touch. After all, love was merely a specific chemical combination. But when Ian took Sophie in his arms, science went out the window. It was time to abandon bottled love and take a chance on something new—trusting his heart.

6. Bear Claw Bodyguard by Jessica Andersen 

Hot on the trail of a ruthless underground drug ring, homicide detective Jack Williams won't let anything interfere with his hunt. Not the dead-end leads, not the danger. And especially not being pulled off his case to protect Dr. Tori Bay. He can handle guarding a beautiful scientist who plays by her own rules. But keeping her out of his arms is a challenge he hadn't expected. Still, her survival depends on Jack's instincts and he isn't about to jeopardize her safety to indulge an overwhelming attraction. Jack has faced his share of challenges and usually came out on top. This time, though, as a showdown with the enemy quickly approaches, it'll take all his professional skills to ignore some very personal impulses.…

7. The Life of the World to Come by Kage Baker 

From idea to flesh to myth, this is the story of Alec Checkerfield: Seventh Earl of Finsbury, pirate, renegade, hero, anomaly, Mendoza's once and future love.

Mendoza is a Preserver, which means that she's sent back from the twenty-fourth century by Dr. Zeus, Incorporated - the Company - to recover things from the past which would otherwise be lost. She's a botanist, a good one. She's an immortal, indestructible cyborg. And she's a woman in love.

In sixteenth century England, Mendoza fell for a native, a renegade, a tall, dark, not handsome man who radiated determination and sexuality. He died a martyr's death, burned at the stake. In nineteenth century America, Mendoza fell for an eerily identical native, a renegade, a tall, dark, not handsome man who radiated determination and sexuality. When he died, she killed six men to avenge him.

The Company didn't like that - bad for business. But she's immortal and indestructible, so they couldn't hurt her. Instead, they dumped her in the Back Way Back. 

Meanwhile, back in the future, three eccentric geniuses sit in a parlor at Oxford University and play at being the new Inklings, the heirs of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Working for Dr. Zeus, they create heroic stories and give them flesh, myths in blood and DNA to protect the future from the World to Come, the fearsome Silence that will fall on the world in 2355. They create a hero, a tall, dark, not handsome man who radiates determination and sexuality.

"Now," stranded 150,000 years in the past, there are no natives for Mendoza to fall in love with. She tends a garden of maize, and she pines for the man she lost, twice. For Three. Thousand. Years.

Then, one day, out of the sky and out of the future comes a renegade, a timefaring pirate, a tall, dark, not handsome man who radiates determination and sexuality. This is the beginning of the end.

8. The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick 

If Lucinda Bromley doesn’t discover who stole her fern, she could end up being charged with murder. Lucinda frequently used her unusual psychic gift to discern death by poisoning to help the London police, but when a nobleman is poisoned by a compound containing elements of a rare fern, one that can only be found in her conservatory, Lucinda knows she better act quickly. To help her find the real murderer, she hires Caleb Jones, a “psychical investigator.” Believing there is a connection between Lucinda’s fern thief and a deadly dangerous secret society, Caleb agrees to take the case, but he never expected to become so distracted by his new partner in detection or to find himself flummoxed on so many fronts.

9. To Tempt A Rake by Cara Elliott

ate Woodbridge has spent most of her life sailing to exotic ports around the globe, acquiring an expertise in botany, along with a few less ladylike skills. So when a deathbed promise to her parents brings her to London to seek reconciliation with her grandfather, the imperious Duke of Cluyne, she feels like a fish out of water. Her outspoken views and fiery temper tend to set off sparks in Society-especially with the rakish Conte of Como.

A devil-may-care rogue, Marco finds the alluring and mysterious Kate a tempting target for his flirtations. But when murder strikes at the duke's country house party he begins to suspect that she's hiding a dark secret. He has his own clandestine reasons for offering to help her prove her innocence . . . And so begins a journey of dangerous deception that leads from England to the glittering ballrooms of Vienna, where Marco and Kate must duel with a deadly villain . . . and their own explosive attraction.

10. A Howl for a Highlander  by Terry Spear 

Duncan MacNeill is hell-bent on catching the thief who's stolen the clan's fortune and run off to Grand Cayman Island. Duncan has rarely left his homeland and he couldn't care less about an island paradise. He never expected to find a beautiful distraction who will show him just how appealing paradise can be...

Lone wolf and botanist Shelley Campbell headed to the island to study the old growth forests. She didn't count on meeting a handsome Highlander who can't keep his paws off her.

Got any more? Gimme!

To vote for the best of the best, go to my Goodreads list: Green: Botanists in Romance Novels

When a child goes missing, this perfect storm of cramped quarters and freezing temperatures brings old flames and new acquaintances closer together...but will they go separate ways once the sky clears?

HEART OF THE STORM by Shannon Stacey 

Brody Rollins is back in tiny Tucker's Point, Maine, for the first time in five years, and now he can't escape...from former neighbours, old regrets or maddening glimpses of his ex-fiancée.

Good second chance story that has Brody facing up to the mistakes he made in the past. Five years earlier he had snuck out of town one night, just leaving a note for his girlfriend. He had been unable to deal with his fears about the only future he could envision if he stayed, stuck in a dead end job as a fisherman in a town he had grown to hate. So he left, looking for a better life, and hasn't been back since.

However, he can't refuse his sister's request that he come see his newborn nephew. He plans to come into town, stay the night with his sister, then leave the next morning. He doesn't count on the ice storm that traps him there, or the power outages that have them taking refuge in the town elementary school.

Delaney was devastated when Brody left, leaving only a note, and never heard from him again. She has made a good life for herself in the town she loves, even if she hasn't found a new love. When she hears that Brody is visiting, she hopes to avoid seeing him, but as the town's emergency management person, it's her job to run the shelter.

Seeing Brody again brings back all the old hurts. She had hoped that she was over him, but quickly realizes the feelings are still there. She doesn't want his apologies, she just wants to avoid him. Brody really wants her to understand, He's persistent, and it isn't long before they are spending what time they can together. Both of them discover that the old feelings are still there, but so are the same obstacles. Delaney loves the town and its people and has no desire to leave it. I loved seeing her stand up for herself and her wishes. Brody still doesn't want to live there, plus his business is in Connecticut. I loved the heart to heart talk with his father that finally opened Brody's eyes.

There was one thing about the story that bothered me, and that was the missing child that everyone was looking for. No one ever said if she was found. They were looking, and then they weren't. Hopefully that will be resolved in one of the other stories.

SEEING RED by Jennifer Greene 

Stranded at her grandfather's seaside cottage, Whitney Carr prepares to face the blizzard alone. But unexpected help soon arrives-in the form of her secret high-school crush.

Another reunion story of high school sweethearts. Red had broken up with Whitney with no explanation the night of their high school prom. She left for college and has spent little time in Tucker's Point since then, and hasn't seen Red at all. Now she is back, at the request of her mother and sister, to find a "treasure box" in her grandparents' old home. Being an experienced Mainer, she came prepared to weather the predicted storm. What she didn't expect was a visit from local emergency crew member Red. He is equally surprised to see her.

Whitney still has some hurt feelings from their breakup long ago, but she isn't carrying a grudge. She's happy to see Red and enjoys his fleeting visits between his emergency commitments. I enjoyed seeing them get to know each other again. I liked seeing Red help her find the box she was looking for. Red has realized over the years that he made a mistake breaking up with Whitney and is now determined to let her know that he still cares, and why he did what he did. I thought it was pretty sweet that he had mimicked her grandmother in his way of remembering their past. Everything wasn't wrapped up in a neat bow, as they knew there were still decisions to make, but it ended on a happy note.

I was happy to see the problem of the missing child resolved. It was heartbreaking to see the reason she was missing. I liked the sensitivity that Whitney had to her distress and how she was able to help.

LAND'S END by Barbara Dunlop 

Tessa Ambroise is desperate to ditch the charming, infuriating hotelier circling her late aunt's century home like a vulture. But the snow piling up outside the mansion puts both their plans on hold. 

Tessa and her friend had come to Tucker's Point to go through some of the things in her late aunt's castle like home. Tessa is also recovering from ending her engagement to Colton. She can't help still thinking about him, as it is hard to forget a practically perfect man. Her problem had been that she never felt like she could live up to him.

She's surprised to see him show up in Maine. Unknown to her, he had been talking to her brother about buying the house and turn it into another one of his fancy hotels. He also acts like he wants to get back together with her.

I got a bit frustrated with Tessa, because whenever he asked why she ended their engagement, she wouldn't tell him. She kept going on about his "perfectness" without explaining to him how she felt. I was equally frustrated with Colton. Because of issues with his father, he always feels that he has to have complete control of his emotions. Though I did feel that he truly loved her, everything he did for/to/with her always seemed cold and calculated to me. When his friend Rand was finally able to make Colton see that Tessa wanted real emotion from him, I thought that the way he went about it was pretty stupid. I don't understand why he picked those emotions to show and that way to demonstrate it. If I had been Tessa I would have resisted even harder. In the end, they finally understood each other, so I guess that's okay.

Time to do a little traveling! 

Romance Novels Set in Germany and Austria. Click to see the whole list on Goodreads).

Enjoy the Black Forest, Neuschwanstein Castle, The Berlin Wall, Mount Zugspitze, Dresden,  Sanssouci Palace, Hamburg, Munich, Nuremberg Christmas market, Maulbronn Monastery, Mittenwald, The Rhine Valley, Königssee (King's Lake), the Flower Island of Lake Constance and  Cologne Cathedral via this wonderful Romance Novels. 

My lists are never in any particular order. 

1. Song of Seduction Carrie Lofty 

Austria, 1804

Eight years ago, composer Arie De Voss claimed his late mentor's final symphony as his own and became an icon. But fame has a price: fear of discovery now poisons his attempts to compose a redemptive masterpiece. Until a new muse appears, intoxicating and inspiring him...

Mathilda Heidel renounced her own musical gift to marry, seeking a quiet life to escape the shame surrounding her birth. Sudden widowhood finds her tempted by song once more. An unexpected introduction to her idol, Arie De Voss, renews Mathilda's passion for the violin—and ignites a passion for the man himself.

But when lust and lies reach a crescendo, Arie will be forced to choose: love or truth?

 2. Flesh & Bone by Lee Strauss

Singer songwriter Eva Baumann has a celebrity crush on Sebastian Weiss. He's perfect to love because there was no way they could ever be a thing. She's a nobody. He's a heartthrob. Hiding an infatuation is easy for her because, since her accident, hiding is what she did best.

Sebastian Weiss's band climbed the charts, seemingly overnight, and he's finally living the dream. All he has to do is write enough songs to produce a second album. The bad news is he hasn't written a new song in over a year.

Sebastian stumbles into the Blue Note Pub in time to hear Eva Baumann perform a hauntingly beautiful song. Could this girl be the answer to defeating his writer's block?

Eva and Sebastian begin a complicated writing relationship that leads to more. But Sebastian has a secret that will devastate them both.

3. Follow My Lead by Kate Noble

Being the most sought-after bachelor in London can be trying. Jason Cummings, Duke of Rayne, should know. But when he winds up an unwilling escort to the headstrong Winnifred Crane on a trip across Europe, he realizes he'll do anything to keep this independent beauty safe-even if it means marrying her.

4. Dangerous Allies by Renee Ryan

In Nazi Germany, British agent Jack Anderson risks his life working undercover as an SS officer. And his latest mission—to uncover intelligence about a secret Nazi weapon—is his most perilous yet. Especially since he'll have to work with Katarina Kerensky. The famous actress is too dangerous to trust—and too beautiful to ignore.

Desperate to save her mother from the Gestapo, Katia reluctantly agrees to work with the coolly handsome Jack. But can she trust a man whose sense of honor is tangled in a web of lies? In a race against time, Jack and Katia forge an alliance to take down the enemy…and learn whether love can survive in a world gone wrong.

5. Just Breathe by Dee Davis

Former CIA agent Matthew Broussard came to Vienna to catch a killer. But when his only lead is shot dead, he is left without answers and with an injured witness in his arms. The enticing young woman may be his last chance to resolve the tragedy that still haunts his past. He cannot let her out of his sight, even if it means getting close to someone again. 

For aspiring travel writer Chloe Nichols, escorting a tour group of wealthy old ladies through Europe was supposed to be anything but thrilling. Then she is rescued from an assassin's bullet by a stranger on the train—a perfectly handsome, charming stranger who saves her life with a kiss and asks her to pose as his fiancée. Chloe believes Matthew is trying to protect her, until the seductive charade becomes part of a lethal international conspiracy in which no one is what they seem—including her captivating hero…

6. Castle of the Wolf by Sandra Schwab

Celia Fussell's father is dead, and she reduced to the status of a poor relation in the house of her brother, the new baron, and his shrewish wife. A life of misery looms ahead. But, no. There is hope. Deep in the Black Forest, in the Great Duchy of Baden, stands Celia's inheritance. Among fir trees so dark they almost look black The Castle of Wolfenbach rises. It is a fortress of solitude, of secrets, of old wounds and older mysteries. But it is hers. And only one thing stands in her way: its former master, the hermit, the enigma -- the man she is obliged to marry.

7. Awaiting the Moon by Donna Lee Simpson

It is said that werewolves roam the woods around Wolfram Castle--but Elizabeth Stanwycke, newly arrived tutor to the Count's niece, is not a child to be frightened by bedtime stories. Of more pressing concern is her attraction to the mysterious Count.

8. A Bed of Spices by Barbara Samuel

The exquisite Frederica der Esslingen fled from her father's castle to the herbalist's cottage, vowing she could never give in to her father's wishes and marry the man her twin sister loved. Another man, a stranger forbidden to her, touched her very soul. A man who listened when she spoke...a man with a tumble of black curls and clever lips...He understood her bold, searching heart. Yet he was denied her forever.

9. Falconer by Jennifer Greene

Birthday blues triggered Leigh Merrick into making major changes in her life, so she slimmed down, changed her hair and makeup, and took a trip to romantic Austria. There she met Rand Krieger—a man who made her feel like a princess and awakened the emotional, sexual side of Leigh. But Rand was torn between two countries: America, the land of his birth, and Austria, where family obligations tied him to the castle he now called home. He knew his American beauty would soon leave him, but until she did, he was determined to be with the only woman who’d ever stolen his heart. 

10. The Accidental Prince by Michelle Willingham

Princess Serena of Badenstein intends to flee—from her violent father and from the man to whom she's been pledged in a political marriage of convenience.

Karl von Lohenberg is without a country, a title—and a bride if he lets Serena get away. A ruthless man, he takes her to a secluded island, hell-bent on seduction. Only, he discovers a broken woman behind the prim princess facade. The time they spend together mends her spirit and touches his soul, but how will she react when she finds out how he's deceived her?

Did I miss your favorite Germany or Austria Set Romance? Let me know!