ARC Review: Dirty Dancing at Devil's Leap by Julie Anne Long

Julie Anne Long is a hit or miss author with me, I read one of her contemporary books in the past and didn’t care for it.  I also read one of her historical, “It Started With a Scandal” which I absolutely loved and have read and re-read several times. If anyone is a historical fiction reader, “It Started With a Scandal” is a must read.  “Dirty Dancing at Devil’s Leap” has been on my e-reader for a few weeks now and it wasn’t until I read so many great reviews about it that I started to read it.

The story starts Avalon Harwood.  When the story begins she is at the top of her game.  Thanks to an ingenious idea she has joined Silicon Valley’s top programmers when she invents a virtual game that makes her not only a lot of money, but also very famous.  It is only when she is feeling at her best, at the top of her game, when she happens to walk in on her boyfriend and their intern in the middle of having sex.  Ava is furious, not only is her boyfriend-well hers, but he is also her business partner.  She packs up her bags and heads to her hometown- Hellcat Canyon.

When she returns to Hellcat Canyon Ava reminisces about her childhood and also her childhood love-  Maximilian “Mac” Coltrane.  Max comes from a very wealthy family and when he and Ava were growing up they were from very different backgrounds-him wealthy hers not.  Now because of turn in events, Ava is the wealthy one and Max is living a life very different from the one he grew up accustomed to.  When Max’s childhood home is put up on the market Ava wins it in an auction, she feels like she has finally been able to fulfill her childhood dreams and plans to turn the house around-it has decayed over the years- and sell it. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Ava has very different plans and he wants to buy back his childhood home and get Ava off his property.  Both Ava and Max are worthy opponents and they have plenty of mischief up their sleeves. I’ll just say nudist and smelly fertilizer is involved.

Overall, this was a cute story but it felt very long and drawn out.  The secondary characters seemed more like fillers and I didn’t really gain too much interest in them. Max was a nice hero but there weren’t too many qualities about him that really made him memorable.  One of the reasons that Ava and him had a falling out was because when they were dating Ava heard Max say deeming things about Ava and her financial circumstances.  As he grew up and became more of himself and less of his father, Max was very sorry for the hurtful things he said and did not feel the same anymore.  He spent his adult years become more of himself. Even though I didn’t love this story I do plan to keep reading more books by Julie Ann Long.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: It Started with a Scandal by Julie Anne Long

I started “It Started with a Scandal” by Julie Anne Long almost a year ago. I’ve read Long before and have to confess was not a big fan. I read one contemporary and one historical and neither one really worked for me. When I started “It Started with A Scandal” I left it off because I couldn’t really grasp the heroine and Long’s writing style felt very wordy for me. When “It Started with A Scandal” won the RITA for short historical romance my interest was piqued but I was reading something else and didn’t look for it in my files. One-day last week I stumbled across it and it blew me away. It’s been a while since I’ve woken up earlier than necessary to read and later than I should because I could not put a book down. Yes, I’ve read books I’ve enjoyed but this book was AMAZING. I guess timing is everything sometimes.

The heroine, Elise Fountain. She is a single mother. She was working as a teacher at a school for girls when she was fired because of her past. No work and with a child, Jack, she is forced to look for other means of employment. In comes Lord Philippe Lavay. Philippe is a member of the Bourbon family (aristocratic family in France.) He was a soldier and fought hard but through different circumstances his homes were taken away from his family and now he is living in England. Philippe is a very, very, very complicated man. He has physical and emotional injuries. Because of his very difficult temperament he is not able to keep a housekeeper to run his household; no one is desperate enough for the job. Except Elise.

Elise has the odds stalked against her. Her family abandoned her when they found out she was pregnant. She has no job because of an issue with one of her past pupils. She has a young child that needs her care and finally she just got a job that has been almost impossible to fill because of the very difficult circumstances of Lord Lavay. Fortunate or unfortunate for her, she has to make this job work even if it means turning the entire staff upside down.

I loved Elise. She was strong and very proud. She was determined to learn from her past mistakes but at the same time she didn’t let her past break her. She was a very strong woman. Even when her feelings for Lavay begin to overwhelm her, she is determined not to make the same mistake twice. Lavay was crazy. He was so difficult and infuriating but ultimately he was not match for Elise. He had very difficult choices to make because his sister depended on him. Because of the revolution, many of his family members have died and she is all he has left. This is a responsibility he takes very, very seriously. Long really took her time in developing Elise and Lavay’s relationship. Every conversation, every description was very precise and influential. There were so many beautiful scenes that I found myself highlighting paragraphs throughout the story. The banter between them is hilarious and lyrical. I have to say this is one of my favorite romance stories. I’m so glad that I came back to it and looked at it with fresh eyes. I’m currently in the process of re-reading it because I want to experience the story all over again! Fantastic and very memorable read.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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Feature and Giveaway: It Started with a Scandal by Julie Anne Long

Lord Philippe Lavay once took to the high seas armed with charm as lethal as his sword and a stone-cold conviction: he'll restore his family's fortune and honor, no matter the cost. Victory is at last within reach--when a brutal attack snatches it from his grasp and lands him in Pennyroyal Green.

An afternoon of bliss brings a cascade of consequences for Elise Fountain. Shunned by her family and ousted from a job she loves, survival means a plummet down the social ladder to a position no woman has yet been able to keep: housekeeper to a frighteningly formidable prince.

The bold and gentle Elise sees past his battered body into Philippe's barricaded heart...and her innate sensuality ignites his blood. Now a man who thought he could never love and a woman who thought she would never again trust must fight an incendiary passion that could be the ruin of them both.

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Sealed With a Kiss Event with Julie Anne Long

Julie Anne Long originally set out to be a rock star when she grew up, and she has the guitars and the questionable wardrobe stuffed in the back of her closet t prove it. When playing to indifferent crowds at midnight in dank clubs lost its, ahem, charm, she realized she could incorporate all of the best things about being in a band—namely, drama, passion and men with unruly hair—into novels, while at the same time indulging her love of history and research. So she made the move from guitar to keyboard (the computer variety) and embarked on a considerably more civilized, if not much more peaceful, career as a novelist.

Julie lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with a fat orange cat. (Little known fact: they issue you a cat the minute you become a romance novelist.)

Find Julie at:

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ARC Review: Between the Devil and Ian Eversea by Julie Anne Long

First, I want to say that Ms. Long is a very popular and accomplished author. I have read other work by her before and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, that was not the case with “Between the Devil and Ian Eversea (Pennyroyal Green #9). The story began interestingly enough. Titania "Tansy" Danforth is an American heiress. She is orphaned and travels to England so that her guardian can find her a husband. Ok, so far… Then we meet and get to know the actual heroine. Apparently she is so beautiful men go insane at the sight of her. Helen of Troy has nothing on “Tansy”. Men just become so enamored with her that they take leave of their senses. This I took with an eye-roll… Ok, moving along… We meet our hero- Ian Eversea. Tansy is IMMEDIATELY captivated with Ian. She finds him physically attractive but he doesn’t seem to fall all over himself and become a bumbling idiot like ALL the other men she encounters. (At this point, I’m done with the eye rolls and now taking deep breaths is the hope that I can finish this story).

Because Ian is not interested in Tansy (or he is interested in her just not a blithering fool) She is even more captivated. How can he not fall for her graces? Every other man has…? At this point I start to laugh at the absurdity of these characters and laugh at the nonsensicalness of it ALL. The supporting characters were equally as superficial and just incomprehensible. Genevieve, Ian’s sister, another great beauty. She too could give Helen of Troy a run for her money. Genevieve is shadowed by Tansy. All the attention went to Tansy and not to HER beauty. So this part had me laughing. Genevieve is also a tremendous beauty but not as beautiful. (Apparently only beautiful people make an appearance in this book.) The ugly people just don’t exist.

Ian Eversea kept the story going. He was not the typical English gentleman. He has seen the horrors of war and isn’t the usual type of man. He works with his hands and breaks a sweat. Ian is supposed to be very scandalous, in fact, the most scandalous thing he does is he calls Tansy “Tit-sy”. (That was the extent of his scandal). I actually thought Ian was a great guy, he was just not shallow, which seemed to be the driving force behind many of the characters. Even Olivia and Genevieve are very catty and superficial. Olivia doesn’t like Tansy because… she is a woman? As the story progressed Ian and Tansy get to know each other better and put aside their perceptions about one another. Unfortunately, I never felt a big connection between Ian and Tansy, other than their attraction for each other. The story, overall, repeated itself. Ian doesn’t want to like Tansy, Tansy has a number of admirers, she can’t figure out why Ian isn’t one of them, she counts her success by the amount of flowers she receives. Overall, not my kind of story.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository |

Feature and Giveaway: Between the Devil and Ian Eversea by Julie Anne Long

She might look like an angel...

The moment orphaned American heiress Titania “Tansy” Danforth arrives on English shores she cuts a swath through Sussex, enslaving hearts and stealing beaux. She knows she's destined for a spectacular titled marriage—but the only man who fascinates her couldn't be more infamous...or less interested.

...but it takes a devil to know one...

A hardened veteran of war, inveterate rogue Ian Eversea keeps women enthralled, his heart guarded and his options open: why should he succumb to the shackles of marriage when devastating good looks and Eversea charm make seduction so easy?

...and Heaven has never been hotter.

When Ian is forced to call her on her game, he never dreams the unmasked Tansy—vulnerable, brave, achingly sensual—will tempt him beyond endurance. And fight as he will, this notorious bachelor who stood down enemies on a battlefield might finally surrender his heart...and be brought to his knees by love.

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository |

Attending a Ball...with Julie Anne Long and Giveaway

Attending a Ball on Christmas Eve - Julie Anne Long

Julie Anne Long originally set out to be a rock star when she grew up, and she has the guitars and the questionable wardrobe stuffed in the back of her closet t prove it. When playing to indifferent crowds at midnight in dank clubs lost its, ahem, charm, she realized she could incorporate all of the best things about being in a band—namely, drama, passion and men with unruly hair—into novels, while at the same time indulging her love of history and research. So she made the move from guitar to keyboard (the computer variety) and embarked on a considerably more civilized, if not much more peaceful, career as a novelist.

Julie lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with a fat orange cat. (Little known fact: they issue you a cat the minute you become a romance novelist.)

Place to find Julie:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |

A Romantic Proposal...with Elise Rome and Giveaway

A Romantic Proposal on Christmas Eve - Elise Rome

Elise Rome has never forgiven Margaret Mitchell for making her fall in love with Scarlett and Rhett in Gone with the Wind and then not giving them a happy ending. She likes to think that she makes up for this injustice with each romance novel she writes. When she isn't telling stories about sexy, headstrong heroes and intelligent, independent heroines, Elise stays busy chasing after her two young daughters, semi-attempting to do housework, and hiking in the beautiful foothills of Colorado. She, also, unashamedly, adores her readers.

Places to find Elise:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |