"Romance Thursday": Blood and Treasure: A Romancing the Pirate Novel by Jennifer Bray-Weber

Genre: Historical Romance, Military. 219 pages

Price:  $0.99 ebook (at time of post)

Publisher & Date: sold by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. May 15, 2011

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating: . 3 

Price I Paid:  $0 (got it FREE on May 30, 2012)

My Rating:  

My Thoughts:  Classic Pirate and Damsel Romance With A Few New Twists.

    So I will admit I grabbed this book solely due to the cover. It screamed classic pirate romance novel and I wanted to read a contemporary story to see how it fairs in comparison to my Grandma's romance novels from the 80's, you know the kind with the shirtless rogues on the covers. What I got was exactly that, there was a few twists thrown in to try and make the story more a novel than just a simple romance book, but it was still a struggle to get through this book. Pirate romances apparently aren't my genre. 

    Captain Zane Fox is the privateer pirate of the sea. He absconds with a tavern wench Miss Lianne Whitney who by chance has in her possession the special Serpent medallion. Zane was hired to retrieve the magical medallion but when he is faced with stealing it or grabbing Lianne and the medallion, he does the later and begins a strange adventure. Lianne is not a simple tavern wench who faints when scared. Instead Lianne is a tough woman from her years of life circumstances that have made her the perfect match for a pirate captain like Zane. Now perhaps the two could find happiness at long last if only enemies like Commodore Bennigton and ex-mates like Sadie Greene would leave them be then maybe a HEA would be on the horizon.

    Overall, after giving the story time I found it okay, definitely not impressed or overly excited about the story. In fact I almost stopped reading after the first couple chapters. The story fluctuates between the perspectives of the main characters and its not shown you're switching character perspectives, so that was a bit off putting. The story itself was just cheesy at too many parts, such as a couple girl fight scenes, one of which literally included a pillow fight. I mean really?! It made me wonder in those scenes if the book was written as a RomCom or for men, because it was just sad, in a pathetic kind of way. Lianne was supposed to be the heroine but she was always talking about how her resolve was broken because of how hot he was or looked. And the "love" scenes were also awkward to read because the words exchange were just, I hate using the same word, but they were cheesy. So no I wouldn't read this book again and will not be grabbing another book that screams classic pirate romance novel. I've leaned I'm not into pirate romances. But hey if you want a pirate romance where a girl wants the man but doesn't yet does and they get it on during a roaring storm, then this book could be right for you, but it wasn't for me. 

"Romance Thursday": Love Waltzes In (Dancing under the Stars, #1) by Alana Albertson

Genre: Romance, Dance, Military. 250 pages

Price: $2.99 ebook, $9.67 paperback (at time of post)

Publisher & Date: Bolero Books, LLC. November 30. 2013

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating:  . 2

Price I Paid: Zip,**I received a free copy in return for an honest review**

My Rating: 

My Thoughts: Dance with Romance

        Simply put this book is about two people trying to reconnect after time, misunderstandings, rash decisions, career choices, money and people getting in the way of their possible HEA. So if you love romance with dancing involved this will be a book you may want to check out.

        Bret Lord was a competitive ballroom dancer and partner to his childhood sweetheart Selena Marcil. Bret never saw dancing as his life but sought to provide for Selena and hoped to make a life for them by enlisting in the Marines to become more of a man. However, while Bret worked through boot camp Selena decided to strive for fame and more in the dancing world, which was all she had been pushed for by others in her life and what she wanted and dreamed of, or so she believed. Meanless to say, communication between them was finished until 10 yrs later when Selena is at the top of her career and is still trying to chase just one more title , while Bret is a Staff Sergeant in the Marines. They are brought together when Bret is given a chance to dance on the tv show Dancing Under the Stars, where Selena is professional regular. Bret signs up for the show to raise money for a fallen Marine's family, but it's Selena and his relationship that will raise the stakes, past and his hopes in the future amidst the tv season.

        Overall the book was good and I loved the beginning and potential relationship Bret and Selena had with each other. However their relationship to me was just a bit jumpy towards the end.  One minute it's they are never getting together then it's them saying I love you's after they get together, but then things go wrong, some time passes and then lightbulb somehow it's all good again. Seriously I was just a tad confused about their relationship. I mean, I loved the drama and the messes involving the cast on the show, I even liked the dual perspective, but I was literally left asking "Wait? What! When did they get back together?!" I just wanted their relationship to flow a bit more smoothly, though did like the finale. But like I've said the book was a good read, it was a nice book to read especially if you are a fan of ballroom or Dancing with the Stars this book will be a good fit for you. Oh and big plus to this author who totally knows SoCal. Love the mention of In-N-Out, gotta plug for that great burger place.