Book 43 of 2008: The Royal Pain by MaryJanice Davidson

Book Description:

Marine biologist Dr. Shel ("Never Sheldon") Rivers has a problem. Some princess expects him to wait on her, hand and dimpled foot. His boss is taken with the royal redhead -- brunette, whatever, it's not like he keeps track of that stuff -- and nobody realizes that he just wants to be left alone in his lab. All alone. All the time. Weekends, holidays -- it's all good.

Now here's Miss Royalpants, insisting that he escort her around the marine institute, explain what he's doing, kiss her until her toes curl -- no, wait, that was his idea. She's not even apologetic about being born into a royal family! Says it's his problem to overcome, not hers. Which leaves him with one option: to kiss her again. And again. And...

So she's nothing like he expected. In fact, Dr. Rivers can see that this fantastic, exasperating woman has problems no princess should ever have to deal with. And he has an idea to help her get some much-needed sleep. Of course, it involves getting very, very tired beforehand, but if she's up to it, then so is he...

In this delightfully madcap sequel to The Royal Treatment, the Baranov family is back and as unpredictable as ever, and a prickly princess and cranky Ph.D. are about to discover that love conquers attitude every time! So she's nothing like he expected. In fact, Dr. Rivers can see that this fantastic, exasperating woman has problems no princess should ever have to deal with. And he has an idea to help her get some much-needed sleep. Of course, it involves getting very, very tired beforehand, but if she's up to it, then so is he… In this delightfully madcap sequel to The Royal Treatment, the Baranov family is back and as unpredictable as ever, and a prickly princess and cranky Ph.D. are about to discover that love conquers attitude every time…

My Opinion:

I'm still debating on whether I liked this one more or less than the prequel, THE ROYAL TREATMENT. I liked different things about each of them. I know that Laura said she liked this one better, but I still think I really liked the first one a lot. This one also seemed to cut off abruptly to me. (unless I'm getting them confused which is quite possible as well as I read this a couple of months ago... LOL!!!)

I am currently in the middle of 3 in this series, THE ROYAL MESS, so hopefully I can get back to it in the near future and complete the trilogy.

Book 39 of 2008: The Royal Treatment by MaryJanice Davidson

Book Description:

Alaskan Royal Family Book 1 - Alaska is an independent country with it's own royal family. The king, who likes to mingle with his subjects incognito, meets Christina, a loudmouth chef who speaks her mind using vividly colorful phrases. The king invites her to the castle; she thinks for a job interview but he sees her as a worthy bride for his crown-prince, David. Can Christina's confident personality carry her through planning a royal wedding and a royal family crisis? See how Christina and David's relationship goes from arranged to blistering in spite of the cold climate!

My Opinion:

I can't believe I am just now getting around to starting on this series. I've had this book for quite some time and now that I've read it I can't believe what I was missing out on. This book was hilarious!!! Since I was going to see MaryJanice at Borders again this past week I had decided I wanted to start in on more of her books and this was the series I started... I think I made a great choice. This is one of her non-paranormal series. It is a contemporary romance, but as with pretty much all MJD books, it's chock full of comedy. I love her snarky/sarcastic sense of humor! She's a riot! I'll definitely be reading the other 2 books in this series very soon!

Book 34 of 2008: Letters to a Secret Lover by Toni Blake

Book Description:

The last thing she needs right now is a man . . .

Lindsey Brooks had it all—an awesome job doling out advice to the lovelorn, a fabulous high-rise apartment, and a to-die-for fiancé. But then she got dumped—wearing nothing but a "Kiss the Cook" apron—and desperate to escape, she retreats to a tiny Montana town to reclaim a family treasure. She never dreamed anyone would try to stop her—or that he'd be sexy as sin.

Too bad she finds such a hot one . . .

Rob Colter isn't into relationships—but Lindsey sees Rob as the perfect guy to help her "get back on the horse." The sex horse, that is. Unfortunately, he comes complete with a mysterious past, which gets even more mysterious when she finds his passionate letters to another woman—whose name happens to be tattooed on his chest.

And too bad he has so many secrets . . .

Now Rob's dangerous past is about to catch up with them both. And if that's not horrible enough, Lindsey is falling for him—hard. For a girl who usually has all the answers, Lindsey is up to her neck in trouble.

My Opinion:

I have to start this off by giving my opinion of the book cover and back cover blurb. I absolutely LOVE the cover!!! The colors are gorgeous and the couple on the front is just extremely sexy! As for the blurb on the back... I was uncertain of what to think of this book. I honestly didn't know how much I was going to enjoy this one. I bought the book though as I've enjoyed other books by Toni Blake so much that I pretty much just pick up her books no matter the storyline. In this case, I'm REALLY glad I was already familiar with her because I would've missed out on a great read if not!

LtaSL has it all... an extremely sweet story line, sweet and steamy sex scenes, comedic breaks, suspense, anticipation, etc... Blake did a fantastic job combining everything into one book and the story is very well-rounded. There was one part in the book that I had pretty much predicted ahead of time, but when it actually came out in the book I was given chills. Blake's writing is powerful and heartfelt. I'm definitely going to be putting some of her other books towards the top of Mt. TBR in the near future.