Julie Elizabeth LetoCritiques

This book was enjoyable but slow and lacked conflict. I guess since this is based on a real romance the pacing is in line with the real world and not what is normal in a typical romance novel. The book took place over 2 years. The hero and the heroine had some conflicts to overcome so it wasn't all roses. But a typical novel would have focused on just one or two of them and ratcheted up the drama. The Tourette's for example would have played a much larger part in the story with perhaps a scene or so of him hiding it and then having an incident where he actually did almost hurt her. I'm glad that Michael in real life is doing well but it doesn't make for very riveting reading, although I learned something about the disease.

The characters were very nice but because the book was based on real life I was continually wondering if I would really like them in person which I don't normally have to do while reading a romance. They both seemed sweet and with it and heading towards their dreams. I was also glad that the love scenes were not really hot because, as I told my sister, I didn't want to feel like a voyeur.

The writing style was okay but the book did seem more told than shown. And of course it was fairly meandering. Maybe they should be in the regular fiction section instead of the romance section.


I guess finally it comes down to I don't really want to read about real life. My husband and I had an interesting somewhat rocky road to matrimony ourselves and I like to tell others about it but I'm not sure that anyone but ourselves would really like to spend 4 hours reading about it, and I'm pretty sure he would only read it to humor me :-)

Dirty Little Secrets begins the Marisela Morales Adventure Series. What a fantastic book! Marisela will be near the top of my lists of favorite heroines. Her and Frankie burn the pages up. The storyline was awesome. Can't wait for Dirty Little Lies.!

Marisela and Frankie are back (they first showed up in [b:Dirty Little Secrets|38924|Dirty Little Secrets|Julie Leto|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169224202s/38924.jpg|38652]) and they're hotter than ever. Awesome romantic suspense.

Seducing the Bad Boy (Kiss & Tell Contemporary Romance Book 1) by Julie Leto is a 2017 Bookgoddess LLC publication.

A marvelously sensual and entertaining romance!

This might be one of the best, high heat, contemporary romance novels I’ve read in a while. I was hooked right from the start, hypnotized by the sizzling chemistry between Jack and Angela.

Everyone knows I’m a sucker for a second chance romance, so I had a feeling I was going to like this one, no matter what. But, this story had me completely absorbed from the first page to the last.

Angela and Jack were an item back in high school, but on prom night, just when Angela was prepared to take the relationship to the next level, Jack picked a petty fight with her, resulting in a spectacular, heart wrenching breakup.

Ten years later, Angela still can't get Jack out of her head. There are very good reasons why he is constantly in the forefront of her mind, but with their tenth high school reunion on the horizon, Angela decides to finally get Jack out of her system, once and for all. How? By seducing the bad boy, of course.

Jack spent the last ten years as a professional photographer hobnobbing with models, enjoying high profile relationships, and the perks that go along with that. But, after a bitter breakup, Jack decides to take stock of his life. When he is invited to his ten -year high school reunion by the sweet and innocent Angela, he can’t resist.

But, when the couple finally stands face to face after all these years, it would seem their roles have been reversed. Angela has turned into a sensual seducer, looking for a white- hot weekend fling, while Jack seems to, for the first time, feels an emotional connection beyond physical pleasure… not that he’s about to turn down physical pleasure, mind you.

However, Angela has more than one reason to push back on Jack’s relationship plans. She has a giant secret- one that could change the course of both their lives forever, if it ever came to light…

I loved this set up!! Jack is the quintessential player, reveling in his bad boy image and taking full advantage of it. He doesn’t look back and has no regrets. But, that lifestyle comes at a heavy cost and sooner or later, the piper comes calling.

But, Angela really throws him a curve ball when she turns the tables on his bad boy ways!

This book was delicious fun! The characters are conflicted and flawed, but are very engaging and it was so much fun watching them develop and fall in love.

The banter is sexy, sharp and witty, and I really liked and respected Angela's big heart, fierce loyalty, and take no prisoners personality. But- ladies beware: Jack Sullivan is toe-curling hot and more than a little dangerous, and had me eating out the palm of his hand!! *Sigh*

If you love super sexy, steamy romance with just the right touch of heartwarming emotion, look no further.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

5 stars!

Note: This book was originally published in 1998 under the title ‘Seducing Sullivan’. However, this is an updated version, and is not the exact same story simply re-released in digital format, with a new cover. This new release is an entirely updated version, so even if you read the original, you’ll want to give this new edition a try.

That's it, I give up. I realize I am never gonna finish this book. It was a bore and a chore to read. The book follows several different people with the main heroine being Alexa. Normally I don't mind following different characters but it should add interest not bore me to death. Whatever is happening in a scene with a character sounds like it should be interesting but it just was not. There was no rush of intense feeling or just plain interest in what's going on for me. Sometimes characters would pop up without an explanation of who they are and what's really going on in their current scene. Yeah I can tell they will have a lot to do with what takes place eventually but their boring and i'm impatient to find out what drives them. There was something about the protagonist Alexa that I didn't connect with that I couldn't put my finger on until the last page I read. I think Alexa was suppose to be portrayed as a genuine, responsible workaholic but instead, I got arrogance. Being in her head eventually got really annoying. She sees herself as the savior and the victim, the only one keeping everything from falling apart. Even when she thinks of Damon it's more like he's going to be a good investment and if he want's anything from her then he's just using her. Damon has been stuck in the same place for three centuries and he has all the right to want to be free. I was interested in unraveling the plot at the end but not enough to force myself to finish. Too many annoying things about this book is tumbling over in my head so I digress.

Lilith St. Lyon is a witch who has been stripped of her powers after using them for personal gain. She used her psychic and mind reading skills to get into the mind of Detective Mac Mancusi so she could become his perfect woman. When Mac realized her psychic abilities were real, he felt manipulated and broke up with her. Now the police, and Mac, are calling Lilith for her help with her psychic skills on a case they are working on. Lilith decides to help even though her powers are now gone, in the hopes that she might still be of some help, and maybe she can even win Mac back in the process by just being a regular girl.

This was such a fun story. Cute and sexy, combined with a touch of magic. I really liked Lilith and Mac a lot, and they had terrific chemistry. The story is set in Chicago, and along with the romance, the storyline involving the investigation/murder was really entertaining, too. Secondary characters Josie, Lilith's friend, and Rick, Mac's friend and fellow worker, made a cute pair and seemed to be starting up a romance of their own (to be followed up in Julie Leto's book Something Wicked). A very engaging read.

Fantastic collection filled with some amazingly sizzling hot romances. I haven't had a chance to read all of them but the ones I have made this worth the price! I highly recommend this set.

Ok I picked up this book because it had a story by [a:Vicki Lewis Thompson|78305|Vicki Lewis Thompson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1234253979p2/78305.jpg] and I love her work, however I just discovered this has a lot to do with reality TV which I abhor! I'm hoping the stories will be good enough to get me past that though.

Surviving Sarah - [a:Vicki Lewis Thompson|78305|Vicki Lewis Thompson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1234253979p2/78305.jpg] - 4 Stars - I can always count on a VLT book to be entertaining and leave me with a goofy smile.

The Great Chase - [a:Julie Elizabeth Leto|295|Julie Elizabeth Leto|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] - 2 Stars - While I really liked Sam and Charlie I found the overall story to be long and drawn out way more that it needed to be.

The Last Virgin - [a:Jennifer LaBrecque|78304|Jennifer LaBrecque|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1235903534p2/78304.jpg] - 2 Stars - I will admit I probably didn't give this the kind of chance it deserved but I just can not get into it. I didn't bond with the characters the love scenes were clich’Ã¥ and the premise of the reality show bugged me. I probably read about 12 pages and gave up.

This book took perseverance. SOOOO many pages, but also some excellent stories.


Wild Thing - [a:Julie Kenner|11663|Julie Kenner|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg] - 3 1/2 Stars - In this story Luc is a shifter looking for his mate. He finds Cate and knows she's the one, but of course there are obstacles they must overcome.

Touch Me - [a:Susan Kearney|57434|Susan Kearney|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] - 4 Stars - Whew what a hot story! I love the way there is a little link back to Wild Thing.

Surrender - [a:Julie Leto|21940|Julie Leto|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] - 2 1/2 Stars - It was a really good storyline but it seemed so drawn out. I went back and forth alot on weather I should or shouldn't finish it, but I'm glad I did.

Kiss of the Wolf - [a:Susan Krinard|17063|Susan Krinard|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1220717587p2/17063.jpg] - 3 Stars - Slightly predictable but still a good story

Shadow Kissing - [a:Tanith Lee|8694|Tanith Lee|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1218895130p2/8694.jpg] - 1 1/2 Stars - This story had promise in the beginning but as it wore on I got more and more disinterested. The whole flow of the story was hard to follow, the story line got skewed and ended up being obtuse.

The Devil She Knew - [a:Evelyn Vaughn|79605|Evelyn Vaughn|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] - 4 Stars - Portals and Demons and Hell, Oh MY!!! This was a great story fast paced and laced with mystery romance and fun. The characters were great, even those that were only around for a scene or twwo.

Soul of the Wolf - [a:Karen Whiddon|266502|Karen Whiddon|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] - 3 Stars - cop/shifter mystery/romance. Had the potential to be really hot but ended up tepid

Forever Mine - [a:Linda Winstead Jones|139575|Linda Winstead Jones|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] - 3 1/2 Stars - Different from every thing else in the book. some points got a bit repetitive but this definitely had my attention and though I knew what would happen in the end the how was unexpected.

Her Best Enemy - [a:Maggie Shayne|17064|Maggie Shayne|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1215028948p2/17064.jpg] - 4 1/2 Stars - One of the best stories in the book. A haunted house, a hunky physic and a determined reporter. A 30 yr old mystery is solved and love is found. This story had me looking around corners in my own home, guess you can't get much more hooked than that.

Dancers in the Dark - [a:Charlaine Harris|17061|Charlaine Harris|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1275527715p2/17061.jpg] - 4 Stars - This was my first Charlaine Harris story and it surely won't be my last. I loved the characters the time line moved right along with out dragging or feeling rushed. Layla and Sean will be happy together for a long time!

I just could never make myself read this book.
It was a me issue. I just had a hard time keeping up. Will definitely try again.

Includes: Tatalizing by Lori Foster and My Lips are Sealed by Julie Elizabeth Leto

This was a quick read, and fairly satisfying. The theme was a fun one--reuniting with an old flame at a high school reunion (do people really look forward to those things? It's hard to believe), and all three stories took place at the same location--a resort designed for reunions. Other than that, they weren't connected, which was a bit of a letdown. I read this over a couple of days, so I kept checking back to see if any of the characters or situations were in common, but they weren't. It would have given it some extra pizzazz, I thought.

Of the three, I thought the strongest story was the first, Leslie Kelly's "Underneath it All." It was a bit of a stretch that Seth hadn't tried before the ten years were up to find Lauren and explain where he'd gone on prom night, but not too much of one. The next story, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" was fairly cute, if a bit less realistic. "A Moment Like This" I thought was the weakest of the three, but still not a bad story. All in all, it delivers what it claims to--short, summer fantasy reads.

While Christmas was somewhat pivotal to the plot, this didn't feel much like a holiday read to me. And there was little romance - more like lust and scratching itches. That all made it not over the top exciting, though really the story was fine and certainly suspenseful. I am likely to try another one or two books by this author at some point.

Three stories around a baseball team. Three women decide that they're going to find at least sex over baseball season before the threatened move of their local team happens. However their plans for no-strings-attached sex is interrupted by love and men who want more from them.

It's a series of short stories with a fair bit of sex, some baseball, some baseball allusions and three romances. Nothing earthshattering, but I found it quite readable.

I knew from page 1 that I had read the Lori Foster story before. :)

I love winning books. :)

While this is not a YA book, I wanted to read this book the moment I saw that the male lead character had Tourette's Syndrome. My son also has Tourette's. Like the main character, Michael, my son has a milder case of TS. I've come to know that it is one of the most misunderstood syndromes out there. However, I love seeing characters with differences in books.

I liked this book a lot. On the cover it claims this book is 'The First Reality Based Romance' and I would have to say that's probably fairly accurate. We don't often find romance books where characters deal with reality based situations such as living with Tourette's, etc. I felt the building up of Anne and Mike's relationship was about right. The pacing of it all was terrific. It was a fire that started out slow and built up over time. I appreciated the fact that Mike's Tourette's really wasn't the focus of their issues, but merely one facet of the challenges they had to face.

I also totally

I knew from page 1 that I had read the Lori Foster story before. :)

I love winning books. :)

I love winning books. :)

I knew from page 1 that I had read the Lori Foster story before. :)

There's just something about a woman with a gun. Kick-butt heroines that shoot first and ask questions later have always appealed to me. Whether they attire themselves in red miniskirts and four-inch Ferragamo's, urban chic consisting of broken-in blue jeans and ratty t-shirts, or do their best work dressed in nothing at all, heroines that take control of their own lives and work to make a difference in the world around them are nothing short of my idols.

For Marisela Morales, working for Alberto Garcia at AAA-Able Bail Bonds has finally brought a sense of belonging to her life. A Cuban-American woman who found herself all too often on the wrong side of the law when younger, Alberto offered her a haven-a real job, something meaningful that would keep her busy and off the streets. Once she turned twenty-one, Marisela became a bond enforcer. For seven years now she's tracked down outlaws dumb enough to jump their bail and brought them back to justice.

This time, the bail-jumper is someone who hits a little too close to home. Francisco "Frankie" Vega is Marisela's past-a young punk who later turned his life around to spend years in prison as an undercover DEA informant. Now, though, Frankie is out, and after two years back in the real world, he's been busted for possession-and unwisely skipped his bail. So what if the chemistry is still there? Who cares that Frankie's first words to her in ten years are "I remember when you used to stroke me like that?" And really, what difference does it make if his striking good looks and snake-charmer charisma make her eyes roll back in her head and the hairs on her arms stand up? Marisela has hunted down Frankie to do a job, and that job is to return him back over to the authorities.

But love dies hard, even that brought about by circumstances of a hard life of two dispassionate youths. The chemistry between Frankie and Marisela is still there, and they're both finding it hard to turn off. Frankie has no idea that Marisela isn't Alberto's secretary, has no clue that she packs a really big-and really illegal-gun. Marisela doesn't realize that Frankie is dealing with bigger issues than just jumping bond. All in all, what they don't know about each other is more than what they remember.

Together, Marisela and Frankie must overcome their shared history, rebuild their trust and broken hearts, and stop a handful of bad guys along the way. Action-adventure mixed with passion is always a heady mix, and this book is no different.

Take a dash of Stephanie Plum, throw in the spunk of Eve Dallas, mix it up with some Cuban food and a gallon of margaritas, and you've got a true winner in DIRTY LITTLE LIES. This book was an excellent start to what will no doubt be a long-lived series-one that you won't want to miss an episode of.

Domino Black was recruited into the super-secret agency known as The Shadow when she was just a teen. Her latest mission is to investigate sexy Chicago club owner Luke Brasco to determine who in his club is selling government secrets to terrorists. But Domino is usually just an assassin, she has no experience undercover - and she certainly doesn't know what to do when she finds herself falling for her target.

This certainly deserved the appellation 'extreme' - the assassin plotline, the very hot sex. The spy story was intriguing, and the scene in the cab in the beginning was very cool. Given the extreme circumstances and the chemistry smoldering between the main characters, I even bought them falling in love so quickly. My favorite scene was when the two of them went to the ballpark to watch a baseball game - it was just so quintessentially normal fun.

The issue I had was the resolution. Assassin plots in particular are very difficult - assassin characters tend to be such loners (not to mention a bit screwed up). It's hard to convincingly write a story that allows them to back out of that life and begin a more normal existence.

More posted at my blog.

First off, Pure Chance is self-consciously "steamy". For example, the heroine has an "erotic garden" that exists for no other reason than to have her pose on various parts of a marble fountain while they have sex. It was quite obviously supposed to be really daring. But cold, wet, marble? Not sexy. And also dangerous. Bah. Besides which, it has nothing to do with the story, nor does it fit with the character.

I'd overlook that--way too many romances are self-conscious about the sex scenes--if the rest of the book were better.

The heroine, the hero, and the man who's pressuring her to marry him used to be best buddies in school, then after a drunken and rejected pass at graduation, the hero and heroine, both believing the other hated them, separated.

Now, years later, the hero's back in town, "retired" from his military "regiment" (and would it hurt authors to do a teeny tiny bit of research??) and opening a bodyguard business, and the other friend has started pressuring her to marry him.

So the heroine gets the bright idea to hire him for a bogus threat that becomes real.

Complicating matters, she's vowed never to marry, and he thinks he wants to marry a woman who'll keep him grounded (both the hero and heroine are risk-takers).

It's a great premise, but then it doesn't follow through.

First, the heroine for no good reason says she needs to hire him for "a friend." (Yes, I know this is standard when asking advice, but she wasn't asking advice, she was hiring a bodyguard.)

Then their reactions flip-flop. Rather than stick to the original premise of "I want you, but you're not what I need and I'm not what you need," they're all over the place. Sometimes, it appears that they think she's the one who wants the white picket fence and 2.7 kids, and he's the one eschewing marriage.

Again, this could work if it were explored or explained. But instead, it just looks like a mess. And the motivation for the friend's proposal doesn't make much sense, either.

Honestly, this could have been an excellent book with a bit more editing, which is why I wrote so much about it--it's more frustrating to read a book that could have been great but wasn't than one that's just ordinary.

Under His Spell by Julie Elizabeth Leto was a bit of a disappointment to me because she is one of my favorite authors. I'm trying to figure out why I didn't much care for this story and am having a hard time of it. The heroine was strong; though I thought her motivation for having faith in the hero was a bit weak. The hero was sexy, and a bad boy. But I think I disliked his gullibility and glibness. The villian was well crafted and would have scared the crap out of me if I'd been there. But overall, I just didn't like the story. (2.5 stars)

Disenchanted? by Rhonda Nelson was a story that I really liked. The attraction of the hero and heroine was magnetic and made you believe in their magic. The plot was predictable but it was a sexy read that lived up to Rhonda Nelson's reputation and my liking of her other books. (4 stars)

Spirit Dance by Mia Zachary made me grit my teeth more than once at the obtuse hero, but I was supposed to. :) The heroine was amazing, and the hero's son a charmer, but I have NO clue why the heroine would be romantically drawn to the hero. He downgraded most of her beliefs and seemed pretty oblivious to his son. The romance stretched my credibility a bit far. Not a favorite, but well plotted and well written. (3 stars)