Two people on the run from their past, Sarah and Christian are thrown together by strange circumstances. Christian is trying to clear his name from a horrible accusation and wondering who would want to frame him for such a horrible crime. Banished to Canada, he makes friends and begins to raise funds to return to England.

Enter Sarah, applying for a job as governess to Christian's young ward. She has a dark secret she is trying to keep, and the men looking for her are getting closer and closer. Escaping to England with Christian seems like the perfect solution, but she must ensure that he never finds out who she really is or what she has done.

Of course, none of their plans go quite as expected. I'm not usually a fan of the deep dark secret theme, but it fit this story nicely. I understood Sarah's secret and why she had to keep it. But it does cause issues, as secrets will. It also comes out fairly early, so much of the story takes place after they have comes to terms with it and are now trying to help fix it. I really loved it.

The Libertine Scholars were a great group of friends. It looks like each book tells the story of one of the infamous rakes. They all be playing important parts in each other's story, too, which means I get to keep in touch with these great characters.

Holy cow! I thought I had this book all figured out - but I totally didn't. Biggest curve ball I've seen in a long, long time.

Kate will do just about anything to keep her scholarship and get into Yale. Step one, befriending one of the haves by the name of Olivia. She's an easy mark, looking for a new friend. And things seem to go along very nicely. She's managed to become Olivia's best friend. But then things get a little weird.

Enter Mark Redkin, the new employee at the private school that all the girls (student and faculty alike) are head over heels for. But he's more than what he seems on the surface. Kate doesn't trust him, and soon she finds out why. Things quickly spin out of Kate's carefully constructed plan. Mark is out of her league, but she's determined to come out on top.

This is where things took an interesting twist that I never saw coming. I don't want to give it away, but it's a good one. Excellently done Teresa Toten.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

- See more at: http://www.hotofftheshelves.com/2016/05/beware-that-girl-by-teresa-toten-review.html#sthash.aoypggQ4.dpuf

We get to briefly see Beatrice and Sebastian at the end of A Kiss of Lies, book one in The Disgraced Lords series. A Promise of More takes us back a few days to when they first meet, and that meeting is one to remember. When Sebastian fishes Beatrice out of the Thames, he never expects what comes out of her mouth - a proposal. With the death of her brother, their family is about to go to the poor house, and Beatrice thinks Sebastian owes it to them to save the day - by marrying her.

This isn't the set up for a happy marriage. Sebastian killed Beatrice's brother in a duel and I really enjoyed the way Beatrice was portrayed as dealing with the fact that she was about to marry his killer. Resolved and accepting of her situation, she is determined to try and make the best of it all.

But of course, things are never as they seem at first. And when they both begin to feel the inevitable attraction to each other, well, it gets very interesting. Our villian from the first book is still in play and causing all sorts of problems, but the Libertine Scholars may be one step closer to finding out who she is.

I enjoyed the back and forth between Sebastian and Beatrice, but there was just a little spark of something that seemed to be missing. I had a hard time imagining Beatrice finding pleasure in the arms of the man that killed her brother as well, although this ends up being a little different than what they both thought. They still thought he had killed her brother, and then have great sex still. I had a hard time believing it.

The second story of John Ross (I feel like I have to call him by his whole name) and Nest is a turning of the tables. This time, John Ross is in trouble and Nest is being sent to help him save himself. John Ross has forsaken the Word and the demons are on the hunt. The biggest downfall of this one? I figured out the demon quite early on, and it really ruined the atmosphere for a lot of the story. I didn't get that OMG "surprise, it's me!" moment I was looking for.

While there are some very exciting moments, overall it seemed to move quite slowly with a lot of random sidetracks. I think they were there to confuse you a little so you couldn't guess who the demon was, but they just seemed a little too obvious. Nest was not decisive enough for my taste. I wanted her to go in and take charge, demanding that John Ross listen to her, but she just wasn't like that.

I can see how this world become the world of Shannara, but I sort of want to get to the point already. These are good, just not something that will ever become a favorite. Maybe I just want my Shannara back already!

- See more at: http://www.hotofftheshelves.com/2016/06/a-knight-of-word-by-terry-brooks-review.html#sthash.JAxSjyfK.dpuf

Mia Ross is the queen of small town inspirational romances for me. I love her characters and her places. Her Small-Town Cowboy definitely delivered on the fun characters, but it fell just a tad short on the small town itself. Lily and Mike meet in a very unexpected way. It had me chuckling to see them interact for the first time - and what they both thought was the only time.

Both are surpised to find each other again when she begins to substitute teach for his daughter. His daugher was such a charmer. She was everything I could have wanted from her character. The perfect little mix of mischievousness and sweetheart. And she's determined to keep Lily in her life somehow.

Now this isn't a case of a little girl getting two people to fall in love. What I liked best was that she was just one of the forces pulling Lily and Mike together. There were so many more, and was mixed very well. But....yes, the dreaded but....the town just didn't shine in a way that I've come to expect from Mia Ross. The other people in the town were fun, especially the school kids, but I wanted to see more of the places and sights.

Marisa and Maitland have known each other for years - as the sister to a Libertine Scholar, Marisa has been around the stories and the men themselves for half her life. But, she never expects to find herself waking up in bed next to one of them - naked - and obviously compromised in the eyes of the ton even though nothing happened. But the villainess has struck again, and Maitland and Marisa find themselves wed to save her reputation.This is where I get just a tad tired of the whole style of "she wants love, but he's determined not to." I hope it gets change up a bit more in the future.

Marisa and Maitland are far from an ideal pair. Marisa is determined to find love in marriage and Maitland is determined to avoid it at all costs - he considers passion to be a curse. It may look like the villianess has finally struck a blow to the Libertine Scholars. But Marisa is no coward. She will find a way to bring some passion and romance to her marriage - but when she finally does - well, things get pretty bad.

I just about cried several times in this one. There is tragedy, secrets, and a great loss that Marisa and Maitland will have to overcome before they will ever be happy. This was the most "real" book of the series so far. Things didn't all miraculously become better and all the hurt doesn't just disappear. But because of this, the characters are going to stay with me for a long, long time. I can't wait to see them in future books in the series.