Tamara Hughes

Rebecca Bailey works as a maid in an upstanding New York household. After her father loses a ton of money in gambling and a couple of thugs threaten both him and Rebecca, she takes her fellow maid’s advice to find a rich man, become his mistress, and get the money to save her father. With a borrowed dress and jewelry, Rebecca attends a fabulous masquerade and meets the one man she never wanted to see again.
Christopher Black is searching for the person who killed his friend and for the woman his dying friend had begged Christopher to save. Unfortunately, both he and the police believe the killer and the mystery woman are the same person. He meets Rebecca at the masquerade, not realizing he already knows her as a maid. Though she looks the part of a highbred lady, she doesn’t act like it. He knows she has a secret, and he’s determined to uncover it.
I liked both Rebecca and Christopher. She’s headstrong and stubborn, but foolish when she drinks too much. He’s protective but blind to the way his words and actions hurt her. They lied to each other a lot, and it took a murder attempt for them to finally open up to one another. Their constant distrust became a little tiresome after a while, but it also made sense for the story line. I guessed who the villains were midway through the book, so the ending wasn’t a surprise, but their reasons for why and how they did what they did was definitely a twist.
One thing I really liked was the mention of real people in the book. The masquerade Rebecca and Christopher attended was a real party thrown by the Vanderbilt family in their newly built mansion. The attention to detail was great.
There were a few typos but nothing major. I really enjoyed the story and would love to read more from Ms. Hughes.
4 Stars
… (altro)

"2.5 out of 5 stars, Amelia has been raised to believe that she has a bad luck curse stuck to herself that usually effects those around her now finds herself on a sinking ship while she was trying to make her way to the Colonies. A pirate ship comes to their "rescue" but the men on the ship are reluctant to have her aboard because of superstitions, except for one pirate--David a violinist--who inserts himself as her protector while she's aboard. Yet it seems her "curse" is in full swing as one thing after another happens to them. Will Amelia be able to overcome her fears about herself to see the fortune that happens to be around her? Or will she be blinded by old fears and try to escape the one man who might just be perfect for her?

I so wanted to like this novel because I really adored its premise. However, both Amelia and David are so wrapped up in their pasts that they keep moving forward only to step back again, which got quite annoying after a while."

Read more of this review and a TEASER here: http://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2015/06/disappointmentville-love-on-hi...… (altro)

Note that this is the second book in a series, and some of the characters apparently were featured in the first book. I didnt know that until the author's note at the end and it's driving me a little bonkers.

Despite this book being in a pirate trilogy, it wasn't so much a pirate book. Our main character, David, is not your average swashbuckling pirate out to loot and pillage. He is a musician, carrying his violin everywhere that he goes. He is also chivalrous and has higher moral standards than we normally see in pirates. I liked David, I just like my pirates to be a bit more alpha male.

Poor Amelia has the worst luck of any fictional character I have read. She is clumsy as an ox, and this unfortunate aspect along with a shrew of a stepmother, has given Amelia horrible self-esteem. She also has the odd habit of trusting anyone she meets, which has caused her grief on more than one occasion. I also liked Amelia, though I did find myself doing an eye roll at her nature or antics on occasion.

For me, this story was somewhat slow-paced. There was adventure, but not a whole lot of action. We follow along with Amelia (and later David) as one tragedy after another befalls them. Given that sailors and pirates of the time were a superstitious lot, you can imagine that Amelia's little black cloud makes her an outcast. I sympathize with this as I get that black cloud following me around sometimes too. But David tries to show her that she is not cursed and they fall in love along the way. However, when you have two people with low self-esteem, it does not an easy relationship make.

Overall, this was a nice way to pass the time. I haven't read a pirate book in a while so it was a nice diversion from the standard regency era historical romance. I really wish I had known to read the first book before this one though (hopefully a Goodreads librarian can fix that). 3 stars / 2 flames.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.… (altro)

His Pirate Seductress- Love on the High Seas by Tamara Hughes is a 2015 Entangled (Scandalous) publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pirates seemed to fade out of view for a long while, what with every single historical romance novel set in the regency period, and focused exclusively on manners, dukes, earls, and society rules. However, I have noticed a small trend emerging where pirates are once more prominently featured. That’s a good thing!

Pirates are always interesting to read about since one can count on an adventure to be woven in with the love story. But, this novel adds the unique element of having a female pirate as one of the main characters. Not that it hasn’t been done before, but it’s not all that common. So, I was doubly excited about this novel.

A priceless artifact is at the heart of this story. The Ruby Cross is in Thomas Glanville’s possession, but Catherine Fry aims to make it hers. So, she captures the man and holds him prisoner ready to do whatever it takes to get her hands on The Ruby Cross. A battle of wills ensues, but when Thomas realizes why it is so important to Catherine to have the artifact, the two wind up joining forces in order to save her family, but will still allow Thomas to see his dreams come true. However, there is more than one enemy, they must face, and one is right there in their midst….

In the meantime, a grudging respect develops on top of a mutual physical attraction between Catherine and Thomas. Will they be able to move past their initial status as enemies? Will they be able to rescue Catherine’s family? Will Thomas gain his family’s respect and see his dreams come to their fruition?

This is a fun read, full of high seas adventure, suspense, and intrigue, but also one of family and love, and learning what really matters in life. There is some nice dialogue in this one, and the ending is very sweet and satisfying.

I do hope books like this one will inspire more high seas sexy adventures!… (altro)