Dara JoyRecensioni

Dara Joy's Tonight or Never is a delightful romp that is equal parts humor, tender emotion, and red hot lovin'. All the characters are pretty lighthearted, and the whole story embodies a hilarity that frequently had me smiling and laughing. One example is a scene in which Chloe coshes John over the head with a vase (on purpose), followed by the couple running through the halls of the manor house stark naked. It nearly had me rolling on the floor. Many a time I found myself thinking that this book would make a great romantic comedy movie. It isn't just about the ruckus of fun and games though. There is a very sweetly emotional element to the plot as well, in the form of a long-held love between two best friends slowly being realized by one and then admitted by the other. The love scenes are frequent, thoroughly hot, and exquisitely sensual without crossing the line into the erotic. With the exception of Lisa Kleypas, I don't believe I have yet read any other author who can write multiple love scenes in one book so creatively, with each one being as luscious as the last, but still completely different from all the ones before. Anyone who is enchanted by the idea of love-making involving bathtubs, balconies, flower gardens and sensual massage should definitely read this book. Each scene was masterfully crafted and had me sighing with satisfaction. Tonight or Never doesn't have any suspense, danger or real villains. It's just good old-fashioned romance that is all about the relationship. There is a light mystery sub-plot surrounding French nobles, who had supposedly gone to the guillotine, but later show up on John and Chloe's doorstep, and the identity of their savior, The Black Rose. This made for a fun little side plot that I actually didn't figure out until nearly the moment it was revealed, but there was never anything to weigh down the overall lightness of the story.

I absolutely loved John and Chloe, and thought they were just made for each other. John is a dissolute rake, nicknamed “The Lord of Sex” by the ton, but he is actually hiding a sensitive soul behind his shameless womanizing ways. After seeing the pain of his mother's broken heart over his father's destructive gambling and early death, John subconsciously decided that he would never risk putting himself through the same thing and locked his heart up tight. John is mostly a beta hero with just a dash of alpha protectiveness and possessiveness. He tries a few times to play the dominating husband card with endearing results, because he's just too nice of a guy to make it stick. He's also the consummate lover who is more interested in sharing pleasure than conquering his lovely wife. He isn't a swashbuckling hero and isn't even particularly good at business. He's just simply the paramour who flits from one lady's bedroom to the next until Chloe puts a stop to that once and for all, giving him everything he's always wanted and more. Chloe is John's best friend in the whole world, and she is the only person he has ever felt like he could truly be himself with. They met when she was only six and he was sixteen, and for years he has played the big brother-type protector. By the time she was a teenager, Chloe knew exactly who she wanted to marry, and that was John. She bided her time until she was grown up, hoping that John would take notice of her as a woman. When he still didn't seem to, she put into action a cunning scheme to bring this notorious rake to heel. I love Chloe's determination to go after what she wanted, and that even from a young age, she seemed to always understand John better than he understood himself. She knew exactly the right “carrots” to dangle in front of him to gain his cooperation, and all it took was luring him into her web to get him to realize what he had always known, but couldn't acknowledge: Chloe was his soulmate. I thought that John's journey to that realization was rendered in a very natural and gradual way, making it seem more realistic. I also thoroughly enjoyed their witty bantering, and some of their interactions were reminiscent of my own relationship with my husband, making them completely relatable to me.

Tonight or Never had a riotous cast of supporting characters, starting with Chloe's grandmother, Simone and John's uncle, Maurice, who have a sweet long-term romance of their own that mirrors John and Chloe's. Again, I loved the sneakiness that Maurice used to get what he wanted as well. Then there is John's self-declared best friend, Percy, a hilarious fop who seems to think that fashion and what color to wear is cause for a personal emergency. The French guests who keep showing up at the door were equally funny, from the self-involved Zu-zu who thinks the world revolves around her, to Baronne Dufond who decides to wear John's prized model ship in her hair, to the seven Cyns, the Cyndreac brothers, who all look alike, chase every female in sight and cause general mayhem everywhere they go. In spite of their foibles, all were strangely likable. In fact, thinking of all their exploits is still making me laugh as I'm writing this.

After my last read which was quite dark, I was looking for something to lighten my mood, and I couldn't have made a better choice than Tonight or Never. It was a near perfect read for me in every way. The only thing that I thought could have improved it, would have been more explanation of John and Chloe's connection. As written, it was a rather magical thing that simply was. Their relationship was so sweet, tender and passionate, it wasn't at all difficult to see that their unbreakable bond was very real. It just would have been nice if the author had demonstrated it a little more, perhaps by adding more scenes from their youth. This was a fairly small thing though, that didn't really detract much from my overall enjoyment of the novel. Ms. Joy certainly has a talent with words, describing the character's expressions, actions and interactions in a way that drew me into the book and made me feel like I was right there with them. Any romance lover looking for a rollicking good read to lighten the day and lift their spirits, but that still has plenty of touching emotional depth, should look no further. Tonight or Never was a wonderful feel-good story that was a pure pleasure for me to read. It has earned a place on my keeper shelf for those times when I just need a little boost. This was my first read by Dara Joy, but it most definitely will not be my last. Tonight or Never is part of Lovespell's multi-author series, Legendary Lovers, but to my knowledge the books are all stand-alones with no connection to each other besides a running theme of them being based on the stories and legends of famous lovers. This one parodies Don Juan mixed with a sub-plot of The Scarlet Pimpernel.½

Audio-
Familiars are known for their sexual techniques and appetites. Pleasure is their goal to give many times and then to get. When one of them is captured to be used and then sold for slavery, an unlikely match is made. He escapes with the young princess traveling across world and facing many dangers, while trying to teach her enjoyment.
A fun, enjoyable read that is sure to bring pleasure and tingles to the body.

Audio-Rajar is the cat man of any woman's dreams. He is sexually proficient, handsome, and loves with all his heart. There is just that one little off-ness about him; his need to us the litter box every now and then. When this other-world beast-man falls into Regency England he stays a cat till he finds something that he can only concur as a man. His find ? A stubborn, prim, virgin, woman. Poor Rajar, the adjustments are hard and his love not returned. Magic and some interfering old wizard help shift things in the right direction.
This was a light, fun tour through the lives of one of the oddest matches of all time. I found some of the comments from Jackie, the helpful irishman to be the funniest.

4.5 hot alien stars
When I read the description for this book I was thinking Ewww
The aliens in this book are not from My favorite Martian, no they are men gods.These aliens have skills in the bedroom and outside as well. In their world skills and practice are admired. Wait this book is not all about sex, there is a story.
A young woman having a bad day stops into a resale store and buys a pice of ugly jewelry. Boom sexy guy shows up and will not leave, he's an alien from wherever and he must stay with her. Oh he is clueless to her world, he bumbles and trips along the way making for some fun in the story. Blah Blah Blah, thing charge up and he makes his move, Boom they are bound. She goes huh ? he goes yeah !
And they travel off to finish a quest that he was set upon. Here on his planet she meets his ultra hot brother who can change into a cat. He purrs. : P Ok, so they go to his home he introduces her to all as his wife, she says NO I'M NOT- the challenge is set. They complete the quest, learn about each other have great sex and there is a HEA. What else can you ask for ? A perfectly fun B movie type read.

A romance set in England during the French Revolution. Chloe and John have known each other since childhood. John is now the most notorious rake in England and Chloe is finally grown up and has returned from a trip to France. She's determined that they belong together and decides to seduce him and convince him of the same. They marry for convenience (never mind why), and then Chloe enacts her plan. Meanwhile, everyone is speculating about the identity of the Black Rose, a master of disguise who is saving French aristocrats from the the guillotine and bringing them to England. When a lot of those saved aristocrats start showing up at Chloe and John's estate, John suspects that the Black Rose is one of their many house guests, and he and Chloe try to spy out his identity.

Dara Joy is quite good at writing suuuper ridiculous and over-the-top plots and keeping them fun. This is no different. The interplay between Chloe and John gets just a smidge unbelievable (they are both trying to keep the fact that they love and adore each other from one another, and it's a little hard to believe that they can't see this about each other--I mean, they are beyond wooby), and the second half of the book (which is mostly about discovering the Black Rose) feels a bit like a different book than the first half, but, honestly, it's all fun. My only real complaint is the absurd use of euphemisms for the bits of ladies and gents. (A "women's portal" is, like, the entrance to a communal time machine in a sci-fi novel about a segregated society, okay? Not a piece of anatomy.) I can never decide if Joy is doing this tongue-in-cheek or not, but the use doesn't feel coy, so it's not bad enough to ruin the read.½

Eh. Points for a fun hero and heroine, for a pleasant atmosphere, and for humor. Points off for a complete lack of obstacles to the romance plot and for a ho-hum plot otherwise. It's not that nothing happened but that I never once wondered how things were going to work out. A disappointment after Ritual of Proof.

A cracking good read for me, though I suspect it's not for everyone. This is a genderflipped Regency romance in space. Yes. (Yeesss.) A thousand years before the story begins, a ship crewed by women landed on Forus and set up a society in which the initially genetically manipulated test-tube-born men are the "weaker" sex--protected, oppressed, and expected to obey their mothers and then wives in all things, including remaining virginal until marriage. Jorlan (oh, lord, the names are, to a one, soooo bad) is a sheltered, highly sought after young aristocrat with no intention of ever agreeing to marry. Green is a well-respected politician and landowner with no intention of seeking to marry. When Green gets wind of villainy afoot with regards to Jorlan's future, she maneuvers them into a marriage, at which point Jorlan and Green must negotiate their personalities, conflicting ideologies (Jorlan is determined (single-handedly?) to bring equality to men), and further villainy as they make a life together. The plot is a bit predictable and the story has some flaws (the vague workings of the matriarchal society, the occasional wooby nature stuff, the silly names), but the world building, characterization, and writing are surprisingly good. There's also some very neat play with traditionally gendered language in the sex scenes. Recommended if you like this sort of thing.

Enjoyable set of four short stories most of which with my favorite plot where the male pursues the female. Lots of good stuff like tender heart-tugging moments, steamy sex scenes, a little paranormal, a bit of humor and plenty of action.

I read this book a long time ago and when the audio-book was recently released, I just had to experience it again. Although the book was written ages ago and does not contain some of the more steamier sexual exploits, it does deliver a well rounded story-line and set the stage for book 2 Rejar. I was not disappointed; the hilarity of the situations and the smoldering desires really standout as the story unfolds. I highly recommend the audio-book.

There were several things I liked about the story and a couple that annoyed me. Let's start with those that annoyed me and go from there.

1) Some of Deanna's reactions. I know that statement is rather vague but at the risk of spoiling moments in the story, that will have to suffice. I will say that if I came home and some strange man was in my house, I would not have reacted like Deanna. And, there are moments when the character becomes a little two-dimensional which threw me while reading.

2) The over "alpha"-fulness of Lorgan. There's alpha male and then there's domineering/jerk. I spent most of the novel either hating Lorgan (the main romantic lead) and sometimes liking his softer side. Color me too modern but I don't think if I were a damsel in distress I would want him coming to my rescue.

Now on to what I liked about the story.

1) The secondary characters. For me, Rejar, Lorgan's brother, stole the show. His wit and snappy comebacks kept the story alive when it lagged in spots.

Also the wizard who reminded Deanna of Merlin was another breath of fresh air.

2) The Con scene. I won't say anymore. For those of us who have attend Cons of any type, you'll understand why I found that scene in the book hilarious.

3) Description of the various worlds. I enjoyed the changes in scenery and the author's descriptions of the various areas the characters visited.

Recommend? Yes, I would recommend this one. If you are a feminist, then steer clear because this heroine is not one you'll like.

Knight of a Trillion Stars was my second read by Dara Joy and the first in her Matrix of Destiny series. Having read and loved her stand-alone historical romance, Tonight or Never, I was really looking forward to this novel, and for the most part, I'm happy to say it lived up to my expectations. When I finished the book, I was left somewhat undecided as to how to rate it, but eventually settled on four stars. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the story, but there were a few weakness, enough that I didn't feel it was quite worthy of keeper status. However, Knight of a Trillion Stars was definitely a solid four stars, perhaps even a tad higher. Overall, a delightful read that was quite steamy for the 1990's when it was first published.

When the story opens, everything is going wrong in Deana's life. She was laid off from her job, sat in something nasty on the train, and then was trapped in a parking lot when two other vehicles were involved in an accident behind her car. While waiting for the accident to be cleared away, she goes into a junk shop to browse and ends up buying an unusual necklace. She finally arrives home to find a gorgeous stranger in her apartment who claims to be from another world and who insists on being her protector. As it happens Deana is a sci-fi geek who is on her way to a convention in San Francisco, which I think made her a lot more accepting of the idea of Lorgin being from another planet. Of course, that doesn't stop her from being frightened and stubborn when he unexpectedly takes her to his world. I could hardly blame her though, given that she was practically “kidnapped” and taken to outer space, but she does start to warm up to the idea gradually. Although Deana slowly beings to accept a relationship with Lorgin and decides to enjoy it while she can, she adamantly refuses to entertain the fact that he views her as his wife and that he intends for her to stay with him in his world. This is where I thought the author could have dug a little deeper with her characterization. I felt like Deana's reasons for not believing Lorgin truly wanted her as his mate were lacking in clarity. It took most of the story for me to figure out that part of it was rooted in self-esteem issues and part of it was that she stubbornly believed that she was not the woman destined for Lorgin (ie. He had made a mistake). This being the case, it took until the final pages of the book for her to finally embrace her destiny, and it came about without any particularly deep introspection on the matter. Deana and Lorgin also had a few too many misunderstandings based on misinterpreting each other's language and culture, which could be funny at times, but once Deana had her translator implant, it seemed to me that she shouldn't have had as much of an issue with the language barrier. Also, I felt like she should have been asking more questions. Oftentimes, she would start questioning Lorgin, but when he gave her a muddled answer, she would simply stop. If I were her, I would have asked as many questions as it took to fully understand what was happening. Overall, though, Deana was a nice heroine who was pretty relatable if a tad obtuse at times.

In the beginning, Lorgin is an arrogant alpha which isn't my favorite type of hero. In much the same way that Deana should have been asking more questions, I felt that Lorgin should have been more understanding of Deana being a “foreigner” in his strange land who wasn't familiar with the customs and culture. He should have taken the time to explain what was going on and gently coax her into accepting certain things and doing what was necessary for her safety. Instead, he basically compels her into many things, including getting the translator implant and making love the first time which made me rather uncomfortable. In particular, he should have explained the Transference ritual, which among other things, bonded her to him for life, instead of performing the ritual without her full understanding of it. However, despite being a little miffed with him about these things, I can't deny that later in the story he lightened up on the uber-alpha act and transformed into a kind, loving, gentle hero who was a seductive and sensuous lover. I adored how the men from his planet are trained from an early age to weave their wives' hair, and when he did this for Deana it was so sweet, a beautiful way of marking her as his.

The secondary characters were wonderful too. Yaniff is a wise old mystic who reminded me of Gandalf or Dumbledore with a side of Yoda thrown in for good measure. He is Lorgin's mentor and a good friend to all of them. I have to admit that I'm already half in love with Lorgin's brother, Rejar, and his childhood friend, Traed. Rejar is a shape-shifter, known in his world as a Familiar. He has an extremely sensuous nature which essentially makes him a man slut, but I loved him anyway for his charming ways. The story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger for him, but he becomes the hero of the next book in the series, Rejar. I'll be interested to see how one woman manages to tame him. Traed intrigued me almost from the moment he was introduced. He harbors a painful past with a father who abused him. He's a classic tortured hero, and I'd love to read his story. I thought perhaps his would be the third book in the series, but alas, I was wrong. Unfortunately, it also looks like I may never know what happens to him. Due to Dara Joy's hotly contested dispute with her former publisher, Traed's book was never written and sadly might not ever be. Even if it was, I'm not sure I would read it, because it appears that Ms. Joy's more recent self-published offerings are lacking in the quality of her earlier traditionally published books.

Besides the slight deficiencies in characterizations, there were two other things that bothered me a bit about Knight of a Trillion Stars. First, was the author's penchant for head-hopping which could be a little distracting but not as bad as I've read in similar novels. The other was the overall plot of Lorgin being on a quest that is typical to many fantasy-type novels. The problem wasn't so much the quest itself, but the fact that the reader isn't exactly made privy to all the reasons for his quest and how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together until very late in the story. We learn that Traed's father, a dark wizard, is causing trouble in some vague unknown location on the edge of their world and that Lorgin will presumably have to do something about it, but I felt like the author took a little too long to state what the ultimate objective was. This being the case, my interest occasionally waned slightly, but I did enjoy all the adventures the characters embarked upon while getting there. Once Lorgin got over his hot-headed alpha phase, the romance was tender and swoon-worthy with lots of steamy, sensuous love scenes. Overall, Knight of a Trillion Stars was a very enjoyable story that has left me eagerly looking forward to continuing the series soon.

Purchased solely because I was so surprised to find a Dara Joy story I haven't read--yay!

Even though this is a super short story, it was wonderful to "catch up" with old friends. Dara Joy's style of writing is just wonderful and totally hilarious. I can always count on having a good laugh when reading one of her books.

I'll give Dara Joy 4 stars for the AU she created, and for side character Traed ta'al Krue, who is my hands-down favorite and appears in all her Matrix stories, including the e-books she sells direct from her website. But otherwise - the women are twits, the men are Tarzan apes, the sex scenes last forever, and there's huge logical paradoxes in Joy's sloppily thought-out AU that are only partially redeemed by the humorous touches. And I really, really, dislike her portrayal of Krue of Lodarres, who could not possibly be so successful, experienced, and respected with the way she draws his bull-in-a-china-shop character. Her most recent stories in the MoD series are "That Familiar Touch" and "Death by Ploot-Ploot", published through e-book only. "Death" is a waste of time, but "Touch" is an important point in Traed ta'al Krue's storyline, even though again he is just a side character who comes in only briefly.

Really, seriously hated Whirlwind Courtship, and High Energy (by Dara Joy) wasn't good either. Won't read anything by Jayne Ann Krentz (or any of her pseudonyms).

Really, seriously hated Whirlwind Courtship, and High Energy (by Dara Joy) wasn't good either. Won't read anything by Jayne Ann Krentz (or any of her pseudonyms).

Knight of a Trillion Stars by Dara Joy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Knight of a Trillion Stars is the first book in the 'Matrix of Destiny' Series by Dara Joy. As the book begins, our heroine, Deana Jones, is having a super rough day. She loses her job, sits in (what may be) urine on the train ride home, gets caught in a traffic jam-- which leads her into a junk shop where she buys strange piece of jewelry-- to finally make it home and find an alien chillin' in her house. The up side? It's a super hot alien! And so the chaos ensues...

This was definitely a fun read. I read a lot of romance and it was a great experience to try reading "futuristic romance," or romance with a sci-fi twist. For those of you who think that sounds scary...it reads more like a fantasy novel than sci-fi...but it does qualify since there is time/space travel. Don't worry though, its not too crazy. :D

View all my reviews >>

Way too easy to mock this is. This cheesy paranormal romance features an alien, a "Knight of the Charl" complete with light saber, who pops into the life of an aspiring science-fiction writer, Deana Jones. (Probably not a good sign when the book's protagonist has a name so reminiscent of the author.)

So, tell me. You find a strange man in your house and you're alone. Do you: a) Scream and run out of the house to your car. b) Grab the phone and call the police. c) Check out how hot he is with his gold hair and lavender eyes, exchange (non)witty banter, and when he insists over your objections he's going with you on your vacation for your "protection" book him a seat on the plane then take him shopping for a new wardrobe--despite the fact you were just laid off and have no new job lined up. Guess which our heroine chooses?

Given the title, that it was written a decade later, and the fish-out-of-water scenario I suspect this was a science-fiction riff off Deveraux's A Knight in Shining Armor. (And there they went shopping for his wardrobe with his money and there was a logical reason to partner up.) However, this has none of the charm with which Deveraux invested her story and hero.

Oh, and the controlling alpha-dick hero calls the heroine "Little Fire." For her red hair donchaknow. I lasted 44 pages. That's about an hour of my life I'm not getting back, and I resent every minute. A "matrix of destiny romance" so I suppose this is a series. *shudder*

Oh, and from what I gathered from other reviews, this book later involves a forced marriage and rape over the heroine's repeated nos--although she comes to like it. So quitting when I did? Good call.½

Really, seriously hated Whirlwind Courtship, and High Energy (by Dara Joy) wasn't good either. Won't read anything by Jayne Ann Krentz (or any of her pseudonyms).

This book made me giggle. She-lords! Like a cross between a superhero and a historical drama. I thought it was a lot of fun. I liked the feminist role reversal. And spicy! A wordy book, but unfortunately not as witty as it wanted to be. But still, engaging, with interesting characters and relationships.

Good beach read

The saddest thing is that my favorite part of this book was the illustration of the cat on the back cover.

About 1,000 years ago a band of warrior woman discovered a new, beautiful and welcoming world to populate. Now their descendants care for the land, and their men, continuing with the ideals passed down for generations. Green Tamryn is a more progressive thinker than many of her status. Her manner has earned her the animosity of a very sneaky and hostile She-Lord. Despite the pressure to produce a heir Green has no wish to become name-giver to any man.

Jorlan Reynard knows that the ways of society are wrong when it comes to men. Rather than being kept and cosseted Jorlan believes they should be treated as equals. He has sworn to never be kept and never to become name-bearer to any woman. However, when Green and Jorlan come together there is an immediate, undeniable attraction between the two. Soon outside forces are combining to bring them together despite their respective vows to never bond but, compromise is never easy, especially when it comes to beliefs held for a millennium and secrets that could shake the foundation of society.

This was a much more intricate tale than I expected when I started reading. Although it is a character-driven romantic tale I was surprised by the amount of world building the author did. It was rather more a mix of sci-fi, fantasy, gender bending and regency romance rendered in a very pleasing story. I really enjoyed both the characters of Jorlan and Green and also the creatures she created to populate her world. It has also made me curious to see if she ever did something with a few of the side characters (such as River) in other books. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this tale to those interested in "the gender switch" plot (which seem to be few and far between) who do not mind steamier bedroom scenes.

I laughed my way through most of this book. I enjoy humor with my romance and Ms. Joy supplies that with ease.
Chloe is fed up. She's wanted John ever since she was a child and she's decided she's going to get him. John is called "Lord of Sex" for a reason. ALL the women want him (and so do I), so Chloe decides to use her knowledge of his character to lure him to her. Their romance is wrapped thinly in the story of the Black Rose (parody of the Scarlet Pimpernel) and the 7 Cyn brothers. At the end of the book I was hungry to read the stories of these hilarious secondary characters, but alas, none has been forthcoming. If you enjoy a rollicking good romance, hot sex, alpha males, and comedy...look no further.

Although this is my least favorite of Dara Joy's books, it's still on my keeper shelf. Ms. Joy turns the tables on the male sex by penning this book of males as the 'weaker' sex. Males in this world are pampered, closeted, and powerless. They remain virgins until marriage and experience pain when losing their virginity!! YOWZA...
Jorlan is considered quite the prize and Marquelle ends up marrying him to "save his name". It's a crazy, mixed-up world and both characters must compromise to save both their relationship and their world.
A truly interesting concept that felt like the beginning to another series. There were several secondary characters whose stories I would like to read. Now that Ms. Joy and her publisher have 'made nice', maybe this is another series we'll see more of!