Never Kiss a Rake by Anne Stuart

ISBN-13: 9781477807323
Publication Date: August 2013
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Format: Trade Paperback, 265 pgs
Source: Personal Library

I love Anne Stuart's books, no matter if they are historical romance, Regencies, paranormal or romantic suspense. I always find myself getting hooked to the worlds she created; and most often the characterizations intrigued me, be it a feisty heroine or a dark, tortured hero. 

Never Kiss a Rake is her latest historical and it is the first book of the Scandal at the House of Russell series. This series feature three Russell sisters and how their life took a turn after the death of their father, who was a shipping magnate. 

Bryony Russell, the eldest daughter in the family, decided to infiltrate the house of his father's business partner in disguise as a housekeeper. After seeing the cryptic note her father had left, she wants to find out if Adrian Bruton, Earl of Kilmartyn, is innocent or guilty of her father's death. She has every reasons for this investigation, after all Adrian Bruton seems not to be affected from her father's so-called fraud as he continues to live quite an enjoyable life. 

Truth be told, the charming rake isn't at all happy with his marriage life. His beautiful wife knew about his secret past and she uses this to trap him in a hate-filled marriage. To spite his wife, he hires Bryony as their new housekeeper for his wife despises anything that is ugly. She couldn't stand the sight of Bryony as Bryony bears some smallpox scars on a side of her face. 

Bryony, on the other end, doesn't care what anyone thinks of her other than finding the truth. And once she has gathers the evidence she'd move on and say goodbye to the Bruton's household. 

However, the longer Bryony stays in the household the more she finds herself attracted to the irresistible, charming rake for she notices beneath his wicked charms, there is a hidden depth of character which he doesn't show to the world. Whether it is a pretence or not, Bryony is determined to unravel the truth until a murder in the household shook her world and soon she would be the ultimate target of all. 

Reading Never Kiss a Rake was an enjoyable experience to me, as Anne Stuart has once again captivated me with her interesting characters and an adventure filled plot. However, as much as I enjoyed the exchanges and the chemistry between the protagonists, the story didn't wow me like some of her other books, especially her Ice series which leave me with a lot of anticipation. Don't get me wrong, I do like the writing of this book but I just got the tiny bit of feeling that Anne Stuart might have written such story before and therefore the feeling wasn't as great as compared to reading her earlier books the first time. On top of that, I felt that the conclusion was a bit rushed. 

That said, I still look forward to reading the other installments of this series. Never Trust a Pirate is the next title of the series and I'm hoping that it'd give me some surprises, and not to mention a sizzling romance with a pirate hero to boot. 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

• ISBN-13: 9781250012579

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: February 2013
Format: Paperback, 336 pgs
Source: Personal Library

Park Sheridan first met Eleanor while in the bus. He didn't deliberately seek her out; she just caught his attention with her bright red hair and there wasn't any empty seats aside from his. As usual, he is reading his comics and since no one occupies the seat next to his except his books, she naturally fill in the seat. 

Park doesn't want to take notice of her initially, after all he finds her a little weird with her odd dress style and not to mention the bright red colour of her hair. It is hard to miss her; plus she is new in school and all that. 

Park considers an outcast in other students' eyes; it might be due to his half Korean heritage so he somewhat feels for Eleanor when others ignore her or say mean things about her. Park always keep a low profile and try not to show his curiosity towards her, but when he noticed that she is reading his comics on his lap as the days go, things began to change from there. Slowly their silence leads to bits of conversations and before they know it Park and Eleanor find themselves develop feelings for each other. 

However, life isn't going easy for them as Eleanor comes from a broken family; her dad left them and worst of all, her stepdad treat her mother and her four other siblings badly. On the other end, though Park's family are loving people, he and Eleanor realised that they come from two different worlds but despite everything, they wouldn't want to deny their love for each other, no matter how other people see it, including their families.

Set in the 80s, Eleanor & Park is a poignant, bittersweet love story between two teenagers who find courage in love and the obstacles (issues like race, bullies in school and child abuse) they face and ultimately how everything changes their life because of it. Told in alternating segments between Eleanor and Park, this allows readers to know their inner feelings and the struggles they face. I have to say reading this book brings me both joy and sadness; author Rainbow Rowell has done a great job in describing the two teenagers' emotions in a way that touches your heart and makes you want to be young in love, again. I especially loved the ending, because it is simply beautiful and makes you think that obstacles could be overcome if one continues to be brave and not giving up hope. I wish I could be more eloquent in describing this book but you may have heard this many times - you only know what's best when you read it yourself.