Romance book talk, reviews, recipes, and dog pictures
Blogger Site: WhiskeyintheJar Romance
Guest Reviewer at: Reading Between the Wines book club
Best Scene
*Clicking on title of book brings you to my review or clicking on author name for Amazon page if I didn't write one
Nominees-
Return to Glory by Sara Arden
It was during the predawn hours on a Saturday morning when former navy SEAL Jack McConnell donned his dress whites and pressed the cold, hard barrel of his .357 Magnum to his temple. With only one bullet in the cylinder, he had a one-in-six chance fate would right the wrong it had so grievously dealt him eighteen months ago.
Jack was supposed to be dead.
He’d sacrificed all he had to give, and now he was nothing but a broken weapon of war. No use to anyone, or anything. If he’d had even a shred of honor left, he’d have made sure every slot in the cylinder was full when he played his little game with fate every Saturday.
But something wouldn’t let him, and for that, he cursed himself for a coward. Death was no stranger to him; it’d been a warm friend at his back for every mission. So why couldn’t he meet it with certainty?
Jack took a deep breath, hoping it would be his last, and pulled the trigger on the exhale. The hammer made an impotent little click that echoed like a gavel in his ears.
It occurred to Jack that maybe the first time he’d played this game, he’d won and this was actually hell.
Mad, Bad, and Dangerous in Plaid by Suzanne Enoch
"Now pretend I'm invisible," he murmured
Lachlan our hero confronts our heroine Rowena in the hallway and decides to tell and show her what she is going to be missing by deciding she is moving on from him.
*honorable mention - Lachlan is shirtless, only in a kilt, standing in the rain with steam rising off of him. Rowena and I greatly appreciated it :)
The American Duchess by Sharon Page
His lips lifted in a smile.
His lashes dropped over his eyes, a thick fringe of black. Cupping her bottom, his hand between her and the side of her plane, he drew her to him. She looked up into his eyes. Caught her breath.
Fire burned in his eyes. There was no iciness in him now. She hadn’t melted him. She’d turned him right into steam.
Now she knew. The Duke of Langford, the archly correct gentleman who had been so annoying and disapproving...
Was completely naughty at heart.
Silver Bastard by Joanna Wylde
The epilogue, the Whole epilogue. It involves the introduction to two new characters, Rourke and Shane. I want Need to read these two characters' books Immediately.
The Duke’s Disaster by Grace Burrowes
She heard him get up in the middle of the night, thinking he was off to heed nature’s call, but when he came back to bed, he pushed his hand under Thea’s pillow, then wrapped her in his embrace.
Thea went exploring under the pillow, felt her little dagger there, and knew she’d fallen absolutely and irrevocably in love with her husband.
Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt
"What are you doing?"
"Making sure you don't freeze."
This kicks off one hell of a scorching hot scene of restrained passion as our hero Captain James Trevillion rolls the stockings off our heroine Lady Phoebe Batten.
The Likelihood of Lucy by Jenny Holiday
Our heroine Lucy starts looking at our hero Trevor's tattoos that cover his chest. Through her light touches and questions, it turns the scene into a mixture of highly emotional and sexual heat, won't soon be forgotten.
In Bed With a Spy by Alyssa Alexander
Our hero Alistair recites the poem "To His Mistress Going to Bed" to Lilias, the heroine, during foreplay. *Swoons* x1,000,000
Hell or High Water by Julie Ann Walker
There is an underwater battle scene that involves a handful of heroes and villains. The fact that it is underwater made it more intense with me holding my breath at times and with the hand-to-hand combat danger, I was biting my nails.
Highlander Undone by Connie Brockway
"Addie, it won't be long." He sounded so miserable. "You have only to crook your little finger and any man with an ounce of red blood in his veins will come running."
Their gazes locked. Slowly, she pushed him away, and then she lifted her hand, extended her forefinger, and crooked it.
The Legend of Lyon Redmond by Julie Anne Long
“Ah,” Lyon said softly. “I believe I understand now. You didn’t have the courage to fight for the woman you loved. You made the wrong choice. And look at you. Look at what you’ve become.”
Lyon says this to his father as he finally approaches him about marrying Olivia Eversea, the Everseas are their arch-enemies. If you have read the other books in the series, then you know that there has been the suggestion that Lyon's father Isaiah once loved and possibly still does, Olivia's mother Isolde. This is rumored to be the current strife between the two families and similarly in other books, Isaiah plays the villain here. The conversation between Lyon and his father was so amazingly tense and well done, it took me awhile to come out of my stupor and turn the page when the final harsh words were proclaimed.
Mackenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard
“He stood looking down at her for a moment, then walked to the window and raised it. "Let's let the storm in," he said, and then it was with them, filling the half-dark room with sound and vibration. The rain-chilled air washed over her, cool and fresh on her heated skin. She sighed, the small sound drowned out by the din of thunder and rain.
There by the window, with the dim grey light outlining the bulge and plane of powerful muscle, Wolf removed his wet clothing.”
This starts off a steamy sex scene. Storms, rain, and sex, they all just go together like peanut butter and jelly for me :)
Prisoner by Annika Martin and Skye Warren
The prisoner glances over his shoulder. His mocking brown gaze searches me out, pins me with a subtle threat. Though it isn’t his eyes that scare me. It’s his lips—those beautiful, generous lips forming words that make my blood race. Ms. Winslow. No sound comes out, but I feel as though he’s whispered my name right into my ear. Then he turns and strolls off.
The first "meeting" between our lead couple, it starts off the dangerous, forbidden, and naughty hot relationship that continues throughout the book.
Consumed By Fire by Anne Stuart
Our lead couple's first sex scene, it's in the shower and definitely shouldn't be read in public, unless you're ready for some curious looks.
That Man of Mine by Maria Geraci
"How do you know how far Rusty's cousin's cabin is from here?"
The mood had now shifted from deathly quiet to deathly tense. Thick with something in the air that Mimi's lungs couldn't quite breathe in. "I...looked it up on a Facebook map," she admitted. He didn't say anything, so she felt the need to clarify. "I guess...I just wanted to know where you were at night."
He stared at her. "You want to know where you are every night?" he asked solemnly.
"Me? Here in my house?" she said, feeling confused. Because where else would she be?
He picked up her hand and placed it against his chest. She could feel the slow but steady beat of his heart against her palm.
"You're right here with me, Mimi. Every single damn night we've been apart, you've been right here with me.
The Dark Lady by Maire Claremont
The first five chapters. The beginning of this book was dark, Gothic, and vastly intriguing.
Winner:
It was a very close race between this and the Dearest Rogue scene but gah, just thinking about this epilogue (the two characters Rourke and Shane have a very dangerous air about them and rumored to be with the mob. In the epilogue they have a fairly threatening moment with who looks to be their future heroines, The tension, danger and sexual, blew me away) makes me feel deranged with how bad I want to read these two characters books.
2014 Winner:
Have a favorite scene from 2015 that still sticks with you?
Next time, Favorite Quote....