Review: HOT & HEAVY by Sandra Hill

I think the old cover is HOTTER than the new. :-)

Viking II Time-travel– VIKINGS in the modern world!
Avon

Since the disappearance of Madrene Olgadottir's family, she has had to fend for herself. She was doing a pretty good job of it too, until a neighboring enemy captured her and sold her into a harem. As she is trying to escape a harem, things really start to get interesting, unbeknownst to her, she is thrown ten centuries into the future.

Lt. Ian MacLean mistakes Madrene for his enemy's mistress, but when that is quickly corrected, he finds he cannot so easily detach himself from the quirky, quarrelsome woman. And soon discovers that he just might not want to.

*****

Hot & Heavy is peppered with Sandra Hill's signature humor. She has the knack of making the corniest phrases funny and she keeps the story hot. I loved how she had Maddie interpreting her experiences and the everyday objects, that were so new to her. 
 

New cover...not as sexy.

I really enjoyed Ian and Maddie's story, as they both had so much to learn from each other. They each had to face culture shocks, obvious for Maddie, who had just jumped across the lines of time, and Ian had to acclimate himself to living with her. I enjoyed their sexual tension and the way they steamed the pages up when they finally caved to their wants. 
 
It was great when Maddie found out that her family had also time-traveled, and she was able to reunite with them. And I loved revisiting with old friends. As always, I'm looking forward to what ever Sandra Hill has coming next...which I hear is going to be a mix of Viking Vampire Angels—in the modern times. Hmmm, it's definitely and original combination, I can't wait to see what she does with it.

New Review: NO PROPER LADY by Isabel Cooper

Time-Travel / Paranormal / Historical (Victorian England 1888)

Sourcebooks Casablanca

 

Determined to keep demons from destroying her world, Joan travels back in time to Victorian England, where it all began.  She plans to seek out and destroy the magician, Alex Reynell, responsible for their release.

When the strange woman appears before Simon Grenville, he is startled by her peculiar garb and weapons, though he quickly learns they share a common enemy. The man who was once his best friend, until he let power get to his head and nearly killed his sister with a demon possession. 

Can Joan and Simon defeat Alex and save the world?

*****

Isabel Cooper's debut release NO PROPER LADY, consisted of very strong and solidly constructed characters in a vivid backdrop. I liked and felt we got to know Joan, Simon and his sister Eleanor very well, we also got an excellent picture of Victorian England. Unfortunately though, there was such limited interaction with Alex and what was shown of him I felt fell very flat.  I was more apathetic about his character than any other feeling like the hate or dislike that I should have felt for his despicable actions.

I anticipated more action and fighting throughout this book, but the story just moved soooooo slowly. There was so much time spent on Joan learning to integrate into society and her amazement with day to day life that I became bored.  I could have been reading any historical romance, with a few little twists of magic and demons sprinkled in.

I could feel the spark between Joan and Simon, but things just seemed to fizzle more than burst into flame. There was no real passion in the pages of this book other than between those two. I know that Joan, Simon and Eleanor had strong feelings about the situation with Alex and the future, but it never really came through where I felt an emotional grip of the characters and situations. There was no great anticipation for the turn of events.  Something would happen, but the build up was weak and it would just seem to happen.  Except during the last battle, I was on the edge of my seat as I read through the final fight, as it seemed like the worst could happen.

Because of the solid characters and strong portrayal of the surroundings, I will read Ms. Cooper's next book, mainly because Joan, Eleanor and Simon were engaging, and I think that there is great potential for her to improve her storytelling.

Rating: 3