Review and Giveaway! "Hellion in Her Bed"

To celebrate the release day of Sabrina Jeffries' new book, I have my review plus a fun contest for an ARC and a deck of cards!

"Hellion in Her Bed"
by Sabrina Jeffries

Publisher: Pocket Star
Pub Date: Oct 21, 2010

Source: ARC sent from publicist in exchange for honest review

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review:
Annabel Lake was taking the last desperate steps to save her family brewery from ruin. Her brother was too drunk to take care of the business anymore. Annabel took her best ale to Plumtree Brewery to propose a partnership. She knew the woman in charge would look at her as an equal. However, she didn't expect to find the woman's grandson in charge instead. Jarett Sharpe had the reputation of a wastrel gambler, could she trust him to save her brewery? Or more importantly, could she trust him with her heart?

I thought the brewery storyline was very interesting and new. I liked the author's note that many women really were brewers at that time, when most women weren't really accepted in most jobs.

I loved that Jarrett always treated Annabel as an equal in business. He never condescended her or made less of her business decisions because she was a woman. This was probably because he was used to his grandmother running his family's brewery. It was very refreshing to see the man and woman on equal footing in the workplace, something that's difficult to achieve even now.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as Jeffries' other novels, but it was still a fun story. I liked Jarrett, but I didn't love him. I like a guy who tells his lady how he feels instead of hiding it all the time. I liked that Jarett was a gambler, but his wagers with Annabel were a little predictable in the direction that they took.

Annabel was a little too martyr-ish for me. Giving up all of her happiness because of one mistake a long time ago when she was very young, when there were ways to overcome the obstacle and family more than willing to help her balance everything.

My favorite part of the book was when Jarrett was stying with Annabel and her family, and they convinced him to sing. His singing voice was terrible and he hadn't sung anything since his family told him he was awful. But with Annabel's family, he was comfortable enough to be himself, even showing his less than likeable traits.


Main Characters: 4/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5
Setting: 5/5 Romance: 4/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 4/5

Bottom Line: A fun historical romance, and I really liked the unique brewery setting and the equal business partnership that the main characters had.

GIVEAWAY RULES:

I have a special promotional deck of cards AND my gently read ARC copy of "Hellion in Her Bed" for one lucky reader!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and leave a comment on this review with your email address!

Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :) Also, if you aren't comfortable leaving your email here, go ahead and leave a comment and then send me an email with your email addy.

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• Ends Friday Oct 1
  

Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!