The Dark Side of Desire (Paperback) by Michelle Reid

Synopsis:
She could run . . . but she couldn't hide.

No longer the shattered teenager who had left Thornley vowing never to return, Rebecca Shaw had come to terms with the legacy of Jay Lorence's betrayal and had built a new life on HER terms. But her mother needed her now--and nothing could keep Rebecca from going home.

Ten years melted in Jay's embrace; his kiss reopened old wounds and ignited forgotten temptations. Every instinct warned her to run before her hard-worked-for peace and stability came crashing down.

Rebecca had a new life--one she had no intention of letting Jay invade. But keeping a man like Jay at arm's length was next to impossible--especially when it wasn't what she really wanted to do.


Review: 
Rating: 5 stars
I usually hate abandoned-baby-shocked-father stories but this one works on so many different levels - First of all, its an honest book - The real issue b/w the H/H is the social classification of the society and then the story is very mature ( but not boring) - You can pretty much tell how the hero is feeling right from the start (and no he's not giving mixed signals and he doesn't rip the heroine apart like nobody's business) - not that he's not angry at her but its an anger that I can understand (as does the heroine, I might add) - the dialog from their child is well placed and very apt

The last recommendation I can give it is this: I read this book 10 years ago and reading it now, I still feel the gut-wrenching ache that I did initially....


Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.
Goodreads link if you want to add it to your shelf: Dark Side of Desire

Dark Fire (Too Hot to Handle, #4) (Harlequin Presents, #1735) by Robyn Donald

Synopsis:

Dancing with the devil...

"You're certainly not in love with Paul. Because you want to go to bed with me." Devilish words indeed. But what made Flint Jansen so arrogantly assume that Aura would choose him over Paul--his friend and Aura's warm and loyal fiance? From the moment they met, he had shattered Aura's world. It was true, she found him undeniably attractive, overwhelmingly charismatic. So much so that she now faced a battle with her conscience and with Flint; both demanded that she abandon security and her fiance. She had to cancel the wedding--but could she entrust herself to Flint's dark seduction...?

Rating: 3 stars
First things first: Please keep in mind that I’m a lil dazed and confused from reading too many HQNs (either that or I’m high on tea/caffeine which is plausible) and that my review is totally biased. Ready? Here we go:
1-"You're certainly not in love with Paul. Because you want to go to bed with me." Okay Mr. Wise-guy: I got three words for ya: WHAT THE F***???? HOW DARE YOU? (ok, so that’s 6 words, I don’t care!)
2- Ohlala the heroine is so beautiful, birds chirp when they see her, people tumble over when they gaze at her, yadda yadda…um, cliché much?
3- H is a jack-ass (also known as an alpha-male in some circles).
4- ‘Oh, you feel that? Feel how you burn for me…you biotch, you who**, you…..!’ Um…dude’s got serious anger management/control issues.
5…..you know what? I’m exhausted (both by reading this book and writing these angest filled-thoughts) – Add to that the fact that the temperature was 45+ degrees today so my brain’s just about fried and I’m about ready to charge at someone (preferably the h)[ Edit: The Ending chapter is quite off-the-charts (in a good way) and the ending was mature but I hate it that the authors have to conform to the typical, blackmail/pregnancy/martyr guidelines  to make the stories work :(]
Can’t believe 2 of my fave HQNs (a willing surrender and I-can’t-remember-the-name-of-the-other-one-for-the-life-of-me-right-now) were written by RD