[Review] In Bed with the Opposition

Title: In Bed with the Opposition
Author: Stephanie Draven
Date Published: August 15, 2012
Genre: Romance, Chick-Lit
Rating: 4/5

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"You're smart and sexy. You're prudent and courageous. You're a good girl and a bad girl. You're a waffle girl and a Napoleon cake girl. I've told you before that you can have it all. You don't have to put yourself in a box, Grace, because you're already the whole package." -Ethan Castle

Review:
A pleasant mix of a quirky heroine, a witty Casanova on a mission to win her heart, and their head-to-head banter which only brings out their undeniably sizzling chemistry together in the middle of political crosshairs. If these aren't the perfect ingredients for a no-hassle and feel-good romance story, I don't know what is!

Stephanie Draven brought out a fresh twist to the phrase 'good girl gone bad' in a pleasantly endearing way that makes you appreciate your own quirks. And she did this in the form of the heroine Grace Santiago. I mean, who doesn't love a heroine with a knack for pumpkin-printed bras?

Every once in a while, it's nice to take a break from the slew of mystery books which tickle the mind and pique the curiosity, and settle for something less complicated. Stephanie Draven's In Bed with the Opposition is exactly just that - a less complicated and sexy romance story. It's the perfect book to choose when you're looking for a quick read, romance story to lift your mood.

- ~ x o O o x ~ -

The Author:
Stephanie Draven is currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies. She lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.

Stephanie has always been a storyteller. In elementary school, she channeled Scheherazade, weaving a series of stories to charm children into sitting with her each day at the lunch table. When she was a little older, Stephanie scared all the girls at her sleepovers with ghost stories.

She should have known she was born to hold an audience in her thrall, but Stephanie resisted her writerly urges and graduated from college with a B.A. in Government. Then she went to Law School, where she learned how to convincingly tell the tallest tales of all!

A longtime lover of ancient lore, Stephanie enjoys re-imagining myths for the modern age. She doesn’t believe that true love is ever simple or without struggle so her work tends to explore the sacred within the profane, the light under the loss and the virtue hidden in vice. She counts it amongst her greatest pleasures when, from her books, her readers learn something new about the world or about themselves.

Stephanie also writes historical fiction as Stephanie Dray and has a series of forthcoming novels from Berkley Books featuring Cleopatra’s daughter.

[ARC Batch 01] Fresh From the Mail!

Title: In Bed with the Opposition
Author: Stephanie Draven
Publication Date: August 15, 2012

Teaser:
What happens when a good girl decides to play dirty?

Armed with a sassy haircut, a sharp wit, and a personal list of rules for all life’s exigencies, Grace Santiago is a fiercely loyal Senate staffer who has everything under control. At least until famous political pundit Ethan Castle walks back into her life. Grace hasn’t forgotten their disastrous affair in law school, but she can’t resist his bad boy charm.

When Grace learns that Ethan has been hired as a political gunslinger for the other side, her loyalties—and her heart—are torn in two. Though their sexual chemistry can’t be denied, they find themselves locked in political combat. Ethan believes that all is fair in love and war, but he won’t throw the election—not even to win Grace’s heart. So what can a good girl like Grace do, but learn to play dirty?

Two candidates. One election. May the best man—or woman—win!

- ~ x o O o x ~ -

Title: Exposure
Author: Kim Askew & Amy Helmes

Publication Date: January 18, 2013

Teaser:

Double, double, toil, and trouble!

The quest for high-school royalty can turn deadly when teen ambition outstrips reason. Skye Kingston is a shy shutterbug who prefers observing life from behind her camera lens. She doesn't know she's stunning, and comes off the sidelines only when she's forced to by the terrifying events of one treacherous school year in Alaska. A boy named Duncan is dead, and his death may or may not be an accident. Skye's three new best friends are eerily able to foretell the future, and cheerleader Beth might be more than a social climber—she quite probably is a sociopath. Then there's Skye's growing attraction to the school hottie, Craig, The Boy Who Would Be Prom King. But their time is crossed by fate. There's already been one death, and who can say if it's only the first? As Skye falls for Craig, she also slowly realizes that he is caught in the crosshairs of a deadly plot. Can she save Craig and herself from a murderous fate? Exposure is not only a modern take on the classic Macbeth, it's proof that nothing has changed since Shakespeare riffed on the subject nearly half a millennium ago: the quest for power can lead to bloodstained hands.

- ~ x o O o x ~ -

Title: Tempestuos

Author: Kim Askew & Amy Helmes

December 18, 2012

Teaser:

After a mistake with big financial consequences topples her throne, former "it girl" Miranda Prospero is bitter: she finds herself stranded in a crazed new world, holding court among geeks and misfits at a mall Hot Dog Kabob stand. Then, she gets her chance for revenge. When the storm of the decade snows in the mall workers and last-minute shopaholics for a long winter's night, Miranda sets out to get back at the catty clique who was behind her exile. But there's a complication. She somehow gets handcuffed to sullen loner Caleb. With him (literally) bound to her side, Miranda learns more in one night about her own heart, and human nature, than she ever did as prep royalty. With this twisted take on Shakespeare's The Tempest, authors Kim Askew and Amy Helmes prove again that, from Juliet's grief to Cordelia's rage, no one knew about teen angst better than the Bard. His wisdom holds up nearly half a millennium later.

- ~ x o O o x ~ - 

Title: The Birth of Vengeance
Author: P.A. Ross
Publication Date: May 28, 2012

Teaser:

Jonathan Harper is an innocent teenager who is harassed by bullies all his life. Jon finds love, but bullies beat him and humiliate him worse than ever.

During a seemingly chance encounter with a beautiful imprisoned vampire, Jon is offered a vampire formula that works for just one night. He can have his revenge.

On the run with the vampire, his path of vengeance forces him into a decision, the life of a vampire with his new companion, or a normal life back with his girlfriend? He must decide. Is he night or day, dark or light, vampire or human?

- ~ x o O o x ~ -

We are officially in business, baby!

I'm so excited to share the above titles of the books I am set to read and review for the month of October. The authors and publishers were kind enough to give me electronic copies of their books, so more new titles for me to read! 

I can't wait to post the reviews! Hopefully, I get to finish reading them all without delay!

NOTE: ARC stands for Advance Reader's Copy