Published by Bastei Entertainment, April-Nov 2015, £1.49-3.79, 50-250 pages.

Steam?- Oh boy, hold onto your hat.

Ho hoho…  when was my last post? Well I have a good excuse. The fireplace in the Instagram below is a glimpse of my new flat in the city. I will take some more pics once the mayhem clears. What’s it like to move during the Christmas season?- well we don’t have plates, but we have Guitar Hero- pretty much sums it up.

But I bring you tidings in the form of three books! The Colours of Love series is published by a really young ‘Bastei Entertainment’, which branches off as a digital department from the German based ‘Bastei Lubbe’. It focuses on young e-readers. I think it hit the nail with this totally hot new series and I am going to be banging on about them to those unfortunate to stumble across my social feed. I am so pleased I found out about Bastei and about Kathryn Taylor, who kindly agreed to do an interview with me about romance writing. Check it out to hear more about what goes behind her steamy scenes and tips for aspiring authors!

But firstly, what I think:

If you are a fellow blogger and you also saw the book promoted by netgalley- and you also like even a hint of romance- I’d say request request! This book is perfect for cold nights in, travelling (although it might get fairly awkward during certain chapters), and just generally when you want a mind-chill, y’know when you want to take a break from reading Heidegger…

Here are the plots for all three instalments:

Unbound: Grace is young and has led a sheltered life. She hasn’t yet taken much of an interest in men. It’s only while doing an internship in London, where she meets the alluring Jonathan Huntington, that our sleeping beauty is awoken from her slumber. Jonathan is rich, incredibly attractive, and stems from British royalty – but he is a far cry from Prince Charming. He lures Grace ever deeper into his world of sinister passion, and she is sucked further and further into the maelstrom of her own growing desires. But when Jonathan demands she do the unthinkable to prove her love for him, she realizes just how dangerous her feelings for him are.

Uncovered: She’s fallen for him – hook, line, and sinker. Grace knows exactly how dangerous her feelings for Jonathan Huntington are, but her love for him nevertheless grows stronger each day she spends near him. Is he really as indifferent as he seems? Does Jonathan only see her as a willing plaything? When Grace tries to force him into showing his true colors, it leads to disaster …

Unleashed: Like a fairy-tale, it should have been so wonderful: after a year of marriage, Grace Huntington still experiences undreamt-of passionate bliss. But stubborn doubts keep eating away at her. Despite the many happy moments when she feels close to Jonathan, sometimes he seems just as inscrutable as he did at the start. And now she has something to confess, something she knows will put an enormous strain on their relationship.

So yeah it sounds very 50 shady. And when you start off reading it you may, like I did, think, is this a little lame? Young intern at a massive company has an instant connection to a CEO called ‘Huntington’, who by-the-way happens to be a member of the aristocracy… er okay… Even by my standards I was a little skeptical. But I gave it a whirl, nada regrets and you should too. No small plots, only small characters…

Grace’s character really starts to blossom as someone quite sweet, clever, brave and sensitive. I became quite attached to her aspirations, desires and vulnerable thoughts, mostly concerning Jonathan. The two make a good pair. Jonathan starts off as a bit of an enigma, bordering on creepy really. But he really does un-creep in the sequel, that’s when the story really does kick it up a notch. The first book is purely attraction and tension- I mean it’s got the heaviest scenes I’ve read in romance so far… It also had a few darker moments that was a little rough for me. But I think the book overall is tasteful. Kathryn has succeeded building up the characters first, then introduces love second.

Uncovered addresses the relationship, brings out complexities and really lets us into Jonathan life and history. We begin to understand why he appears so distant and brusque. But Grace helps him to open up and resolve issues that have been buried since childhood. You also have to hand it to the author for keeping a relationship exciting for longer than two books. I have read so many sequels where there is too much starting and stopping, and it just gets boring really. This movement was kept to a bare minimum here and the author is very inventive… you’ll see what I mean 😉

I also loved the secondary characters: Annie, Jonathan’s family- very adorable and really brings out the world they all live in.

Unleashed: I would point out that the final book is only 50 pages, so it’s more like a long epilogue- in case you were expecting a big finale. I personally would have preferred another standard size book as well. But mainly because I have become attached to the couple. Unleashed brings some unresolved issues closure and rounds everything up really. A nice little surprise at the end as well!

I cannot wait for Kathryn’s next creation. To sum it up: get this, I can assure you that nothing bad will come of reading this. If you can’t get a review copy, its sooo affordable.

Thanks so much Bastei for my copy!

Happy holidays everyone, may this season bring you joy with your loved ones. Wrap up warm and get ready for more reading in 2016…

Still in the zone? Read my interview with Kathryn where she shares the deets on romance writing.