'Heart of Gold' by J.R. Ward writing as Jessica Bird

From the BLURB:

She has a chance to find something more precious than gold, if she’s brave enough to trust her heart. . . .

Her intense passion for unlocking the secrets of the past is what made Carter Wessex an archaeologist. Now she’s been given a chance to dig on Farrell Mountain where a doomed party of minutemen lost their lives—as well as the gold they were carrying during the Revolutionary War. Carter refuses to let the mountain’s owner, Nick Farrell, rattle her, even though she’s all too aware of his sexy yet sardonic presence. Her work on the mountain could be the most significant find of her career . . . if she can pull herself away from the smoldering attraction that is undeniably growing between them.

Beneath the steely façade Nick Farrell wears like a well-cut suit, he is a man of hidden tenderness. From his first meeting with Carter, there’s an immediate flare—hotter than he has ever experienced before. But no one is more surprised than Nick when his desire for her deepens into something enduring. Now Nick must find a way to convince Carter that the real treasure to be found on Farrell Mountain is a true and lasting love. . .

Carter Wessex has just had the dig of a lifetime dangled before her. A promising young archaeologist, Carter loves a good mystery and a challenge. But she’s going to get both, in spades, with Nick Farrell.

Nick owns a good parcel of land, including Farrell Mountain which, legend tells, is the final resting ground of Revolutionary War soldiers and the gold that got them killed. But Farrell, a renowned businessman, has never given permission for authorities to dig on his mountain. He has even gone so far as to chase money-grubbing archaeologists off his mountain, with the help of his gun-wielding grounds keeper.

But recent evidence has, illegally, come to light confirming that Farrell Mountain holds the key to a Revolutionary mystery and possible gold, and Carter Wessex is determined to dig.

Normally Nick Farrell would flat refuse any offers to dig on his mountain – but Carter Wessex is the estranged daughter of one of Nick’s business partners. Not to mention she’s also disarmingly beautiful, and not afraid to put Nick in his place. He is intrigued and willing to let Carter and her team dig on his mountain if it means getting to the mystery of her. . .

‘Heart of Gold’ was the 2003 stand-alone romance novel written by J.R. Ward (under the name Jessica Bird) which has recently been re-packaged (along with ‘Leaping Hearts’), following the crazy success of her paranormal ‘Black Dagger Brotherhood’ series.

Before the crux of the plot starts to unwind, Bird introduces readers to two fairly complicated individuals in Carter Wessex and Nick Farrell.

Carter is a smart and gutsy archaeologist, one of the youngest and most celebrated in her field. She can usually be found knee-deep in dirt, wearing tatty clothes and jet-setting all around the world – if only to avoid her estranged father’s pleading devotion. Carter and her father have not spoken since her mother’s death, and while we don’t know the reason for the prolonged silence, Carter is adamant that it’s all her father’s fault. When the gold on Farrell Mountain is dangled before Carter (though she’s far more interested in the bones of the Revolutionary soldiers) she is reluctant to follow the dig, for more than just the reasons of Nick’s infamous refusal to permit people on his mountain. She knows that Nick and her father probably travel in the same business circles, and she cringes at the idea of bumping into him. But the bones on Farrell Mountain call to her, and Carter takes a chance. . .

Nick Farrell, meanwhile, is at the end of this tether. His young sister died a few years ago, leaving Nick as the sole guardian of his teenage nephew, Cort. The boy has some medical problems and unaddressed issues concerning his parent’s death. But worst of all, Cort is a teenager and rebelling against his uncle seems to be his number one hobby at the moment. The two of them seem to constantly be at loggerheads, at a perpetual impasse. But when Nick decides to let Carter Wessex and her small team dig on his mountain, the experience of helping out on the dig opens Cort and Nick’s struggling relationship up and gives the boy a new purpose over the school holidays.

Nick’s motives for letting Carter dig are somewhat selfish. Yes, she is beautiful and feisty and he is intrigued – but Nick is also thinking of business prospects with her estranged father, if he can be the peace-maker that brings these two together again, surely the old man would owe Nick a favour or two. . .

She took a deep breath, wrapping her arms around her body. “So I’m supposed to believe you’ve asked around, read my curriculum vitae, and suddenly decided the sum of my virtues is sufficient to justify changing your mind? I don’t get it.”
“Perhaps conversions happen,” he murmured, “even in people like me.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“Maybe you just need to get to know me better. I could have a heart of gold under this gruff exterior.”
“That would be fool’s gold, no doubt.”
He laughed, a low, husky sound.

I bought this book on a whim – curious to read J.R. Ward when she was Jessica Bird and before her 'Black Dagger Brotherhood’ series. I read her ‘Moorehouse Legacy’ series and ‘The Billionaire Next Door’ book for the same reason, and got some enjoyment out of them.

‘Heart of Gold’ is just ‘okay’ by comparison. The entire storyline is pretty predictable from the blurb alone, and as far as the sexy stuff goes – this is probably the tamest Warden book I've read.

Carter and Nick’s romantic appeal rests in their sparking chemistry and witty parrying. It’s there, but it’s not particularly clever and reads sort of like paint-by-numbers for romantic conflict and tension.

Actually the most interesting thing about this book is reading the escalating drama, when a rival archaeologist called Conrad Lyst starts making trouble on the mountain, and threatening Carter. The storyline is as outlandish as it sounds, and I didn’t find it interesting so much for the cheesy plot-twists, but because I really started to see how Jessica Bird could be slowly drawn more towards the urban fantasy/paranormal romance side of things . . . I really felt like ‘Heart of Gold’ started out as a stock-standard romance. Rich millionaire who can’t commit is intrigued by a made-her-own-way millionaire’s daughter who likes to (literally) get down and dirty. For a little while Bird follows the suspected trajectory – but then she seemed to get a bit bored. She threw a spanner in the works with Conrad Lyst, and suddenly there were threats and kidnappings. The plot just seemed to suddenly explode into this completely different action book. With the BDB series in the back of my mind, I thought I could definitely see why the more outlandish paranormal romance genre would appeal to the Warden – because I truly felt like she wanted to stay with the fast-paced and dangerous kidnapping/action plot for longer.

All in all ‘Heart of Gold’ is so-so. If you’re reading this hoping to fill the ‘Black Dagger Brotherhood’ void between releases, you’ll probably be disappointed. This is thoroughly contemporary romance, and while the Warden (as Bird) herself seemed to be a bit over the strictly lovey-dovey stuff, judging by the sudden careening action plot-twist, fans of her paranormal work will probably just be bored. As a contemporary romance it’s okay – not great, not terrible, but if this had been my first encounter with Jessica Bird I probably wouldn’t have been moved to read through her backlist.

2.5/5

'A Man in a Million' Moorehouse Legacy #4 by Jessica BIRD (J.R. WARD)

From the BLURB:

As far as bad boy Spike Moriarty was concerned, Madeline Maguire defined female perfection. When they'd met, she'd walked up as if she wasn't the most gorgeous thing on the planet and asked to see his tattoos. He--a tough guy who'd make grown men run--had just about passed out. But their connection was definitely one-way…it had to be. Because he could never be the man in a million she was looking for, not with the things he'd done and seen. So for as long as she'd let him, he'd give her whatever she wanted. He'd worry about her walking away when it happened.

How’s this for persuading J.R. Ward fans to get stuck into the ‘Moorehouse Legacy’ series…. In the 4th book, ‘A Man in a Million’, the hero (Spike Moriarty) is a confirmed ancestor to Blackdagger Brother’s; Zsadist and Phury!
That’s right – Spike has yellow eyes and a harmless penchant for biting – and J.R. Ward confirmed on her ‘Jessica Bird’ chat board that he is indeed intended to be ancestor to the BDB twins! Yowza!

Spike’s story bares a small resemblance to Zsadist and Bella’s. The similarity comes from the fact that Spike has a checkered past that he’s reluctant to share with his heroine, Madeline. Whereas Zsadist hid his sexual abuse, Spike is hiding the fact that he’s an ex-con – convicted of manslaughter at the age of 24.

I loved Spike. He’s a tattooed biker and tough as nails sous chef – but the actions of his past have clearly impacted him and he’s a very humble and wise leading man.

Madeline is one of J.R. Ward’s more interesting leading ladies. Madeline steps onto the page with plenty of spark, personality and problems to boot. She is a very fleshed out character and intriguing to read – she’s a supermarket heiress, but her family life has left her deeply scarred. Her father was a perfectionist; her half-brother a tyrant in the making and her half-sister used sex as a means to hurt others (and she hurt Madeline by sleeping with at least two of her ex-boyfriends). Madeline crewed on Alex Moorehouse’s sailing boat, and earned the nickname ‘Mad Dog’ for her adventurous spirit. But on land she is a very introverted, cautious young woman who struggles in social situations and has never had a real romantic connection with a man.

Spike’s gentle-giant and Madeline’s delicate-tomboy make for a very compelling romance. Not only do these two heat up the page (having sex on Spike’s Harley, for instance) they are also really very sweet;

She touched his face. “You look hungry.”
“I am.” His voice was low, hoarse. “And I feel like I should apologize for it.”
“Don’t.” She put her mouth on his. “I’m hungry too.”
With those quiet words, it was as if she’d popped the lid off of him. His arms shot around her and he spread his legs wide so he could get her into his hips. He was almost out of time and she was everything hot and good and sustaining in the world.

‘A Man in a Million’ is the last instalment in Jessica Bird’s ‘Moorehouse Legacy’, and it’s a great way to cap-off the wonderful journey. Sure, the book occasionally veers into cheesy ‘lovey-dovey’ territory, but that’s just a case of Bird writing for her Harlequin audience who thrive on such honey.

I would highly recommend these books for anyone who enjoys the romance in her Blackdagger Brotherhood series. Ward’s Jessica Bird romance’s are just as steamy as the Brother’s HEA’s, minus a heavy plot concerning good guys vs. bad guys.

4/5

'From the First' Moorehouse Legacy #3 by Jessica BIRD (J.R. Ward)

From the BLURB:

All Alex could see was her long, thick, copper-colored hair. Pale smooth skin. Lips that were naturally tinted pink. Eyes that were green like sea grass.

He stopped himself. His best friend Reese might be dead. But in Alex's mind, Cassandra was still very much the man's wife.

Cassandra. The forbidden woman Alex had yearned for from the first moment he'd laid eyes on her six years ago. The woman who'd been married to his best friend--the friend he'd lost to the sea. The woman who was rebuilding his family's bed-and-breakfast...and who just might, in the process, be rebuilding his anguished heart.

This third installment of Jessica Bird’s ‘Moorehouse Legacy’ series had the biggest ‘will they or won’t they’ storyline thus far. In book #1 ‘Beauty and the Black Sheep’, eldest Moorehouse Alex was in a sailing accident that killed his best friend, Reese, and left his wife, Cassandra, a widow. Alex’s survivor’s guilt is made worse by the fact that for the six years Reese and Cassandra were married, Alex had a rip-roaring crush on her that slowly evolved into unrequited love.
Cassandra was wholly unaware of Alex’s romantic struggles – she interpreted his restraint as feelings of hatred, and has never understood why Reese’s best friend thought she was such an inconvenient third wheel.

Now, months after Reese’s death, Cassandra is contracted to do a fixer-upper on the Moorehouse Mansion – putting her back in Alex’s life… only this time there’s nothing but his guilt standing in the way of romance.

Alex and Cassandra are hot. Alex’s unrequited love for his best friend’s wife adds a real element of spice to their relationship – even more so since Reese is dead, Alex is feeling the sting of two-sided guilt. It makes for some hot pent-up frustration on Alex’s part.

He rolled over and punched his pillow. The sheets shifting against his arousal made his jaw clench, and when he arched his back to try and release some tension, the heat rose even further. He pictured her lying beneath his naked body, her red hair in a wild tumble over his pillow, her skin so soft against his. He imagined being joined with her, going deep and sliding free only to plunge in again. He felt her grabbing on to his back as he drove his hips, heard his name on her lips as she climaxed.
Afterward, he saw himself holding her and watching her fall asleep.

My one complaint is the fact that early on in ‘From the First’ we learn that Reese had cheated on Cassandra throughout their six years of marriage. Furthermore, Cassandra was aware of his adultery but never confronted him about it. We discover that while she and Reese were great friends, Cassandra never felt passion in their marriage, and wasn’t really in love or satisfied with Reese. I think this is a bit of a cop-out; and it would have raised the stakes between Alex and Cass if she had been devoted to and thoroughly in love with Reese.

I’m still on a winning streak with Jessica Bird’s series. Not one of the ‘Moorehouse Legacy’ books has disappointed me yet. I really can’t recommend these books enough – they have all the romance elements we’ve come to expect from a J.R. Ward book, minus heavy action plot.

4/5

'His Comfort and Joy' Moorehouse Legacy #2 by Jessica BIRD (J.R. Ward)

From the BLURB:

Getting tangled up in fantasies about some man Joy saw maybe five or six times a year was ridiculous.

And it wasn't like Gray ever encouraged her. He remembered her name. But that was as far as it ever got. Well, except in her dreams. In real life, however, the attraction was totally one-sided.

Or so she thought. Joy couldn't believe it when her daydreams about Grayson Bennett, political consultant and heartthrob extraordinaire, seemed poised to become reality. When he noticed her--really noticed her. When he gazed at her with the same desire he'd inspired in her for years. But was sweet, small-town Joy a match for arrogant, big-city Gray, ruthless about all things--except opening his heart?

This is the second book in Jessica Bird’s (J.R. Ward’s) ‘Moorehouse Legacy’ series. This book concerns youngest Moorehouse sibling, Joy, and the man she’s loved since she was a little girl – Gray Bennett.

Gray is a political analyst and belongs to the wealthiest family in town. He’s been periodically returning home to the Adirondack Mountains a couple of times a year for as long as Joy can remember. And for just as long Joy has been in love with him.

Gray was totally unaware of Joy’s infatuation, until last summer (in the book ‘Beauty and the Black Sheep’) when he noticed Joy grew up. A bikini-covered encounter led Gray to realize that the little girl he once watched ride her bike, pigtails swinging, has grown into a beautiful young woman. So begins his infatuation…

Gray is just the kind of leading man J.R. Ward excels in writing. He had a somewhat fractured childhood – forced to watch his mother’s adulterous hijinks and his politician father’s stoic acceptance of his wife’s cheating. As a result, Gray has a skewed view of marriage and monogamy – not helped by his job on Capitol Hill which has him witness the many adulterous affairs that make and break political careers. Gray is innately distrusting of women and jaded about romance in general.

Joy Moorehouse is likewise just the kind of female savior J.R. Ward loves to pair with her troubled men. She has been pining after Gray since she was a little girl, and has even remained a virgin until the age of 27 purely because no other man could compare to Mr. Bennett. Joy is sweet, nurturing, loyal and a complete contradiction to Gray.

The romance is quite sweet, partly because it was beautifully set up in book #1 ‘Beauty and the Black Sheep’. Even though it’s quite predictable, it is still interesting to watch 47-year-old Gray Bennett lose his heart to sweet, virginal 27-year-old Joy Moorehouse. The good news is that with this romance Jessia Bird comes closer to mimicking the sex scenes of J.R. Ward – she gets more graphic than she did in ‘Black Sheep’ and the smut is smoldering. The downside to the Gray/Joy romance is a LOT of back-and-forth “I want you but I can’t be with you, I love you but I can’t say it…” that gets a little old and repetitive, not to mention frustrating.

But when Gray and Joy aren’t denying their feelings, their romance is really quite sweet and endearing;

“You’re so beautiful right now,” he said in a guttural voice. “You take my damned breath away.”

He couldn’t help himself. He put his mouth on hers, swallowing her sigh of satisfaction. But as much as it killed him, he kept the kiss light.

“I want you. Never doubt that,” he said. “All you have to do is look at me and I’m hard, ready, starved. I can’t remember what it’s like not to ache.”

Bird once again beautifully sets up the next storyline for eldest brother, Alex Moorehouse. There are just enough tidbits to tantalize, but not so much that it detracts from the central romance of Joy and Gray.

I love this series; it’s all the best bits of J.R. Ward but in a contemporary romance.

3.5/5

Moorehouse Legacy #1 - 'Beauty and the Black Sheep'

'Beauty and the Black Sheep' by Jessica BIRD (J.R. WARD)

From the BLURB:

The force of those eyes hit Frankie Moorehouse like a gust of wind.

But she quickly reminded herself that she had dinner to get ready, the staff of White Caps B&B (such as it was) to motivate. She didn't have the luxury of staring into a stranger's face.

Although, jeez, what a face it was.

And wasn't it just her luck that the owner of that face, Nate Walker - with his rebel attitude and distaste for authority - was the chef her restaurant desperately needed, and he was staying for the summer...

And...it was a bit too tempting to let this breath of fresh air sweep her off her feet. Because all work and no play had been Frankie's motto for much too long!

This is Jessica Bird’s (aka J.R. Ward’s) first book in the Mills & Boon ‘Moorehouse Legacy’ series (four books in total). The Moorehouse Legacy refers to a family estate in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. In its hey-day the Moorehouse Mansion was the pinnacle of the Moorehouse families success. But decades have past and the mansion, now the Moorehouse B&B, belongs to siblings Frankie, Joy and Alex. They inherited the house after their parents died in a sailing accident. Alex, the eldest son vanished soon after his parent’s death to pursue professional sailing. Frankie, second eldest, gave up a dream of studying business and moving to New York in order to run the B&B and support her youngest sister, Joy and their senile grandmother Grand-Em. The house is falling apart and Frankie’s behind on her mortgage payments and her chef has just quit.

Enter Nathaniel Walker. In a twist of fate Nate’s car breaks down not far from the B&B and he knocks on the back door and enters into a scene of complete chaos. After saving Frankie’s bacon, Nate offers to work at the Moorehouse B&B for six weeks.

If the whole premise sounds a little cheesy, that’s because it is. As the plot set up I was rolling my eyes a little bit at all the coincidences and happy circumstances – but it’s really only in the beginning that Bird asks you to suspend belief. Otherwise this is actually a pretty good Mills & Boon romance because the characters have real problems (monetary, unrequited love, death etc). The plot takes a few hard-nosed twists and turns that you wouldn’t expect to be so realistic in a Mills & Boon romance.

J.R. Ward (Jessica Bird) published this book the same year that ‘Dark Lover’ was released. There’s no sense of familiarity in ‘Beauty and the Black Sheep’, it is very different from J.R. Ward’s other books. The only consistency is in the male protagonist – she likes writing hero’s with shady pasts, some sort of trauma or ‘incident’ that affected them a great deal.

The sex scenes are the tamest of Ward’s I have ever read. There’s very little description and they only last a few paragraphs. This is about as graphic as it gets:

His body was taut over hers as he came back to her. She reached for his hips to pull him down, but he resisted, resting his forehead on hers. His breath was ragged.

“Frankie, look at me. I want to see your eyes.”

And then he sank into her body, filling her, stretching her. He was slow at first but then his thrusts gained power until she was climaxing again. As her body grabbed onto his, he went rigid, her name torn out of his throat.

Perhaps for that reason I didn’t really feel much spark between Frankie and Nate. Sure, they’re very sweet and clearly hot for each other – but it didn’t translate so much for me. In ‘Beauty and the Black Sheep’ other romances for future books are glimpsed – and I felt more excited (and sensed more sizzle) in those than I did in Frankie and Nate’s.

I didn’t love this book, but I really loved the set-up for future books. The previews of relationships for books #2, #3, and #4 had me very intrigued and eager to read more.

2.5/5

'The Billionaire next door' by Jessica BIRD (J.R. Ward)

From the BLURB:

Take-no-prisoners deal-maker Sean O'Banyon ate Wall Street financiers for lunch. So why was he losing sleep over a fresh-scrubbed nurse in old jeans and a too-big T-shirt? Maybe it was those warm green eyes. Or the way she blushed when he got personal. There was no denying the serious chemistry between them. But sooner or later Lizzie would learn his deep, dark secrets: First, he had trust issues. And second--he'd rather not go into the whole family thing.

He didn't do relationships…but amazingly, Lizzie made him want one anyway.

JR Ward (aka ‘Jessica Bird’) wrote ‘The billionaire next door’ in 2007, the same year that ‘Lover Revealed’ (Butch’s story) and ‘Lover Unbound’ (Vishous’s book) came out.

‘Billionaire next door’ definitely has all the romantic characteristics we’ve come to expect from JR Ward. Strong Alpha male with a fractured background. Angelic heroine who pulls the hero out of his drudgery. And of course, hot sex scenes. I wasn’t actually expecting such explicit sex because the book was published by Harlequin Silhouette, and for some reason I have this idea that Harlequin romance books are a little tame when it comes to the nitty gritty. The sex scenes aren’t as hot and heavy as they are in the ‘Blackdagger’ books (not so many dirty detailed descriptions – damn!) but they are sizzling and definitely add spark to Sean and Lizzie’s romance.

‘Billionaire next door’ reminded me quite strongly of Rehvenge’s book ‘Lover Avenged’. Rehvenge and Sean are both rich, successful Alpha males who had abusive childhoods. Elena and Lizzie are both nurses, currently experiencing tough financial times by being their single-parents soul providers – Elena’s father had a form of Alzheimer’s, while Lizzie’s mother has some sort of mental disability. For a good portion of the book Sean keeps secret his true career and financial success from Lizzie, for a plethora of reasons – just as Rehvenge kept quiet about his being a nightclub owner (among other shady dealings). And if all those parallels aren’t enough, check out this romantic exchange between Sean and Lizzie that reminded me so strongly of Rehvenge’s sweet “to me, you will always have diamonds on the soles of your shoes” line:

“Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” he said into her hair.

She chuckled a little. “This jeans and T-shirt combo isn’t exactly Miss America-worthy.”

He held on even harder. “The hell they aren’t. To me, whatever you have on is a ball gown.”

She stiffened, but then eased back into him. “You scare me when you say things like that.”

“Why?”

“I’m afraid I’ll start believing them.”

He pulled back and looked her in the eye. “Believe them, Lizzie. Trust me and believe them.”

There is a small nod to the ‘Blackdagger Brotherhood’ during one of Sean’s childhood flashbacks. He mentions that growing up his father wasn’t much of a cook, and so Sean and his brothers relied on the kindness of his best friends mother. The best friend in question was one Butch O’Neal. Has to be the same cop turned vampire, right? Butch is a Southie boy who had a big family – and Sean mentions that Butch was one of five kids. Reading that small Blackdagger reference had me doing a little fan-girl squeal.

I really, really liked this book. It has all the best aspects of the Blackdagger Brotherhood, minus intense plot, heavy action and heroes vs. villains. It’s just romance – boy meets girl and everything that ensues.

Perhaps the only negative thing about the book is the fact that it beautifully sets up a series (subsequent books intended to tell the story of Sean’s older brother, Mick and younger brother, Billy) that by all accounts JR Ward has no real intention of continuing. It’s a real shame because there is plenty of potential here – but rumour on the chat boards is that since the ‘Blackdagger’ books blew up, Ward put the ‘O’Banyon Brothers’ on the backburner indefinitely.

But ‘Jessica Bird’ did write an earlier series for Harlequin, the ‘Moorehouse Legacy’ series has 4 books, and I intend to read all of them because I was so impressed with ‘The Billionaire next door’.

5/5