Customer Reviews

Any Way You Want It

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Washington DC based Maggie Gallagher is an expert on the lives of dead composers; her love life is as dead as those musicians she studies. Her current work is to authenticate a recently found sonata allegedly written by early nineteenth century composer Renauldo D'Antoni. Meanwhile she takes a break from her beloved yet tedious work as she and some friends go to New Orleans on a vacation. While visiting the grave of a voodoo priestess, Maggie quietly wishes for a heated encounter.

Later that same night, Maggie hears the last thing she expected coming from some French Quarter dive. Someone is playing the sonata she is investigating, which makes no sense as her preliminary information is that this is a lost treasure just recently rediscovered. Normally quite reticent, Maggie meets keyboardist Ren Anthony, who is the leader of the `80s style band the Impalers. She interrogates him about the sonata and he remains elusive in his responses. However, neither can ignore the attraction, but he knows that relationships don't survive as the women he has loved since being born as Renauldo D'Antoni in 1785 die; immortals like him live forever in loneliness.

ANYWAY YOU WANT IT is an entertaining lighthearted paranormal romantic romp. The story line centers on whether Maggie can persuade Ren that he only has fangs for her. Vampire romance fans will enjoy the romance between the immortal composer and the human musicologist.

Harriet Klausner

I loved the hook to Anyway You Want It. A recently jilted-at-the-altar Maggie Gallager goes to New Orleans on vacation and her two best friends talk Maggie into making an offering at the tomb of the VooDoo Queen and making a wish for a hot fling. That evening Maggie finds herself drawn to a bar by a hauntingly familiar lost sonata played by a gorgeous sexy musician, Ren. The awareness between Maggie and Ren is magnetic and they are drawn to each other. Thus begins the dance, as the two move toward each other only to back away, both afraid to connect. Maggie initially, because of leftover insecurities from her failed relationship and not being a one-night-stand kind of girl and Ren, from keeping his heart locked up to avoid invoking his curse. But neither can fight the attraction and though they back away, the connection is so powerful that time and time again they can't help but come back for more.

The relationship between Ren and Maggie is very hot -- there is such desperation to their lovemaking, the one area in their relationship where they don't hold back. It is lucky that we get so much of Ren's point of view in the story. Seeing all his angst, his desire for love he can't attain or can't hold stirs our sympathy for him. If we had seen him only from Maggie's point of view, we would have found him far less appealing, because from the view standing in Maggie's shoes, the relationship which supposedly builds back up Maggie's shattered self-esteem seems much less healthy. Ren runs hot and cold with Maggie and then tries to 'protect' her in a pretty hurtful way. Looking at Ren's actions this way it is pretty hard to understand how Maggie could be so forgiving no matter the haunted look in his eyes, as she does not know the motivations and twisted logic behind Ren's actions.

While I liked the romance, the paranormal window dressing on this story was really thin. It was almost like the lampiric part of the story was added in later because there was really nothing about his eating energy and sleeping during the day that effected the story, there didn't seem to be any worry about taking too much energy and draining Maggie. So I guess lampirs are just kinder gentler vampires, no stress for them they don't have to hunt they can feed just walking down a crowded street. I am confused though as to whether they are undead or just immortals, so I have to agree with other reviewers that if Love was going to make Ren a Lampir instead of a vampire, it would have been nice for Love to explain her mythos a bit more. But the story would have worked just as well had her hero been any kind of cursed immortal, so I still enjoyed Any Way You Want It. Maybe she'll fill us in more when we get Ren's brother Victorrio's story.

If you can't wait for Ren's angelicly beautiful, mysterious and sexy brother try Love's Fang series it has a bit more 'bite':
Fangs for the Memories (The Young Brothers, Book 1)
Fangs But No Fangs (The Young Brothers, Book 2)
I Only Have Fangs for You (The Young Brothers, Book 3)

If you think New Orleans is hot and steamy now, the temperature has just gone up... way up. Maggie Gallagher heads to the Big Easy with her friends, but finds one man is about to radically change her life. He's mysterious and sexy and she just really can't keep her hands off him. Of course, Ren has no problem with that. He's wanting Maggie in the worst possible way. Which is saying something, since he's been around for a few hundred years. With that kind of determined lust, the sparks start flying and ultimately explode. The best part, besides all the extraordinarily hot sex, is the heartwrenching moment when Ren hurts Maggie to save her. He nearly destroys her in the process but never fear, love will prevail.

I've read all of Ms. Love's books and she has not disappointed with this new addition!! I'm liking the idea of lampir's.....entirely less messy than vamps. The chemistry between Ren and Maggie is overwhelming and magical. Overall it tied together very well and flowed perfectly. Looking forward to her next book eagerly!!

Maggie Gallagher is on vacation in New Orleans with her friends Erika and Jo. Of the many sights and sounds surrounding her, one in particular has caught Maggie's interest. In a small shabby bar a musician is playing a song he shouldn't know, unless he was the composer, which is impossible because the composer has been dead for hundreds of years. Maggie knows because she is a music authenticator.

The piece Ren Anthony was playing has only been played once in public, at his father's birthday gala hundred's of years ago. Ren is a vampire or more specifically a lampir. Instead of needing blood to survive Ren needs energy. Ren is very attracted to Maggie but being who he is and believing he has a curse upon him, he cannot give in to his feelings for her. So one night is all he allows himself.

Maggie is not a one night stand kind of girl but she wants Ren and is willing to take what she can get. What was supposed to be one night turns into more but Ren is determined to keep Maggie at a distance. He knows he has to end things but he's having a surprisingly hard time letting her go.

Kathy Love has writtena wonderful story veiled in sensuality and romance. Ren is extremely sexy and charming, Maggie is a sweet siren, and their love affair is intense and passionate. There was a moment at the end when I thought Ren might break my heart, but he makes up for it! Any Way You Want It is a tender, sexy and fun story.

Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Any Way You Want It by Kathy Love takes us back to the world of those sexy vampires.

Maggie Gallagher is on a much needed vacation in New Orleans with two friends when some haunting music draws her to a local club. Maggie is a music authenticator back in Washington DC and music is her life. This music she hears reminds her of a piece she just received to study. As Maggie enters the bar it's not just the music she is enthralled with it's the lead singer Ren Anthony. The piece he is playing touches her very soul. Then when she hears him sing she is drawn just as equally to the man himself.

Renauldo D'Antoni or Ren as he is now called has always had music in his heart. Before he was turned many centuries ago he was a gifted classical composer. Now he plays cover tunes in a local band called the Impalers. One night he sees a vision of a woman come into the seedy bar and he can't keep his mind off of her. Ren has stayed away from long term relationships because he has been hurt so many times. But there is something about Maggie that he can't stay away from.

Maggie and Ren agree to a brief affair since she won't be in town very long. But neither was ready for the attraction to be more then just a fling, or so they both thought. Ren then has to worry about Maggie finding out what he really is and will she still want to be with him. But when he hears her whispered words of love this really send him reeling.


Any Way You Want It is a soulful book of love and romance. Maggie and Ren's attraction is deep and undeniable. You find yourself routing for these two from the get go. Their romance is funny, sexy and passionate. You will really enjoy your time in Kathy Love's vampire world. I hope Maggie's two friends get their own stories soon.

In a lot of ways this book was reminiscent of Dark Melody by Christine Feehan: a musician singing in a band at a bar stumbles across a woman with whom he falls instantly in love but the woman has some troubled history with men which has left her unsure of herself so the hero does his best to build her up. Of course there are also differences between the books; in this story the hero, Ren Anthony, is a vampire who believes he is cursed so that any woman who falls in love with him will die, thus he avoids any kind of deep relationship with a woman; the heroine, Maggie, is recovering from being jilted on her wedding day by her fiancé Peter and has made a wish for a fling whilst on holiday in New Orleans.

The first third of the book shows Maggie and her friends visiting New Orleans and finding themselves in a bar opposite their hotel where Ren and his band, The Impalers, are performing. Ren and Maggie are attracted to each other but are very different people and so Maggie's desire for a Wild Fling seems rather out of her reach because of her history with Peter and her lack of self confidence. Fortunately for Maggie and for the plot, slim as it is, she gets over this by page 100 and most of the next hundred pages are Maggie and Ren having sex, with the final fifth of the book where Maggie works out what Ren is and has to overcome his fear of his curse.

There are other side characters in this book, most of whom don't have too much of a part to play apart from Ren's half-brother Vittorio, who will probably appear in a future book. The main action is always between Ren and Maggie in a 'fated lovers' kind of way with the plot enhanced slightly as they both bring a certain amount of healing to each others' wounds.

This was a reasonable read but it lacked depth and the 'big misunderstanding' idea, that Ren can't allow anyone to love him because he's cursed, seemed rather too facilely removed - either that, or Ren was remarkably dense to have misunderstood the nature of the curse. The vampiric part of Ren's nature was very understated (no bloodsucking here), it was his longevity which added more interest to the story because of part of his history with which Maggie is familiar.

The New Orleans setting added a little extra to this book which was readable but ultimately forgettable.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

This book was OK. I definitely didn't feel the connection between Maggie and Ren. It wasn't really believable, the 2 of them together. The whole thing had this sort of air of suspended disbelief, not something I particularly enjoy when the plot doesn't measure up...and to be honest, I'm not even sure there was much of a plot, I mean, I guess there was one, there has to be one for a book right? It just wasn't much of one.

I didn't give it 1 star because it wasn't awful . It was just...OK.

I just finished reading this book and loved it. This series is off to a great start! Kathy loves books are well written and incredibly sexy. The plots are great and it is hard to put her books down!

I love Kathy Love (no pun intended). Needed this book to complete my collection. Only reason it did not get a solid 5 stars is because I liked "Demon can't help it" more. The story and characters are simple and easy to fall for. You just root it will end HEA and Love delivers.