Romantic suspense is my genre of choice. I love a good mystery, following the clues, layered together with the romance. In a genre where Secret Ops, Black Ops, Undercover Ops seem to be prevalent at the moment, complete with three, four, five or more team members all waiting in the wings and queuing for their books, finding this one was a real thrill.

Mia Hale is found on a stretch of beach by two cops, having been kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer. Somehow she has managed to escape – the only problem is, due to a cocktail of drugs given to her by the killer, she remembers nothing about the events. The FBI is able to link her distinctive injuries to the serial killer known as The Collector. For the last three years he has been silent, but now he has appeared again.

Eric MacFarlane works for the FBI – he worked on the first case when The Collector was active and was frustrated at not being able to bring the case to a close. This is heightened due to the killer taunting him with notes and taking and killing Eric’s wife Rebecca as his last victim. When he hears that there has been a survivor to these brutal killings, he heads down to Florida.

Mia is a reporter and had been working on cases of women who had recently gone missing – who they now realise are the victims of The Collector, as their bodies are slowly uncovered. She desperately wants to help the investigation along, so teams up with Eric to try to uncover her memories.

The action and questions start right on the first page and drew me in. The pacing is lovely, a fab blend of slowly, tightening suspense that kept me saying “just one more chapter,” attention to detail, and a believable romance are perfectly layered in. I love the fact that although both Mia and Eric had endured much in their pasts, they are both willing to acknowledge their attraction and slowly, hesitantly build on it. There isn’t lots of self-torturing that goes on and on and on, but they aren’t glib either. There are interesting secondary characters that add to the layers – Eric’s old partner from the FBI,  Cameron, happily married, so no overt sequel baiting, which I enjoyed too. And Ms. Tentler still manages to pop in a few twists and surprises along the way – which are always appreciated. A great read and Ms. Tentler is now on my must-buy list.

This is listed as Book 3 in the Midnight Trilogy, but each book stands on its own. The only thing that connects them is that all the heroes work for the same FBI department.

Grade: A

Summary:

The writer becomes the story when crime reporter Mia Hale is discovered on a Jacksonville beach—bloodied and disoriented, but alive. She remembers nothing, but her wounds bear the signature of a sadistic serial killer. After years lying dormant, The Collector has resumed his grim hobby: abducting women and taking gruesome souvenirs before dumping their bodies. But none of his victims has ever escaped—and he wants Mia back, more than he ever wanted any of the others.

FBI agent Eric MacFarlane has pursued The Collector for a long time. The case runs deep in his veins, bordering on obsession…and Mia holds the key. She’ll risk everything to recover her memory and bring the madman to justice, and Eric swears to protect this fierce, fragile survivor. But The Collector will not be denied. In his mind, he knows just how their story ends.

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Not a lot of dialogue in this storyline. The main characters spend a lot of time in fear of what everyone else might think, all in very little time getting their act together. Since there is not a lot of interaction, it’s hard to believe that each of them think they are in love. I did finish the book, hoping it would get better along the way. Read at your own risk.

Although new to me, this is a second edition book. The first printing was July 2011. There are still errors that could have been corrected,  just too many spelling and grammar errors . The author mixes up the brothers’ names once, which distracts from the storyline.

I made it through the book, though. It is interesting, but I feel Andrea and Jason need more interaction. For two people who really need to talk, they never say much to each other. Most of the telling is in the back-story and the thoughts of the characters, which is always wrong. When they are in a conversation, pages would go by before the dialogue would pick up again. The characters spend most of their time assuming what the other is thinking or doing and taking the word of other people as to what the other is doing, instead of having those conversations they always talk about.

I don’t even know why I finished the book. I feel the characters are not very well developed and the storyline weak.

Grade: D

Summary:

~~One night, under a prairie moon~~

Poor uninspired, unfulfilled Andrea Jameson; photographer extraordinaire. Where
was her dreary life taking her?

The last place she’d ever imagined! A motel room with her ex-boyfriend’s
younger brother. She had to escape without a messy scene. So she slipped out of
there with only the memories of one incredible night. Or so she thought…

~~One night is never enough~~

Nebraska rancher Jason McCoy made a miracle happen last night. He made
beautiful, vivacious, talented Andy his after twelve years of loving her. But
all his dreams came crashing down when he woke to an empty room. She was gone
forever. Or so he thought…

How were they to know their extraordinary journey had just begun?

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I am a huge fan of Laura Griffin’s Tracer series and when I found out that the couple in Scorched were Gabe and Kelsey from an earlier novella – Unstoppable- I was thrilled that they were getting their own full length book.

I first met Gage and Kelsey, the hero and heroine of this story in the novella Unstoppable. It was a great read – mystery, suspense and romance all in one and of course the HEA. Or so I thought. Then we found out in Twisted, almost casually, that the relationship had foundered over Gage’s continued absences as a SEAL and the fact that they lived hundreds of miles apart. Kelsey, at that time, had been unable to deal with the anxiety and uncertainty of whether he would return, and had given him an ultimatum – her or his Teams. He chose the Teams.

Kelsey Quinn is an anthropologist with the Delphi Center, a private company that works in cutting edge forensics to help solve crime. At a dig in the Philippines she unearths some bones that lead her back to the U.S. Her ex-fiancé is with the FBI, and she contacts him, hoping he will be able to help her discover more about her find and answer some lingering questions. But when she comes out of the bathroom at his place, she is horrified to witness Blake being shot to death by his FBI partner and as she quickly becomes the chief suspect, she goes on the run. The fact that she had had a relationship with this guy after Gabe and her had split makes Gabe a person of interest too. When the FBI track Gabe down and start questioning him, he takes off to find Kelsey. Eventually he tracks her down and the roller coaster ride begins, with both their career strengths coming into play as they try desperately to stay one step ahead.

I love this book – it ticks all the romantic suspense boxes for me. It had me turning the pages late into the night to see what would happen next. The romance is more centered too, both Gage and Kelsey having to face, honestly, why their relationship had broken down before – it wasn’t just ‘I love you, let’s try again’ without addressing anything. They have to confront themselves and their situation realistically before they can move forward. I could hardly flip the virtual pages fast enough to see what the outcome would be. Ms. Griffin kept me guessing to the very end.

Laura Griffin has nailed this genre perfectly for me. Engrossing suspense with the romance carefully threaded through make them auto-reads for me. Even though these books are part of a series, one of Ms. Griffin’s many writing strength’s is that all of them can be read as stand-alones – the central theme is the Delphi Center.

Grade: A

Summary:

The dead don’t speak, but Kelsey knows their secrets. As a forensic anthropologist at the Delphi Center crime lab, Kelsey makes it her mission to indentify bodies, often using no more than shards of bone. Her find at a remote Philippines dig hints at a sinister story. When Kelsey’s search for answers puts her at the scene of her ex-fiancé’s murder, only one man can help her–the man who broke her heart months before and is also a prime suspect.

Faced with an ultimatum—Kelsey or his job—Gage Brewer did the only thing a Navy SEAL could . . . but that doesn’t mean he stopped wanting Kelsey. Now Kelsey is running for her life and Gage is her last line of defense. As the threats escalate, Kelsey realizes this conspiracy goes deeper and higher than they could have guessed. With the clock ticking down on a madman’s plot, the slightest misstep will have unthinkable consequences. . . .

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I have not read the previous two books in the series, but I find this story of love and redemption adorable. I subsequently heard from my good friend and fellow Duckie Sandy that Rafe’s book is the crown in the trilogy and she, like the other Lords of the Pembrooke readers, has been anxiously awaiting this story.

Lord Rafe Easton is the youngest of the lost Lords of Pembrooke. Abandoned in a workhouse by his brothers as they escaped from their wicked uncle, he did whatever it took to survive, using his experiences like bricks to wall off his heart and tender emotions. He is motivated only by money, mostly the making of it in the premier gambling den that he runs in London. Until he meets Evelyn Chambers, who is determined to burrow beneath all his defenses and win his heart by smashing down his walls with her love.
Upon her father’s death, Evelyn is left in the tender protection of her half brother, who is now the earl in her father’s stead. Unfortunately, he interprets his promise to care and provide for his half sister as an opportunity to replenish his coffers by selling Evelyn and her carefully preserved virginity to the highest bidder. He sets up an evening where he provides an opportunity for his select group of bidders to see the goods. Rafe Easton is only present that evening to monitor the bidding process and the behavior of the lords who attend. However, he is felled almost immediately by his attraction to the lady and uncharacteristically puts himself in the position of purchasing her for his own uses.

Evelyn, who is still wearing rose-colored glasses thinking her brother means to help her make a respectable marriage, loses all her illusions as first Rafe makes his expectations clear and then her brother reinforces them by closing her out of his house and selling all her possessions, using the money for his own nefarious purposes. Evelyn embodies the iron fist in a velvet glove as she settles into Rafe’s house and slowly starts to come to terms with her new life. Rafe wants to restore all her possessions that her brother has stolen away from her. Clearly this man who never spends money is throwing it around to buy Evenlyn’s happiness.

We meet Rafe’s brothers, though it is not clear originally who they are or, possibly since I have not read the earlier books. their place in Rafe’s life is unclear. Gradually Evelyn inadvertently begins to bring his brothers and their families closer as Rafe’s crusty exterior starts to melt in order to give Evelyn anything her heart desires.

When it seems like smooth sailing ahead, Rafe’s past catches up with him. However, Rafe is no longer alone and prey to the evil machinations of his enemies. All the people who Rafe has rescued over the years, who are employed in his home and business, come to the rescue. Rafe’s brothers, who meant to keep him safe and protected when they left him the in workhouse but ended up causing so much damage to his psyche, are determined not to fail their brother again. At the core of the rescue is Rafe’s heart, of course.

As the dam breaks and Rafe is ready to swear eternal love to Evelyn, she disappears. He doesn’t realize it, but he only needs to make peace with himself and his brothers in order to find eternal love that the poets talk about. I really enjoyed the book and am sorry that the series is at an end, but no fears, I am going back to find myself books 1 and 2 to read. A wonderful tale of families and relationships and how the road to hell really is paved with the best of intentions.

Grade: B

Summary:

From New York Times bestselling historical romance author Lorraine Heath comes Lord of Wicked Intentions, the third and final chapter in the compelling Lost Lords of Pembrook trilogy.

The young, innocent victim of his uncle’s madness, Lord Rafe Easton has learned not to depend on others, much less fall in love. So when he spies the fiery Miss Evelyn Chambers, an earl’s illegitimate daughter, his intentions are anything but noble. Miserable as Rafe’s mistress, Evelyn believes that Rafe will never declare his love for her—or will he?

Emotional and romantic, Lord of Wicked Intentions is a sensual caper filled with carefully drawn characters and a plot filled with passion, intrigue, and scandal that will leave you breathless.

Excerpt Not Available.

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Ms. Kent was splashed around on the reading blog-o-sphere earlier this year, with her self-published book Escorted, about a male escort and his female client. I really enjoyed her voice in that story and how she stretched my reading comfort zone for me . . . male escorts are something I usually avoid, but she made it work. So I was looking forward to her new book, Nameless. Sadly, this didn’t work so well.

Seth and Erin briefly lived in the same town when they were kids. Seth had been taken in by his uncle/guardian, Mac, and though Mac tried his best, Seth ran off the rails. Fifteen years later Seth is a successful defence attorney and Erin is a judge’s assistant in the same building – so she sees him around, catches the gossip about him – he is a ladies’ man, but she has no contact with him. When Mac passes away she returns to her hometown and is surprised to see Seth there for the funeral. They end up having drinks together and a one-night stand. Even though they used protection, Erin finds out she is pregnant.

Right from the start Erin decides to go it alone. She has been married previously to a controlling and domineering man and wants to avoid a repeat. She does tell Seth about the pregnancy but makes it clear that his awareness is all that she wants from him. She is surprised, therefore, when he responds by saying he would like to be involved in the baby’s life. The trouble for me started here. We do not get any of Seth’s POV – throughout the whole book. It is all telling and not showing from his side. So all we have from Seth are carefully measured responses, giving no indication of what he is truly feeling at any given time. Meanwhile, we are given every feeling of Erin’s – and then some. I really wanted to slap her at various points. I feel that she just doesn’t grow through the book – it’s all “I have been hurt before’ . .  blah, blah, blah” and it gets old and tired. Meanwhile, Seth is trying to second guess her feelings and moods, etc .  How does a MAN manage to do that normally?? And then with a pregnant woman?    No chance!

Then right after Erin gives birth, Seth says he is falling in love with her – and she just slaps him down. But Erin is not above contacting Seth and asking him to scratch her hormonal itches or to babysit when she goes on a date. I just don’t feel a connection between the two of them. The style of the book is very much written the same way as Escorted and yet here it doesn’t work for me. It also covers quite a long period of time – two years, and I have to admit to skimming towards the end, as it just seemed to drag on. And on.

Grade:  D

Summary:

They named it anything but love.

After a failed marriage to a domineering man, Erin refuses to be controlled by anything or anyone. That includes Seth, the father of her baby—a man who was supposed to be only a one-night-stand, a man who’s used to always getting his way.

There’s a reason that Seth Thomas, a successful defense attorney, is often referred to as the Bulldozer. If something needs to happen, he makes it happen. That includes being part of his baby’s life—even if he never expected to be a father, even if Erin doesn’t really trust him.

They’ll work out an arrangement in the best interest of their baby—and if they occasionally have sex, well, that’s just an added perk—but they both agree on one thing.

What they have will never be love.

No excerpt available.

I read and liked Karina Bliss’ What The Librarian Did and had every intention of reading more books by her – and here we are three years after the fact and I finally am.  This is what happens when you have more books than good sense.  Oh, and an addiction to category romance that routinely gets fed every month when Harlequin publishes a bazillion new titles.  So here I am reading the fourth book in Bliss’ series featuring a group of SAS (Special Forces in the New Zealand Army) officers who survive an ambush in Afghanistan.  A Prior Engagement features Lee Davis, the man everybody thought was dead – including his “fiancee.”

After nearly two years in captivity, Lee has been rescued by American forces that raided a remote Taliban outpost.  Everybody thought he was dead – thanks to DNA that was taken from a recovered severed finger.  His father died, thinking his youngest son was dead.  His three SAS buddies (featured in previous books, naturally) grieved for him, and eventually found ways to move on.  His older brother and sister were devastated.  But through it all, as she grieved, the rock keeping everyone grounded was Juliet “Jules” Browne – the woman that Lee told his buddies he was going to marry.  So when they found a ring among his personal effects?  They gave it to her.  They needed her to accept it.  And she did.  For everybody’s sake.  The fly in the ointment?  The ring is a lie.

Lee returns from the dead to realize everybody has moved on and that the woman who broke his heart has been playing the grieving almost-widow.  Oh, he proposed to Jules right before his deployment and she told him she “needed time.”  She didn’t believe in him, in them.  She turned down his marriage proposal.  And now she has the gall to traipse into his life, ingratiate herself to his friends, look after his father during the man’s last days?  It galls, to say the least.

This is one of those stories where the author does a really good job of getting the reader inside her characters’ heads.  I “got” why Lee thought the way he thought.  I “got” why Jules made the choices she made.  Doesn’t mean I still don’t want to bitch-slap them both into next week for, at least, the first half of this story.  Lee is so blinded by his anger that he cannot stop to think what it must have been like for Jules.  Tell a man proposing that the relationship is moving too fast and then WHAMO!  He’s dead.  Yeah, that won’t mess with a girl’s mind.  Instead he feigns amnesia to rope Jules into a “trap,” to make her pay for all her lies.  And Jules?  Yeah, I know the guy has been held captive by the Taliban for two years, but seriously – the fact that she doesn’t fess up immediately is brain-bleed inducing.

But, like I said, I do understand why both of these characters make idiotic, hurtful choices.  Jules, in part, because of her track record and screwed up childhood; Lee because, well, he’s been a POW for two years.  And the fact that neither is honest with the other upfront?  Oh, the angst!  It makes for a delicious, heart-wrenching, angsty first half.

This book makes a name for itself in the second half, though.  Lee has to admit he’s been deceiving Jules, and Jules needs to come clean about the lie she’s been living for the last two years.  Then, of course, there’s the small matter of Lee having to deal with the fallout of his captivity.  I love that the author doesn’t gloss over that.  Lee is not the same man he was before and a happy ending with Jules isn’t like a magical Band-Aid that makes him “all better.”

Even though this is a fourth book in a series, it stands alone fairly well.  There are a multitude of secondary characters though, and all the happy, shiny couple stuff does get a little too cutesy-wootsy for me in the final chapter.  However, fans already invested in the series will likely love every mushy moment of it – and I tend to be Little Miss Crabby Pants about such things, so take that for what it’s worth.

In the end this is an enjoyable, emotionally gutting read with oodles of angst and characters both real and frustrating all at the same time.  If you love damaged military heroes and romances where you’re convinced the author is trying to rip your heart out?  Look no further.

Grade: B

Summary:

He’s back from the dead, on a new mission… because two can play her game!

After two years as a POW presumed dead, SAS soldier Lee Davis is finally going home. Back to his family, friends and…fiancée? He doesn’t have a fiancée…the night before his last deployment, Juliet Browne rejected his proposal. That makes the sight of her playing the grieving almost-wife beyond infuriating. Feigning amnesia, Lee decides to put Juliet’s “commitment” to the test.

Yet tormenting her conscience isn’t as easy as Lee thought it would be. Juliet’s still the woman whose memory got him through the worst of his captivity and her actions now prove she cares-a lot. And despite her betrayal, he needs her more than ever. Because Lee is beginning to realize that for him, Juliet is home

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I’ve enjoyed Vivian Arend’s paranormals, but she’s outdone herself with this new contemporary series. It’s edgy, tense, and sensual as all get-out.

I really like the way the book begins, a prologue with Rebecca and her boyfriend/climbing partner on a rescue when all hell breaks loose. This sets the tone for the rest of the book as Rebecca tries to get her life back in order while reconnecting with a lover she’s never forgotten.

After having been released from any responsibility in the accident in which Dane died, she’s left Yellowstone and is now in Banff, taking on an instructor position at an elite boot camp/training center, the very same place where her career began. There she comes face to face with Marcus Landers, the man she had a brief affair with seven years before. The spark is still there between them, and while Becki isn’t sure it’s a smart move to get involved again, Marcus is all for it and makes plans to have her back in his bed.

Becki remembers nothing of the accident, but she has dreams in which she, little by little, remembers more and more of it. By day she helps Marcus train his LIFELINE members, keeping them sharp and on their toes, before the next training center class begins. I really enjoyed learning along with these team members how they go about their rescues, the intensity of their training and the trust there has to be among them. Becki is humbled these men and women look beyond her recent troubles and are willing to also trust her.

The same is true of Marcus. He also had an accident, losing his hand and, thus, his career. But working with his brother David at the center, while keeping LIFELINE up and running, keeps a lot of the residuals at bay. Having Becki in his life again is another reason to keep going; though Marcus is a pretty amazing man, not letting a little thing like losing a limb getting him down too much. Working with her during the team’s training will also help him because it’s been too long since he’s done rescue work himself. Though there’s a sexual attraction between them, they also need that trust so important in relationships. Marcus is the one to be proactive in helping Becki regain her memories, something that is holding her back in every aspect of her career. While Marcus does suffer his own demons due to his accident, he’s not as in dire need as Becki, but she does help when his depression takes hold.

There isn’t a lot of rescue action in this book. That’s mostly done through Becki’s dreams, and there is one rescue near the end of the book, which made me wish there’d been more, but I realize this first book is about building the relationships not only with Marcus and Becki but also the team. This team learns a few lessons under Becki’s hand, so it’s going to be exciting to see what Ms. Arend does with that. Marcus and Becki do have a healthy sexual relationship that evolves over the course of the book. There’s doubt and vulnerabilities on both sides, but they try to talk things through when possible. When they spend time together at an isolated cabin near the end of the book, difficult decisions must be made, and these two work together quite well.

A very nice start to a series that can be exciting if done right, and I think Ms. Arend is the author who can do that.

Grade: B+

Summary:

LIFELINE: An elite search-and-rescue squad based out of Banff, Alberta. Specializing in high-risk rescue missions, this team goes wherever the job takes them…

Rebecca James was once revered for her devil-may-care attitude and back country survival skills. But ever since she lost her partner in a fatal accident, patches of her memory have been missing. And until she can recall those final, tragic moments before the accident, she can’t move on.

Since Marcus Landers was permanently injured during a mission, all his energies have been focused on his Lifeline team. When Becki—whom he had an intense affair with seven years ago—arrives in Banff, he’s inspired to reignite the spark they once had. Their mutual ardor slowly awakens Becki’s dormant, haunting memories.

New truths surface until Becki must at last confront her greatest fear. Remembering the past might mean a future without the man she loves…

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I’ve been looking forward to this new addition to Ms. Wolff’s Sierra Falls series, after having such a terrific time with the first book. While the small-town feel is still very much in evidence, this story doesn’t quite stand up to the first. So it’s a little bit of a disappointment.

The main draw for me is Eddie Jessup, the hero. He’s in partnership with his brother in the family construction business, and they just got the job that will put them on the map, draw in more high-caliber customers to make a larger success of the business. But just as he’s about to begin the restoration of a local ranch house for an out-of-town corporation, Laura Bailey becomes his personal ecological watchdog.

Having been given the responsibility of the financial future of the family lodge, Laura is now on a rampage to make sure the new spa cum everything else needed to put the lodge out of business never comes to be. She’ll find whatever it takes, despite what the loss will do to others in town, including Eddie and his family. Fighting Eddie is exactly like it was in high school. Well, not quite. Now he’s a man with a man’s wit and allure, and she’s by no means immune.

I thoroughly enjoyed Eddie. He’s literally the guy next door, a man who cares about his neighbors and will help at the drop of a hat. He likes to rile Laura up, loves her feistiness and drive, something I can see only once in a while. Laura is one who gets an idea in her head and runs with it, without verification, because she just knows. She also runs that idea into the ground, even after Eddie goest to bat for her and gets his client to scale down on their plans. Now, granted, in the end there’s some fishy hanky panky going on that vindicates Laura, but I just wish she’d toned her drive down a little sooner. It’s not until more than three-quarters of the way through the book before Laura finally gives in to her attraction to Eddie and hits the sheets with him.

The mystery, so to speak, isn’t as intriguing as that in the first book, and it’s solved a tad too easily. I still enjoyed the secondary cast of characters, especially catching up with Billy and Sorrow, who are featured in Sierra Falls. They’re an absolutely terrific couple. Everyone makes you feel like you’re sitting down with them, sipping a cup of tea, gossiping, enjoying life, and anything else folks do in their small towns. I really like Helen and Rob and their marital issues. In fact, I think I like it even better than Laura’s. It has a more personal impact, more of a heart tug.

Eddie saves the day for me, though. Even in the end when the usual argument happens to cause them to part, he’s the one who takes the first step, realizing what he’ll lose if he doesn’t. Laura comes to her realizations too late for me, as well as letting their misunderstanding go as far as it does, refusing to tell all when the opportunity arises. That’s a huge pet peeve for me. Fighting too long, taking arguments to the max and then some, just much too much and seen way too often in romance.

However, I still like Sierra Falls and look forward to more about these fun folks who take living to new level.

Grade: C

Summary:

In love and war, something’s gotta give…

For Laura Bailey, weathering her teen years at her quaint family lodge in a boondock town at the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas wasn’t easy. Fleeing for San Francisco the minute she graduated high school seemed like a good idea—until she lost her job and her fiancé. The blow to her pride sent her back to Sierra Falls to figure out her life. But her hometown is undergoing a bit of renovation.A new Sierra Falls resort is posing a threat to the Bailey family business. Even worse, the construction company developing the property is run by Eddie Jessup, Laura’s cocky high school nemesis who delighted in locking horns with the little spitfire. Some things never change. But their battle isn’t the only thing heating up between Laura and Eddie, and before long they realize that getting to know each other all over again has its rewards. But fate isn’t through with them. Nor are the games men and women play in the name of love.

No excerpt available.

Other books in this series:

If you read romance and particularly paranormal, you can’t help but have seen the name Moira Rogers around the internet. I was amazed to realise I hadn’t tried any of her books, and when the opportunity came up to win and hopefully read this set, I plunked my name down and crossed my fingers. Each book is bite size, slightly shorter than category length, so great when you want something a little short and a little different.

Cry Sanctuary, Book 1
21 Oct 08

When Abigail Adler is in a restaurant with some friends, a man called Alan Matthews approaches her and asks for a date. She is flattered but  turns him down, as her longstanding friend Dylan Gennaro seems a little uneasy. Two days later she is attacked in the parking lot of her building. Turns out Dylan is a werewolf and Alan Matthews is the abusive Alpha of the local pack and he wants Abby. Since the attack Dylan has been awkwardly trying to help Abby assimilate with her new situation. Dylan realises that he can’t help Abby – he is a beta werewolf and she is too strong and so he arranges for Abby and himself to go to a neighbouring pack – Red Rock Pass – a place where the leader, Gavin Hamilton, offers sanctuary from the violence of other packs.

This book starts right out of the gate with Abby and Dylan on the run, trying to get to Red Rock Pass. Their car has a flat, though, and they are frantically trying to change it before they are caught by Matthews’ Enforcers. I really like Abby, when the headlights are approaching, even though I could feel her panic and fear, and with Dylan telling her to run, she stands her ground and refuses to leave him. Then Keith Winston arrives from Red Rock and helps to finish things. He is one of Hamilton’s Enforcer’s who has just returned from the war against the Wizards. Oooh Wizards! Haven’t seen those in paranormals before. I live a sheltered paranormal life!

It turns out that Abby’s werewolf is a dominant, and in this society she needs a Guide to help her through the adjustment period of getting to know her wolf – so Dylan is unsuitable. Abby gets to choose who her guide is. It doesn’t have to be a male and it doesn’t have to involve sex – that is their choice. At the end of the transition period they can continue or end the relationship too. Keith is Dominant. And she asks if he will be her Guide.

The attraction between Keith and Abby is immediate and their story is introduced very quickly – but it works well. As Abby is settling in and trying to adjust, Matthews contacts her and lets her know he has her sister Brynn and is willing to do an exchange for Abby. Keith and Abby, along with Keith’s friend and fellow enforcer Joe, set out to extract Brynn. More kick-butt action and then some sexy times on their return. A good balance for a shorter book.

There isn’t an overabundance of world building – a downside to the category length, and I do have quite a few questions at the end. Would also have liked to have seen some wolfy shifting. Abby would ask about things that are mentioned and she would be told “someone else can tell you about that” or “we can touch on that tomorrow.” But as this is a four-part connected series, hopefully things will be fleshed out a little more as the books progress.

Grade : B-

Summary:

Keith Winston is tired of fighting. The war between werewolves and wizards rages on in Europe, but he’s come home to Red Rock, Montana in hopes of finding a bit of peace. Instead he finds more strife as he struggles against the pack’s dictates that he resume his place as the alpha’s right-hand man.

When he rescues a new wolf on the run, he knows his instant attraction to her could cause trouble. What he doesn’t expect is to find himself embroiled in another battle that goes against all his instincts—and his heart.

Abigail Adler learned about the existence of werewolves only when she became one. With her life threatened by a corrupt alpha, she flees to the only sanctuary she knows: Red Rock. While she’s grateful for the pack’s protection, she chafes under its unbreakable rules of conduct—except when it comes to submitting to the passion Keith stirs in her.

Then her tormentor kidnaps her sister in an attempt to lure her out of hiding. To save her, Abby and Keith must be willing to do the very thing that could get them all killed—break all of the rules.

Read an excerpt.

Sanctuary Lost, Book 2
9 Jun 09

Book 2 in the Red Rock series follows Brynn, Abby’s sister, and Joe, Keith’s friend, who we met in Book 1. Brynn has been traumatised by Alan Matthews’ treatment of her and is very aware of how defenceless she is in this new Shifter world she finds herself in. She is frightened that Matthews will find her again – and as Matthews launches attacks on Red Rock Pass, her vulnerability is heightened even more. She wants to stay with Abby in Sanctuary and to facilitate that, she proposes that she become a werewolf too and be willingly transformed.

I hadn’t read about a willing supplicant before in the paranormal genre and was really drawn in by this aspect of the story. It is a good twist. But the choice isn’t just hers to make – she is told it has to be approved by the leader, Gavin Hamilton, and at least a six-month waiting period observed. and this left a period of page time when Brynn steps close to the “whiny ledge” about her vulnerabilities and what she wants. On the plus side, it gives time for her and Joe to become close. We also find out that Joe has been a Guide previously for other werewolves, which is interesting, although one of these experiences ended unhappily and made him reluctant to take on the role for someone he’s coming to care about.

Then Brynn’s desire for transformation is suddenly taken away from her when she is attacked and bitten by one of Matthews’ wolves and she desperately needs Joe’s help, because it is a full moon and not many wolves survive the transformation then. Brynn’s new wolf is a submissive and so this leads to some great scenes of Brynn adjusting to accepting this and how to merge this new form inside herself. I love shifting scenes in paranormals and feel that if a book is based on that, I should get at least one! Couple this with the deepening relationship between her and Joe and it is an enjoyable read.

Again, the world building isn’t very layered, but I feel it isn’t as noticeable in this book. It does, in many ways, feel like a fuller read for the word count. Next up is the gorgeous Beta Dylan who helped Abby escape.

Grade:  B-

Summary:

If there’s one thing that Brynn Adler hates, it’s feeling helpless and vulnerable in unfamiliar territory. Three weeks ago, life tossed her into just such a world. A world of werewolves she never knew existed—until she found out her sister was one of them.

The pack seems determined to hurry her back to the normal world of humans. But after everything she’s witnessed, she’s not sure she wants to go—especially if it means leaving not only her sister behind, but the one man who makes her forget her life is falling apart.

Now all she has to do is convince him to agree to a plan to force the pack to let her stay.

Joe Mitchell has been battling his protective instincts since he rescued Brynn from her kidnapper. Getting involved with her is a bad idea for a lot of reasons. She’s on shaky emotional ground, and a supernatural war is no place for a human woman. He’s not about to let her make a hasty decision, one that will only bring her pain and regret.

Now all he has to do is let her go.

Read an excerpt.

Sanctuary’s Price, Book 3
27 Oct 09

The character of Dylan caught my attention right from the start of Cry Sanctuary. A gentle, caring Beta he had suffered for many years under the brutal leadership of Alan Matthews, before making his escape with Abby. Now, finally, he has a home, an Alpha whom he respects and a new pack.

There is another newcomer too in the Pack – a human witch, Sasha Wallace. The trouble is that werewolves and witches don’t really mix, and she is greeted with suspicion by the pack members. Her goal is to repay a debt and then hightail it out of there. This chance appears when a wolf is found with vampire bites and will almost certainly succumb to them. Sasha is determined to use her magic to help – even though she is not a fully trained witch, because her mentor was killed, so she turns to the books in the Pack’s library to try to find some answers. Dylan offers to help – and a shared love of books and lore begins a friendship which builds into a relationship, as they work together to save the wolf. They find out that together they can channel Sasha’s magic into a healing force.

Gavin then requests that both of them go on some business to visit another pack and a friend of his – Adam, who happens to be a Vampire. And so we have a little road trip with Joe and Brynn along for the ride. Brynn is still struggling to control her wolf and is very aggressive towards other pack members, and Gavin hopes this will give her and the pack some much needed space. I really like that Brynn is still getting a handle on things, controlling her “moon” wolf – it seems much more realistic after you have undergone such a transformation and that it is all not wrapped up neatly at the end of their book.

After all the dramatic action of the previous two books, this book is a much calmer ride . . . it feels like I had time to catch my breath and watch the relationship between Dylan and Sasha unfold. Their relationship is layered and thoughtful, and the times when Sasha channels her magic with Dylan brings them closer together too. I really rooted for this pair to get their HEA. Individually they are both beta, but together each one made the other more.

Favourite quote:

Before Sasha, Dylan’s wolf had been a quiet companion, a silent part of himself that gave him the strength to endure. His wolf knew how to suffer in silence and rebel quietly. He crouched in the leaves and closed his eyes, preparing himself to call on the wolf. But the power teased at him instead, that wild magic that felt like Sasha, and he sucked in a breath and gave in to it.

Grade: B+

Summary:

After a decade under a corrupt alpha’s thumb, Dylan Gennaro is still reeling from the changes in his life: a new home, a new alpha, a pack at war. Even normal things like an ending relationship. Still, when he’s asked to work with an outcast witch, he agrees without hesitation. Maybe by protecting her, he’ll rediscover his own inner strength. If, indeed, it exists.

Sasha Wallace lost her mentor in a vicious attack that left her scarred in spirit as well as body. While she’s grateful for the refuge offered by the Red Rock alpha, it’s tough living with the pack’s suspicion. Even though—or maybe because—she’s willing to use her powers to help them fight their war. Except for Dylan. When she’s finally free to find a new home, he’ll be the only one she regrets leaving behind.

Their attraction is a balm to their wounded hearts, until their journey for knowledge brings them face to face with a terrifying vampire. Neither has the strength for this fight—but if they can let go of their pasts and trust each other, they might just be able to do it. Together.

Read an excerpt.

Sanctuary Unbound, Book 4
1 Jun 10

This book is busy. Right from the start events happen that can and do change the face of Red Rock forever. A real roller coaster ride. Adam the Vampire, who we met in the previous book, has returned to Red Rock with Dylan and Sasha to meet with his old friend Gavin to help him out. Red Rock has been under attack from a Vampire feeding off the wolf pack’s energy and Adam may be able to assist.

As soon as Adam arrives in Red Rock, he spots Cindy and is immediately attracted to her, despite being warned off by Gavin. Cindy, though, feels the attraction too, and so pretty early on, they decide to enter into a just-sex-no-feelings arrangement, both being wary from past hurts and Adam being determined to return to Maine. I liked Cindy in the previous books, and in this one she really comes  into her own as a dominant werewolf – more than a match for a 19th Century Vampire. And from that start comes so much more as they discover they had each met their mate.

This book is full of action, spells, magic and smexing. Moira Rogers does ramp up the tension really well and writes very good fight scenes, where I am not trying to work out what arm is where and who is doing what to who, and the world building stays true throughout the books. Overall, a very entertaining series although I do miss not having any Wizards!

Funny Quote:

It had been years since Adam had driven a car more than fifteen miles, long enough to admit that he wasn’t very good at handling modern vehicles. They’d made it out of New England before he’d stopped trying to shift gears with the emergency brake.

Grade: B-

Summary:

New England is ideal for vampire Adam Dubois. His cozy home in the Great North Woods reminds him of a happier time when werewolves and witches were stuff of legends, and he was a simple lumberjack.

Hiding from past failures has worked for over eighty years, but a life debt owed to the Red Rock alpha has forced him to leave his retreat—and come face to face with a woman who challenges and tempts him on every level.

Hiding secrets is a lonely business, and Cindy Shepherd is lonely with a capital L. Red Rock isn’t exactly crawling with available men, but her interest in the mystery-shrouded new vampire in town seems mutual. After all, it’s only sex—there’s no danger he’ll dig deep enough to unleash the demons of her past.

Casual flirtation turns deadly serious when Adam discovers that the vampire plaguing Red Rock is using his mistakes as a road map. When it comes to his life, he knows Cindy has his back. But in order to secure the future, they both must trust each other with more—even if it means sacrificing themselves to save everything they hold dear.

Read an excerpt.

Even though the overall world building isn’t heavily layered, a downside to the smaller word count of each book, it is consistent throughout  – something I really appreciate. The plus side is that you can snack on these books without having to remember all manner of layers! Combine that with four hot romances, each with their own challenges and, in some cases, uncertain futures and it makes a good set.

Overall Grade: B-

Other books in this series:

I’ve been trying to figure out why I never warmed up to this book all that much. I’m a huge Jennifer Ashley fan, having read mostly her historicals and one or two of her early paranormals. So I’m truly perplexed at my lack of connection to this story.

I keep wondering if perhaps it’s because this is the first book of this series I’ve read. I’ve not been introduced to any of these characters before, I’ve not seen them grow together through tragedy and triumph. Whatever it is, Ellison and Maria never pulled any emotion out of me.

Maria has joined Shiftertown after being held captive by feral shifters, now being offered safety by the town’s inhabitants. She’s sworn to continue to be independent, doesn’t need a man in her life to get by. But she’s got a number of single shifters sniffing around, among them Ellison, a wolf. He’s ready to mate claim her anytime she’s ready. I do have to say, she gets ready a little quicker than I thought she would. I like that Ellison sits on his porch across the street from Maria to keep an eye on her. He does take his mating to her seriously.

There’s sudden panic running through the shifters when an attempt is made to kidnap one of the cubs. Learning a hard-core, icy thug is behind the attempts, the men come together to hunt the scumbag down, when another attempt is successful. Of course, since the initial kidnapping was made on Maria’s watch, she can’t stay behind, thrusting herself in the midst of the danger. Even when Ellison demands she stay at home, she says she’ll follow anyway. I just hate it when a heroine does that. It makes her seem like she has no brains whatsoever, and that’s just not Maria. She does hold her own, however, when she comes face to face with their target.

This is where the book finally gets interesting, all the action taking place, our shifters in their animal forms, guns blasting away to bring the bad guy down. I do like that there are a multitude of different shifters, including bears among the cats and wolves. Unfortunately, all of that is a little too late to make this one a memorable book for me.

Grade: C

Summary:

Ellison Rowe, a Lupine Shifter, makes it his goal to protect Maria, once held captive by ferals, from male Shifters looking for mates. He likes Maria’s resilience and fire, but she’s been broken, and Ellison wants more than anything to heal her. When a new danger threatens Shiftertown’s cubs, Maria partners with Ellison to stop a cold-blooded criminal.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

I have such fun when reading Sandy Blair’s books. This is the one story of hers I’d not read until now, so I’m very glad it’s been reissued. I so enjoy the way Ms. Blair takes one of my favorite tropes and gives it her own special twist.

Rachael O’Leary has just been let go from her position as governess to a very spoiled child of a nobleman. Having no place to go and not wanting to fight the blizzard blanketing London, she discovers an empty townhouse that will shelter her quite nicely for the night, giving her a chance to regroup and start fresh in the morning – breaking and entering aside, of course.

Financial problems plaguing him, Connor Kenroe, the Duke of Kilgory, has come to his London home for peace and quiet to figure out how to save his Scottish family home, Bel Cameroon. With the scent of chocolate in the air, Connor discovers a not-so-unwelcome surprise in his bed – a beautiful Irish lass who has the feistiness to take his mind off most of his problems, most notably his busybody mother and his ex-fiance who suddenly wants back in his life. When they’re caught together in his bed chamber, all works out for the moment when Connor explains to them Rachael is his new fiance, hoping to nip these two problems in the bud.

Rachael has done her best over the winter to put coin in her pocket by baking pastries for local inns and other businesses. Having collected nearly enough to get her back on her feet, that’s when disaster strikes. Her beautiful cakes stored in the kitchens below are no longer when Connor and his companion get their grubby hands on them. On top of that Connor’s mother does her best to run Rachael off, but when she stands her ground, the two find they have a mutual interest, and a new venture is in the works. I really like the fact that Rachael and Connor’s mother get along and work together. This very rarely happens in romance.

In the meantime, fighting his attraction to Rachael — well, he really doesn’t want to do that — and trying to curb his mother’s spending, Connor is no closer to a solution to his current problems. But Rachael has a couple more surprises for Connor, both of which will bring him the love and happiness he’s been missing for so very long.

I love these two characters. Sandy Blair has such a talent for creating the perfect Scottish hero and a heroine full of spunk who can handle all that hunkiness. Be sure to take the time to get to know Connor and Rachael. They’ll spark up your life in no time at all.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Destitute governess Rachael O’Leary finds shelter during a blizzard in a shuttered London townhouse, knowing nothing of its owner or why it stands empty.

Needing a few weeks of peace in order to sort out his financial problems and secure his childhood Highland home, Connor Kenroe, the Duke of Kilgory, returns to his closed London townhouse after a long sojourn in Egypt to find a lovely slip of a woman asleep in his bed.

When his shocked mother and ex-fiancée arrive unexpectedly at the bedroom door, he spouts the first lie that comes to mind, trapping himself and his feisty trespasser in a complicated web of lies they now have to unravel.

No excerpt available.

I happened across this new series by chance. A mix of romance, paranormal, and steampunk tempted me to try something different, and, boy, am I glad I did.

This is the second book in Ms. McMaster’s London Steampunk series and continues three years after the events in Kiss of Steel. Lena has left her sister and brother-in-law’s house to be the ward of her half brother Leo and become a debutante in the Echelon, the ruling Vampire class. She made the decision to move on after being rejected by Will. She can accept the protection of a Vampire and his house and become his thrall – giving him her blood.

Will is werwulfen and carries the Loupe virus after being infected when he was a child, and then being paraded and tortured in exhibitions. He was saved by Blade, from Kiss of Steel, and his loyalty to him is absolute. He would never do anything to risk infecting Lena with the virus, which is why he rejected her. After overhearing Blade and Honoria discussing whether he could keep himself controlled around Lena, he moves out, and his friendship with Blade has suffered a little since.

Honoria makes clockwork toys and sells them in a local Emporium. The owner had approached her and asked if she would deliver messages on behalf of the humanists. Her life in the Echelon gives her a distinct advantage in gathering information and passing it on. When Will finds a coded message that Lena has, he realises that she is involved in something much more dangerous than even she can realise. The book has twists, turns, crosses, double crosses, races across the Whitechapel rooftops and a surprise or two.

The world building in these books is just lovely, well thought out and layered, but not too complicated for my brain cell. When books are published months apart, anything too complicated can get forgotten or mixed up in other series in my mind! The setting is Whitechapel in the 1870s and the descriptions, which neatly set the scene, don’t overshadow the plot. The Steampunk touches give it extra charm and the romance bubbles away on the pages front and centre, even though there is quite a lot extra plot-wise going on. We are also introduced to some new secondary characters who may appear in future books and catch up, just a little, with Blade and Honoria.

There is also a novella, Tarnished Knight, Book 1.5 where we have the romance between Esme, Blade’s housekeeper and former thrall, and Rip, one of his men who we met in Kiss of Steel.

Grade: B+

Summary:

NO ONE TO TRUST

Lena Todd is the perfect spy. Nobody suspects the flirtatious debutante could be a rebel against London’s vicious elite—not even the ruthless Will Carver, the one man she can’t twist around her little finger.

Will Carver, is more than man, he’s a verwolfen and he wants nothing to do with the dangerous beauty who drives him to the very edge of control. But when he finds Lena in possession of a coded letter, he realizes she’s in a world of trouble. To protect her, he’ll have to seduce the truth from her before it’s too late.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

I’ve enjoyed reading Shayla Black’s spicy stories about wicked lovers and the women who tame them. This book has all the ingredients that take a story from good to great. Two sexy, dominant billionaires who need to be tamed and a sweet, innocent submissive who’s finally ready to live her life to the fullest. Corporate espionage and professional assassins. Wow! Playboy Xander has featured in previous books as a friend with deep pockets full of just-in-time resources. His stern CEO brother Javier who’s dealing with the murder of his wife has been on the fringes of our awareness. All we need is the innocent, naturally submissive London and some kink to bring them to their knees. I settled in for a hot and spicy read, ice on the ready to cool me down. Alas!

It turns out that Javier is a total control freak and a jerk to boot, in my humble opinion anyway. Lost in a haze of alcohol and depression because a wife whom he married as a business proposition and didn’t love was murdered. If he wanted justice he should have engaged top-notch investigators to get to the truth behind the murders and bring the perpetrators to justice. In the meantime, his business is going to rack and ruin and he’s turned his back on the only family he has because his brother refused to be his wife’s dom.

I loved Xander when I first met him. The closer look at him isn’t so kind. Here’s a guy who’s born to a life of wealth and privilege. He wants to help and he’s shut out. I would have thought a lot more of him if he had gone out and demonstrated what he was capable of in a meaningful way. Instead, he sulks like a spoiled child living up to his family’s expectations by fucking his way through life. To give Xander some credit, he really does care for his brother and tries to help him find control and discipline and kick his alcoholism.

I just can’t make the emotional connect with the two. However, London is another story. She’s the saving grace not just of the Santiago brothers but of the story itself. Having been seriously injured in a car accident in high school, she proved all the naysayers wrong and took control of her life and her future. Her grit, courage, and determination has given her everything she could have dreamed of and more. She is like a ray of sunshine who redeems the characters of the two Santiago brothers and creates the emotional connect which saves the book.

The suspense with the corporate espionage is very weak and predictable. It does, however, get us to meet all our old friends in Louisiana and catch up with their growing families, which is fun for those of us who have read the previous books in the series.

All in all, the story just does not live up to its potential. I have discovered in the past that when you build up the anticipation, it raises expectations beyond belief and often times the end never lives up to the expectations. Perhaps that’s what happened with this story for me.

[Ed. We have a copy of Ours to Love to give away to one lucky commenter. A great way to see if you agree with Veena or think differently! Leave us a meaningful comment to be in the running.]

Grade: C+

Summary:

Between two brothers…
Xander Santiago spent years living it up as a billionaire playboy. Never given a chance to lead his family business in the boardroom, he became a Master in the bedroom instead. His older brother inherited the company and worked tirelessly to make it an empire. But while the cutthroat corporate espionage took its toll on Javier, nothing was as devastating as the seemingly senseless murder of his wife. It propelled him into a year of punishing rage and guilt…until Xander came to his rescue.

Comes an irresistible woman …
Eager to rejuvenate Javier’s life, Xander shanghais him to Louisiana where they meet the beautiful London McLane. After surviving a decade of tragedy and struggle, London is determined to make a fresh start—and these sexy billionaire brothers are more than willing to help. In every way. And London is stunned to find herself open to every heated suggestion…and desperately hoping that her love will heal them.

And inescapable danger …
But a killer with a hidden motive is watching, on a single-minded mission to destroy everything the Santiago brothers hold dear, especially London. And as fear and desire collide, every passionate beat of her heart could be her last.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:
 

I had something happen recently that’s irritated the heck out of me, so I thought I’d share it, and also hope it helps rid me of the ire and disappointment that’s been brought about.

Before I get into the real meat of this Pondering, I want to give you just a little of my background, because it will have a bearing on this “issue” later.

I have a BS in English, with a minor in journalism – definitely remember that little tidbit. I am a retired Certified Shorthand Reporter for the State of California. Translation: I was a court reporter and reported depositions and arbitrations after administering oaths to tell the truth to a few thousand people for just shy of twenty-five years. One of my hobbies is genealogy. About a year ago my friend Di – our own Dinca here at The Pond – introduced me to Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker, and the rest, as they say, is history. I’m now addicted, and I’ve had a blast researching my family. That new interest led me to the History and Genealogy Room at the Tulare Public Library in Tulare, California, where I currently volunteer two days a week.

Now to the issue at hand.

About two weeks ago – a Thursday, to be exact – while in the Genealogy Room, a letter was received concerning a lost Purple Heart, the medal honoring those injured or killed in service to our country, and we were asked to aid in the discovery of any information about the fallen soldier’s family so the medal could be returned. Though our research usually goes in the opposite direction, discovering the past, I happily began gathering clues.

Locating the obituary of PFC Norval A. Monroe, I found a number of surviving family members in 1944 and 1948, when he was buried in Tulare county. Researching further, I discovered his brother had also passed away in 2011, so I obtained that obit, too, now knowing I would find what I was looking for. Thus, that is how I learned PFC Monroe has two nieces and two cousins who still live in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California. With a little more leg work, I got my hands on a phone number for one of his nieces, giving her the news about her uncle’s medal and that it would soon be returned to where it belongs, making sure it was okay to pass along her phone number.

Now let me quote a bit from a news clip from KGET.com, the local television affiliate that is handling this particular story:

“A lost Purple Heart medal is headed back to its rightful owner. It was found in a Tulare pawn shop six years ago. Next week, it will be given to the family of the veteran who earned it.

It’s all thanks to the work of archiving students at Bakersfield High School who tracked down the family in a matter of days.”

There’s also a video of the newscast this printed matter is taken from, which can be seen here.

An archiving student is quoted as saying, “Just his name and that he was in the military, that’s about all I had.” That’s why the Genealogy Room was contacted. That’s why we researched microfilm, printed copies of obituaries, found current phone numbers.

A further quote by the same student, “To track down his family took the longest part of it.”

And then:

“Eventually, the students found Monroe’s niece living in Visalia” [California].

Guess yet what I’m worked up about? Every word of this “report,” even the newscast, makes it sound like these students are the ones who discovered this information, that they “tracked down” the family. What’s happened to give credit where credit is due, for heaven’s sake? What’s happened to basic truth, especially in young folks today? Maybe I should have been around to administer a few oaths.

I’m a former journalist, remember? I know all about the five Ws of journalism and how to impart the truth in journalistic writing. Just the facts, ma’am. I spoke directly with that news reporter just this past week. Thursday, to be exact. I even did more research for her at that time, locating the photo of the headstone that is used in the newscast, something they’d have only by making the journey to the cemetery, but I saved them the trip. That reporter is fully aware of our involvement in this situation. Yet not a word about help from the Genealogy Room. It’s as though we were never contacted.

Am I too harsh calling it a lie? At first I thought so, especially because students are involved. Maybe something was said by one that just didn’t make the final cut. I know they are also aware of our involvement, because I spoke to Ken Hooper, who is also mentioned. He’s the one who wrote the letter to us asking for help. I gave him all the information I found, of course including PFC Monroe’s niece’s phone number. Yes, it’s my assumption he passed the info on, only because he did say he was going to, though to whom, I don’t know. Is misleading a better term to use? Maybe. Either way, it’s wrong.

I was thrilled to have been part of such a happy and momentous occasion. Honored. Now it’s been tainted. I was happy to do it all, the reason I volunteer in the Genealogy Room, which houses the largest genealogical collection in Central California and which has some of the best researchers you’ll find. I’m still learning from them, they and the room deserve the mention. Just based on principle, however, the principle of truth and fairness, this entire report needs a number of revisions, a few added truths.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the books to date in Sharon Lathan’s Darcy Saga. A lot of that has to do with the journey of Ms. Lathan growing as an author, as evidenced with each book. With the latest addition to the series, she has written her very best. Her character of Dr. George Darcy has been fun since he was first introduced, and to now follow him through his exciting life is more than I ever expected.

I really like the inclusion of George’s journals as we go through the story. We begin with Fiztwilliam and Lizzy opening George’s traveling trunk his father had given him before his journey to India decades ago. What they discover is all of the doctor’s journals he’d written over the years. As they start their reading, we start to live a full and fascinating life along with the most outgoing Darcy of them all.

When his twin, Alex, died at a young age due to medical incompetence, George’s life took a much different turn. He eventually enrolled in medical school and at age 22 begins a career that will help multitudes and be respected by just as many. Writing in his journal, as all Darcys have done for years, we see George from his own POV as he discusses daily living with first his deceased brother, and then at different times of his life addressing each departed loved one as the years go on. When he leaves England for India as an employee of the East India Company, he is a man looking forward, anxious to learn a way of life and medicine so different from his own. He embraces everything he comes across, and a close personal and professional relationship begins with Dr. Ullas and his family.

We go with George and Dr. Ullas to nearly every part of India, meet every kind of person imaginable, and watch the good doctor do his magic. Along the way he has brushes with love. Yes, just brushes. George seems to be unlucky in love, though he has a wonderful time getting there. His first love, Sarah, is typically English and relies on her father for everything, including the man she’ll marry. George refuses to leave India and Sarah’s father wants her home where she’ll be safe, so he gives her to another. At first I figured George has a huge case of like for Sarah instead of love, but wanting to live life to its fullest and helping those in need shouldn’t have to compete with love. Then there’s Ruby, who’s a lot like George, loving something more than the person who can make you happy. She’s not on the up-and-up with him, her strings pulled by someone else as she goes to his bed night after night. Then she disappears without a word…until so many years later. And those are terrific scenes when the time comes.

So after two failed love affairs, George once again focuses on his medicine. In between all of this, he does go back to England. The first trip is to see his ailing father. Seeing George in action when diagnosing, which is a rare talent, and then comforting patients are particularly fascinating scenes because of Ms. Lathan’s own medical background. Those in which his family are involved are even more engaging. George does go through a lot of personal loss. After his father, it’s Dr. Ullas who succumbs, ironically, to an illness he treats others for all over India. As life is wont to do, the doctor then finds love again in the unlikeliest of places, Jharna, his best friend’s widow. The relationship works quite well, meshing two cultures together even better than before.

George and Jharna enjoy a number of years together, and it’s during this time, for the first time in this series, I was brought to tears. Their ultimate loss is full of emotion and one of the best scenes in the book. Then when his talent once again tells him he’s too late, there’s nothing to be done, George finds himself alone one more time. Losing Jharna seems to siphon the love of India out of George at his point, and when he goes home, this time when he hears of the death of his brother James, George knows it’s time to pick up his life in England, where everything began.

He’s such a charismatic character, easily making friends, teaching medical students, and loving life to the fullest extent. He’s so exuberant, besides arrogant, and that makes him all the more likable. Love finds George one last time, this time with Amanda, companion to Georgianna Darcy. Each relationship he enjoys is unique and full of emotion. The man has the largest capacity to love. We also get to see Fitzwilliam from a point of view we’ve not seen before. From a small tyke to a married man with children, and everything in between, George gives us a special look at his nephew as he grows into the man everyone knows and loves.

Dr. George Darcy is larger than life. Too perfect? Maybe. But that’s the way I like my heroes. That’s why I read romance. All the history and medical practices come in second to characters like this one. Having confidence and an adventurous spirit, George lives an exceptional life. I like that as he grows older throughout the book, he continues to enjoy that life, no matter what has been thrown his way. A lot of research went into this story, no doubt about that. Weaving that research in and around characters such as these has brought Ms. Lathan to a whole new level as an author. As much as I’ve looked forward to her books before, my anticipation is now double to see what she has coming next. I’ve no doubt it may rival my George.

Grade: A

Summary:

While Fitzwilliam Darcy is enjoying an idyllic childhood at Pemberley, his vibrant and beloved uncle, Dr. George Darcy, becomes one of the most renowned young physicians of the day. Determined to do something more with his life than cater to a spoiled aristocracy, George accepts a post with the British East India Company and travels in search of a life of meaning and purpose.

When George Darcy returns to Pemberley after many years abroad, the drama and heartbreak of his travels offer a fascinating glimpse into a gentleman’s journey of self-discovery and romance.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

I’m working on fumes here. Sleep is a thing of the past.

First things first. Yes, EL James is here. She’s sitting at the next table to me as I sit here writing. The official story is that she’s here supporting a friend. She registered under another name, but now her pouch says “Erika” so she’s come out. She’s not doing interviews and she won’t be at the signing on Saturday.
But – she has a book that came out yesterday, she’s planted her info in several places – she left her pouch in a restroom, she told someone at a panel not to diss her book, and she’s not sitting in her room, so you never know.

One thing’s for sure. I’m signing. It could be a riot on Saturday.

Other news – I did my first virgin class, and while I was a bit scared, they did like it and a lot of people came and told me they enjoyed it and it was helpful, so I’m really pleased about that. I’ve attended classes and balls. The Ellora’s Cave party on the first night was excellent, and everybody had a great time. Disco seems to be the flavour of the moment, with some amazingly glittering costumes. And they played what is fast becoming Ellora’s Cave’s theme song, “I Will Survive.” That was when I lost my voice, yelling out the words with everybody else.

The thirtieth anniversary ball was another glittering occasion, with lots of bling in evidence. Including mine. It was wonderful to see and hear from so many veterans from the early days of historical romance. Jennifer Blake, Bobbi Smith, the great Laura Kinsale, Mary Balogh—so many!

After, EL James came and joined us reprobates and we did what people do after balls – chatted and laughed and had fun.

But if I told you what we said, I might have to kill you.

I’ve been wanting to read this books for forever. Everyone I talk to who’s read it says it’s a wonderful story. I never doubted that. I mean, it’s Pamela Clare, and her historical novels are some of my favorites. I finally made the time to sit down with Nicholas and Elspeth, now that their story has been reissued. My god, what a journey.

From beginning to end what these characters endure is horrific times one hundred. But as they come out on the other side, you’re amazed at their strength, their survival, and that their love is still intact. That’s where Ms. Clare excels. The perseverance of her characters is as raw and intense as their lovemaking, the way they live life.

Nicholas Kenleigh has been captured by the Wyandot when he tried to help two young soldiers evade an ambush during a skirmish. Though they were at first treated quite well, Nicholas knew that hospitality wouldn’t last. Now tied to stakes to await their deaths by fire, each man is being tortured as tribe women place cuts deep enough into their bodies to place glowing fire embers inside. This scene is gut wrenching. While the two younger men cry out in agony, Nicholas vows not to utter sound, all the while staring down the chief of the tribe. His stoicism is what saves him and ends his life as he knows it. The chief’s daughter decides Nicholas can give her strong sons, so she gains his release by going to her father. But what Nicholas goes through at her hands for next number of years before he can escape only leaves an empty shell of the man everyone loves and knows.

After striking out at his younger sister once he arrives home and tries to acclimate himself there, Nicholas puts up a cold, indifferent front and leaves his family behind. He lives off the land, dealing with people only when absolutely necessary. When he’s attacked by a marauding Indian party, barely surviving Nichols stumbles onto the homestead of Elspeth – or Bethie as she’s called – where she lives alone and is pregnant but wielding a rifle to protect herself and her child. After a rocky start, they warily dance around one another until Bethie’s baby is born. Nicholas is her rock during the birth, and I think this is where their relationship truly starts, though neither one of them really knows it at the time. Especially because Nicholas is determined to make sure Bethie is back with her family where she’s safe, not knowing she’d never be safe there.

As they make their way from the Ohio Valley east toward home, they both have fears about making it that far. Outrunning revengeful Indian tribes, they, along with other folks they pick up along the way, make it to Fort Pit, only to face the danger of a united Indian front, imprisoning soldier and civilian alike inside the fort. Both Nicholas and Bethie face their pasts here, officers looking to Nicholas for his expertise in dealing with the tribes on a military and personal front and Bethie’s biggest fear of seeing her stepbrother again. Keeping Bethie and Belle safe is Nicholas’ only concern. Then when life seems to be on the upswing, Nicholas’ father and brother-in-law come looking for him, which is a wonderful first family reunion, danger once again intrudes and both Nicholas and Bethie feel compelled to help.

Once home, Nicholas receives a welcome he never imagined. The scene with his mother is wonderfully heart wrenching, as well as with his sister. Bethie is taken into the family fold with open arms, something she doesn’t think will happen. But knowing Nicholas as she now does, how could she ever think his family would refuse her? She now has more love in her life than she knows what to do with, absorbs it so quickly she’ll never be alone or cold again.

Pamela Clare keeps my heart pumping throughout the book, these two in danger at every darned turn. I’m glad she didn’t keep me waiting for the loving to occur until the last quarter of the book, like sometimes happens in romance. All that sensuality helps temper the horribleness Nicholas and Bethie go through, that’s how real Ms. Clare writes. In between all that realness grows a relationship that you know will last a lifetime and beyond. While I’m one who can forgo historical accuracy as long as I’m given a to-die-for hero and a heroine he deserves, Ms. Clare always gives readers a first-class look at early America, Ben Franklin and all this time around. I’m so very happy I finally read this book. It’s now firmly ensconced on my keeper shelf.

Grade: A+

Summary:

There was only one rule on the frontier—survival.

So when wounded, buckskin-clad stranger appeared at the door of her isolated cabin, Elspeth Stewart felt no qualms about disarming him and then tying him to her bed. Newly widowed and expecting her first child, she had to protect herself at all costs. And Nicholas Kenleigh threatened not only her safety, but her peace of mind. The terrible scars on his body spoke of a tortured past, but his gentle touch and burning gaze awoke longings she had never expected to feel. Bethie had every reason in the world to distrust men; the cruelty she suffered at their hands had marked her soul, though her blonde beauty showed no sign of it. But little by little she found herself believing in Nicholas, in his honor, his strength. As he brought her baby into the world, then took both mother and daughter into his care, she realized this scarred survivor could heal her wounded spirit, and together they would… Ride the Fire.

Read an excerpt.

One day at the RT hotel, the Sheraton in Kansas City, and it’s already looking like RT. Posters, stickers, huge signs are going up and the place is looking like home.

This one is a bit different because it has a living model, but she didn’t stay there long. What must it feel like to press the button for the elevator and stare at your own face? Heather Graham took it in stride.

I’m teaching at the pre-con Boot Camp and while the classes are fairly rigorous, the students are enjoying the experience. They’re a great group, very responsive and bright. Soon they’ll be teaching classes!

I taught GMC (Goal, Motivation, Conflict) yesterday and today I’m teaching dialogue. Should be fun! I do have some sketches to show them, but I don’t think the room is set up for it, so I’ll give them the URLs. If you go to Youtube and look up “Taysiders in Space,” you can see one of them. So what lesson was I teaching with that sketch, hmm?

And if you’re broadminded, look up “The Caledonian Mafia,” but not if bad language upsets you. Creative swearing at its best.

Because RT isn’t properly underway, my roommate and I found time to visit the “Arabia” museum. The “Arabia” was a steamship that was lost in 1856. It sank, and because the Missouri was a shallow river with lots of mud, they couldn’t salvage it. A team locally decided to excavate it for the salvage, since there was a rumour that it contained the best Kentucky whisky. They didn’t find the whisky, but they did find a lifetime’s obsession.

What made this museum so special was the enthusiasm that the guides have for the project and the displays. The displays of the items they found on the steamship were beautiful and carefully shown. They found everyday items, so that the whole museum is a slice in time. Like the Titanic and Tutankhamen’s tomb, the “Arabia” is time frozen, so you can see how people lived in the midwest in 1856. They found an astonishing array of things, from guns to cooking implements to 4,000 pairs of boots.

The people who salvaged the “Arabia” weren’t experts on preservation but they wanted to look after the items, and they became pioneers in freshwater conservation. Even the great museums weren’t sure how to preserve the plethora of perishable items, so after a bit of advice from the people working on the Mary Rose and the Vasa, they went ahead and developed methods of preserving the timbers and rubber items.

It was really impressive. These people weren’t experts when they started, but they’re sure experts now. We were lucky enough to meet Dave, one of the original team of five diggers who excavated the wreck, and he answered our questions with humour and patience.

Loved the visit, and I’d really recommend you dropping in if you’re in the area. Outside there’s a farmer’s market and a row of really good restaurants and cafes. So you can make a day of the visit!

I always like to read Christine Merrill’s work – mostly because she’s a writer who will take risks.  Given that she most notably works within the Regency landscape, I’m always intrigued to see what twists she’s going to throw in the most omnipresent setting within the genre.  Sometimes the risks she takes work for me and sometimes they don’t.  This first book in a duet is an instance of where they don’t.  She tries some clever things here, but it all comes off as rather distasteful to me in the end.

Dr. Samuel Hastings was rescued as an infant from a foundling home by Lady Evelyn Thorne’s father.  He agreed to help out a notable peer whose indiscretion with Sam’s less-than-noble mother led to his conception, because 1) one doesn’t turn down a Duke and 2) it was believed he and his wife would never have children of their own.  Until, of course, they did.  Evelyn was born a few years later, her mother passed away, and the two children were raised together.  That is until Daddy realized that his precious snowflake daughter was getting entirely too attached to Sam.  So he told a despicable, horrible, disgusting lie – thereby making Sam think he was a deviant, diseased pervert.  Sam went off to school, joined the Navy, and didn’t answer any of clueless Evie’s letters for six long years.  However, now he’s back in England. And Evie?  Evie is still desperately in love with him, even if her father does want her to accept Duke of St. Aldric’s proposal.

Ward/Guardian romances certainly have some popularity within the realm of historical romance, and I appreciate that the author gives us a different spin on the trope.  Sam is the ward and Evie just happens to be the guardian’s biological child.  I also really like that Sam is a physician, and Merrill does some nice homework and includes some interesting medical tidbits in this tale.  Sam, despite having a wealthy patron early in his life, is a self-made man, always an intriguing addition in any historical romance, but especially in a Regency.

What didn’t work for me was pretty much everything else.  The lie keeping Evie and Sam apart is a simple (albeit odious) one.  All that needs to be done to resolve the issue is for Sam to open his damn mouth and SAY SOMETHING!  Does he?  Of course not.  Because then Evie’s perception of her father would change – you know, even though the guy is a raging asshole.  Gee, wouldn’t that just be a tragedy?  So, Evie remains clueless of the truth until the very end, Sam plays the noble martyr until the end, and for added kicks they both end up cuckolding Michael, Duke of St. Alrdric, who seems like a genuinely nice guy.  The only thing keeping me from feeling completely sorry for him is that he’s scheduled to be the hero in the second book of this duet.  So the author isn’t going to keep him dangling on the helpless schmuck line for all fictional eternity.

As much as all that doesn’t work for me, ultimately what sinks this story is how distasteful I find the romance.  Evie and Sam were raised as brother and sister.  Sam has literally known Evie since the day she was born.  He was a child when she was born.  He did not come to their household as a teenager.  He was raised with her.  Certainly, he knew he was a ward, but from a very early age these two were raised together as brother and sister.  All I could think about was my adopted niece (who knows she’s adopted) and biological nephew and…..ick!  Yes, Evie and Sam are not related by blood – but the fact that they’ve literally known each other for their entire lives?  Were raised together as children, as brother and sister?  I don’t care if there is no blood involved, I still find it icky.  Maybe I wouldn’t have found it icky if I didn’t have an adopted niece and biological nephew, or if Sam and Evie weren’t thrown in the same household until they were both on the cusp of adulthood.  However, as is, it is a mighty big elephant in the room that I couldn’t work my way around.

Ultimately there are a only a few elements to this story that work for me.  Merrill’s writing style continues to appeal though, and after over a month of slogging through books, I positively zipped through this one.  I’m also keeping an open mind about maybe reading the next book in the series featuring Michael, Duke of St. Alrdric.  As it stands though, the romance of Evie and Sam doesn’t work for me.

Grade: D+

Summary:

Giving in to temptation would be the ruin of them all!

Having spent years believing a lie about his birth,  Dr. Samuel Hastings has been condemned to a personal hell of his desire’s making—his sinful thoughts of the one woman he can never touch would damn his soul  for eternity.

Lady Evelyn Thorne is engaged to the very suitable Duke of St. Aldric when a shocking truth is revealed—and now Sam will play every bit of the devil to seduce the woman he thought would always be denied him!

Read an excerpt.

Every so often you run across stories that touch your heart. It all started when I accidentally stumbled across Danger in the Shadows by this author. I know the deeply religious element is not for everyone, but having been schooled by Christian missionaries in Calcutta, I embraced the series with its deep spirtuality and embarked on the journey of faith hand in hand with each of the O’Malleys as I devoured the series. I am happy that Ms. Henderson is publishing Jennifer’s story. She is the catalyst who changed the O’Malleys by giving them faith hand in hand with romance. Her test of faith makes her the iconic inspiration for each one of her siblings. She is a constant thread of connection between all their stories being an O’Malley sibling and the youngest to boot. While this is a short story and bittersweet, it is good to go back to the begining.

Jennifer is a pediatrician who works on wellness for children who are battling with cancer. She’s all heart as she puts herself heart and soul into her kids. She accidentally runs across Tom in the hospital rescuing one of her patients and therein begins one of the most beautiful courtships. In today’s age of first base and second base, I think the modern generation has forgotten the meaning of courtship. Jennifer’s story could be a beautiful primer of progressing from meeting to a friendship of the mind and heart and soul. Interestingly enough, the body doesn’t engage at all in the book.

Tom himself is a gifted surgeon. He works in the same hospital, has offices in the same medical building where Jennifer does, but they’ve never met before the incident when he comes to her aid. I love the warmth in the book when Tom taps into the community grapevine to find out more about Jennifer, to be told that she’s loved by all the medical staff and they have lists of whom she should date and marry and he’s not on that list. He doesn’t let that statement faze him as he determines to be a part of her life not necessarily a line item on a list.

I love the birthday party and her ideas for entertaining the kids – mine are all grown up but I’ve taken notes for when I have grandkids. Throwing coins in a fountain is just a great way of making a wish and how Tom and Jennifer make it an integral part of celebrating the high notes in their relationship culminating in putting quarters in the fountain as a way of celebrating.

And just when it’s all falling together between love and faith and the only cloud on her horizon is how and when she’s going to introduce Tom to her close knit family and bring Jesus into their lives at the same time, her faith is tested in unimaginable ways.

If you’re looking for a typical romance, then this author and these books are not for you; but if you are seeking a deeply romantic relationship with elements of strong faith woven into everyday life, then there is none better.

Grade: B+

 

Summary:

It’s a summer of change for Jennifer O’Malley. The busy physician has a pediatrics practice in Dallas, and meeting Tom Peterson, falling in love, is adding a rich layer to her life. She’s sorting out how to introduce him to her family—she’s the youngest of seven—and thinking about marriage.

She’s falling in love with Jesus too, and knows God is good. But that faith is about to be tested in a way she didn’t expect, and the results will soon transform her entire family…..

No excerpt available.

Other books in this series:

Same time, same place, but two different characters.  Turns out the change of characters makes all the difference in the world, at least when it comes to my enjoyment.  This final installment in the May Day Mischief duet was one I was looking forward to, mostly because the romantic couple intrigued in the first story, the one that was not their own.  Sadly, spending more time with them soured me on their whole affair.

Lucasta Barnes is currently fake-engaged to a childhood friend because she wants to avoid David, Earl of Elderwood at all costs.  They had an explosive tryst that resulted in some naughty shenanigans.  He proposed (repeatedly), and she freaked out.  It would never work between them.  He believes in magic (yep, the hero) and she thinks it’s all hog-wash, superstitious nonsense – a belief aided by the reality that her mother was a nut job who got herself killed because she believed in fairies.  Now David has arrived at her uncle’s home determined to win her hand once and for all.  All she has to do is not succumb to his charms.  Which is hard to do since she’s one of those heroines with a traitorous body.  Sigh.

This story starts off strong.  Lucasta and David have a combative relationship, which means a lot of verbal sparring.  However, it all starts to slide the more I get to know David.  Heroines who practice Magical Thinking are bad enough, but it’s somehow worse when it’s the hero.  David has fairy blood in him (naturally, because who doesn’t?), and is convinced that he and Lucasta must be together because it’s “magic.”  This is essentially a round-about way of cramming a “soul mates” or “fated to be mated” theme into a story.

For the record, I abhor the theme of “soul mates” with the heat of a thousand burning suns.  It strips the characters of free will, which drives me bonkers.  So yeah, calling it magic and trying to tie it up in a pretty-fairy-blood-package doesn’t change anything.  It still sucks.

Lucasta resists, David pursues, and in the end they fall blissfully into each other arms.  But yeah, what about that fake engagement?  Here’s the thing, Lucasta is supposedly “engaged” to Alexis (the hero in The Magic Of His Touch).  Alexis is now madly in love with her cousin, Peony.  Lucasta and David are now riding off into the sunset.  The problem?  No fall-out!  Lucasta and Alexis haven’t broken that fake engagement to anyone other than each other and their twu wuvs.  It’s a pretty big thread just left dangling and had me audibly saying, “But, but, but…..” at the end of the last sentence.

I enjoyed the first story for the fluffy bit of fun that it was, but instead of wrapping up the duet in a satisfying conclusion, this second story is a major letdown for me.  Bother.

Grade: D

Summary:

England, 1804

Lucasta Barnes knows the folly believing in magic can lead to–and she won’t accept that her illicit tryst with a notorious rake was the result of anything more than pure lust. Or that it has bonded them together forever. Yet, she can’t deny that she yearns for just one more night in his arms…

David, Earl of Elderwood, is used to women being enchanted by him, but ever since a passionate encounter with Lucasta three years ago, he desires only her. How can he convince his thoroughly practical paramour that love is the greatest magic of all?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

This is the lead book in a new series by Jennifer Season called Diamonds and Dugouts. The characters are being established as part of the Rush, MLB team. This first book is about the catcher, Mark Cutter.

The story itself is okay. Not really my kind of book, but I enjoyed the romance. The sex scenes are a little crass. But I guess the author is going for the badass ball player kind of talk that doesn’t ring true to me. Then again, I’m not into sports.

I do not really want my heroines to start off as thieves in the night and have would-be one-night stands. Although it’s well written and the characters are well developed, they just developed into people I don’t care for.

There are a lot of setups in the back story for the next book in the series.  This story line is a lot of drawn-out nonsense that could have been cleared up by an intelligent conversation between the characters. When Lorelei gets the message from her brother that Michelle is at the hospital, her reaction upstairs is so completely different than the one downstairs when she meets her sibling in the yard, I had to reread it. I felt a section had been left out of the print book because it did not ring true in the script of things and maybe could have been written differently. In addition, at the end…Lorelei is still broke on her butt and yet can afford a plane ticket to Houston. Not likely.

Mark Cutter never gets his thinking past what’s in his pants. Everything is all about him and his possessions, with little regard for anyone or anything else. At this point I am surprised I finished the book. This character seems to be well developed into a conceited jerk, and if that’s what is intended, Ms. Seasons does a very good job. You never see a glance of the good guy he could be until the very end. It is almost an afterthought. “Oh yeah, I have money, I can do something nice for someone.”

Even though I do not care much for the characters and the story line, I feel Jennifer Seasons has some knowledge of her story subject and good character building skills. I am just not crazy for these characters. If the subject matter changes, I will try reading her books again. I just plan on skipping the rest of this series.

Grade: C

Summary:

Love may be just a game, but the baseball players in Jennifer Seasons’ sexy Diamonds and Dugouts series—they’re playing for keeps!

Mark Cutter has it all: a lucrative baseball career, fast cars, and faster women—and all thanks to his priceless good luck charm. At least, that’s what he thinks before Lorelei Littleton shows up. Next thing he knows, he’s waking up alone, the sexy brunette has vanished, and his good luck charm is gone. More than a little curious about the wicked-hot cat burglar and determined to get his property back, Mark’s going to track down the thief and make her pay—big time.

Maybe Lorelei feels a tiny bit guilty for stealing Mark’s good luck charm, but when it’s worth $100,000 and the money could save her niece’s life? She’s not losing sleep over it … but him? Lorelei can’t get the ballplayer with the bad attitude out of her head. And now he’s come after her with more than just revenge in his eyes. Lorelei has a choice: turn over the charm and lose the money, or keep it and risk losing everything … including her heart.

Other books in this series:

Book 2, Playing the Field – 12 Jul 13

Besides the fact I wait for every next Lorraine Heath book, it’s always anxious anticipation for the last story in one of her trilogies that won’t leave me be. I’ve been waiting for Rafe’s story for what seems like forever, wanting to know what happened to the boy his siblings had to leave behind for all of them to survive, as well as waiting for that final reunion when they’re truly brothers once again and Rafe has more love than he knows what to do with.

Evelyn’s father has just passed away, and she expects her half brother to take care of her, just as he promised their father. But her fate goes from the hands of a man who sheltered her too much to a man who wants only what coin he can get for her. Amid a room full of men who don’t want her for their own as she believes they do, it’s Rafe Easton who surprises the hell out of himself by taking her from the vultures who will eventually break her. Though Rafe considers himself a man who cares for nothing or no one, Eve finds generosity and kindness in and around the edges of his bluntness and roughness.

Though Rafe means to take Eve as his mistress, he gives her time to become comfortable with him. During this time he goes back and forth between liking Eve, wanting to buy her gowns and jewels, just being with her, and a number of other things he’s not wanted with or from a woman ever. Just when he begins to see a different life for himself, a life he’s never let himself dream of, he snaps out of such fantasies to continue his cold, lonely existence, needing no one and caring about no one. It breaks my heart every time he goes through this self-denial, all stemming back to his being left at a workhouse when the brothers’ lives were at stake all those years ago.

Whether he knows it or not, Eve is exactly what Rafe needs. Slowly she begins to see the gentle, loving man behind his facade of disregard for others. And just as slowly Rafe begins to confide in Eve, telling her of the horrors that befell him as he grew up in a world that was foreign and cruel. Also as slowly comes Rafe’s unexpected perceptions that give him a bit of insight as to what his brothers went through when making decisions no teenager ever needs to make. Through all of this, Eve also has some eye-opening perceptions of her own, mostly that her father may have loved her, despite her birth on the wrong side of the blanket, but that love was one-sided at best. He never strolled with her through the park, danced with her at a ball, none of those exceptional experiences that society lives day by day.

But Eve learns fast. Learns everything Rafe has been teaching her, whether he’s conscious of that fact or not. She also adapts quite well, especially since she’s not really given a choice. I think any red-blooded woman would if they had a man like Rafe Easton warming their bed. Rafe isn’t embarrassed to be seen in the park with her, waltzing with her at Sebastian’s ball, or sailing with her on Tristan’s yacht. He begins to see what a family they still are, even after his siblings learn everything he’s done to survive in the years they were apart.

As usual, Lorraine Heath packs this book full of emotion, romance, intensity, and love that endures the worst. Each time Rafe lets a smidgen of emotion come over him at interacting with one of this brothers and each time he squelches that emotion, my soul cried for him. When he finally realizes that he will be loved no matter what, my soul then cried tears of happiness for him. This is how I’ve come to expect Ms. Heath to make me feel when reading her words, and she’s never once let me down.

Grade: A+

Summary:

Three young heirs, imprisoned by an unscrupulous uncle, escaped—to the sea,to the streets, to faraway battle—awaiting the day when they would return to reclaim their birthright . . .

Lord Rafe Easton may be of noble blood, but survival taught him to rely only on himself and to love no one. Yet when he sets eyes on Miss Evelyn Chambers, an earl’s illegitimate daughter, he is determined to have her, if only as his mistress . . .

After her father’s death, Evelyn Chambers never imagined she would be sold to the highest bidder, yet circumstances give her little choice but to accept the lord’s indecent proposal. Rafe is wealthy, as well as ruthless. Yet his coldness belies deep passion and deeper secrets. If she must be his,Evelyn intends to lay bare everything the Lord of Pembrook is hiding. But dark discoveries threaten to destroy them both until unexpected love leads the last lost lord home . . .

 

No excerpt available.

Other books in this series:

This is a wonderful series that started off with the Raines of Wind Canyon and then morphed into the Atlas Security Alpha operatives series with each ex-military gorgeous operative from Alpha Security getting his own story. The author does a great job of introducing and tantalizing us with the hero of her next book in each current story so that the adrenaline is flowing and excitement is rife when that next book is announced.

We met Ben Slocum as he played second chair to Alex Justice in Against the Odds as Alex wooed and won Sabrina Eckhardt. It’s now Ben’s turn and his story starts off with a bang when he learns not only is he a father of a teenage son he never knew about, but also that the boy is missing and potentially in extreme danger. Ben’s skills and training will be tested to the edge and beyond as he strives to find his son and hold on to the romance that has unexpectedly landed at his door.

Claire Chastain is a social worker in Los Angeles. She’s been a surrogate mother to Sam, her best friend Laura’s son. Laura used to be Ben’s fiancee until she broke his heart and inoculated him against love and long-term lasting relationships. Now Claire is here to tell him that not only does he have a son with Laura that he never knew anything about but also that said son was sent into the Los Angeles foster care system after his mother’s death and has now disappeared from his foster parents’ home. What a series of shocks for poor Ben as he returns after a night in the bed of his latest flirt.

But to give Ben credit, he recovers quickly and the playboy is replaced by the the professional soldier and private investigator as he heads to Los Angeles with Claire to check in with the police and to investigate the disappearance. The police are not very helpful, simply putting Sam down as another runaway from foster care, but Claire knows better. She loves Sam and suspects foul play on the part of Laura’s ex-boyfriend who swore revenge on her and Laura after her friend had broken up with him.

As Ben leverages his Atlas Security and personal connections to find clues as to who might have Sam and where to find him, Claire is determined to help in the search and rescue not only because she made a promise to a dying friend, but also because she loves Sam like a son and make sure he’s safe once again. As Ben and Claire work in close quarters driving through the western United States following Sam’s trail, the attraction between them becomes a conflagration. Ben is not into long-term relationships, but when he has a hard time resisting Claire, they take it one day at a time as they become intimate partners.

Ben is a top-notch investigator and he has the professional connections to assure his success. He is able to locate Sam with the help of Claire and a new friend who he found in Los Angeles. Rescuing his son allows him to become a true parent. Claire, in the meantime, moves to Houston to remain close to Sam and perhaps to Sam’s new dad. Claire’s journalist ex-boyfriend, who is working on a dangerous expose, also makes an appearance, bringing an unexpected danger into her life, so she once again needs Ben’s professional help.

The story takes interesting twists and turns as Ben, Claire, and Sam try to find their new place in each other’s lives. There will be yet more danger and excitement before the story drives to its conclusion. I really enjoyed the pace and evolution of the story. There is enough suspense in the how and when that kept me engaged. We also have an interesting introduction into the para-military element in the US who live a hard life close to nature and yet thrive on danger and violence. Of course, we met Tyler Brodie, hero of the author’s next book, who helps Ben locate and rescue his son.

Grade: B

Summary:

A child he’s never met.

A danger he’s never known.

That he’s a father is news Ben Slocum was not

expecting. But once the initial shock wears off for the confirmed bachelor, he takes in the rest of what social worker Claire Chastain tells him: that Sam is in the custody of an abusive criminal, that they’ve disappeared . . . and that Ben is now the child’s only hope.

As Ben and Claire band together to track the two

down, their concern for the boy draws them closer, each fighting feelings there’s no time to explore. Ben’s got one chance to take back what’s his, and in one gunshot he could lose it all . . .

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

I love a good historical western. The open range, the ranches, the stretching of my mind to a time when there were no cars, computers, and life may have been simpler but very hard. Throw in a good romance and I am there. Beauty and the Bounty Hunter starts out really well – look at that gorgeous cover . . the back blurb is enticing and different and I promptly dived in. After a few short chapters, however, I was looking for a lifebelt.

Cat O’Banyon is a bounty hunter. Her husband William was murdered, and she has since devoted her life to finding his killer so that she can put a bullet between his eyes. To this end, she agreed to a pact with Alexi Romanov, con artist extraordinaire, to teach her everything he knows about his cons, trickery, disguises, and languages. She also agrees to become his lover during this time, and then after a year or so Alexi awakes one morning, Cat is gone.

Cat, in disguise as a whore, is halfway through tying up a bounty in her bedroom when out of the shadows of the room appears a man. She challenges him with her gun and he just applauds her, then he knocks out her bounty and forces her against the wall. Who is this man whose face she can’t see, (the brim of his hat is low), whose voice she doesn’t recognise, is she in danger? Is he about to accost her . .  why no! It is Alexi . . her former lover who has come to tell her that the man who killed her husband has now put a bounty on her and that these hunters are close by. I find it really hard to believe that Cat would be unable to recognise Alexi with him so close to her after their previous relationship. Alexi tells Cat that although he doesn’t know who placed the bounty, he knows where this man is and they should go there and see if they can’t get him. So Cat and Alexi escape the hunters, meet up out of town, gather supplies for their trip, rest up to ready for the start, Alexi beds two women in his tent, and Cat is completely unperturbed about finding Alexi naked with aforementioned women. No emotional reaction at all. And that is how it continued for me through the rest of the book.

Then we have the road trip section complete with every western cliché ever invented and then some, and after reading only as much as I could take, I was reduced to skimming for my mental health. For your mental health I shall just mention a few. We had gunfights, heroine shot, visions of bright lights and deceased hubby saying “It’s not your time,” Indian encampments, huddling together skin to skin to keep warm, dressing up as a gypsy, and the heroine flashing her breasts at every opportunity to distract men. I searched ‘breasts’ on my reader and got 54 mentions. Cat O’Banyon doesn’t need a Derringer – her boobs are her best weapon . . as the men go slack jawed and she makes her escape. Oh and don’t let me forget:

As she’d told Alexi the single time he’s asked, she’s barren.  And nothing since has proved her wrong.

And then there is this curious piece – something I have never seen before in a Western:

Alexi is once again glad he’d stopped to shave his beard, apply make-up, as well as his breasts, not to mention pad his ass as the boy groped him everywhere. He could dress like Cat, walk and talk like her, too.

Apparently he had done this to try to infiltrate the enemy camp and was being searched. I could not read anymore and skipped to the epilogue. . .

“I was wrong” she began.
“What were you wrong about this time?”
“Remember when I said I was barren?” Cat asked
Alexi’s eyes went wary. “Yes”
Cat lowered his hand from her face to her stomach.
“I was wrong.”

I was just hoping that I had been wrong too.

Grade: DNF:

Summary:

Cathleen Chase is no killer—but as Cat O’Banyon, she is a ruthless bounty hunter who always gets her man. Catching one lowlife after another, she continues her search for the only man she really cares to locate: the one whose voice she will never forget; the man who murdered her husband. She’ll stop at nothing to find him.

Con artist Alexi Romanov taught Cat every trick she knows.  He is a master of deceit, of disguise and of desire. He’s difficult to trust, and even more difficult to resist, but he has news she can’t ignore. The man she’s after has placed a bounty on her head. To get him before he gets her, she’ll have to team up with Alexi again…  And just like before, the two of them together are nothing but trouble.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

The Lone Warrior – January 2014

This novel reminds me of the stardust and tinsel of a Hollywood set which masks the fear, sweat, and tears that hide beneath the glamor. Hundreds of stories play behind the big screen that most of us never see or recognize. In grandiose style we sweep around the world, experiencing a gamut of emotions and experiences. It’s so hard to distinguish between fact and fiction that I truly feel like I had fallen through the rabbit hole and kept pinching myself to see if I would wake up.
In a rags-to-riches-and-back-to-rags theme, the key protagonist is a writer. He’s always lived in a world of dreams and can spin out a story to save the moment. I most enjoyed his witty repartee and his ability to think on his feet. How often have you thought of something clever after you fell on your face in the conversational lists? Our hero always has the the right spot-on comeback for the moment, whether it is the name he adopts or how he describes himself.

In college as he’s struggling to find and define himself, he finds his muse that confirms his desire and ambition to be a writer. The competitiveness sparks genius between two people who come from different strata of society. Julian McGann embodies everything the author aspires to: talent, wealth, family. In addition, Julian is best friends with beautiful, talented Evelyn who is everything the author aspires to win and hold. As the competition between the two escalates with each trying to outdo the other, such that they forget boundaries, before they realize it they are in dangerous waters.

As they mature our author seems to be somewhat content to hang on to Julian’s coattails and let Julian pay his way as they settle in New York. Two aspiring writers. Then jealousy comes into play again as Julian gets published and our author is left behind and, to boot, Evelyn, the love of his life, makes a rich society marriage. It is a bit confusing that she was looking to marry an Indian billionaire with elephants and henna and all the trappings and then later she was supposedly married ala Princess Grace style into European royalty. But I suppose that’s why it’s fiction and convoluted fiction at that.

After the falling out our author chooses to move on and tastes adventure outside the US, stepping into a college professor’s shoes and then moving on to Dubai to teach oil-rich sheikhs to where he begins to write term assignments for students, who find him the on the Internet, to fuel his extravagant lifestyle as he travels the world from one adventure to another. However, during this time, he’s lost his muse and he’s unable to write, until he meets an editor from the premier publishing house who published Julian’s book. She’s in search of Julian who’s disappeared and never has published another word. Perhaps Julian in his own way has lost his muse.

Then begins the homeward journey to where it all began, finding Julian and helping him into his second successful novel and trying to find himself and what’s truly important. I guess the end leaves one guessing. Do we really ever find ourselves or do we continue to reinvent as circumstances dictate? This is a very thought-provoking book if you really start to delve beneath the surface, and yet you can stay right on the surface and enjoy the wit and knit your eyebrows in confusion as you try to make sense of things. Welcome to the real world!

And in case you’re still wondering, it has nothing to do with leopards, except our intrepid author does meet one in Africa who takes a chunk out of him.

Grade:B

Summary:

Written in a voice that is open, honest, and extremely witty, “The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards” is an elegantly-constructed novel that takes readers around the world with its elusive narrator and his two friends: the talented but unstable Julian McGann and the beautiful actress, Evelyn Demont. Their journey of love and loss carries them to the rocky edge of the Grand Canyon, the posh hotels of Dubai, the crowded markets of Kumasi, and an abandoned Icelandic writer’s colony.

Check out the official book trailer on YouTube.

Me and the Publisher of Ellora’s Cave, Raelene Gorlinsky, courtesy of Freda Lightfoot.

First things first. I stayed at a Travelodge. Hey, they’re clean, and you know exactly what you’re going to get. And if you check at Tripadvisor, you can pick the good ones. I picked a good one. The Waterloo Travelodge has been recently renovated and it has a Sainsburys up the road and a decent Chinese takeaway and a traditional chippie next door, as well as a convenience store. If I ran a fast food place, I’d set up next to a Travelodge, too.

I went to the book fair for the whole three days. I didn’t mean to, I was going to explore a few spots of London I’ve missed before, but Wednesday was the day they buried Margaret Thatcher in a this-is-totally-not-a-state-funeral-but-the-Queen’s-coming kind of way, so I chickened out and went to the fair again. Glad I did, because fans arrived. Which is always kind of fun. Sometimes I forget that other people read my stuff (btw, you can all go out and read Nice ‘n’ Easy which is out this week, because I wrote it and you’ll like it, honest you will).

Sooo. I got to Earl’s Court and found the Ellora’s Cave stall and spent the morning there. It’s huge fun writing erotic romance and watching the faces of the people passing by, because our book covers are pretty racy. I saw some people looking for the naughty bits, but there aren’t any on the covers. Otherwise, the outlets wouldn’t take the books. They range from sweet and romantic to out-and-out raunchy, but Ellora’s Cave is a distinctive brand, and you get what you get. Which people seem to like, judging by my sales. Thank you, people. I also saw one of my other publishers, Samhain, and got to see the copies of my May print release, Lisbon. Anyway. This is a trade fair, and authors are usually not welcome, because this is for publishers and booksellers to get together, not the people who provide them with 90% of the content of their product. This year is an exception, and they even set up an Author Lounge, a place where talks aimed at authors were given.

The unpublished flocked. I flocked, at least to some talks. I found some of the talks very basic and some interesting, but to get to the meat, I had to sit through a lot of explanations that I knew already. But I really appreciated that, because everybody has to start at the beginning and it’s heartening to realise that people want to do it, that they’re interested enough to divvy up and work their feet into bloody stumps traipsing round a place as big as Earl’s Court. It’s obvious that authors are moving on. From our point of view, it’s not political, it’s not adventurous, it’s just what more and more of us are having to do. Writing a book takes months and it takes a lot of work. If even getting a foot in the door takes years, then it’s years before the book hits the shelves, and the returns are decreasing so even the best seller can’t expect to make a living, if publishers are treating books as “product” and making more of the same, then someone who wants to communicate and write their hearts out is going to have to look elsewhere. For most authors it boils down to that. Economics.

Self-publishing was the buzz this year, overwhelmingly so. As well as a renewed interest and even some kind of respectability for the erotic romance. Up to now the erotic romance author, especially the one writing erotic romance for a female audience, has been publishing’s lucrative but dirty secret. Now it’s burst out of the closet. It’s a delight to write, to express an area of women’s lives they haven’t fully explored yet, at least in a literary sense, and it’s a joy to see women having fun with these books.

And that self-publishing. From an author’s point of view, at least one foot in the camp is a wise thing, but the people who are doing best are the brand-new author with a breakout book (the odds would make any bookie rub his hands together in delight) and the midrange author who has a reputation and fans who want what they have to offer. Presumably the big names will move in. The barriers to entry are already increasing. You need a professionally designed cover, good editing, and good formatting. And some kind of awareness campaign. All that costs in money and time, and most of the best known, self-published authors that I know have at least one paid personal assistant.
All this was reflected in the fair. There were talks about metadata, self-publishing houses, “how I did it” stories in the various talks and classes. There were stalls offering those services.

And, before I forget to mention it, Kobo invested heavily in its presence at the fair and released a really nice new ereader with a light. The print is the crispest I’ve ever seen in a device, and were it not for my Nexus 7, I’d be really, really tempted. Mmm, new toys.

I did get a chance of a walk down the Mall and a visit to my favourite painting anywhere, Titian’s “Bacchus and Ariadne.” I even had a couple meet in front of it in Texas Heat.

This is the first time I’ve read one of these new serial stories that seem to be popular lately. I’m glad I had all three books to read back to back, but I also wish there’d been more. It takes a very gifted storyteller to pull readers in, fill them with emotion, packing a huge punch in such a limited word count. Eloisa James does it beautifully.

Part One

Lady Grace has had a crush on Colin since a very early age. He never notices her as more than a sister, since they’ve grown up together – their parents being best friends – and Grace’s sister Lily is the vivacious one who garners all attention. But Grace’s love grows and never wavers. When Colin follows his calling to the sea in the Royal Navy, she even writes to him, keeping him abreast of all the goings-on at home.

She later discovers that her letters have helped Colin get through the ugly side of his military career. So Grace takes her corresponding to another level, even though the man very rarely answers her missives. Colin does come home on leave every so often, but he still doesn’t take notice of Grace the way she hopes he will. Then when Colin finally does send a letter home, Grace knows Colin will never love her. So when another man begins to court her, Grace accepts his suit and plans to make a life without Colin.

You have to feel for Grace when she stands on the edge of the ballroom, watching exactly what she wants but never attaining it. Ms. James does a wonderful job with the emotion in so few pages. Not only the feelings of Grace and Colin, but also that of both families for the other. They’ve been friends for years and you can see the deep love they all have for one another.

 Summary:

Lady Grace Ryburn, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Ashbrook, has fallen wildly in love with Colin Barry, a dashing young lieutenant serving his country in the Royal Navy. When he returns home to exuberant celebrations, will he even notice the quiet wallflower he grew up with … or will he fall for Grace’s sparkling, gorgeous sister?

Grade: B

Part Two
Colin has been injured and, thus, discharged from the Royal Navy, on his way home to England. And Grace. But is he too late? Has she already married another? Would she want him anyway, now that he’s not the man he used to be? Arriving at Grace’s home full of laudnum and in pain, unable to see, Colin is made comfortable until he can be bundled up and taken to his parents’ home.

It’s at this time that Grace knows she will only be truly happy with Colin. Garnering her mother’s permission and help, breaking her engagement, and putting her heart on the line, Grace accompanies Colin on his journey. And what a journey it turns out to be.

Having laudnum in his system only makes Colin dream, and Grace is always the star. So when she’s so near in the carriage taking him home, close enough to have her in his arms, sensual enough to make love to her, Colin allows his dream to flourish, loving Grace just as he’s wanted to for so long, even without realizing it. For Grace, taking destiny into her own hands has her dream coming true. She finally will be with Colin, she has love enough for both of them.

But realizing that Colin believes it’s Lily he made love to causes Grace to run. Colin, however, has something to say about that . Again, Ms. James does a wonderful job of pulling the emotion from both of these characters in very few pages. So much so you can’t wait to get to Part Three to find out what happens.

Summary:

Lady Grace Ryburn has accepted another man’s proposal after the love of her life, Lieutenant Colin Barry, asked for her own sister’s hand in marriage.

But when Colin returns home from the wars, injured in body and spirit, will she be able to turn her back and marry another? Or will she throw away every rule her mother taught her and try to seduce a man who has shown no interest in her kisses?

Grade: B

Part Three

Now it’s Colin’s turn to take the bull by the horns and go for what he wants. Refusing to let Grace run, he becomes the pirate he’s always heard his father was and keeps Grace in his grasp until she understands exactly how he feels. But nothing will work for them as it should until they both really see what they’ve been afraid to face and what has always been right in front of them. They’re finally forced to take a long look.

Colin must convince Grace he wants her, that she’ll never live in her sister’s shadow again. As he does so, their lovemaking is sweet and intense. They continue to talk to work out the issues between them. When they get to that point and find themselves before a vicar to be married, their love is cemented even deeper when questioned about their union.

I love when Colin finally sits down to answer Grace’s letters. She does too. A beautiful scene, something Ms. James is very, very good at. I’ve not read the previous books that feature these characters’ parents, but just the little bit they’re introduced here makes me want to find those books in the mountains of print I have stored and start reading about them immediately. Every one of these characters is charming, intriguing, and leap off the page.

We even get an epilogue to assure us all is right in Colin’s and Grace’s world down the road a number of years. Everything is wrapped up quite nicely, just as it should be in the fantasy of romance.

Summary:

Lieutenant Colin Barry returns from the wars injured in body and spirit, knowing that he has no right to steal Grace from the arms of her fiancé. Yet the same warrior’s spirit that won so many battles at sea is prompting him to throw propriety to the winds, imitate his pirate father, and simply take what he most desires!

Grade: B

I enjoyed every bit of this lovely story. I doubt I would enjoy reading many more of these installment stories. As much as I like a good cliffhanger, I don’t want to wait that long to find out what happens to my heroes and heroines, I want it all in one book when I have to work for that HEA. But once in a while I think I can live with this new concept in storytelling.

Overall Grade: B

Centuries ago a Chattan male fell in love with a Macnachtan woman, only to abandon his lady love and mother-to-be of his child in the pursuit of wealth and ambition. Unable to face her ruin, Rose Macnachtan committed suicide, and her mother cursed the males of the Chattan line to die when they found love. For hundreds of years the curse came to pass and Chattan males died once their heart was engaged. Only sons were born in the Chattan line. As soon as the beloved wife became pregnant, the father was struck by a fatal illness and died, leaving a son for the cycle to then begin again. For the first time in centuries things have changed, there are three Chattan siblings and one of them is a female – the first female child born to Clan Chattan – Margaret Chattan. Is she destined to change the course of Chattan history by bringing an end to the curse and saving her beloved brothers’ lives?

Aided and abetted by a book of spells and recipes and a cat that no one else around her can see, Margaret sets off to the heart of where it all began.  On her way she is almost killed in an accident but is rescued by Heath Macnactan. Heath is a practical and logical man. He has served in the Royal Navy as an officer and does not believe in the superstitions that his Highland clan believe to be true. He has just returned home to take over as laird upon the death of his brother. Can this man of reason persuade Margaret that the curse is a figment of the Chattan imagination that is being fleshed into reality because of the Chattans’ belief in it?

Heath fell in love love with Margaret the first time he saw her in the distance in London a long time ago. Knowing how far apart they were both socially and economically, he had walked away without an introduction. Now fate has conspired to bring her to him and put him in the position of offering her aid. Can this man of logic be persuaded that there is more than what reason and logic can explain? Interestingly enough, just as Margaret is the first female of her line, Heath is the last Macnachtan. Is there more to this than simply coincidence?

In any good romance there needs to be villain, a veritable serpent in Eden.  And there is certainly more than one here, but a very unexpected one at that.  As the twists and turns unravel, one finds that at the core of the villainy is greed. Follow the mone,y as they say, in most murders and you will find the motive, and such is the case here as well. Clearly there is more than mere greed at play, but can Heath embrace the supernatural and find a solution to winning Margaret, keeping her alive and safe from the curse and saving Clan Chattan?

I find this an interesting period piece and an enjoyable story with some unexpected twists and turns. Overall it reminds me a lot of Nora Roberts’ series that involve the finding of the keys with witchcraft, magic, and love. I started in the middle with this trilogy and hope to circle back and read Book 1. For me, each book stands on its own, since the author does a great job of providing the background at the beginning of the book.

Grade:B

Summary:

Lady Margret Chattan, one of the most desirable women in all of England, has no interest whatsoever in marriage. When her brother’s lives are put in danger, she travels to the Scottish Highlands, intent on saving them. There she meets Heath Macnachtan, who is trying to find out who murdered his own brother. Together, they team up to investigate the powerful curse that is behind the deaths, but instead find themselves falling in love.

Exceptionally entertaining and charming, The Devil’s Heart mixes a well-crafted love story with complex characters and pulse-pounding adventure.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

I know it’s a risk for authors to write a huge amount of books in a series. Readers’ biggest complaints, I think, is the stories start sounding the same, nothing new between the pages book after book now that the series is a number of years old, among others.  So far for me, Nalini Singh isn’t even close to that happening in her Psy-Changeling series. She grabs me every time and I’m glued to each book until the last word is read. I’ll never get tired of this series. Of course, I realize there’s the chance for “famous last words” and all that, but with a talent like hers, I have my doubts that will ever happen.

Beat of Temptation

In this compilation we get a closeup look at different mated pairs, highlighting their issues in that mating and how they overcome them. First up is Nathan and Tamsyn, DarkRiver sentinel and healer, respectively. I know this novella was featured in another anthology before, but I hadn’t read it until now. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing their young selves, along with our other favorites interacting with characters we’ve only heard about so far.

Nathan and Tamsyn have to bridge the age gap. She’s fifteen when their mating bond snaps into place, Nathan being ten years older. He’s made the decision to wait to claim her, to let her experience some independence, because when they’re finally together, what the alpha cat wants goes. But Tamsyn isn’t having any of this waiting business anymore.

She’s now nineteen and beside herself with wanting Nathan, wanting her innocence gone, and just plain old needing him in every way. But doubts begin to sit in when he refuses to complete the bond even now, maybe she’s not enough for him. Deciding to push him into some biting, snipping, and snapping, his cat is also pushing him to mate. Tamsyn doesn’t understand why he can’t see he’s exactly what she needs, dominance and all.

I love this story. We also get some tidbits of these two as we know them today, so it’s wonderful to see how they started, what they mean to one another, and how they’ve handled it throughout the years.

Grade: A+

Summary:

Innocent Tamsyn has always had a place in her heart for Nathan, a blooded DarkRiver sentinel. But is she ready for the fierce demands of the mating bond?

Read an excerpt.

Stroke of Enticement

Zach and Annie are characters we’ve met only briefly in the series, but I have to say I enjoyed them both immensely. Especially Zach. He’s one of those playful heroes with tenderness as well as dominance. And he’s as charming as hell. Annie is human, a school teacher, who has Zach’s nephew in her class, and that’s how they meet, when Zach has to take care of a problem with the nephew at school.

Annie has some trust issues due to a past relationship, so though she’s attracted to Zach, she’s hesitant to let things go too far. There’s also another issue to deal with – her mother is very anti-Changeling. But that charming Zack is able to break through her defenses nearly as neatly as he does Annie’s. Annie does have some doubts about why this dominant male would want her, but he takes care of that too.

I like when he introduces her to the Pack Circle, only part of what it will be like to mate with a Changeling. All of the Changelings are terrific heroes, but there’s something extra special about Zach, which Annie finally realizes and accepts. You go, girl!

Grade: A+

Summary:

A wary young teacher, skeptical about love, arouses the man—and the animal—in an aggressive leopard changeling who must prove his affections are true.

Read an excerpt.

Declaration of Courtship

Now we turn from DarkRiver to the SnowDancer wolves. This first story is about Grace, a submissive wolf, who just transferred from another pack to get away from the protectiveness of her adoptive family. Her immediate “boss” is Cooper, a lieutenant, a sexy, dominant wolf who shows such gentleness and restraint when it comes to his mate. Of course, she doesn’t know she’s his mate yet; otherwise, she’d be scared silly. I enjoyed this story because I like seeing how the submissives also have their place in the pack. They’re just as important as any dominant.

Baby steps is what it takes with Grace, because these two are literally poles apart when it comes to the hierarchy in the pack. Doubts aplenty assail Grace, but she’s excited that Cooper is going to be courting her. There’s a lot of emotion in this story. Grace wants Cooper, but she knows her wolf  just can’t stand up to him. But with Cooper’s patience and his need for healing of his own, Grace learns she’s stronger than she ever imagined.

Grade: A+

Summary:

Grace, a shy submissive wolf, finds herself pursued by the last man she ever would have imagined: a SnowDancer lieutenant said to be “mad, bad, and dangerous to know.”

Read an excerpt.

Texture of Intimacy

When I first read Caressed by Ice years ago, it was  my least favorite book of the series. But the more I learn about the Lauren brothers, who are all Psy, and what they’ve gone through, they have snuck up on me and now have a special place in my heart. So in this novella we get a deeper, emotional glimpse into Walker Lauren and his mate, Lara, the SnowDancer healer.

As much as Walker tries to give of himself to Lara, there’s still a part he holds back, a part that she wishes he’d share. Little by little he does, and what an emotional roller coaster the telling of his life is. The backbone of the Lauren family, Walker fought to help young children chosen for a life of killing find a little peace during training, while he was helpless to assist his own brother in the same situation. The man struggled to save his sister first from a monster and then from taking her own life. He then took her children as his own, then learned his child had been terminated before its life could really begin. There’s so much turmoil going on inside this hero, I’m amazed at his intact survival. But survival is what he had to do to keep his family safe.

Lara breaks through the silence that has ruled this man for so long.  He never wavered when faced with what had to be done, keeping his emotions under wraps the whole time. Walker Lauren is an amazing character. I enjoyed the conversation with Judd, both of them teasing and completely free with one another, something neither of them ever expected. Beautiful scene. Though he and Lara go through some tense moments, you feel the love treading through their mating bond and it’s a wonderful thing.

Summary:

SnowDancer healer Lara discovers the searing joys—and unexpected challenges—of being mated to quiet, powerful Walker, a man used to keeping his silence.

Grade: A+

Read an excerpt.

While these mates are getting to know one another and learning how to cope, we also get tidbits on what is currently happening in the Psy-Changeling world. Not even megalomaniacs wanting to take over the world slow down when it comes to love. After this it feels as if something big is going to come along to shake all foundations to the core. It will be interesting to see what Ms. Singh is going to do with these memorable characters she’s given us.

Overall Grade: A+

See Veena’s review here.

Other books in this series: