It is only for Kristie and Wendy I would get up early on a Saturday and drive to the post office. They have up wrap up posts today with contests! LOL hence my drive to the post office…

I would wrap but I am not done, this isn’t shocking I am always late. So expect some posts til Wednesdayish but will try to have the last contest posts up Sunday at least two more bet you can guess one of them (to close wed).

Unless we go ahead and update the template and it crashes (Did I mention I am somewhat cynical?) this western drive could go on for weeks… ::innocent blink::

It’s a Western Wrap Wendy Style

It’s a Western Wrap Kristie Style

Now on for some Harlequin Historical reckon…

Turner’s Woman by Jenna Kernan

I mention this book all the time and it is one that when Wendy finally read it – she didn’t like it near as much – we forgive her, she can’t be perfect.  Why do I love this book so much? I mean it is sick, I have put it in the hands of more people than I can remember and noticed I have a copy to send to Renee! I adore Emma and didn’t hate Jake near as much as Wendy.  And the setting… oh man the setting is just amazing.  It is almost another character in the book.  And the women you meet in the story, pretty much all kick ass.  Loves it.

The rest I couldn’t decide on a book so I picked my fave authors and am giving you a few picks.

The Stranger by Elizabeth Lane or His Borrowed Bride

The book we are giving away is the most recent, His Substitute Bride. I admit I adore Quinn but I loved His Borrowed Bride (the first in the series). And The Stranger a hecka lot more than Gwen did. And good new is Elizabeth Lane has a novella coming out plus another story in the current series in March 2010. THEN another one… you can read deets here.

Carolyn Davidson is one of those authors I want to go back to Harlequin Historical. Her last HQN, Eden, was painful to read. The one before that not that much better, although unlike some I really enjoyed Redemption (her first HQN).

But her HH are (mostly) amazing. She is one of the authors who were on my reread spree at the beginning of 2009.

Maggie’s Beau
Loving Katherine
The Midwife
The Tender Stranger
The Wedding Promise – which ties into the HQN novel Redemption
There are more… The Seduction of Shay Devereaux, Runaway all awesome, hope the line sees her back soon

Kate Bridges

Do not know what to rec here.  LOVE her books and omg her next, ALASKAN RENEGADE  looks amazing.  FAB cover. I WANT.  So many to pick from but will say… something old and something newish *g*

Klondike Doctor (1st in Mountie series set in the Yukon Gold Rush) and The Doctor’s Homecoming (noted on her site that “has been reprinted. It’s part of a larger Close to Home Collection offered by Harlequin. It’s included in the fourth shipment. There are lots of popular authors included!” I did not know that but I recently read it for the first time.)

AND holy hell look what it sez on her site:

Kate’s also working on a novella for a Mail Order Bride anthology (title to be determined) with two of her favorite Western writers–Carolyn Davidson and Jillian Hart. Release date is spring 2010.

EVERYONE ssssssqqqqqqqquuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeee those are three of my fave authors all together!

Cheryl Reavis the author I shouldn’t even mention since I don’t think she is going to write for HH again. Moved to SSE line, prolly just to break my heart because it is all about me. They maybe hard to find, not sure, but Prisoner, The Forbidden Bride, & Bartered Bride are three of my faves.

I know you were expecting a different Cheryl but I think we have touched on her.

And three authors you read you might have missed these books were first published as HH:
Lawless by Nora Roberts – one of the few of hers I have read
Reckless Love by Elizabeth Lowell – another fave
trilogy I ::heart:::
Apache Summer by Heather Graham
Dark Stranger by Heather Graham
Rides A Hero by Heather Graham

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Magic of Christmas by Carolyn Davidson, Victoria Bylin & Cheryl St.John
Historical romance anthology released by Harlequin Historical 1 Oct 08

Sometimes I think Harlequin delights in separating me from my money, and The Magic Of Christmas anthology could be Exhibit A in my bankruptcy hearing. It’s an anthology, a western, and all of the stories are centered around Christmas. How could I possibly resist that? What I’m happy to report is that even though one story completely failed me, the other two were real standouts.

A Christmas Child by Carolyn Davidson

I know a lot of readers who consider Davidson’s Harlequin Historical books comfort reads, so I’m sad to report that this story didn’t work for me at all. Marianne Winters’ parents die from typhoid, but not before her mama gives birth to a baby boy. Looking for a fresh start she heads to Walnut Grove, Missouri, where help is in short supply until she meets widowed preacher, David McDermott.

Marianne is described as “barely able to care for herself” and “a girl, for she was not yet a woman.” Even though the reader finds out later in the story that she’s 18, I couldn’t get the image of a prepubescent waif out of my head. Couple her with the older, wiser, and worldly David who is pushing her towards the altar in two days? Yeah, major ick. The stilted dialogue didn’t help matters either.

Grade: D+

Marianne Winters has no one in the world but her baby brother and, with Christmas approaching, she needs somewhere warm to stay. Will she find her home, and a loving heart, with the lonely pastor, David McDermott?

Read an Excerpt.

The Christmas Dove by Victoria Bylin

One of the reoccurring themes I enjoy in westerns is second chances. Bylin mines this plot device for excellent effect in the story of former bratty rich girl, Maddie Cutler. Maddie ran off with a gambler who promised adventure. Now she’s come home to Crystal River, Wyoming wearing a red dress and her infant daughter, Cora, in tow. Gamblers have a way of turning respectable girls into “fallen women,” a lesson Maddie learned the hard way. She’s totally unsure if her father will welcome her home, but she has to try. When she arrives in town, she runs into Dylan McCall, the man whose affections she once spurned. He agrees to take her home, only to have a blizzard strand them at his cabin.

What I loved about this story was that both Maddie and Dylan thought they weren’t good enough for the other. Also, Maddie has a lot of amends to make. Both are carrying around emotional baggage, but soon realize that they’re perfect for each other. The ending is a bit too tidy when it concerns Maddie’s homecoming with her father, but this story is inspirational, uplifting, and a really good read.

Grade: B+

Maddie Cutler once snubbed bad boy Dylan McCall, but with nowhere else to turn she has come back to town-with a babe in arms. Dylan is a reformed man, and on seeing Maddie again he longs to heal her hurt-and claim her once and for all!

A Baby Blue Christmas by Cheryl St.John

I’m a huge Cheryl St.John fan, and her story closes out the anthology on a high note. Gabby traveled to Ruby Creek, Colorado to talk some sense into her idiot cousin. Willow fell in love with an outlaw, got pregnant, and when the man left her, she decided to chase after him. Gabby knows Willow’s going to pop any day now, so she’s desperate to find her. Instead she finds Willow’s twins in the local livery with the angry owner. Turner Price finds two newborn baby boys in his stable and when Gabby shows up shortly there after he figures she’s the mama. She does some fast-talking, and soon she and the boys are staying in the house Turner has all but abandoned.

My only quibble with this story is that I expected Turner to be a little bit smarter. The babies are so newly born they haven’t even been cleaned up properly. When Gabby shows up at the stable she does not look like a woman who just gave birth to twins minutes before. Yet, he buys her story that she’s the mother. Happily this deception does not go on for long, and the story moves along at a fast clip as Gabby and the boys heal Turner’s wounded heart and Willow’s story gets some closure.

Grade: B

Turner Price hasn’t been the same since he lost his wife and child. But when he finds a young woman and newborn twin babies in his stable, he realizes this may be his second chance to be a loving husband and father, just in time for Christmas!

Read an Excerpt.

After a rocky start with the Davidson story, this Christmas anthology finishes on a high note thanks to Bylin and St.John. Their stories especially would make lovely Christmas Eve reads while you’re relaxing by the fire and waiting for Santa.

Overall Grade: B-

Sandy M’s review of The Bride by Carolyn Davidson
Historical Romance published by HQN Books 1 Feb 08

I just could not get into this book. The characters are very stiff and dry. The dialogue is the same. The storyline is fine, but with such dryness it never really picks up and you never get emotionally involved in the characters’ lives.

Isabella is sent to a convent until she turns sixteen, at which time she will marry the older man her father has chosen for her. Right off the bat we have to two men who care nothing for women and think of them only as possessions to be owned and dominated and punished when necessary. Isabella has the gall to beg her father not to give her to such an old and mean man, but all she gets is a swift and hard backhand. Her life at the convent is at least safe for her. She learns hard work and enjoys the solitude. She receives word her father has died and that gives her a reprieve for another two years before Juan Garcia will come for his bride.

During this time Rafael has heard Isabella’s story through word of mouth and when he deems it time he marries, he goes in search of the beautiful woman at the Sisters of Charity. He makes the trek to seek her out and make her his bride before her betrothed claims her. Rafael has heard of Juan Garcia and knows the kind of man he is and will not allow Isabella to wed such a mean-spirited man. Isabella goes with Rafael willingly, until she learns his plan to make her his wife. She wants the option of choosing who she marries, who she has children with, who she’ll spend her life with. Rafael has taken that away from her, even though he is the lesser of two evils when it comes to Garcia.

From this point on Isabella does her best to refuse Rafael, to escape from him, to continue to want to live her own life — even in the face of Rafael’s kindness and assurances he will never harm her, she will be mistress of their home, she can help those in need around them. She’d rather be a sister in the convent. The dialogue throughout this book never changes. It’s stilted to the max, no matter who is speaking. You’d think after a while that Isabella would either scream at Rafael or even later use a different tone when she comes to care for him. Doesn’t happen.

Since it’s a romance, we know Rafael and Isabella will fall in love and that happens quite nicely actually. We know we also haven’t seen the last of Garcia, but the way it’s written for his plan to kidnap Isabella to make her his is just not believable at all. And once she’s taken, not once does she worry about her unborn child and what might happen to it during the time she’s tossed around on a horse and tugged all over the place, let alone if she dies.

Nor does Rafael mention the child once they are together again. Which irritated me because the best part of this book is Rafael. Okay, he’s high-handed in the way he gets Isabella and he’s the usual chauvinist of the era, but he never lies to her, he truly does care for her and would never hurt her. At least Isabella opens herself to his love eventually. Took a little too long for me.

Grade: C-

Summary:

She thought her fate was sealed…

Isabella Montgomery’s future looked bleak. Before her father died, he betrothed her to Juan Garcia, an old ranchero infamous for cruelty. Now, shut away in a convent, she dreaded the day he would come to claim her. Until a dark horse revealed her true destiny…

Rafael McKenzie needed a bride before he came into his inheritance. The moment he laid eyes on Isabella, he knew she was the one. Breaking into the convent and capturing her was easy enough, but stealing her heart was another story.…

Read an excerpt here.

TGTBTU has the pleasure of presenting (three or four) up coming Harlequin Historical anthologies for you to add to your ‘I WANT’ list:

Hallowe’en Husbands: “Marriage At Morrow Creek,” “Wedding At Warehaven,” “Master Of Penlowen” by Lisa Plumley, Denise Lynn, Christine Merrill (we will have their guest posts this weekend as well).

The Magic Of Christmas: “A Christmas Child,” “The Christmas Dove,” “A Baby Blue Christmas” by Carolyn Davidson (sniff don’t think she is coming), Victoria Bylin (guest 6/25/08), Cheryl St.John (guest 6/23/08)

Both of these novels come out in Oct 08 and we will be posting excerpts from Hallowe’en Husbands this weekend as well.

One Candlelit Christmas: “Christmas Wedding Wish,” “The Rake’s Secret Son,” “Blame It On The Mistletoe” (Harlequin Historical Series) by Julia Justiss, Annie Burrows, and Terri Brisbin

And we know that Jillian Hart will be in an HH antho in the spring of 2009 with Rocky Mountain Courtship (Joseph’s story). I don’t think we have the name yet or the other authors in the antho… or did we? Anyone? anyone?

My question to readers are do you like the Harlequin anthologies? Have you ever purchased one? Have you tired one from the Harlequin Historical Line?

If you are an author have you ever written an anthology? Tell us about it. Did you enjoy it? Did the story turn out like you wanted or were you disappointed in it? And of course if you are a Harlequin Historical author and have written one you MUST answer and tell us all about it .

And a question for anyone (wearing any hat: reader or author ) – it the response I liked it but wanted MORE or it ended too quickly… is that the sign of a good novella or poor execution of the story type. Should we be left always wanting more?