Dinca’s review of Dancing in the Moonlight (Cold Creek Series, Book 2) by RaeAnne Thayne
Contemporary Romance published by Silhouette Special Edition 1 May 06

I find myself back in Cold Creek with another RaeAnne Thayne novel. I would even stop to rest when I didn’t need to during daily chores so I could get in another chapter. The Kindle version is a free iPhone download and as I have enjoyed other novels by RaeAnne Thayne, I went for it.

The story line is not as predictable as one might think in a romance novel. It has a few surprises even for me. I am not generally a fan of my heroines being whinny, but even I realize whine is a part of life’s adjustments and this heroine has a lot to pull together to get her life back in focus.

Maggie Cruz is an Army nurse who is stationed in Afghanistan. After receiving a life-changing injury, she thinks her only option is to return home. Of course, home after living elsewhere is never the way you left it.  Her uncle has moved on and left her mother struggling alone on the ranch, which turns into an interesting side story.

Maggie struggles with her own physical and emotional personal trauma along with the ranch work and the stress of the Dalton family, who she hates for the stress the family heaped on her father and feels they contributed to his early death. I enjoyed Maggie’s long journey to overcome personal obstacles, most of which her stubbornness brought her to. Even though I am undecided on this, without a strong will I don’t see how anyone could get through it.  At least she has a good head on her shoulders and a mind that reasons when it is not filled with physical pain.

Dr. Jake Dalton is the most tender, loving, strong, and antagonist character RaeAnne Thayne has ever written. I’ve been in love with him from the get-go. I’m now his No. 1 cheering squad. I generally find doctor heroes arrogant, but not this man. He is the most caring soul you will ever find across the pages of any romance novel. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to say just the right thing at just the right time and struggle to do so, you will love him too. He is perfect for Maggie Cruz. He knows what he wants and is willing to travel the bumpy road the whole distance to get it.

The Cold Creek series is another one I have not read in order. Now I will have to hunt up Jake’s brother’s story. It sounds interesting and as much as I have enjoyed her other tales, I am sure I will be back soon with another review, especially after also reading and reviewing last year’s A Cold Creek Baby.

Grade: A

Summary:

Lieutenant Magdalena Cruz had come home…And though all she wanted was to be alone, infuriatingly handsome Dr. Jake Dalton—of the enemy Daltons—wouldn’t cooperate. And she needed him to, because the walls around her heart were dangerously close to crumbling every time he came near.…

Jake had spent most of his life trying to get closer to Maggie, with little to show for it. But she was the woman he’d always wanted, and no injury in the world could change that. Now if only he could convince her that the woman who stood before him was beautiful, desirable, whole…and meant to be his.…

Free e-copy in celebration of Harlequin’s 60th anniversary.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of A Reputable Rake by Diane Gaston
Historical Romance published by Harlequin Historical 1 May 06

Diane Gaston is one of those authors that when I’ve finished one of her books, I ask myself why I haven’t read more. It’s not for a lack of want. It’s the usual too-many-books-not-enough-time business that I’m sure a lot of you suffer from too. But I so enjoy Ms. Gaston’s writing and her characters, and I really liked the storyline in this book too, something I haven’t read before.

Cyprian Sloan is trying to regain his reputation. He’s been a high-caliber rake for a number of years and he’s tired of the gaming hells and everything else that goes along with being a rake. So slowly but surely he’s making inroads to being accepted by the ton once again. His father and brother have something to say about that at every turn, but Cyprian doesn’t give up. He’s run into an unexpected roadblock, however, by the name of Morgana Hart. He knows she could be his downfall into the depths of debauchery again, but for the life of him, he can’t get her off his mind, nor stay away from her.

Trying to keep one of her servants from throwing herself into the world of prostitution, Morgana decides to teach the girl how to behave as a courtesan so she can be her own woman, choose her own destiny as much as possible, though she has find a real lady of the evening to teach the fundamentals between a man and a woman. Before she knows it, though, three more girls from a local brothel show up at her home wanting to be part of Morgana’s “school.” And she thought she’d seen the last of the man who’d helped her free her maid from the clutches of a man determined to kidnap her for a local madam, but suddenly he’s bought the house next door and is embroiled in her scheme just as surely as she is.

This is actually a fun book to read. The now-and-then banter between Sloan and Morgana is done very well, showing Morgana’s independence and intelligence at the same time. They have their different views on what she’s doing with these young ladies and that makes for a lot of fun too, especially a night at Vauxhall Gardens. There is mystery and suspense to be had also, danger getting too close a time or two. I enjoyed all the characters, including the three girls who wish to become courtesans and I liked how each of their stories turned out.

This is only my second book by Ms. Gaston, but I will definitely be reading more as they come along in that old TRB mountain.

Grade: B

Summary:
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The stakes are high in Cyprian Sloane’s latest game–to reform his reputation as a wagerer, womanizer, and worse–and thumb his nose at the father who’s always despised him. The prize is nearly in hand when Sloane encounters seemingly respectable Morgana Hart, a baron’s daughter, who engages in fisticuffs in Hyde Park and embroils him in her scheme to train young women to be courtesans. The lively and lovely Morgana proves the biggest risk of all, even more dangerous to Sloane’s quest for respectability than the violence of Regency underground threatening to close down her Courtesan School. Morgana makes Sloane long to be the rake again–with her.
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Read an excerpt.

Limecello’s review of Mr. and Mistress (The Elliots, Book 5) by Heidi Betts
Contemporary Romance released by Silhouette Desire on 1 May 06

I’ve been reading this series piece meal for more than two years now, and I’m wondering why I didn’t read this one sooner. Heidi Betts is a relatively new to me author, and I’m really enjoying her books. I’m definitely going to continue reading both the books in her back list, as well as her new ones.

Misty Vale is an ex-Vegas showgirl, and a mistress. She teaches dance, but her lover bought the building houses both her and her dance studio. She’s not a typical mistress, however, because she doesn’t have a mercenary bone in her body. In fact, she agrees to the loose arrangement with Cullen Elliot because… well she loves him.

Cullen Elliot is one of the Elliot’s, from the publishing family in New York. He’s uber rich, and only 27. He’s also known as the playboy of the family, dating actresses, heiresses, and models, alike. Even with such gorgeous women on his arm, he still can’t get over his Vegas girlfriend, and they’ve had an open relationship for four years.

Misty doesn’t think they can have a relationship because she’s older than him, and well, a former show girl. His family will never accept her. She makes sweeping statements and assumptions, but I could understand what her point was. However, I did question to some degree how or why she felt so unworthy. She loved her career, and is not ashamed of it at all. I suppose I don’t see why someone’s bankroll should have any sort of impact on a person’s worth as a human being.

Cullen has a deeply ingrained sense of responsibility, and when he finds out Misty is pregnant with his child, he proposes immediately. She refuses him, but he convinces her to go home with him to NYC. They have a great relationship, and Cullen’s family is actually very accepting of Misty. It takes a while, but Cullen realizes how he feels about Misty. His family needles him a bit, and Misty makes him work for it (always nice to see). The only thing that detracted from the book, albeit slightly, is that it’s due to being in a series, is the secondary characters involving random occurrences and events.

This book doesn’t have unnecessary angst or heavy conflict, and it’s a short enjoyable read. I liked Cullen and Misty’s story, and although it’s part of a series, it definitely works as a stand alone book. I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes Silhouette Desire categories, and especially anyone who read any of The Elliots series.

Grade: B-

HIS PREGNANT MISTRESS

She was his kept woman…a secret lover living in Las Vegas luxury. It had been an ideal situation—until Misty Vale discovered she was carrying Cullen Elliott’s child.

Misty was not the type of woman a millionaire like Cullen could ever take as his wife. Her past was scandalous…his family above reproach. How could she ever tell him she was having his baby?

But Cullen had ways of finding things out. And he wasn’t about to allow his heir to be born on the wrong side of the bed!

The Elliotts: Mixing business with pleasure!

Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C.’s review of Heaven by Jet Mykles
Contemporary gay romance eBook released by Loose ID 30 May 06

I’ve been in kind of a reading slump lately. Nothing really looks good, particularly the books I had to review. So a couple of days ago, I went trolling through blogland and ended up stumbling across a rec somewhere–I honestly don’t recall where–for Jet Mykles’ Heaven Sent series. Since contemporary gay romance is so far beyond my general reading tastes, I figured I should read this book and hopefully get out of my funk.

I’m not sure that this book is what I was looking for. It’s a competently written story with characters who were likeable, but I just didn’t relate very well.

Heaven Sent is the hottest up and coming rock band. They hit it big on the Internet and then became a household name. Tyler Purcell, the manager of the Weiss Strand Hotel, hires the band to perform on the hotel’s new nightclub’s opening night. Tyler, however, is not prepared for the barrage of feelings that sexy lead singer Johnny Heaven elicits in him.

My major problem with this book was with Tyler. I think that coming to terms with one’s sexuality is a really really big deal. It is not the sort of thing that happens after a few really amazing sexual encounters. It got on my nerves that Tyler protested so very much. He’s not gay. No, really. Really not gay over here. He just likes anal sex and blow jobs when performed by another man. And Johnny… Johnny could never love him. They’re from two different worlds, oh noes! I felt like Tyler spent much of the book wringing his hands, his lower lip trembling in misery.

Johnny, on the other hand, is just adorable. There’s not a whole lot of depth to him, but he’s pretty sweet. I loved his enthusiasm about video games. I’ve met guys like him, too. And he definitely seemed to know what he was doing as far as being a top. Plus, I’m a sucker for musician heroes.

This book is a lot shorter than I normally go for, which explains why the characters weren’t developed as much as I wish they’d been. I did like that, aside from Tyler’s wishy-washiness, there wasn’t any huge external conflict to detract the focus from Tyler and Johnny. But the romance aspect never entirely went anywhere for me. For a nice female fantasy about two very pretty boys getting hot and sweaty with each other, it’s great, but if I wanted to read that, I’d read fanfiction for free.

I suspect other readers will like this a lot more than I do, and I suspect that my reading funk contributes to the lowering of the grade. I might read more in this series because I am intrigued by the band’s hot bass player and his book doesn’t look like it features the whole “I’m soooo not gay except for the fact that I like having sex with men” angle.

Grade: C

     Summary:

     The Weiss Strande Hotel is in trouble. Business just isn’t what it used to be when Tyler’s father ran the family-owned hotel. On top of business being down, dad’s sick with cancer and bills have skyrocketed.

     Desperate to save his family interest, Tyler and his best friend sink their hopes and what’s left of their money into a new venture: a nightclub at the hotel. It’s imperative that the White Room is a success, or else the hotel will go under. Lady Luck seems to be with them, however, because they manage to sign the mega-popular rock group Heaven Sent to play the grand opening.

     Already a huge fan of the group, Tyler couldn’t be more excited to welcome them to his hotel. He’s not at all prepared for the bomb of lust that hits him when he’s finally face-to-face with the painfully gorgeous lead singer, Johnnie Heaven. No, it couldn’t be lust. Yes, Johnnie’s probably the most beautiful person he’s ever seen, but Tyler is straight. It must be a misguided form of hero worship that he’s feeling.

     Tyler finds out that he and Johnnie share an obsession: video games. When Johnnie invites Tyler to his room to play, Tyler jumps at the chance. Who wouldn’t snap up the opportunity to spend time with their idol? He and Johnnie have a great time with the games, but Tyler soon discovers that Johnnie’s got more in mind. The rock star’s aims to introduce Tyler to a whole new level of game play.

     You can read an excerpt here.

During the day, Cathy Markham is a sweet, innocent, slightly frumpy hometown girl with a heart of gold. At night, however, she is replaced by Cat – a tough as nails, independent, sexy bar owner who is a master at playing the boys. Her goals and dreams are simple —run her bar, gain the security of owning her own home, and live life her own way.Ex-Navy SEAL Lieutenant Blake Carlisle returns to the only real home he’s ever known to find that everything has changed. His old friends have grown up, moved on with their lives. Even the awkward little girl who used to idolize him has matured in some very wonderful ways. Maybe the very things he’s been searching the globe for have been right at home all along.

They say you can never go home, but home is where his heart is. If so, then maybe Blake can finally grow up, adjust to civilian life, and find peace. On this journey he will do whatever it takes to make Cathy’s dreams a reality as she fights to discover the real woman behind the roles she plays.

excerpt here

The summary explains most of it. Take a manwhore leaving the sister of his best friend before he does something he will regret and throw in some stripping, a touch of Coyote Ugly and a HEA and you get The Boy Next Door by Nicole Austin.

Well Blake does admit he wants to keep fucking his way through his 20′s so a good girl just wouldn’t do at the time. And as annoying as I find the I love you so much I must leave you to screw many other women senseless so I can later realize my TUW LURVE for you, the story was fun. The sex is steamy and really the over all feel of the story is entertaining and can’t be taken too seriously.

Really they talk about her dancing the pole, which of course she does to save money and buy herself a business. Being one who has seen too many people make money faster than they can drink it by stripping, then walk away with NOTHING. I find the concept hard to swallow but one I have always thought possible.

What can I say, I want to believe. If you are looking for a well grounded and deep thinking contemporary romantica, not the story to go for. But if you just want to shake your grove thang this fits the bill. I do have to say Cocktail preomgIhavelostmyfuckingmindtom, is one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies. So that could explain my amusement.

Last Barman poem
Brian: I am the last barman poet
I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make
Americans getting stinky on something I stir or shake
The sex on the beach
The schnapps made from peach
The velvet hammer
The alabama slammer.
I make things with juice and froth
The pink squirrel, The 3-toed sloth.
I make drinks so sweat and snazzy
The iced tea, The kamakazi
The orgasm, The death spasm
The Singapore sling, The dingaling.
America you’ve just been devoted to every flavor I got
But if you want to got loaded
Why don’t you just order a shot?

Bar is open..
yes I almost feel shame over the movies I own… almost