Sandy M’s review of Secrets to Seducing a Scot (Highland Knaves, Book 2) by Michelle Marcos
Historical Romance published by St. Martin’s 2 Aug 11

I’ve obviously had this book for a while.     For some reason I just didn’t pick it up until recently. While it’s not a story that wows you to no end, it is an intense, somewhat sweet romance between a very unlikely pair who pull you into their lives during a time of uprising in Scotland.

Serena Marsh is the toast of London with her daily column in the local newspaper. Society hangs on to her every word about who’s been at what ball and all the goings-on that happened. She’s privileged, sheltered, and pampered. Though in the beginning she may seem selfish because of her upbringing, Serena eventually learns a lifetime of lessons in a very short time span while in Scotland, where her father is trying to negotiate terms between rebels and English crown.

Having lost his family at a young age, Malcolm Slayter has been on his own since the age of twelve, an outcast from his clan, a “slaighteur” for the perceived traitorous actions of his family. He and his surviving siblings are branded, literally, his brother and sister now captives of those who have taken everything from them. Malcolm is left for dead. But that doesn’t keep him and his need for vengeance down. A man now, without family, home, or country, Malcolm is, basically, a bounty hunter for hire. It matters not which side anyone else stands on, Malcolm will do what is required for the coin. There’s nothing else in his life worth anything.

But when threats are made against Serena, her father hires Malcolm to protect her. At this point Serena does get on the nerves a tad. She doesn’t take the threats seriously and does what she wants when she wants, despite warnings from both her father and Malcolm. You’d like to shake her to wake her up, but, of course, these things are needed to teach the girl a lesson. After treating Malcolm with a high-and-mighty attitude, never listening to his instructions, then fighting an attraction to him and finally succumbing to it, Serena goes one step too far and ends up in the hands of rebels intending to use her against her father.

Of course, it’s Malcolm to the rescue. Especially since acknowledging his love for her. Serena isn’t the only one to change throughout the book. The hardened, uncaring man he’s become slowly dissipates and a new Malcolm emerges. He’s not the man who would have come along if his life hadn’t been so radically and violently altered, but I think it’s safe to assume this man is close, all due to the love he’s now found. That’s what I like best about this character as he comes alive, along with his love for Serena, in this book. You can see his hard edges slowly recede, see a different person take the place of all the anger and hurt that’s resided inside of him for years. He learns to be romantic and loving while still retaining the steel needed to now survive not only for himself but also for Serena.

While you’ll get some intense love scenes, you won’t get those eye-popping events that keep you reading. What you do get is a gradual alteration of people who have to change their outlook on life as they’ve always known it. Even Serena’s father doesn’t go unscathed in this regard. I kept reading because I wanted to see the changes in Malcolm and how he handles them. I initially picked this book up wanting a dose of a Scottish hero. I got that and a lot more.

Grade: C+

Read Ash’s review here.

Summary:

A Diamond in the Rough

Torn from a pampered life of luxury and thrust into the midst of a Scottish revolution, Serena Marsh is shocked to meet the brutish man who has been assigned to protect her from the rebels trying to kill her—Malcolm Slayter, the most rugged, most dangerous, and most undeniably attractive man she’s ever encountered…

The Knave of Hearts

Malcolm has no loyalties, no country, and no sense of propriety. Hired by her father, Malcolm agrees to protect the lovely lass for a fee. But when Serena challenges Malcolm’s authority—and engages him in a risky flirtation—all bets are off. When the battle heats up, it’s anyone’s guess as to who’s seducing whom…and who’ll surrender first.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of The Wolf Who Loved Me (The Wolf Who Loved Me Trilogy, Book 1) by Lydia Dare
Historical Paranormal Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 1 Apr 12

With this new spin-off trilogy, Lydia Dare is giving readers more of her werewolves with the Hadley brothers, three rakes who get into trouble every chance they get.

I’m glad the wolves are back. I know Ms. Dare was trying to give readers something different with the last three books in the series that featured vampires. Those stories were good, but they just lack the flare of those werewolves that I’ve enjoyed so much from the beginning of this series. This time around we have some fun with the half-brothers of Dashiel Thorpe, who is hero of The Taming of the Wolf. Twins Weston and Grayson and Archer Hadley are about to have their ears flicked to bring them into line after causing havoc at every turn. Dash and Caitrin are fed up and desperate measures are in the works.

Weston has always been enamored of Lady Madeline Hayburn, but she’s out of his league. Even knowing her father has brought in eligible bachelors for her to choose from doesn’t bring him any closer to his dream of having her. Society doesn’t look kindly on the Hadleys. So he has to admire her from afar, with only minimum interaction. The lady has marginally noticed Wes, but her priority is staying away from the gents who are vying for her attention. And her money.

All the problems really begin when Madeline spies Weston from her window in an altercation with another man, incapacitating him. She’s curious as to what he’ll do next, so she slips out of the house to follow him to the barn. But what she ends up seeing alters both of their lives completely. It’s the full moon and Wes has no control over his shifting when it’s time. When he realizes what Madeline has seen, and despite the fact she’s now frightened of him, his only option is to head to Gretna Green for a quick marriage. If her future is tied with his, her silence is assured.

But being kidnapped and forced to marry isn’t Madeline’s idea of making the problem go away. She does her best to get away from Wes, even though she becomes more attracted to him as time goes on. When she stops to see he is taking care of her, he does feel something for her, her need to escape lessens. When her father catches up to them, Madeline must make a choice. Should she go back home, which is what she’s wanted for so long, or now take a chance on the man who has come to mean something to her? Madeline decides to take a chance. She jumps from the inn window into the arms of her future.

Of course, now that she’s made that choice, things can only sail smoothly for so long. During their trip they acquire a couple passengers, both known to Wes, who make it more difficult for him to keep soothing his intended’s feathers. After finally making it to Gretna Green, becoming husband and wife, and enjoying the best wedding night, it doesn’t take long for things to go awry. Madeline spies Wes in a compromising position with the actress who shared their carriage, and she thinks the worst. So much so she runs to Wes’ so-called friend to help her get back home. That plan turns out to be a major mistake. During his search for his wife, Wes realizes he was wrong to force Madeline into marriage, she deserves better than he can ever give her. So once he’s found her, he’ll return her to her father. That’s best for all concerned.

Madeline, however, takes exception to that idea. And at the end of the book is my only nitpick. I thought perhaps once I pondered on it I might change my mind, but I’ve found I haven’t. I feel Madeline’s “begging” is taken a bit too far, especially at the time and place it happens. I know it’s because she has to convince Wes she’s true in her words and feelings toward him, but I think an alternative or even some type of compromise with that scene would have worked better. For me, anyway. Her actions, of course, move Wes and do convince him, but that’s just not the Madeline I’ve come to know during this read.

Other than that, I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. The Hadley brothers aren’t as charismatic as Dash – he’s still my favorite hero of the series – but they make for good fun and eventually romance. I’m quite intrigued with the budding relationship between Archer and Madeline’s friend, Sophie. That should be one wild romp, which I’m looking forward to.

Grade: B

Summary:

Lady Madeline Hayburn Has Money Problems…

Specifically, she has so much of it that she’s dogged by fortune hunters, including her bewilderingly attractive, penniless neighbor, with his wild nature and uncouth manners…

Weston Hadley Has An Identity Crisis…

Specifically, he’s just turned into a wolf while Madeline was watching. Now it’s up to the regal lady to tame the wild beast…if she can…

Read an excerpt. (click the Excerpt tab)

Other books in this series:

It’s books like these that leave me in awe of authors who write category romance. Their stories are tight, concise, and to the point, weaving in romance and emotion. A very difficult task at times, I have a feeling.

HelenKay Dimon packs a huge punch in this romantic suspense with Deputy Sheriff Jonas Porter who knows to listen to his instincts. That gets him involved with Courtney, who’s been on her own for years after losing her family. But things are heating up when the enemy uses Jonas bring Courtney out in the open. Really dumb move on the jerk’s part, as you’ll see when you pick up your copy.

So sit back and enjoy this excerpt from When She Wasn’t Looking. Bet you’ll be hooked in no time at all.

Summary:

No woman could deny the appeal of the sexy deputy sheriff Jonas Porter. But to Courtney Allen, Jonas has one major flaw-his badge. Years ago, Courtney’s father was wrongfully convicted of a crime and she vowed to never trust a cop again. But when Jonas becomes the only man to believe in her father’s innocence, Courtney begins seeing the brooding lawman in a whole new way.

Jonas knows in his gut that the real killer is still out there and determined to finish what he started long ago. To protect Courtney and bring the criminal to justice will require all the skills he can muster. And that means focusing on the job. Not the woman who makes him forget his troublesome past and arouses in him a passion that is anything but professional.

Chapter One

Jonas Porter yawned as he marched up the front porch steps to the craftsman-style bungalow in the middle of nowhere. At ten in the morning he’d been on shift for more than sixteen straight hours thanks to the Webber kid taking his neighbor’s car for a joyride that ended with a big splash into the Siuslaw River.

When he took the law enforcement position, Jonas had been promised relative peace and quiet by the county sheriff and Jonas’ long-time mentor, Walt Roberts. Since Jonas needed a break and crime didn’t run rampant in Aberdeen, the small Oregon town where the river dumped into the Pacific Ocean, the job looked like the perfect solution. If a drunk pre-teen with a lack of common sense turned out to be the biggest problem, Jonas could live with that.

Agreeing to handle one small task on his way back to his place to pass out was probably not his brightest move. He needed sleep, but this should easy. In and out and then he could slip into bed for a few hours.

He knocked on the dark red door. The rock beat thumping inside and shaking the walls cut off. He double-checked the house number to make sure he was at the right place. He expected an older lady, a grandmother type. He guessed this one liked her music loud, which blew his older-woman stereotype apart.

In the resulting silence he waited for someone to open up. When no one did, he raised his hand to try again and nearly punched the woman who threw the door open.

“Sorry.” He mumbled as he stared into big brown eyes filled with a wariness that appeared older than the rest of her.

“Yes?” Her smile faded when her gaze traveled down his chest.

A guy could get a complex. “Ma’am, is this your house?”

“Of course.”

The high cheekbones and slim figure didn’t make any sense. Young and pretty with shoulder-length brown hair and not at all the lonely older woman he’d been told to check on. This one couldn’t be more than in her mid-to-late twenties. She wore a slim long-sleeve red t-shirt, and if his guess was right, no bra.

He pretended not to notice the last part. “I’m Lieutenant Jonas Porter, the deputy police chief.”

“I got that much from the uniform and nametag.”

“Uh, right. Sure.” She had him stuttering like the Webber kid.

“Why are you here?” She wiped her hands on her olive cargo pants but didn’t shift one inch to let him in.

Young or old, she hardly struck him as a woman who needed police assistance to make sure she took her medicine on time. This one could handle her business without any help from him. The flat line of her mouth and clenched fists suggested she wanted to kick him right off the porch.

“We had a call,” he explained. “I’m here for a wellness check.”

Something flashed in her dark eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Your husband has been trying to reach you and when he couldn’t-”

Her grip tightened on the door. “My husband?”

“Yes, ma’am. My understanding is that he’s away from home on business.” When she continued to stare at him with that you’ve-lost-your-mind expression, Jonas tried again. “He called a friend who called the police in Maryland who contacted my office. I’m here as a courtesy.”

“Maryland?”

Seemed she had a repetition problem. “Yes, ma’am. Your husband was worried you’d forgotten to take your medications.”

“You think I need drugs?”

Jonas refused to be thrown off stride. “Your husband said something about a bad fall recently.”

“Is this a joke?”

That’s what Jonas was starting to wonder. “No, ma’am.”

“You obviously have the wrong person.” She started to close the door. Right in his face.

He caught the edge with one hand as the other went to the top of his gun. “Hold up.”

The move was pure instinct. He’d once waited a second too long and vowed never to make that mistake again.

She didn’t miss the move. Her gaze zipped to his weapon. “Excuse me?”

“Let’s calm down for a second and walk through this.”

“Do I look nervous to you?”

“Actually, yes.” Something was wrong here. Very wrong.

Thank you for the opportunity to chat with you today. I always love visiting TGTBTU.

I love romantic suspense, which likely isn’t a secret. I write erotic shorts, contemporaries without suspense, and am about to try some other romance subgenres, but romantic suspense has long been a favorite.

I love when they run:

“I haven’t done anything wrong.” The tension over her shoulders eased. She switched from fighting to boneless.

But he wasn’t ready to trust her, so he held on. “From my experience, innocent people don’t run.”

“You’re kind of big to be that naïve.”

“Sounds like you have trust issues, but-” He reached for his radio. In that brief span where his fingers didn’t wrap around her arm, she took off. “You’ve got to be kidding. You’re running?”

She crossed over the gravel road separating the back of her private property from the protected forest behind. Turning to the left, she slipped along the fence running parallel to the tree line. Not once did she look back.

When things explode:

She’d barely raised her leg when the ground shook beneath her. A deafening crash thundered through the sky and rattled in her ears. Her knees buckled as the pavement bounced and shifted.

One minute she saw Jonas’ shirt. The next he flew backwards as the railing in his hand broke free and the stairs blew apart. She tried to call his name but no words came out. Smoke choked the air and glass rained from above.

Car alarms exploded in unison into chirping sounds. People screamed and a baby cried. The roar of drums sounded all around her.

She hit her knees and threw her hands over her head. Sharp pricks assaulted the bare skin as she hid her face. She didn’t know she’d held her breath until her chest burned and she started coughing.

Her eyes itched and watered as if the smoke had worked its way under her contacts, but the raging heat had her full attention. Fire danced all around her. Flames engulfed the top floor of the complex except in the black hole in the middle. Papers flew around. Pieces of furniture littered the ground. And the sedan with Walt’s provided protection burned.

And when everything goes wrong. In fact, the more that goes wrong the happier I am. I can appreciate pretty ball gowns in historicals and the incredible creativity that goes into developing new worlds in paranormals, but give me a book that plays out like an action movie and I’ll forgive almost anything you do in it – except bore me.

[Ed. A copy of HelenKay's When She Wasn't Looking is up for grabs - or winner's choice from her back list - so be sure to leave a meaningful question or comment and we'll throw your name into the hat!]

Sandy M’s review of When She Wasn’t Looking by HelenKay Dimon
Romantic Suspense published by Harlequin Intrigue 1 May 12

I need to make it a point to read HelenKay Dimon more often. I enjoyed every darned bit of this story, especially the hero, Jonas Porter. From his name to his demons to his job to the heroine he’s sworn to protect, this is one sexy lawman you can’t help but love.

Jonas is taking one last call for a wellness check, and then he’s on his way home for some much needed rest. Of course, even the simplest of calls can’t go right for him. He finds a different woman at the address he’s been given than the one he thought he’d find. She’s young, pretty, and not in need of help. She also seems nervous with her abrupt attitude and refusal to answer questions. His instincts are shouting quite clearly and very loudly. So when the woman tries to run, Jonas is right on her tail.

Having had ten years of peace and staying in one place, Courtney knows her time to relocate has come again when she finds a deputy sheriff at her door. Her only option is the escape route she’s got set up. Her head start doesn’t give her much hope when that lawman intercedes. However, it’s a good thing he does. Jonas saves them both from the man who nearly kills them both.

From this point on, Jonas refuses to let Courtney leave his side. He knows there’s more to her story than she’s letting on and he’s determined to find out what it is so he can keep her safe. As her story unfolds and she begins to trust him, he sees her in a new light, this strong survivor of a tragedy that would fell most people. Trying to clear her father’s name has been her only goal for years, and now he’s going to help her find the truth.

Courtney hasn’t trusted law enforcement since she lost her family, but Jonas is a force all of his own and she finds it very easy to trust him. Her old nemesis has found her, but with Jonas now in the picture, she can see she’s been looking in the wrong direction for answers. So who killed her family? Who’s been after her all these years? And who is so close to her now she can feel him close by? She does find out, probably more quickly than any other heroine. Courtney is a woman who can’t do what she’s told, mostly for her own safety. I wanted to shake her a couple of times when she does exactly what Jonas tells her not to!

When Jonas finally gives in to his feelings for Courtney, their lovemaking is sweet and intense. For all the depth of feeling they share so quickly, there is betrayal in the works, along with a mystery that takes everyone by surprise. The only thing that bothers me is the ending seems to come too fast. It’s all over in about ten pages. I’m not sure what else could have been done, but I just felt rushed. But it doesn’t ruin the whole of the story and the romance.

This is a great, quick read with romance and mystery galore. Don’t miss it!

Grade: B+

Summary:

SHE WANTED TO TRUST HIM WITH HER SAFETY-BUT NOT WITH HER HEART…

No woman could deny the appeal of the sexy deputy sheriff Jonas Porter. But to Courtney Allen, Jonas has one major flaw-his badge. Years ago, Courtney’s father was wrongfully convicted of a crime and she vowed to never trust a cop again. But when Jonas becomes the only man to believe in her father’s innocence, Courtney begins seeing the brooding lawman in a whole new way.

Jonas knows in his gut that the real killer is still out there and determined to finish what he started long ago. To protect Courtney and bring the criminal to justice will require all the skills he can muster. And that means focusing on the job. Not the woman who makes him forget his troublesome past and arouses in him a passion that is anything but professional.

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Tempted by Her Innocent Kiss by Maya Banks
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Desire 6 Mar 12

Every chance I get, I read Maya Banks. So I was happy to pick up her Harlequin Desire, Tempted by Her Innocent Kiss. While it doesn’t satisfy as much as Ms. Banks’ romantic suspense books, it’s still a fun and emotional read.

Ashley is one of those young, effervescent, happy people. She’s been sheltered, is still a virgin, and is in love with Devon, a business associate of her father’s. They’re engaged to be married, and life couldn’t be any better for her. What she doesn’t know is her father has basically pushed Devon into a corner concerning the merger of their two companies. Though Devon wants to tell Ashley the truth, her father insists secrecy is the way to go. He just wants his daughter taken of. So marry her or no merger. Not a very smart move, Dad.

Devon is also in that category early on. He doesn’t love Ashley. And he doesn’t have any problem telling her that, along with the things he doesn’t like about her, that she needs to change to fit into his world. Yes, you don’t like Devon very much at this point. But you have to realize – what he doesn’t realize yet – is that he does have feelings for her, and you see that in the way he makes love to her. Though he’s in change-Ashley mode, in private they do have chemistry, even if Devon doesn’t look at it that way. It took me some thinking after finishing the book to look at it like this, and, of course, his turnabout, as always happens with a hero, helps.

But before all of that, Ashley discovers she’s pregnant and also learns of her father’s and Devon’s deal. Devastated, she is determined to be the wife Devon wants. We lose the happy, young woman who we met at the beginning of this book. In personality, dress, attitude, everything about her changes, exactly what Devon wants. However, she can only do this for so long. Ashley knows she can’t be someone else for anyone. She’s happy with who she is, and if that isn’t enough for Devon, well, he doesn’t deserve her.

It’s when Ashley leaves him that Devon realizes he does love her. He actually misses all those things he’s told her wants to change about her. Her bubbly personality, her whimsical clothing, and her constant smile have been imprinted on his heart and he wants them in his life again. He also know he’ll have to win her back so they can start their family together. For some folks Devon might give too little too late, but sometimes that’s how it goes in romance. It’s the fact he knows what he’s done wrong and he wants to remedy that mistake, do what it takes to make it up to Ashley that counts in this instance.

I’m actually surprised I feel this way about the story. Usually a young character such as Ashley will rub me the wrong way. It’s an age thing. As the years go by I prefer older characters, but I know I’m not going to get them as often as I’d like. Ms. Banks saves the day for me in this case, her deft hand at creating likable and sympathetic characters is always a treat. So Ashley does work for me, especially when she tries to change as Devon wants, becoming the wife he think he needs. Those scenes are quite emotional when she’s at war with herself.  Devon does have to grow on you for most of the book. It’s his insatiable desire for Ashley that keeps him in a good light, because I know he’ll realize what he’s lost in the end.

This is not my favorite Maya Banks book, but it’s one that makes you think, makes you take a second look because of life’s mistakes and how you own up to those errors. A nice read for a couple of hours one afternoon.

Grade: B

Summary:

Devon Carter was her first; now Ashley wants their passion to last. But her dreams of true love are crushed by the discovery that their marriage is another of Daddy’s business deals. Her strategy: act the part of perfect wife and make Devon love her.

But Devon misses the bubbly, no-holds-barred woman his wife used to be. Who is this Ashley with the steely demeanor of a society wife? And will he find a way to rekindle the fire in her eyes…especially now that she’s pregnant?

Read an excerpt.

I tire of reading erotic very quickly. Mostly because it seems to be the same story over and over again. More fucking than content or emotion. I’d like some story with my sex, please. I’m very happy – happy! – to tell you Joely Sue Burkhart does that and more.

Yours to Take is a story of loving and giving unconditionally, of self-discovery, of forgiveness, and, yes, of enjoying the pleasures of the flesh with a bite of pain and roughness. But this is also a story of characters you want to know more about, you want to see them work differences out, you want them to be together and enjoy each other. The sex is an integral part of that, but it’s not the end-all be-all.

There are very few authors who do this successfully. Only two immediately come to mind when I think about that. But now there’s three. Though Ms. Burkhart may be the new kid on the block as far as my erotic reading goes, she’s a very welcome addition.

Summary:

The day one of her old clients gunned down a cop, former defense attorney Vicki Connagher lost everything—her passion for justice, and her lover, Detective Elias Reyes. The dead cop’s partner.
Even though she’s following her dream to start her own fashion line, it’s tough with heartache as her only companion. Until she brings Jesse, a wandering street artist, in from a freak Texas snowstorm. His submissive flirting brings out dominant tendencies she never knew she possessed, yet she hesitates to let him take her as far and as hard as she wants to go.

Some homeless junkie in Vicki’s house? Not on Elias’s watch. Pride kept him away, but as long as Jesse is staying in Vicki’s downstairs shop, he’s staying with Vicki. On the couch, but it’s a start.

As the days go by, the three work out an uneasy alliance. But Vicki’s joy at having Elias back in her life is tempered with a growing desire to have it all. Elias in her bed, and Jesse under her command. The only question remaining is if her tough alpha cop is willing to embrace all that she is…

Now meet some very complex and intriguing characters…

Chapter One

It didn’t snow very often in Dallas, Texas, but when it did, everything came to a halt. Vicki Connagher paused at the deserted intersection. Shivering, she drew her coat tighter with her free hand. What a stupid idea. Since the store was only three blocks away, she’d thought she could get back with a few groceries before the storm hit. In just a matter of minutes, though, the sidewalks were already coated with ice.

Just one more block, she told herself, trudging across the slushy road. Snow still fell, thick and wet, dulling the usual noises of the city. Hot cocoa was going to taste especially good tonight. She’d bundle up on the couch in her favorite quilt and stay up all night watching cheesy horror movies. Sounds like a blast, if I wasn’t alone.

But she was miserably alone. She’d end up working downstairs all night to avoid the emptiness of her apartment. Besides, she still had to come up with one more evening gown design before the gala. Since her mood was about as cheery as the Black Plague, she was going to need all the time she could get.

Her foot slid out and she fell with a curse. Getting wetter and colder by the minute, she muttered, “Not even chocolate is worth getting out in a freak Texas blizzard.”

“Are you all right?”

The male voice startled her. Her heart slammed up into her throat and she whirled around, fumbling to get her keys gripped like claws between her fingers.

Hovering a safe distance away, the man held up both his hands in a non-threatening manner. With the streetlight shining down on his face, she recognized Jesse, a street artist she’d gotten to know during her law office days at Wagner & Leeman.

Seeing him brought back all the turmoil and grief that had driven her to quit her dream job.

It’d started innocently enough. Every time she was over by the park for lunch, she’d stop by his favorite bench beneath the largest tree. Handsome despite the grime, he always managed to make her smile, and she loved his work. She’d bought several of his charcoals and dropped a few bucks in his hat. Over the next few months, they’d talked, at first casually, but then as the stress of her job started to get to her, she found herself talking to him almost every day. She couldn’t get through a day at court if she didn’t take a lunch in the park. With Jesse.

Even her friends at the office had taken note of her “sponsorship” of the handsome young artist. It shamed her to remember how their jokes had embarrassed her. She’d cut back on those trips to the park, although she’d never been able to stay away for long. When she heard the horrible news that one of her clients had gunned down a policeman, she’d run to the park. Jesse had been there for her in a way that no one else had ever been in her entire life.

Jesse was the only person who’d ever seen her completely break down. Sobbing and sick with grief, she’d gone to him for comfort, and then to her great shame, she’d never gone back to see him again. She’d been too embarrassed that she’d let him in so deeply, a man she barely knew. A homeless man.

Cut to the core by her shallowness, she met his gaze and hoped he didn’t hate her. “I’m fine. Nothing hurt but my pride. How are you, Jesse?”

“Good.” He flashed a smile—revealing killer dimples—and helped her pick up the canned beans that had escaped her bag. “Haven’t seen you around the park in a while.”

Not even his ragged clothes could detract from that wholesome, down-to-earth smile and face. It’d been impossible not to like him from the start. “I quit my job and started my own business. Corporate life got to be too much for me.”

He handed her the last can and then shyly pulled a small square out of his bag. “I made something for you.”

When he didn’t bring up that awful day in the park that had driven her to quit her job, she wanted to hug him. He didn’t question or press her for answers. No, he made me something, instead of accusing me of turning my back on him like so many other people must have.

Blinking back tears because she hated to cry more than anything else, she held the folded paper up to the streetlight. On the front, he’d used watercolors to paint dozens of butterflies, laid on top of each other in carefully detailed layers so the entire page was covered in wings. Inside, he’d written a simple message: Happy birthday, Vicki.

“Sorry, I know your birthday was months ago, but I didn’t know where you’d gone.”

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “Oh, Jesse, thank you. How did you know?”

Shrugging self-consciously, he shifted the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder. “One of the last few times you stopped by, I overheard you tell your friend that you were planning a special dinner with your family for your birthday. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Anyway, I’ve got a few new pieces you might like. Come over to the park when you get the chance.”

“I will.” She stared down at the card, thinking about how many weeks he’d carried it in his bag, protecting it from getting torn or dirty, hoping to see her. He’d made her a card, when some of her best friends hadn’t remembered her birthday at all. She’d lost more than her career. “Thank you, Jesse. This really means a lot to me.”

He tipped his battered, lopsided straw hat, gave her another gorgeous smile that seemed so out of place on a homeless man’s face, and turned to head down the street. Alone. His skinny shoulders hunched against the cold.

Vicki had built in her mind all sorts of reasons of why he was on the streets, but she’d never had the courage to ask him. He only had on a jean jacket, no gloves, and the knapsack tossed over his shoulder, exactly how she’d seen him countless times. Everything he owned in the world must be in that bag.

“Jesse?”

Immediately, he turned around and came back toward her, his eyes wide and hopeful. It was too dark to make out the remarkable turquoise shade of his eyes, but she remembered. “Yes, ma’am?”

“Do you have someplace to go?”

“Oh, sure.” He nodded, but she didn’t like the way he ducked his head. “Don’t worry about me. Come over to the park when you get the chance. I miss seeing you.”

She took the last few steps toward her building, her mind screaming all the reasons it would be stupid to ask him inside. She was alone. He was a man, bigger and stronger than her even if she had a few years on him. She had a damned good security system on both the shop and her apartment upstairs, but if he chose to overpower her, she wouldn’t have a chance to call for help.

She didn’t really know him at all. A few lunches in the park, a couple of hours of casual talking, and one time she’d needed a non-judgmental friend. He was homeless, for God’s sake, and had probably seen more crime and violence than she’d even dreamed of despite working all those years as a defense attorney. But there was something undeniable in his eyes, a deep, soul-piercing light that she couldn’t forget. Without saying a word, he managed to reach inside her and tug, hard, amplifying her guilt and worry.

It wasn’t her fault that he was homeless, but it would be her fault if he froze to death tonight. I refuse to turn my back on him ever again.

Putting on her best formidable, cast-iron face that had intimidated many a shady character into providing better testimony, she turned and faced him squarely. “If you promise to behave yourself, you can come home with me tonight.”

His eyes flared with horror and he recoiled a step, which instantly made her feel better about asking him. His mouth opened, but it took him several times before he could say anything. “Oh, no, ma’am. That wouldn’t be right. I just wanted to make sure you were okay—it didn’t even occur to me that you might… No, please, I couldn’t.”

“I couldn’t sleep a wink if you were freezing out here all night.” She opened the door to the shop and flipped on the light. He hovered behind her, staring at the warmth and shelter longingly. “I’m making a huge batch of chili and cornbread.”

His shoulders shook, but he didn’t move closer.

“What I really wanted was hot cocoa. That’s why I went out tonight before the weather got too horrible. Not cocoa from a mix or powder—I want the real thing. I’m going to make some first.”

“With real milk?” His voice sounded hoarse. He took a step closer, but kept his shoulders down, hunched, as though he were trying to make himself smaller and less threatening. “And marshmallows?”

“Real milk, real chocolate,” she promised. “But I don’t have marshmallows. I think they’re disgusting. Come on in, Jesse. I’m not the world’s greatest cook, but I can make a mean pot of beans.”

He hung his head, one hand gripping the strap of his bag so hard his knuckles were white. “I’ve been in trouble before, ma’am, but I haven’t been arrested in more than five years, and I’ve been clean since. Call one of your old contacts in the police department and check up on me.”

She was surprised at his willingness to share his unsavory past—and a little disconcerted that he knew so much about her. “I can do that. I should also warn you that my very mean and much bigger, older brother could be here in minutes.”

Leading the way through the long tables stacked with fabrics and trim, she flipped on another light. Now I know why my security guy insisted I have a separate system for my upstairs apartment. “I set up this place so that my seamstress could sleep over when we’re on a time crunch. There’s a bed, clean linen and a full-sized bathroom.”

Jesse risked a quick glance at the room but otherwise kept his head down, his shoulders so tight that he was as short as her, when he was actually several inches taller. Lightly, she touched his arm. He flinched, but at least his head came up. She was struck again by the intensity of his eyes, so clear and honest despite the harshness of his life.

“Are you sure?” His voice shook. “I didn’t mean—”

“I’m sure.” She smiled, gently squeezing his arm. He was so thin, just bones and tight, wiry muscle lay over the top. “Look around on the shelves in the closet—I think I stuck some of my brother’s old clothes in there. Take a shower and come upstairs when you’re done. I’ll have the cocoa ready in no time.”

“My full name is Jesse Dean Inglemarre and I’m twenty-five. Check me out. If you’re not comfortable, tell me to leave. I swear on a stack of Bibles that I’ll leave immediately, no questions asked. I won’t ever bother you again.”

He was several years older than she’d guessed, although still several years younger than her. She smiled to put him at ease. It felt right, so very, very right, to help him. “You’re not bothering me.”

Solemnly, he stared into her eyes, searching her face, even though he didn’t ask, Why me? Why are you doing this?

How could she explain it? Sometimes after a particularly bad trial, the only bright spot in her day had been walking through the park to see what new drawing he might be working on. Once he’d smiled at her, she’d found the courage to trudge back to work. On this cold, lonely night he was a welcome surprise. “There’s something about you, Jesse.”

 

Oh, there’s something about me all right, Jesse thought sadly, waiting until she shut the door before looking about the room. Simple, spartan, and the most glorious thing he’d seen in years, until he found a stack of clean clothes on the shelf. Even musty from storage, they smelled like heaven. Then he saw the shampoo and soap in the bathroom, and he found himself crying beneath the steaming hot water.

God, so incredible. People didn’t know what a luxury it could be simply to be clean. To have a spare set of clean clothes. To be in a safe enough place to risk taking off his filthy clothes and washing completely. Bliss. Pure bliss.

It all came from the most gorgeous, unforgettable woman he’d ever met. He had no pride left, or surely he’d be ashamed that he’d come to her like this and she’d taken him in like an abandoned puppy. He’d depended on seeing her every day, but then she’d quit coming to the park. She’d given him one taste of heaven and then disappeared off the face of the earth.

He hadn’t even known her full name or where she worked. One of the women he’d seen her with occasionally had dropped the fact that Vicki had left the firm to start her own business down by Oak Lawn. So he’d started hanging out in this neighborhood, hoping to find her.

Never in a million years had he thought she’d let him inside her home. All he’d wanted to do was see her again, find her place, and maybe stop by once a week or so, just to talk. Just to see her smile at his latest work.

I know where to find her now. He scrubbed his hair a second time. I can’t stay long. She’s sheltering me from the cold, that’s all.

She has no idea that I’m hopelessly in love with her.

 

Vicki dialed the number and laid the phone down on the counter in speaker mode. Chopping chocolate, she counted the rings. Mentally, she rearranged her questions in the most logical order that would lead to the best possible outcome with the least amount of suspicion.

“Reyes.”

By the sharp bark of Elias’s voice, she knew he was already frustrated. Hell, he was always frustrated. Working on a narcotics task force overwhelmed by the Mexican drug cartels tended to frustrate even the most patient of men. A lot could be said about Elias Reyes, but he wasn’t exactly patient.

She decided to be professional and not friendly. He hadn’t been by in months, and she couldn’t remember the last time they’d had sex. Okay, that was a lie; she’d never forget a moment with Elias, even though they’d fought constantly about their jobs. Then his partner had been killed by one of her old clients in a drug bust gone bad. He still hadn’t forgiven her, and she’d found herself sobbing in the arms of a homeless man in the park instead of her lover’s.

Now that she’d started her own business, she was still too busy, and he certainly hadn’t bothered to come by. “I need you to run a name through your database.”

“Vik,” he drawled out his nickname for her in that low, sexy voice that always made her want to throw her head back and moan deep in her throat. “I thought you quit defending assholes I put away.”

“I did.” She refused to allow her tone to sharpen defensively. “I need a background run on somebody and you’re the only person in the Dallas PD who’ll still take my calls.”

He let out a low grunt of agreement. “What’s the name?”

“Jesse Dean Inglemarre.”

“What exactly are you looking for?”

She heard him typing. He must be at work and already looking up the data for her. Who was she kidding—Elias was always at work. “Any warrants, recent arrests, known gang affiliation. Standard stuff.”

“Got a soc?”

“Nope, but I know he’s twenty-five years old.”

A few moments went by. She didn’t hear any voices. Usually his office was loud and rowdy at any hour. The war on drugs never slept.

“Looks like your boy last got in trouble five years ago, but nothing recent. No known address. How do you know him?”

“He’s a street artist.” She tried to keep her tone casual and strictly to the truth. Elias could sniff out a lie quicker than a bloodhound. “I used to see him when I worked at Wagner & Leeman. Thanks, Elias. I hope you’re not out in this snow tonight.”

“Not so fast, Vik.”

Mentally, she groaned. He always was too damned smart for his own good, which meant he was a fine cop who always suspected the worst in people. Unfortunately, he was almost always right.

“Why the sudden interest in a homeless street artist in the middle of a snow storm? Surely you’re not thinking about letting this punk into your home.”

“Thanks,” she said firmly. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Fuck.” In her mind, she could see him at his desk, jumping to his feet and raking his hand through his hair. “You did. You invited this asshole into your home. Are you insane? He’s a druggie. A scumbag. You know they can never come clean. Give them a ten and they’ll buy a hit instead of food.”

“He’s not like that.” She used her softest voice, trying to calm him down before he decided to get on his white horse and charge over here like a knight in shining armor. “He just needs a little help.”

“Jesus, Vik, does he have any weapons? Did he bring drugs into your house?”

“No!” Although I didn’t think to check. “I can handle this, Reyes.” Deliberately, she emphasized his cop name, the cold and formal relationship they’d used at their jobs even when they shared a bed once in a while. “I don’t want you to interfere.”

“You should have thought of that before you invited a homeless junkie to spend the night!”

“I have my phone right here and you’re on speed dial. I promise I’ll call you if I get even a hint of a weird vibe from him, but he’s barely more than a kid, Elias. He’s not going to hurt me.”

“You’re damned right he’s not.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“He’s not a kid, Vik, even if he looks helpless and innocent to you. He hasn’t been a kid in a long time. One of his raps was for prostitution when he was barely sixteen. Yeah, he must be a real pretty boy, huh? I’m surprised he came on to you. Seems like a rich queer is more up his alley.”

The thought of Jesse’s brilliant eyes scrunched up with pain or staring up at a jerk forcing him to give a blowjob made her knees quiver hard enough that she had to sit on a barstool. She’d known he must have had a hard life, but the reality made her stomach heave. “He didn’t come on to me.”

“Maybe he’ll come on to me, then.”

“He’s not like that.” Her voice quivered, betraying her. She clenched her jaws a moment, concentrating on retrieving that calm, cool exterior she’d learned as a defense attorney. “I saw him in the snow and cold—he was helping me because I fell on the ice!—and I couldn’t leave him out there.”

“If you used to see him over at the park near Wagner & Leeman, then why the hell was he way out by your place? He was staking you out, Vik. He knew exactly what he was doing when he just happened to walk by. I bet he seemed real shocked to find you, didn’t he? They’re damned good actors when they need to be.”

Torn between outrage and concern, she tried to remember if she’d ever told Jesse where she lived. Would he really come dozens of blocks in the cold to give her a birthday card? Surely, he couldn’t have pretended that much surprise when she asked him to come inside. She was a good judge of character. She’d seen more than her share of bad guys willing to sell their mamas if it would get them out of prison.

“Jesse’s not like that. He’s not one of the bad guys, Elias. I can see it in his eyes. He needs someone to give him a break.”

Wheels screeched on the street below so loudly that she jumped up and ran to the window. Elias jumped out of his truck and stormed up to the door of her building. “I’ll give him a break. I’ll break his fucking arm if he even lays a finger on you.”

She glared down at him, whether he could actually see her or not. “I told you I could handle this!”

“Let me in, Vik, or I’m going to owe you a new door.”

Elias heard her shouting at him as she ran down the stairs, but he didn’t stop. He threw open the door to the rear living quarters, grabbed the invader, and slammed him face-first against the wall with a satisfying crunch.

The kid didn’t put up a fight. Man, Elias reminded himself. Not a kid, no matter how scrawny and slender he was, not at twenty-five years of age.

Vicki screamed, a high, shrill wail like nothing he’d ever heard from her. “Jesse!”

Her terrified voice pierced through Elias’s rage. As a kid huddled in a narrow bed with his younger brothers and sisters while his crazy father beat the shit out of his mother, he’d sworn to never make a woman scream like that. He slapped cuffs on the man and forced himself to ease off. He had to be the cop in this, not the enraged, jealous, overprotective—and almost always absent—lover.

The junkie stayed against the wall, legs automatically spread. He knew the drill all too well.

“You don’t smell like a bum, so I guess you’ve already taken advantage of your hostess’s hot water. Do you have anything stashed in these nice clean pockets?”

“No, sir.”

Damn it, he even sounded like a kid, his voice breathless and shaking with fear. Elias twisted his lips into a furious snarl. The punk was afraid of being caught. Afraid of being thrown in jail instead of enjoying a nice cushy night under Vicki’s roof, stealing everything not locked down while she slept.

She stepped between them, her face white and her mouth tight with strain. “I gave him those pants. How dare you come in here and throw him around like this? He’s hurt! Look at him, Elias, he’s bleeding!”

Crying, she cradled the jerk’s face in her hands and wiped the blood from his split lip with a tissue snatched from the bedside table. “Jesse, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know he’d come over like this. I didn’t know he’d hurt you.”

“It’s okay. He’s protecting you. I’ve had much worse done to me.”

The nicer he acted—pretended to be!—the worse Elias felt, which pissed him off even more. He grabbed the ratty duffel bag lying at the foot of the bed and dumped it out, using an ink pen to separate items so he didn’t get poked by a dirty needle. “Any weapons? Drugs? Paraphernalia?”

“No, sir. Just my straight-edge razor. I have used it as protection a few times, but no knives or guns. I haven’t touched drugs in five years. I’ll take a drug test right this minute if you order it.”

Elias flipped open a small wooden case, but all it contained was tiny whittled down pencils and precious little nubs of chalk, so used up that a normal person—with money—would have thrown them out and replaced them long ago. Feeling more and more like a heel, he methodically emptied the pockets of everything. Wadded up small bills littered the bed. A five in each denim pocket, a twenty in the threadbare shirt, several more bills tucked into the rolled socks, but certainly no nice wad of cash that a dealer would carry. Spreading the bills out across the meager belongings would make it more difficult to steal his precious savings.

“I have a hundred dollar bill in each boot hidden beneath the insole.” Jesse leaned against the wall as though the entire building would crumble around them without his weight propping it up. The pants sagged low on his slim hips, and he didn’t have on a shirt. Bones moved beneath his skin in sharp, painful relief. The kid was half-starved and malnourished. In despair, he hung his head, his streaked golden-brown hair falling down to hide his face. “Took me a year to save that much because the punks on the street keep stealing it. They know I don’t have a weapon.”

Elias knew the answer, but he wanted to see how many lies the kid might weave. “How do you know Vicki?”

“She used to come to Highland Park where I hang out. When she quit coming, I asked one of her friends what had happened. I missed her, and I wanted to make sure she was okay. She was always nice to me, but I never thought she’d help me like this.”

“Get these cuffs off him,” Vicki said in a deceptively pleasant voice that sent shards of ice skittering down his spine. This was the defense attorney, not a woman who’d called him to check out a friend. “He answered your questions satisfactorily and you have nothing to charge him with. He’s not trespassing and he’s not a danger to me or himself.”

When he hesitated, she narrowed those glittering dark eyes on him and lowered her chin, preparing for the charge. “I might not work for Leeman any longer, but I’ll have him crawling in every orifice you’ve got unless you release Jesse immediately.”

Like any good sub, the writer does her very best work. Then she submits.

The Editor will respond at a time of Her choosing. The writer may wait weeks — or even months — for the Editor’s attention.

Waiting is good for the submissive writer. Patience, little writer. Sweet patience.

At last, the Editor has made Her decision regarding the writer’s submission, and she writhes in spasms of delight at the acceptance. Yes, Editor, yes!

The fun has only just begun. Now the writer must learn discipline. Or be disciplined. The Editor corrects a few insignificant things in the manuscript to make it more pleasing to Her. Like changing the hero’s name. Honestly, what were you thinking, writer? Twenty lashes with the Editor’s red pen!

This ending isn’t climatic enough. The heroine changes her mind too easily. The hero hasn’t groveled enough.

Lash, lash, lash!

And what does the good little writer reply? Oh, Editor, it feels so good to learn from your mighty pen. Lash me again!

~ * ~

In all seriousness, I absolutely love my editors. They’ve helped me grow so much over the years, and I’m constantly learning new things. Writing for publication does involve a complex relationship rather like BDSM.

TRUST is key. In a safe and consensual scene, the submissive chooses to submit to a Dominant because of trust. Likewise, the Dominant trusts the submissive to use the safeword when needed. A sub shouldn’t blindly do anything the Dom says regardless of fear, pain, and limits. The power is really in the sub’s hands and the Dom relies on the sub to give the safeword when the play is going too far.

It’s the same with a writer and editor relationship. When you’re working with an editor, you trust that the editor wants the best for the manuscript — yet the writer doesn’t have to blindly accept every single change. Edits require a back-and-forth discussion. If a change causes the writer pause, it’s her duty to bring up the issue with the editor so they can discuss it in detail.

A good Dominant pushes the submissive to grow and explore her limits in a safe and secure environment. My editors have pushed me to go where I normally wouldn’t have gone on my own. It’s painful, sometimes, to explore those limits. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve backed off from something because it’s too edgy or scary, only to have my editors call me on it. They’ve helped me push through that barrier and the story’s better for it. As I’m a better writer for it.

With all the opportunities in self-publishing, it’s tempting to decide to go it alone. While I do intend to explore self-publishing (I’ve only re-released works from a prior publisher who closed its doors so far), I fully intend to continue submitting, both to my current publishers and also new opportunities as they arise. I want to continue pushing that envelope and growing — the way an editor can help me polish my craft.

There’s so much to learn…when you submit.

[Ed. Joely Sue is giving away a digital copy of Yours to Take, so leave her a meaningful question or comment to be in the running!]

Sandy M’s review of Yours to Take (The Connaghers, Book 3) by Joely Sue Burkhart
Erotic Romance published by Samhain 8 May 12

I don’t know about all of you, but when it comes to erotic romance, I read a lot of so-so books before I find a few gems that are truly worth the reading time. Sort of like kissing a lot of frogs before you find that prince. What I’ve found is the majority of erotic reads aren’t balanced between the hot and steamy sex and an intriguing and emotional story. So when I come across that author who hits all of those – and more – elements out of the park, she’s going to be one I’m on the lookout for in the future. Joely Sue Burkhart is the first in quite a long time to be in that very sparsely populated category for me.

The first thing that stands out in this book is that Ms. Burkhart makes me feel for her characters. Before there’s even a hint of sex, I like the characters. I want to know more about them. Their circumstances immediately pull me into their lives and I care.

Vicki Connagher is just beginning her second career, this time as a fashion designer – a dream she’s always had. But that dream was put on the back burner while she became an attorney representing the dregs of society. But that world came crashing down when one of her clients gunned down a cop – her lover’s partner. Her guilt was enough to break her, but when Elias also seemed to blame her and he walked out on their relationship, it was too much for Vicki. She quit her high-paying job, retreated into her now more private life and began to design the line of clothes that has always lived within her.

Having not seen Elias in months, Vicki is getting along. Trying to beat the coming snow storm, she’s returning home from the grocery store when she runs into the homeless man she came to know during her lawyering days. Jesse was a mainstay at the park she frequented when things got a little rough in the courtroom. That last day with all the emotional turmoil, Jesse is the one she ran to, the one who held her as she cried. Seeing him now brings back all those memories, especially when he hands her the birthday card he’d made for her months before. Deciding she can’t let him stay outdoors in the storm, she invites him into her home for the night.

Though it seems this move is a bit dangerous because she doesn’t really know Jesse, Vicki isn’t a stupid heroine. She does have him checked out. By calling Elias. The man is livid at what she’s done and hightails it to her front door. Jesse, meet Elias. As he rams the young man into the wall, cuffing him, ready to cart him off to jail. But eventually Vicki calms Elias down, at least enough to give Jesse the night’s respite she’s promised. From this point on, we delve into the relationship among each of these characters, what they want from the other, how the trio affects them individually, and Vicki’s new-found dominance Elias has always known about and enjoys fighting her for.

Jesse, of course, has loved Vicki all along, her kindness to a homeless man the start of it all. Elias is jealous as all get-out when he realizes Vicki wants to keep Jesse, but he knows he has no right to be because of his recent behavior. Vicki loves Elias, but her feelings for Jesse surprise her and she has no intention of giving them – or him – up. She does take it slow with Jesse, more for her own peace of mind and for Elias, hoping he’ll get used to the idea, but she also doesn’t want to hurt Jesse. He only wants to be loved, wants to choose how he’s loved and not forced as has been done to him so often in the past. He does like his loving rough and painful, which kind of surprises me, considering what he’s been through. There’s never really an explanation for why this is, which I would like because it just seems contrary to the Jesse I see throughout the story.

Between these two men, Vicki learns a lot about herself she never knew. She’s amazed at her need for Jesse, her desire for him, and she’s determined to give him what he wants. So she heads to big brother, Victor, who is a sadist. He’s known all along that Vicki is a dominant, she’s the one who’s had to find that within herself, and it’s Jesse who brings it out. While she has a great relationship with both of her brothers, it’s her mother who turns Vicki’s screws way too tight. Mother and daughter have been estranged for a while, but Victor has decided it’s time for them to work things out. It’s an interesting dynamic between them, and more emotion is wrung out of these characters to heal the relationship.

I love how Elias and Jesse have their own ways of loving and protecting Vicki. Both very different in methods but alike with a common goal. There are a variety of secondary characters who Vicki is able to to talk about the changes in her life, and each is unique in the role the play in the Dom/sub world. This type of story usually doesn’t appeal to me, mostly because I know I don’t understand the mindset, but once in a while an author does it just right and she gives me a new look at it all, giving me another viewpoint toward understanding.

This is the third book in the series, and having met Victor, I’m curious about his story, as well as Conn, another brother. I’m hopefully going to be able to squeeze those books in some day soon!

Grade: B+

Summary:

All fire and gunpowder need is a stray spark…

The day one of her old clients gunned down a cop, former defense attorney Vicki Connagher lost everything—her passion for justice, and her lover, Detective Elias Reyes. The dead cop’s partner.
Even though she’s following her dream to start her own fashion line, it’s tough with heartache as her only companion. Until she brings Jesse, a wandering street artist, in from a freak Texas snowstorm. His submissive flirting brings out dominant tendencies she never knew she possessed, yet she hesitates to let him take her as far and as hard as she wants to go.

Some homeless junkie in Vicki’s house? Not on Elias’s watch. Pride kept him away, but as long as Jesse is staying in Vicki’s downstairs shop, he’s staying with Vicki. On the couch, but it’s a start.

As the days go by, the three work out an uneasy alliance. But Vicki’s joy at having Elias back in her life is tempered with a growing desire to have it all. Elias in her bed, and Jesse under her command. The only question remaining is if her tough alpha cop is willing to embrace all that she is…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

A wanna-be demon who needs her last soul to finally acquire demon status and an angel cowboy whose mission is to save the demon’s soul, to give her another chance at life. What they don’t count on is the heat…the smoke…the fire when they touch, kiss, love.

Destiny and Chance are at cross purposes at this point in their lives, but the heat between them is all encompassing. They can’t fight it. Destiny doesn’t want to. And Chance finally realizes he can’t.

So is there a way out for them in the end? Is it possible for a demon and an angel to find happily ever after?

Summary:

When sexy wannabe-demon, Destiny Carter, is kicked out of Hell, she lands in Ft. Worth, Texas with one week to corrupt a soul. Or else. She slips into a slinky red dress, and heads straight for the delicious, corruptible looking cowboy at the bar.

But Chance Bellew has his own agenda-saving souls. He’s not your typical angel. He’s a nephilim, to be exact. Centuries ago, angels came down from Heaven and mated with mortal women. When the women bore children, a new race was created. Immortals with powers—demigods, nephilim.

But the children don’t live by the same rules as mortals, or that of the typical, robe-wearing, bright light-surrounding-them angels. Hell, most of the time the nephilim are breaking the rules, and making up new ones as they go. As long as they don’t cross over to the dark side, everyone pretty much stays out of their way.

But sometimes a demon-in-training, who looks like Destiny, comes along and all Hell breaks loose.

Here’s a little taste…

Chapter 1

Destiny Carter was six years old when she had the first inkling that her life wouldn’t be a fairy tale. That was the day her mother left her in a grocery store and never came back. Destiny was right, her life went downhill from there. Bad foster homes, bad boyfriends, and really, really bad choices.

Then she died and went to Hell.

Until she was kicked out.

Destiny landed on the sidewalk with a hard thump.

“Son of a bitch!” She grimaced as she came to her feet, rubbing her hands over her tender backside. She was probably the first person ever to get kicked out of Hell. Temporarily, that is.

Hysterical laughter bubbled inside her, but she quickly tamped it down. She was not going to lose what little bit of sanity she had left. She would get through this like she did everything else, by gritting her teeth and doing what she had to do.

All is not lost. Just take a deep breath.

She inhaled.

Ugh! Her nose twitched as a god-awful stench filled her space. She glanced down the deserted street. Faded army-green painted letters on a shabby storefront window proclaimed it as Ft. Worth’s finest resale shop.

Oh hell, she’d landed close to the stockyards in Ft. Worth, Texas, but this wasn’t Billy Bob’s. No, skid-row bars and vacant buildings lined both sides of the street.

Could her day get any worse?

Not that she had anything against Texas, except it was hot as hell. The dry heat was not helping her mood.

“I couldn’t manage to steal one more soul?” she grumbled.

Okay, so she wasn’t the best salesperson in the underworld. Why didn’t that lawyer just sign on the dotted line? He insisted on reading the fine print and before she knew it, poof, he was gone. One more soul and she would’ve been a full-fledged demon with all the rights and privileges of that position-like drinking, gambling, and lots of sex.

“Sex,” she breathed on a sigh as she slowly combed her fingers through her long, black hair. Naked, straining bodies. Hands touching, caressing. She bit her bottom lip and forced the vision to go far, far away before she grabbed the grungy-looking bum leaning against the vacant store front and had her way with him.

She grimaced. Maybe she wasn’t that hard up. But Destiny did really miss sex. Everything about her life might have been lousy, but never the sex. And right now she was so horny she figured she’d start sprouting a pair any time, except people at the trainee level couldn’t grow a set of horns to save their lives.

Now she was one step farther from her goal. The ones in charge were really pissed, but at least they had given her another chance, and new orders: corrupt someone and drag the unwitting person back to Hell. She had one week to do it or else. Why the fuck had they tacked on “or else”? What were they going to do? Send her to Hell?

Okay, shake it off. Getting kicked out was only a minor glitch. She could take a soul in less than a week. A moment of panic sent a shiver down her spine and her bravado drained away. Who was she kidding? Only dying souls caught between Heaven and Hell were sent to the sorting station. Her job was to convince them Hell was their best choice. She didn’t have to search them out. Nothing ever went right for her in life. Why did she think being dead would change things?

No, she could do this. She would survive.

A flashing neon sign suddenly caught her attention when one of the bulbs popped and blew out. THE STOMPIN’ GROUND. A bar. Her mouth watered. Demons-in-training weren’t allowed to drink, or do much of anything on the job, and they were always on the job. One drink wouldn’t hurt, and a bar would be a good place to start looking for a corruptible soul. In fact, it was her duty to go inside and check the place out.

A slow smile curved her lips as she slid her hands slowly over her body and the plain, butt-ugly, black wool uniform shift became a tight-fitting, low-cut, fuck-me red dress that shimmered with each slow, seductive step she took. Yeah, she was bad. Life made her that way. That’s why she went straight to Hell. You never saw a good girl in Hell.

The bum’s mouth dropped open. He looked at his wrinkled brown paper sack that obviously held a bottle of booze, then back at her. She grinned and winked. He tipped the bottle to his mouth, guzzling down more alcohol.

“See you in Hell,” she muttered.

Destiny made her way to the bar, then pushed on the door, stepping inside the cool, dimly lit interior. As soon as her eyes adjusted, she glanced around. A haze of cigarette smoke formed a gray cloud above the patrons.

Slim pickings. Only a handful of people sat at tables.

Two worn out hookers were strategically positioned close to the door. Too easy. They already had Hell stamped on their foreheads. Destiny wanted to impress the powers that be. Used-up hookers would not make an impact on them.

A couple of men sat at another table deep in conversation about a stupid football game. Not bad looking. Wedding rings glinted on their fingers. Married. Too much trouble.

Hmm… But the demons might be impressed.

Before she could take a step toward them the bathroom door opened, spilling a patch of light into the bar. Two laughing women joined the men at their table. Scratch that idea. Two was company, four was a crowd.

There was a lively group of barely legal college boys chugging pitchers of beer. Hmm, certainly corruptible. From the way they were dressed, they were definitely slumming. One guy glanced her way, eyes practically bugging out.

Oh hell, was that drool? No thanks!

Someone put money in the jukebox and a slow country song began to play. For a moment, she let the deep voice of the singer wash over her. She didn’t even mind that he was crooning about his cheating wife and losing himself in a bottle of whiskey. Damn, she missed being alive.

Her gaze languidly drifted around the rest of the room, past dark walls with posters of country singers plastered all over them. The bartender wiped a damp cloth across one end of the bar. Destiny’s eyes narrowed as she sized him up. The potential was there.

He raised his head, saw her, then smiled. The kind of smile that made her feel good all over. He wasn’t bad looking, in a good-old-boy sort of way.

Destiny drew in a deep breath as she readied herself for a full assault, but at the last minute a movement at the other end of the bar caught her eye.

A lone cowboy sat on one of the stools nursing a beer, his back to her. He wore a black T-shirt that deliciously hugged his broad shoulders. Her gaze dropped. The jeans weren’t bad, either. Nope, not bad at all. The guy had a great ass from this angle. Sweet! Cowboy had just enough muscles that he created a fantasy, but not enough that she would be in competition with his ego.

He turned and looked her way, his gaze sliding sensuously over her body. Tingles of excitement tickled her spine. She had such a fondness for cowboys. They knew how to ride ‘em long and hard, and she was all for long and hard.

She devoured him with one long lazy look. His black Stetson was pulled down low on his forehead as though he didn’t give a damn about anyone or anything. It didn’t help that, for some insane reason, black cowboy hats turned her on.

Oh baby, she was about to make his wet dreams come true. Yee-haw, ride ‘em cowboy.

The bartender was forgotten as she locked on target. Destiny slid her hands over her hips nice and slow before sauntering toward him, putting just a little bit of swing in her hips.

This time she would be the one calling the shots. The one in charge. No one would ever control her again like they had when she was alive. She would take what she wanted and to hell with the rest! Literally.

The cowboy watched her every step of the way. She was already wrapping him around her little finger and the poor guy didn’t have a clue. She stopped beside him.

“Buy a lady a beer?” she asked. Her words held enough invitation that only an idiot wouldn’t guess she wanted more than a beer, and this guy didn’t look like an idiot. She slid onto the stool next to his, propping her elbow on the scarred wooden surface of the bar.

Over the haze of smoke, over the smell of alcohol, Destiny caught another scent that weaved its way around her, making her lean in a little closer. It was spicy and held a promise of nights filled with down-and-dirty sex. She could feel the waves of heat radiating off him, curling around her body and wrapping her in a sensual cloud of sexual awareness.

“A beer for the lady,” he drawled, breaking into her fantasy and nodding toward the bartender.

His voice sent tingles down her spine. It was just a little raspy-low and sexy.

Cowboy swiveled his stool around to face her and tipped the brim of his hat with one finger so she got a better look at his face: the strong jaw, the slight stubble, and the most intense blue eyes she’d ever encountered.

Destiny had her first mini orgasm, and it felt so fucking great! This guy looked good enough to eat. She was going to enjoy corrupting him.

“What’s a cowboy like you doing in a bar all alone?” Okay, that sounded pretty cheesy, but she was a little out of practice; she’d died in 1959.

“Waiting for a woman like you,” he replied and again his words caressed her as his blue-eyed gaze drifted lazily down her body before returning to her face. Her nipples tightened.

The bartender set a beer in front of her. Cowboy dropped a few bills on the counter and the bartender left.

She grinned as she took the bottle, her tongue sliding nice and slow around the rim before she brought it the rest of the way to her lips. She tilted the bottle a little and ice-cold liquid slid down her throat. Nice. She’d missed the taste of alcohol.

“So, what’s your handle, cowboy?” she asked after she lowered the bottle.

“Chance. Chance Bellew.”

“Well, you’ve just met your destiny.” She grinned. “Destiny Carter.”

Destiny Carter was six years old when she had the first inkling that her life wouldn’t be a fairy tale. That was the day her mother left her in a grocery store and never came back. Destiny was right, her life went downhill from there. Bad foster homes, bad boyfriends, and really, really bad choices.

Then she died and went to Hell.

Until she was kicked out.

Hi Everyone! And waving to Sybil! I hope you enjoyed the opening of my current release, Where There’s Smoke.

Long ago it’s said angels came to earth and mated with humans. A new race started when children were born from this union—the nephilim.

I took that idea and ran with it. Destiny needs a soul to get readmitted into Hell and achieve demon status which will give her all the luxuries demon status can offer. But Destiny has no idea the sexy cowboy sitting at the bar is a nephilim. Chance has a very different agenda. He doesn’t plan on letting her win, but the best laid plans have a way of unraveling and he finds he’s in danger of losing his own soul.

Where There’s Smoke is an erotic romance. I write erotic romance because I want to embarrass my grown children…..no, no, no. That’s not true. I write erotic romance because I can and I enjoy writing it. I don’t want to look back on my life and say I didn’t do something because it wasn’t appropriate. I want to look back and say I lived my life and had a hell of a lot of fun!

I also make jewelry. I’m surrounded by bling-bling. I love Moscato and Merlot wine. Mexican food and frozen Margaritas. My style is farmhouse country and shabby chic. My back porch is my sanctuary where I get in touch with my inner self. Everyone should have a peaceful place, even if it’s the city park.

I’ve lost 99 pounds. Every time I get close to the 100-pound mark there’s a family function or it’s date night or something. I will reach 100 pounds lost, though. Still, I enjoy shopping for clothes.  And that’s who I am, sort of. I hope everyone enjoys Where There’s Smoke.

Best Wishes!

Sandy M’s review of Where There’s Smoke by Karen Kelley
Paranormal Erotic Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 1 May 12

This is actually my first Karen Kelley book. I like the premise of the story, so thought it would be a good book to review. While I like the handsome and immortal cowboy hero – who wouldn’t want a cowboy for forever? – and the sex is hot and steamin’, there’s a couple of pet peeves that kept me on edge in between the sexy voice and grins that cowboy tosses around and the play of heaven against hell, stealing souls, and trying to do the right thing.

Destiny is a demon in training. She kinda messes up on occasion, so she’s been kicked out of hell to steal that one last soul to move her up to full demon status. Once there, it’s smooth sailing, she’ll finally have everything she’s been promised by the demon who turned her all those years ago. So she’s hunting for that next lucky – or unlucky, depending on how you look at it – soul, and she stumbles upon an uber sexy cowboy in a bar. Her first thought is not stealing his soul, it’s of sex – can’t blame her on that one! – which she hasn’t had in quite a little while.

The product of an angel and a human woman, Chance is a nephilim, a demigod, if you will. He’s immortal and, thus, has certain powers to go along with that status. His current mission is to save Destiny’s soul, convince her she can start again and have a better life than the one before, including her time in hell. Only thing is, she affects him as no other woman has. But he refuses to compromise his work ethic of saving a soul and then engaging in sex, if that’s what is desired. Sex first is the way his brothers in arms work, but not Chance.

What he doesn’t have a problem with is getting Destiny off any other way he can, and he does that quite deftly and often. This leads to the first of my pet peeves. For the first six chapters it’s Chance and Destiny coming together for their respective goals, only to have Chance work Destiny over to the point of boneless satiation so she forgets what she’s about. He then takes off because he won’t let things go any further. She gets pissed, promises to be in control next time, and then it starts all over again. Yes, there’s interaction between Destiny and the humans she befriends, as well as Chance and his brothers. Thus another pet peeve: we learn about these two characters’ lives and whatnot from this type of interaction and not from their interaction with each other. In the beginning all we get from them being together is plenty of foreplay.

Now, I like sex and all its variations in my romance books as much as the next reader – and, yes, I realize this is an erotic romance – but I also like a little story to go along with it. We get some basics in these six chapters, but that’s about it. Destiny isn’t allowed to fraternize with humans, but she’s suddenly overrun by neighbors in the apartment she “borrows.” Chance is still trying to keep his attraction to her at bay and discusses it over with his brothers, trying to do things the right way. Nothing new crops up until Destiny begins to care for her neighbors and Chance finally throws caution to the wind and the sex scenes ramp up a notch or two. But this is all too long in coming, too much redundancy for me in those initial chapters.

Once Chance and Destiny do the deed, though, the story begins to move along a little better. I enjoyed Chance’s use of magic, giving her romantic places to make love to her while they dance around one another trying to do their jobs. I also like Destiny’s shift in her attitude toward humans. She begins to really like this menagerie of quirky neighbors who invade her space every chance they get. Of course, the good times can only last so long before Destiny is reminded why she’s back in the land of the living. Her demon steps in with a heavy hand to show her the error of her ways in getting friendly with mortals. He also plants doubt about Chance, and Destiny then grabs hold again of her original mission to steal a soul so she’ll finally have everything she deserves. I waffled on whether I like the idea of Destiny throwing everything that she’s gained in the past few weeks to the wind, especially when she tells herself she’s not seen one thing promised to her in all the years she’s served in hell. But she talks herself into staying with what she knows. It’s when she sees the end result of her actions that she truly begins to see what she wants and needs in a different light.

The strong point of this book for me is Chance. I mean, how can you not love a sexy cowboy angel?    I’ve yet to read one, so this is fun for me. That he has to go through his own hell and face an old adversary – all because of and for Destiny – makes him that much more appealing. Destiny herself had to grow on me, so she’s the weak link in my mind. At times she comes off a little too whiny, but she does redeem herself in the end. I think a little less with the secondary characters and more between Chance and Destiny would have played much better, especially once they begin to know each other, other than in a sexual way.

Though what doesn’t work for me may work for you. I’d be interested in hearing what you think!

Grade: C

Summary:

When sexy wannabe-demon, Destiny Carter, is kicked out of Hell, she lands in Ft. Worth, Texas with one week to corrupt a soul. Or else. She slips into a slinky red dress, and heads straight for the delicious, corruptible looking cowboy at the bar.

But Chance Bellew has his own agenda-saving souls. He’s not your typical angel. He’s a nephilim, to be exact. Centuries ago, angels came down from Heaven and mated with mortal women. When the women bore children, a new race was created. Immortals with powers—demigods, nephilim.

But the children don’t live by the same rules as mortals, or that of the typical, robe-wearing, bright light-surrounding-them angels. Hell, most of the time the nephilim are breaking the rules, and making up new ones as they go. As long as they don’t cross over to the dark side, everyone pretty much stays out of their way.

But sometimes a demon-in-training, who looks like Destiny, comes along and all Hell breaks loose.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of Angel’s End (Angel’s End Series, Book 1) by Cindy Holby
Western Historical Inspirational Romance published by Berkley 1 May 12

I’ve been in a cowboy mood for a while now, so every book that comes my way that has a cowboy hero, I’ve been more than happy to delve right in. So far, I’ve been lucky with the outcome of each, though a couple have fallen short of the mark. This story in Cindy Holby’s new series is a definite winner, full of emotion with an unlikely romance in the Old West, a time when you did what you had to to survive. She portrays that era perfectly, all with love and prayers, which was usually what all those who lived back then had to count on in their everyday life.

Cade Gentry is on the run. He double crossed a “business” associate and is now paying the price. While he’s not proud of some of the things he’s done, he just couldn’t be a party to murder for gain. What he got is a bullet for the trouble he caused. Figuring he’s going to die before he can get help out in the middle of nowhere, he stumbles upon a lone man, someone who could be in cahoots with his pursuer. But Cade takes a chance and instead meets Pastor Timothy Key, headed for Angel’s End to tend his new flock. Cade hasn’t talked to God in a very long while, all he’s ever gotten is silence so he figures why bother. God has a sense of humor, you know.

Now there’s one more thing Cade will carry around on his conscience – the pastor is caught in the crossfire when his partner’s hired guns catch up with him. Hoping he can pull off a identity switch, he takes the preacher’s coat, bible, and horse, leaving Pastor Key in the Lord’s hands. With pain and fever racing through his body, Cade holds on for dear life and eventually finds himself in the presence of the most beautiful angel he’s ever seen. He’s out of it for some time, fighting fever and other effects from the hole in his gut. When he wakes he hopes beyond hope he has maybe found a place he can call home. All under false pretenses, of course.

Though the new pastor would be living in her home anyway, Leah never imagined it would all begin with her taking care of the man because he’s been shot. How does a minister get in the way of a bullet? And there’s other small things that don’t seem quite right about him. But she has a son to take care of, along with a job and a house, all of it alone since her sheriff husband was killed a few years ago. The townsfolk help out when they can, especially Jake, a handsome rancher. Leah doesn’t return his feelings, though. She’s hoping for love a second time around. How she’ll find it in Angel’s End is anyone’s guess. Their town is literally the end of the road. When she finds herself attracted to the Pastor Key, Leah has to pray for strength.

Inspirational romance is not in my usual reading pattern – mostly because a lot of them get too preachy for me – but the title and blurb on this book intrigued me, along with the fact I’ve not read Ms. Holby before. She does a wonderful job, however, of giving each character in this book their own idea of God and what He offers them. There are those who believe unconditionally and send up a prayer when the going gets rough; others whose belief have gone by the wayside; and then Cade himself who just knows God laughs at him every chance He gets. While Leah holds steadfast in her faith, it’s Cade, of course, who goes through a transformation to allow both Leah and God into his life. He’s had a horrible time of it since his father abandoned him and his brother at an orphanage after their mother’s death. They were eventually adopted, something they’d longed for, but the brothers are cruelly separated and subsequent living has turned Cade into the outlaw he is today. All of the inspiration in this book is everyday life for characters of this era and it’s woven seamlessly into the threads and eventual tapestry of their lives.

Cade’s redemption isn’t given easily. He finds his conscience fights him where Leah and her son are concerned. The few scenes where he and the boy interact are lovely moments, for Cade as well as the reader. Knowing he doesn’t deserve Leah almost causes him to move on out of her life so someone better will come along for her. Even Jake would be better for her than himself. Almost. When they finally do come together, their loving is intense but sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed the turnaround when Cade takes care of Leah during her sickness. And the scenes with Jake wanting to stake territory that holds no reward for him only makes me like the man more. I’m very intrigued by this man and look forward to his book, which is next in the series. There’s a number of other fascinating secondary characters too. Even the town and the church play pivotal roles in the story.

If you love a good western romance, do read this one. Even if you’re not a total western and/or cowboy fan, I think you’ll be quite pleasantly surprised when you turn the last page of this book. You’re pulled in from the beginning, and your heart strings get a good tug every now and again. Early western life comes alive chapter after chapter. You will fall in love with simple folk trying to eke out a good life as best they can. Seems things don’t change much no matter how technology encroaches in our lives.

Grade: A

Summary:

In the mountains of Colorado, a small town called Angel’s End welcomes everyone with open arms–even a man fleeing his past…

Wounded and on the run, Cade Gentry stumbles into a kind man who’s on this way to become the new pastor of Angel’s End. But not long after Timothy Key takes him in, Cade’s enemies catch up with him, and the young pastor is killed in the cross fire. Cade survives, stealing Timothy’s identity to escape, and arrives in Angel’s End on the brink of death.

Leah Findley is the sheriff’s widow, trying to make ends meet for herself and her son. Having the new minister as a boarder will help, but she isn’t expecting him to be wounded when he arrives. And she definitely isn’t expecting the feelings that the new preacher stirs deep inside her.

The more time Cade spends with Leah, the deeper he falls in love. To Cade, she’s an angel who’s saved his life and given him the sense of hope he’s never known. But he’s not the man she thinks he is, and before he can find permanent shelter in Leah’s arms, he must learn to have faith and put hi former sins to rest.

No excerpt available.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of Werewolf in Seattle (Wild About You, Book 4) by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Paranormal Romance published by Signet 3 Apr 12

I’ve really enjoyed reading Vicki Lewis Thompson’s paranormals, and she continues with her Wild About You series with a gentle and sensitive alpha werewolf who gets an attitude adjustment in his beliefs when he meets our heroine. Their romance is sweet but doomed. The wolf thinks he’ll be able to control his instincts, but he’s in for a huge surprise.

Colin is headed to his late great aunt’s island estate, thinking he’ll make quick arrangements to sell it all so he can return to Scotland to get back to his clan and his brother, who’s very good at keeping Colin cleaning up issue after issue. Though he has pleasant memories of visiting his aunt and the island, his duties as laird just won’t allow him to take on more responsibility.

Never fitting in nor having a home until she met Geraldine, Luna loves the Pacific Northwest island that has called to her since she arrived. She’s a hybrid, half were and half human, and never had anyone to guide her throughout her were life. Not wanting to lose the only place she’s felt comfortable, she has decided to propose a business opportunity to Colin when he arrives – turn the house and island into an exclusive shifter retreat.

When these two meet, the attraction is instant. Luna is determined to keep her distance because of her proposal, but Colin doesn’t care one whit about business getting in the way of having that lovely assistant in his bed. He doesn’t hide his feelings about weres mating with humans, so that’s another reason Luna doesn’t want to get involved with him, but good intentions on both sides go by the wayside every time they’re together. I like the early sexual tension between them, they don’t hide it, even if they don’t act on it then. And we don’t have to wait three-quarters of the book before they do fire up the pages between the sheets.

Colin tries to hold on to his idea that humans and weres don’t and shouldn’t mix, but meeting Luna makes him rethink things after a bit. He also helps her find some of her family, but they run into trouble on one end while finding a new beginning on the other for Luna. Colin has trouble of his own at home, so the time comes when he has to leave. Though they both know this time has to come, you begin to wonder what Ms. Thompson will do to get them to their happily ever after. You know it has to come, but the anticipation is fun until you get there.

Colin is a delightful hero, kind, generous, gentle, and sexy as all get-out. He even dons a kilt at one point and you can’t help but drool over him. Luna is a combination of savvy and innocence, which is due to her being alone with her werewolf-ness while growing up. There are some quirky secondary characters who keep the laughter high. This is a fun, light-hearted romance, as are the previous books in this series. It’s a feel-good read that will brighten any bad mood or reading slump. If you’re not sure what to read next, try this one. It’s time for some fun!

Grade: A

Summary:

Luna Reynaud has always been a lone wolf—because she’s half human. Afraid she’ll be rejected by both communities, she’s kept her secret from everyone, even the Weres she’s found a home with working on an estate in the San Juan Islands. But when her boss suddenly dies and the heir arrives, she discovers some secrets aren’t meant to be kept.

As the head of the most powerful werewolf clan in Scotland, Colin MacDowell isn’t eager to take on the responsibility of his great aunt’s estate—until he meets her sexy assistant, Luna. He thinks she’s the Were of his dreams, until he finds out she’s not. Highly opposed to bringing even half-humans into the pack, Colin knows he must resist this powerful attraction. But once aroused, a wolf’s instincts are not so easily subdued.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of Sierra Falls (Sierra Falls, Book 1) by Veronica Wolff
Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 3 Apr 12

I’ve read a few of Veronica Wolff’s historicals and time travel romances, some which worked for me and some which didn’t. So I was excited to see her try her hand at contemporary romance. I’m very glad to say that her work in this genre really scores big for me. This book is a fun, heartwarming read with a touch of mystery. The characters are charming, especially the hero, and the whole town gets involved when things are shakin’ around Sierra Falls.

Sorrow Bailey, walking in the footsteps of several ancestors who suffered because of that name, has always wanted to get out of Sierra Falls, a small town nestled in the Sierras, just like everyone else who’s lived there all their lives, including her brother and sister. They left as fast as they could, and when their father suffers a stroke, it’s Sorrow who gives up her dreams to stay and help out in the family business, the Big Bear Lodge. Sorrow loves to cook. The dishes she prepares take her to whichever country she chooses, thus experiencing their flavor in some little way. Only thing is, her father won’t allow her to cook at the lodge. The man doesn’t seem to care for fancy schmancy food over the burgers and other fare Tom Sullivan, a Vet who wondered into Sierra Falls and has stayed a few decades, currently dishes out.

The new town sheriff has been noticing young Sorrow lately. Billy Preston is about ten years older and a widower. He tries not to act on these new emotions when he’s around Sorrow, but though the guilt eats at him a bit, he begins to spend a lot more time at the lodge just to see her. And I love Billy Preston. I adore an older hero, though in this case he’s only in his early 30s, but that’s better than the alternative. You feel more for him at that age for being a widower, so it all works wonderfully well. He’s old enough and has been through enough to know to keep away from Sorrow until she’s broken up with her boyfriend – more on him in a minute! – and then to know he has to take it slow with her once they start dating. He has just the right experience to pull Sorrow from her sexual shell. She’s not a virgin, by any means, but it’s just been sex for her until Billy. He also makes an excellent sheriff, moving from the city after his wife’s death. He’s got a very deft touch when dealing with local citizens in every situation imaginable.

Knowing she’s feeling something for the sheriff, Sorrow examines her relationship with Damien Simmons, son from a well-to-do local family, the golden boy who has a finger in a lot of pies around town and can pull strings to help out the Bailey family whenever needed, and that seems to be a lot lately. Sorrow realizes she doesn’t feel anything for him like what she’s beginning to feel for Billy. What I love is when she’s finally free, her sister, who has mysteriously come home for a spell, encourages Sorrow to hightail it to Billy’s door for a night of seduction. The man hasn’t got a chance in hell of getting past this new Sorrow. And what a night it is. Something special has definitely begun.

In between all of this, when the lodge roof is damaged during a snowstorm, Sorrow finds a stack of letters written by her great-great grandmother, Sorrow Crabtree. Once the infamous information learned in these letters becomes public knowledge, the local historical society makes big plans for their upcoming festival. It’s fun amid those ladies and their speculations about the town’s founder and Sorrow’s namesake. You get the feel of small-town American with scenes like these and others throughout the book.

In the meantime, Billy has begun to suspect foul play after a series of seemingly crazy accidents around the lodge – around Sorrow. Vowing that nothing will happen to her on his watch, his investigation takes him further and further into territory everyone in town finds incredulous. Things get a bit dicey before it’s all over. Not a riveting, over-the-top mystery, but one that fits in with this community and its quirks. We also get a side romance with Tom and Marlene Jessup, a recent divorcee, both of whom finally decide to live life their way. I appreciate romance for older characters, being a little bit older myself. 

Personally, I like Ms. Wolff’s contemps better than her historicals. There’s just more character and charm to the stories for me. Her voice compliments the genre in every way. I look forward to more, especially in this Sierra Falls series.

Grade: B

Summary:

Family is important to Sorrow. She gave up her dreams to run the struggling family lodge. Even her name is a family relic, though lately it feels like a curse that might determine her fate. Things look up when she discovers a collection of letters from her three-times great grandmother and namesake, telling the story of a forbidden love affair.

Billy Preston is the new sheriff, a widower escaping the grief of his former life as a big city cop. He helps out after an accident at the Bailey lodge, and what begins as admiration for Sorrow’s quiet strength quickly becomes something much more. When Sorrow’s discovery brings fame to Sierra Falls, and her dreams of a better life are within reach, one too many “accidents” have Billy wondering whether someone is willing to kill to keep them off the map.

As the community pulls together, Sorrow takes a lesson from her ancestor’s letters: only in family, friends, and love do you find true joy.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Timber Creek – Jan 2013

Like Genevieve Graham, if you’re a Diana Gabaldon and a Jamie and Claire fan, you’re going to enjoy her MacDonnell family books, Under the Same Sky and Sound of the Heart. They have that rich, historical, and Scottish feel to them. The way of life of these characters is harsh and there are more times of anguish than there are of happy, but that makes the happy moments all the sweeter.

Dougal has survived Culloden and is held prisoner by the English until a daring escape. Along with him is the young teenage boy, Aiden, who Dougal has protected during their imprisonment. They make their way to London, putting more distance between them and the soldiers searching for them. What happens next is a huge surprise and one of those very happy times.

Until the English once again tear his world apart. Dougal takes the lesser of two evils, soldering for the enemy to make his way to the colonies and where his destiny lies.

We have a chapter from the book for you today, and I guarantee after reading it,  you won’t want to miss this book.

Summary:

Dougal MacDonnell, a fierce warrior from the Highlands of Scotland, is able to hear the thoughts of other men and dream how the future will unfold.

Devastated by the loss of his family during the Battle of Culloden in 1746, he fosters a deep hatred for the English. But when Glenna, the love of his life and a Scottish outlaw, is captured and shipped overseas, Dougal is forced to join an English army made of vanquished Scots. Now fighting on the side of his sworn enemies, he embarks on a journey that will take him across the seas to the colonies.

There he will risk everything for the chance to find his true love.

CHAPTER TWO

A Different Kind of March

Dougal’s face still lay in the mud when he awoke. He was no longer sure if the dirt was cold, since his cheek had gone numb. He kept his eyes closed, wanting to cry, but lacking the strength. He was tired, always tired these days, but Dougal had never been a man to admit to that. He was frozen and half-starved, as they all were. That weakness had contributed to a lot of the killings today.

Before they’d even stepped onto the frozen marshes of Culloden Moor, Dougal had known the Scots would suffer. He hadn’t needed one of his damn dreams to tell him this battle would not go well. He and the other Highlanders had marched and practically starved for the past two months, and their plaids had been poor protection from the miserable late winter. None of the crofters they had passed on their travels had food to share. The whole of the Highlands was suffering. The men had gone down to London, up to Culloden, back and forth in the miserable winter and spring months, completely at the whim of their chiefs and Prince Charles himself.

Damn Prince Charles. Dougal had pride in his people, sure. But to throw thousands of them away just so one man could settle his well-dressed arse on a throne? Useless. Unforgivable. And if Dougal ever saw Charles, he’d tell him so to his bonny wee face.

“Hey,” he heard from his right side a few feet away. “Help me, man.”

Dougal consulted the stabbing pain in his neck before twisting to see the source of the voice. The man lay nearby and looked to be about the same age as he, with a dark complexion and straggling brown hair pasted to his face. Dougal didn’t remember having seen him before, but there had been so many of them it wasn’t too much of a surprise. What was one man out of thousands?

“Aye, sir. How do ye fare?” Dougal asked.

“Och, I’ve the most terrible itch on my nose. Ye dinna think ye could help me wi’ that, could ye?”

Dougal stared at the man, whose expression was dead serious. For a moment, Dougal was speechless, then he burst into laughter, feeling his lip split with the effort and his head pound with renewed agony. Laughter was an unexpected sound, and a few others glanced over to see what was up.

Still laughing, Dougal said, “We’re the lot of us trussed like turkeys, probably set to be hangit, an’ ye’re fashed about a wee itch on yer nose?”

“Aye, I am,” the man replied indignantly. “I canna reach it.”

“No, I dinna suppose ye can,” Dougal said, trying to stem his laughter. “An’ how am I to manage it then?”

“I’ve no idea. But ‘twould be a blessin’ if ye’d figure it out.”

Dougal snorted, then, with a flick of one black eyebrow, agreed to try. He rolled to his right side and used his heels to shove his own body, bit by bit, closer to the man. When he was a foot away, he spoke again.

“Bring yer damn neb here,” Dougal said. “I canna reach farther.” He wiggled his swollen fingers in illustration. They tingled with strangled circulation from within their rough bindings.

He heard the shuffling of a body behind his, then felt the strange pressure of the man’s nose moving against his fingers. Dougal couldn’t help himself. He started to giggle.

The man behind him moaned with relief. “Ye’re a godsend, man,” he said. “That was killin’ me.”

“That was killin’ ye? Well, if that’s all, then ye’re better than most of us. That is one of the strangest things I’ve ever been asked to do,” Dougal said, still smiling. “All done?”

“Aye, I am. Thanks very much.”

The men rolled onto their stomachs, though Dougal would have greatly preferred to lie on his back. If only their hands had been tied in front. The man beside Dougal gave him a friendly smile and what would have to suffice for a nod.

“John Wallace,” he said. “Yer servant, sir.”

Dougal returned the smile. “Dougal MacDonnell. Good to meet ye as well.”

There wasn’t much to say, so the men sank into an uncomfortable doze while they waited to find out what would happen next. It was becoming more difficult for any of them to stay awake these days, weakened as they all were. Now pain and—Dougal hated to accept the word—defeat weighed down every fibre in his body.

Dougal hadn’t realised he had slept until he was jolted awake by a solid kick of a boot connecting with his ribs. He grunted and rolled away, wide awake. But when he automatically reached for the offending boot, his bound arms permitted no such movement.

“Wake up, dog,” a soldier snarled.

Dougal smothered the words that pressed against his lips. They would do him no good here. He would wait. Bide his time. Beside him, John Wallace apparently came to the same conclusion. He snorted into consciousness, looked around, then dropped his face back down to the mud.

Someone grabbed Dougal’s feet. He kicked and tried instinctively to yank his feet away, but his legs were held fast. He twisted as far as he could so he could watch a soldier untie the ropes at his ankles. So they would be walking, would they? Fine. Anything was better than this, lying helpless as a lassie in a roomful of brawlers.

Other men’s legs were being untied as well, and there were groans and mutterings as the Highlanders stumbled to their feet. Most of their hands were still bound, so the men were limited to shrugging and squirming to release cramped muscles.

They were a sorry lot, Dougal thought, watching the others rise and stretch. Especially when compared to the English soldiers, who were clean, fed and glowing with victory. The Highlanders were filthy and bedraggled, covered head to barely covered feet by bruises and blood. He recognised a few men with whom he had walked on the road to hell, men who, like him, had left their families alone and unprotected while they went off to war. That thought brought Dougal back to images of his family. Of his mother in particular. Dougal was fairly sure he was the only man in the family to have survived. So now she was alone out there, with no means of defence other than her dirk, which she carried all the time.

Be strong, Mother. I’ll come back for ye someday.

She was smart, so she might take to the woods. Then again, she might stay in the house, waiting for her men to return. They were big men, all of them, and she wouldn’t have expected any of them to die.

No. That wasn’t true. She’d known as well as they had. She’d packed their food and seen them off, then turned and ducked through the small door to the croft. She’d never shed a tear. Or if she had, it had been secret, falling within the refuge of her empty home.

What of his brothers? He knew, of course, the fate of his father. The sound of a bayonet ripping through Duncan’s body came back to him, forcing bile up Dougal’s throat. He swallowed it down, determined to banish the sound forever, knowing it was an impossible feat. But what of Ciaran? And Andrew? He should have been with them. His back should have been against theirs, fighting as they’d been taught. But that damn fog, the cursed smoke. He’d lost them as soon as they’d started running, shrieking, onto the frozen moor.

John Wallace jostled him from one side and Dougal gave him a placid smile.

“What of it?” John asked.

“Eh?”

“I was sayin’ I think we should leave,” John suggested. “Just go. When the sons of bitches are lookin’ elsewhere.”

“Oh, that’s a fine idea, John. I reckon they’d just let a wee slip of a man like yerself take a walk off into the trees wi’out too much notice. No, ye fool. They’ve plans to work us hard. Otherwise they’d have shot us by now.”

John shrugged good naturedly. “Worth a thought.”

Dougal gestured with his chin toward a cluster of older men off by the trees, hunched and curled into themselves with resignation. “Those fellows willna fare well. Nor those.” He switched his gaze to a couple of small boys standing together, watching the activity with owlish expressions. They were probably no more than thirteen or fourteen. Drummer boys, he imagined. Frightened lads who should have been home practicing with wooden swords, not facing the menacing glares of hardened English soldiers, ripe with victory. The boys’ hands were untied, he noticed, as were those of some of the older men. The ropes were for bigger men, those who offered obvious threat to the soldiers.

“I’d think they’re no’ much use besides entertainment.”

As if he’d been overheard, a couple of soldiers strode toward the boys. Dougal saw them stiffen but set their slender shoulders in defiance, and the darker of the two stepped forward, placing himself as a shield in front of the smaller one. The soldier stood head and shoulders taller than the little Highlander, but Dougal wondered which, when faced with death, would be more brave. The soldier chuckled at whatever the boy had said and Dougal heard the cold sound from thirty feet away. The boy’s jaw was clenched, and when the soldier turned away, the boy spat at the receding red coat.

The soldier whirled and Dougal took an instinctive step toward the youngsters. “You little pig turd,” the soldier growled. “You’ll show a bit more respect, you will.”

Using his momentum, the soldier ploughed his fist into the boy’s cheek. The slender body crumpled, and though his hands were still tied behind him, Dougal stepped in as the soldier moved toward the smaller boy.

“If it’s a fight ye’re after,” Dougal said. “Might I offer my own services? Surely ye’d no’ want yer men to see ye crowin’ o’er a couple o’ wee lads. Doesna seem so gallant when they’re barely thirteen, does it?”

“Sixteen,” came a whisper, which Dougal ignored.

“You’ve fight left in you, ‘ave you?” the soldier demanded with a sneer. “Bloody Scots ‘ave no idea when to quit.” Needing no further encouragement, he smashed one fist into Dougal’s cheek, then plunged the other upward, under Dougal’s ribs. Dougal doubled over as the breath whooshed out of him, then turned to the side and spat.

He straightened and glared at the soldier. “Better?” he asked, voice still gruff from lack of wind.

The soldier gave him a wide smile, his mouth a checkerboard of missing teeth. “For now, my lad. But we’ll talk later, shall we?”

Dougal slid his jaw one way, then the other, testing the extent of the injury. Satisfied, he sniffed and started back toward John. The soldier hadn’t had much of an arm, fortunately. Good enough, but now Dougal knew what the man was made of. And at least he’d forgotten about the boys for now.

“I could have done just fine on my own, sir,” came the whispered voice.

The boy still standing was slender and gaunt, large blue eyes huge in his sunken face. His blond hair raged wildly around his head and Dougal had an urge to pat it down. To cut it off, even.

“Sure. I reckon ye could have. ‘Twas only I’ve a fondness for gettin’ hit,” he teased. “It had been a couple of hours, I reckon, since the last one.”

The boy, lips tight with pride, studied Dougal skeptically.

“Dinna fash,” Dougal said. “They’ll come back to hit ye soon enough. There’s plenty hungerin’ for a fight. An’ they dinna seem to mind if it’s a young lad, an’ old man, or a big fellow wi’ his hands tied. I’d keep well enough out o’ reach, if ‘twas me.”

The small face seemed to relax a bit. “Thank ye, sir,” he said. “I’ll do that.”

Dougal looked down at the fallen boy, just starting to push himself back to his feet. The side of his face where he had been hit was already swelling; the other side was black with fresh mud. How many times had Dougal taken part in boyhood brawls, gotten hit, then jumped back up again, eager for a rematch? He waited to see the boy’s expression, nodded approval when he recognised the glare of defiance, then turned back toward John, who had come closer to watch.

“Very gallant,” John said.

“Oh aye. I’m a real hero,” Dougal said.

“Right. Well, then I’ll stay by you. They’ll hit ye first, I reckon.”

“Ye’re a smarter fellow than ye let on, sir,” Dougal replied.

Within a half hour the crowd of men was shuffling along on the rough, drenched road to Inverness. Dougal’s shoulders ached, the joints burned from the restraints on his wrists. His worn shoes scraped along the road so that little pebbles danced ahead of him like raindrops on a still loch.

God, he was tired of walking. Always walking. Or waiting. He wasn’t sure which was worse. Either one allowed him to drift away in his mind, which could be either a good or a bad thing. Sometimes he used the time to think about easier times, to bring back memories and voices that made him smile. But more often his mind slid back to the sight of his father’s dying eyes, and the sound of his voice. “I’m proud of ye, son.”

He thought of Andrew. Two years younger than he, quiet and introspective, but with a sharp mind. Andrew was the thinker of the three brothers. No, that wasn’t right. Ciaran was the thinker, the one with promise, the one the family hoped to send to Europe to attend university someday. Andrew was the dreamer. Always sinking into places Dougal never saw. Always with that faraway look, as if he saw something beyond the sea. But when the situation demanded it, Andrew was just as quick as Dougal. Just as strong and skilled with his sword. They’d been more than brothers. Andrew was Dougal’s best friend.

It didn’t seem possible, imagining Andrew dead. Andrew was the most vibrant person he knew, filled with a deep energy that never let him rest. He was almost as big as Dougal himself: well over six feet. While Dougal’s hair was jet black, Andrew’s fell in brown waves. Dougal’s eyes flashed a clear blue while Andrew’s were a deep brown. Other than that, the two couldn’t have been mistaken for anything but brothers.

Dougal tried to picture Andrew’s body, motionless like all the rest, blood matting his hair and staining his kilt, his dark eyes forever closed. But he couldn’t hold the image. It felt wrong. The thought that Andrew’s corpse might be sprawled on that field of death was beyond Dougal’s comprehension. He looked into the forest on either side of the parade of captives, peering deep into the spring branches. The slender trees glistened with promise of new life, but any buds were barely visible. It was too early for green. Still, Dougal looked for any sign of his brother, then snorted at his own idiocy. Even if Andrew had somehow survived, even if he had run for his life, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to hang about and follow soldiers.

Go home, Dougal thought hard. If you’re out there, go home.

He could almost visualise Ciaran going down. That seemed, though the thought broke his heart, almost feasible. Their younger brother was smaller-boned and almost feminine in his looks, but fierce from necessity. The way of the youngest, always chasing the older two. He stood up to everyone, just to prove he had more than just a bookish mind, but swordplay wasn’t his strongest asset, and they all knew it. Ciaran should have been fighting with his father that day. That was how they always practiced.

Then again, Duncan was dead. He wouldn’t have been much help.

For the thousandth time, Dougal sifted through his memories, wondering if there were anything he could have done to change the day’s outcome. At least to have his brothers and father marching alongside him on this miserable road to incarceration, rather than draped over other corpses whose pock-scarred skin sizzled and spat over some English pyre. No matter how far they marched, Dougal could still smell the smoke from those fires, started randomly across the battlefield. Corpses, and some bodies close to death but not quite there, were stacked like wood, packed with anything that burned, then lit. The woollen plaids caught quickly; the fire was too hot to pay much mind to the dampness of the material. It ate through flesh and wood and wool, candling toward the sky, the smoke black as ink and stinking of meat.

Hundreds of bodies burned. Thousands more limped along this road with him, the undead marching toward the unknown. The Highlanders had set off the year before with such confidence, building their numbers and their conviction with every step. The clans had come together for their Prince, and now they had died for the man. And where was this wonderful Prince? Gone. Some of the men in the crowd actually spoke of seeing him ride away. He’d cheered them on, ridden his beautiful white horse back to a safe distance, then turned tail when the loss became horribly obvious. Dougal shook his head with disgust and winced at the resultant pounding in his head.

There was nothing he could have done to save the others. He knew that. And yet he supposed his soul would always wonder.

Sandy M’s review of Sound of the Heart by Genevieve Graham
Historical Romance published by Berkley Trade 1 May 12

I had hopes for this book after finishing Genevieve Graham’s debut, Under the Same Sky, which I loved. Sometimes a new author has a difficult time maintaining such excellence after a first book. So you can imagine my tad of hesitation as I began reading Sound of the Heart. Should I have been worried?

Not one bit. Ms. Graham writes like an old pro. The history is rich and deep. Her characters truly live the times, the emotion tugs at your soul, and her added twist of the paranormal is just the right amount to give readers a very satisfying read.

We meet Dougal MacDonnell again at roughly the same time his brother, Andrew, is escaping the aftermath of Culloden. Dougal, however, is a prisoner of war. The feeling of despair in the very inhumane conditions of the cells these prisoners are kept in and the treatment at the hands of the English make for difficult reading. It spears your heart, especially when you meet the two young boys have also been taken captive, Joseph and Aidan. Thank the heavens Dougal and his new friend John are there to keep those youngsters safe. It’s also the boys who devise a way to escape their prison. To wish all would go well for them is futile. Suffice it to say, it’s only Dougal and Aiden who make it out of that hell. They stay ahead of soldiers, make it to London and relative safety for the time being. The taste of freedom is exhilarating.

It’s when Dougal meets Glenna that his life is worth living again. They find an abandoned Highland home, small and cozy enough, where they live blissfully for ten years. This is an existence neither of them have dreamed of since the English had outlawed everything Scottish, from their plaid to their pipes. After such harshness of life so far in this book, this time with Dougal and Glenna is one of my favorites. Their love is first cemented in friendship, then lovers. It’s not without trouble, emotional and otherwise, but it’s a good life for them. They learn everything about one another – Dougal, especially, has a secret he’s never told anyone about, not even his brother Andrew, who he shares a close and psychic bond with – as they chip away at contentment and happiness.

Of course, in such chaotic times, that happiness can’t last forever, as Dougal and Glenna abruptly discover when out hunting during a long and cold winter. Suddenly surrounded by English soldiers, Glenna is taken into custody while Dougal is left for dead. Clawing his way back to consciousness and deciding that living is better than the alternative, he eventually finds himself part of the English army sent to the Colonies to help fight the French and the Indians, because he’s found out that’s where Glenna has been sent as an indentured servant. Once again, life has taken on a desperate and hard edge. It has been years since Glenna was taken and he knows nothing of her current plight; thus, after putting up with the English and their foreign way of fighting a war, Dougal contemplates desertion, something his honor abhors but his love needs.

As in the first book, Ms. Graham has divided the book into two parts between Dougal and Glenna, giving their perspective at that point in their lives. The last third of the book is Glenna’s. While I was ready to see things from her point of view, I nearly had a conniption when the author left me hanging at the end of Dougal’s section when he realizes his brother still lives. I calmed down and figured I’d see their reunion when it’s time. Little did I know how long that wait is going to truly be. But I digress. Glenna reaches the New World shores, after once again being stuffed into the cargo hold of a ship, and is immediately put on the auction block, her humiliation complete. However, she realizes her lot will be much better than other women sold into prostitution slavery. Her new “owner” is a tobacco plantation owner and he needs a teacher for his children. Because Glenna can read, she’s chosen for the job.

Her life turns out relatively good, the loss of Dougal her only nightmare. She believes him to be dead, so memories are all she has. Glenna enjoys her station with the children and family who’ve taken her in. But all good things must come to an end, and the next thing she knows she’s thrust into a life again not of her choosing and one that begins with violence and ends with her taking her destiny into her own hands. She brings to mind all the things Dougal taught her in their time together to outsmart the arrogant asshole who takes what he wants when he wants. Admiration for this woman goes up ten-fold for what she now endures and then conquers. By this time Dougal is closer to her than ever, and Glenna discovers this. Once again her intellect, cunning, and desire and need for Dougal outshine those around her, and she finds her man in the middle of a fierce battle. Nothing stands in her way.

Ms. Graham gives readers characters who defy the odds, who fight for survival with everything they’ve got. The Scottish spirit in the aftermath of Culloden is vanquished for only so long. Though Dougal and Glenna are no longer in their home country, they have that Highland drive that keeps them going, even the loss of the Scotland they love can’t break them. Their love is a real, living emotion between them and you feel it on every page, even when they’re not together. No punches are pulled throughout this book. The times are depicted quite vividly, and your compassion and ire are piqued in equal amounts.

I am so very glad I’ve been able to read these books, and I’m so very glad there are more to come. I’m looking forward to that meeting between brothers who thought the other had perished, only to find their link to each other again. But I’m also looking forward just to the beautiful writing and wonderful characters of Genevieve Graham. I’m a fan for life.

Grade: A+

Summary:

Dougal MacDonnell, a fierce warrior from the Highlands of Scotland, is able to hear the thoughts of other men and dream how the future will unfold.

Devastated by the loss of his family during the Battle of Culloden in 1746, he fosters a deep hatred for the English. But when Glenna, the love of his life and a Scottish outlaw, is captured and shipped overseas, Dougal is forced to join an English army made of vanquished Scots. Now fighting on the side of his sworn enemies, he embarks on a journey that will take him across the seas to the colonies.

There he will risk everything for the chance to find his true love.

No excerpt available.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of Untouched (Amoveo Legend, Book 2) by Sara Humphreys
Paranormal Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 3 Apr 12

Kudos to Sourcebooks for finding new, up-and-coming authors who are writing outside the box, giving readers something a little different than the usual stories we’ve been getting lately. Sara Humphreys is the latest author I’ve found who’s taken my shifters and given them a bit of a twist.

Kerry is a model who’s known as an ice princess – she never touches anyone and stays as far away from people as she can get. What only a few know is that when she touches someone, visions and pain overtake her. What she doesn’t know is her heritage of being a shapeshifter to go along with her psychic gift. She’s a hybrid – born of an Amoveo father and a human mother – and the Purists are out to eradicate hybrids from their race.

Thus we meet Dante, a security specialist, who will be acting as Kerry’s bodyguard. Until he can work in the fact she’s also his mate. That has to be a slow and gentle unveiling. The Amoveo are ancient clans of a variety of shifters from eagles to panthers and everything in between. This is what I enjoy the most about this book. We’re dealing with a fox – Dante; a wolf – Samantha, Kerry’s best friend; an eagle – Malcolm, Samantha’s husband (both of whom are featured in Book 1, Unleashed); and several other animals, along with Kerry, who is a beautiful black panther. I like the fact we have different clans mating, rather than wolves with wolves and so forth like we normally read about.

Dante is determined to keep Kerry safe, not only because she’s his mate, but also because it was his father who was a major participant in the attack on Samantha, who is also a hybrid, in the previous book. Kerry’s next modeling assignment takes them all to New Orleans and an old, rundown house on the bayou. Another element of this story is that the characters can read energy of every kind, from loving to evil. The area where they’re working eventually takes on a very evil energy, only one more thing to add to the investigation of who’s behind all the recent break-ins and attacks.

Once Kerry begins to see Dante in a different light – she initially doesn’t care much for him – she now sees his desire to protect her, his loving nature, as well as his lust for her. And these two together do sizzle. Dante has to restrain himself around Kerry, at least until she knows exactly who and what he is, as well as who and what she is. So you can imagine the sexual tension by the time she’s ready. On that score, I like the fact we don’t have to wait until the last fourth of the book to experience their pleasure in one another.

When evil finally gets its clutches into our characters and it’s revealed who is behind it all, it is a surprise. This is where I also enjoyed them in their animal shapes. We see a totally different side both during capture and after, along with those who attempt rescue. Then we’re given another surprise combined with heartache as more information about Kerry is revealed. And this doesn’t end the betrayal, there are still those who need to be found, which will continue into the next book.

I have not read the first book in this series. While it would have been nice to have done so, I don’t feel I lost anything by starting here. I’m sure I would have gotten some information that might have helped a tad more while reading this story, but Ms. Humphreys does a good job of filling you in with little muss. If you’re a paranormal fan, give this series a try. I’m looking forward to getting caught up and then continuing on with Untamed later this year.

Grade: B

Summary:

SHE SHOULD BE SEEN, BUT NEVER TOUCHED…

Kerry Smithson’s modeling career ensures that she will be admired from afar, which is essential since mere human touch sparks blinding pain and terrifying visions.

EVERY GOOD MODEL NEEDS A HEAVENLY BODYGUARD…

Dante Coltari is hired to protect Kerry from those who know who she is—or more importantly what she is—and want her dead because of it. Nothing could have prepared him for the challenge of keeping her safe. But, strangely, his lightest touch brings her exquisite pleasure rather than pain, and Dante and Kerry have an otherwordly connection that might just pull them through.

Read an excerpt. (scroll down)

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of Unbreak My Heart by Helen Scott Taylor
Contemporary short story romance ebook published by Helen Scott Taylor 3 Apr 12

I jump at each and every chance to read a Helen Scott Taylor book. After her success in the paranormal genre, Ms. Taylor is branching out into contemporaries. I always love her characters, who draw me into their lives, and the magical worlds they live in in her previous books. So I have to say, I was curious to see what happens in this new contemp world she’s decided to try.

As usual, I really like the hero, Andre, in this book. He’s a strong man whose dreams had to change after the death of his grandfather. He’s also gentle and tender when faced with the unexpected arrival of a past young love, along with her sweet little bundle. What’s unusual is that I didn’t warm up to Kate until really late in the book. I sympathize with her to a point, but things get too out of control on her part for me.

Kate has just left the father of her newborn daughter, a man on his way up in the television world, and suddenly he’s a man she doesn’t know anymore. Her stepfather turned her away at her mother’s door, and after a brief stay with the gypsies who took her in, she’s now heading toward Andre, the boy she hasn’t seen in eight years. The boy who left her behind without a word, never to return for her as he promised. Knowing Andre may not be happy to see her after all this time doesn’t stop Kate. She has her daughter to look out for now, and running from the paparazzi, who want the scoop on her little girl’s birth and parentage, has frayed her nerves nearly to the breaking point. Andre is her last hope.

Andre is surprised to see Kate back at the Caspian Manor Hotel, where they romped as children and fell in love as teens. He’s been in charge since his grandfather’s death, taking the job of making the place one of the premiere hotels in the world quite seriously, just as he promised his mentor. Surprised or not, he takes Kate and Keiko in, offering her the job of creating a redesign for the Caspian, something he’s been unhappy about with other designers. Kate agrees, and so starts the process of their getting to know one another again.

Being a talented artist and designer, Andre encourages Kate to change her look and hobnob with the rich to make her place in the industry, as well as to make a living for herself and her child. Kate, however, takes exception to this. She feels Andre is trying to change her, he doesn’t want her for who she is. I feel she’s a tad hypocritical because she’s having a hard time seeing Andre as a grown man and not the sixteen-year-old she remembers. Why this bothers me is the fact Kate keeps on and on about Andre’s motives in this regard. By the time she looks at his side of it all, it’s nearly too late to appreciate the actual change in her.

Though Andre also eventually questions himself about his “suggestions” to Kate, I have to say I agree with him on all counts. He’s only trying to help her. She’s outgrown the childish apparel and hairstyle she’s worn since childhood. The way to take care of your child is to be responsible. He does think about all of his requests later in the story, perhaps he is pushing his way of life on her, not letting her be with what she’s comfortable with. But if she wants to be part of Andre’s life, she does have to stand by his side. What she does reflects on him. Maybe it’s my age. These two are in their mid 20s. My mindset is way beyond that age, so perhaps I’m not being fair. I even agree with Andre’s way of taking care of the paparazzi. Another strike against him as far as Kate is concerned.

So while I have an issue or two with the heroine, our hero saves the day all the way around. I love his acceptance of Keiko, his gentleness and generosity toward her. Of course, his patience with Kate goes without saying.    This is very much a character driven story, so for me Kate needs a bit of compromise a little earlier than she actually finds it.

All in all, though, a job well done.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Andre Le Court first set eyes on Kate Frost when he was two and she was a baby in her mother’s arms. He’s twenty-five now, and he still remembers the moment perfectly, the moment Kate Frost slipped inside his heart.

His family owned a big hotel, her parents worked there. Andre’s father spent years trying to separate his son from the daughter of the hired help. Eventually he grew desperate and sent Andre away to boarding school.

Nine years later, Kate turns up on the doorstep of Andre’s prestigious hotel with the paparazzi at her heels and the six-week-old daughter of her celebrity ex in her arms. She has nowhere left to run except back to the place where she left her heart all those years ago.

Andre lost Kate once. He won’t lose her again. But he has an image to maintain, a reputation as a successful businessman. A bohemian young woman with beads in her hair is not a suitable wife for him.

In Andre, Kate sees tantalizing glimpses of the boy she adored. But most of the time she hardly recognizes the powerful, successful man he’s become, his lifestyle so like that of his despised father.

Can they forgive the pain of the past, accept each other as they are now, and rediscover the childhood love that was snatched away from them?

No excerpt available.

Sandy M’s review of The Shape of Desire (Shifting Circles Series, Book 1) by Sharon Shinn
Paranormal Romance published by ACE Hardcover 3 Apr 12

I’ve not read Sharon Shinn before, but I have friends who love her work, always say she gives you something different than the norm. So when I received this book with a shifter theme, I had to get into it. Something different? Definitely. But part of the story suffers for it.

Maria is very adept at weaving lies when it comes to the love of her life, Dante. Those lies are born of necessity. Dante is a shape-shifter; thus, secrecy is of the utmost importance to them. They’ve been together fifteen years, and Dante’s time as human has increasingly become less and less; therefore, their time together is also less. So Maria really looks forward to her time with him each month.

Never knowing what kind of animal he’ll change into whenever he shifts, Dante has no control over much of his life. His siblings also shift, as did his parents. He thinks them all abominations. He refuses to get married, have children, force his awful nature on other people, even if they can keep his secret. He has taken precautions for most any situation that may come about, always coming home to Maria when he’s able. Dante is a brooding, sexy man, quite amorous after being on his own for so long, then drawing into himself as his time comes again to depart to his next few weeks of the unknown. Other than the fact that he loves Maria, this is about all we get to know Dante, which is a little disappointing. The entire book is in Maria’s point of view, so we never really get into Dante’s head, which, I think, would have added more depth to the story, especially considering Maria’s doubts that pop up.

There have been a couple of killings in the area recently, people discovered mauled by a wild animal. Suddenly Maria begins to question herself, could it be Dante behind this. She finds that he has lied to her concerning his whereabouts when he’s able to call her during his brief shiftings. I find this a bit out of character. She’s been with this man for fifteen years, has kept his secrets, weaving her own lies to cover their life together. There’s never any reason for her to doubt Dante, only circumstantial evidence as more is discussed about the events. Maria does waffle back and forth about this issue, so you have to give her that. And when Dante does return, she’s just as happy as ever he’s home. It’s only when he’s gone that she begins her doubting. She also keeps this all from Dante. She never asks him straight up if he’s responsible.

In between Dante’s visits we follow Maria through her days, mostly at work where there’s a lot of drama with one co-worker’s domestic troubles, which eventually intersect with Maria’s life. A number of other employees are also introduced, and I’m not sure they’ll all necessary. We also meet Dante’s brother and sister, who has recently had a child, much to Dante’s dismay. It’s Maria who bonds with the child, knowing she’ll never have children of her own. There’s also a few instances where Maria flashes back over life events that now have some importance on their present situation.

We don’t get much shifting in the story until more than halfway through. After hearing about all the different animals Dante shifts into, I find it amusing he’s in dog form when finally interacting with Maria, after so many years of never allowing her to see him in any other form. But these are nice scenes and rather enjoyable, Dante’s way of protection. There is some intensity later on when the “killer” is revealed, and I do have to admit I didn’t see the who of it all coming.

After all of this, however, I still want to see things from Dante’s viewpoint. He’s the center of everything in the story, most notably Maria’s life. There are so many points throughout that would have had so much more depth to it if we’d been given Dante’s spin on things. Alas, not to be, though. I do like Ms. Schone’s voice, even if some scenes get a tad too flowery at times. I look forward to reading a few more of her books.

Grade: B

Summary:

Maria Devane has loved Dante Romano since she met him. But he’s a man with a secret: He’s a shape-shifter who spends an increasing amount of time in animal form. Or so he tells her—in the fifteen years they’ve been together, she’s never actually seen him take another shape. She tries not to wonder if that’s the truth. She tries not to think about the other reasons he might disappear for weeks at a time. But she has to start asking herself extremely hard questions when there’s a series of brutal murders in town and the most likely culprit is someone who is half animal, half human.

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Sandy M’s review of The Witness by Nora Roberts
Contemporary Romance published by Putnam Adult 17 Apr 12

This is Nora Roberts’ 200th book. A huge milestone. A mega-huge career. Can she keep writing amazing story after amazing story after all this time?

You bet your ass she can. And does. The Witness, for me, is one of Nora Roberts’ best. The storyline is one we’ve read here and there – heroine witnesses a murder, agrees to testify, safe house is compromised, she runs for her life, hiding out from town to town to town. But what makes this book so much more than a sum of those parts is the characters.

We meet Elizabeth when she’s sixteen. She’s grown up under the thumb of a very controlling mother. The good girl, she’s always done what she’s told. Though she’s late coming into her rebellion, she finally lives up to that teenage tantrum the night before mom leaves for a conference. The poor girl just wants to wear a pair of jeans and pursue the career she wants, not the medical path in her mother’s footsteps. Taking her rebellion a step further, Elizabeth heads to the mall after her mother’s departure, really not knowing exactly what she should do there. She runs into a girl from school, they make plans to shop and later have a night out at a local club, which is owned by the Russian Mob.

After crafting fake IDs and they make it into the club, Liz is having the time of her life. She receives her first kiss from a handsome man with a Russian accent, and when it’s proposed they move the party to his cousin’s home, Liz isn’t sure she wants things to go any further. Once there, however, too much drink and excitement exacts its toll on her and while Liz is pretty much out of it worshiping the porcelain god, her world begins to fall apart. Murder, fear, panic, flight, and finally safety finish out her night but are also the beginning of a new life for Elizabeth. Despite her mother’s demanding she return home, Liz insists she must, as the only witness, testify against these men, and she’s taken to a safe house to wait until trial. Having no contact with her parent, she blooms as much as she can under the watchful eyes of two U.S. marshalls. Her seventeenth birthday starts out with gifts – fun, girly gifts she’s never received before – but ends with an ambush and Liz running for her life again, while the blame for the whole fiasco is laid at her feet.

Twelve years later, after successfully, though narrowly, hiding and avoiding the Russian Mob from state to state, city to city, identity to identity, Liz has become Abigail Lowry and finds a kind of peace in Bickford, AR, a small town nestled in the Ozark mountains. She feels as though she’s finally come home, keeps to herself in her high-tech house, her Bull Mastiff her only friend. When the police chief, Brooks Gleason, takes an interest in her, she’s not sure what to do with the man when he never takes no for an answer and charmingly pushes his way into her life.

What makes Abigail such a terrific heroine is you still plainly see her lack of socialization and friends, though she’s been separated from her mother for so many years. She’s direct and blunt; says what she means, means what she says. She’s very intelligent, a computer hacker, software guru, crack shot, and socially inept. But none of that even comes close to scaring Brooks off. Abigail fascinates him. She’s a walking contradiction every time he interacts with her. His slow and easy way is quite misleading with his sharp mind and wit always alert. Their banter throughout the book, from tense and fun early on to loose and sensual later, pulls the reader further and further into their relationship, learning more about them in every scene, while a good time is had by all involved.

Nora Roberts is a master at creating family on the page. What’s so much fun this time around is it’s our hero who has the loving family and has flourished because of it. Brooks gets his respectful and easy-going attitude from his hippie parents, who still hold to their ’60s beliefs, though not as tightly as in those early years. That’s what makes them so much fun. The entire family is unique, and I, for one, would flourish, too, to be a part of their love, loyalty, and generosity. Brooks is a man with all of the very best of that family wrapped into one handsome package. Abigail, at first, doesn’t know what to do with them. And that’s what makes reading her scenes so entertaining. She’s definitely out of her depth, but because of her draw to Brooks, she eventually goes with the flow when they come streaming through the door and then embraces them as fully as the reader does.

Once Abigail learns to trust Brooks, more fun is on the way. This time we get to see Abigail in action, using her intellect her and technology skills to the max. Brooks has told her all along they’ll beat whatever it is she’s hiding, but he doesn’t even dream half of what she’s gone through. It doesn’t daunt him all that much when he finally finds out, however. They work together beautifully.

With 200 books under her belt, it’s more than amazing that Ms. Roberts still comes up with intriguing storylines and charming characters. Brooks has come very close to eclipsing the Quinn brothers as my favorite Roberts hero. I know I’m looking forward to her next 200 books.

Grade:  A+

Summary:

Daughter of a controlling mother, Elizabeth finally let loose one night, drinking at a nightclub and allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive. The events that followed changed her life forever.

Twelve years later, the woman known as Abigail Lowery lives on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance programmer, she designs sophisticated security  systems—and supplements her own security with a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. But Abigail’s reserve only intrigues police chief Brooks Gleason. Her logical mind, her secretive nature, and her unromantic viewpoints leave him fascinated but frustrated. He suspects that Abigail needs protection from something—and that her elaborate defenses hide a story that must be revealed.

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Sandy M’s review of Protector (Dark Ops, Book 4) by Catherine Mann
Romantic Suspense published by Berkley 6 Mar 12

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed these military-themed books from Catherine Mann. I’ve not read many so far, but I intend to remedy that as soon as I can. I’ve had that much fun with them.

While I do like this book, I have to say it’s not as intriguing nor as gut wrenching as the prior one I read, Hot Zone, from her Elite Force series. That book sucked me in from the beginning and never let go. This story begins in the same way – tense, in-your-face events – but then it slows down quite a bit. And then even when I thought it was going to pick up again and take off, it doesn’t. What saves it is the characters.

After being captured and tortured, Captain Chuck Tanaka feels he’s lost his edge. His superior, however, thinks he should get back on the horse in a new mission, one where Chuck and his technology expertise is needed. Taking on the role of a blackjack dealer on a mob boss’ cruise ship, Chuck is assigned to make contact with the man’s daughter to discover information about a terrorist plot.

JoLynn Taylor has made a life for herself, far away from her father. As a child when witnessing the death of her beloved uncle – and not being believed when she went to her father about it – JoLynn now wants nothing to do with man he’s become. But when he suffers a heart attack and asks for her, she can’t ignore his request. Thing is, nothing has really changed. He still pushes her away, demands she return home. This time, though, JoLynn is determined to stick around. Especially after she meets the new, sexy blackjack dealer.

I do like Chuck and JoLynn. They’re vintage Catherine Mann characters, strong and intelligent, sensual and sexy, they get the job done. Chuck tries his best to keep distance between them when he interacts with JoLynn, but the attraction is just too strong. He walks away as often as he can, which only proves to JoLynn she’s not worthy of love. But she also can’t help herself when she’s around Chuck, so why the heck shouldn’t she enjoy a fling with a handsome man?

Innocuous events take place that make Chuck think someone is after JoLynn, and when his suspicions are confirmed as they enjoy a day port side, they end up on the run with only Chuck’s training to keep them a step or two ahead of the bad guys. When their safe house is breached, this is when I thought things would really pick up in the story. They escape through a second-floor window, blend in with the Italian crowd, and I expected a harrowing chase. They flee, thinking they will be chased, but Chuck takes them to a friend’s cottage where he recuperated after his release from the hospital the year before.

While I was looking for action at this point, I have to tell you that the time Chuck and JoLynn spend at this Italian cottage is some of the best scenes in the book. They truly get to know one another, let their feelings go where they will, and enjoy some hot and sizzling sex. Both of them, however, feel it’s more than just sex. But they keep those feelings to themselves. JoLynn learns that Chuck has lied to her from the start, even though it’s his job that’s brought him to her doorstep and he has no choice. It’s now his job to keep her safe. He’s had no contact with his team since the safe house, but he’s hoping team members can put it all together and figure out where they’re hiding out.

We also get a nice side romance with Chuck’s CO, Colonel Rex Scanlon, and the ship’s singer, Livia. This is where reading an entire series from the start helps. These characters have apparently appeared in previous books, and I do feel I missed a little by not reading those books. There’s history between them – not a huge amount, but enough that I think I’d have a better feel for their present circumstances and romance. Scanlon feels a relationship won’t work between them because of their age difference – he’s 44 and she’s 29. No problem for me! She’s the one who walked away earlier because she didn’t want to compete with his dead wife. So there’s something there that would have helped if I’d read them before, but I still enjoyed them.

So even though this story lacks some of the action that I’ve read in other of this author’s works, it’s still a good read with interesting and savvy characters. I was able to figure out the bad guy before it’s revealed, so I’m surprised JoLynn didn’t. Although I know her heart is involved and she wouldn’t look that direction. But Chuck is there to rescue her, and he does a damn fine job.

Grade: B

Summary:

TRUST, LOVE …AND LIES.

After barely surviving enemy torture, Captain Chuck Tanaka doesn’t trust himself to do more than ride a desk—but new orders leave him no choice.  Assigned to the investigation of a mob boss whose luxury cruise ship is reportedly a hub for terrorist activity, Tanaka goes undercover.  His target: JoLynn Taylor, the mob boss’s daughter.

As a child, JoLynn saw her beloved uncle murdered.  Since then, she’s stayed far away from her father’s crooked empire.  But when he falls ill, she returns, hoping to mend the gap between them.  Instead, she finds herself on the run, one step ahead of unknown enemies. The only thing keeping her alive is the man she knows as Charles Tomas, the only man she’s ever been able to trust.

Unfortunately, he’s also the man determined to destroy her family…

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Sandy M’s review of A SEAL in Wolf’s Clothing (Werewolf Series, Book 9) by Terry Spear
Paranormal Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 6 Mar 12

It’s been a while since I’ve read a shifter story. When that happens, I figure it’s time to pick up a Terry Spear book. Time after time she delivers, giving paranormal fans plenty of wolves, plenty of action, plenty of mystery, and, of course, love and romance aplenty.

Meara is taking advantage of her brother’s absence. The pack alpha is on his honeymoon, so the time is right for Meara to do a little mate hunting. Taking care of the cabin rentals where their pack has relocated on the Oregon coast, she’s scheduled a number of alpha wolves to take some R&R or do a bit of business while she checks them out and they hopefully reciprocate. You have to give the woman props. She thinks ahead as well as on her feet. Her plans are interrupted just as the first guest arrives, and she is not a happy camper. Seems she’s traded one alpha wolf for another, the kind who like to tell her what to do all the damn time!

Knowing Hunter, his mission partner and Meara’s brother, would want him to take care of the impulsive she-wolf while he’s out of town, Finn – once a SEAL, always a SEAL – takes it upon himself to protect Meara when he learns of a threat against their team. It’s possible this unknown threat can get to Hunter through his loved ones, Meara being the first on the last after his wife. So Finn begins to set up cameras and listening devices in Meara’s cabin to keep tabs on her. And on the men he discovers she’s invited to her find-a-mate party. Keeping the woman under control is going to try his patience, he knows. But he’s quickly learning Meara deserves admiration and respect, and he’s determined to keep his distance.

However, things go wrong from the beginning. Once a dead body is found not too far away from Meara’s place, they learn the first visitor of the week is not who he says he is. So Finn knows he’s done the right thing by sticking close to Meara. Now he’s ready to drag her away to a safe house which offers more protection and will hopefully make his job easier. Getting Meara to agree is the only problem. She surprises him, though, and after only a little bit of grumbling and hassle, she docilely – well, as docile as Meara can be anyway – accompanies Finn to their destination.

What makes this book so much fun is watching Finn try so very hard to keep his hands off Meara. Of course, he doesn’t stand a chance. She riles him up something fierce, a state no other woman has caused in him Once she leaves her idea that Finn wouldn’t make a good mate behind, things really begin to pick up between them. Talk about sexy, sizzling, and sensual. Each time they come together, more barriers fall. Finn finds that perhaps settling down won’t be all that bad for a guy like him. Meara discovers having someone to pamper her and take care of her doesn’t make her weak and it feels oh-so-good.

One of the best things about Ms. Spear’s shifter stories is the actual shifting from human to wolf. She’s not stingy with these scenes and they’re always enjoyable. You can tell she’s done her research concerning wolves and packs. From Finn and Meara running through the forest to the intense fight scene near the end of the book, every one of these scenes is well done. The shifting is one of the major reasons I come back to her books again and again. Those alpha wolves are another.

Grade: A

Summary:

Meara Greymere is in charge of the cabin rentals on the rugged Oregon coastline, so her brother and his mate could take a delayed honeymoon. But while Hunter is away, the she-wolf intends to play—she just has to convince the right alpha male to rent one of the cabins, and she’ll take it from there. But when Finn Emerson arrives with every intention of pretending to be her lover, she’s not going to take this lying down. She knows he’ll tell her brother what she’s up to and put an end to her game.

Finn Emerson is a Navy SEAL, formerly one of Hunter Greymere’s team members, and now he’s trying to track down a gray wolf, who’s already made an attempt on one of their team member’s lives. Finn believes Hunter will be targeted next, only to discover Hunter is off with his mate on a honeymoon, and he fears Hunter’s sister is in grave danger. But the SEAL soon learns protecting the unpredictable sexy she-wolf is a mission and a half and protecting her isn’t all he wants to do.

Read an excerpt. (click Excerpt tab)

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Sandy M’s review of Rendezvous at Midnight by Lynne Connolly
Paranormal Romance published by Decadent 3 Apr 12

I don’t read many ghost stories. Either they don’t appeal to me or not that many come to my attention. When Lynne Connolly offered this novella, along with the idea of perhaps continuing on with a series, I like the concept, hope she goes with it, and got in on the ground floor.

Michael and Lisa work on a ghost hunting TV show together, she’s the narrator/host and he’s the psychic, also called a sensitive, who communicates with the spirits that are discovered. There’s been an attraction between them for a while, but because Lisa was involved with someone else until just recently, they’d never gotten together. That’s all changed now, and Michael and Lisa are looking forward to a weekend with each other — and a few ghosts who live on the restored ocean liner, the Gem of the Sea.

Once aboard, however, Michael discovers there’s anti-sensitive spies who are targeting Michael himself. Needing to eliminate Lisa as a suspect, he gently probes her mind, something she fears and despises. It scares her and also tells her Michael has no trust in her. I’m a little confused at this attitude of Lisa’s, though. The man talks to ghosts. Helps them cross over. We’re talking real paranormal here. But Lisa, for some reason, has a problem with anything beyond that. Of course, she does eventually understand and accept Michael’s powers, it’s just the initial discovery that jolts her. It’s her feelings for Michael that help her get over it.

What makes this particular event personal for Lisa is her mother. It’s her ghost who haunts the Gem of the Sea. She died when Lisa was very young, so Lisa never knew her mother and really has no connection to her spirit now. Lisa just needs to know the truth of what happened, not what someone was bribed to tell the world all those years ago. Poor Lisa gets another jolt when her mother takes control of Lisa, reliving her last day – all done with a twist you certainly don’t see coming, which is good because the anti-sensitive resolution, you kinda figure it out before all is revealed. Michael handles that jerk quite well.

Michael and Lisa are very likable characters, you care about them right off. There’s plenty of danger to keep the intensity high, and the paranormal covers several different elements other than psychics. Another confusion for me, however, along that line is in the book blurb that says Michael is a vampire. I really didn’t get that from the story. His father is a vampire, mother a sensitive also. Like father like son perhaps? What I come away with, though, is Michael is only a psychic and Lisa is not upset he’s a vamp.

But I think Ms. Connolly is on to something with a series, especially if she uses some of the same characters with Ghosts of Home, the company that produces the TV show. A great concept.

Grade: B

Summary:

When medium Michael Scott takes the assignment with the TV company “Ghosts at Home” to explore the old ocean liner Gem of the Sea, he does it with one aim in mind. Lisa Perez. Michael had wanted Lisa for a long time. She already knew about his ability to communicate with ghosts, but not his deepest, darkest secret. Would she object when she discovered he was the son of a vampire?

Lisa was desperate to discover why her mother died on Gem Of The Sea all those years ago. And she wanted Michael for his gift, but she also wanted him. With her revengeful ex and a malicious ghost onboard, Michael and Lisa might not survive the weekend.

If they want their passion to survive, they have to fight the living. And the dead.

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Sandy M’s review of Believe It or Not by Tawna Fenske
Contemporary Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 6 Mar 12

I’ve been looking forward to Tawna Fenske’s second book since I read her debut, Making Waves, a number of months ago. She sold me on that book and any future works with her humor and her lovable and quirky characters. Is the sequel as good as the original, so to speak?

Almost, but not quite. Even after all these months I still remember Alex and Juli from Making Waves, their unique and hilarious first meeting, their high sea adventures, their steamy love scenes, and the unusual use of that black thong. While I like Drew and Violet in this book, and the quirkiness is still there, all told Believe It or Not just doesn’t have the same punch as MW.

Violet has come home to Portland, Oregon from Portland, Maine to help at her mother’s psychic shop while she goes through surgery and subsequent recuperation. Mom is a psychic, though Violet doesn’t believe in them, but she agrees to take over as resident psychic until her mother is home. That’s even though she knows she doesn’t have a psychic bone in her body. She’s an accountant, for heaven’s sake. Her life is orderly and she thrives on repetition and off-the-wall facts and trivia. But because it’s her mother, she’s determined to do what it takes to keep the business afloat.

Having gotten rid of one high-maintenance, high-strung woman, Drew isn’t ready for another one, especially the daughter of Miss Moonbeam, the quacky psychic who’s been against his two-night-a-week exotic male dancers from the start. His club isn’t a strip joint, so he gets a bit agitated when people refer to it as such. Even Violet gives him grief over it. Another reason to stay very far away from her. Wonder why he’s unable to do that?

These two are so different from one another and they want different things. And they’re each wrong for the other. Or so they think. As Violet goes through her days giving readings to her mother’s clients and taking care of new clients’ books. Drew goes through his hiring a new dancer to be trained, choosing accompanying music for their routines, and continuing to date the bimbos he’s gotten used to since his divorce. He also can’t help rummaging through the mutual storage closet situated between his place and Moonbeam’s just to get a look at Violet. When she begins to see Moonbeam’s boring doctor, that doesn’t sit well with Drew at all.

Violet does enjoy her time with the doc, however. He’s normal. Something she’s wanted her entire life, something she finally has on the East Coast – away from her mother. Why then doesn’t her heart stutter and her blood pump like it does when Drew is near? After a bit of success with her readings – all due to the music Drew plays next door – suddenly everything begins to go wrong. Blackmail, threats, and the possible loss her mom’s business are just the tip of the iceberg. Her problems even cascade over into Drew’s business, and he’s not a happy man when he finds out.

I expected to laugh out loud a lot while reading this book, just like I did with Making Waves. Mostly I had smiles, maybe a few chuckles, and only a couple of really laughter-filled moments. One of those I do have to share with you. Because Violet has one of those brains that has a lot of crazy and useless info running around in it, this scene is priceless and gives an example of the banter between her and Drew at times.

After a long silence, Violet sighed. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. It wasn’t your job to tell me about Frank.”

“I know.”

“I’m just scared.”

“I know.”

Moonbeam trusts me to keep her business running. It’s my job to protect it…to make sure everything goes okay.”

“I know.”

She looked at him. “Is there anything you don’t know?”

Drew thought about it for a minute. “I don’t know what that blue stuff is in the Magic 8 Ball. That’s always perplexed me.”

“It’s alcohol with blue dye dissolved in it.”

Drew grinned. “Now my life is complete.”

Violet sighed again. “I’m going to bed.”

“Okay. Need company?”

I have to say that I did laugh at that for several minutes. This is Violet to a T, as you’ve come to know her throughout the book. Actually, same for Drew. He’s the happy-go-lucky guy who’s out for a good time before it all changes for him later on. They are a cute, fun couple. For me, what’s lacking is the charm Alex and Juli have. Drew and Violet take their individual reasons for not starting a true relationship too far, there’s too many interrupted love scenes. Sexual tension can only go so far before that very taut string just breaks, and by the time they actually do the deed, the string had been broken for a number of chapters for me.

Maybe it’s not fair to compare this book to the previous one. But that’s something readers do all the time when they find that gem of a book that’s remembered for a long time. Believe It or Not has its moments. The quirkiness and humor are still a plus. Ms. Fenske does both well, and she gives me a good time reading, despite my issues with this story. I do look forward to her next book.

Grade: B-

Summary:

It’s your typical “reluctant fake psychic” meets “jaded owner of a male strip club” love story. With a twist.

Violet McGinn doesn’t believe in psychic powers. That’s one thing she has in common with Drew Watson, the infuriatingly hot owner of the bar next door to Miss Moonbeam’s psychic studio. There’s just one problem – Miss Moonbeam is Violet’s mother. And for the next few weeks, Violet must fill mom’s shoes at the psychic studio.

Drew can’t figure out who’s nuttier – Miss Moonbeam, or her gorgeous daughter trying desperately to live the normal, straight-laced life mom never gave her. The one thing he knows for sure is that he doesn’t need another type-A female meddling with his life, career, or heart. So why can’t he get her out of his head?

Before Drew and Violet know what hit them, they discover that while normal may be nice, weird can be wonderful. Even worse, there just might be something to this psychic crap after all…

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of The Duke’s Perfect Wife (Highland Pleasures, Book 4) by Jennifer Ashley
Historical Romance published by Berkley 3 Apr 12

It’s so good to be reading these Mackenzie Highlanders again. I’ve been curious about Eleanor Ramsay, the woman who walked away from Hart years ago. I’m also surprised Hart didn’t just go get her and drag her home with him. But, as usual, Jennifer Ashley works it all out in a romantic mystery that held me captivated for the day it took me to read this book.

Hart has been thinking of making his way back to Eleanor, knowing she’s the woman he’s going to marry. Despite the fact it didn’t work out between them before. Then when she emerges from a crowd of journalists trailing Hart in his campaign for Prime Minister, his quest becomes easier once he learns why she’s sought him out.

Her scheme will help both Hart and herself, along with her father. Eleanor recently received a photograph of Hart – posing playfully and sinfully for the camera in the nude. She knows this will hurt his chances of obtaining office if it were to become public, so her solution is to help him find the person responsible, thus her offer to work for him to investigate before it’s too late. The money will also come in handy to keep food on the table at home.

Thinking the best way to show her they can have a life together is to keep her close, give her everything she wants, Hart relents and hires her to investigate while he continues his campaign. And Hart is one serious politician. He wouldn’t get away nowadays with the things he does, of course, but in a time when you did whatever you could to see something done, he does exactly that. Eleanor is not a bad little investigator. She follows all clues she finds and has a sharp mind and wit to do the job. She wants to search the house where Hart kept his mistress at one time, where murder nearly cost him his brother, and where he wants Eleanor to stay far away from. He doesn’t want her to know anything about that part of his past.

Eleanor, however, doesn’t let Hart run roughshod over her, as he does with practically everyone in his life. She knows he has to control everything and everyone, it’s all he’s ever known, but she stands up to him at every turn, and those scenes are just wonderful. And Hart loves it too. Turns him on! We find out more of what happened between them when Eleanor broke their engagement, when she was visited by Mrs. Palmer, the aforementioned mistress, and how she’s gone on with her life, all the while keeping tabs on Hart, including his marriage and then the deaths of his wife and infant son. Through Hart we relive their original meeting and courtship, see their love as it began, knowing all the while that love never ended though they’ve been apart for years.

Reliving the worst time in Hart’s life, losing his son, is heart rending, and the scene with him and Eleanor at the boy’s grave is one of those that lets you see inside this complex man. You see the despair and the hurt. And Eleanor sees it too, realizes at last that Hart really does need her. She’s the one person he doesn’t hide from, he shows her, very emotionally, how much need is inside him. It’s nice to see this part of him, because that dark side we’ve been hearing about, what he doesn’t want Eleanor to know, has to come out. I debated with myself how much of that I wanted to see. In the end, however, Ms. Ashley keeps it fairly tame, especially considering how often it’s spoken of throughout the book.

The mystery of the photographs is finally solved, a culprit I didn’t see coming. Not what I expected at all. It’s also wonderful to see all the Mackenzie brothers and their families again. Especially Ian. He still holds my heart. It’s terrific to see how he’s come alive being in love and having Beth in his life. Hart’s and Eleanor’s banter throughout, especially when she runs on and on, is fun. The camera scenes talked about and finally in deed are also quite amusing. So much more happens, I’m only skimming the surface here. You definitely need to read this one.

As expected, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I’m glad there’s two more books planned for the future. I’m really looking forward to Daniel’s story. Hmmm. Like father, like son?

Grade: A

Summary:

Who is Hart Mackenzie’s perfect match? Eleanor Ramsay doesn’t know–she jilted him all those years ago–and now all she wants from the devastating duke is a job. Or so she tells herself. Persuading him to hire her as an assistant to his secretary is tricky, but Eleanor has a trick or two of her own up her sleeve…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

The Seduction of Elliot McBride – January 2013
The Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie (tentative title) – October 2013

This just in…

Earth Day is April 22, and All Romance Ebooks is celebrating with a free ebook a day for the 21 days leading up to this special event.

~ Staring April 1 and running through April 21, be sure to stop by every day to get your free book.

~ Go here to begin!

~ Be sure to bookmark that page so you can go back each day. Have fun!

Consider yourself flashed.

Sandy M’s review of Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky
Contemporary Romance audiobook published by Random House Audio 6 Feb 07

I listen to a lot of audiobooks while driving; can’t do without my books for even that long! Every now and again one of those audiobooks keeps me interested in the story more than the driving. This book certainly did that when I missed my freeway exit and ended up 15 miles down the road to the next town before I realized what I’d done. While that’s not the best thing in the world to have happen right at that moment, at least that tells you this is a darned good story.

Hugh and Dana Clarke are expecting their first child. This is a time in their lives of joy and anticipation. When the baby finally decides to come into the world, they’re prepared and all goes well, mother and daughter are doing fine. But when they get a good look at their new daughter, besides ten tiny fingers and toes, they notice little Lizzy also has traits of African American descent in her appearance. While they’re both a bit stunned, Dana is giddily happy with her perfect little girl. It’s Hugh who hesitates too long, who has doubts.

Then Hugh’s family begins to pressure to him to find Dana’s father, a man she’s never met, never known. The only family she has now is her grandmother, and she knows not much more than Dana. But Dana has never been interested in locating her father; she’s the result of a casual college relationship between her mother, who is now deceased, and a man who has never taken an interest in Dana. Hugh warns her they need to be prepared to answer questions people will ask when they see Lizzy. He knows there’s no African American ancestors in his family, it’s been traced back generations. If they don’t have answers, folks will assume the worst, like an affair.

Dana is dumbfounded that Hugh is giving in to the pressure around him, doubting her and her fidelity. He finally goes so far as to get a paternity test – just to quiet the nonbelievers, or so he says. Crushed that her husband doesn’t trust her – a marriage without trust isn’t a marriage – she reluctantly agrees to the test. The strain between them only grows. While all of this is going on, there are also plenty of other happenings around. Dana’s grandmother owns a local yarn shop and we get to meet and interact with a few characters there, some of whom knew Dana’s mother, and this is where Dana begins with the scant information they have to start her search. Hugh has taken on a pro bono legal client, one he met at the hospital, who is trying to get help from her father’s child to pay for the medical care due to his injuries as a result of a car accident. It ends up being a very high-profile case, and he fights to the end for what’s right.

The results of the paternity test put Hugh’s mind at ease, though Dana is still angry with him and his reason for needing it in the first place. The search for Dana’s father finally bears fruit, and they’re assured there’s no such ancestry in her family. She’s so overwhelmed at what she finds out that Dana just can’t handle the new family that comes out of the woodwork at this point. It’s during a routine checkup for Lizzy that it’s discovered she’s a carrier of the sickle cell, found predominantly in people of color. Dana is immediately tested, with negative results. The twist in all their lives comes when Hugh tests positive and all his family secrets that are at the core of the issue plaguing them are finally emotionally revealed.

I find this concept interesting, to say the least. Ms. Delinsky does a terrific job at building the reader up to go a certain way in the story and then turning the tables on both reader and characters. For Dana, she never cared where the baby’s color came from. It doesn’t matter. Though it matters to Hugh, more from family and social pressure, he does find that it’s not really as important as he thought. All that truly matters is that little girl and her family.

Grade: B

Summary:

An explosive novel about family, and choices people make in times of crisis.

Dana Clarke has always longed for the stability of home and family—her own childhood was not an easy one. Now she has married a man she adores who is from a prominent New England family, and she is about to give birth to their first child. But what should be the happiest day of her life becomes the day her world falls apart. Her daughter is born beautiful and healthy, but no one can help noticing the African American traits in her appearance. Dana’s husband, to her great shock and dismay, begins to worry that people will think Dana has had an affair.The only way to repair the damage done is for Dana to track down the father she never knew and to explore the possibility of African American lineage in his family history. Dana’s determination to discover the truth becomes a poignant journey back through her past and her husband’s heritage that unearths secrets rooted in prejudice and fear. Barbara Delinsky’s Family Tree is an utterly unforgettable novel that asks penetrating questions about race, family, and the choices people make in times of crisis—choices that have profound consequences that can last for generations

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of The Cowboy Takes a Bride by Lori Wilde
Contemporary Western Romance published by Avon 27 Mar 12

What a delightful book this is. It’s also my first Lori Wilde read, and the fact she writes sexy, sensual, and fun cowboys makes it that much more enjoyable.

The opening scene sets the tone for the book, and what a riot it is. Mariah Callahan has made her way to Jubilee, Texas, to find out what her recently deceased father has left her in his will. Her plan is to get rid of it all and then hightail back to her life in Chicago. A life that has fallen apart and needs desperate mending. When her boss should have backed her up during a sexual harassment incident, she fired Mariah instead. So now Mariah hopes to make her dream of opening her own wedding planning business finally come true. But first she has to deal with the backlash of a father who loved his cutting horses more than he ever loved his daughter.

When she arrives at the ranch, she finds a cowboy – one good-looking, sexy thing – naked in a horse trough. How to take care of this situation? And the banter between them is just hilarious. I think this is the earliest I’ve ever laughed out loud reading a book. Joe is expecting Mariah. This is the daughter who didn’t give a shit about his best friend, her dad. Joe has gone through horrible loss in the last few years, including losing Dutch just weeks before. Thus his bender of last night, ending with his “bath” in that gold-plated trough. I have to share part of that conversation with you.

“I’m calling the cops,” she threatened, pulling her cell phone from her purse.

“Are you always this friendly?”

“Whenever I find a naked cowboy in my gold-plated horse trough I am. I’m pretty sure there’s laws against public nudity, even in this backwater place.”

“First off, I’m not naked,” he said.

She couldn’t stop herself from raking a gaze over his amazing body. “You look naked.”

“Appearances can be deceiving. For instance, you look stuck-up.”

“Sometimes appearances can be deceiving, but on the whole, I’ve found that generally what you see is what you get.”

“So you’re saying you are stuck-up?”

“I’m saying you look like a drunken derelict.”

“Hungover derelict,” he corrected. “I’m not drunk anymore.”

“Excuse me for missing the distinction. I’m sure your mother is so proud.”

“I have underwear on,” he offered.

“How comforting.” As if a little strip of soaking wet cotton cloth hid anything. Why she should find that even more tantalizing than full nudity, she had no clue, but she did.

And that bothered her, a lot.

“Secondly, this isn’t public,” the cowboy continued. It’s private property.”

“I know,” she said. Had she driven down a rabbit hole when she wasn’t looking and ended up in Wonderland? She half expected to see the White Rabbit pop up at any moment, muttering about being late. “My property.”

“Thirdly, it’s not your horse trough.” Her finger hovered over the keypad. Should she call the cops? By challenging him, was she making things worse? Maybe she should just walk away and let him get out of the horse trough at his own pace…

There’s some banter about the sheriff’s deputy just pulling up being a woman, and then they get back to the fact Mariah is upset because he’s in her horse trough, they’ve come full circle.

“It’s not your horse trough.”

“It is.”

“Nope, because it’s not your ranch.”

“It is and I can prove it.”

“It’s not and here’s the reason why. My name is Joe Daniels, this here is Green Ridge Ranch, and I have a sneaking suspicion you’re looking for Stone Creek.”

I actually should have stopped this scene after the appearances can be deceiving part, because that’s where I laughed the hardest, but until their relationship moves to the next level because of the heat between them, this all is the fun to be had whenever Joe and Mariah are together. Even after the tide turns for them, the banter turns too, becomes even more fun and intimate.

Mariah’s plans change a few times during her stay in Jubilee. First she wants out as fast as she can. She agrees to wait, though, a few months, until Christmas, when Joe enters his cutting horse in the local futurity. He knows he’ll win and he can pay her for the property. The amazing horse came from Dutch, in exchange for the Stone Creek Ranch. Then the longer Mariah stays, the more she gets to know the people, which you can’t help but do in small-town America, she begins to think maybe this life could be for her. Maybe her wedding planning business could work here. When she meets a couple of people to push her in that direction, she talks to the bank and gets her hopes up. But they’re dashed quite quickly when her history is revealed.

But this is where her relationship with Joe with becomes truly cemented in love. He offers to bring his men over to build her wedding chapel for her. And they get it built in no time. Mariah sees her dream coming to life before her eyes. Her barn is transformed into a reception hall. She even has a wedding to plan, and all goes off without a hitch. She’s well on her way now.

Interspersed in all of this is Joe’s feelings for his deceased wife. Theirs was a wild albeit short relationship, and he’s missed Becca terribly since her accident. The town also loved her to death. So every time Mariah comes up against Becca in Joe’s life, she takes a step back. Joe’s not ready for another relationship. There’s too much guilt, too much left-over love to deal with. He has to learn to let go, but when he tries it never works.

And there’s Mariah’s feelings for her father. The father she never really knew because he loved his horses more than he loved her. The father who left her and her mother behind years ago, who embarrassed her, who left her his ranch. At first she doesn’t understand how the people of Jubilee could love the man so much, but as she learns more about him, sees inside his heart, she begins to discover the person he was, and she’s sorry she missed knowing that man.

When disaster strikes, it strikes with a heavy hand. Both Joe and Mariah are hit, but it’s Mariah who loses the most. Which helps her make her decision to flee Jubilee in the end, along with other factors, of course.

We also get a side story with Joe’s sister-in-law, Ila, who has been in love with Joe for years, and Cordy, Joe’s right-hand man. Ila hasn’t given Cordy a second look because he’s shorter than she is, but he’s done with her ignoring him. He pulls out all the stops and makes her sit up and take notice, while also getting her to let Joe go. They’re a lot of fun.

The one thing I don’t like that much in the book are the parallels to Sleepless in Seattle. The references to it to help Joe with his feelings about being a widower are fine, but then it goes a little too far with the call-in show and all that follows, just like the movie. It really isn’t needed. The author does fine on her own, and I feel she would have kept doing fine with a true, straight course as she’d been doing all along. But all’s well that ends well, as they say.

This is a fun and funny read. The characters are charming, the folks next door, people you’d like to know. I like the slow-growing love between Joe and Mariah, despite their fears. I’m definitely going to be cracking open a few more Lori Wilde books.

Grade: A

Summary:

Welcome to Jubilee, Texas: where everyone knows everybody’s business—especially if that business is love!

Ex-champion bull rider turned cutting horse cowboy Joe Daniels isn’t quite sure how he ended up sleeping in a horse trough wearing nothing but this Stetson and cowboy boots. But now he’s wide-awake and a citified woman is glaring down at him. His goal? Get rid of her ASAP. The obstacle? Fighting the attraction he feels towards the blond-haired filly with the big, vulnerable eyes.

When out-of-work wedding planning Mariah Callahan learns that her estranged father has left her a rundown ranch in Jubilee, she has no choice but to accept it. Her goal? Redeem her career by planning local weddings. The obstacle? One emotionally wounded, hard-living cowboy who stirs her guilt, her heartstrings, and her long-buried cowgirl roots…

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Deliver Me From Darkness (Paladin Warriors, Book 1) by Tes Hilaire
Paranormal Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 7 Feb 12

My string of luck with debut authors is still going strong and healthy with Tes Hilaire’s new book. A fallen angel and the first Paladin female in hundreds of years are the perfect combination to keep you immersed in the pages of this book.

Roland was once one of God’s warriors, a Paladin with brothers who fought by his side. But nearly a hundred years ago he gave in to the lure of dark vampiric power, a time he regrets now for the loss of his soul and because he also saw the destruction of his family at the same time. His life is orderly and clean, just the way he likes it, but all that order is about to be disrupted by one small but very fiery and passionate woman.

Having heard all her life that vampires are evil, Karissa is at first quite frightened by Roland and tries to escape his well-protected home when Logan, Roland’s best friend and the Paladin who rescued her, leaves her alone with the vampire. Even when the creature leaves her be to sleep the day away, she tears his place apart trying to find a way out, all to no avail.

Though they come to a truce of sorts, Karissa opts to leave with Logan when he returns, knowing the man will protect her at all costs, just as her grandfather always told her. But Logan’s good intentions go awry when every Paladin male wants to mark Karissa as his own – there’s a huge deficit in the ratio of women to men in the bloodline and Karissa is seen as the chance to save them all. But even Logan’s family has secrets, as he discovers when he tries to mark Karissa to save her from the wave of Paladins headed her way.

Roland has been able to break the bond with his maker, Christos, but that vampire is now in cahoots with two other powerful and evil lords, with a plan in mind once they get their hands on Karissa and her blood. Roland failed to protect those he loved once before, he’s not about to let it happen again. Working once more with Valin, a brother with dark shifting powers and who prods Roland every chance he gets, they finally locate Karissa through her mating bond with Roland. But are they too late? Will Roland have to face his fear of failure again?

This is a story of good vs. evil, the choice made and lived with for that person, and there are several who have to face the music. Roland is more than the sum of his parts, as his former brothers discover. Even as Karissa discovers. As he himself discovers. At first he tries to push Karissa away, knowing she’s his mate, but he feels he’s not good enough for her, too dark for her light. When she realizes what she is to him, she wants all that it entails and she goes for it, pushing him to confront his feelings and her. He doesn’t want to hurt her or live without her, so he tries to keep his bloodlust and heart at bay. Doesn’t work. When they come together he’s as gentle as can be, despite his body and his darkness wanting more NOW. The other Paladins are just as honorable and sexy in their own way. I look forward to both Logan’s and Valin’s stories.

What a terrific start Ms. Hilaire has given readers at the beginning of her new series. If you’re into vampires, demons, and other otherworldly creatures, if you like your action fast and furious, if you want a hero to die for and a heroine he’ll die for, I think you should start here. This book and this series has it all.

Grade: B

Summary:

A stranger in the night…

He had once been a warrior of the Light, one of the revered Paladin. A protector. But now he lives in darkness, and the shadows are his sanctuary. Every day is a struggle to overcome the bloodlust. Especially the day Karissa shows up at his doorstep.

Comes knocking on the door…

She is light and bright and everything beautiful despite her scratches and torn clothes. Every creature of the night is after her. So is every male Paladin. Because Karissa is the last female of their kind. But she is his. He may not have a soul, but he can’t deny his heart.

Read an excerpt.