Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of A Cowboy Comes Home (Colorado Cattle Barons, Book 1) by Barbara Dunlop
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Desire 03 Jan 12

Books like this one seriously depress me.  On the surface, it has a lot going for it.  We have a sexy guy on the cover, a cowboy that returns to his hometown many years after leaving, it’s the first book in a projected series, and on top of the whole “reunion”-vibe, the hero falls for the sexy girl next door.  Seriously, I couldn’t download this one fast enough.  Unfortunately, it seriously flubs on the execution.

Caleb Terrell left home at 17 and didn’t look back.  Naturally he turns out to be one of those 27-year-old global CEO-types that proliferate in Romance Novel Land.  Anyhoo, his asshole daddy (the reason he left home in the first place) has finally kicked the bucket.  But the old man is still causing chaos from beyond the grave.  Instead of leaving the family ranch to Caleb’s fraternal twin brother, Reed – you know, the one who stayed behind even though Caleb begged him to come with him?  Yeah, the old man left the ranch to Caleb.  Sick jerk-wad that he was.

Mandy Jacobs is worried about her neighbor and BFF, Reed.  He hasn’t been seen since his father’s funeral, and now his estranged brother is in town.  Caleb had plans to sign over the ranch to Reed, what with him staying behind and putting up with their old man for ten years.  But now that Reed has vanished?  With only a snotty note left behind?  Yeah, Caleb can’t sell the place fast enough and get back to his life in Chicago.  Standing in his way?  Mandy.  Who isn’t about to let him up and sell the place while Reed is off pouting.

This book suffers from what I call Hero Logic.  The backstory of Caleb’s rotten childhood is certainly compelling stuff, and even if my eyes were rolling excessively at a globe-trottin’ 27-year-old CEO, you can’t help but admire his work ethic.  Unfortunately, he’s also a jerk.  He’s all set to just turn the ranch over to Reed.  But because Reed isn’t waiting for him when he gets there?  Yeah, Caleb takes this to mean that Reed must not want the ranch, so hey, he’ll just sell it and give the money to him.  Seriously, I’ve met rocks smarter than Caleb.

Mandy’s a nice enough girl, even though her meddling does get tiresome.  I like that she has a sharp tongue and doesn’t let Caleb walk all over the situation.  The first chapter in particular is really good stuff, with Mandy giving as good as she gets.

Ultimately, though, the problem with this book is that it’s a Desire (so less than 200 pages) that is the first book in what I’m assuming is going to be a long series. There’s too much noise surrounding the romance.  Mandy has six siblings, three of whom get quite a bit of lip service here, plus a sister in New York who’s mentioned more than once.  Then you have Caleb’s sexy, high-powered lawyer showing up.  Oh, and, of course, a mysterious private investigator gets name-dropped once said lawyer convinces Mandy to hire him to find Reed.  There’s also Mandy’s parents, a local gal they run into at the rodeo, and so on and so on.  I can appreciate that the author needs to set up the series, but, seriously, do all these people need to be in this book?  Uh, no.  And because they are, that means we spend less time on what the reader really cares about – the romance between Caleb and Mandy.

So, at the end of the day, I’m depressed.  Granted, I could just be hitting a wall with series, because there are moments here that really sparkle for me.  But then the noise would intrude, or Caleb’s Hero Logic would kick in, and I couldn’t slog through the rest of the book fast enough.  Reed’s book is up next, and given that he does run away to pout instead of confronting his estranged brother?  Yeah, not interested.  Moving on.

Grade: C

Summary:

At a Crossroads

After years of being the black sheep, an unexpected inheritance has finally drawn Caleb Terrell home. But that doesn’t mean the cowboy-turned-CEO plans to settle down on his family’s Colorado ranch. His single-minded goal is to sell and get out… until he’s reunited with the sexy girl next door, Mandy Jacobs.

Her mere presence reminds him of happier times. Denying Many seems impossible, but seducing her can lead only to heartbreak. There’s no room in Caleb’s agenda for such a delectable distraction. Because once he gives in to temptation, he may not be able to walk away.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Craving the Highlander’s Touch by Michelle Willingham
Historical romance short story ebook published by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 Sep 11

As the Undone line has evolved, many authors have chosen to utilize the shorter format as a “teaser” for their full-length Harlequin Historical books.  Like all things concerning series books, it all boils down to how much series-itis creeps in, and whether or not as the reader I feel like I’m being manipulated.  Yes, I’m talking execution.  Michelle Willingham is one who loves to use the Undone line to flesh out secondary characters from her connected novels, and she’s also one that generally makes it work for me.  This short story tied to her MacKinloch Clan books is no exception.

Alys Fitzroy, Lady of Harkirk, has endured a marriage to a brutish English husband.  Besides terrorizing her, he’s made many enemies among the local Scots – who he has a habit of imprisoning and torturing.  Although English herself, this treatment of the locals sickens Alys, especially when it involves children.  So she does what she can, freeing as many of them as she can – helping them to run away.

Finian MacLachor is his clan’s chief, and his failed uprising against Alys’ dear husband has not gone well.  He’s a man who has lost everything – his wife, his daughter, and his very soul.  Beaten, bloody, and sitting in the dungeons waiting to be made an example of, he’s resigned himself to die, because he thinks he has no right to live.  Then Alys shows up with the keys.

Willingham tends to put a lot of story in her Undones, but this one might take first prize.  This really could have been a full-length novel.  Between the various character baggage, the battle scene, the love scenes, and the final chapter?  There’s a lot going on here.  While the author does have to take a few “happens off page” short cuts to keep things moving along, this is a story I could really sink my teeth into.  It is also especially lovely to read love scenes that are an intricate part of the romance and character development.  They aren’t here just for filler – they need to be in this story.

I do think reading the two full-length novels will allow readers to get a bit more out of this story.  However, that being said, I still have both novels languishing in my TBR and I rather liked this short tale.  If anything, it succeeded in me kicking my own behind for letting those novels sit unread for these last several months.  So in the end?  The author’s ploy worked.  Teasing me with the short makes me want to run out and read the full-length stories.  Which makes me part of the problem, but given how much I enjoyed this story?  I don’t rightly care.

Grade: B

Summary:

Scotland, 1306

For Alys Fitzroy, Lady of Harkirk, her brutish husband is more of an enemy than the wild Scots she is supposed to hate. Her heart longs to help her husband’s prisoners—especially Finian MacLachor, the intense Highland chief who bears the scars of his own failed uprising, both inside and out. With her help, he has a second chance to make things right for his clan—and and to show Alys the nights of unbelievable pleasure she’s been missing.…

No Excerpt Found.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Queen’s Consort by Leia Rice
Erotica short story ebook published by Spice Briefs 01 Jul 11

Pour a glass of wine into me and I’ll wax poetic about how erotica isn’t “just about sex.”  That in “good erotica,” written predominantly for a female readership, the sex is a catalyst for the heroine’s journey.  Yeah, I know – blah, blah, blah.  Listen, not all erotica is created equal.  Pour a second glass of wine into me and I’ll admit that some erotica?  Yeah, is all about the sex.  But you know what?  That’s not always a bad thing.  If nothing else, it adds a whole other definition to the expression “reading for pleasure.”

Arabelle is a royal maid for Marie Antoinette and has been getting her kicks of late watching the queen be pleasured by her consort.  During one such spying adventure she makes a little too much noise, and while navigating the secret passageways in the palace, the consort catches up to her.  It doesn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to know what happens next.

If you’re looking for serious naughty times in your erotica, you don’t get much naughtier than Louis XVI royal court prior to the French Revolution.  There’s oodles of palace intrigue and more hanger-ons than at a hip-hop awards show.  However, this is a short story, and an erotic one at that – so the author really glosses over the horrors of the Revolution.  Admittedly, I wasn’t terribly wild about this treatment, but crimes against humanity is definitely not the tone the author was shooting for.

Now, that being said, if you just want sexy times and don’t necessarily care (or want) some deep, angsty treatment of the time period?  By all means, this short story might be for you.  You’ve got a hero who can probably set a world’s record for stamina and horny-ness.  You’ve got a heroine who is so lusty that she lets a total stranger deflower her, and then after she’s done?  She goes back to her quarters to have encounters with other maids!  Chinese New Year doesn’t have this many fireworks.

It all boils down to what the reader wants.  If you want a hot short story with wall-to-wall, (I’ll just say it) skanky shenanigans?  Oh man, drop everything and download this right now.  But if you’re looking for a more highfalutin’ form of erotica that you can shove in the faces of all those naysayers out there?  Probably not this short story.  However, that doesn’t make this a “bad” story and it doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the heck out of reading it.

Yeah, I just said that – and I totally own it.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Royal maid Arabelle fantasizes about taking the queen’s place, but not for power or riches. She wants to be pleasured by the queen’s secret consort. Watching them together arouses cravings that her trysts with other men and her sensual encounters with her fellow maids cannot satisfy. She longs to be given licentious commands from the mysterious man, and to give orders in return.

Then, in the secret halls of Versailles, Arabelle’s fantasy comes true—with even more wicked pleasures than she imagined….

No excerpt available.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Unlikely Wife by Debra Ullrick
Inspirational historical romance published by Love Inspired Historical 03 Jan 12

One of the reasons I like historical western romances is that I love heroines with a harder edge to them.  Granted, there were many civilized parts of the world that were unforgiving to women, but you had to be a tough cookie to survive in the American frontier. Being stupid wasn’t really conducive towards….oh, survival. Debra Ullrick’s latest inspirational romance features my kind of heroine, but sadly it fumbles on the execution.

Michael Bowen is a prosperous rancher in Idaho Territory and is ready to get married.  So he places an ad, and begins corresponding with Selina Bowen.  Her letters are magical, and she thinks pretty highly of him as well!  Before you can say Big Misunderstanding Ahoy these two get hitched, sight unseen, by proxy. Naturally Michael about swallows his tongue when his wife gets off the train looking like an outlaw – wearing trousers, a beat-up hat, and carrying a rifle(!) – instead of the genteel lady who wrote those letters.

Turns out that Selina cannot read or write, so her BFF wrote the letters for her. Selina told her what to say, but it turns out the BFF fudged with the truth just a wee bit.  Loathe to go back on the oath he took before God and his local preacher, Michael takes Selina home.  However, he’s torn by the fact that the woman he fell in love with doesn’t seem to exist.

Many a historical western has been written about a mail-order bride arrangement gone awry, and Ullrick’s spin on it is actually quite believable. Unfortunately, the bulk of the conflict for a very good portion of the early going seems to sit squarely on the fact that Selina wears…..pants! Seriously, the hero practically has a raging case of the vapors over it.  I get that a chick wearing pants would be rather unconventional, but the guy is living in Idaho Territory. You’re telling me there ain’t one unconventional chick within spitting distance of him? It’s also hard to be tolerant of his dislike for her wardrobe especially when his entire blessed family seems to love the girl, on sight. So exactly what is the problem? She’s resourceful and his family adores her.  Ooooooh, but she wears pants!  ::eyeroll::

Selina is a straight shooter, is shaped by a life lived in poverty, and is pretty unbending about changing herself for a man considering the types of relationships she witnessed back home.  The main issue here is dialect.  Yep, the author writes all of Selina’s dialogue in the vernacular.  I swear the word “iffen” is going to haunt me in my dreams.  There is a way to convey Selina’s background (poverty, lack of education) without having the reader slog through hillbilly dialogue that even the writers of Hee Haw would have axed from a script.

This book is marketed as an inspirational, and the God Stuff here is pretty heavy.  If you’re a reader who reads inspirationals because you want a Christian message?  Yeah, you’ll probably be right at home.  However, if you read inspirationals more because they are “clean” than any overt religious elements?  Be prepared for things like:

“The Lord wants His children to depend on Him, Michael.  You may not be able to love Selina on your own, but God can do it through Christ as you submit to Him.  Ask God to give you a deep, lasting love for your wife, Michael, and He will.”

Just what every girl wants to hear, I love you because I asked God to make me love you.  Who said romance was dead?

Despite my varied issues with this story, I still managed to inhale it in one day. It’s also hard to outright hate on a book when the main message of it (it’s OK to be different) is so genuine.  In other words, the story’s heart was in the right place.

Grade: C

Summary:

The arrival of Michael Bowen’s bride, married sight unseen by proxy, sends the rancher reeling. With her trousers, cowboy hat and rifle, she looks like a female outlaw—not the genteel lady he corresponded with for months. He’s been hoodwinked into marriage with the wrong woman!

Selina Farleigh Bowen loved Michael’s letters, even if she couldn’t read them herself. A friend read them to her, and wrote her replies—but apparently that “friend” left things out, like Michael’s dream of a wife who was nothing like her. Selina won’t change who she is, not even for the man she loves. Yet time might show Michael the true value of his unlikely wife.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of One Night as a Courtesan by Ann Lethbridge
Historical Romance short story ebook published by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 Oct 10

I read a full-length “Regency” historical romance recently that had absolutely no sense of place.  It could have easily taken place on a Texas cattle ranch in 1968 as Regency London.  I immediately thought back to my reading of that particular book while zipping through this short story by Ann Lethbridge.  Why?  Because this short story had more Regency flavor 100 times over than that full-length novel.

Julia Partridge is a widow who has fallen on hard times.  Such hard times that she gets caught stealing.  Coming to her “rescue” is a madam at a local brothel.  Julia is to get auctioned off for one night, with one man – and in exchange she’ll get a pile of money.  With no other options, and desperate for those promised funds, Julia agrees.  Of course, she had no idea that the man who “won” her in the auction would turn out to be Alistair Crawford, Duke of Dunstan, a man so notorious for his reputation that his nickname is “the Dissolute Duke!”

Kudos to the author for actually giving readers a real rake.  This is a guy who has privileged ennui stamped all over him.  It’s practically oozing out of his pores.  So yeah, it’s not like you fall in love with him as a hero the moment he steps on the page.  I like that Julia faces issues that are very believable for the time period.  A widow, with no family to rely on, and no nest egg stashed away for her by her dead husband.  Not a lot of options.

As lovely as the sense of place was, and as much as I appreciated the author’s characterizations, there were moments in the romance that did give me pause.  The author excels at the love scenes, evoking them in a slow, sensual manner.  However, I couldn’t help feeling that a big reason Alistair falls for Julia is because she’s not your “typical” brothel girl.  It’s okay for him to fall in love with her because she’s smart, well-spoken, and obviously “quality.”  Meaning if she was working class and poor, there’s no way in heck he’d give her a second look.  So yeah, he’s a snob.  To be fair, he’s a bloody duke!  Of course he’s going to be a snob!  I also feel the ending is a bit much, given the short time frame of the story, but it is a historical so “let’s date for a while” isn’t really an option and, honestly, “be my mistress” doesn’t exactly scream romance.

That being said, this is a nice, sensual read, and good example of what I want from the Undone line.  It is short, it has a nice sense of place, and the love scenes are steamy.  If you want a little steam with a Regency era that isn’t wallpaper and you’re open to short stories?  Look no further.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Widow Julia Partridge is desperate. To repay a debt, she’s forced to sell herself in an auction at the most exclusive bawdy house in London. Julia only has to get through one night with one man—though she never imagined that man would be Alistair Crawford, the dissolute Duke of Dunstan! Alistair has the face of a fallen angel…and a reputation for vice to match. Yet when he turns his attentions to Julia, he unexpectedly arouses more passion in a few moments than she’d felt in her entire marriage….

No Excerpt Found.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of One Wicked Christmas by Amanda McCabe
Historical Romance short story ebook published by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 Nov 11

I always pick up books by Amanda McCabe because she never gives readers the same thing twice.  She’s done everything from the 15th century to the 1920s.  Any author who delivers that kind of variety gets my attention.  I wish I could say I loved this latest, a Christmas short story set in Regency England, but, alas, it didn’t really work for me.

Lady Cassandra Osborne is a young widow who loved her kind, gentle husband.  They led a quiet life and made lovely companions.  Since his death she’s locked herself away, and her best friend is urging her that it’s time to take a lover.  The problem is that the only man who interests her is her husband’s roguish BFF, Sir Ian Chandler.  Ian came around a lot after her husband died and looked after her.  But after they shared a smoldering kiss?  Yeah, Ian has been out-of-sight, although not for one moment out-of-mind.  When it turns out that Cassandra and Ian are invited to the same Christmas house party?  Yeah, we all know where this is going.

I actually tend to like plots of this nature, but in a short story format it’s really problematic.  When strung out over a full-length novel, the author has time to explore the internal angst of the characters and slowly unfold the developing romance.  In a short story?  It comes off as distasteful.  I honestly find myself feeling sorry for the dead husband when it’s revealed that Ian, his best friend!, has had the hots for Cassandra since the wedding day!  Then there is the manner in which Cassandra and Ian fall into bed together.  She sneaks into his room expecting a romp with another man.  Eww.

That being said, McCabe’s writing style continues to really work for me, and I zipped through this short story in quicker manner than is my usual custom.  While it doesn’t work for me, it certainly hasn’t put me off from this author’s work, and who knows?  Maybe it will work better for you.

Grade: D+

Summary:

London, 1806

Lady Cassandra Osborne is ready to take a new lover to her bed—and knows exactly the man she wants: Sir Ian Chandler, her late husband’s rakish best friend. The single kiss they’d shared had made her feel alive again, awakening dark needs she didn’t even know she had…though Ian had quickly pulled away. Cassie is sure he doesn’t want her, until their reunion at a Christmas house party tempts them to succumb to the desire that has haunted them both….

No Excerpt Found.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Another Chance by Portia Da Costa
Erotic Romance short story ebook published by Spice Briefs 01 Sep 11

There is a definite skill in writing short, and some authors just seem to be born with it.  Portia Da Costa is one of these writers.  Yes, I’m reading a short story, and no, that is never the same thing as a full-length novel, but I still feel like I’m getting a full story.  Do I want more?  Sure.  But that doesn’t mean the story is “lacking” because of its brevity.

It’s been a while since Maud Piper has had a lover, which probably explains why happening upon her employers, the Marquis and Marchioness of Blaystock Manor, having a little spankin’ fun in their kitchen has gotten her all worked up.  She’s enjoying the show, out of sight, or so she thinks.  William Graves, the groundskeeper at the estate, catches her in the act of spying, and doing other things (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).  Being a gentleman, he helps her out – which gets Maud thinking, maybe William is the man who can fulfill her needs.

This story is textbook Da Costa and has all the trademarks I’ve come to love about her work.  There’s a lovely playfulness to the characters and love scenes.  The story is told from Maud’s point-of-view and she’s just the sort of heroine you’d love to be best friends with.  As an added bonus?  She’s 45 (happy day!) and an archivist (darn close to librarian!).

Behind the playful love scenes, and the mild kink of the spanking storyline, there’s a depth here that is also refreshing.  Maud hasn’t had a partner who has met her needs since a former finance.  What happened to that relationship and what she shares in common with William make for a nice touching moment in the final moments of the story.

Things end on an upbeat note.  This is a short story, so wedding bells would be forcing the issue, but this tale ends in such a way that a full-fledged romance isn’t hard to imagine.  Since Da Costa likes to resurrect past couples and slyly insert them into new stories (see: the Marquis and Marchioness), hopefully we’ll run into Maud and William again down the road.

Grade: B+

Summary:

The Chance of a Lifetime…Again.

It’s been a long time since Maud Piper has had a lover, particularly one who can give her what she really wants: the masterful hand of a strong, powerful man. The sting of pain that turns into pleasure.

Only Maud’s late fiancé had been able to satisfy her. Not even watching her employers at Blaystock Manor, the Marquis and Marchioness, in their own rough love play brings her the release she longs for—until she is caught in the act by William Graves, the estate’s ruggedly handsome steward. Can he give Maud another chance to experience the pleasure she craves?

The highly anticipated sequel to Portia Da Costa’s Chance of a Lifetime.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Playboy’s Gift by Teresa Carpenter
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Romance 01 Nov 11

If any author is ever insane enough to ask my advice, it would be to write the best book you can at that moment in time.  Period.  Do not think about readers.  Why?  Because we’re nut jobs.  Seriously, we are.  Wacky pants, insane in the membrane, fickle, fickle creatures.  No matter how we may try not to, readers have a tendency to bring their personal baggage with them when they crack open a book.  And guess what?  We all have a wide array of colorful baggage, all of us being unique, shiny, crack-pots snowflakes.  It’s my own colorful baggage that led me to DNF’ing this particular Harlequin Romance by Teresa Carpenter.

Carpenter is a local author for me, so I was curious to try her latest.  Yeah, wrong book to start with.  And it’s not “her fault” – I stopped reading because I was past the point where I could be rational about the story.  I got to the halfway point, but such a big hot button of mine was pushed that I was getting angry. Hulk-like angry.

Skye Miller’s brother passed away and his wife followed him shortly after.  They left behind a toddler daughter, and naturally Skye and her brother’s BFF, Rett Sullivan have been named guardians.  The fly in the ointment?  Skye and Rett were once very much in love, Skye got unexpectedly preggers, Rett didn’t react to the news to her liking, and when she ended up miscarrying, the relationship went kaput.

OK, I’m rolling with this.  Until the other shoe drops.  Skye can’t understand why Rett would want custody of her niece until he drops the bomb that he was the sperm donor for her brother and his wife.  Skye knew they used a donor, but had no clue it was Rett – Mr. Couldn’t Run Away Fast Enough When He Knocked Her Up.

“Skye went completely still, she couldn’t have heard what she thought she did.  “Aidan was Ryann’s father.”

“No.”

Repeat after me – just because you have the ability to make babies does not automatically make you a parent.  Just because you have sperm, does not automatically make you a father.  You know what it does make you?

A guy who can jack-off into a plastic cup.

Period.

But the whole blessed set-up of this book is that Rett is Ryann’s “father.” It’s practically shoved down the reader’s throat.  Rett keeps going on and on about how he’s the baby daddy.

NO!  NO, YOU ARE NOT!  YOU ARE THE SOURCE OF DNA, NOT A FATHER! THE HEROINE’S DEAD BROTHER IS THAT BABY’S FATHER.  YOU ARE JUST SOME IDIOT WITH SPERM!

I cannot express how much I loathe this Cult Of Biology that can sometimes creep into the genre.  It drives me insane.  Probably because I have friends who are and/or have adopted.  Probably because one of my nieces is adopted.  I’ve got too much baggage to be rational when a heroine going into a blended family wails about her inability to have “children of her own” or when a hero thinks he’s a daddy just because he can make a deposit at the local sperm bank.

For that matter, I hate the implication that romance hero must equal Guy With Massive Super Sperm Who Can Knock Up The Most Hopelessly Infertile Woman On The Planet.

Yeah, Wendy not rational.  Wendy stop reading.  But if you’re a different brand of irrational than I am and this kind of thing doesn’t make you want to spit nails? Maybe this book is for you.  There is some serie-itis, but the author handles it fairly well.  Also, the writing style worked well enough for me that I’ll probably give Carpenter another go.  Just so long as biology is totally off the table.  Because seriously, I just don’t like reading angry.

Grade: DNF

Summary:

An orphan baby wasn’t on playboy Rett Sullivan’s Christmas list, but as the holidays approach, he finds himself drowning in a sea of bottles, nappies and toys!

Skye Miller was shocked to learn her late brother and sister-in-law left their little daughter in the care of Rett, her brother’s best friend…and Skye’s first love.

The only way to protect her heart is to help the novice daddy and baby bond, then make a graceful exit. But the sight of Rett’s strong arms cradling the baby makes Skye weak at the knees.…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of A Man of His Word by Sarah M. Anderson
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Desire 29 Nov 11

Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and I first discovered category romance, the Desire line was my favorite.  But then, over time, things changed.  Desire started morphing into what I call “The American HP,” with a proliferation of billionaires, babies, and over-blown back cover copy.  I got my head turned by other lines, and we quietly parted ways.  However, I do miss Desire and continue to check out the monthly offerings, hoping for a glimmer of the line I fell in love with in the early aughts.  Enter Sarah M. Anderson’s debut.

Dan Armstrong inherited half of the family energy (mostly oil) business when his father died, which meant working with his Uncle Cecil.  Cecil has been in South Dakota the last several years, working to build a dam and expanding the family’s influence into hydro-energy.  The problem?  Rosebud Donnelly, a barracuda of a lawyer for the local Lakota tribe.  See, Uncle Cecil’s dam will create a reservoir that will flood a big ol’ chunk of the reservation.  After chewing up and spitting out several of his high-priced lawyers, Cecil calls in Dan – who isn’t all that happy to be his Uncle’s lap dog.

Dan has been doing quite well with the family holdings down in Texas and doesn’t think much of dear old Uncle.  But his company has sunk a lot of time and energy into South Dakota, so he makes the trip.  What he hasn’t planned on is Rosebud – who is not only beautiful, but smart and good with a gun.  A fact he learns firsthand when she shoots his favorite hat right off his head.

What I love about this story is that the author gives us an adversarial relationship without a lot of needless bickering.  Dan and Rosebud are immediately attracted to each other, but he works magic through his charm and she quickly realizes that she’s tangling with a pro.  She also realizes that he’s a pretty genuine guy.  She certainly doesn’t think much of his uncle, but Dan strikes her as a straight-shooter, and soon these two are working together – albeit somewhat uneasily.

Desires can run fairly hot, and the author keeps the tension simmering for a good, long while before our couple finally succumbs.  A smart move since the conflict here is really external.  Rosebud and Dan are torn characters.  What they want is to just be another man and woman simply getting to know each other.  That’s not an option, though.  His business is at odds with her people.  He’s working to get to the bottom of what Cecil is really up to, and she’s feeling pressure from her family.  They’re also both under pressure to turn on the charm with each other, to get close to the other in the hopes of gaining an advantage.  Secrets coming out during pillow talk, if you will.

This could have been an extremely unsavory story, but the author keeps it from being so with her characters.  Rosebud is a conflicted woman, pushed into the law out of obligation and having sunk three years of her life into fighting Cecil.  Dan is a genuinely nice guy.  He firmly fits the book’s title.  When Rosebud muses, “Dan didn’t exactly wear his heart on his sleeve, but she got the feeling he didn’t win a lot of poker games,” the reader instantly knows that this is a guy who is a success in business by doing things the right way, not by steamrolling over others.

The only real misstep in this otherwise enjoyable story is toward the end, when the author has to bring all that external conflict to a head.  Which she does by having our villain pay a call on Rosebud, which ultimately leads to her tarring and feathering Dan.  Color me crazy, but I thought the guy had pretty well proven himself to be nothing like his Uncle – but what do I know?  I’m just the reader.  Still, it leads to a pretty great confrontational moment, and Rosebud finally gets to pour out her soul, all the angst she’s kept bottled up inside her for years.

This was really a well-written, enjoyable story, and quite impressive for a debut.  Anderson does a great job of working within the word count of the Desire line, and I felt like I got a rich, complete romance.  I knew these people by the end of it all, and I’m happy they were able to find their way out of the muck to their happy ending.  I also found a Desire book that reminds me of how much I used to adore this line.  I want more, and I want it now.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Attorney Rosebud Donnelly has a case to win. And she never lets anyone see her sweat. But her first meeting with Dan Armstrong doesn’t go according to script. No one warned her that the COO of the company she’s fighting would be so…manly.

From his storm-colored eyes to his well-worn boots, Dan is an honest-to-goodness cowboy. But is he honest? Her yearning for the Texas tycoon goes against reason, against family loyalty, against everything she thought she believed in. And yet, in Dan’s strong arms, Rosebud feels she might be ready to risk everything for one more kiss….

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Rodeo Daddy by Soraya Lane
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Romance 01 Nov 11

Note to Harlequin Authors: Yes, I will stoop to this level.  If I enjoyed your previous books, I’ll read your latest release – even if the Book Gods slap you with a cringe-worthy title and cover.  A fairly new author to the Harlequin Romance line, Soraya Lane has hit the ground running, with this already being her third release.  I enjoyed her first two books, which featured military heroes, so it was a given that I’d pick up the book with a cowboy on the cover.  I’ll just pretend to not notice that cutesy kid.

When a fall ended his rodeo career and marriage, Lark Anderson moved his seven-year-old daughter halfway across the world to New Zealand, looking for a fresh start.  While driving home in some nasty weather, he sees some obviously abused horses wandering along the road.  He stops to help them, and almost lands himself in hot water with the local law.  Yeah, the horses aren’t healthy, but they also aren’t his.  Getting him out of this jam is Sophie Baxter, who is back in her hometown to lick her wounds and volunteering at the animal shelter.  She vouches for Lark, even though she doesn’t know him from Adam, and agrees to oversee his rehabilitation of the horses.  The local law agrees, and now the gun-shy single dad finds himself spending time with an equally gun-shy heroine with several Big Secrets.

This is an uneven read for me.  Lark is a hero who wants to do the right thing, and that means overcompensating for his ex-wife who has literally washed her hands of him and their daughter.  His relationship with Lucy showcases classic Beta traits, but underneath he’s classic Alpha – right down to keeping his temper in check.  There were moments when he’s a little too hot under the collar for my tastes, but at least this is a man who will admit when he’s wrong about something – which is appreciated since at one point in the story he tars and feathers Sophie with the “She’s just like my rotten ex” brush.

Sophie is a much more problematic character for me.  She’s your typical Running Away heroine.  She ran away from The Big City and her career as a surgeon when she lost a young patient on the table.  OK, that’s understandable.  The real issue is the major Big Secret in this story – a choice Sophie made when she was in medical school and is still haunted by.  I’ll admit I’m probably reading way too much between the lines, but my big red feminist button is pushed and not in a good way.  I “get” that Sophie made a choice, and I “get” that it’s not an easy choice – but the fact that she is then subsequently “punished” for that choice really irritates.

Naturally, this makes Sophie feel ill at ease around young Lucy, which Lark misconstrues and ultimately leads to Sophie running away.  Twice.  She acts so much like a teenager that I have a hard time seeing her as an adult getting through the rigors of med school, let alone being a surgeon!

In the end the author rights the ship, but between Sophie’s “punishment” and the fact that she dwells incessantly on “children of her own” (admittedly a major pet peeve of mine), this story just didn’t sparkle the same way as the author’s previous two books did.  It has its moments and the story flows well, but it’s kind of a letdown.

Grade: C

Summary:

Rodeo champion Lark Anderson lived for the sound of crowds chanting his name. Now all he hears is a small voice saying, “daddy.” A fall ended both his rodeo career and his marriage—leaving him a single dad.

The town is suspicious of its new “celebrity” resident, and town darling Sophie Baxter has been nominated to keep an eye on the hot-tempered cowboy.

But the sight of his strong arms hugging his daughter and tucking her in at night makes Sophie’s heart ache with longing. Could this little family ever find a place in their hearts for her?

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Baby, Let It Snow by Beverly Jenkins & Elaine Overton
Contemporary Romance published by Kimani Romance 18 Oct 11

I cannot say no to holiday-themed romances; and given the sheer volume that romance publishers churn out every year, it looks like I’m not the only reader with this affliction.  No line in the Harlequin universe is immune to this slathering on of holiday cheer, and this offering from Kimani features romance veteran Jenkins, along with Overton, who has several category romances under her belt.

I’ll Be Home For Christmas by Beverly Jenkins

Dina Caldwell and Morgan Todd grew up next door to each other in the same Detroit neighborhood.  She went on to become a major Broadway star, and he’s the hottest celebrity chef in the business.  It would be natural that these two beautiful people would fall in love and get engaged.  Until Dina gets smacked in the face with a tabloid and photographic evidence of Morgan’s cheating ways.  She calls the whole thing off, and four years later she still hasn’t spoken to him.  However, his little sister is getting married, and Dina cannot miss the wedding of such a close family friend.  She’s just going to have to suck it up and somehow survive the magnetic attraction she has with Morgan.  But how well will she resist when she discovers that the bad boy is mending his ways and that he wants her back?

What I tend to really like about Jenkins’ romances are her cast of characters.  This story features a wonderful family dynamic, with two close-knit families who are the best of friends.  I also think it’s impossible for Jenkins to write a story that doesn’t feature a strong sense of community.

The problem here is that Morgan was a cheater and he broke Dina’s heart.  Yes, he apologizes.  Yes, he’s mending his ways.  However, the whole thing seems to wrap up a little too easily.  It’s possible I am a vindictive soul – but I wanted more groveling here.  Oh, and having the hero crawl naked through broken glass might have been nice too.  But it is a nice reunion story, with a lovely sense of place and a tender holiday feel.  For the less vindictive among you, that may be enough.

Grade: C

Second Chance Christmas by Elaine Overton

With both their parents now gone, Diana Rogers and her brother Shawn are left to run the family winery-slash-bed-and-breakfast.  Unbeknowst to Diana, Shawn has other plans for his life and has sold his 50% of the business to none other than Robert Fenton.

Robert lived a nomadic childhood, but the happiest years were at the winery – until Diana’s Daddy found out he was boff’ing his baby girl, and before you can say smear campaign, Robert was hitting the road again.  Now, several years later, he’s a big honkin’ success in the hotel business, but he’s got one thing on his mind. Yep, revenge.  Even though the old goat is dead.  How’s that for some typical romance hero logic?  Anyway, once he’s back at the winery and sees Diana again? Yeah, revenge begins to take a back seat.

I know some readers cannot tolerate the revenge plot, but it works fairly well here in a shorter format.  Robert begins to reevaluate his motives once he sees Diana again and realizes he’s never gotten over her.  Also, Diana is a suspicious soul, and isn’t about to play doormat to Robert, who she is convinced is “up to something.”

That being said, I feel like the past isn’t rehashed enough here.  What Diana’s Daddy did to Robert was pretty sneaky and underhanded, and the couple never really talks about it.  They gloss over it, and given the severity of the nature, I guess I want a big, dramatic scene.  Readers do get such a scene, but only after Diana learns the truth about Robert’s original motives and, in true romance heroine logic, runs away.  Sigh.  But the story had its moments, even though the execution didn’t always work for me.

Grade: C+

These are quick, holiday-themed reads that feature a strong sense of community and family.  For readers who don’t want Christmas shoved down their throats, both authors focus more on Thanksgiving, family camaraderie, and throw in snow storms to liven up their climactic finishes.  I’ll also admit that being a Michigan girl at heart, I love that both of these stories take place in my home state.  Like being home for the holidays but cheaper and less annoying than the airlines.

Overall Grade: C

Summary:

Four wish lists. Two holiday stories. The most wonderful time of the year.

I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Beverly Jenkins

Three years ago, Broadway star Dina Caldwell and celebrity chef Morgan Todd were passionately in love. Now America’s onetime favorite couple are about to be reunited in Morgan’s Detroit hometown for the holidays. Is this the season for forgiving and forgetting? With sizzling kisses under the mistletoe, Morgan vows to make this a Christmas Dina will never forget!

Second Chance Christmas by Elaine Overton

Diana Rogers is ready for some holiday R & R. Until Robert Fenton comes home for Christmas. The handsome, powerful hotelier has plans to take over her beloved family winery. But this is the season for miracles. And Diana’s seductive ex-lover has his own secret wish list—one that includes a second chance with the woman he’s never stopped loving.

Beverly Jenkins Excerpt

Elaine Overton Excerpt

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Snowflakes and Stetsons by Jillian Hart, Carol Finch & Cheryl St. John
Historical Western Romance anthology published by Harlequin Historical 20 Sep 11

There are certain universal truths when it comes to my romance reading: 1) I love category romance 2) I love westerns 3) I love Christmas-themed stories and 4) I love Harlequin Historical.  So naturally, the diabolical minds at Harlequin have taken it upon themselves to produce an annual Christmas-themed western anthology for the past several years.  I’m one of Pavlov’s dogs and somewhere in the bowels of the Harlequin offices someone is ringing a damn bell.

The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle by Jillian Hart

Fresh out of prison for a crime he didn’t commit (naturally), Caleb McGraw is looking for the sweetheart he left behind, only to discover she’s passed away. When he learns she left behind a son, he knows that child is his. So he tracks down the tyke living with Caroline Dreyer, a widow still mourning the loss of her husband and child.  She adores Thomas, but can’t seem to reach the boy, who takes to starring out the window, waiting for something or someone.

Hart is what I call an “angst writer” and she really slathers it on with this story.  Both Caleb and Caroline are haunted by their pasts, and even young Thomas walks with a shadow following his every move.  What I like here is that we have a secret baby plot that actually seems quite plausible, and that none of these characters is prone to hysterics.  It’s a real emotional heart-tugger of a read, with a healthy dollop of holiday spirit on the side.

Grade: B

Christmas at Cahill Crossing by Carol Finch

Rosalie Greer owns a dress shop in Cahill Crossing and is on her way back to town with Christmas supplies when a blizzard stops her cold. She comes close to freezing to death when Lucas Burnett’s dog (named “Dog” – seriously) uncovers her in a snowdrift. Lucas is a Loner with a capital L, but can’t very well leave the delectable Rosa to die – so he carts her back to his ranch.

What follows is Rosa thawing out, challenging Lucas at every turn, and dragging him out into society by his nose. Finch tends to spoon on a healthy layer of humor in her stories, which doesn’t always work for me. For the most part, it does here. Some of the dialogue didn’t ring true to me (Lucas actually says “mixed heritage” in regards to his half-Comanche, half-Mexican blood – which sounded a little too “PC” to my ears for 1880s Texas), and the fact the couple likes to jump to conclusions about each other did get tiresome. However, it is a fairly enjoyable story, and it’s a nice taste of the upcoming Cahill Cowboys continuity series.

Grade: B-

A Magical Gift at Christmas by Cheryl St. John

U.S. Marshal Jonah Cavanaugh is on a train guarding a gold shipment when he spies a notorious outlaw on board. Suspecting danger is up ahead in the form of an outlaw gang, he unhooks the the mail car from the train, which is carrying the shipment. When he does that, he also unhooks a well-appointed Pullman car, carrying railroad heiress Meredith Abbott. However, that’s not his only concern. Stowing away in the mail car? Two young orphans heading to Denver to find their long-lost Daddy. Now Jonah has a woman and two children to keep safe, with a band of outlaws sure to be paying them a visit once they hold up the train and find the mail car missing.

What I enjoy about St. John’s stories is that her characters are always practical thinking people. They’re never prone to hysterics or overly dramatic. Meredith might be an heiress, but she’s level-headed, can handle a weapon, and doesn’t waste time senselessly bickering with our hero. The author also crams in a ton of story here and gives readers a nice action-adventure style plot that is a nice change of pace from the other two offerings. The only real missteps here are that one of the orphans (the little girl, naturally) speaks with a lisp (blessedly she doesn’t talk too much!), and I feel the ending is a bit rushed. But it’s still a solid offering, featuring a page-turning plot and interesting characters.

Grade: B

This is a solid, cozy anthology that delivers a warm, fuzzy Christmas vibe. It’s the kind of book that should be read Christmas Eve, with a mug of hot cocoa, by a crackling fire place, after the kids have gone to bed. For that matter, it’s the kind of anthology that can be kept and reread every year right around the holiday season. This one is as-advertised.

Overall Grade: B

Summary:

The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle by Jillian Hart

Wrongly imprisoned, Caleb McGraw is finally free—but the bitterness he holds still makes him feel trapped. Until he sees the beautiful Caroline holding a little boy with eyes just like his own. Discovering his long-lost son is just the start of Caleb’s Christmas miracles!

Christmas at Cahill Crossing by Carol Finch

One Christmas night, outcast Lucas Burnett finds a silver-haired angel buried in the snow. But Rosalie Greer is no pale spirit—she’s a fiery, independent woman, as wild as the mustangs Lucas breeds. Can she be the one to finally thaw Lucas’s frozen heart?

A Magical Gift at Christmas by Cheryl St.John

Meredith has always dreamed of a grand life but, stranded on a train in heavy snowfall with two young stowaways, she unexpectedly finds she has everything she needs with just one strong man to protect her….

Read an excerpt (Hart story only)

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of How A Cowboy Stole Her Heart by Donna Alward
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Romance 04 Oct 11

In the pantheon of dippy titles slapped on romance novels, this one is pretty tame.  That said, it’s almost more annoying for me to find a generic title slapped on a story that is anything but, not to mention that said title really doesn’t “fit” the story at all.  What will readers find instead?  An emotional roller coaster of a read, one that left me mentally wrung out by the close of the final chapter.

Megan Briggs is back on her family’s ranch after undergoing chemotherapy treatments in Calgary.  Meg has a supportive family, but it’s a family she doesn’t want to worry.  They have a ranch to run, and her being sick is a major wrench in the works.  So yeah, she “runs away,” even though she claims that’s not what she’s doing.  But now she’s back, minus one breast, with a clean bill of health, at least for the time being.  Cancer is something she’ll have to deal with for the rest of her days.  She also has to deal with her brother’s BFF, Clay Gregory.  A neighboring rancher, Meg has had a crush on him for years.  But between his not being happy with her Calgary move and the fact that she’s “his best friend’s little sister” – we have a major case of unrequited love.  That is until Clay starts to suspect that the reason he was so angry with Meg for leaving has everything to do with how he really feels about her.

I’ll admit that I’m a bit of an angst-junkie.  What I tend to like about Donna Alward’s HRs is that she excels at writing what I call “believable angst.”  It’s not over-the-top soap opera. No, this is stuff that could happen in real life to people you know (or even yourself).  Meg’s fears over her cancer, the aftermath of surviving this first round feel very real and authentic. I also appreciate that she’s unwilling to roll over and play dead.  She’s determined to live her life.  In some regards, this does give her an air of stubbornness.  Honestly, our girl is really stubborn.  Especially when it comes to letting people in, letting others help her, be there for her.

Clay has baggage left over from his father’s illness/death and his mother’s abandonment.  For those reasons, he’s not exactly the most emotionally open person.  He doesn’t really “see” Meg until her cancer, and then what he does see scares the hell out of him.

Sometimes with this author’s work I find that while I “understand” her characters, I still find them frustrating to the point that I want to shake them senseless.  I “got” where Meg and Clay were coming from with their respective baggage, but it didn’t make it any less frustrating at times. Readers just have to go along for the ride and trust that the author is going to deliver on the happy ending, which she does.  They also have to have a fairly high tolerance for self-sacrificing characters, especially Meg.

On one hand, I want to smack the couple and on the other I love the angsty and emotionally exhausting roller coaster ride they take me on.  If you’re looking for light and fluffy, this ain’t it.  But if you’re looking to grab a handful of tissues?  What are you waiting for?

Grade: B-

Summary:

From best friends… to bride and groom?

Clay Gregory’s known Megan Briggs her whole life, and he’s been plenty worried about her while she’s been getting medical treatment. Now she’s back home and hiding away on the family ranch.

Knowing the stubborn cowgirl won’t accept his help willingly, he invites her to a family wedding to help him avoid his aunt’s matchmaking!

He plans to remind Meg that she’s still the girl who can beat him in a horse race! But as she steps out in her curve-hugging red dress, her skills on a horse are suddenly the last thing on his mind…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Earl Takes a Lover by Georgia E. Jones
Historical erotica digital short story published by Spice Briefs 01 Jul 11

I’m a sucker for historicals with an erotic edge, so whenever I see one pop up in the Spice Briefs line, I always take a closer look.  Georgia E. Jones is a writer I’ve never read before, and the back cover blurb sounded enticing, so I gave it a whirl.  I wish I could say I fell madly in love – but sadly, not so much.

Penelope Montague makes her way in the world as a companion for an elderly lady.  Educated in a convent, what nobody is aware of is that young Penelope is the daughter of a prostitute and, for the first few years of her life, was raised in a brothel!  Not only that, she’s the author of the scandalous A Woman’s Handbook, which has ladies in a swoon and gentlemen in a lather.

It’s in her duties as a companion that she meets the new Earl of Thanet, Robin Sackville Tufton.  Robin is a rake of the first order, but now that he has inherited the title he finds himself thwarting off various matchmaking mamas.  When he spies Penelope, he knows that he must have her.  But what will happen when he discovers one taste is not enough?  As an Earl, Penelope is so far beneath him she might as well be hanging out with The Mole People.  And sure as shootin’, she ain’t content to be no man’s mistress.

While the sexy times were certainly sizzling, everything else about this story didn’t work for me.  While born to a prostitute and raised in a brothel, Penelope is still, conveniently, a virgin. Frankly, this smacked of the author wanting to have her cake and eat it too.  Especially since Penelope apparently “knows” enough about Sexy Times to write a book, but not enough so that Robin can still “educate” her.  Bah humbug.  We’re also to believe that when the patrons of said brothel begin to take notice of young Penelope, the madam ships her off to convent school.  OK, I’m calling shenanigans on this one.  What self-respecting madam in early 19th century London is going to ship off a potential money-making bonanza?  No hooker has a heart of gold that pure, let alone a madam who is, (hello?!) essentially, a pimp.  Don’t they kick you out of the Big Pimpin’ Union for that sort of thing?

Even if you’re willing to roll with Penelope’s background, there’s the small matter of the ending.  Um, there isn’t one.  This story just stops.  The resolution to the conflict?  Yeah, there isn’t any.  It just….stops.  This might not be totally disconcerting in a straight-up erotic story, but I viewed more than one romance road sign over the course of my reading.  So to have things just….stop?  With no real resolution?  Frustrating doesn’t even begin to cover it.  Bah humbug indeed.

Grade: D

Summary:

London, 1801

No one could have guessed that virginal companion Penelope Montague is the author of the scandalous manual A Woman’s Handbook. Society believes she was educated in a convent, unaware she spent the first half of her life raised by the ladies of the famous Black Swan brothel.

Only rake Robin Sackville Tufton, Earl of Thanet, sees the sensual woman behind Pen’s proper exterior. From the moment he sees her, he wants her more than anything else. But Pen isn’t fit to be an earl’s wife, nor can he simply take her—despite her passionate response to his touch. Can Robin and Penelope rein in their desire…or will they find a way to indulge it?

No excerpt found.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s Quick Quack Reviews of Two Harlequin Historical Undones by Amanda McCabe
Historical romance digital short stories released by Harlequin Historical Undone Apr – Aug 2011

In what has become a familiar song and dance around The Pond, Wendy has once again been hording short stories on her e-reader.  Oh, who am I kidding – I never really stopped.  So in a bid to clean out some of the back-log, I thought I’d bundle up two reviews in one for Amanda McCabe’s most recent work for Harlequin Historical Undone.  McCabe is an author who has generally worked for me in the shorter format in the past, so I settled in with high hopes for some solid reads.  One worked pretty well, while the other?  Not so much.

Unlacing The Lady In Waiting
August 2011

16th century Scotland is all about making favorable alliances, which explains how Lady Helen Frasier has found herself betrothed to James McKerrigan.  This an arrangement she is unhappy with, given that all she has heard her entire life is how vile, evil, and barbaric every McKerrigan is.  But what’s a girl to do?  Defy her father?  Yeah, not an option.  So instead she takes off for some solitude to collect her thoughts, where she runs into the most dashing man.  Gee, guess who our mystery man is?  Yeah.  Anywho, everything seems to be going along swimmingly, until word gets to Daddy that Helen has been chosen to be a lady in waiting for Mary, Queen of Scots.  The engagement is, naturally, broken – so when Helen returns to Scotland years later?  Good ol’ James is there to meet her and claim his bride.

This is one of those stories where I knew where it was going before it got there.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, and I’m still capable of enjoying themes, tropes, and various plot bits I’ve read numerous times before.  The problem here is that we have a massive case of Insta-Lurve.  Some stolen kisses and heavy petting with James (prior to knowing he’s James, of course) is enough for Helen to fall madly in love with him.  And James with her.  Sorry, not buying.  It takes more than that for me to believe these two are in love and pining for each other while they are apart.

Grade: C

Summary:

Scotland, 1561

Lady Helen Frasier thought Highlanders were barbaric—until she shared an intimate encounter with her betrothed, James McKerrigan. Though their families were enemies, the Highland lord roused a surprising passion in Helen. Then she was chosen to become a lady in waiting to the queen, and their engagement was broken.

Now, Helen has returned to Scotland and her jilted lover, who has vowed to take revenge and claim his promised bride….

No Excerpt Found

Girl in the Beaded Mask
April 2011

Lady Louise “Lulu” Hatton has escaped from her first season in London to return to the country.  She suffered through dreadfully dull debutante balls and shared more than one sub-par stolen kiss with would-be suitors.  The only man she has ever wanted is her brother’s best friend, David Carlisle.  However, when David returned from World War I, he came home a changed man.  Wounded, scarred, and haunted by the death of Lulu’s brother.  When an invitation shows up for a local house party where David will be in attendance?  Lulu defies her parents, dresses for the masquerade, and sets out to get her man.

This is a pretty solid story with a wonderful 1920s back-drop.  Most of my issues stem from this tale not being long enough.  Given the constraints of the Undone line, David’s PTSD is glossed over considerably, and while I could buy these two being in love?  There’s hardly any mention of her parents, and no mention whatsoever of the fall-out of David deflowering Lulu.  I mean, by all accounts her parents “like” David – but would they consider him a suitable match for their daughter?  That’s another kettle of fish.

Grade: B-

Summary:

England, 1922

David Carlisle believes no woman would want to marry the broken and isolated man who has returned from the trenches of France. Especially vivacious Lady Louise Hatton, better known as Lulu—the one woman who makes his heart begin to thaw with her bright smile.

What David doesn’t realize is that Lulu has been fantasizing about him her whole life. And at a scandalous masked ball, she’s determined to show David just how badly she wants him….

No Excerpt Found

One of the reasons I tend to glom on to Amanda McCabe’s work is that she’s not afraid to tinker around with different settings and time periods.  Just looking at her short story work for Undone, she has refused to be pigeon-holed into writing one “type” of story.  Which these two particular examples illustrate quite beautifully, even if one story worked better for me than the other.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s Duckies Do Series review of Mystery Men #3 through #5 by HelenKay Dimon
Romantic suspense published by Harlequin Intrigue Feb 2011 – Sep 2011

I easily get distracted by The Shiny, which means when it comes to connected books, I inevitably fall behind.  I’ve really been enjoying HelenKay Dimon’s Mystery Men series for Harlequin Intrigue, likening them to action movies on paper with some mushy “love cooties” thrown in on the side.  Because of various shiny bits, however, I found myself faced with the final three books languishing on my e-reader.  Seemed like a good way to make myself feel productive was to bang out reading the final three in order.  So what have the final three uncoupled men in the qausi-governmental Recovery Project been up to?  Well, gee – what haven’t they?

Gunning For Trouble (Mystery Men #3)
February 2011

Caleb Mattern came to the Recovery Project after getting canned from his lab technician job.  His job was just to do the work, look at the facts.  But no, not good enough for Caleb, who also wanted to play crime-buster.  Going rogue got him fired, but it led him to Recovery – where he now works as their in-house science/medical/forensic guru.  With their boss, Rod, missing in action and a corruption scandal in the Witness Protection Program they’re trying to get to the bottom off, Caleb really doesn’t have time to deal with his ex-lover, Avery Walker, showing up on his doorstep.  Especially since she claims Rod sent her, and oh yeah, there are armed goons gunning for her.  Did I mention the bit about Avery being Caleb’s former boss?  The one that fired him from his last job?  Yeah, awkward.

What we have here is a straight-up reunion story, with some misunderstandings tossed in, and a bit of rescue fantasy thrown in for good measure.  Avery knows something about the WitSec corruption that could get her killed, and in fact some very bad men are trying to do just that.  Caleb is trying to keep her safe, but their past baggage is making things a bit complicated on a personal level.  The suspense here is handled well, with a definite thriller edge.  What didn’t work as well for me was the romance, mostly because Avery and Caleb seem to bicker a lot.  Right up until the bitter end.  Still, they do work past it, the bad guy problem at hand is dispatched, and the continuing mystery continues on….

Grade: B-

Summary:

When he was recruited by the Recovery Project, Caleb Mattern found a new lease on life. Tracking missing persons. Protecting witnesses. But even after stretching his muscles and becoming one of the company’s elite agents, he couldn’t leave his past behind. Avery Walters wouldn’t let him.

His former boss had also been his onetime lover, and now she’s burst back into his life with dangerous consequences. But settling old scores won’t be on the agenda—not yet! With the nation’s security depending on them to act appropriately, Caleb must pull off the most impossible assignment of his career. Now that Avery’s put her life in his hands, what will Caleb do with it?

Read an excerpt.

Locked And Loaded (Mystery Men #4)
August 2011

The WitSec scandal involves the exchange of cash for information on participants in the program.  Two women are already dead, and a third woman, Maddie Timmons, is on the hit list.  Recovery Project computer expert, Adam Wright, has been dispatched to West Virginia to keep an eye on her.  Moving in next door, eating pie at the diner where she works, and watching her every move gets to be mighty tempting though.  Even though this woman testified against a brutal drug-dealing ex and presumably was intimately involved in that business operation.  When bad guys come calling, Adam rides to the rescue, only to discover a woman who is pretty capable of trying to rescue herself.

What I really like about this story is that Maddie has a bit of a harder edge than the previous heroines.  She’s living in the WitSec program, which means she’s never idle, never rests, and always has a contingency plan.  Adam has sexy geek written all over him, and I’ll admit that I’m shallow enough that I actually swooned.  The ending here isn’t quite as tidy as in the other books, namely because Maddie being part of WitSec means she won’t be totally in the clear until after the resolution to that mystery.

Grade: B

Summary:

Nothing was as it seemed… Not even the protection Maddie Timmons was promised when she’d entered the Witness Security Program. One of her handlers was missing, the other had burned her, and now Maddie was at risk.

All that stood between her and certain death was one sexy stranger.

Deep undercover, Recovery Project agent Adam Wright vowed to keep Maddie safe from the leak at WitSec. But Adam wasn’t prepared for the confident woman he’d rescued, the sensuous lover who got under his skin. He could do nothing about her past being taken away, but he’d do anything to secure her future…even if it meant forsaking his own….

Read an excerpt.

The Big Guns (Mystery Men #5)
September 2011

Sela Andrews is the personal assistant to Trevor Walters, a very bad, very crooked man who is neck-deep in the WitSec corruption.  For that reason, the Recovery Project has been keeping an eye on her.  Well, not the whole team, just Zach Bachman.  An explosives expert, Zach is the strong, silent, borderline aloof member of the team with a haunted past and quiet disposition.  Admittedly though, watching Sela gets under his skin.  She’s sexy as hell, but rumor has it she’s boff’ing the boss.  And given Trevor’s activities, this doesn’t say good things about her.  However, when Sela is kidnapped, it’s up to Zach to save the day.  Which he does.  But not before there’s a lot of gun play, a lot of falling in love, the resolution to the WitSec corruption and missing Recovery Project boss, Rod.

I’ve read all five books in this series, and this one is my favorite.  Not only do we finally get the resolution to the overarching suspense, but the romance here is very strong.  Zach definitely fits the strong, silent type, is Alpha to the core, and definitely has a bit of a rescue complex.  He’s a good, solid man though, and Sela is a smart enough girl to weigh her options carefully.  Being Trevor’s assistant means she knows about Recovery, and doesn’t necessarily think of them as “the good guys” – but she’s smart enough to read the signs.  She’s smart enough to not constantly fight Zach when it becomes very apparent that he’s keeping her alive.  And she’s also smart enough to challenge him at every turn, confront him, and bring him emotionally to his knees.

Grade: B+

Summary:

When he saw his mark being kidnapped, Recovery Project agent Zach Bachman had no option but to rescue her. Even if it endangered his assignment. After weeks of watching Sela Andrews from afar, he was now trapped with the blonde beauty as her bodyguard.

Her brave protector relished the heat of gun battle but retreated from his own emotions. Sela learned that when, in the dead of night in a darkened safe house, the loner became her lover. Still, as her would-be killers closed in on them again, she had no choice but to put her life—and her heart—in the hands of her reluctant guardian.

Read an excerpt.

Harlequin Intrigue is a tricky line because it does put a bit more emphasis on the suspense than the romance.  For that reason, Insta-Lurve can creep into the books, which usually operates on a short timeline.  The final three books in this series are not immune to that.  However, Dimon writes this style of suspense so well, and the overarching mystery thread is interesting enough, that I’m willing to shut-up and enjoy the ride.  This has been a fun, exciting series, and here’s hoping for lots more Intrigues from Dimon.

Overall Grade: B

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of How to Lasso a Cowboy (Gold Buckle Cowboys #2) by Christine Wenger
Contemporary romance published by Harlequin Special Edition 21 Jun 11

File this one under When Tropes You Love Turn Out Not So Great. A cowboy? A supposedly Plain Jane heroine? Reuniting with an unrequited teenage crush? What could possibly go wrong with all that Wendy Bait crammed into one single book? Well, turns out, quite a bit. Bother.

Jenna Reed is a 30-year-old single school teacher. She wants to get married, she wants to have babies, but since Mr. Right hasn’t come calling she figures it’s time to travel, see the world, and shake up her routine. She’s packing her bags for Europe when her big brother, Tom, calls with a favor. Her nephew, Andy, has been ordered to attend summer school and is dangerously close to being held back a grade. Could Jenna be a doll and tutor him while Tom is working the bull-riding circuit for some extra cash? Oh, and his BFF, Dustin Morgan, will also be staying at the ranch. Dustin is also a bull-rider and has been sidelined with a broken leg.

The fly in the ointment is that Dustin and Jenna went to high school together. Jenna had a major crush on him, but Dustin didn’t know she existed, despite that fact that he was BFFs with her brother. But guess what? Dustin has always had the hots for Jenna! He stayed away because Tom ordered him to. Jenna’s a precious snowflake and is too good for the likes of Dustin, Mr. Playboy. Now what will happen that these two are staying at Tom’s ranch together? Gee, I wonder.

This story gets off on the wrong foot with me and never recovers. Frankly, it starts out repetitive and boring, with a heavy tell over show writing style. I kept on with it, hoping the writing would smooth out and, sadly, got more annoyed the deeper I went into the book. Besides being yet another self-sacrificing heroine, Jenna comes off as a clueless snob. Quite a to-do with her is the knowledge that Dustin chucked aside a college scholarship to join the PBR circuit right out of high school. Somehow that becomes okay though when she finds out he had A Very Good And Noble Reason for doing so.

The clueless part comes in thanks to a magazine article she reads on “how to seduce your man” and she decides to employ those tricks on Dustin. Here’s the problem: at the beginning of the story the reader is told Jenna Wants A Man And To Make Lots O’ Babies. Yet what happens when she bags her cowboy? Yeah, she does an about face. Suddenly her and Dustin want “different things.” Even though she knows Dustin wants to leave the circuit, buy his own ranch, and “settle down.” Really? I must have missed the part where Jenna’s multiple personality disorder is disclosed.

Dustin seems like an okay guy at first, but turns out he’s a moron too. Instead of telling his BFF to go to hell, he boinks Jenna and then runs away out of guilt because he made that stupid promise. Hey, I don’t think Jenna is much of a prize – but the chick is 30. Too frickin’ old for her brother to care who his single sister is knockin’ boots with.

All of which begs the question – what was Tom thinking? He’s warned Jenna away from Dustin. He knows Dustin is warm for Jenna’s form. And yet Tom asks Jenna and Dustin to live together at his ranch while he is away traveling the PBR circuit? With only a 10-year-old boy left behind to supervise? Really, dude?! I mean, really?!

So, yeah, this didn’t work for me at all. Between the lackluster characters, strained conflict, and a logic-free Tom-size plot hole you can drive fifty city buses through? Ugh.

Grade: D-

Summary:

Catching herself a cowboy was the last thing on Jenna Reed’s mind….

Until one moved in with her! Well, technically bull rider Dustin Morgan was staying at her brother’s house for the summer—but so was Jenna. Having her high school crush under the same roof was not the way she’d planned on spending her vacation. Especially since Dustin had never, ever so much as flirted with her. But maybe it was time the plain-Jane changed all of that.

On the verge of turning thirty, Jenna knew it was high time to go after what she wanted…and she wanted Dustin. Using a magazine article called “Ten Ways to Seduce a Man,” she set out to lasso her cowboy. But what would she do with him once she caught him?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Taking Her Boss (Glory Tales #1) by Alegra Verde
Contemporary erotica digital short story published by Spice Briefs 01 Apr 11

When someone asks me why I read erotica, my flippant answer is “because like it.”  All the reasons why I like it cannot truly be condensed down in a two-second sound bite, but one aspect of it?  I get off (hardy har har) on erotic stories that challenge.  Not just my own personal notions of what is sexy or “erotic,” but even those notions that are held by “polite society” – for lack of a better description.  In other words, no, it’s not all about the sex.  The sex in “good” erotica serves as a catalyst for some larger issue.

Glory James likes her job as personal assistant to ad executive Bruce Davies.  Although apparently not enough to keep from boinking a client in her office.  When Bruce catches them in the act, Glory expects to get, if not fired, reprimanded.  So imagine her surprise when Bruce confesses an attraction to her and drops the bombshell that he likes to be given orders in the bedroom.  Whatever shall they do now?

I’ll be honest and disclose that I picked up this story because I enjoy reading about dominant heroines.  I wasn’t really looking for earth-shattering depth here, just something different from the prevailing hero = Dom, heroine = submissive that seems to dominant (ha!) the genre.  The reader does have to get past the set-up of the story, but what follows is some very intriguing fallout.

Glory proceeds to enter into a relationship with Bruce, but it’s not without consequences.  Bruce seems to be able to go about his business at the office, flip the switch, and pretend nothing is going on outside.  Glory?  Yeah, not so much.

This is a dicey story, and one that I have a hard time recommending out-right to all readers of erotica.  At one point during their play-time, Glory calls Bruce a nasty slur that will very likely offend some readers.  Also, later in the story, when Glory finds herself distancing herself from the situation, Bruce comes off kind of stalker-ish.  All of this leads to a slightly uncomfortable ending, where things are still very much up in the air.  Which hopefully means more Glory Tales to follow.  Because even as uncomfortable as this story made me at times?  Yeah, I don’t want to be done yet.  This probably says nothing good about me, but you know what?  I don’t rightly care.

Grade: B-

Summary:

When Glory James’s boss catches her having sex with a client at the office, she expects to get reprimanded, not Bruce Davies’s revelation that he wants her, too.Even more shocking is his confession that he likes to be told what to do in bed—and that Glory is aroused by the idea…

No excerpt found.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Mr. Right There All Along by Jackie Braun
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Romance 2 Aug 11

I am an unrepentant sucker for the Friends to Lovers trope.  I could blame it on the fact that I’ve been there, done that – but I think there’s more to it.  Ever notice how the characters in these types of stories tend to be flat-out nice people?  People who truly deserve their happily-ever-after?  Yeah, more of that, please.

Chloe McDaniels just got an invitation to her ten-year high school reunion.  High school was not a joyous time for Chloe, who was tormented by three pretty popular girls she called The Unholy Trinity.  The only reason she stayed sane, and got through it, was because of her best friend, Simon Ford.  They literally grew up together, living in the same New York City apartment building.  To this day they are still best friends.  Chloe doesn’t have a best girlfriend, she has Simon.  Simon doesn’t go out to the bar to watch the game with his buddies – he’s got Chloe.

Simon went from geek to hunk to successful businessman.  He thinks Chloe is still too hung up on high school but also thinks she should go to the reunion to exorcise some demons.  She might not think she’s much, but Simon thinks she’s funny, vibrant, kind, intelligent….and sexy?  Hey, where did that come from?  No, no, no.  He can’t find Chloe sexy.  Chloe is his best friend.  The last thing he wants is to muck that up!

This is a lovely, sweet story.  The very best parts for me are when the characters have to confront aspects of their pasts, as well as certain personality traits.  Chloe needs to learn to grow a backbone.  To not let people, namely her boss and sister, walk all over her.  Simon needs to work through his complicated relationship with his father, a man who disposes of wives like Kleenex.  He also has abandonment issues that have made him gun-shy over exploring a potential romantic relationship with Chloe.

I suspect if there is going to be a stumbling block for readers in this story, it will be Chloe.  Part of me thought she should “get over it” in regards to high school, but ten years would put her around 28, so I could roll with her still working through all that bullying.  However, she does come off as slightly dense in regards to the signals Simon is throwing out at her.  It’s a cute, befuddled dense, but I can seem some readers wanting to shake her until her teeth rattle.  That being said, I’ve been here, done that – and from personal experience?  It’s easy to miss that one tree in the forest, even when said tree is literally smacking you in the face with a heavy branch.

The emotional moments at the end are just the right touch, and while I suspect some readers will wish that Chloe verbally confronts her old tormentors, I love the way this book ends.  Not only do Simon and Chloe get a clue, but Chloe really seems to be ready to “let go” of the past.  For that matter, so does Simon.  I think these two crazy kids are going to be just fine.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Could her best friend be her best match?

The one thing Chloe McDaniels has always depended on is her friendship with Simon Ford. Even if it’s been tough thinking of the gorgeous guy who makes her heart flutter as just a friend! But now, with their upcoming high school reunion dredging up memories of bullies and broken hearts, she needs him more than ever.

As Chloe plans to unveil her new-and-improved self, Simon creates a plan of his own.

Step One: Show her that love is worth the risk.

Step Two: Give her the happy-ever-after she deserves.

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Molly Cooper’s Dream Date by Barbara Hannay
Contemporary romance published by Harlequin Romance 04 Jan 11

One of my duties while I was at RWA last month was to give a presentation to a group of librarians on category romance.  My partner in crime for this endeavor was a Harlequin editor, who gave a shout-out for this book while we were discussing the Harlequin Romance line.  I had it languishing on my Sony Reader, and her “sell job” for it was so intriguing, I vowed to make it my next read.

Molly Cooper has lived her whole life on tiny Magnetic Island, off the coast of Australia.  She’s hungry (desperate even) for an adventure, but money is tight.  So she hits upon the idea of a home-swap.  Her dream is to go to posh London and fall in love with a proper English gentleman.  Surely there must be a London-ite desperate to escape the city for a tiny island paradise?

That ends up being Patrick Knight, a banker burning his candle at both ends.  He has a dream of writing a novel, and Molly’s small island cottage seems just the ticket.  So the swap is arranged, and while Molly is having her adventure in London and Patrick is writing his novel on the island, they get to know each other through the wonders of e-mail.

This is the type of book that breaks several of my personal reading rules.  1) I like the romantic couple to be “on page” together early on and 2) I’m a dialogue ho.  The bulk of this story is told via e-mails, text messages, and diary entries.  The reader gets to know both Molly and Patrick this way, and it’s really a lovely, charming way to watch a friendship, then romance, unfold.

I will say that Molly, while 24, is a young 24.  She’s been stuck on that island her whole life.  London represents adventure, excitement, everything she doesn’t have back home.  Her dreams of falling for a proper English gent do come off a wee bit idealistic, romantic, and far-fetched – but again, whole life lived on a tiny island.  I never felt like she was too-stupid-to-live or dense – just young.  Try to remember what you were like when you were like Molly and….young.

Patrick is a nice guy.  Period.  He loves his mother.  He’s hard working.  He’s a thoughtful person.  When Molly finds herself overwhelmed, Patrick is there to help her out – even as he’s thousands of miles away.  He does do something rather boneheaded later in the book, and Molly does overreact just a pinch – but it gives the conflict a shot in the arm and paves the way for one of the sweeter, romantic endings I’ve read in a long, long time.  I defy anyone to read it and not sigh.  Go ahead, I dare you.

This is a gentle, sweet story about a young girl who has an adventure and the nice guy who ends up winning her heart.  It hit all the right notes for me, and it was just a flat-out happy book for me to lose myself in for a couple of hours.  It’s the perfect cure-all for just about every single one of real life’s annoyances.  God bless editors.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Pacific islander Molly Cooper has house-swapped her way into London’s exclusive Chelsea. It’s her dream to explore Britain…and meet a perfect English gentleman!

Patrick Knight is finding Molly’s chatty emails strangely compelling. The onetime city banker thought swapping his London pad for Molly’s idyllic cottage would help him write his first novel—but it’s not quite working out…

What do you do when you realize the one you want is half a world away, living in your home, sleeping in your bed…?

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Should’ve Been a Cowboy (Sons of Chance, Book 4) by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Blaze 24 May 11

It happens.  Eventually every reader hits their “breaking point” when it comes to a series.  Like most things in life, there is no hard and fast rule.  Every reader is different.  In some cases I can make it 20+ books in before I “break up” with a series.  Others, I’m still going strong with.  In the case of Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Sons of Chance series for Blaze?  I think this one, book four, might have been the undoing.

Tyler Connelli is up for a big promotion with the luxury vacation cruise line she works for.  However, before setting off to her next exotic locale, she’s swinging by Jackson Hole, Wyoming to visit her very pregnant sister, Morgan.  Little does she know that Alex Keller is also in residence at Last Chance Ranch.  It was at her sister’s wedding that Tyler had an explosive roll in the hay (literally – they did it in a hayloft!) with Alex, who was still licking his wounds over his divorce.  Having relocated from Chicago, Alex now works for the Chance family.  The same family her sister married into.  And suddenly that quick, memorable roll in the hay is casting a very long shadow.

Here’s the problem with this story – it’s got a very been there, done that feel to it.  The conflict, which has the heft and consistency of wet tissue paper, consists of Tyler and Alex thinking that they can just bounce off each other while she’s in town, get the attraction out of their systems, and go along their merry way.  Tyler’s upcoming promotion fits in there too, but given that it lacks any real urgency, it’s hard to consider it actual “conflict.”  We’re talking a Blaze here, a line I read for “fun and sexy” more so than “angst and meaty conflict” – but this is still epically thin for “fun and sexy” standards.  It also doesn’t help matters (at all) that this Let’s Just Be Bang-Buddies “conflict” is prevalent in each of the three previous books in the series.  Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Well Wendy – you are once again being a disagreeable piss-pot.  Plus, I haven’t read any of the three previous books, so I’m not worried about the conflict sounding monotonous.”  Which would be the point in this review where I warn readers unfamiliar with the series, that Series-Itis has now come calling, unpacked its bags, and is settling into Last Chance Ranch like it’s the family homestead.  The first several chapters feature many previous characters, all of whom don’t bring anything to the fact that Tyler has learned Alex is still in town.  They just stand around blathering on about nothing, to the point where even I (who know who all these people are) am like, “Blah, blah, blah – don’t care!  Let’s get to the main couple of this story thankyouverymuch.”

So yeah, this book sort of left me in a bad mood.  Thompson can write fun and sexy better than just about anybody in the romance business, but here it falls very flat.  I’ve heard all of this before – in the previous three books in the series.  Which I might have been able to roll with if Tyler and Alex had elevated themselves above “characters” and felt like “real people” to me.  Which they don’t.  Bother.

Grade: D

Summary:

Party organizer Tyler O’Connell is on the fast track to her dream career. She’s so close she can almost taste it. But when she returns to her family and sees her one-night stand, Alex Keller, all done up in his cowboy gear, her self-control is stretched to the breaking point….

They’re worlds apart. She’s a busy career girl, and Alex is a cowboy. But while getting together might not bode well for anything long-term, it more than makes up for it in sheer hot chemistry! Problem is, this is one wrangler she might want to get tied down—and tied up—to…indefinitely!

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Her Wyoming Man by Cheryl St. John
Historical Western Romance published by Harlequin Historical 21 Jun 11

A new Cheryl St. John Harlequin Historical tends to be a cause for celebration for me.  She is a marvelously consistent writer.  She’s delivered enough times (for me at any rate) that when I settle into one of her stories, I know my chances are very good that it’s going to give me exactly what I expect it to.  Her Wyoming Man is no exception to this rule, well at least until the ending.  But more on that in a moment.

Ella Reed was raised to be a courtesan. Her mother was a prostitute, and Ella was a beautiful child. So the madam of the brothel spent a lot of time and money investing into Ella. She speaks fluent French. She plays an exquisite piano. She knows how to make a man happy. And that’s her job, to make one man very happy. One man has exclusive rights to Ella because he’s very wealthy. So while the other girls in the brothel get knocked around by cowboys and outlaws, Ella is the hothouse flower. Until one night when her man tells her he’s moving back East with his family. There will be no one there to protect her anymore. But the man in question does give her money and the advice that she should run away, while she still has her looks. When one of the girls shows her a clipping from a newspaper about mail-order brides wanted in Wyoming? Ella sees it as her chance for something she’s never had – a normal life.

Nathan Lantry is a widower with three young children. He’s well enough off that he has hired help, so he’s not terribly hot to trot to remarry – except that he has political ambitions. Having a lovely wife on his arm certainly isn’t going to be a determent. He’s not interested in any of the potential brides that have just landed in Sweetwater, Wyoming until he sees Ella. She’s breathtakingly lovely.  Smart, accomplished, so what if she’s not much of a cook and isn’t terribly familiar with children. She’ll learn in time, plus – he has hired help. Before you can say Big Secret, these two are tying the knot. But what will happen when Ella’s past comes calling?

What I like about St. John’s westerns is that it is typically the heroine with the Big Secret. Some part of her past that serves as the conflict. The hero tends to be a nice guy who is blindsided when the truth comes to light. The courtesan angle is a good one and allows our heroine to still be somewhat innocent. She’s lived her whole life preparing for one goal – to be a kept woman. She’s traded that in for being a married woman – but her new husband gives her the freedom that she never had living in the brothel. Little things that other women might take for granted. Every day is a day of new discoveries.

The romance here is gentle and sweet, with enough sensual longing that it’s really fantastic when these two finally succumb. Granted, I found it slightly odd that Nathan doesn’t really question Ella’s lack of innocence in this area until after the Big Secret is revealed – but hey, he’s a guy falling love. You can overlook a lot when you’re falling in love. What I can’t quite overlook here is the ending.  It’s very sugary, and frankly, I find it unbelievable.  Maybe if Nathan and Ella live out in the middle of nowhere – but they’re in an established town.  A civilized, established town that earlier in the book had snubbed a “fallen woman,” and Ella witnessed said snubbing.

However, while the resolution to the conflict doesn’t work for me on the grand scale – the romance, in general, does.  I like Ella.  I like Nathan.  I like that they find each other and are together.  It doesn’t light my world on fire, but it is a very pleasant read, a gentle way to entertain myself while stuck on an airplane.  That’s what I wanted, and that’s what I got.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Courtesan Ella Reed escapes dangerous city life to rural Wyoming and says “I do” to a marriage of convenience! But she may not live the life of a respectable woman for long if she can’t keep her past—and her heart—under lock and key.

For a self-made man with political aspirations, love is trivial in a paper marriage. Nathan Lantry needs a wife to secure his election and manage his rowdy little boys. Yet he can’t stop wanting more from his irresistible new bride. Then her secrets start to unravel….

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Her Fantasy by Saskia Walker
Erotic romance short story ebook published by Spice Briefs 01 Mar 11

It takes a special skill for an author to deliver a satisfying read in the length of a short story.  Not only does Saskia Walker have a healthy backlist, she’s written an impressive amount of shorter works.  So when I opened up Her Fantasy, I knew I was in the hands of a pro.  Yes, the gift box was small – but think of it as a jewelry box.

Anya Reid split from her boyfriend when she realizes that not only has the sizzle gone out of the relationship, but that she is finding herself tempted by other men.  Well, one man in particular – Warren McClure.  Never one to cheat, she takes this attraction to mean that something is definitely wrong in Denmark.  She figures even if Warren doesn’t think of her “that way,” it’s still a sign, so she’s content to be single.  But when Warren asks her out on a date?  Yeah, she doesn’t say no.  In fact, even before he broaches the subject of sexual fantasies over dinner, they’re already setting off enough sparks to power all of London.

Warren has had a crush on Anya since he first laid eyes on her at the office.  But she was involved with someone else, and Warren does not go poaching on another man’s territory.  So he’s played around, never satisfied because those women aren’t Anya, and bided his time.  Now his time is here, and he’s not about to blow it.  And if that means making Anya’s sexual fantasies come true?  So be it.

What I enjoyed about this short story is that there is an actual flesh and blood story.  It’s not just a bunch of sex scenes strung together.  I really feel like Walker shows me a world, a slice of a developing relationship, and I honestly find myself charmed by the romance.  I like Anya and Warren.  In fact, in between the hot sex and the eventual ménage a trios episode, there’s a lovely sweetness here.  I also like that after the ménage it’s not just “Oh, well, that was fun.” These two actually ::gasp:: talk about it and where their relationship is heading.

Yes, it’s a short story.  No, it’s not a full-length novel.  Yes, it’s an office romance, so readers need to get past the Danger, Danger Sexual Harassment Lawsuit warning bells.  But it’s still damn good.  In fact, it’s one of the finer Spice Briefs stories I’ve had the pleasure to read.  More, please.

Grade: B+

Summary:

“Which sexual fantasy is your ultimate turn-on?”

How is Anya Reid supposed to control her lust for her sexy coworker Warren McClure when he asks questions like that on their very first date? She has wanted Warren and to be more adventurous in bed for a long time, but she never expected him to be so direct…or to correctly guess that a menage is her secret desire.

Soon Warren isn’t just talking about Anya’s fantasies — he’s making them come true. But does he want a true relationship, or is he only interested in their erotic games?

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of What’s a Housekeeper to Do? by Jennie Adams
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Romance 3 May 11

What I find appealing about category is that the shorter word counts mean an immediate strong and intense focus on the romance.  Since I read romance novels for the romance, this is a major plus, in my opinion.  Do you want to know what the kiss of death is for a category romance?  No, not secret babies, billionaire tycoons, or virgin secretaries.  When the book is boring.  Shorter word counts should equate intense conflict and emotional punch.  It should not equate putting me to sleep.

Not only does Lally Douglas have no life, she lacks her own identity.  She has spent her entire adult life catering to her large family and working for them – either as child care or in their small businesses.  But now the unthinkable has happened – nobody in her family needs her.  So she answers an ad for a temporary housekeeper, thinking that once this job is over, surely someone in the family will need her again.

Cameron Travers not only works in property development, he’s a successful crime fiction writer.  Alas, right now, he’s got a lot on his plate.  He’s working on remodeling a new property, he’s got a wicked case of writer’s block, his editor is breathing down his neck, and oh yeah – he’s an insomniac.  He’s hoping that by hiring Lally to handle a lot of the little day-to-day stuff, it will help free up some of his time and maybe kick his muse into gear.  He did not bargain on being attracted to her.

The bulk of my problems with this story occur with Lally’s character.  Or lack thereof.  Now, we’ve all read our fair share of self-sacrificing heroines.  The martyr-types who routinely throw themselves on various fires.  But Lally is different.  She’s painfully vanilla.  I never got a sense that she’s her own person.  Or even that she wants to be her own person.  You know that expression about your family being your anchor?  Well, Lally has strapped that anchor around her neck and is sinking like a stone.  The worst of it is that no one in her family is evil.  They’re nice people.  But it takes them conspiring against her, and lying to her face, for her to go out on her own.

The problem is that I never feel like Lally does that.  She trades taking care of her family for taking care of Cam.  Heroines like this don’t need a romance.  It’s the bloody well last thing they need.  They need to get a life of their own.  An identity.  Something that actually makes me give a damn about them as a character.

The other edge of this sword is that this story lacks any real conflict for a very long time.  Lally has a Big Secret that could have been dynamite dramatically, but it comes off with a fizzle.  It does help to explain why she is the way she is, but the lack of urgency to what few teasing bread crumbs the author drops early on just aren’t enough to make me care.  Cam seems like an OK sort of bloke, but even with all his baggage, he never rises above mild interest for me.

At the end of the day, Lally’s bad first impression that drags on and on, coupled with the lack of urgency, and this is one deadly dull read for me.  It may appeal to those readers who find themselves burnt out on over-the-top angst or characters with so much baggage you wonder how they’re not in a psychiatric hospital.  But all the way through this one I found myself yearning for something, Dear Lord, anything to happen.  It just never did.

Grade: D

Summary:

Being housekeeper to crime writer Cameron Travers should be a pretty simple, safe job—just what Lally Douglas wants. Once burned, forever shy Lally wants to blend into the background.

Cameron Travers is attractive, intelligent, fun and very charming! Soon Lally wants to wear all colors of the rainbow and embrace life. Most of all she wants Cameron to notice her, in that way.

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin
Young Adult crime noir published by Little Brown 01 Feb 11

Clever goes a long way with me.  If an author gives me clever, I’ll be honest, they’re about halfway home right out of the gate.  And that’s precisely what Sean Beaudoin’s third young adult novel is: clever.  How much readers will enjoy it, I suspect, will have everything to do with how many of the jokes they get.

What the author has done is taken many well-worn pulp crime noir tropes and dumped them in a YA world.  Instead of a crime-riddled city?  Yep, a high school.  Instead of corrupt politicians?  Corrupt school faculty.  Instead of gangs fighting over a piece of various illegal rackets?  Cliques, of course!  And instead of a world-weary gumshoe, you have our hero, a teenage kid who has read one too many crime novels.

Dalton Rev has just transferred to Salt River High to take on a new case.  Find out who murdered “The Body.”  The police are calling Wesley Payne’s death a suicide, but that doesn’t explain why he’s found duct-taped, upside down, to one of the football goal posts.  Hired by a fresh-faced girl next door, Dalton soon finds himself knee-deep in the complexities of life at Salt River.  Where the two main players are The Balls (the jocks, naturally) and Pinker Casket (the rockers).  Can Dalton find the killer before all the cliques start eating each other alive?

What this book has is a pretty decent mystery, enough slang to choke a Valley Girl, and so many shenanigans that in real life these kids would be locked up in Juvenile Detention, the key not just thrown away but dissolved in battery acid.  It’s not a story one takes seriously, at face value.  I’m not sure we’re that morally bankrupt as a society (just yet anyway).  But as a slick send-up of pulp novels, the absurdity of high school cliques, and snappy dialogue to boot?  That’s hard for me not to like.

However, it’s not perfect.  There is a boat-load of slang here, a lot of it very funny and really smart, but readers with a low tolerance for this sort of thing won’t make it past the first chapter.  Also, the author bites off a bit more than he probably should have.  There are a ton of cliques in this book, with more than a few of them just getting a cursory mention. There’s a very smart “clique index” included (along with a slang glossary), but for things of this ilk, the author loses points when I have to refer back to it to decipher who is who – which I did a few times with the outer edge cliques.  The flow of the story would have been better served by cutting out some of these “lesser” cliques and tightening up the focus on the secondary players.

I also think that while this book can be enjoyed on its own, I do think it helps tremendously to have a crime-fiction reading background.  Frankly, you just “get” more of the jokes.  And that leaves me wondering if what we really have here is a YA book written for adults.  Could non-crime reading teens enjoy this book?  Oh sure.  But not nearly as much as the teens who have pilfered grandpa’s Mickey Spillane novels.  Or adult readers who spend an exorbitant amount of time in mystery sections of bookstores and libraries.

Which probably goes a long way in explaining why I enjoyed it so much.  It is smart.  It is clever.  It puts a glossy shine on pulp crime noir while remaining true to the many elements that make the genre so much fun.  Does it help to already be in the club?  Sure.  But I won’t be surprised if You Killed Wesley Payne initiates more than a few new members.

Grade: B+

Summary:

He’s come to do a job.
A job that involves a body.
A body wrapped in duct tape found hanging from the goal posts at the end of the football field.

You Killed Wesley Payne is a truly original and darkly hilarious update of classic pulp-noir, in which hard-boiled seventeen year-old Dalton Rev transfers to the mean hallways of Salt River High to take on the toughest case of his life. The question isn’t whether Dalton’s going to get paid. He always gets paid. Or whether he’s gonna get the girl. He always (sometimes) gets the girl. The real question is whether Dalton Rev can outwit crooked cops and killer cliques in time to solve the mystery of “The Body” before it solves him.

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Taming Her Gypsy Lover by Christine Merrill
Historical romance ebook short story published by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 May 10

I adore the Harlequin Historical Undone line, but I have this annoying habit of hording the short stories on my Sony Reader.  Which would be the half-ass excuse I have for just now reading this prequel to the multi-author Harlequin Historical Silk & Scandal series almost one year after it’s release date.  Well, better late than never I suppose!

When Emma Hammond’s husband dies she’s relegated to the status of poor relation in her uncle’s household.  Dear Uncle has plans to wash his hands of her by foisting her off into an arranged marriage with one of his “yes men.”  Emma doesn’t see a way out until a darkly handsome Gypsy comes calling.

Chal Pannell arrives on the scene to claim a young gypsy boy that Emma’s cousin-in-law took from his tribe.  However the boy is no longer there, and instead Chal finds Emma – a woman he is immediately drawn to.  For her part, Emma sees her way out.  She’ll provide Chal with information to help him locate the boy – and in return, he takes her with him.

As a prequel to the Silk & Scandal series this story works quite well.  It lays the groundwork, gives readers a glimpse into the “scandal,” and sets the fallout in motion.  As a stand-alone short story it has some problems.  The time table for the romance is very short (as in, a couple of days), and while the Georgian era is drawn well, I had some nagging issues.  Namely, I have a hard time picturing Chal debauching Emma in the gardens while she’s wearing Georgian clothing.  Also, while the author does sell it fairly well, it’s still a bit problematic to think of an English lady taking to the Gypsy lifestyle so effortlessly.  But the story is interesting, Chal is tall, dark and handsome, and there are plenty of sexy-times to be had.

All in all, not a terrible way to spend some pre-bedtime reading.  It certainly did the job of peaking my interest in the Silk & Scandal series, of which I have several in my TBR.

Grade: C

Summary:

Widow Emma Hammond had reluctantly accepted her place as a poor relation to be given away in an arranged marriage. She didn’t think she could escape her fate—until she meets gypsy Chal Pannell. Even though he vows revenge against her family for taking a gypsy boy from his tribe, he awakens Emma’s passionate fantasies…and a risqué tryst in the woods proves he desires her just as strongly! When the boy goes missing, Emma and the wild stranger set off to recover him as unlikely allies—and uninhibited lovers….

No Excerpt Found.

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Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of To Court, Capture and Conquer by Amanda McCabe
Historical Romance ebook short story published by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 Nov 10

I am in awe of Amanda McCabe.  Besides the fact that she’s one of the hardest working writers in romance (she’s also Laurell McKee!), she’s always willing to explore a variety of settings.  To Court, Capture and Conquer is the latest of her work set in the criminally under-utilized Elizabethan time period – and there’s plenty to enjoy here packed in a small word count.

A favorite at court, Lord Edward Hartley has been carefully plotting his revenge against the odious Sir Thomas Sheldon.  Edward has settled on the idea of kidnapping Sheldon’s virginal young bride-to-be — just long enough to cast the girl’s reputation in doubt.  Edward strikes back at Sheldon, and, in return, the poor innocent escapes the clutches of a man who has already buried two wives.  Naturally the plan goes awry (doesn’t it always?) and Edward discovers he’s kidnapped the girl’s chaperone, Lady Elizabeth Gilbert, by mistake!  Whatever shall they do? ::wink, wink, nudge, nudge::

I read a lot of these Undones, and McCabe always manages to deliver so much story in such a short word count.  This story feels fully fleshed out, with well-developed characters, and an extremely interesting setting.  It also delivers on the sexy sizzle that this line is built around.

That all being said, the declarations of love do come off a bit abrupt (although it helps that the couple knows each other from court), and there are some unanswered questions.  Namely, the fall-out regarding the young, virginal would-be bride, and the villain still needs to be dealt with.  However, the curtain falls nicely on the romance, and the author leaves the door open to return to this world (and her villain) with a future release.  All in all, good show!

Grade: B

Summary:

London, 1589

Lord Edward Hartley plans to get revenge against Sir Thomas Sheldon, the man who destroyed his brother, by stealing Sheldon’s intended bride. Standing in his way is Lady Elizabeth Gilbert, the girl’s chaperone and a reputed paragon of virtue.

Yet Edward cannot help but notice the sensual longing in her eyes. He is sure that her cool exterior conceals a passion waiting to be set free. And when Edward kidnaps Elizabeth by mistake, neither can resist unleashing their desire….

No Excerpt Found.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Pleasured By The Viking by Michelle Willingham
Historical Romance short story ebook published by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 Aug 10

Michelle Willingham’s medievals tend to really work for me.  The fact that this short story features a secondary character from last year’s Surrender to an Irish Warrior, a book that landed on my personal Best Of 2010 reading list?  Yeah, I was expecting good things.  Unfortunately, while competently written, there’s fall-out from the happy-ever-after that didn’t work for me at all.

Auder Ó Reilly has agreed to marry a Norman baron in the hopes of protecting her mother and securing peace for her struggling clan.  Besides it being no love match (she’s never met the man!) Auder is concerned she will displease her husband when it comes to martial relations.  She dispensed of her virginity ages ago, it naturally wasn’t very good, so she thinks she’s “bad” at s-e-x.  She confides this bit of news to Viking warrior and friend, Gunnar Dalrata.  Gunnar makes her various girly bits tingle, but he’s currently pitching woo with a widow.  Little does she know that Gunnar is finding himself increasingly distracted by her presence as well!

The basic idea behind this story worked pretty well for me, but it’s the inclusion of the widow that Gunnar is currently spending time with that throws a wrench in the entire romance for me.  Gunnar comes off as a guy juggling two women, which isn’t exactly an endearing quality in a “hero.” Then there is the fact that in order for our couple to be together, someone has to be thrown under the bus – and guess who that is?  Yeah, the widow.

For her part, the author doesn’t fall into the all-too-common (and annoying) trap of making the “other woman” eviiiiiil.  Also, there’s a wonderful sense of place and time period here.  The widow’s outcome feels authentic, and the author does spin it in a way to suggest that the widow isn’t really getting that screwed over…but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  It also leaves me not feeling very “happy” for our romantic couple.

Grade: D

Summary:

Ireland, 1181

To secure peace for her clan and protection for her mother, chieftain’s daughter Auder Ó Reilly agrees to marry a powerful Norman baron. Though she desperately hopes the alliance will work, Auder worries she won’t be able to please her husband in the marriage bed—a fear she admits to her friend, handsome Viking Gunnar Dalrata. Auder has no difficulty imagining sensual delights with Gunnar, but she doesn’t believe he would ever think of her that way. Until the night of Bealtaine, when Gunnar whisks Auder away to introduce her to the true pleasure of making love….

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Beauty and the Brooding Boss by Barbara Wallace
Contemporary romance published by Harlequin Romance 01 Mar 11

I swear I see the words “beauty” and/or “beast” anywhere on the cover of a romance novel and I go completely Pavlovian.  So while trolling around the Harlequin web site, looking to fill my virtual shopping basket with digital goodies, it’s no wonder that I was drawn to Wallace’s latest for Harlequin Romance.

Kelsey Albertelli needs an infusion of cash, so when she’s offered the job to be Alex Markoff’s assistant, at a hefty salary, she jumps at the offer.  However, she soon learns she probably should have asked a few questions about her future boss before saying yes.

Alex Markoff is a literary superstar, having written a blockbuster book that captivated darn near everybody.  However the fame, a failed marriage to an actress and the media glare have chased him to the Berkshires, where he’s living like a hermit.  His editor has been after him about finishing his long overdue next book (“breach of contract” has been mentioned more than once) and a hiking accident has left him with a broken arm.  Now he’s stuck with an assistant he doesn’t want, all because his book is late and he can’t type the manuscript (Alex writes his books out longhand).

What we have here is pretty standard Beauty & The Beast fare.  Alex is grouchy, grumpy, and annoyed that the world won’t leave him alone.  Kelsey is also a bit of a loner, having adopted a nomadic lifestyle from a young age, after being dealt a crappy set of cards.  Eventually these two find themselves attracted to each other, thanks in large part to their similarities.

Unfortunately the romance took a while to cook for me, and I never really fell in love with it.  Alex is grumpy for a little too long, and by the time these two begin spending a reasonable amount of time together, there wasn’t enough on the page to fully commit me to their romance.  Also it’s hard to sympathize with Alex’s “invasion of privacy” when he married a bloody actress!  What did he think he was signing up for?  For her part, I thought Kelsey’s backstory was interesting, until the author clues the reader in on why she needs the hefty salary Alex’s publisher is paying.  Self-sacrificing heroines are a dime a dozen in the genre, but Kelsy’s “reasoning” on why she has to pay back the debt strains the seams considerably.

Still, this is a nice story that offers a pleasant reading diversion.  There is enough here to entice me to give Wallace another whirl, and the Berkshires setting is done with a loving touch.  I’ve read better, but I’ve also read much worse.

Grade: C

Summary:

Working for reclusive author Alex Markoff sounded like Kelsey Albertelli’s dream job…until she met her new boss. Alex might be movie-star handsome, but his gruff grouchiness makes it clear that Kelsey is not exactly welcome.

Kelsey’s a fighter and she refuses to tiptoe around a man who clearly needs looking after, even if he’s too stubborn to admit it! As cracks gradually appear in Alex’s forbidding exterior, for the first time Kelsey feels dangerously close to belonging. Can she hope for her own happy-ever-after…?

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Perfect Concubine by Michelle Styles
Historical Romance short story ebook published by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 Feb 11

Of late, my quality of reading material has been more than a little lacking.  One lackluster story after another is leaving me twitching for something entertaining, and non-frustrating, to read.  Bless Michelle Styles’ heart – turns out she has the solution.  All I needed to do is travel back in time to ancient Rome!

Valeria is a desperate woman.  Her family has fallen on hard times, and now there is word that her missing brother might be alive and well, living in North Africa.  She’s determined to find him, but it means finding a man crazy enough to set sail when the weather is all wrong for such a venture.  When every other option dissolves, she’s left with Piso the Greek, the one man brave (and crazy) enough to say yes.  The fly in the ointment?  Piso and Valeria share a past, one rife with pain, heartache, and betrayal.

Piso, once a common sailor, is now a very wealthy man.  However, he’s still bitter over what he construes as Valeria’s betrayal.  So it’s partly for that reason, along with the fact that he’s never gotten over her, that he agrees to help her – on one condition.  She becomes his concubine.

Now, admittedly, this sounds a tad unsavory.  And it would have been had it not been for the heartbreaking back-story.  It’s easy to understand why Piso is so angry.  It’s easy to understand the choices Valeria felt she had to make.  The conflict stems from Piso not knowing exactly what poor Valeria has had to endure.

I suspect some readers will find this short story a bit rushed, and certainly it could have been longer given the emotional angst the characters have had to endure.  However, it also probably could have gotten a bit tiresome as a longer read, given Piso’s animosity and that the reason for it is because of a lack of communication.  As is, I think it’s just about right.  Now to hunt up the connected book, Sold & Seduced, to add to the ol’ TBR.

Grade: B

Summary:

Rome, 68 B.C.

Valeria’s life is in the hands of Piso the Greek—the very man who had risen from a common sailor to wealthy ship owner following their doomed romance. He is the only man brave enough to sail the dangerous seas to Alexandria to reunite Valeria with her missing brother and restore her family’s fortune. But Piso demands a high price for his help: Valeria must become his concubine and share his bed once more….

No Excerpt Found.

Other books in this series: