Scandal in the Spring

Wallflowers Series - Book 4

Author: Lisa Kleypas


Daisy Bowman is a dreamer. She knows she's the odd one in the family, everyone else is so practical and driven while she's content to watch clouds and pick out the shapes she sees in them. She loves whimsical things and and fantastical novels. When her father brought her and her sister, Lillian, to England to find aristocratic husbands, Daisy wasn't overly concerned. So long as she wasn't separated from her sister, she didn't much mind it. Though she did wish she might find a gentleman who was a bit of a dreamer too, someone who would understand her a little, but as the season draws to a close with no real prospective husband on the horizon, her father begins to become impatient to return to his business in America and begins to chafe at all the money wasted on an investment that doesn't look to make a return. He gives Daisy an ultimatum. Find a husband by the end of the month or marry his protege, Mr. Matthew Swift. There is no one Daisy would rather marry less than a cold-blooded business man who is an exact replica of her father. Much less one that will see her back in America, an entire ocean away from her sister. With the help of her sister, the rest of the Wallflowers and their husbands, she hopes they can save her from Mr. Swift. Even if he is looking a great deal more attractive than she remembers.

Matthew Swift isn't the man everyone thinks he is. He is a man with secrets. One of those secrets is the fact that he has been in love with Daisy Bowman from the moment he first set eyes on her, but his other secrets make any life with Daisy impossible. From the time he was an adolescent, and Mr. Bowman all but adopted him, he's looked up to the man and striven to be a successful business man like him. He knows that none of the Bowman's children like him, Daisy maybe least of all. She thinks him a carbon copy of her father, who disapproves of her fanciful nature, but the truth is that Matthew loves every quirky thing about her. When Mr. Bowman summons him to England for business he knows it will be hard for him seeing Daisy after all this time and doubtless surrounded by suitors, but she'll marry some aristocrat and he'll go back to America where he won't have to see her with another man. All he has to do is keep his feelings in check and hidden from everyone, shouldn't be too hard, he's been doing it for years. He just didn't bargain on how hard it would be watch another man court her or that Daisy might begin seeing him in a different light altogether. How can he resist the girl of his dreams? And resist he must because the secrets of his past are finally catching up to him.



Matthew's secret was pretty darn major. I thought that the untangling of it was kind of brief. I was kind of surprised that Mr. Bowman and his wife reacted the way they did to learning about his secret. Much cooler than I thought them capable of being. I could understand why Matthew thought that there was no future for him with Daisy, but I think that he just wasn't thinking it through enough. If he hadn't slipped up with his dad then he would have been perfectly safe to start a life in England, farther from the man who was looking for him and, since he did not know that his father had told where to find him, it would have been perfectly understandable for him to seriously consider it. I wish he would have told Daisy himself instead of having her find out the way she did. I found it annoying that Daisy never thought to give Matthew the time of day until he showed up in England looking all fit and attractive. By her own admission, she was never nice to him and yet when she sees him again, she is instantly attracted to him and agitated at the thought that he isn't interested in her. To me it makes her seem a bit petty and shallow. She never tried to get to know him when he was a bit gawky, but she disliked him anyway.

The Devil in Winter

Wallflowers Series - Book 3

Author: Lisa Kleypas


Evangeline Jenner is the daughter of Ivo Jenner, former boxer and proprietor of a gaming hell called Jenner's. Her mother was from an upper class family, but met Jenner after a near miss accident involving her family's coach. She ran away with him and eloped. She went to her family before her daughter was born and dies during childbirth. Thought Evie was allowed to visit her father, she was raised by her mother's family. They treated her terribly and were not above beating or starving her to bend her to their will. She's always believed that marriage was her only way out of her terrible situation, but she's got so much working against her, chiefly the fact that her shyness causes her to stammer when speaking. Usually the more attractive the gentleman trying to talk to he is, the worse she stutters. She knows her odds are slim at best, but maybe with the help of her fellow Wallflowers, she might find a kind gentleman to marry. Then she finds out that her father, whom she hasn't been allowed to see in months, is at death's door and that her relatives plan to marry her off to a cousin so that they can keep her father's money. She also suspects they may kill her shortly after getting the money. She desperately needs a husband and there is only on man whom she knows who needs a rich wife just as desperately.


Sebastian, Viscount St. Vincent, has made women and the pursuit of pleasure his life's work, unfortunately for him, it isn't the sort of work that pays well. His father has squandered away the family fortune and St. Vincent needs to marry an heiress before his creditors come calling. A task he's made harder on himself by attempting to kidnap and force a marriage on Lillian Bowman, an heiress, a Wallflower, and the Duke of Westcliff's fiance. All he managed to get out of the deal was a severe beating and the loss of his best friend, the a fore mentioned Duke of Westcliff. When the stuttering, red-headed Wallfloer, Evie Jenner, showed up on his doorstep, all he felt was annoyance. When she proposed that they elope immediately, he was definitely suspicious, but a man in his position could hardly afford to pass up such an opportunity. They agree that Evie shall have a portion of the money for herself and they'll live separate lives, but once St. Vincent gets a look at Jenner's club, he starts to see an entirely new future opening before him ... a future that just might include such foreign concepts as fidelity and love.


Some of you may recognize Ivo Jenner as Derek Craven's nemesis in Dreaming of You. I always love it when author's do things like this, bring secondary characters from other books/series in to newer. It makes you feel more realistic. I mean, you've got all these character's living in certain areas, it's likely they're crossed paths, especially when you're talking about the aristocracy and upper classes. They tended to travel in the same circles. I'm not sure how I felt about St. Vincent, especially after the doings in the previous book, It Happened One Autumn. I was glad to know that he never would have made good his threat to rape Lillian, but he still shackled her to a bed and threatened to rape her. Yes, Westcliff's mother probably would have had Lillian killed if St. Vincent hadn't agreed to take her, but he could have easily taken her to a safe place and let Westcliff know what was going on. If he'd thought it through, even for a moment, he would have seen how impossible the whole scheme was. He started out being rather prick-ish to Evie, which was at times incongruous with the kindnesses he showed her, but for someone who is supposed to be a hardened libertine, he changes course rather suddenly. With most characters like St. Vincent when we see a change it's because they've become weary of their life style or something drastic has happened o cause them to rethink they're whole way of life. These things happen with St. Vincent, but neither of them seems big enough to cause such a change, and certainly not as suddenly as it did. I think I needed more of a redemption for him than I got. Eve was great. I like how she didn't do what most heroines do an give in to lust and sleep with St. Vincent regardless of her concerns. Sometimes I get so tired of the heroine who knows the guy is bad news and has decided that sleeping with him is a bad thing, yet the moment the hero comes within arms reach her clothes fall off and her legs flop open like she's some mindless blow-up doll. Evie wanted him and loved him, but she stuck to her guns until she felt it was right to sleep with him.

It Happened One Autumn

Wallflowers Series - Book 2

Author: Lisa Kleypas


Lillian Bowman is the daughter of a rich American industrialist who's trying to buy his way in to the upper class by offering a sizable dowry to any man of suitable pedigree who's willing to marry his daughters. A fact so well known that in New York, where the girls are from, that they've coined the phrase "Marry Lillian and get a million". Now the girls are in England and they've got a season to find aristocratic husbands. Their father is doing business with the Earl of Westcliff and they're spending a month at his country estate. Lillian would be perfectly happy to enjoy the beautiful estate if it weren't for the arrogant, uptight earl who disapproves of just about everything she does. When he isn't mauling her, that is.


Lord Marcus Westcliff, Earl of Westcliff, is very interested in machinery and believes that industry is the future. Unlike his peers, who are desperately trying to hold on to their "superiority", Westcliff embraces industry and fosters it whenever possible. It is this that brings him in contact with Mr. Thomas Bowman, a soap magnate, father to Lillian and Daisy Bowman. He wishes to talk Mr. Bowman in to opening a branch of his business in England. Marcus could only wish that dealing with Mr. Bowman did not entail having to deal with Lillian Bowman. He finds Lillian to be arrogant, domineering, manipulative, and prone to inappropriate behavior. In other words, a complete hellion! There is nothing at all to recommend her. Why then has he suddenly been struck by this inability to keep his hands off of her?



I don't know how I felt about this perfume thing and how Westcliff disliked her intensely one moment and then was all over her the next. Only to retreat then maul her again. I understand that Westcliff's dad was an abusive jerk who tried to beat any sign of weakness or emotion out of him as a boy, but he seemed to be pretty self-aware, except apparently when it came to Lillian and what he wanted from her. That seen where he comments that a man who has sex more than once a week has too much time on his hands in a room with two recently married men and a complete libertine is just so funny to me. I liked that Lillian was of stronger character even though she did occasionally fall in to the trap of making stupid choices just to prove she was capable. Only one of those moments, the one with the horse riding, made me think she was pulling a TSTL. I'll admit that the whole thing with St. Vincent was a shocker. Did not see it coming! I know it was mentioned repeatedly that he was completely lacking in morals and untrustworthy, often by St. Vincent himself, but I still did not expect it to go the way it did. They mentioned the time he stole a woman from Westcliff, but I saw it as a favor to him. I figured that St. Vincent knew what that woman was about and that she was wrong for Westcliff so when she tried to use him to make Westcliff jealous, he seduced her so that there would be no chance of her snaring Westcliff. I still see it that way, even after the boneheaded thing he did with Lillian.

Evie's story is next and St. Vincent is slated to be the hero in that one. I'm reserving judgment on just how he's going to be redeemed after this. Here's hoping.

Secrets of a Summer Night

Wallflower Series - Book 1

Author: Lisa Kleypas


Annabelle Peyton getting desperate. Her father's death has left her family in dire straits. What little money they have goes mainly toward putting her younger brother to school and keeping her looking as fashionable as possible on their meager budget in hopes that she will catch a wealthy husband. Even though she is beautiful and gently bred, she has reached the age of 25 and this will be her last season, her last chance to save her family before she's forced to do something ruinnous, like accepting the protection of one of the many "gentlemen" who have begun to circle like vultures. She knows there is no coming back from that and so she'll do whatever she has to do to catch a husband, even if it means going along with two outrageous Americans and a mousy red-head who stutters in a scheme crazy enough to work. They're tired of being wallflowers and all in need of husbands for various reasons, so why not pool their resources and join forces to get them each a husband one at a time. After all, what man could stand against the combined cunning and determination of four marriage minded women? If only that dreadful cit, Simon Hunt would stop asking her to dance and making inappropriate propositions that remind her all too well of that one time, years ago, when he kissed her in a darkened amphitheater. Yes, he's got obscene amounts of money, but he's not of her class and she knows he's not the marrying kind. The Wallflowers have set their sights on a rich viscount who seems very sweet and kind. They've got their strategy all mapped out and they'll have that gentleman caught in a compromising position before before he knows what hit him.

Simon Hunt was born the son of a butcher, but you couldn't tell it by his fine clothes, bulging bank account and thriving businesses. He's got more money and connections than some aristocrats can boast and he's gotten there through ambition, hard work, and determination. What Simon Hunt wants, he gets. He's been fascinated with Annabelle Peyton from the first moment he saw her. He's never been able to forget the time he went to an amphitheater with Annabelle and her brother. The lights went down for a few minutes and there, in the dark, he gave in to the urge to kiss her. He expected to be pushed away and slapped, but instead she gave in and kissed him back. He's spent the last two years since that kiss trying to get her alone. He knows her family's financial situation and when she finally gives up on marriage she'll need a protector. Simon plans to be that man, no matter how many other gentlemen he's got to take down to do it. When rumors first surface that she's already taken a protector, an unsavory man who apparently gives her just enough to get by on, Simon is sure it's all a lie, but during a house party in the country, there seems to be an odd sort of tension between Annabelle and the man purported to be her protector. Could it be true? When Annabelle is poisoned by an adder bite, Simon diagnoses and treats her before the doctor even gets there. He realizes after the ordeal that he might just love her and that he wants her to be his in every way, but can he convince her to marry a man who's not of her class? Especially when a rich viscount seems ready to offer for her at any moment?


I really like Simon, though in the beginning it irked me that he used not being a gentleman as a rationalization for taking advantage of her bad situation to make a mistress out of her, but looking down on the aristocrats for doing the same thing. He has been fantasizing about this girl for 2 years and he never thought to offer her marriage? Really? Annabelle wasn't much better in her resistance to Simon. She let her prejudice of the lower classes color her judgment when it came to Simon. If she'd have accepted his offers to dance she might have gotten to know him. I mean, the guy is mega rich, and interested in her. If she'd gotten over herself she could have eventually talked him around to thinking marriage. She never even thought to give it a chance. The whole attitude the guys in this book had with regards to Annabelle's situation was disgusting. They're all like "Why marry the poor girl when I can wait until she's desperate enough to become my whore? " I know, different times and all that, but it's still sick as far as I'm concerned. I really liked the rest of the Wallflowers and am looking forward to their books.

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume

Author: Julia Quinn

Amelia Willoughby is being embarrassed by her fiance and he doesn't even seem to know it. Normally being engaged to someone as lofty as Thomas Cavendish, Duke of Wyndham, would be considered enviable by any young lady and her marriage minded mama, but when you've been engaged to said duke practically from birth and have reached the age of one and twenty without being married people begin to feel sorry for you. Amelia doesn't know much about her fiance, they're practically strangers even after all these years, and has been never bothered by her fiance's lack of attention until she begins receiving pitying glances from the very ladies who should be envying her. She begins to wonder if her fiance even knows she's alive. When he begins acting strangely, not his usually stiff and upright self, and lets his guard down a bit, she begins to realize that she might just like him ... maybe even love him. Just as she's coming to the realization that she might be very happy married to Thomas, things begin to unravel and she finds that marrying the Duke of Wyndham might just mean losing the man she loves.

Thomas Cavendish, Duke of Wyndham, knows he will have to marry his long-time fiance soon, but surely it couldn't hurt anything to put it off just a little longer? When she behaves unexpectedly at a party, he gets a chance to speak with her alone, and finds that she's a bit more interesting than he ever thought possible. If an unknown cousin hadn't shown up all of a sudden to turn his world upside down, things might be going quite well. Finding out that a long dead uncle, older brother to the previous duke, married shortly before he died, leaving behind a pregnant wife who later died giving birth to Jack Audley-Cavendish and that he, not Thomas, might be the real Duke of Wyndham would be enough to send any man in to a tail spin. Thomas has an identity crisis of major proportions. All his life he's been taught and trained to be the Duke of Wyndham and if he isn't that, then who is he? What will his life become? He finds that Amelia is a good companion to him during this turmoil, but what good does falling in love with her do when she's contracted to marry the Duke of Wyndham regardless of what man bears that title?

This book is a sequel to The Lost Duke of Wyndham and, while the book can stand alone, I strongly suggest reading the first book before you read this one. I found it odd to read a sequel that basically relives the events of the first book, only through the eyes of what was originally a secondary couple. It's happened a time or two where I'm reading a book and this secondary pairing catches my attention and I wonder what's going on with them. Usually this happens when the pairing is slated for a book of their own, but I've never seen it done this way. At times I've wondered what was going on in the heads of other characters during a story and this kind of gave me that. In the first book, I though that Thomas was a real uptight tool and in the second you find out that he is, in fact, kind of an uptight tool, but there is more to him than that. I liked him a lot better once I got a look at things from his perspective. I remember that, in the first book, Amelia really annoyed me with how docile she seemed through the whole thing. Here are her father and her fiance telling her she has to marry a total stranger if he does turn out to be the legitimate Duke of Wyndham and she doesn't really say anything about it. She looks like a weak, hand-wringing ninny. You get to see her in a better light here, though I still think she could have spoken up for herself sooner. She picks up a real backbone by the end of it, though and I like that.

The Kept Woman

Author: Susan Donovan

Samantha Monroe is tired of her life. The fiery red-head was once an artist, but she set that all aside to help support her husband and raise their kids. Unfortunately, 10 years down the road, her husband impregnates her, tells her he's discovered that he's gay and wants a divorce, then proceeds to disappear without a trace. She is now the divorced mother of three trying to make it on a hairdresser's salary. She's got two young teens who are always bickering and a precocious toddler who refuses to be potty trained, which causes no end of trouble in the childcare department. If she could just track down her deadbeat ex and collect the over $50,000 he owes her in back child support, things would be looking up, but after three years she's losing hope that she'll ever see a cent. When she muses tipsily to her friends on their monthly night out that being a kept woman might not be such a bad deal, she sparks an idea in Kara DeMarinis, long time client and friend of Samantha's who also happens to be a campaign manager who's congressional candidate, Jack Tolliver, has a serious image issue. Why not pay Samantha to pretend to be his fiance? She'll get to live in his fancy house for the duration, private school and college trust funds for her kids, and enough money to buy a house when the campaign is over. It's sounds insane to Samantha, but can she really afford to pass it up?

Jack Tolliver loves his playboy lifestyle and he's not the least bit ashamed of that. He can't get enough of beautiful women, especially red-heads, and has no intention of settling on just one. Due to an unfortunate moment that was caught on video, however, the whole world knows he's a shameless womanizer. As if that weren't bad enough, Christy Schoen, former lover and anchor for Capitol Update has got it in for him. What they say about a woman scorned definitely applies to Christy. She's made it her mission to expose every one of Jack's indiscretions and destroy his political career. Jack's cavalier attitude towards women does not sit well with female voters and family values groups. When the current senator for his state steps down unexpectedly, Jack realizes that this is likely his last chance to be elected. All he has to do is clean up his image, but when Karen DeMarinis suggests he "rent" a fiance, he's pretty skeptical. When he find out she has kids, he's totally against it, but in the end realizes that he has no choice if he's to have a hope in hell of getting elected. He's pretty sure this will all be a huge disaster, but he might be able to pull it off if he can play the doting family man and keep it in his pants until after the election. Then again, maybe he can talk a certain red-head into making their arrangement a little more ... personal.


The thing that most bugged me out of this whole crazy plot was Samantha's ex. He lives on the run because he doesn't have the money to pay child support. That's totally believable, but what gets me is that in all that time he hasn't tried to keep in any kind of contact with his kids. At first he gives the impression that he never even thinks of them. Then the phone calls, which alerts him that he may have been found, gets him to thinking about them and wanting to see them again. When he's told Sam's engaged, the man starts getting all crazy over the possibility of Jack adopting his kids. Most people don't adopt their step-kids, especially not when they're older, like Sam's were. Seems a bit irrational, but since he seems to be missing his kids and doesn't want them to become some other man's, it makes one think that he's realized that his kids are the most important thing in his life and that he may be sorry for what he's done. Then he turns around and blackmails Sam, takes money that was meant to be fore the kids, and tries to wreck things between Sam and Jack. The man's mind made more swings than a pendulum. The only time he seemed the least bit sympathetic was when he was playing Sam. Hated that character. HATED. The reason for Jack's womanizing was understandable, but really lame.

The Rogue Hunter - Lynsay Sands

I'll state outright that I'm a sucker for anything Sands. I've read all her Argeneau books and I love her historicals. I really enjoy the humor in her books. They never fail to entertain. I know some people get caught up in the fact that she uses some modern language in her historicals, but I get a kick out of it.

The Rogue Hunter is about Garrett Mortimer, an enforcer for the Council. He's the immortal equivalent of a cop. He's been sent up to cottage country searching for a rogue immortal who's been biting people instead of bag lunchin' it like they're supposed to. Samantha Willan is on a much needed vacation with her sisters and ends up in the cabin right next door. She's an overworked lawyer recovering from a recent relationship disaster and definitely not looking for a man. Garrett suspects she might be his life mate and is less than thrilled. He's looking for a knock out with voluptuous curves, think Jessica Rabbit, and Sam is too skinny, flat-chested, narrow hipped and chronically clumsy to fit his bill. Between Garrett's partners, who think he's lucky to have found his life mate and Sam's sisters, who think she needs a vacation fling, Sam and Garrett keep getting thrown together.

This wasn't my favorite Sands book. It might actually be my least favorite. It just wasn't on par with the Argeneau series. The mystery just wasn't that interesting and pretty easy to figure out, which, depending on how good the rest of the story is, might or might not be a deal breaker for me. In this book I found it annoying. I both liked and disliked the main characters. I found Sam more annoying as the book went on. Her personally just seemed to grate on me. Mortimer seemed just a bit too uptight at times and it bugged me that he was so stuck on the superficial things he wasn't happy about in his life mate. It's his life mate for crying out loud! Some vampires never get that, but he's too busy complaining to himself about her looks to be happy about it. GAH! Also, the dialog wasn't as funny as I've come to expect from this author.

Today is the Greatest

Only not really. I've got the flu and have been ridiculously sick for days now. I won't be posting an book today. I didn't get much reading done this weekend. Between the ALS Walk4Life on Saturday and just plain being dog sick and sore all weekend, I only got one book read and nothing written down. Will resume book blogging once I feel better ... ish.

Dogs and Goddesses

Author: Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, Lani Diane Rich


Abby Richmond, Daisy Harris and Shar Summer are descended from three of the seven ancient priestesses who served the goddess Kammani Gula. After their goddess was defeated by another goddess and banished from our world, their ancestresses sealed themselves in Kammani's temple and slept until their temple was re-opened. They waited, prepared and tried to raise their daughters to serve when their goddess returned, but they passed on and their daughters, not believing that the goddess would ever come, put away the traditions and raised their daughters with no knowledge of Kammani or what might be expected of them when she returns. Return she does and with it the powers of her priestesses who become minor goddesses in their own right. Of the seven women called Abby, Daisy and Shar are the most powerful, and the most suspicious of Kammani and what she wants. This does not sit well with Mina Wortham, the priestess carrying the power of death, descended from the one family who kept the old traditions, who feels she deserves to be the post powerful and prized by her goddess as she is the most faithful.The three, however, are too busy trying to control their new powers, freaking out over their suddenly talking dogs, and trying to deal with the men who have suddenly appeared in their lives.

Daisy is attracted to Noah Wortham at first sight, but can she trust a guy who's working for Kammani and who's family has been taught to serve Kammani from the moment they're born? And what if Noah's feelings for her aren't real, but a product of the chaos magic swirling all around her?

Abby's powers keep drawing Professor Christopher Mackenzie to her despite the fact that the genius math professor who hears the voice of a long dead mathematician in his head wants nothing to do with anyone who might distract him from his equations. Abby is none too happy that her magic keeps pulling her towards a man who is upright, cold and just plain frustrating.

Shar literally has a man appear in her life. He is the god king Samu-la-el, raised by Kammani and destined to be sacrificed. She'd been attracted to his likeness before, but it was nothing compared to the man. How can she let herself fall for him when he serves Kammani, sleeps with any woman who wants him and was in love with her grandmother, Sharrat?

I originally thought this book was an anthology. Imagine my surprise when I cracked this book to find that it's a book told from the perspective of several women in the book and written by all three authors in concert. I think each author wrote one of the three female leads, but I'm not sure. I really liked the story, though I'll admit that Shar's parts of the story were my favorite, followed by Abby, but Daisy bugged me a bit. Of all the guys and relationships in the book, Noah was the one with the least conflict and the least reason for Daisy to doubt and yet she was the one who made the biggest mess of things. Abby's was a close second as far as emotional mess goes, but in her case it was warranted. Christopher was so socially inept that he did the worse thing he could have done to hurt Abby without really meaning to. I was really glad when he finally pulled his head out of his ... ahhh ... books and went after Abby. I think, had I been Shar, my biggest issue with Sam would have been the fact that he had been in love with her grandmother, whom she apparently looks exactly like her, and that he occasionally called her Sharrat. Most especially when he called her by that name as he was holding her and kissing her. Apparently Sharrat wouldn't give him the time of day because she was all about serving Kammani. I'd have some trouble believing he was really in to me and not just using me as a substitute for the woman he loved.

Lover Beware

Anthology


Magic in the Wind - Christine Feehan

Damon Wilder is a genius. He's spent years working for the D.o.D. on defense systems. This has gotten the attention of several terrorists groups and foreign governments. When Damon and his assistant are kidnapped and tortured for information, Damon manages to escape even though he was gravely injured, but not before his assistant is killed in an attempt to make Damon talk. He can't let go of the guilt over his assistants death. He retires to a small town looking to find peace and a place to call home, but the sense of impending doom follows him and he can't seem care about anything. Suddenly the town is abuzz because someone named Sarah is coming back and Damon find himself intently curious about this mystery woman and looking forward to her return.

Sarah Drake works for the government and has been assigned to protect Damon Wilder. She's also something of a witch, as are her sisters and all of their female ancestors before them. She finds Damon living in her home town and and if that isn't coincidental enough, the gate to their home opens for him, fulfilling the first part of a family prophecy that will lead all seven Drake sisters to their destiny. He's grumpy and a dark aura of death clings to him, but Sarah is drawn to him. If she can keep the bad guys from kidnapping Damon and if she can figure out how to get Death to stop following him, she just might be able to sit back and enjoy her fate.

Damon's character tickled me. He was like a crotchety old man in the beginning, then Sarah comes along and suddenly we begin to see him as a brilliant, attractive man who just isn't good with people and happens to have a physical impediment. Sarah's character is intriguing. She works for the government, protecting people from bad guys and kicking ass, but on the flip side she's a nurturing type who's kind to everyone in town and they all think she'd never hurt a fly. I'll be honest, though, there were parts there that were a little too syrupy for my taste.


Hot August Moon - Katherine Sutcliffe

Anna Travelli is a profiler for the F.B.I. She works with a secret unit of the F.B.I. that teaches people with certain psychic abilities to find serial killers and violent criminals. Now she's been assigned to a serial case that takes her back home to New Orleans and has her working with the Jerry Costos, D.A., ex-boyfriend, and the only man she's ever loved. The serial killer is torturing and killing prostitutes, but he knows who Anna is and he's thinking about setting his sights on her.

Jerry Costos has just lost his godson to a serial killer. He wants this guy bad enough to call in the F.B.I. The local cops are none to happy about it. When the profiler they send turns out to be Anna Travelli, the woman who broke his heart and whom he's never gotten over, he's not so sure he made the right call. She's keeps going in to dangerous situations without back up and wreaking havoc on his emotions. There's something going on that she's not telling him and he's determined to get to the bottom of it. Things between them are as electric as ever. If he can convince her to give them a second chance, he might get a chance at happiness.

This story was real interesting until I got to the end of it and realized there was no kind of resolution. Not for the romance between the lead characters and not with the serial killer. It was all a set up for the book Bad Moon Rising. I've never read it because the complete non-ending of this story just annoyed me no end. I thought the characters were interesting and I found the premise of psychics working as sort of profilers for the F.B.I. very interesting. This story just didn't deliver a satisfactory ending.


After Midnight - Fiona Brand

Jane O'Rilley is a widow. She spent the last seven years caring for her sick husband and the last four months of her widowhood avoiding Michael Rider, the man she's been secretly in love with since the moment she first laid eyes on him seven years ago. She feels she can't be with him because it would be like betraying her husband. She feels guilty enough that Michael kissed her once years ago before going off on a potentially deadly mission and that she spent months worried about him while her husband lay sick in bed. If she can avoid Michael and find out who's been secretly watching her and creeping around her property, everything will be fine.

Michael Rider is a retired S.A.S officer. When he met Jane O'Rilley all those years ago he was happily married and looking to start a family. Then, suddenly, all he could think about was Jane. His marriage ended and he took mission after mission, staying out of town and away from Jane as much as possible. Now Jane's husband has passed and he's retired so that he can finally claim Jane for his own. Someone is breaking in to people's homes and attacking women in his home town and Michael finds himself labeled as a suspect because he's got weapons and fighting skills, but it just might take those skills to catch the real criminal before he kills again.

I found this story a little hard to believe in places. Jane's character is very believable as the woman who avoids the man she loves because she feels guilty that when her husband was alive she was in love with another man and only staying with her husband out of duty because he needed her while he struggled with cancer. I found Michael's character a little harder to swallow. Here you have a man who stopped sleeping with his wife because he wanted another woman. He fell in love at first sight with this other woman and pretty much gave up on his marriage. Apparently he didn't love the woman he married enough to move away from the source of temptation and seek marriage counseling. Nice! Then he spends years celibate while patiently waiting for her husband to die. He's so hot that women are throwing themselves at him, but he's saving himself for Jane and never has so much as a hook up in seven years. Seriously?

Only Human - Eileen Wilks

Lily Yu is a homicide detective investigating a recent rash of murders apparently perpetrated by werewolves. She's no strange to the paranormal, but catching a killer who's DNA can't be reliably typed by forensics is going to be tough. Still, she's not sure if working with Rule Turner, poster boy for lycanthropy and prince of the local clan, is the best idea. Not only are his looks and charm a big distraction, but she's not sure she can trust him to tell her the truth about who the killer is.

Rule Turner is heir to the Chief of Clan Nokolai and the public face for lycanthropes in the area. He suspects that a rival clan is looking to not only cast suspicion for the murders on his clan, but scuttle a bill that will give lycanthropes certain rights while making them subject to human law. He's working with the police in hopes that he'll get to the killer before he causes any more problems for his clan. He's willing to lie and manipulate the police to make sure his clan gets a hold of the killer first. It would be easier if he wasn't absolutely sure that Lily Yu was meant to be his mate.

This was the precursor to the World of the Lupi series. I love Lily and Rule. Hell, I've loved the entire series! Go read it!

Miserable

I'm so sick right now that I feel almost zombie like, no cravings for flesh or organs though, so that's good. The next to updates will be romance, because I already read them and just need to blog them, but the one after will likely be some sci-fi, the old stuff. My vintage sci-fi books are like comfort food. I'm thinking it will be Way-Farer by Dennis Schmidt.

He Loves Lucy

Author: Susan Donovan


Lucy Cunningham is an ad exec who's just landed the biggest account of her career. Unfortunately the client is a fitness club and the campaign involves trying to lose 100 lbs in one year by working with their star trainer, Theo Redmond. The upside? She earns $1,000 for every pound she loses. With that kind of money she can realize her dream of opening her own ad agency. The downside? Having to get up at 4 AM every day, keeping a food journal, giving up Milk Duds and being tortured by Trainer Ken, or "Theo-dorable" as apparently every woman in town calls him. She's going to give it her best and hopefully not embarrass herself by drooling all over Theo. The guy is smoking hot, looking perfect in every way, but shallow jocks who's greatest concern in life is making sure they don't run out of hair gel just are not her type. Certainly not since that humiliating fiasco with a football player back in college that caused her to put on all the weight in the first place.

Theo Redmond had to drop out of medical school when his parents died, leaving him with custody of his 16 year old brother, Buddy, who has Downs Syndrome. Now he works as a personal trainer at the Palm Club during the week and as a bouncer on the weekends to make ends meet. This ad campaign that Lucy Cunningham cooked up bight just be his way back in to med school. He'll get $1,000 for every pound he helps her lose. With that kind of money he can pay for school and help for to care for Buddy. It won't be easy, losing 100 lbs in a year with nutrition and exercise is unusual, but if he can keep Lucy focused and motivated they just might make it. Unfortunately, spending so much time working closely with Lucy, whom he's liked from the first, is making it hard for Theo to keep things strictly professional. He's got to though because aside from the no-dating-clients rule, once he starts med school again he won't have time for a relationship, and the last thing he wants is to hurt Lucy or make her hate him because he's never around.


I really like that Theo liked Lucy and thought she was pretty before she started losing the weight and that he found himself attracted to her well before she all that weight. I thought Lucy was great, when she wasn't making making assumptions and obsessing over the slump buster thing. I loved Buddy! He was so positive and well adjusted. I liked the way things worked out between Lucy's sister, Mary Fran, and her husband. I thought it sucked that Lucy's brother, Dan, and her supermodel friend, Gia, didn't too long. I guess it was kind of a far fetched pairing. I liked that Dan took it so well. Normally I try no to put many spoilers in my little chatty bit, but as far as the lead characters were concerned, I didn't have much to complain about. I enjoyed the book quite a bit. Here was a story about an overweight heroine who wanted to lose the weight, put in the hard work, and did it. I don't think that you have to be thin to be healthy, happy, or beautiful, but if being overweight is making you feel unhappy or effecting your health, then something should be done about it. I think reading a book where the heroine sets out to do just that and gets it done, is inspiring.

Night's Touch

Author: Amanda Ashley

Cara DeLongpre is the adopted daughter of two vampires. When her teenage bio-mom went in to labor in an alley the vampire couple stopped to help her and she told them to take the baby or she'd just leave it in a dumpster. Thus did Cara come to have vampire parents, her mother always having wanted children, but not being able to have them as vampires do not have babies. So Cara has grown up in the dark, figuratively, not literally because her parents have never told her about them being vampires. They're always had staff to look after her during the days and made up explanations for not being able to be in the sun or eat food. So now she's in her 20's, a librarian and still living with her parents. Her parents are protective to the point that she's had a bodyguard since she was 12. She doesn't really understand why she needs a bodyguard or why her parents don't want her to move out, but it's really starting to chafe. When she decides to check out a club called The Nocturne, she meets Anton, a charming stranger who asks her to meet him again and she agrees, not knowing that he is her family's enemy. Years ago Anton's father nearly killed her mother and tortured her father before her father finally killed him. Anton was born after his father's death, but Anton's mother has raised him with thought of revenge and they're looking to use Cara to get it.

Vince Cordova made the mistake of picking the wrong woman for a one night stand. While the sex was amazing, it wasn't worth being turned in to a vampire for. Mara, an ancient and powerful vampire, drained him to near death and gave him the choice, die or live on as a vampire. A year after that night, Vince isn't so sure he made the right choice. He's had to distance himself from his family, a loving close-knit bunch, he can't trust himself to sleep with a woman and he's struggling to retain as much of his humanity as possible. When he spots Cara siting alone at the bar of The Nocturne, he knows that she's trouble. Can vampires fall in love at first sight? All he knows is that he needs to steer clear, because a girl like Cara needs a man who will marry her and give her a family. A mortal man she can grow old with. When he sees her reaction to finding out her parents are vampires, he's sure that she could never be happy with him. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he tells himself to stay away, he just can't seem to do it for long and she doesn't seem to be able to keep away either. When her father's enemies put their plans in to action, Vince can't help but want to be there for Cara.


I believe this is a sequel, but I've not read the first book. Please to keep that in mind. I'm sorry, but Cara was not just TSTL, she was too damned stupid to exist! She's been raised by vampires, but never suspected what her parents are? She supposedly loves books and yet she can't see the similarities between her parents and vampires? Then, when someone clues her in to the fact that her parents are the undead, does she confront her parents and ask them what the deal is? Noooo, that would be too logical! Instead she packs a bag and runs for a hotel because her parents are bloodsucking monsters and because her parents, who've never been anything but loving to her, might have some nefarious designs on her. Then when daddy tells her that her boyfriend is also a vampire she refuses to believe it, even though she's never seen him eat or out in the sun either. This after she keeps meeting with Anton even though her instincts keep telling her he's not right. Her parents are the brightest bulbs in the box either. Here is Anton, looking soooo much like their dead enemy, Anthony,with the last name of the woman who was obsessed with Anthony. Anton and his mother now run the coven that worked with Anthony to hurt their family and it never occurs to them to find out what these people are up to? Or what Anton might want with their daughter? Vince was a little more understandable. At first he didn't want her to know he was a vamp because of her reaction to finding out her parents were vamps, then it got harder and harder to tell her because she would feel betrayed by him. He didn't feel he could offer her what she deserved and he thought the best thing was to leave her so that she'd find someone who could. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at being unselfish because he kept coming back. I applaud the nobility of wanting someone you love to have everything they've dreamed of, even if it means you'll be miserable without them, but it only counts if you have the guts to stick to it. If you keep coming back and hurting that person again you are basically jerking them around emotionally. It makes you an spineless jerk who needs to be punched in the junk IMHO. And, of course, she forgives him for all this way too easily. It was all a bit much for me, as far as my ability to suspend disbelief goes.

The Power of Two

2176 - Book 4

Author: Patti O'Shea

Captain Jake Tucker is a U.C.E. Special Forces officer. He grew up as part of a Sentonian cult where children are taught to use blades as soon as they can hold them, but when he was of legal age, he escaped and eventually joined the military. When he was selected for the Quandem project, he wasn't particularly thrilled, but he soon became used to his "anchor" being in his head. Having his anchor sending all the latest intel straight in to his brain via implant really gives his team an edge out in the field. After five years of working together he's come to rely on his anchor not just for intel in the field, but as a friend and confidant. He's not the sort of guy to open up to people so having a built-in partner and friend there to share his thoughts with and to just be there for him in though times is working pretty well for him. So what if his best friend is just a computer?

Captain Cai Randolph is a U.C.E. Special Forces officer.She's the genius child of two brilliant research doctors. When she was 13 her parents sent her to U.C.E. school and then disappeared. She believes they've been kidnapped by Elliot Marchand, a rich man who wants to use her parents' research in nanobiology for his own purposes, though no one seems to believe her. At 16 she was recruited by the military for the Quandem project because her brain wave patterns matched one of their field operatives. She was sent through Special Forces training and joined the project as an anchor. Five years later she and her "receptor" are the only Quandem left. Seems that when an achor overloads the brain implants there are varying levels of brain damage that occur and an anchor who's receptor died committed suicide. Now Cai believes she's found where her parents are being held and has maneuvered her way in to being sent out in to the field with her receptor and his team on a mission to her parents location. One small problem, her receptor thinks she's a computer and he will not be happy when he realizes that not only has she never told him otherwise, but that she's been in his head during some of his most private moments since she was just a girl.

I've read the whole 2176 series series before. It's a toss up between this book and The Legend of Banzai Maguire for which book in the series was my favorite. I liked the way the relationship developed between Jake and Cai. There was already a lot of history between them when they met face to face so they had a jump start, but it also created issues to be worked through. Jake was understandable angry that the computer he's been sharing his thoughts with for the last few years is actually a living person. He feels he's been lied to. Jake's also kind of embarrassed because for the first year or so he was not able to block Cai during certain moments and she was only 16. Then there's the fact that he's got to take her on this dangerous mission when she's never been in the field. Part of their cover is that they are lovers. This requires a lot of time spent in close quarters and he can't seem to keep from getting distracted by his attractive anchor. For her part, Cai doesn't want to lose Jake's friendship. Being a genius didn't win her any friends in school and since joining the Quandem project she spends most of her time on the computer or talking to Jake. She has no real friends other than Jake and she's afraid that he won't be able to forgive her for not telling him she was human or that now that he does know he just won't feel comfortable talking to her like he used to. She was attracted to Jake, but because of her negative self-image it never occurred to her that he might be attracted to her. She was so sure he couldn't be attracted to her that she failed to see the signs and so Jake thought she wanted things to be platonic. I thought it was funny that Cai was practically rolling her eyes at the lame over the top lines Jake was feeding a barmaid yet totally missed out on the fact that some of Jake's team mates were flirting with her pretty hard. I was kind of interested in Nicole and Tony, the Quandem pair that was working for Elliot Marchand. I would have liked to find out more about them and what happened to them after the everything.

Dark Protector

The Paladins - Book 1

Author: Alexis Morgan

Devlin Bane is one of the world's best kept secrets. Devlin is a Paladin, born to fight, die and rise to fight again in defense of Earth until madness takes them. Deep in the earth there is a barrier between our world and another. The Paladins call the denizens of that world the Others. The Others are pale, sensitive to light, and come across the barrier crazed and looking to kill. Activity in the tectonic plates brings down the barrier from time to time and the Others come charging across. Lately they've been coming through in larger numbers and no one knows why. When the traitor responsible for that increase decides that Devlin might be a threat to the operation, they order him killed, but getting a Paladin to actually stay dead is the hard part. After the first attempt to end him, Devlin takes longer to resurrect than normal, which leaves his Handler concerned. He hates the tests and scans, but doesn't mind so much spending time with his attractive Handler.

Dr. Laurel Young is what's known as a Handler. She's in charge of stitching the Paladins' wounds up whether they're living or dead, seeing them through their resurrections, and making the decision as to whether they're sane or if they need to be put down. Laurel is proud of her work and has dedicated her life to finding a way to cure or stave off the descent in to madness that all Paladins eventually succumb to. She hasn't had to kill any of her charges, but she dreads it, especially where Devlin is concerned. She knows that her feelings for Devlin would get her removed as his Handler if anyone knew and she can't risk that. Devlin is the Paladin who's lasted the longest without going crazy and her best chance to find what can save the Paladins.

When Laurel has to put down a visiting Paladin, she's grief-stricken and goes home early to deal with her feelings. When Devlin hears about it from Dr. Neil, Laurel's boss, he slips off quietly to go to her place so she won't be alone. Devlin tries to convince Laurel to quit being a Handler, he's afraid she can't deal with having to kill her patients, but Laurel believes it's only right that she cry. Paladins are unsung heroes who often times have no one close to them who will shed tears over them. Their fellow Paladins will grieve their loss, but they see this as the inevitable end to all their lives and more inured to it. After she cries herself to sleep in his arms, Devlin decides to hold her until she wakes. When she wakes in his arms, Laurel can't resist kissing him. When their mutual attraction ignites, Devlin ends up spending the night. Unfortunately, this is not lost on the man looking to take Devlin out. He believes he's found the perfect bait to lure Devlin in to a trap.

This one's a re-read for me. I originally read it a couple of years ago. Devlin did the whole I'm-not-good-enough-for-you-so-I-must-push-you-away thing, but considering that every Paladin that ever lived has ended their lives either at the hands of their enemies or insane and put down like animals by their Handlers, he had a very valid basis for believing they would have no future and any relationship would only bring Laurel more grief. Especially when one considers that, as his Handler, it would be Laurel making the decision to put him down, Laurel giving him that shot, and Laurel watching him die chained to a steel table writhing like a mad man. It's a good thing that Laurel is a strong willed woman and not about to let Devlin push her away. She's not naive, she knows what his life is about. She's patched him up and been there during his resurrections enough to know how dangerous being a Paladin is and, though she dreads the probability that Devlin will go insane and she'll have to make that call, she strong enough to love him regardless of what the future may bring.

FYI

I've eaten up my 8 day cushion and am now having to read and post. This means that some days I won't be able to post, either because I've not finished reading a book or haven't had time to write it up. I'll do my best, though and hopefully the weekends will afford me time to keep up. We'll just have to wait and see.

The Fire King

Dirk & Steele - Book 9

Author: Marjorie M. Liu

Karr died 3,000 years ago. He's been trapped in a nebulous underworld of dreams, memories and nightmares. So when he awakens in his tomb to find it full of shifters, enemy to his people, and humans pointing strange weapons at him, he is disoriented and angry. He is attacked and fights back, but he is paralyzed by their strange weapons, rendered unconscious and placed in restraints that would kill him if he shifted. Karr is a chimera. Chimera are the offspring of two shifters who are of different natures. Karr's mother was a dragon and his father a lion. Chimera inherit the shapes of both parents and are therefore considered unstable. It's like they are pulled in three different directions and some lose their minds becoming violent and a danger to all. Chimera are also stronger and faster than shifters. When a prophecy came down that the chimera would destroy the shifters, those who already saw them as abominations used it as justification to attack the chimera. This set off a bloody war that lasted for centuries. Karr has no knowledge of how much time has passed and when the shifters send in a human woman who can speak his language, he's sure they're trying to get some sort of information from him. He can trust no one.

Soria has a psychic gift for languages, which is what originally led her to work with Dirk & Steele. After a recent traumatic event that left her missing most of her right arm and feeling abandoned by Roland, her boss and the man she loved, she's decided to strike out on her own and is looking forward to a job as a UN interpreter. When Roland calls her because Dirk & Steele really needs her, she's not happy to oblige, but she does it anyway. From the start she's concerned that Roland isn't using the agency's people for this job and he seems to be withholding information from her. Roland has hired mercenaries and is working with a group of shifters led by a dangerous woman. She's angry when she sees what condition the guy she's supposed to communicate with is in, but she's wary of him because she knows he's dangerous. When a band of mercenaries attacks the facility holding Karr, Soria has to make a choice, set him free or let him be taken, maybe killed. They escape together and even though Karr knows he can't trust her, she's the only one in the world he can communicate with. She's willing to help him because he was alone, in danger, and unaccustomed to the world.

With Roland acting strangely, Soria's friends at Dirk & Steele being kept in the dark, a shifter "ally" who keeps switching sides, a powerful shifter with an old grudge who'd like to kill all chimera and an enemy neither of them could possibly expect after them both and no one to back them but a couple of scary mercenaries, they're running out of time to solve the mystery of why Karr is alive after thousands of years and whether any other chimera exist in this world where most shifters don't even know chimera ever existed and don't think a crossbred shifter could even survive.

I loved Soria. I loved her strength and her will to survive. She was forced to make a horrific choice to survive once, one that I don't think most people could make, and she's had to deal with the consequences, both physical and psychological. She stuck by Karr even when he refused to trust her and sometimes purposely hurt her feelings because she had a good heart and it was the right thing to do. Karr was quick to recognize her good qualities, even though at first he was afraid it was part of some plan to get information from him and recapture him. He came to trust her, even though he didn't want to. It was Soria's strength that made Karr determined to survive as well. Karr helped Soria accept herself and her missing arm. Helped her feel that she was still a whole and beautiful woman. She really needed that in her life. The hero and the heroine were very good for each other. Koni had a very small part in this book, but I really liked it. Hell, he saved the day when you get down to it. I can't wait for him to get his own book.

Some Like It Wild

Author: Teresa Medeiros

Pamela Darby and her half-sister, Sophie, are in dire straits. Their mother was a beautiful actress and they've grown up in the theatre, but now it's burned down, killing their mother in the process and leaving the girls alone without a home. When their mother's solicitors delivers to them an old letter that their mother had from the Duchess of Warrick explaining to their mother, an old friend of the duchess, that she was leaving her husband and taking their baby with her in to Scotland, Pamela begins to believe that the fire was no accident and that someone set out to murder their mother for that letter. After all, with the duke offering a reward for the finding of his son and someone who stands to inherit a lot of money if the duke's heir is never found, there are plenty of suspects. With a noble set on making Sophie his mistress, the possibility of reward money and finding clues as to who may have murdered their mother, Pamela and Sophie take to the Highlands in search of the duchess and her son. When they come across news that the duchess died before reaching her family in the highlands Pamela decides that any man of appropriate age and coloring will do, but where to find such a man?

Connor Kincaid is a Highlands highwayman looking for any way he can avenge himself on the English. After the brutal death of his parents at the hands of the English, Connor was left in charge of the clan. After years of leading his clan in dangerous raids, trying to get enough money to rebuild the clan, Connor decides to leave before he brings destruction down on the clan. Now he robs coaches and lives with a band of criminals. When he's told that a carriage with no out-riders and only one coachman will be coming down the road carrying two young English ladies covered in furs and jewelry and likely fat purses, he figured they were ripe for the picking. What he found were cheap furs, paste jewels, nearly empty purses, a pretty young blond, and a feisty, curvy brunet with a gun and a persuasive plan. If they can pull it off not only would it be the ultimate revenge for a Scotsman to steal an entire dukedom, but he might even escape his fate to meet the hangman's noose. Now he just has to keep whoever killed Pamela's mother from killing him and try his damnedest to keep his hands of Pamela ... or talk her in to putting her hands on him.


I loved both of these characters. Pamela was smart, cunning, daring, and funny. She took big risks, with all their lives really, but it payed off. I liked that she had the guts to do everything she did after her mother's death. Connor was every bit Pamela's equal. He was a hardened criminal, but he wasn't unnecessarily cruel and he treated Pamela and her sister with kindness, even when he didn't have reason to. He protected them from his fellow criminals and, though he didn't think he had much to offer her, he didn't fight his feelings for her. In fact, it was a bit the way around later in the story when certain truths are uncovered. Pamela pushes Connor away for his own good, even though this makes them both utterly miserable. The side story with Sophie and the duke's cousin, Crispin, was cute. I felt so bad for Crispin because of how Sophie was treating him. It was obvious he was besotted with her. It was also pretty obvious who murdered Marianne Darby almost from the second you meet the duke and his family. I really enjoyed this book. Both the hero and the heroine where just such fun to watch together. Teresa Medeiros is one of those authors who I can usually count on for a good read.

Beyond Compare

Author: Candace Camp


Kyria Moreland is an unconventional girl in an unconventional family. The whole Moreland clan is made up of scholars, except for Kyria who designs jewelry and her older brother Reed who's considered normal and runs the family estates. When her sister Olivia's wedding to a silver magnate brings Rafe McIntyre to their home, Kyria finds herself truly fascinated by a man for the first time. She's had many admirers and enjoys flirting, but no one has made her feel the way Mr. McIntyre does just by being in the room. She knows better than to fall in love with him. He's a charming flirt and she can see right off that he isn't the type to marry and settle down. The arrival of a mysterious artifact delivered by a man who is killed at their door step brings about a frightening and dangerous chain of events that draw Kyria and Rafe closer and closer together.

Rafe McIntyre was once a southern gentleman, but gave that all up to fight for the Union during the civil war. He did what he thought was right, but it cost him his family and his fiance. Now he's a partner in a silver mine and something of a charming rogue. He doesn't mind a bit of flirting, but he never intends to let himself love again no matter how temping he finds Lady Kyria. If she wasn't in danger, and if he wasn't feeling so damned protective of her, he'd get away from her before she really got under his skin. Unfortunately fate seems bent on presenting him with situations where only his will to do the honorable thing keeps their passion in check.

I really loved Rafe. He was fun and charming and he put up with an incredible amount of stuff from Kyria. Most men of his time wouldn't have taken Kyria along on the "adventures" they had to undertake while trying to solve the mystery of the artifact. She made these info gathering forays more difficult because, not only did their plans have to be more complicated to keep her undetected, Rafe had to split his focus between finding what he came for and protecting Kyria. Not to mention that he held back during interrogations for her sake. He probably would have had the mystery solved in a quarter of the time if Kyria hadn't been in his way. He was suspicious of the villain earlier on, but because Kyria had him all mixed up, he ignored his instincts. Kyria did that thing I hate where a character thinks that being independent and strong means making dumb decisions and not letting anyone talk you out of them. She kept waiting for Rafe to say she couldn't do something so that she could be disappointed in him for treating her like some weak woman. She was so hell bent on being in the middle of things and proving how smart and independent she was that she never stopped to think that she was making things harder for Rafe or anyone else involved. Pretty self-centered IMHO. The artifact and it's story were interesting. The mystery, well, about the same time Rafe was feeling an inkling of suspicious about the villain I had already decided who the villain was and I was not wrong. I loved Con and Alex.

Getting Rid of Bradley

Author: Jennifer Crusie

Detective Zachery Warren is afraid to grow old. He's a man of action who goes with his gut and makes split second decisions. For a man like him getting old means slowing down and slowing down means death. Detective Anthony is Zach's partner and the thinker of the duo. He's afraid that Zach is going to burn out, but isn't sure how to keep it from happening. Zach is too busy trying to catch Bradley to worry about any of this navel psychobabble that his partner is so fond of. When a tip about Bradley leads them to a diner where they overhear a couple of attractive women talking about getting rid of Bradley as they walk out, Zach's sure they've caught the break they've been waiting for. The partner's split up to follow the women, but Zach's barely manages to get the woman's attention when someone shoots at them. Zach's not the most popular guy with everyone, but he's pretty sure she's the target and it's possible that Bradley might be trying to get rid of her.

Lucy Savage is a physics teacher who loves logic and making well thought out practical decisions. The one time she made a spontaneous decision resulted in marriage to Bradley, whom she's just divorced. Now she's got this cop on her doorstep, who looks more like a criminal than an officer of the law, telling her that her dull uptight ex-husband is a criminal and that someone may be trying to kill her. She doesn't believe it, of course, because it's illogical that someone would want to shoot at her. She feels she's been proven correct when it turns out that the criminal he's looking for is not her ex, Bradley Porter, but a man named John Bradley. Sure the signs that someone has been trying to break in to her house are a bit disturbing, but it's a far cry from attempted murder. Unfortunately, the car bomb is not. This, coupled with a yearbook linking both Bradleys, leads Zach to move in with Lucy for protection and to find what someone wants from Lucy's house.


I really liked Zach. He very clearly had issues and he fought his attraction to Lucy, but once he decided to fall he did it all out. Lucy was really cute, I really like nerdy characters, but she had some serious TSTL moments that were just ridiculous. I hate it when a character decides they're going to be free or independent and then proceed to make the most boneheaded decisions all in the name of this new resolution and, of course, if anyone dares to cut up about whatever idiocy they've committed they're filled with righteous indignation and anger towards the person they perceive as trying to stifle or control them. It's annoying and makes me think less of the character, especially when that character is supposed to be smart, like Lucy is. Some might say that it's simply a lack of street smarts on her part, but I think anyone with half a brain would think it a bad idea to go out for a solo morning jog when a cop has told you to stay indoors because someone has tried to break in to your home repeatedly and might possibly be trying to kill you. Then to go out alone again just to get your hair done without so much as calling someone to let them know where you are going to be after someone sets of a bomb in your car? This coupled with the fact that she refused to leave her home for her own protection, even after a bomb is set off in the house, really made me want to slap some sense in to her. I like this book, but I don't love Lucy ... or at least I don't love her bad choices..

Truly Madly Yours

Author: Rachel Gibson

Nick Allegrezza is the illegitimate son of the mayor in a small town. His father took advantage of his mother when she was a grieving widow and left her with a child he refused to acknowledge. He's grown up hating his father for not wanting him and for marrying a woman, adopting her daughter and giving her everything that should have been his. He grew up a bit of a trouble maker, often picking on the mayor's adopted daughter, Delaney, but eventually became a successful business man and almost legendary ladies man. He's not averse to a one night stand and never lets a woman get the impression that she's special in any way. Now that his father is dying with no heir in the picture, he's trying to get Nick to to all sorts of things, but Nick's not having any of it. When the old man finally dies, he leaves Nick some great properties and the only thing Nick has to do to get them is not get sleep with Delaney Shaw for a year. Like he'd let Delaney twist him up like that and hang him out to dry again like she did all those years ago.

Delaney Shaw left Truly, Idaho shortly after her 18th birthday under a cloud of rumors. After a fight with her adopted father, Henry Shaw, Delaney decided to be free and reckless for once. A decision that wound up with her naked on a beach with Nick Allegrezza, the guy who'd fascinated her since they were children. She could never figure him out. One minute he was sweet and in the next he was cruel. On this one night he was sweeter than he'd ever been, but when Henry discovers them and tells her Nick is only using her to get back at him all Delaney can see is that Nick isn't denying it. So she leaves town and severs all contact with Henry and Truly, Idaho. When Henry dies, Delaney comes back to be with her mother through the funeral and for the reading of the will. Henry, however, has other plans. He leaves Delaney half of everything he owns, assets that add up to millions, if she will stay in Truly for a whole year from the reading of the will. How can she walk away from that when it could bring her dreams of opening her own business to life? Surely she can stand living in Truly for a year! All she has to do is keep below the local gossip's radar and avoid Nick Allegrezza for a year. Shouldn't be a problem considering he seems to harbor some grudge against her. He's got some nerve, considering she was the injured party all those years go.

Both these characters drove me nuts! Delaney remembers him saying something to her during the incident in their youth, but she didn't know what it was because she was in a panic over being found with Nick by Henry, yet all those years later when he says that he told her he'd take care of her, she is completely disbelieving. I understood how, at the time, she reacted the way she did. She'd made herself vulnerable to Nick and usually that's when he turns around and does something to hurt her. The situation with Henry was upsetting and she was looking for some reassurance from Nick and he didn't give it to her. I also understood Nick's reaction. Here he is, finally, with the girl he's wanted for the longest time and suddenly she's acting like it's the worse thing that's ever happened to her. Then Henry, whom he hates, tells Delaney that Nick's just using her and she acts like she believes him. She hurt his pride and she chose his enemy over him. What drove me nuts is that as adults, they were still hung up on this incident! Neither of them seemed to be able to look at the situation through adult eyes and accept that maybe they were both to blame for what went down. If they hadn't had all that history, and been all about each other since they were kids, I wouldn't have bough that they could be in love because all their adult interactions seemed to center around sex. They were either fighting attraction, flirting, involved in pre-sexual activities, having sex, being jealous or arguing. The characters annoyed me to the point that I had to force myself not to skim. I'm not saying there weren't enjoyable parts, but it definitely is not one of my favorite books by Rachel Gibson.

Take Chance on Me

Author: Susan Donovan

Thomas Tobin is a lawyer who works as part of a murder-for-hire task force. He's proud of the work he does, but seeing the bad side of humanity day in and day out is starting to wear him out. He too often finds himself looking for the dark side to every person he meets. It doesn't help that his fiance dumped him when a rugby accident left him unlikely to ever father children. Now his team's best informant,Scott Slick , is dead and Thomas is feeling guilty over coercing him to continue as an informant. After all, if Slick had quit when he wanted to he might not be dead. It's that guilt which leads Thomas to take home Slick's dog Hairy, a Chinese Crested. After only two weeks Thomas is at wits end with Hairy's behavioral problems and seeks help from a veterinary psychologist. If only he didn't find her so attractive he'd be a whole lot happier.

Emma Jenkins is an animal behaviorist and all around good person. Ever since she divorced her husband, a fellow animal behaviorist and partner in her practice, she's had her hands full keeping her clinic afloat and raising her best friend's daughter. Then there's her ex-husband coming around trying to get money from her and acting so strangely. She doesn't have time to date and she certainly doesn't have time to be distracted by someone who blows hot and cold like Thomas Tobin. He wears expensive suits, but his face and body scream bad boy and one minute he's drawing her closer and the next he's pushing her away. She wants nothing to do with him, not even as a client, but when Thomas suspects that Hairy's behavior might lead to catching a murderer how can she say no?

I was with Emma on her opinion of Thomas and his two-step. I liked that she wasn't afraid to confront Thomas about it too. She didn't take crap from him and I love that in a heroine. Thomas was a bit of a wanker at times. When he started looking for Emma's "dark side"I could kind of understand it. In his line of work it would be easy to expect the worse out of people, but he was letting it turn him in to a misogynist. This is evidenced later when he starts riffing on how women mess a man up and how often the men he sees in his line of work are there because some woman has them all twisted up. I get that his fiance dumped him at the worse possible moment, but that wasn't what hit him so hard, It was the news about his malfunctioning equipment and the end of his plans for the wife, kids and white picket fence thing. He was letting it make him bitter. I hated that because of those issues he gave Emma such a hard time. The things he said to her towards the end of the book were horrible. I get why he said them, what with always expecting the worse of people and his damaged equipment, but had I been Emma, I don't think I could have forgiven him quite so easily. He wasn't a bad guy. There were spots where I liked him a lot and felt sympathetic towards him. It was just during his bonehead moments that he bugged me. I really loved Hairy and that he had his own occasional POV in the story.

Tell Me Lies

Author: Jennifer Crusie

Maddie Faraday grew up in Frog Point, a small town of where everyone knows everyone and who your people are is as important that who you are. All her life Maddie has been a "good girl" and done what was expected. She married Brent, her high school sweet heart, she stays home to raise their daughter while her husband is part owner of a very successful construction company. Maddie should be happy, but ever since Brent cheated on her a few years back, she just can't seem to get that loving feeling back. In fact, she's pretty sure she hates Brent at this point and the only reason she's still married to him is their daughter, Emily. When she finds a pair of black crotchless panties stuffed in seat of his car she decides she's had enough. She's going to end their marriage once and for all. She just hopes he can do it without causing too much of a scandal. The last thing she needs to hear right now is that the boy who's car she climbed in the back seat of the one night in high school she's decided not to be a good girl is back in town.

C.L. Sturgis was given up by his mother and taken in by his aunt and uncle in Frog Point. No one in town expected any good from him on account of who his mother was. He was always getting in trouble whether he actually did something wrong or not, so why not just be the bad boy they all thought he was? When he was in 5th grade, Maddie Martindale was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, and when she tried to defend him to a teacher he was hit with the biggest crush, but since he and Maddie were worlds apart he never even had a chance to be her friend. In high school, when Brent cheated on her and Maddie decided to get back at Brent by climbing in the back seat of his car, C.L. found himself once again crushing on Maddie. Unfortunately they call them crushes for a reason and the next day in school Maddie crushed him by walking away and pretending nothing had ever happened between them. She got back together with Brent and C.L. was left to move on. Now, a successful accountant with a good job in a big city, he's back in town to help his ex-wife and take down Brent. He did not expect that seeing Maddie would bring back that ridiculous crush he's had on her all his young life. He also did not expect Brent to turn up dead and Maddie to be the prime suspect.


I absolutely loved C.L., but Maddie and her constant worrying over what people were going to think drove me up the wall. I'd hazard to say that most men wouldn't have stuck around and put up with all conditions Maddie put on their relationship, no to mention the way she was all over him one minute and telling him to stay away the next. She couldn't make up her mind what she wanted and even when she did, it took her forever to find the damned backbone to go after it. Once she decided to be free and forget what the town thought, she made one crazy decision after the other just because she could. Her daughter, Emily, was well written. She knew she was being lied to and she didn't take it lying down. I was more impressed with her than I was her mother. Maddie's best friend Treva needed to be slapped. When Maddie's life is going crazy Treva decides it's the best time to start venting her life long resentments about Maddie always being good and perfect. And this is your best friend?

True Love and Other Disasters

Author: Rachel Gibson

Tyson Savage lives to win the Stanley Cup. His old man is a hockey legend in Canada, but even he never got his name on the cup and Ty is determined to see that his is. When Virgil Duffy, the owner of the Seattle Chinooks, offers him good money to join a team with a good shot at the cup, he leaves Vancouver in favor of Seattle. Who cares if the entire country think him a traitor? He's not letting anyone or anything get in his way.

Faith Duffy is a trophy wife and not shamed of it. So what if people think she seduced a man 50 years her senior to get her hands on his cash? All her life she's done what she had to in order to survive and she's not going to apologize for that. She's gone from stripper, to playmate, to the wife of Virgil Duffy, a multimillionaire who expect nothing more from her than that she make him look good in public and be a friendly companion in private.

When Virgil dies, leaving Faith his hockey team, Ty is greatly concerned about his shot at the cup. In fact, most of the team is concerned about what sort of trouble being owned by a gold digging bimbo with no knowledge of hockey could cause the team. For her part, Faith doesn't want the team and is perfectly willing to sell it Landon Duffy, Virgil's awful son. The team thinks this is a fine idea until rumors surface that Landon plans to move the team. When Landon tries to humiliate Faith about her past in front of the team, not only does he cement the teams negative impressions of him, but he angers Faith enough that she decides to keep the team.

From the first time she travels with the team to an away game, Faith feels the sparks between Ty and herself. As his boss and a woman that is determined to keep her old party girl persona in check, she's sure she needs to keep her distance from Ty Savage. Unfortunately, he's feeling them too and though he knows getting involved with the team owner is the worse idea possible, he can't seem to stay away. With Landon lurking in the wings trying to get his hands on the team, Faith's ex-stripper mom and Ty's dad sneaking around together and the playoffs in full swing, can either of them afford to fall in love?


I really liked this one. I enjoyed both the lead characters, but I think what really made this book for me was Faith. There aren't many heroines in romance who have a past like hers and aren't either trying to hide it or feeling guilty/bad about it. I think that's what I found refreshing about Faith. Her mom was a stripper and a party girl who changed men like most people change their clothes. Faith was following in her footsteps until she was discovered by Hef and became a playmate. When she married Virgil, she molded herself in to a good society wife for him, leaving behind the party girl. She became what he needed her to be. When he died and left her a wealthy widow she was free to finally find out who she was or could become. Through out all that, she refused to apologize for her past or to be made to feel ashamed. I thought that was pretty damned kick ass. And Ty! Once he realized that Faith was special to him he didn't try to weigh which was more important to him, hockey or Faith. H knew what he wanted and id what he had to get it. It was Faith who wanted things between them kept secret because she worried so much about the team and his career. She was just sure Ty would never choose her when it came down to it that she kept trying to put distance between them. Luckily, Ty didn't put up with much of that nonsense.

Hard and Fast

Fast Track Series - Book 2

Author: Erin McCarthy


Imogen Wilson was raised in the world of academia. She's a grad student majoring in sociology. Her professor/mentor/friend is married to a race car driver. It's during a trip to the track with that Imogen meets Nikki Howard, a woman bent on marrying a driver. When she sees Nikki's dating manual "How to Marry a Race Car Driver in Six Easy Steps" she thinks she's found the subject of her thesis. The plan? Read the manual and use the techniques on several drivers and see if such manuals actually work.

Ty McCordle loves fast women and faster cars. He lives for speed. Racing is all he's ever wanted to do. It's also all he fears he's qualified to do. A severe case of dyslexia has kept Ty from learning to read. He's gotten where he is by his wits and talent behind the wheel. Very few people know about his illiteracy and that's the way he likes it. When he meets Imogen he finds himself both attracted and intimidated.

Imogen knows she can't use Ty as a test subject for her thesis because she's very attracted to him and doubts her ability to keep from becoming emotionally attached. She feels this is a bad idea because she's nothing like the flashy, built girls Ty usually goes for. Ty, however, has set his sights on her and she doesn't stand a chance. She knows she'll probably get hurt when Ty moves on, but she can't resist him. Ty's never felt jealousy over a woman before, but when he finds out that Imogen plans to flirt with other drivers and then that one of the drivers on his own team has been asking her out, he's forced to admit to himself, and to her, that he wants her all to himself. Imogene's been swept off her feet, but her logical mind is telling her there's too much she doesn't know about Ty and that's got her running scared. Can Ty convince her he's really in it for the long haul?


Imogen's character had to be my favorite of the bunch. She was cute, smart, and socially awkward ... all things I love in a romance character. I really wanted to love Ty, but I didn't feel much of a connection to the character. I guess, like Imogene, I didn't feel like I knew enough about Ty. There wasn't as much depth to him as there was to Imogen. It greatly annoyed me that a man that smart, and with the kind of resourced he had, didn't try to find a way to learn to read. There is plenty of info out there about dyslexia, plenty of programs designed to help people with dyslexia to learn, that he had to have known there were ways for him to overcome his issue. His illiteracy was such a sore point for him. yet he did nothing to change it. Then there were the horrible things he said to Imogen. One of the things I love best about romances is the HEA. Sometimes I don't feel a couple should have one, like when either the hero or the heroine does something that they should not be forgiven for or haven't made up for. I'm not saying that happened with this book, but I did feel that Ty got off a bit lightly. All in all, I enjoyed this book and am really looking forward to the next book. I really want to know what Ryder did, or Susan thinks he did, that ended their marriage and how they can come back from it.

One With The Night

Companion Series - Book 5

Author: Susan Squires

Jane Blundell was infected with vampirism in her father's laboratory because of a broken vial. Her father nursed her through the turning by infecting blood and feeding it to her. Since then he has dedicated his life to finding a cure. She has dedicated her life to being the son he never had, trying her hardest to make him proud of her. She knows nothing of being a vampire and when her father's life is threatened, she figures it's time to remedy that. When Callan Kilkenny comes looking for the cure, willingly volunteering himself as the dr.'s test subject, Jane begins to feel all manner of things she's never felt before. She's both excited to explore these new sensations and afraid of what they could mean. She finds herself falling for Kilkenny, but afraid to make herself vulnerable and losing control.

Callan Kilkenny was a "Charming Irish Rogue" until he ran afoul of Asharti, a very powerful female vampire with a penchant for compulsion, sexual torture and a fondness for breaking men's spirits. She made him a vampire so that there would be no risk of him dying before she's completely broken him. Set free by her death, he is unsure if he can ever get back to who he used to be. As a vampire he can not commit suicide, his companion won't allow it, and so he wanders around trying to do small good deeds where he can to counteract the terrible things he did under Asharti's command. When he begins to hear rumors about a possible cure, he sees his chance to become human again or die trying, either would be fine by him. He knows he's in trouble the moment he meets Jane. He's been celibate since Asharti, afraid that he's become twisted by his experiences with her, but Jane tempts him to the breaking point. He plans to avoid her as much as possible, but between her father throwing them together on herb gathering outings and Jane's curiosity about vampires, he hasn't got a chance of resisting her.

The stakes become deadlier when a trio of powerful vampires, led by Elyta Zaroff, come from the vampire's ruling council. Elyta says they want to protect the dr and help him find the cure. Although suspicious, they really have no choice but to let Elyta and her crew stay on. It soon becomes clear that Elyta's motives are less than pure, both for the cure and towars Callan. When she reveals to Callan that it was she who taught Asharti everything she knew, he knows that she'll kill them all as soon as she has no further use for them. The only way to save Jane, whom he's fallen in love with, is to make a deal with the devil. One that will ensure Jane will never love him and see him in the same form of slavery that nearly broke him before. He's gladly do it for Jane, but when she finds out what's really going on she puts and end to the deal and Callan is forced to come up with a long shot plan to save them both from their protectors and the vampires who want to destroy the cure and anyone associated with it.


While this book can be read as a stand alone, you'll be much more clear on a few things if you read the other books in the series first. Both the main characters were great. I felt terrible for Callan. In previous books we've been shown the effects of Asharti's twisted games on people's minds, but Callan is the first one who though himself truly evil because of the choices she coerced him in to making. Jane occasionally gave thought to a possible future with Callan, but since he never said anything about having feelings for her she kept thinking herself a fool. Callan wouldn't let himself dream. He didn't believe there was any way that she could love a creature like him. They were both afraid to speak. Jane sometimes frustrated me earlier on with her unwillingness to step outside the role she'd set for herself. Repressing any urges and expressions that didn't fit with what she thought was proper for a scientific minded individual. Callan was more frustrating at times, but I found it hard to really blame him because of what he went through. I mean, it had only been a couple of years since Asharti's death. Anyone who survived something like that would have some major issues to work through. Hell, some they might never be able to work through. Didn't stop me from wanting to pull my hair now and then. I've read the series up to this book and plan to pick up the next two soon. I better move quick because the eighth book, Time For Eternity, is due out at the beginning of September.