Off for the holidays

Small Town Christmas a romance novel by Debbie Macomber

Small Town Christmas has 2 stories in it Promise, Texas and Gold River, Alaska. Both stories take place in really small towns in the months before Christmas.




Promise, Texas is a continuation of the story Dr. Texas. Jane and her husband Cal are having minor problems that are popping up in their marriage but when Jane’s father has a medical crisis she takes the kids to California with her. The stress of dealing with the two small kids and her parents starts to drive a wedge between her and Cal. When Jane comes home to Promise, the house is a mess and there is a conniving woman who wants her husband. Even though Cal is not interested in the new woman, the evidence is distressing and the stress of her father’s health makes everything worse. Jane and Cal have to relearn what it is that they love about each other and they have to be patient and fix the problems in their relationship.

In Gold River, Alaska, Caroline was jilted by her fiancé hours before the wedding. Her elderly aunts answer an add for a mail-order bride for her, without her knowledge. She arrives in Alaska after a harrowing plan ride a little tipsy, and before she knows it she is married to Paul. Caroline wants to return to Seattle and Paul wants her to give them a chance. They work together and fall in love. This is a touching story with real people dealing with real problems.

These 2 stories deal with the stresses of life that can derail a relationship or make it stronger. These are touching stories that culminate at Christmas time when they al decide to fight for the one they love.

Merry Christmas.

A McKettrick Christmas a romance novel by Linda Lael Miller

Miller’s A McKettrick Christmas, a holiday novel, really made me think more about Christmas. Christmas is a wonderful time of year full of hope, love, and excitement (as long as your x-mas shopping is completed, which I haven’t even started!).




This novel takes place in the late 1890’s and starts off with Lizzie McKettrick on a train home for the holidays and bringing her beau with her. She’s hoping for a marriage proposal from him. An avalanche derails the train and they are stuck miles away from the nearest town during a blizzard. Lizzie’s beau, while not a bad guy, is also more a hindrance than a help during the disaster. For several days they are stuck on board trying to survive with a mother with 3 small children, a peddler, an older couple with a talking bird, a doctor, and a sick solider heading home. Lizzie and the doctor, Morgan Shane, work together to help the injured, the sick and simply try to survive. Lizzie believes that as soon as the train does not arrive her family will come rescue them. During this time, Lizzie realizes that marriage to her beau would be a disaster. Morgan and Lizzie do not see eye to eye on several issues but they work very well together and they realize that they are attracted to each other. Of course the main stumbling blocking in any relationship is communication and they both think that their feelings are one-sided.

With Christmas only days away, the healthy passengers try to keep up the Christmas spirit for the children and try to believe that they are not going to die on the mountain side. I really enjoyed this novel because it reminded me that Christmas isn’t about the toys I get my children but the hugs and kisses and love.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

The Gift a romance novel by Nora Roberts

Roberts has re-released 3 books in this one: Home for Christmas, All I Want for Christmas, and Gabriel’s Angel. Two of these are Christmas stories and since it’s the holiday season I thought I would read it now. I liked the first 2 stories more so I’ll focus on those.

In Home for Christmas, Jason Law is an international reporter who returns to his home town for Christmas 10 years after he left. When he left he left his girlfriend behind with the understanding that as soon as he got settled he would send for her. But it took a little while for him to get a job and established and when he called his girlfriend, Faith, he found that she had married someone else. So now he comes home and makes a surprise visit to Faith and meets her daughter. Faith doesn’t trust him not to break her heart again, so he has some fences to mend. There is also a surprising twist that you’ll have to read about.




In All I Want for Christmas, 6 year old twins Zach and Zeke mail a letter to Santa saying that they want bikes and a Mom for x-mas. They spot who they want for a Mom and their Dad, Mac, falls for her. Mac has a lot of baggage, like having his wife leave him with adorable twins when they were infants, so he doesn’t trust easily. He keeps thinking that Miss Davis is going to go back to the big city to live so he’s afraid to put his heart out on the line and the hearts of his little boys. He screws it all up and realizes that it’s too late and that they all love her already.

In Gabriel’s Angel, Gabriel rescues a pregnant woman, Laura, from a car crash in a snowstorm and they are stranded together in his cabin. They end up getting married and Gabriel inadvertently ends up delivering the baby. Their life together starts off with many difficulties from their pasts, his brother’s death and the parents of her late abusive husband threatening to take the baby. They have to work through their issues to really trust each other with their hearts.

These are some fun holiday stories written with the typical greatness of Nora Roberts other stories.

Happy Holidays!

Foul Play a romance novel by Janet Evanovich

Foul Play is a re-released novel by Janet Evanovich. This is a fun light-hearted book with endearing characters that are crazy but fun. Personally, I like the Stephanie Plum series and her recent novels more than I liked this one, but this one is still good. That is just a testament to how good of a writer Janet Evanovich is.




The first time Jake, a veterinarian, sees Amy, he falls is love at first sight. Amy has a similar feeling but is more cautious because she has never met him in her life. Earlier that day Amy loses her job to a chicken, the feather covered clucking kind of chicken. Since she is out of a job, Jake hires her as a receptionist as a way to keep seeing her and convince her to take a chance on him. Of course the chicken comes up missing and Amy is the prime suspect. Jake and Amy do some investigating on their own to clear Amy and she falls head over heels for Jake.

In typical Evanovich style, Amy and Jake just have a series of hilarious things that happen to them and because of them. Amy inadvertently locks her purse and keys in her car and then goes grocery shopping. Jake tells Amy that he works out and so she takes him on a 5 mile run that nearly kills him. And just the idea that Amy is fired and replaced with a chicken, chicken goes missing and then she makes chicken soup. This is a fun one that you are sure to enjoy.

Thanks for reading with me.

Reflections and Dreams a romance novel by Nora Roberts

Reflections and Dreams by Nora Roberts is two books re-released as one. Both of these stories main characters are well known ballerinas, so ballet dancing plays a major role. The only dance classes I’ve ever taken are ballroom dancing with my husband so I don’t know anything about the world of professional ballet dancing.

In Reflections, Lindsay quits professional dancing to take care of her mother after a car accident. To support herself and her mother, she starts dancing school and finds a new life for herself. Seth Bannion moves to the small town for his niece who wants to dance with Lindsay. Ruth is a wonderful dancer and Lindsay tries to convince Seth that she could be a much better dancer if she trained in New York. Seth doesn’t understand Lindsay’s passion for dancing, and Lindsay doesn’t understand his reluctance to send his 17 year old niece to New York. Seth and Lindsay try to avoid their attraction to each other but when they get snow bound together they give in. Because of their differences there are many disagreements but things that they learn they can compromise on.




In Dancing Dreams, Ruth is now 23 and a professional dancer in New York and working with the temperamental dancing genius Nickolai Davidov. They met through Lindsay and have had a close working relationship for years. Suddenly Nick sees Ruth as a woman but doesn’t want to screw up their working relationship because he wants to keep her in his life. They eventually learn that they would rather risk their working together to try to have a significant relationship together. In this story, there are many artistic tempers that clash but work well together. I know that doesn’t really make sense but you’ll just have to read the book to understand what I mean.

Both of these stories were great! I really enjoyed them and seeing as they are connected, it is good combination. These characters are also featured in Considering Kate.

Until next time!

Oh I’m always looking for new authors and new books so if you have any that you would like to see featured here let me know

Hot Property a romance novel by Carly Phillips

Hot Property is another great example of what a wonderful writer Carly Phillips is. I know there have been quite a few of hers in this blog because my Mom gave me a stack of books and several were by Carly Phillips. The next one is another one by Nora Roberts so Mom must be on a Nora Roberts kick too. Carly Phillips has a series of books that all start with Hot in the title and all of those revolve around the Hot Zone, a PR company for professional athletes. All of those books that I’ve read are great reads.




In Hot Property, John Roper is a major league baseball player who had a rough ending to his last season (losing the world series and getting injured). He loves his family, yet he needs to learn that their problems are not his problems and he can’t keep financially bailing them out. Because of his poor finish to his season the media is hounding him even though its the off season. Amy Stone is the newest member of the Hot Zone, the PR firm that represents John Roper, and he is her first client. They share a mutual attraction but Amy doesn’t want to be one of his groupies. She is also very good at her job and does everything in her power to eliminate the distractions from John’s life without hurting anyone’s feelings, but her plan will never work without John’s cooperation, which is hard with a needy family that he has always taken care of, a crazed fan stalking him, and a reporter with a grudge. Amy has family issues of her own and has to stop trying to please everyone else and be true to herself (which is easier said than done). These two muddle through the minefield of the media and crazy families to connect with each other.

A few of the many funny scenes include bailing Amy’s relative out of the airport security, Amy kidnapping John and tossing out his phone, many crazy antics by John’s mother, and a snowball fight.

Happy reading!!!!

Waiting for Nick and Considering Kate by Nora Roberts

These two books Waiting for Nick and Considering Kate by Nora Roberts are ones that have been re-released. I have yet to find someone who doesn’t like Nora Roberts. My sister is hooked on her futuristic series that she writes under the name J.D. Robb.




Waiting for Nick is a story of working out the differences and not giving up when things get hard. Nick and Frederica (Fred) team up to write the music and lyrics for a Broadway musical. Working together in close quarters day in and out they learn more about each other and give in to the physical attraction between them. From the beginning Fred wants Nick but Nick tries to resist because of his past association with a gang. When the gang makes an appearance in his life again he pushes Fred away, and then has to fix it. This book is not all serious and one scene in particular had me laughing so hard on my commute home that the people around me probably thought I was crazy. Nick was bragging to his brother that he got to meet his brother’s favorite actress and kissed her as well, so his brother grabs him and kisses him because that is the closest he’s ever going to get kissed by his favorite actress.

Considering Kate is another story of two people from two different social classes falling in love. Kate is retiring from her profession as a ballerina to teach dancing classes. She returns home and buys a building that needs to be rehabbed. She hires Brody, a single father, to do the rehab. They are immediately attracted but he doesn’t want to get involved with a client. Kate gets that being a great Dad to his son is the most important thing to him, but she also pushes him to see that he can have it all, his son, his business, and her. This one has lots of fun scenes that only can happen with a 6-year old.

Happy reading!

Loose and Easy a romance novel by Tara Janzen

I’ve liked everything I’ve read by Tara Janzen and Loose and Easy is another good one. This is part of her Steele Street series but those characters are more in the background than in her previous novels. Johnny is an elite military guy with fast muscle car who rescues the lady, who doesn’t need much rescuing; that seems to be Tara Janzen’s recipe for her novels and they are always entertaining.




Johnny Ramos has had a thing for Esme Alden since the 7th grade. She was the class valedictorian and he was the bad boy whose older brother ran a notorious gang until he was shot dead. They meet again when he is home on leave from his 3rd tour of duty in the Middle East and sees her walking down the street looking like a hooker. So he follows her to a hotel where he hears a scuffle in the room and gets a maid to open the door to find a man hog tied dressed in a dog collar, but no Esme. He follows her out the window and back to her father’s PI business to find out that Esme the good girl is not so good anymore. She now carries a gun and a knife and knows how to use them. They keep outrunning the bad guys, just barely the whole way through the book and find out that they don’t want to live without each other.

There are so many fun things in this book like Johnny being the star of an art show where he posed nude for a painting; his car looks like a reject but is very fast and powerful; and the reenactment of a 7th grade dare.

My only problem with this book is that Janzen hints at her next book which won’t come out for another 10 months! I never read the teaser for the next book because then I want to read it but either can’t easily find it or it doesn’t come out for another 6 months to a year.

Until next time!

Summer Lovin’ a romance novel by Carly Phillips

I love Carly Phillips’ writing style! She writes fun easy to read stories that will make you laugh. And who doesn’t like to laugh. This is a story that shows that even if you have an unusual family that love is always the most important part of family.




Samantha (Sam) is a 14 year old foster child of the Costas family (soon to be adopted by them), who barely remembers her mother, but has found the perfect fit with her foster family. She has 2 older sisters, Zoe and Ariana, now and is close to them both despite a 15 year age gap. Zoe, an ex secret service agent, is starting up her own security business. Ryan Baldwin has been searching for his sister for over a decade. She ran away from home and disappeared. Ryan finds out that she was killed and that she had a daughter. Ryan finally finds his niece in foster care and rushes in to save her from his assumed horrible situation, when he walks in and finds that her foster family is everything and more that his family is not. They are loving where his is very straight laced and uptight. Zoe and Ryan are immediately attracted to each other but don’t want to act on it because they both want Sam to be apart of their family. They fall in love while trying to figure out what is best for Sam. During all of this there is a mystery of who is stalking Sam that Zoe and Ryan work together to figure out.

Summer Lovin’ is a typical Carly Phillips novel, which means it has one fun scene after another. Sam’s pet pig surprises most people. Ryan tries to help Sam with her pig and inadvertently digs up a bunch of daffodil bulbs. Spank, the monkey, likes to moon people. Gosh there are too many fun scenes to pick from.

Until next time

Fast and Loose a romance novel by Elizabeth Bevarly

Elizabeth Bevarly has another very entertaining story with Fast and Loose. For a book with horse racing in it there is actually very little about the horses and racing. This one is all about the people and interpersonal relationships.




Lulu, an artist, rents her house out for the 2 weeks preceding the Kentucky Derby and stays with her friend Bree. While dropping off her keys she literally runs into the bad boy of the horse racing community, Cole. Cole is hounded by reporters and women who want him for his money and reputation. Lulu inadvertently finds out that Cole is renting her house and worries about what he is doing to it and in it. Cole loves the house and thinks of it as home. Cole runs into Lulu and the sparks fly between them and Cole decides to hire her as a buffer so less people will bother him while he is preparing for the biggest race of his career. Cole has to work to get Lulu to open up to him and see him as more than what the public sees of him.

There is another story with Lulu’s friend Bree, who wants to ‘bag a rich guy and live a luxurious life’ but has the perfect guy for her is right under her nose except that he is not rich.

Funny scenes include all of the post-it notes Lulu put up in her house and Cole’s reaction to them, and the rules that he breaks. This is a very good entertaining book that this blog entry does not do justice to, so I recommend reading it even if you are not sold after reading this blog entry.

Until next time!

Angel Eyes a romance novel by Myrna Mackenzie

Myrna Mackenzie’s Angel Eyes deals with working through issues of the past to build the future, and accepting people as they are.




Sarah Tucker used to have the ability to find people and things. Her father tried to capitalize on this and was verbally abusive. At the age of 18, Sarah runs away from home to escape the town that doesn’t want anything to do with her but to use her for her talent. She comes home 12 years later, after her father’s death, to help her Mother and younger sister, who is now 18 and pregnant by a guy who is quickly losing control of his life to his drug addiction. The town’s people still want nothing to do with her except the desperate people who want her help. Luke lives next door with his 2 year old son that Sarah’s mother watches while he is at work as police officer. Luke’s first priority has to be his son. Sarah is afraid of getting close to anyone and quickly decides that even though she is attracted to Luke she cannot do anything because she cannot live in this town permanently and subject him and his son to the town’s negative view of her.

Meanwhile, Sarah is taking care of her Mother while she recuperates from a fall and tries to find her sister and help her out. Her sister’s drug addicted boyfriend causes problems that she needs Luke’s help with.

This is a good book about family reconnecting and being able to deal with the past to create a future. Sarah and her family make the town learn that she is a good person and that they don’t need to be afraid of her.

Until next time!!!!!!!!

Cutting Loose a romance novel by Tara Janzen

Tara Janzen’s Cutting Loose is an extension of her Steel Street series. The Steele Street series: Crazy Hot; Crazy Cool; Crazy Wild; Crazy Love; Crazy Kisses; Crazy Sweet; and On the Loose. I’ve read most of these books and if you like one you will like them all. These stories are all action packed suspense with high powered muscle cars, lots of high tech gadgets, espionage, and physical and emotional strength along with the classic romance of boy meets/rescues girl.




In Cutting Loose, Zach meets Lily while undercover as a drug lord in El Salvador. He saves her and sends her on her way back to the states, unbeknownst to both of them that she has a piece of intelligence that several international groups would kill for. Once everyone figures out that Lily must have the missing piece, the CIA sends Zach to retrieve it from Lily. Of course the bad guys want it as well and the suspense begins with a shootout in Lily’s house and an exciting car chase across New Mexico, where believe it or not, they get lost. Nothing like trying to survive to get their romance going. Lily finally believes that he is not a drug lord and trusts him to keep her alive along with the team at Steele Street that is feeding them very important information through a computer in the 1968 Shelby Mustang that Zach is driving.

Cutting Loose is a very fast paced novel with so much fun stuff. It’s like watching an action movie where the hero gets the girl. There is the serious aspect of international espionage, but it’s mainly a fun book. I hope you enjoy!

Hitting the Brakes a romance novel by Ken Casper

Ken Casper’s Hitting the Brakes is a good solid NASCAR book. This one deals with the difficulties of owning a NASCAR team and being a single father.




Jim Latimer’s uncle Richard owns PDQ racing, a NASCAR team. Richard has a stroke and hands over the reigns to an ill-prepared Jim, who is a CPA. Anita handles the press releases for the team and tries to explain things to Jim. Jim has difficulties being able to accept the large amounts of money it takes to own the team along with the constant pressure of the press. He understandably worries he is making the right decisions about the team, his uncle’s health, and the fact that his 11 year old son gets into the occasional fight. Anita and Jim don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things but work together and get along outside of the racing stress. Anita spends some time with the Latimer’s and Jim’s son looks forward to her visits as well as Jim. When they start a personal relationship, Anita quickly gets spooked of her feelings and needs some time to figure out what she wants.

This is a good book with fun scenes involving the kids playing soccer with well known NASCAR drivers and Jim burning the burgers. Not only fun scenes but it also shows the difficulty of being a good parent and that you make mistakes as a parent and you just hope that your kids will forgive the mistakes and understand the intended message.

Until next time.........

Just Desserts a romance novel by Barbara Bretton

Barbara Bretton’s writing reminds me a lot of Catherine Anderson’s, who’s writing I love, so it is safe to say that Barbara Bretton ranks right up there in my view. Her books have serious issues with characters that have a sense of humor. Another favorite theme of mine is family because my immediate family is such a big part of my life and I cannot imagine life without my husband or our kids. The other cool thing about Barbara Bretton’s stories are that the main characters aren’t 25 years old but are in their late 30’s, you don’t see many books like this. Why I think this is cool baffles me because I’m still in my 20’s.




Hayley bakes wonderfully designed cakes and owns 60% of Goldy’s bakery. Her bad news ex-husband owns the other 40%. Lizzie’s, Hayley’s 14 year old daughter, intelligence puts her in the genius catagory and she runs the business side of Goldy’s. Hayley’s mother is a great oceanographer who never told Hayley who her father is. During a pre-nup contract work for a famous rocker, Tommy Stiles, lawyer Finn Rafferty discovers that Tommy has another daughter, Haley. Tommy wants to meet and get to know his daughter and granddaughter that he didn’t know existed. Finn goes and commissions a cake for an after party of a concert and is immediately drawn to Hayley and her daughter. Hayley and Finn are cautious around each other because Hayley thinks he’s going to pull the plug on this big contract and Finn is trying to get to know her but is not supposed to tell her who her father is until Tommy meets her and tells her. In the middle of this Finn drives 4 hours to deliver chinese food, they chase down her dog and get covered in mud, Hayley’s neighbors all want tickets to the concert that she can’t get. Hayley and Finn fall in love in spite of the big secret.

There are some great scenes that make you identify with the characters. Hayley finds out that Finn is coming and quickly cleans the bathroom by hiding everything behind the shower curtain, but when they get all muddy chasing the dog she has to fess up move everything so he can shower. Tommy’s relationship with his kids makes you think of a Dad not a rock star, so you have the fun Dad and kid scenes with toys all over the house and teenagers being teenagers. I really really enjoyed this one and hope you do too. Other Barbara Bretton books that I’ve read and loved are Someone Like You, Chances Are, Shore Lights, A Soft Place to Fall, and At Last. I hope you enjoy these as well.

Happy reading.

Just a Taste a romance novel by Deirdre Martin

Just a Taste is another great novel by Deidre Martin. She ties serious issues with funny scenes to put together a great story. Both of the main characters are chefs, so those of you who like to cook there are recipes at the end that the author shares with you. I haven’t tried them but they sound good.




Anthony Dante, chef and half owner of Dante’s, is slowly getting over the death of his wife. His brother, Michael (the other owner of Dante’s) has recently retired from professional hockey and is a househusband/ stay at home dad (a job my husband would like, at least for a little while). Michael tells Anthony that he has to get on with his life and tries a little matchmaking. Vivi came from France with her half sister to open a french bistro, which happens to be across the street from Dante’s. Sparks fly between Vivi and Anthony when they argue over who is the better chef. The problems that arise are that they are both passionate people, who constantly butt heads about food, Anthony being able to move on from the death of his wife, and Vivi dealing with her sister and getting things ready to open her restaurant. Also, Michael struggles with being a house husband and not being involved in hockey. His son wants to be a chef like his Uncle Anthony but Michael would like him to play hockey so he can still be apart of the hockey world. And Natalie, Vivi’s sister has problems of her own.

There are so many funny scenarios between the two brothers picking on each other. Vivi’s English is excellent but the idioms that Anthony uses confuse her and when she tries to use them they usually ends up a mess. There is a constant good natured feel of this story. I really enjoyed it and hope you will too.

Until next time...

Peak Performance a romance novel by Helen Brenna

Peak Performance by Helen Brenna is another great NASCAR story emphasizing family bonds.




Payton Reese, a sportscaster/mountain climber wants to interview the elusive Rachel Murphy, an engine specialist, for a special he is doing on families in NASCAR. The Murphy family is legendary in NASCAR. Rachel had a bad interview a couple of years earlier and has not been interviewed since. Payton, who knows nothing about NASCAR, really wants to interview Rachel as part of his Murphy family special. He is immediately drawn to Rachel even with her trust issues. They both fear commitment and it takes them awhile to trust themselves much less each other. They are both trying for promotions- Payton’s would move him to the west coast, which is another hurdle for them.

Fun/ interesting scenes- Payton takes Rachel mountain climbing. - Payton gets to drive Rachel’s brother’s race car and Rachel freaks out because she is worried about him. - Rachel sends Payton a copy of NASCAR for Dummies.

I have another NASCAR book in my pile to read so another one is on its way. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I do.

Happy reading!

Chasing Stanley a romance novel by Deirdre Martin

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As I was reading Chasing Stanley, Deirdre Martin had me laughing out loud on my way to work yesterday. The characters are realistic, flawed people that you can’t help liking (especially Stanley the 150 pound Newfoundland dog). I love animals and have two dogs of my own that are spoiled rotten, in other words they sleep on the bed. Back to the book.




Jason Mitchell, a professional hockey player newly moved to NY City, belongs to Stanley, the dog, who is not leash trained. He runs into Delilah Gould, dog trainer/ dog walker extraordinaire, whom he hires to train Stanley so they can live peacefully in the city. Delilah is very shy and doesn’t like large groups of people and has very needy parents. Jason’s fraternal twin brother, Eric, is also a professional hockey player and lives only a few blocks away. Jason is outgoing and enjoys going out in large groups to parties with his teammates. Their love for dogs brings them together but their differences and schedules cause problems that they must overcome to make their relationship work.

There are so many fun scenes to choose from. Jason falling asleep at a dog show, the friendly rivalry between Jason and his brother Eric. Eric’s incredible bad timing always interrupting Jason and Delilah’s romantic moments. I can’t wait to read another Deirdre Martin book.

Until next time....

Out Of Line a romance novel by Michele Dunaway

Michele Dunaway’s Out Of Line is only peripherally related to NASCAR. The main story is about honesty and trust in a relationship. Lucy works as a computer specialist and Sawyer is about to become a math professor. Lucy’s good friend is engaged to a NASCAR driver and Sawyer is the brother of twins who also are NASCAR drivers.




Lucy’s friend asks Lucy to find out who was trying to blackmail her fiance. Nothing came of the blackmailing scheme but they want to find out who was behind it. Lucy and Sawyer start dating and things are going very well and they quickly decide that they would have no secrets between them because of past bad experiences. As they fall for each other, Lucy’s exboyfriend warns her away from Sawyer and she overhears Sawyer arguing with a PR rep for his brother. She starts to feel as if there is something that she should know about Sawyer. Needless to say it all blows up in Sawyer’s face when Lucy discover his secret.

Of all of the NASCAR books I’ve read this one wasn’t the best but still a good book.

Until next time.....

No Good Girls a romance novel by Jean Marie Pierson

I had never heard of Jean Marie Pierson, but her book No Good Girls means there might be a new author on the rise. This is not so much a romance but a novel on friendship and finding the love of your life and stumbling along the way.




The story is of 4 good friends in New York City. Geri, a struggling writer who works for a publishing company, knows how to fix cars, and has some amazingly bad luck in love and great luck in friends. Her Mom left when she was 8 and she is always trying to figure out why. She is trying to get into the film industry but hates her current job. Geri has an extraordinary relationship with her father, and has a crush on her downstairs neighbor, Todd. Todd loves Geri but lacks the courage to do anything about it. My favorite part of the story is Geri’s imaginary friend JT whom she talks to. She picked his image from a male model that she ends up meeting but thinks she is just imagining her friend JT because she is drunk at the time.

There are so many touching moments between friends that this is much more than a romance novel. Geri’s roommate, Emmy, a math teacher, has a crush on a stockbroker and he has a crush on one of his coworkers. Maria is a cop that no one takes seriously because she is tiny and Sally has her own problems. These friends will do anything for each other and be honest to tell them when they are screwing up their lives. Everyone needs friends like these four.

Happy reading!!

Freedom’s Price a romance novel by Suzanne Brockman

First, Suzanne Brockman is one of my absolute favorite authors of serious romance/action novels. Whenever I see her name on a book I know I will enjoy it so I picked up Freedom’s Price without even reading the back and I was not disappointed. This not one of her Navy SEALS books if you are familiar with her writing.




In Freedom’s Price, Liam is a journalist who spent years in a foreign prision being tortured and a few more years just trying to make it out alive in a war torn country. Marisala was only 15 when he met her and 17 when she broke him out of the prison and nursed him back to health and got him to safety. Now that her country is safe, her uncle, Liam’s friend, sends her to the US for college even though she is now 22 and way older in life experience than the other students. Her uncle has convinced Liam to be her guardian and watch out for her and try to get her to fit into society a little better. Growing up as freedom fighter has not trained her to be a part of polite society. Of course a housing mix up means Marisala ends up living with Liam until she can get into an apartment. Both have physical and spiritual scars from their experiences and need each other to try to work past them and have a meaningful life. This story is how they resist and give in to each other and figure out how to heal and fall in love.

This is one book that will touch your soul. Enjoy.

Satisfaction a romance novel by Marianne Stillings

I’ve read a couple of books by Marianne Stillings and I’ve enjoyed every single one. They all put a smile on my face. Her characters are engaging and have silly moments intermingled with serious moments. Satisfaction is another great book by her.




Ethan Darling (you have to love his name), who is a private eye with a history with the SFPD, gets hired as Georgie Mundy’s bodyguard. Georgie, who is a famous TV chef, resists having a body guard because she has secrets that she wants to keep. This book has very little about Georgie the TV chef and more about Ethan. Ethan makes figuring Georgie out and fixing her problems his goal. They meet by colliding in an elevator and then the sparks start to fly. At one point they are houseguests of an acquaintance of Georgie’s and she tells people that he is her feng shui master, so Ethan makes her call him Master and he starts calling her Grasshopper. There are some action scenes with kidnappings, a murder, and a shoot out. There are lots of romantic moments that bring these two together. And you can’t forget the jokes about having a last name of Darling. I really can’t tell you more without telling you any of the little surprises that the author has in store for you.

Until next time...

Tall Tales and Wedding Veils a romance novel by Jane Graves

Tall Tales and Wedding Veils is the best novel I’ve ready by Jane Graves, and her other books are really good too so that just goes to show you how good this one is. This is a good fun book that also deals with some serious issues.




Heather, an accountant, is overweight and Tony, who wants to buy and manage a sports bar, is hot, yet superficial with a dating history of one night stands. Tony and Heather meet up in Las Vegas by accident, go out celebrating and wake up married. They go back to Texas planning on separating but Heather’s family is so happy for her that they plan on staying married for 1 month, after her cousins wedding. So married, sharing an apartment and Heather helping out at the bar, Tony realizes that he would be stupid to separate from the best person in his life. Now he just has to convince Heather that he is worth staying married to. They both have family issues that they have to work out and simply having each other as a friend helps them to fix those issues. Of course Heather is embarrassed about her weight and Tony is afraid that he will fail as a bar owner. During their month together they fall in love.

One of my favorite scenes is when they wake up married and through their hangovers slowly figure out that they had a drive through wedding and called her Mom. Another is when they are playing the happily married couple for her cousin and her fiance and Heather tells them about their wild sex life (which is non-existent at this point). Tony is also under a bit of pressure from Heather’s father, who is a retired cop who likes to go hunting and has an extensive gun collection. I’m sure you will enjoy this book.

Until next time.

If you have any books that you really like or would like to recommend please comment! I’m always looking for new authors and books!

How To Knit a Wild Bikini a romance novel by Christie Ridgeway

WOW!! Christie Ridgeway did an awesome job with How To Knit a Wild Bikini! I loved it! A fun read with some serious issues tossed in. How To Knit a Wild Bikini takes place in Malibu with Nikki as a personal chef and Jay a writer/editor for a popular Men’s magazine.




Jay needs a personal chef and hires Nikki when she shows up for her interview and he pretends that she is his new lover so the lady next door will stop trying to flirt with him. Both Nikki and Jay have sworn off the opposite sex but they can’t resist each other. Jay is known for loving and leaving women and Nikki had a bad experience as a teenager and isn’t willing to trust again. Part of Nikki’s job requirements, since it worked well the first time, is to pretend to be Jay’s new lover. The job is only supposed to last for one month so they both know that it’s going to end. As they spend more time together, Jay finds Nikki’s quick wit attractive and Nikki finds out that Jay isn’t as superficial as he lets people believe.

Yes, there is a knitting shop and Nikki takes up knitting and wears some cool knitted clothing items. There are numerous fun scenes that will have you laughing. Jay’s last personal chef was a lesbian so he was expecting a lesbian to show up to the interview and Nikki tells him that she’s not interested in men so he considers her safe to set her up as his pretend girlfriend. He quickly finds out that she is not a lesbian but they let the charade continue on for a bit before they give in to their mutual attraction. Other fun characters are Jay’s wealthy neighbor, who finds her self worth with the Mexican landscaper, Jay’s niece, who is living with him for the month, and the owner of the knitting shop, who has a connection to Nikki that will surprise you. Another winner by Christie Ridgeway.

Happy reading!

A NASCAR Holiday a romance novel by Kimberly Raye, Roxanne St. Claire, and Debra Webb

A NASCAR Holiday has three stories by three different authors, the only thing that they have in common is that they are all NASCAR related and take place at Christmas time. They were fun stories but I found that I wanted to read a more in depth story. I wanted to keep reading.

Ladies start your engines by Raye is a story about an old flame getting a second chance. Savannah wants to be a mechanic but her father has her stuck in a more feminine position doing PR. She teams up with Mackenzie to show her father where her talents lie. Working together in close quarters, things quickly heat up between these two with a shared past.




‘Tis the silly season by St. Claire has Clay, a race car driver needing a team to drive for, hiring Lisa and her 2 boys to pose as his wife for a potential sponsor. These two quickly fall for each other by living in close proximity but crack under the pressure when the truth comes out. You’ll have to read it to see how it all turns out. It’s a romance so of course it has a happy ending.

Unbreakable by Webb has Dr. Maxine Gray hired to test the fitness of Rush Jackson, a driver, to see if race car driving could be considered a sport. Maxine sees first hand that Rush has a difficult and dangerous job that is not all fun and games. She spends x-mas with his family and gets to know the man behind the fame. And they all live happily ever after as they should.

Happy Reading...

Not Another Bad Date a romance novel by Rachel Gibson

Rachel Gibson has a hilarious novel in Not Another Bad Date. I loved it. I read this book at a time I really needed something funny. It’s a great novel if you just want to escape the real world for a few hours.




Adele has had bad dates for years and is pretty sure that she is cursed. She heads home to Texas to stay with her sister and niece while her sister needs to stay in the hospital. While there she runs into her first love, her college boyfriend, Zach, who dumped her when his previous girlfriend turned up pregnant. Adele does not want to fall in love with Zach again because he will just break her heart again. Zach doesn’t trust women because his now deceased wife got pregnant on purpose so he would have to marry her. Adele struggles with the idea of getting back together with Zach and Zach uses all of his charm to win her over. Meanwhile Adele’s niece and Zach’s daughter are friends and have mixed feelings about the adults having a relationship.

Rachel Gibson captures the mind of a 13 year old girl perfectly and creates a lot of fun scenes of the bad dates that Adele ends up going on and how they get screwed up. This one is just a fun read. Enjoy!

Until next time...

Promise, Texas a romance novel by Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber has a great novel with Promise, Texas. She has written several other books with these characters and they were all good. This is probably the last one in the series because it seems to wrap up several stories. She always does a good job about emphasizing the importance of family and that marriage is not a cake walk but takes work, patience, and love to last.




The back of this book only mentions one story when the book has so many different stories that are all tied together. Macomber let you know what is going on in everyone else’s lives that she has previously written about but you do not need to have read those books to see how the characters have grown and evolved to face new problems such as the reappearance of an ex-wife, alzheimers, and impending parenthood. The new story is of Lucas and Annie. Annie’s husband divorced her after a bad car accident left her with scars and Lucas’ wife died from cancer several years before leaving him with 2 small children to raise. These two meet and set up a marriage of convenience. It doesn’t take them long to realize that they are in love and want to make it a real marriage that will last forever. Of course they have to work through the hurt that their previous spouses have eft them with.

I love reading Debbie Macomber’s books because the characters are real people with realistic concerns that are easy to identify with. Happy Reading!

Until next time.......

Wild Roses a romance novel by Hannah Howell

Hannah Howell’s


Wild Roses takes place on the trail from Wyoming to Philadelphia. Ella Carson’s uncle is her guardian and wants her money so she fled to Wyoming where her aunt lives.
Three years later her uncle sends Harrigan Mahoney to bring her back. The Harrigan’s family business was stolen from them in an underhanded manner, so he really needs the money that this will bring him. Despite her arguments that Harrigan is taking Ella to her death, Harrigan finds a way to get her to Philly. Along the way, Ella’s Aunt Louise tries to thwart Harrigan’s efforts in many silly ways. She stops a train and tries to steal Ella back. During all of this, Harrigan admires Ella’s courage and strong personality. Ella comes to appreciate that Harrigan feels the need to help his family in their time of need. Through the bad times, tornado and illness, these two come to love each other.

This is a good interesting story, not a top ten kind of book, but solidly entertaining.

Happy reading!

That Summer Place a collection of romance novels by Jill Barnett, Susan Wiggs, and Debbie Macomber

That Summer Place is three books in one; Old Things by Jill Barnett, Private Paradise by Debbie Macomber and Island Time by Susan Wiggs. What ties these stories together is the location, a house on an island in the Puget Sound. The first two stories’ main character is not the typical main character, they are not 20-something and free but people with kids, a history, and in their late 30’s and forties. I liked these two better than the last one, maybe because I now have children and can identify with those characters more.




In Old Things the characters rediscover each other after 30 years. They were each others first love and one that gets reestablished in this book even with a couple of teenagers around.

In Private Paradise, the main characters have to share the house due to an accident. A widowed mother with a 15 year old son and a divorced father of a 12 year old girl. These characters meet and help each other heal from their pasts and the kids add a lot of fun to this book to keep it from getting too serious.

Island Time is the classic story of opposites attract to make each other better people.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I did. Feel free to comment and send me any new books or authors. I’m always looking to discover something new.

The Ideal Wife a romance novel by Mary Balogh

Mary Balogh does a superb job writing The Ideal Wife. This is a fun novel of two people who make a quick decision to marry each other, and of course it will all work out, it’s a romance novel after all. I’m sure everyone has an image of who the ideal mate for them will be but are typically pleasantly surprised when the person that they love is not that ideal image. My husband probably didn’t envision a wife hooked on romance novels.




Abigail just lost her job and goes to see a very distant relative named Miles, the Earl of Severn, for a reference so she can get another position. Miles’ mother and sisters are trying to marry him off to a debutante that he doesn’t like. When Abigail arrives on his door step he sees what he thinks is his "ideal wife.” So instead of giving her a reference he proposes. Without any other options, Abigail accepts and within days they are married to circumvent Miles’ mother from interfering. Within days, Miles learns that Abigail is not the image that she first presented and he of course realizes that he is happy with her just the way she is. Now he just has to convince her of that. They both have secrets that they try to keep hidden from each other and the other of course tries to figure it out. One of the best scenes is when they tell Miles’ mother that they are married and have only known each other for a few days.

This is fun lighthearted book. It made my commute to work enjoyable!

Until next time...

The Horsemaster’s Daughter a romance novel by Susan Wiggs

The Horsemaster’s Daughter by Susan Wiggs makes you believe that love can conquer all. This is a beautifully written book that really makes you feel like you are there. The scenes are still vivid in my mind even though I finished the book about a week ago.




The story takes place in Virginia during the mid 1850’s. Hunter Calhoun has turned his plantation into a horse breeding farm and has purchased a stallion from Ireland that seems to have gone crazy on the boat ride to America. He takes the horse to the horsemaster, hoping to not have to put him down only to find that the horsemaster has died. Eliza, the horsemaster’s daughter, helps him save the horse. Eliza was raised on an island and has had almost no contact with the outside world much less knows how society works. Hunter sees the strength, understanding and caring that Eliza has for everything and wants to take her home with him because he is a better person with her. Hunter has 2 small children, his wife passed away a few years earlier. Eliza and Hunter have to face many serious issues such as his drinking, taking care of the kids, upperclass society in the south, and slavery. Hunter and Eliza fall in love on the island and then try to fit into society. This book teaches us, even now, that sometimes you just have to look at the world through a different perspective.

This is a serious book. I typically like the fun carefree books but this one I just could not put down. Susan Wiggs reminds us that what is important in life is not always what we think and that loving someone makes everything brighter and better when shared with that person. Bad times are not so bad and the good times are even better! I highly recommend this book. I also got sucked into the sneak preview on her book Just Breathe, it looks to be also great and thought provoking.

Happy reading!

The MacGregor Grooms a romance novel by Nora Roberts

I have yet to find a Nora Roberts book that was bad. The MacGregor Grooms is just as good as the MacGregor Brides and all of the other MacGregor books (a favorite of mine is The Perfect Neighbor). Like the MacGregor Brides book this one is composed of 3 different stories with 3 different cousins. All of the MacGregor characters have their own story so there are quite a few of the MacGregor stories starting with Daniel MacGregor and Anna. If you’ve read any of the MacGregor books you know that Daniel MacGregor is a meddling old man in his nineties that sets up his children and now grandchildren with the person that they are meant to be with. Even though their perfect mate is dropped in their laps they still have to work it all out to reach the inevitable outcome of marriage.




The first story involves DC, an artist, and Layna, someone who tries to be perfect. They are set up on a date to a charity event and are instantly attracted to each other. The next story is about Duncan, a riverboat owner and Cat, the vocal talent for his boat. The last story is about Ian, a well connected lawyer, and Naomi, a bookstore owner more comfortable with books than people. The 3 men are good looking and confident yet the 3 women in their lives have issues in their past that they have to get beyond before they can commit to the future.

As always Daniel MacGregor, the patriarch, plays a role in all of the stories and is quite character. If you like Nora Roberts you will like this one.

Happy reading!

Weddings Can Be Murder a romance novel by Christie Craig

I had never heard of Christie Craig but this book caught my attention so I picked it up. Then this poor book sat at the very bottom of the pile. Once I finally picked it up I had a horrible time trying to put it down to get anything done at work or around the house, it is just that good. It is hilarious!




In Weddings Can be Murder, Katie Ray is engaged to be married to Joe Lyon but they are having second thoughts about marrying each other. Katie accidentally flushes her engagement ring down the toilet. Carl Hades, a PI, is hired by the wedding planner to catch a serial killer, who is killing brides and has targeted Katie as his next victim. After Katie witnesses a murder, her and Carl get locked in a closet together for hours. Sparks start flying immediately between these two.

Funny scenes include Carl wearing a pink boa, Carl trying to be metrosexual, and his dog named Precious that he is embarrassed to own. There are several cases of mistaken identity when Katie flings herself at Carl’s brother. Katie’s best friend Leslie plays a prominent role and has many funny scenes of her own which include her grandmother who starts taking off her clothes at all the wrong times. There are a lot more hilarious scenes that I would ruin if I told you about them.

This book is one that I look forward to rereading, it is that good.

Until next time...

Coming Undone a romance novel by Susan Anderson

I picked up Susan Anderson’s Coming Undone simply because it looked like fun, and it turned out to be a fun book. I know, I know, don’t judge a book by it’s cover but I wasn’t led astray this time.




PJ, an up and coming country western singer, fires her mother/manager for embezzling, but doesn’t want the world to know what a sleaze her mother is. Her record label figures her to be unreliable and hires a PI/bodyguard to keep an eye on her and make sure she gets to her concerts. Jared Hamilton is a blast from her past. They were once best friends 15 years earlier, but that all fell apart under stress and self doubt. PJ is understandably pissed about having a watchdog and Jared finds it hard to have only a professional relationship with PJ.

Some fun things in this story include PJ’s band members all living in a motor home together, PJ sneaking past Jared in silly ways, and Jared stuck shopping with the ladies. To top it all off, PJ has a stalker. It’s fun seeing PJ and Jared work through their past and present problems. They learn to stick by each other and in the process fall in love.

Enjoy!

Truly Yours a romance novel by Barbara Metzger

Truly yours by Barbara Metzger was one of those books close to the bottom of my pile of books to read, but ended up being great.




Viscount Rexford (Rex), who is recovering from being injured in the war with France, has the ability to tell the truth from lie. Unfortunately for him, he cannot turn this off. This trait is passed on from father to son. His parents have marital problems that he believes stems from this strange trait, so he vows to never marry and have children.

Amanda Carville is accused of killing her stepfather. Of course, Rex can tell that she is telling the truth when she insists that she is innocent. Rex does all he can to clear her name so she doesn’t hang. While searching for the real killer, Rex and his cousin, Daniel, get themselves in sticky situations. Amanda pins her hopes on Rex finding the evidence to free her. In this novel, Amanda and Rex fall in love and work through their issues. Not only does Rex figure out the mystery but the situation forces his parents to work out their problems.

This is an interesting and fun story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Overnight Male a romance novel by Elizabeth Bevarly

Elizabeth Bevarly’s Overnight Male is part of a series. Each book may be read individually. I previously have read one other book in this series and really enjoyed it, but I have yet to read the others. Both You’ve got Male and Overnight Male have superspies trying to save the world from a rogue ex-agent.




In Overnight Male Lila, Moreau and, Joel Faraday work together to catch the criminal Adrian Padgett. Joel, a newcomer to international espionage, is trying to find the one person to share his life with. Of course that one person turns out to be superspy Lila, who relies on being a loner and intends to stay alone. Joel and Lila pose as a couple of graduate students to follow their leads in the case. The danger they get into fuels their adrenaline and draws them together.

This is a fun book that shows that forever and stability are important. Some fun scenes include Joel making rookie mistakes and college students being, well, college students. The villain, Adrian Padgett has his own romance brewing but I’ll let you read the book to discover how that turns out.

Happy reading.

Until next time...

Death Angel a romance novel by Linda Howard

Linda Howard, an excellent author, has another winner with Death Angel. This is not a cutesy love story but one with a lot of suspense. This is going to be a difficult one to write about so bear with me. It’s too good not to tell you about so I’ll just have to give it my best shot.




Drea Rousseau is content living with Rafael Salinas, a notorious crime lord, as his mistress and acts the part of dumb blond to keep the high living lifestyle that she has. Her life up to this point has little to no redeeming qualities. When Salinas betrays her to keep the service of an assassin, she sneaks away with his money to start a new life. When Salinas discovers the theft he sends the assassin after her. Drea, left for dead, starts a new and better life. Her conscience sends her to the FBI to tell them everything she knows to stop Salinas’s criminal activities and then she will no longer live in fear. During this time, she has to work with the most dangerous man she knows. Their love story is spread out over the course of the novel. They finally get the chance to trust each other and learn how to be better people simply because of the love that they share.

There are no hearts and flowers in this book but a simple connecting of souls. I really enjoyed this book, but then I think I’ve enjoyed everything by Linda Howard that I’ve read.

Until next time...

Thigh High a romance novel by Christina Dodd

Hello,

Christina Dodd has another interesting story in Thigh High. It has fun bank robberies and three elderly ladies that add spice to the book.




Jeremiah Mac MacNaught owns the banks being robbed. He shows up in New Orleans around Mardi Gras to catch the “Bearded Bandits,” the two cross-dressing thiefs who only take a small amount of money, give fashion advice to the teller they rob, and only strike once during Mardi Gras every year. Nessa, a people person, works for the bank and is told to help the insurance investigator, Jeremiah Mac. Due to a mistake Nessa made years ago, she will never advance in her job, but she needs the additional money to help her elderly aunts so they no longer will have to take in borders. In the course of working together, Nessa and Jeremiah fall in love. When it becomes known that Jeremiah Mac is the evil Mac MacNaught and that Nessa is a suspect, all hell breaks loose and Jeremiah has a lot of groveling ahead of him.

Some fun scenes include Jeremiah dancing with Nessa’s aunts, being locked in the vault, and you can’t forget the mice (you’ll understand when you read this book).

Until next time....

What looks like crazy a romance novel by Charlotte Hughes

Hello,

If you like Janet Evanovich, you’ll love Charlotte Hughes. What looks like crazy has the same feel as the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich (One for the money...). This book is a lot of fun.




Kate Holly, a psychologist, is in the middle of a divorce, yet she loves her soon to be ex-husband, Jay, but cannot live with his career choice. Its a case of the psychologist needing a psychologist. Kate has a whole slew of interesting clients, one who threatens to blow up her office with his insulin and another is claustrophobic. Her receptionist, Mona, has a huge inheritance so she works for free. Mona frequently offers unsolicited advice and business management ideas, such as letting an out of work nail technician work out of Kate’s office by offering free manicures for new patients. Besides the impending divorce and crazy clients, Kate has relatives who put up a pornographic sculpture in her front yard, a crazy neighbor, a stray dog, the taxi cab driver who thinks she is a hooker and a colleague/ex-lover who works with her on some cases but insists on her describing her underwear to him before he will help her. With all the crazies in her life, Kate just cannot catch a break

This book is a complete joy to read. It’s fun, lighthearted, and fast paced. I can’t wait to find out what happens next in her next book, Nutcase.

Slingshot Moves a romance novel by Anna Schmidt

Hello,

Anna Schmidt is a new author for me and I loved Slingshot Moves. I worried at first that I wouldn’t like it because its not the typical boy meets girl story that we all know and love. This is a story about focusing on the important things in life and realizing that generally the crazy things in our lives are not that important.




Heidi Kramer is a small town vet and her boyfriend Steve Grosso works in the NASCAR racing industry. Of course, NASCAR requires a lot of traveling and Heidi, who grew up constantly moving from one place to another, never making lasting friendships, believes that is not a lifestyle she wants to live. Steve and Heidi work through their problems by focusing on the fact that they love each other and want a future together. Of course, their career and family problems seem insurmountable. There are some fun big family events, silly pet problems that Heidi sees being a vet, and serious issues of raising children, grieving for loved ones, and a moral dilemma.

This books strikes a perfect balance between humor and seriousness and draws you in with the lovable characters. I can’t wait to read more.

Until next time...

Or in the mean time....Please feel free to comment or send me some book ideas to review. I’m always looking for new authors and good books!

Dial M for Mischief a romance novel by Kasey Michaels

Hello,

Dial M for Mischief is the exciting first book of a new series by Kasey Michaels. Three sisters work to find their fathers murderer. The second book Mischief Becomes Her doesn’t come out until November so we’ll just have to wait to see how it all turns out.




Jolie Sunshine, the middle sister, has become a movie star. She left the love of her life to see if she could make it in Hollywood. Five years later she comes back for her father’s funeral. Sam Becket has never forgotten or gotten over Jolie. He arrives at the funeral in time to save her from the paparazzi. Teddy Sunshine, a private investigator, had four cold cases that he was working on. The police believe he murdered a woman and then went home and committed suicide. His three daughters get into danger trying to clear his name. Sam Pairs up with Jolie to help. The other Sunshine sisters, Jade and Jessica, get help from the men in their lives.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the series, because I like the characters and want to find out how everything turns out with Jade and Jessica.

Until next time...

Someday Soon a romance novel by Debbie Macomber

Hello,

Someday Soon by Debbie Macomber is a great book!! It has likeable characters, exciting action, and touching romantic moments. Debbie Macomber excels at highlighting the romantic things in our everyday lives. I like to tell the story of knowing my husband was the one for me when we went shopping for a washing machine and I had fun. It’s the little things in life that really are the most telling.




In Someday Soon, Linette is grieving for her husband when Cain comes into her life. Cain owns and operates a mercenary business to rescue people who have been kidnapped by terrorists. Linette has a difficult time with Cain’s job, which continually puts his life in danger. One of Cain’s fellow mercenaries, Tim, was injured by a landmine and is on a long road to recovering his ability to walk when Cain hires a physical therapist for him. His physical therapist, Francine, gives him a reason for getting up in the morning.

This book is hard to put down. There are fun scenes of shopping for a Christmas tree and having a snowball fight. They tease each other and quickly find out that life has more meaning with each other in it. As you can probably tell, I enjoyed the little things. Like the mistakes they make along the way by simply trying too hard. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.

Until next time...

The Price of Indiscretion a romance novel by Cathy Maxwell

Hello,

The story of Cathy Maxwell’s The Price of Indiscretion is about love lost and found and lost and found and the bond between sisters.




Miranda Cameron, an American, heads to London to marry a wealthy, titled gentleman to secure her sisters futures. On the way, her ship stops in the Azores and there she runs into the man she fell in love with when she was fifteen. Alex Haddon is half British and half American Indian and doesn’t fit into either culture well. He is furious when he finds out that Miranda will essentially sell herself to the highest bidder.

Miranda feels that Alex wants her to give up her family and Alex feels like Miranda wants him to give up his Indian heritage. Yet, they both are hurt too much by this misunderstanding to want to talk about and resolve it.

I found this book to be fun and interesting but not thought provoking.

Until next time...

Sealed with a Kiss a romance novel by Carly Philips

Hello,

I have found Carly Phillips to be a fun author. Her books are lighthearted and just plain old fun to read.





In Sealed with a Kiss, Molly Gifford finds out who her biological father is and meets him and his family. When he is charged with murder she contacts her old flame Daniel Hunter, a defense attorney, to defend him. As Molly and Hunter work together they realize that they are each other’s soul mate. Before a relationship can work between these two, they have to forgive each other for past mistakes and learn the meaning of family and love.

Other fun characters include Molly’s paternal grandmother, known as Commander and her talking parrot. The Commander has a new hair color each week and you have to watch what you say around the parrot because he might repeat it.

Some other books by Carly Phillips are Simply Sexy and Seduce Me. These novels are also funny but both show how important family is.

Until next time...

A Wanted Man a romance novel by Linda Lael Miller

Hello,

I believe I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve ever read by Linda Lael Miller and this is a good one. All of her books have complex characters and interesting stories.





A Wanted Man takes place in 1905 in the Arizona territory. Schoolmarm Lark Morgan and Marshal Rowdy Rhodes both have secrets they don’t want to share. Lark's interest in Rowdy Rhodes (obviously an alias) stems from her fear that he was sent to find her. They both eventually have to trust each other with their secrets to help themselves and each other.

This book has interesting family dynamics and exciting train robberies. Rowdy’s younger brother, Gideon, is growing up and learning about life and being a man. Pardner, Rowdy's dog, definitely is man's best friend. Miller does an excellent job in describing frontier life, its hardships, and the social dynamics in a frontier town. I found this book to be exciting and I hope you like it too.

But why is it that every book where the main character’s name is Lark, she is known for her singing?

Out of the Blue a romance novel by JoAnn Ross

Hello,

JoAnn Ross has written a good romantic suspense novel in Out of the Blue. This is the middle book of a trilogy that includes Out of the Mist and Out of the Storm. I have yet to read the other two books.




Out of the Blue is a good story about old relationships coming back to life despite the baggage that has been acquired in the intervening years. Lark Stewart has become a household name as a country singer. Lucas McCloud is a retired sniper for the military and then the FBI. When Lark is targeted by a crazy stalker, her Aunt Zelda calls Lucas to protect her. While facing danger these two work through their old problems of why they didn’t stay together in the past.

The mystery part is a good section of the book where you follow the stalker and his plans. I was able to figure out the twist in the story about halfway through, but that did not spoil the book for me. I’m looking forward to reading the other two books in the trilogy about Lark’s sisters, Lily and Laurel.

Until next time...

Tongue in Chic a romance novel by Christina Dodd

Tongue in Chic is a great romantic suspense novel with some interesting and humorous characters. Christina Dodd did a great job. I don’t like the title but don’t judge a book by it’s title.

Meadow Svarvas needs money to pay for her mom’s cancer treatments so she breaks into


her grandfather's house to steal a painting. When she is caught, she trips and hits her head and claims that she has amnesia to Devlin Fitzwilliam so he won’t call the police. This is when she finds out that her grandfather has sold the house and everything in it to Devlin. When Devlin is faced with Meadow's claim of amnesia, which he knows to be false, he tells her that she is his wife. Meadow is now stuck with Devlin because of her so called amnesia. She cannot confront Devlin with his lie of marriage because the he will have every right to send her to jail. Meanwhile, living in Devlin’s house as his “wife,” Meadow keeps searching for the painting. Several other people know of the painting and are also looking for it. A series of murder attempts draws Meadow and Devlin together until they finally decide to trust each other with the truth.

I think my favorite kind of novel is a romantic suspense and this one belongs at the top of the charts. This book is filled with southern charm, great suspense, and laughter. The characters are intriguing as they try to figure each other out.

Until next time...

Strike Zone a romance novel by Kate Angell

Strike Zone is a fun novel with entertaining characters. The story is about Brett Stryker, a professional baseball player, and Taylor Hannah. Taylor left Brett at the alter 3 years ago and now hears that Brett is engaged to someone else, so she rushes home to see him.


The story has lots of fun twists and turns. Like Taylor dressing up as the team mascot and getting into fights with the other team mascot when he makes fun of Brett.

There is another story in the book about Taylor’s sister Eve and another pitcher on the team, Sloan. To be honest, I liked this story better. Sloan is a popular ladies man and at first was interested in Taylor. Eve knows this and wants nothing to do with him. Especially when he tells her he only goes on 3 dates and then he’s onto someone new. Eve loses a bet with Sloan and has to go on 3 dates with him. Sloan realizes that he really likes Eve and wants more than the 3 dates but his reputation continues to cause him problems with Eve.

This is good, fun book. I’ve read another book by Kate Angell and liked it better than this one but I don’t remember the title.

Until next time...

Montana Gold a romance novel by Genell Dellin

Hi everyone,

Here’s a book by an author I had never heard of, Genell Dellin. I really enjoyed it.

It’s about a rodeo star, Chase Lomax, who is getting older and his injuries are catching up with him. Elle Hawthorne is a female bullfighter with intimacy issues of her own.




During one rodeo, both are hurt and require the help of the other to heal. These two loners learn that loving and trusting someone is worth the risk of getting hurt. They work together to get past their injuries and emotional barriers that they have put up to protect themselves.

Chase has been an absentee father for many years and now has to step up to the plate and be a parent to his 16 year old son, Shane. As every parent knows, mistakes and forgiveness are key players in a parent/kid relationship.

In my opinion, this is an excellent book and I will definitely go find more works by Genell Dellin. It is very well written with characters that touch your heart.

Thanks for reading with me.

Until next time...