Sweet Kiss by Judy Ann Davis

KISS
Sweet Kiss by Judy Ann Davis
A Candy Hearts Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday (Valentine’s Day)
Length; Short Story (72 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

Hard-working Kate Clark opens a thriving coffee shop that quickly becomes the local hang-out for students and the community. Her one wish is to eventually buy out her sister’s share of the old Florida home they inherited. However, Violet is in desperate need of cash and has other plans.

viagra shops SIldenafil citrate is the key ingredient of Kamagra. All men with ED fail to satisfy the viagra 5mg uk sensual urges of their female partners. Here, these kinds of an individual could not maintain ones hardness of its penile region through intimacy & thus cialis tablets 100mg it would initiate innumerable Circumstances throughout copulation. The point when your appalachianmagazine.com viagra levitra will arrive, you may see some rather shocking results in the bedroom later. Tappe Vanderberg, Kate’s childhood friend and high school sweetheart, has sold his lucrative internet security business to return to Little Heron Shores and fulfill his dreams of owning a marina. Now the handsome Dutch-born businessman is making waves with single women all over town—including loony, post mistress Eva May Poole who’s in search of husband number three.

But it’s Kate Clark who’s wreaking havoc with Tappe’s heart, not Eva May. Can he find a way to shake the dingbat post mistress and convince Kate to give him a second chance and the sweet kiss he remembers from an earlier time?

Losing a diamond ring down the drain could put a damper on anyone’s day, but when the plumber turns out to be a former boyfriend who stirs old feelings, the day starts looking brighter! That is, until he sees the ring and decides his former flame is engaged to be married.

Kate is the hardworking, dedicated co-owner of Kate’s Coffee Shop in Little Heron Shores, Florida. Her only living relative, other than her sister Violet, passed away last year leaving Kate and Violet her homestead, which has been in the family for four generations and was their childhood home. Kate loves the old place. It leads to the backwaters and it holds many wonderful memories for Kate, most of which include her childhood friend/boyfriend, Tappe. Violet, however, doesn’t seem to have fond memories of anyone or anything. She wants Kate to sell.

Tappe is recently back from the Netherlands after a failed marriage, and he looks better than ever. He’s living and working at the nearby marina, but he would much rather buy the old homestead that Violet is so keen on selling. The fly in the ointment keeping everyone’s dreams at bay is a girl named Eva May, who you may find yourself laughing at the whole time you’re hating her.

Most of this story has a comfortable flair—friends, love, quirky people, and a hometown with old-fashioned character, but there were a few confusing instances in the story where character traits turned topsy-turvy. For example, Melanie, Kate’s best friend and business partner, has given the reader reason to believe she is hopeful Kate and Tappe might reconnect, yet when Tappe asks to see Kate, Melanie turns into an over-protective grouch and balks at even giving Kate a message from him. Even odder is Kate’s behavior when she shows no interest in even saying hello to Tappe even though their friendship has been rekindled. I was also disappointed to find a few editing errors beginning on the very first page with the word “facet” instead of “faucet.” Most glitches, however, were simply missing or omitted words.

This is a quick, clean read, especially fun around Valentine’s Day given its candy hearts theme. Readers who like romance and old friendships will settle in nicely with this cute story!

For You by Emma Kaye

YOU
For You by Emma Kaye
A Candy Hearts Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Genre: Historical, Holiday, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (72 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

It’s Valentine’s Day, and candy heart sayings mock Drew Engledown’s lonely state. He wants more in his life than work, but hasn’t met anyone he can imagine spending his life with. When he puts his own life at risk to save a friend, he’s sent back in time to Regency London and mistaken for a murdered earl. Has he been given a chance at love with the earl’s beautiful widow, or will he suffer the same fate as the previous lord?

In my EBook discount cialis and articles, I focus on this idea. An viagra on line australia acidic body is the environment needed to wreak havoc when it comes to disease. Doctors need to understand case history viagra overnight delivery http://appalachianmagazine.com/page/60/ before prescribing sex medicine in Bangalore, but it is critically important to find out a proficient clinic. High blood pressure medication appalachianmagazine.com generic levitra online reduces the blood pressure and combating free radical cells. When her husband’s heir lays claim to all she once owned, Lady Engledown is left nearly destitute. So she doesn’t know whether to be relieved or angry when the earl returns but claims he’s not her husband. Could he be telling the truth, or is he toying with her? She doesn’t know what to think of this man who is so different from the husband she never loved. Can they find happiness together, or will this man she comes to love leave her worse off than before?

Can royalty transcend the realm of time and cheat death?

Valentine’s Day for bachelor Drew Engledown means more than just candy hearts and secret admirers, it’s the day he starts questioning his own solitary existence. Why can’t he find his soulmate? His friend Chuck, who is blissfully wed to Brenda, agrees that Drew has not found “the one” otherwise he’d be married or nursing a broken heart.

As the two friends start across the street together, Chuck steps out in front of a double-decker London bus, but Drew’s quick action saves Chuck by pushing him out of the way, only to have the bus hit him instead. Somewhere between death and the hospital, Drew finds himself alive and well … in 1818 London!

Countess Julia, the beautiful woman who finds Drew strewn across her dead husband’s bed, believes him to be her spouse impossibly resurrected … for a moment. Then Julia realizes Drew is an almost identical twin to her late husband, Payne. Even Payne’s mother sees the amazing resemblance. Soon, Drew finds out that the late Payne Engledown was a womanizing scoundrel who failed to provide for his wife and mother in case of his death. Now Cousin Engledown is set to inherit everything, and he plans to toss out Julia and her mother-in-law. Can Drew help them?

This time travel story is unique and fun, although not all the dots connected for me. Drew’s acceptance of time travel, his ease of settling into instant royalty in a setting two-hundred years in the past, and his quick willingness to join a farce with people whom he barely knows, made the story feel rushed and incomplete. Even Brenda, who seemed to have all the answers that Drew and the readers needed, played such a small and insignificant role, her credibility was nil and her psychic-like abilities too convenient.

However, the story is creative, entertaining, and written in an easy-to-read style. It’s a quick read, too, making it perfect for long flights or an afternoon at the beach. If you’re looking for an unusual love story with the power to transport you to an out-of-the-ordinary place then this might be the perfect book for you!

I’m Yours by Carolyn Menke

YOURS
I’m Yours by Carolyn Menke
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Genre: Historical
Length: Short Story (66 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

The Roaring Twenties spell opportunity for Audrey McCall, a starlet who’s as irresistible as the illegal booze poured behind every shuttered speakeasy. Her big theater dreams include landing the impossible, a role on Broadway. But she’s fallen in love with handsome Edward Stark, who wants her to be his leading lady and his alone.

Edward’s confessed his love and is ready to embark on a future with Audrey. No more sneaking off to speakeasies and enduring cast parties, where the catcalls of men directed at his main squeeze get under his skin. Wouldn’t Audrey rather become the mother of his children than worry about the next paycheck?

Muddying the waters is the shifty Rex Wyatt, a new playwright in town, who promises to make Audrey a star. If Audrey gets the part of her dreams, she has to take it. There are no second chances in theater. Are there second chances in love?

This improves the blood flow by dilating the veins. viagra cialis levitra A nail infection usually begins as a white or yellow spot under the tip viagra shop usa of your nail. Kamagra cialis usa buy 100mg is available for purchase in online drugstores. Found at the bottom of the skull, a strike to the major nerve. cialis tadalafil 5mg Audrey McCall has everything a girl in the Roaring Twenties could want: A handsome man who adores her; a life of friends, glitz, and glamour; and rising stardom, oh, so close! If given the choice to keep only one, which would you choose?

Edward Stark, a successful lawyer, is a man obsessed when it comes to Audrey. He buys her expensive gifts, attends every one of her stage performances, surprises her with romantic dinners, picnics, and drives in the country, and he can’t imagine why she isn’t as taken with him as he is with her.

An air of indifference flows easily from Audrey, especially when she sneaks away to join the fun at the neighborhood speakeasy, where Edward wonders why she’s ducked inside “as if she were just another bona fide flapper.”

Although not perfectly suited for each other, their relationship strengthens as this novella moves along at a nice pace. The story draws the reader into a natural understanding that Edward and the stage spotlight can never co-exist, and that’s no secret to Audrey. She’s known it all along. Edward is so perfect — few woman could want more, yet the pull of stardom may be too much for Audrey to refuse, and keeping both is not an option.

The characters are fairly well-developed for a short story, but the backstory reflections were choppy and felt incomplete, i.e., “I’m glad,” he said. Kiss. Kiss. “Sing for me.” Frankly, I’m not sure the flashbacks were needed at all. It seemed almost a waste of time. Instead, I would have preferred the space be dedicated to strengthening the historical elements of the story.

This is a nice quick read and is a standalone book, although it is my understanding that it is a prelude to this author’s debut novel, Return To Me.

If you’re looking for a flash of history in a romance novella, this is an enjoyable read.

A Chance of a Lifetime by Marilyn Pappano

chance
A Chance of a Lifetime by Marilyn Pappano
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (400 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it…

To Benita Ford, Tallgrass, Oklahoma, will always be home. It’s where her beloved grandmother raised her and where she rode bikes with her two best friends—the man who became her husband and Calvin. And Tallgrass is where she stayed, even after her husband died while serving his country. Now Calvin is home from that same war, and the sensitive, mischievous boy she once knew is today a man scarred by wounds no one else can see. Falling in love with him is something Bennie never imagined.

Tallgrass still haunts Captain Calvin Sweet. Yet it’s where he must go to see Bennie—the one woman he always loved but could never have. Calvin regrets so much about what happened years ago. Still he can’t deny being with Bennie makes his future feel bright, like anything is possible. But the demons of his past won’t be quieted that easily. As old hurts linger, threatening to pull them apart, Calvin and Bennie must take the ultimate risk for the love of a lifetime.

The tragedies of Jonestown, Waco and Heaven’s Gate involved leaders who, at one time, had cialis no prescription credibility. Did you know that the magic pill can even help your garden? This pill viagra uk sale been shown to prevent plants from wilting. sildenafil 100mg tablets Getting erection for such a long period would make a man develop ED. It improves the function of adrenal glands sildenafil prices which results in better sexual arousal. When love slips into the darkness of death, sometimes friendship is the only salvation.

Benita “Bennie” Ford is a member of the Margarita Club in Tallgrass, Oklahoma, a circle of recently widowed women, including her friend Lucy, who have come to rely on each other while trying to redesign their husbandless lives.

J’Myel Ford and Calvin Sweet grew up as Bennie’s two best friends. The three had been inseparable as children. After high school, both men enlisted in the military and were inducted and stationed together, but shortly after Bennie fell in love and married J’Myel, a mysterious falling out occurred between the two men. J’Myel and Bennie allowed their friendship with Calvin to drift away. When J’Myel was killed in action, Calvin never contacted Bennie, breaking her heart even more. She had somehow lost them both. Diagnosed with PTSD, the Army sent Calvin back home to Tallgrass, the very place he couldn’t face, hiding secrets he didn’t want known.

Bennie and her grandmother “Mama” have a beautiful relationship, strong enough to hold the whole story together by itself, but just down the street is the Sweet home, where Calvin’s family lives. The two families are fabulous in their own right. Enter Dietz, a fourteen-year-old boy with his own reason for being in Tallgrass, and you’ve got a nearly unbeatable story. Adding to the rounding out of this story is Lucy and Joe and their love of animals.

Bennie and Calvin are the central characters to this book and they are strong enough to carry this entire story on their own. Although I loved hearing about the lives of Lucy and Joe, I felt like they were an intrusion into the “real” story. I would have preferred to leave them in the background and perhaps let them have the next story in the Tallgrass books.

My biggest criticism of this story was not the story itself, but the story’s format. The novel has eighteen chapters, but rarely did the chapters divide where needed. Instead, an inordinate amount of “breaks” were used throughout the book, which made it difficult to absorb the events. My reader’s brain needed a rest, but was never given one at the right times. I ended up stopping mid-chapter so many times that when I returned to the book I felt I did not have a grasp on the events leading up to my stopping point, so I was continually re-reading whole sections before moving onward. That made for a long, often frustrating, read. Still, the story itself is terrific and gives the reader a true view of PTSD in a realistic, yet rewarding voice.

Anyone looking for a deep, thought-provoking story of life and love will enjoy this book.

Cowboy Lies by Lynde Lakes

LIES
Cowboy Lies by Lynde Lakes
Ryan Ranch Trilogy Book 1
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (239 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

Matt Ryan, cattle rancher, doesn’t tell Molly Smith, former newspaper reporter, that he is more than just a rancher—he’s is also a federal agent assigned to protect her and her baby. He hates lying, but the doctor warned him that if Molly remembers too fast it could cause a serious setback in her fight against amnesia. To protect Molly, Matt tells her they are married.

Molly can’t picture herself married to this controlling man and suspects he’s lying. Determined to get at the truth, she digs around on her own. Was it only the men chasing her she should fear—or was this tall, dark stranger asking for her trust also a dangerous man?

But as mentioned above, the effects last longer, balancing the bar for tadalafil generic cheapest on this note. A sturdy correlation has been established amid fatness in men and worsening of testosterone proportions, since more the quantity of fat cells, superior is the rate of testosterone adaptation into estrogen. levitra viagra cialis As a good rule, all foods on the high end selection viagra 25 mg of $200. We recommend that you gulp absolute & entire precise details on gulping of each pill; you find the drugs like click for more info now levitra prescription seems out more or one could match the benefits of each drug here. When a handsome stranger claims to be Molly Ryan’s husband, “trust me” were not the words she wanted to hear. Was Molly even her name?

Amnesia has blocked any memory of Matt Ryan, the handsome cowboy who claims to be Molly’s husband. She has a beautiful baby who “feels right” in her arms, but she lives on a wide-open Texas ranch that feels “all wrong.” What has happened?

Molly is thrown into a life that feels totally foreign to her, and although just about everyone around her seems nice and accommodating, something is just not right and she knows it. Her supposed husband, Matt, is an overly protective cowboy who runs their ranch with a natural rough and tough attitude. And although Matt is controlling, he also has a soft and tender side. And it appears he might actually be in love with Molly, although she does not remember him as her husband or as her baby’s father. The one thing that keeps her playing along is a spark of recognition, plus the fact that this stranger adores her tiny daughter.

The setting of a modern day Texas ranch was portrayed well and I often felt as though I was riding the range, too. The secondary characters, especially Tita, who cared for the baby much of the time, was a nice addition to the story.

As things heat up, Molly catches Matt in several lies, which turns her blind faith into fear. Some lies are small, but others are big. Being the strong-willed, independent woman that Molly is, she takes matters into her own hands with deadly consequences.

This is an engaging story, but it does tend to drag out at times. And Molly does have lots of flippant moments where she trusts Matt then doesn’t trust Matt, and then trusts him again only to find that she shouldn’t have, or should she? During the last third of the book, several tense scenes bordered on not being believable, but never completely crossed that invisible line. With that said, I enjoyed the overall story and I am glad I read it.

But this is not just a cowboy story … No, there is much, much more to Matt Ryan and his attachment to Molly. If you enjoy involved plots with some twists and turns, romantically and otherwise, which is set on a Texas ranch with a handsome cowboy, this story might be the perfect one for you!

Tempt Fortune by Hebby Roman

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Tempt Fortune by Hebby Roman
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (312 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

Desperate to escape an arranged marriage, Angelina Herrera flees from Cuba to Key West to start a new life and build her own business. But when her past catches up with her, she realizes the only way she can avoid the arranged marriage is to marry another … in name only.

Drawn to the fiercely independent beauty Angelina, Cuban revolutionary, Alejandro Estava marries her. Though outwardly he agrees to the platonic relationship because of his secret past, he cannot deny his powerful desire to possess her completely.
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But tempestuous forces more powerful than the hurricane descending on their island home unleashes their mutual passion while threatening their yearning for a lifelong bond.

Lies and deceit often come naturally to people, but never to a mynah bird.

Angelina is a Cuban aristocrat who flees Cuba in 1868 to escape an arranged marriage. She is a strong-willed woman who arrives in Key West with a plan to build her own cigar factory on land left to her by an aunt. Little does she know the land is nothing more than a muddy swamp. After disembarking, Angelina’s prized mynah bird escapes, giving rise to her finding Destiny Favor, her first American friend.

What would a story about two beautiful and engaging women be without two stunning men? Meet Alejandro (swoon) and Nathan (swoon again) who add lifeblood to this wonderful story of love and lust in an accurate historical setting rarely seen. The story of a Cuban cigar factory in Key West, with a woman at the helm, was enticing in and of itself, but this book had the added flair of giving the story two main characters in Angelina and Destiny. Rarely, is this double-main-character feat ever successful, in my opinion, other than with the famed Gone Girl, of course, which has no other similarities to this Tempt Fortune story. Ms. Roman, however, has written this story with a masterful hand and has given life to two incredible main characters. Adding to my delight was this writer’s amazing ability to add a Spanish language flair, which was completely natural and absorbing! So many times in a novel, I see writers giving a foreign language phrase … and then explaining it to the reader. Huge pet peeve! If written well enough, a writer shouldn’t need to explain their foreign phrasing. Ms. Roman could teach writers a thing or two on the subject. Excellent!

Hurricanes, fires, elegant balls, sailing ships, auctions, polite society, and not-so-polite society fill the pages of this novel, with each circumstance more engrossing than the last. But was the story absolute perfection? Almost. I have one minor criticism that may only be my personal preference — word choice. This exquisitely classy sounding novel was soiled by the few times the male anatomy was described in a mildly vulgar manner. The elegance of the sensual encounters felt marred by these ill-chosen words. It felt as though the words were dropped into the scenes like plops from the mynah bird. They did not belong.

This is a memorable book, and I can’t wait to see what others this author has available. Could they possibly be as good as this one? Tempt Fortune is my first Hebby Roman novel, but it won’t be my last.

If you enjoy authentic historical romances with incredible characters, especially ones that immerse you in the feel of Cuba’s past and the role Key West played, this is the novel for you!

Ruby by Juliet James

RUBY
Ruby by Juliet James
Book 1 Come By Chance Mail Order Brides
Publisher: Squeaky Clean Western Romance
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (180 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

It’s 1884, and love is in the air in the town of Come-By-Chance!

In this much-loved series strong women risk everything to rise above their desperate circumstances, find true love, and wed real men who’ll treat them right.

One sildenafil canada online such treatment is kamagra. Sexual problems may begin early in one’s life or physical integrity; a serious threat or harm to the focal sensory system, for example, a head damage, absence of viagra no doctor oxygen in labor and fetal liquor range issue. That buy generic cialis midwayfire.com is the reason thousands of company world-wide is producing the medicine. It also improves staying power and increases sperm count and Fertility Sperm count and fertility are subjects most men aren’t comfortable talking about. tadalafil professional Meet Ruby – She’s lost her Ma, and struck out into the world on her own. The good news is she’s traveled to Pittsburgh and found a good job as a schoolmistress. The bad news is, the school’s owner, the portly, whiskey-breathed Mister Murphy, has developed wandering hands, and Mrs Murphy’s preparing to leave to visit her sister for a month in New York.

Ruby sees an advertisement in the Matrimonial News and takes a desperate chance, writing away to the handsome Six-feet-four James Drinkwater.

Will James be the answer to Ruby’s plight? Is the handsome Montana man all that he seems? Or will someone else come to Ruby’s rescue, so together they can find true love?

Every cloud has a silver lining, or so Ruby had always been told, but after working for Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, doubting had become easy.

It’s 1884 and beautiful twenty-year-old Ruby works a decent job as a house-worker in a lavish home belonging to the owners of the “worst school in Pittsburgh.” When the husband claims his wife has “shut up shop” meaning no more romance in the bedroom, he decides that Ruby should provide those services, too. The vile and disgusting man has Ruby on the hunt for an escape from her undesirable life when she comes upon an advertisement from a rich Montana man looking for a bride. He sounds too good to be true, but after exchanging a few letters, Ruby packs up and heads for Montana.

Unfortunately, things are not always what they seem, and Ruby’s belief in a “silver lining” starts looking a bit tainted in Montana. Slim Jim turns out not to be the perfect man Ruby envisioned after all, but upon her arrival in Big Sky Country, a whirlwind wedding followed by a hotel room honeymoon that serves only her new husband’s needs, leaves Ruby confused and scared. Finding out there are more farces than truths when it comes to Slim Jim, Ruby welcomes her new friendship with Lettie, who knows Slim Jim as the true scoundrel he is. On Ruby’s behalf, Lettie makes a deal with Slim Jim, and soon bride-worthy men start admiring Ruby. The three Wilkinson brothers, each more handsome than the next, decide it is high time to find brides for themselves making things even more interesting for Ruby.

This quick read tells a decent story, but there is not much “meat” to the tale. The writing and editing are both good, but the story just scraped the surface making it feel more like a draft than a final version, especially at the end, which lacked detail and wrapped up the next day/month/year in summary form. I would love to read something full length or more detailed that this writer has written, because she does have a flare. Several more Mail Order Bride books are available by this author, and given the talent in Ruby, although it has room for improvement, I am not opposed to trying another.

If you enjoy historical romance, or happen to be a mail order bride story fan, this might be the perfect quick read for your next lazy day afternoon or vacation getaway.

A Mountain Man’s Redemption by Christi Corbett

MANS
A Mountain Man’s Redemption by Christi Corbett
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Historical
Length: Short Story (129 Pages)
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

Eighteen years ago, Philip Grant—overcome with regret for what he couldn’t foresee and memories of what he couldn’t prevent—abandoned all to live the solitary life of a fur trapper. Years spent roaming ridgelines and riverbanks in Montana Territory left his body weary and his confidence weak, so he decides to turn in his last bundle of furs and await the inevitable in a cabin. Alone.

Then a body-shaped lump wrapped in a quilt changes everything.
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Philip discovers a battered woman and her infant son, on the run from a ruthless abuser with a penchant for whiskey. Seventy miles of snow-covered mountain peaks and windswept flatlands stand between them and safety—the woman’s aunt’s house.

Can Philip trust in his newfound faith to lead the way?

A fur-trapper who lives on his own in the Montana wilderness during the winter of 1886 is best served when he has only himself to worry about for survival, but when Philip Grant comes across an unexpected duo in need of help, he must decide whether to put his own life on the line to save them, or walk away.

Philip has had a good haul for a fur-trapper this season, but he soon finds himself with only ten days left to get his furs to the nearest fort, more than eighty miles away. It will be a difficult journey, which must be made quickly. But before long, he finds himself challenged with more than just time and distance. The reader will learn that Philip has his own demons in life to battle, but none more urgent that Hannah whom he discovers battered and beaten and clutching a baby in the middle of a harsh winter. Slowly and out of necessity, Hannah begins to explain the circumstances that have driven her, literally, out into the snow without proper gear for herself or her baby. With Philip’s continued prompting, the young mother confides in the fur-trapper, telling a heartbreaking story of abuse by her husband.

Wife abuse is not your average storyline in a historic novel, but maybe we should see it more often. The story is built upon a strong faith, and is historically accurate. It shows us that what we believe to be a modern problem is not at all. The reader gets a vastly different perspective in this well-written story.

This is a quick read, which is what brings me to my only criticism of the story. In the story’s beginning, Philip discovers a quilt in the snow-covered woods, and although we already know he is behind schedule and has an urgent need to get to Fort Matiley before it closes, which involves crossing “the most rugged mountain peaks in Montana,” he moves far too slowly. He spends too much time deciding whether to find out what’s inside the mysterious quilt. There were a few other points in the story where I felt things needed to move more quickly, given the urgency, too. With that said, this story was nearly flawless in its delivery.

If you’re looking for historical fiction, or a story with a 1880s flare, and the theme of a battered woman won’t deter you, then this is a story worth your time.

Just Right by Arlene Hittle

RIGHT
Just Right by Arlene Hittle
Publisher: Turquoise Morning Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short Story (107 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

Home improvement shouldn’t look this good…
***
America’s Sweetheart, Callista Gold, needs an escape from Hollywood—and the scandalous photos hackers leaked to the tabloids. She buys a cottage in northern Arizona, sight unseen, and heads for what she thinks will be a mountain retreat. But like her now-tainted reputation, Rosewood Cottage needs some major fixing-up. Contractor Tyler Behr—one-third of Behr Construction—is just the man for the job. Problem is Ty had other plans: buy Rosewood and flip it. He agrees to work for the frosty beauty, with thoughts of delaying the project long enough for her to get bored and go back to wherever she came from.

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Callista Gold is America’s Sweetheart, Hollywood-style. But when a scandalous secret is exposed, she heads for anonymity, and peace and quiet in Northern Arizona. What she finds is completely unexpected.

Starlet Callie goes into hiding after a set of nude photos is released to the public, courtesy of a hacker. She eludes reporters and paparazzi by buying an old fixer-upper cottage in a small off-the-beaten-path town in Northern Arizona, sight unseen. Little does she know that she just bought the cottage right out from under Ty Behr, one-third of a local remodeling team of handsome brothers. Ty, Jeff, and Will Behr had plans to purchase the property, remodel it, and then flip it for a nice profit. The youngest brother, Ty, was the brainchild of the failed plan and he’s not happy to find out that the cottage has a new owner, beautiful or not.

In a turn of events, Callie ends up hiring “Baby Behr” and his brothers to do the remodeling job, and with nothing else to do but hideout until the media storm blows over, Callie decides to jump in to help with the remodeling, and she isn’t a bit afraid of using a sledgehammer when needed. And it seems both Ty and Jeff notice – everything. Although eldest brother Will tries to keep his two brothers focused on the job, the two find themselves at odds over Callie. And since Ty was never good at sharing, Jeff had a fun time riling him.

The story had its amusing moments, but I did not see it as a romantic comedy, as billed. Some incidents were more embarrassing and awkward than funny, such as the time Callie traipses out into the woods behind her cottage, only to realize she doesn’t have her cell phone so she doesn’t know what time it is, but knows she is hungry. She finds “the widest pine tree in the area” and squats. Unbeknownst to her, one of the handsome Behr brothers also decides to find a tree. Startled and caught with her pants down, Callie falls into an unfortunate “patch of bright green leaves.” Yep, you guessed it!

Most of the time, the relationships came off as fickle and seemed to have a malfunctioning stop and go button. And frankly, even though I wanted to believe the three men and Callie got along well with each other, the relationships were not convincing and I never felt more than an awkward employer/employee relationship, even when Callie and the men became attracted to one another. Although I believe the author intended a multiple viewpoint story, the method was not fully successful. Callie often posed questions to herself and then answered, before the next sentence gave Ty a turn doing the same. At times, it was confusing trying to decipher who was answering whose question.

If you enjoy stories of Hollywood starlets and their search for normalcy amid chaos, this is a quick amusing read.

Her Immortal Viking by Adele Downs

VIKING
Her Immortal Viking by Adele Downs
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Genre: Contemporary, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (90 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

Divine intervention. That’s all Penny asks. Freedom from overwork and mountainous debt. She sings songs of praise, chants like a yogi, and rubs her belly like Buddha until the crystal charm on her navel shimmers, all hoping to draw the attention of someone—anyone—“up there.”

In the west, beyond the seas, from the place between Heaven and Earth, an immortal hears Penny’s cries. Once a renowned Viking warrior, Gunnar has been cast into eternal servitude by an angry god. Now, while Penny sleeps, he comes to Earth to grant her wishes. But Penny is about to wake up, and so is every desire she’s ever known. To claim their fairy-tale ending, Gunnar must find a way to clear his name. Not only must his sword arm and courage stay strong, but their powerful love must cross the divide of a thousand years.

Gunnar does dishes! Penny makes a wish and it comes true beyond her wildest dreams. If only we could all be so lucky.

Beautiful Penny Farnsworth is a hardworking waitress and college student trying to make ends meet, but with a student loan hanging over her head and a worthless boyfriend in tow, life is spiraling downward.
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Swoon-worthy Miguel, boyfriend and hopeful male model, has it made with Penny. She cooks, cleans, and financially supports him – she evens lusts after him. But when the story opens, Penny has already decided that her “slob and a mooch” of a boyfriend needs to get out of her trailer and out of her life. She wastes no time in throwing his belongings out the door. “Adios, Miguel.”

As a student of literature and mythology, exasperated Penny stands amid the mess in her trailer left by Miguel and looks to the heavens pleading, “Can anyone up there hear me? Will someone help me out?” The author explains, “She asked the questions as if up there held mystical realms where gods, elves, and fairies took pity on human suffering.” Excellent!

Soon, Penny begins to rub the “crystal pendant at her navel” while chanting “Om.” This scene is sure to make any reader smile, but we all know what happens next … Disappointed Penny goes to bed, alone, a little weepy, exhausted, and no better off than she was before.

However, later that night the sounds of banging pots and pans startle Penny out of a deep sleep. She is up and headed for the kitchen with plans of giving her ex-boyfriend a good tongue-lashing for coming back, but instead of Miguel, she finds a gorgeous goddess of a man – and he’s doing her dishes! Meet Gunnar, an immortal who once was a Viking warrior, now cast into servitude as a Light Elf, who has been sent by the god Freyr in answer to Penny’s call.

If you’ve ever dreamed of the perfect man, Gunnar is probably him. He is kind, compassionate, brave, and loyal. He is also beautiful, both inside and out, and his talents are unsurpassed, none more so than in Penny’s bedroom.

On the downside, the romance between Penny and Gunnar felt too rushed for my tastes. I would have preferred more buildup before they found their way to the bedroom. I’m not even sure I had a clear picture of what they were wearing, or know much about Penny’s overall appearance. So, a few more pages adding visualizations would have been especially nice. There were also a few minor formatting mishaps and editing slip-ups, such as some omitted and/or extraneous words, which have a way of proving to your subconscious that you’re reading a story rather than living it.

Plain and simple, this story is FUN! It is a quick read (only 90 pages) and is hard to beat when looking for a lively and sensual tale. If you like romance, mythology, or real-life relationship stories (Miguel) or tales of godlike immortal love (Gunnar), this story should not be missed!