Welcome Back to Apple Grove by C.H. Admirand

November 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

GROVE
Welcome Back to Apple Grove by C.H. Admirand
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (315 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

There’s no place like home ~ Grace Mulcahy thought she’d finally gotten Apple Grove, OH, out of her system. Until she’s lured back for a family barbecue and spies a broad-shouldered hottie hanging out at the grill. He somehow seems utterly at ease, whether flipping burgers or horsing around with her hellion nephews. Why didn’t her brother-in-law tell her he had such gorgeous friends? Suddenly her mouth is watering for more than her best friend’s famous pie.

When firefighter Pat Garahan sees Grace, it’s like a five-alarm bell goes off and he’s the one ablaze. She says she wants to leave Apple Grove, but he will do whatever it takes to keep her around. The life of a firefighter isn’t an easy one, though, and he’ll have to prove their immediate sparks can have a lasting chance at love…​

This is the book to scoop up when in need of a novel powered by pure romance. Welcome Back to Apple Grove is the epitome of a character driven tale that reaches in and touches the sentiments of the heart. The story closely follows two people who thought they were only friends, but through fate and family machinations soon discover they are the answer to each other’s long held hope of finding ‘the one’. How they reach that conclusion is the treat.

I’ve read Meg and Cait’s stories and I enjoyed both of them. This time around it’s Grace’s turn. The one consistent trend about Ms. Admirand’s series is that each one is a solid standalone. Every book embraces well developed, believable and likeable people who find love when they least expect it. The dialogue is the window to their souls and the key to understanding what an amazing community the author created for her characters. There are important secondary characters that flavor the story and showcase the strengths of the main protagonists. Many have been woven in and out between all three of the books I’ve read and if you’re lucky to have read them all as I have, I believe that sense of connection increases the enjoyment. There is a benefit to having read the series to be sure, but Grace and Pat can hold their own and they do so, with style.

Grace is the baby bird that flew from the nest thinking the world beyond was going to provide her the good life. The heroine is a hard worker, a bit of a data geek and a little self-conscious about her weight. She has a few insecurities and dreams many a reader can relate to. She also belongs to a loving family and Ms. Admirand was very effective in getting that across. It’s almost to the point of sugar-shock. But since I adore Meg and Cait and their very yummy husbands, I can forgive the overabundance of cotton candy sweetness. It sort of made me wish that a community that tightly woven and supportive truly existed in my own little part of the world. As it is, it worked for this book.

Pat is a firefighter with an emotional boulder on his back. He comes from a rather large and from the sounds of it, rambunctious and loving family as well. He’s great with kids, does his job to the best of his ability and he’s perfect for Grace. In fact, the descriptions of his physical prowess were hot-flash inducing at times. But for all that perfection, when it started to sound like he was too perfect, the poor hero totally botches it with Grace. It takes a bit of help from his firefighter brothers and a bit of manly persuasion from Grace’s side to make the man see sense. In fact, that whole scene towards the end was extremely well written. I could envision all that went into waking Pat up and making him coherent enough to listen to reason. It brought him back down to earth and I liked him all the more for it.

There is a bit of light drama that I believe served to illustrate just how strong a character Grace was, how amazing and close the community was and poked a bit at another aspect of Grace and Pat’s personalities. The author chose to use it as a tool to make a point without deviating from the basic fact that Welcome Back to Apple Grove is 100% a romance story about two people falling in love. They don’t fight it with false insecurities. The author kept all over the top internal angst and drama out of it. This is a book that is a pleasure to read because it’s about love: falling in love, being in love and exploring every little delightful nuance.

For readers who enjoy moments when a hero and heroine satisfy their built up yearnings and desires culminating with doing the sheet rumba and the sexy truck tango, this book delivers. Ms. Admirand knows how to make her heroine swoon and a reader right along with her.

Conflicts are mostly light and internal. I could understand one of Grace’s. Pat’s, on the other hand, seemed too drawn out for my tastes. I agree it’s a good and believable conflict, but it seemed to me, based upon his internal POV that he would have been ready to share it, hint at it, or deal with it earlier on. And, I might have missed it, but I would swear that one of the things that Grace was also reticent to disclose, about her own hurt, never was revealed to the hero. So if there was no intent to reveal it, why give it any importance at all, right? Other than those two items, this book was a smooth reading experience.

Welcome Back to Apple Grove is a romance reader’s guilty pleasure. It’s fun, entertaining, lighthearted and thoroughly driven by love. This is a feel good book, meant to take a reader on a journey where they can smile, relax and enjoy and forget about life’s cares for a while. I heartily recommend this story for those reasons. It’s a little treasure.

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Born Wild by Julie Ann Walker

October 29, 2013 By 3 Comments

WILD
Born Wild by Julie Ann Walker
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (387 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

TICK…TICK…

“Wild” Bill Reichert knows a thing or two about explosives. The ex-Navy SEAL can practically rig a bomb blindfolded. But there’s no way to diffuse the inevitable fireworks the day Eve Edens walks back into his life, asking for help…

BOOM!

Eve doesn’t know what to do when the Chicago police won’t believe someone is out to hurt her. The only place to turn is Black Knights Inc—after all, no one is better at protection than the covert special-ops team. Yet there’s also no one better at getting her all turned on than Billy Reichert. She has a feeling this is one blast from the past that could backfire big time…

Of course, I wanted to read this as soon as I saw it was a Black Knights, Inc. novel. The secret operatives in this organization are sizzling. Sure enough, I was whisked away on a spine-tingling adventure from page one and swept along in the action to the very last page. Whether in a deadly situation or in a heart-melting, ecstatic love scene I felt as if I were right there. Julie Ann Walker weaves together another fantastic tale of the men and women involved with Black Knights Inc.

Bill Reichert, an ex-navy SEAL, is ill tempered and drinks Pepto Bismol like it’s his favorite quaff. For over a decade he has defied death, defused IEDs, and did whatever dangerous task came his way. Now a member of Black Knights Inc. he still courts danger. He helped rescue his sister Becky and her rich, socialite friend Eve Edens from Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean about a year ago. Eve is the reason he acquired the name “Wild Bill”. She broke her vow to him when she was nineteen and it broke his heart. He is snarky to her and avoids her if he can.

Eve is at her wits’ end. The police don’t believe she’s in danger nor does her father or ex-husband. Her cousin Jeremy Buchanan who works vice in the police department cannot keep her safe. In desperation she turns to Black Knights Inc. knowing Bill will not be happy to see her. She is still in love with him but understands why he is the way he is. When he went into the military, she caved in to her father’s pressure and married Blake Parish, a rich man who moved in the same social circles as the Edens. Now divorced, a respected marine biologist, and a lots wiser, she longs to set things right with Bill. He is no longer the laughing, fun-loving, sexy, twenty-one-year-old she fell in love with; he is a world weary soldier, hard, impatient, and has a menacing air about him.

Only a few of the men are at Black Knights Inc. headquarters when she arrives asking for help, but they take her in. Bryan “Mac” McMillan threatens Bill if he is not nice to her. Of course, the adorable Ace, who is admittedly gay, pampers Eve, fusses over her, and touches her often as they talk, making Bill angry enough to bite nails. The language these guys use is atrocious, graphic and vulgar, yet it seems to fit their way of life.

Born Wild is chock full of scary, life-threatening happens. The shooting at Red Delilah’s Biker Bar, the search for Dale Pennyworth, a stalker, on the means, darks streets of Chicago, a wild storm on Lake Michigan while Bill and Eve are in her sailing yacht on their way to a hideout, a good-old-fashioned shoot out in a deserted parking lot, and a love scene that raises one’s temperature, accelerates the heart rate, and sends the imagination soaring. “Get-the-job-done” heroes who are also breathtaking lovers and heroines who match them every step of the way make Black Knights, Inc. novels rollicking, riveting, and romantic. Super reading!

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To Have and To Hold by Leigh Greenwood

October 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HAVE
To Have and To Hold by Leigh Greenwood
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (365 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

The Blaine brothers learned how to survive at a young age the hard way. But after a life of working odd jobs, Colby thinks he might just be ready to settle down. Until his fiancé jilts him for a man with more money.

Naomi Kessling is already plagued by nightmares and a violent past when her wagon train is attacked. Colby saves her life, but Naomi is convinced he’s been sent by the army to arrest her for a crime she can’t remember.

Colby will help her face her nightmares, but will her love be enough to break down the wall he’s built around his heart?

On the Santa Fe Trail, Colby Blaine most likely saves the lives of the people in the Spencer’s Clearing wagon train; but Naomi Kessling does not trust him. He wears a Union uniform. Her horrific nightmare that comes night after night has a man in a Union uniform and blood everywhere. Accepting Colby Blaine as their leader after they lose their guide makes her uneasy. He is not like anyone she has ever known.

Nineteen-year-old Naomi is a strong, independent, opinionated young woman who has run her father’s household since the death of her mother. Dr. Kessling depends on her as do her two brothers Ethan and Ben. She is a fixer of things that go wrong. She never expects others to do it for her. However, she is like the others from Spencer’s Clearing. None of them realize how difficult and dangerous life on the trail can be. As the story unfolds, she controls her fears and does what has to be done to help all of them survive life on the trail. Whether it is learning to ride a horse, crossing a rain swollen river full of debris even though she doesn’t know how to swim, tending the sick and wounded, or consoling the bereaved, she screws her courage to the sticking point and gets the job done. She becomes Colby’s ‘go-to’ person when he needs special help—he sees her worth and so much more.

Colby Blaine is a loner. He seeks isolation not wanting to be hurt like he’s been hurt in the past. His being abused by people who adopted him to make him fit an image they had of how he should be, plus, his one true love’s lack of loyalty and fidelity to him make him feel that for some reason he is not worthy of love. As his back story unfolds, one can see how these feeling came to be. However the urge to tell him to get over it; don’t mess up a chance for happiness is strong. He is capable, intelligent, open to learning, quick to solve problems, and handles people with respect and good humor most of the time. He is a natural leader that works to get the best out of the people he feels responsible for. The joy he gets from teaching Naomi new things that she need to know to survive on the frontier and from just spending time with her makes their time together seem so real one almost forgets To Have and To Hold is fiction.

The Spencer’s Clearing people are a strange lot. While they travel together and make decisions together, they are three distinct groups that don’t really like each other for some unknown reason. Their reason for leaving Spencer’s Clearing is somewhat of a mystery, but it seems to have something to do with what Naomi had done, something she cannot recall but she feels guilty and is sure it has to do with the recurring nightmare that makes her scream in her sleep.

Norman Spencer, the rich man of the group who feels he should order everyone around, and Cassie Greene, the young widow with a tiny baby and acts like a spoiled brat, are certainly memorable characters but for very different reasons. However, when the actions switches to Santa Fe, a unique story all its own unfolds with new characters—an antagonist to really, really dislike come to the fore, a remarkable, long-suffering soul to be admired comes on the scene, and adorable children who are told they are “misgotten” wiggle their way right into one’s heart.

The reader gets to see the true strength of character of both Colby and Naomi during this threatening, dangerous time.

Leigh Greenwood gives the reader all the things expected in a westward trek to new lands. He involves the reader in actions that make the heart jump up into one’s throat at times. Best of all he gives the reader a love that grows simply and steadily in every aspect of the hero and heroine—it reaches not only the emotional and physical but also the mental and spiritual—the forever kind of love that makes them strong and able to reach out to others with love and caring. To Have and To Hold is a keeper to be enjoyed more than once.

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How to Handle a Highlander by Mary Wine

October 25, 2013 By 2 Comments

HIGHLANDER
How to Handle a Highlander by Mary Wine
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (298 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

Moira Frazer is betrothed to a man who is old enough to be her father, but it’s her duty to her clan to marry him, and she’s determined to see this through…until she meets Gahan Sutherland.

Gahan knows this match is designed to start a feud between the clans, which is why he decides to stop the wedding. But when Moira awakens a passion within him that he never knew existed, he realizes that the outcome of this perilous situation will determine the future of his own happiness.

As trust and honor clash with forbidden attraction, manipulations, rivalries, and schemes will threaten to blow the Highlands sky high…

The obstacles are mind-boggling—mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual—that Gahan Sutherland and Moira Fraser must overcome to share a love that feels so right but is deemed to be so wrong. These two ‘wrong-side of the blanket’ characters come from very different upbringings but there is an immediate connection the first time they meet. Good reading indeed!

What a Highlander will do to get the woman he loves and craves sets a string of events in motion that takes the reader to the cold north in Scotland where greed and the struggles for power fuel manipulations that chill the blood at times. In late fifteenth century Scotland, the old Scottish ways and the oppressive new English rule rubbed abrasively together creating a breeding ground for feuds.

Honor and duty to the clan are paramount in the culture. Gahan Sutherland stands proud with his father and his brother Norris as they protect what is theirs. He is compelling—strong, handsome, and intelligent. His retainers follow him with pride and unfaltering allegiance. When he and Moira Fraser meet another facet of his personality comes alive. One can almost sense the pheromones fill the air around these two.

Gahan’s mother was Lytge Sutherland’s true love though not his wife, but by Highlander custom Lytge claims Gahan as his own just like he claims Norris, the son of his wife. Lytge understands love and can relate to Gahan’s actions, but he holds his son to duty to the clan. Yet he looks the other way long enough to let nature take its course with Gahan and Moira. When push comes to shove, the Sutherlands stand together against all odds.

The Fraser clan, ruled by Bari Fraser, is entirely different. A type of insanity seems more evident in Fraser after the loss of his beloved sister Sandra. He had always used and abused his half-sister Moira; but when he insists she marry a man old enough to be her grandfather, she is horrified. She’d learned to endure the pain he inflicted on her and considered refusing until he threatens reprisal on the clan—the people she loves and feels duty bound to protect—if she doesn’t comply.

She bows to his order that she marry the crafty, crude, ugly old Achaius Matherson. Gahan Sutherland is at the wedding and recognizes Fraser intent to form an alliance with Matherson then start a feud with the Sutherlands because of what had happened to Sandra. Although Gahan knows Fraser is the enemy, he is drawn to Moira and longs to snatch her away and make her his own. In a secluded place, he waits for Moira and tells her not to marry then gives her a kiss that sends sweet ripples all through her like nothing she’d ever felt before. His power both inside and out fascinate her. She wants him, but tells him he should not teach her how to kiss like that when she must wed another.

Since I read some of Mary Wine’s other Highlander stories, I recognized some of the secondary characters and enjoyed catching up with what had transpired in their lives such as Saer MacLeod and Daphne who play important roles in Gahan and Moira’s story. Another character I enjoyed is Cam. He stands steadfast by Gahan. Cam is Gahan’s half-brother, the son of his mother. He is Gahan’s bodyguard whether Gahan wants a bodyguard or not—making private matters not too private at times.

How to Handle a Highlander is chock full of evil manipulation, breathtaking love scenes, events at court with the young English king, making and breaking of alliances, and so much more. It is a gripping tales of a turbulent time in the history of Scotland. BUT most of all, it is an incredible love story of two strong characters, though bound by duty and honor; find a way to reach their happy-ever-after.

Mary Wine weaves a tapestry of a tale with adrenaline-pumping action, political manipulation, sweet and spicy love scenes, clan culture, a touch of humor, and a twist and turn here and there that makes one say, “Really!”

Super satisfying romance reading!

 

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Don’t Want to Miss A Thing by Jill Mansell

October 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

MISS
Don’t Want to Miss A Thing by Jill Mansell
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (418 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Stephantois

Dexter Yates loves his fun, care-free London life; he has money, looks and girlfriends galore. But everything changes overnight when his sister dies, leaving him in charge of her eight-month-old daughter Delphi. How is he ever going to cope?

Comic-strip artist Molly Hayes lives in the beautiful Cotswold village of Briarwood. When it comes to relationships, she has a history of choosing all the wrong men. Leaving the city behind, Dex moves to Briarwood – a much better place to work on his parenting skills – and he and Molly become neighbours. There’s an undeniable connection between them. But if Dexter’s going to adapt, he first has a lot to learn about Molly, about other people’s secrets…and about himself.

I always look forward to reading a Jill Mansell book, and this one was as entertaining as the previous ones.

Don’t Want To Miss A Thing is yet another story filled with delightful characters who you grow to love as the plot progresses. Dex is a character who draws you in because he goes from playboy to dotting uncle and sometimes he melts your heart, sometimes you’re frustrated with him.

And then there’s Molly, his next door neighbor who you know is perfect for him and that’s part of the fun of reading this story.

Along with these two main characters, there are the secondary ones who are just as fascinating, and with problems of their own which provide interesting sub-plots.

The setting is also great and Ms. Mansell makes the quaint English village come to life. Dialogue as always was realistic, and despite this being over four hundred pages long, it’s fast paced.

If you’re looking for something to add to your fall reading list, this might be one for you to try.

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Against the Ropes by Sarah Castille

October 16, 2013 By 1 Comment

ROPES
Against the Ropes by Sarah Castille
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (368 pages)
Other: M/F, BDSM
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

He scared me. He thrilled me. And after one touch, all I could think about was getting more…

Makayla never thought she’d set foot in an elite mixed martial arts club. But if anyone needs a medic on hand, it’s these guys. Then again, at her first sight of the club’s owner, she’s the one feeling breathless.

The man they call Torment is all sleek muscle and restrained power. Whether it’s in the ring or in the bedroom, he knows exactly when a soft touch is required and when to launch a full-on assault. He always knows just how far he can push. And he’s about to tempt Makayla in ways she never imagined…

Scary, thrilling…powerful. Got to be Against the Ropes.

MMA books seem to be the rage. Literally. There are hunky, sweaty guys acting all alpha male and the women who love them. What’s not to love? Hey, when I saw the title and description, I was hooked.

Then things sort of fell apart.

Okay, I did like this book. The premise, a controlling MMA-style fighter and the woman in his arms, is hot. The story is interesting–to a point.

Makayla and Torrent aren’t what they seem and that’s a good thing. They kept me interested in the story. I had to know what would happen next. But while they were like coins – different on each side – things got a tad muddy. Let me start with Makayla. She’s got issues which I learned about little by little. Fine. She likes safe and isn’t wild about violence – I mean, she’s NOT wild about violence. Cool. But some of the things she does don’t make sense. She’s immature, but okay with the games she and Torrent play. She hates violence, but is fine with the blood/gore of fighting. Hmm. Something didn’t add up. There are moments where she’s laughable and made me wonder. Then there are moments where she’s a spunky character.

But I kept reading.

Then there’s Torrent. I kind of liked the guy having two sides. One side is the fighter. One side is something else. He ended up with a bit more dimension than I expected and it worked for him. What didn’t work was the almost overboard alpha male-ness of him. He’s controlling to the point where I was skipping pages. I wanted to like him, but his nuances made it hard. He’s controlling and in charge, but there were moments where I wondered whose safety he worried about. Maybe if there was a little more explanation, especially during the sex scenes and between Makayla and Torrent, then this wouldn’t have bothered me as much.

This book is also written in first person point of view. I’m not wild about first person, but this might work for other readers. If it does work for you, then great.

There is a lot of action in this read and a lot of hot sex. If you want a book with BDSM that’s not as harsh as it could be and fighters, then this might be the book for you.

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The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby by Carolyn Brown

October 14, 2013 By 1 Comment

BABY
The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby by Carolyn Brown
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday
Length: Full Length (324 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

‘Tis the season for…

A pistol-totin’ woman who’s no angel

A tough rancher who doesn’t believe in miracles

Love that warms the coldest nights

After a year in Kuwait, Lucas Allen can’t wait to get back to his ranch for Christmas and meet his gorgeous Internet pal in person.

When he pulls in, there’s Natalie Clark right in his front yard with a pink pistol in her hand and a dead coyote at her feet.

Lucas is unfazed. But wait…is that a BABY in her arms?

A boot scootin’ good time… at Christmas!

I love Ms Brown’s books and this one was a delight to read. The dialogue is snappy and drew me in right away. I couldn’t put it down. Starting with the gun and the dead critter, yeah, she had me fast in my seat. This book is witty and charming–everything I wanted in a holiday read.

Lucas is a wounded man, maybe not in body, but in spirit. He’s a returning soldier and has in his mind what he wants to happen. Fate doesn’t agree and I’m glad. He’s tough and gritty, but I liked him right away. I’d like a Lucas of my own.

Natalie is a real piece of work, too, but in a good way. She’s got a baby that’s not Lucas’s and that could be a real problem. How the author handles this twist is great. Natalie isn’t a wilting violet and that’s what’s great about her. She’s a perfect match for Lucas–once they get done with the misunderstandings.

The words sparkle on the page and the pacing is great. I heartily recommend this book to someone wanting a heart-warming book for the holidays.

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A Song at Twilight by Pamela Sherwood

October 9, 2013 By 1 Comment

SONG
A Song at Twilight by Pamela Sherwood
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (389 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

A love too strong to let go…
Aspiring singer Sophie Tresilian had the world at her feet—fame, fortune, and true love—until the man of her dreams broke her heart. Now she’s the toast of Europe, desired by countless men but unwilling to commit to any of them. Then Robin Pendarvis walks back into her life…

Four years ago, Robin had hoped to make Sophie his bride, but secrets from his past forced him to let her go. Seeing her again revives all the old pain—and all the old passion. It might be against every rule, but somehow, some way, he will bring them together again

Innocent, beautiful, bubbly Sophie Tresilian with the spellbinding soprano voice and older, mysterious Robin Pendarvis see each other at her seventeenth birthday party. Like the moon draws the tide, Sophie is drawn to Robin. Their lives are changed forever. A precious love, like a tiny seed, begins to grow, pure, sweet, and caring with an easy-going companionship. For two years it is protected and celebrated with joy; then it must hibernate to give way to old responsibilities. They must part. Doing the ‘right’ thing as duty and honor demand is cold comfort for two broken hearts. Sophie is a true Tresilian and Tresilians, like swans, mate for life.

Four years later Sophie is a successful opera singer with her concerts always sold out. Her voice is even more hauntingly compelling after her training at the Royal College of Music. She is a strong, independent woman with a heart that longs for its one true love. She lives alone with her cat Tatiana and rarely goes home to her beloved Cornwall. Robin and his wife Natalie and the two children live in the prosperous Pendarvis Hall hotel that Sophie had so much influence in refurbishing. But life is never static and, even though hope is a dangerous emotional, it refuses to die.

Though nine years her senior, Robin cannot deny the desire, attraction, and pleasure he feels for Sophie. Her companionship is a balm to his weary soul. She is no gauche, awkward girl, but a graceful, happy young woman comfortable in her own skin and wise beyond her years. He is a flawed but honorable man and gives her up when Natalie, his wife, who ran away many years ago arrives with two children. When Natalie’s unfaithful ways push him past his limit, his actions set off a chain of events that propel the reader into suspense, mystery, and the tentative, uneasy meeting with the famous Sophie—not daring to hope but hoping anyway for what they once had. Theirs is a love story to savor, not to be rushed through.

Some of the secondary characters I had met in a previous novel of Ms. Sherwood’s and it was delightful to see how their lives were unfolding. Sir Lucas Nankivell was new to me and seemed to have not a single redeeming quality. There are Lord and Lady Daventry with the cowed niece Marianne they did not know. The overbearing Lady Daventry with her hateful, condescending manner added a new diminish to the unfolding of the plot. The beautiful, French Natalie, seemingly with no conscience stirs the ire of many yet never yields her position of power.

Pamela Sherwood weaves beautiful, enchanting music into the story that augments the specialness of love. Her writing is rather lyrical itself, smooth to read and swept along with. She slips the reader into the time and location with remarkable description. She also weaves in the many creature comforts that began to be enjoyed in the late Victorian Age. Things like indoor plumbing, electricity, and ice tea for example. Moreover, she used a thread so bright and compelling to weave in a new awareness of the emergence of more self-actualized women. They were gaining more freedom and were being treated like intelligent individuals rather than like property to be used by their families’ or husbands’ as they saw fit.

A Song at Twilight is a tribute to love that is long-suffering and patient yet joyous, giving, and looking to the future when the conflicts and obstacles get shoveled out of the way. I did so enjoy the songs and quotes that celebrate love through the ages. A delightful book to wind down the day with.

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Take Over at Midnight by M. L. Buchman

October 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

MIDNIGHT
Take Over at Midnight by M. L. Buchman
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full Length (370 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

They never thought their toughest mission would be falling in love…

Lola LaRue, chief warrant officer of the U.S. Army’s secret helicopter regiment, is a natural at everything except relationships. She’s a professional in the air, but she screws up every time she touches the ground. Sergeant “Crazy” Tim Maloney is a goner the moment he first sees LaRue on a mission to deliver a Delta Force team into the Iranian desert. He’s always been a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy, but all that changes when Lola’s in danger. Now with the stakes higher than ever, they must find a way to eliminate a threat that could destroy more than just their future.

The author disappears and the super-charged action and characters take over sweeping the reader into an adrenaline-high experience. The military action, the pheromone charged aura around Crazy Tim Maloney and Lola LaRue, and the interaction among the crew members of the night stalkers helicopters, Viper and Vengeance make Take Over at Midnight a page turning adventure.

If you’ve read other night stalker novels, you will recognize some of the characters, but Take Over at Midnight stands alone perfectly. It is Tim and Lola’s story that evolves among all the scary missions and close calls that make the heart jump up into the throat.

The reader is dumped into the secret, serious, scary military actions of SOAR (Special Operations Air Rescue) where these high-voltage characters with their special helicopters armed with lethal guns and rockets prowl the night sky taking to and bringing back Army Rangers and Delta Force personnel on clandestine missions.

Chief Warrant Lola LaRue is new. She’s the fourth woman to qualify for SOAR and will co-pilot with Major Emily Beale, ace pilot for Vengeance, the companion to Viper flown by her husband Major Mark Henderson. Deep-down Lola feels like a fraud in this elite group, but she worked damned hard to get here and sets her sights on staying even if Crew Chief Kee Stevenson, once a tough street kid, does call her a fraud (it takes one to know one). Lola knows 9/11 changed her life as if she were reborn that day.

When Crew Chief Tim Maloney sees the Creole beauty with the thick, dark chestnut hair, and legs that go on forever, he is a goner. The fact that she is an officer and he is not doesn’t deter him or her. The reader gets to see the blooming of a love that is long-suffering and patient when fears of self-worth lobs in obstacles. But love wiggles its way through and sizzling, super-charged emotional and physical energy create breathtaking love scenes.

M. L. Buchman makes the military action, the urgency of the missions, and the locations so real the reader can almost taste the dust of the salt pan in Afghanistan and feel the blazing heat that sucks the moisture out of the body. The moments when success or failure hangs in the balance and kill or be killed action demands the best efforts of the best, the adrenaline pumps at breakneck speed and sends the heart racing. Whether in the Middle East or in the Gulf of Mexico (Lola’s old hunting ground) the action is always on the edge. In the Gulf of Mexico, the line where war ends and murder begins is compelling.

The scenes in Washing D. C. reveal different facets of these mighty night stalkers called “Black Adders”. Tim’s back story and his family, the President, his strategies, and his unceasing verbal battles to keep the country safe add depth to the humanness of the SOAR team. Seriousness and humor twine through events that give the reader food for thought. Amid it all, one learns that the real motivation for all the characters, from President to the new co-pilot Lola, is to keep the U.S.A. safe.

M. L. Buchman’s writing is so realistic that one almost forgets it’s fiction. The imagery, the ‘so-human’ characters, the events so like the latest news, and the magnificence of people when they rise to be their best for a cause they are willing to die for make Take Over at Midnight riveting.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Gareth by Grace Burrowes

October 7, 2013 By 1 Comment

GARETH
Gareth by Grace Burrowes
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (387 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

She’s caught between a rake and certain ruin…

Felicity Worthington’s only hope of avoiding poverty—or worse—is to accept her distant cousin’s dubious bequest… a thriving, high-class brothel. Felicity has 90 days to convince her cousin’s solicitors that Gareth Alexander has taught her the art of pleasing a man, though she’s more interested in the gentleman she glimpses beneath Gareth’s debauched airs, than in the rake he’s become.

In the business of love…How much should he teach her?

Gareth Alexander, Marquis of Heathgate, has little incentive to help a spinster learn to manage a brothel—except that the alternatives for the prim, pretty Miss Worthington are even worse. His resistance to teaching Felicity how to be a madam leaves Gareth wondering if the honor he’d thought long dead still survives, and if that honor allows him to yield to the lady’s ruinous scheme… and to their shared desires.

Gareth is sizzling sexy with an undercurrent of mystery/suspense and a sense of evil close by ready to pounce at any moment. Yet, there is a subtle humor that threads through it adding pure pleasure to the read. The romance both naughty and overwhelmingly sweet takes one’s breath away. The hands-on teaching of ‘how-to’ is graphic, the antagonist is perfect to despise, the mystery is riveting and the characters in their predicaments grab a reader’s attention and sweep her into a captivating Regency romance that is a page-turner.

The seemingly unredeemable Gareth Alexander, marquess of Heathgate, has not stifled all his good instincts and he is not happy about it. He has spent almost a decade growing a thick skin to ward off the vicious gossip of Polite Society. He has worked like a beaver and has tripled the worth of the Heathgate holdings. He’s made a name for himself as a Rake along the way. This gorgeous man with his complexities can rev up a lady’s heart rate with a look. His touch to self-declared spinster Felicity Worthington is an ‘oh-my-goodness’ thing that sets her on a new course in life.

Felicity makes a choice that she is sure will be her ruin but hopefully not until she can assure a good future for her seventeen-year-old sister Astrid and the Worthington household. Left with a rundown house and dwindling funds at the death of their father, the two young women are at a crossroads in their lives.

When Felicity inherits a prosperous brothel from a distant cousin, she must make life altering decisions concerning the terms in the will. She puts on her big girl panties (so to speak) and steps into a world totally foreign to her. Propriety is not a luxury she can afford. She goes alone to see the marquee of Heathgate who is mentioned in the terms of the will.

The arrogant Gareth, because of that smidge of goodness he hasn’t quelled, is captivated by the virtuous, helpless, poorly dressed young woman with amber eyes, a lovely face and candlelight voice. She is intelligent, alert, and pragmatic about her plight. How can he refuse to help her? It would be like throwing her to the wolves. He cannot—thus begins one of the most emotionally fraught how-to training courses one could ever hope to experience, vicariously or otherwise.

The secondary characters like David Holbrook who seems to have no past; the horrible Riverton that could have been Felicity’s tutor; Andrew, Gareth’s younger brother, and Astrid who so often speaks or acts before she thinks, along with a few others propel events along at such a pace it is difficult to put the book down.

Grace Burrowes does not stint in letting the reader have a memorable vicarious experience with Gareth and Felicity as he teaches her all she needs to know about the brothel business. How she creates the metamorphosis for these two unique characters is compelling. She brings to life the characters as flaws, foibles, virtuous, fears, hopes, and courage blend to make them seem so human. Her plots with their suspense, mystery and phenomenal love scenes engage the senses luring one into the action that gives the reader’s emotions a roller-coaster ride from heat-in-the-throat fear to heart-melting love scenes that are unforgettable. In Gareth, the miracle of love and the magic of Grace Burrowes’ writing come together to create an escape into the Regency world where romance finds a way against tremendous odds. Super good reading!

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , ,
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