with a review of Northern Lights by Nora Roberts, narrated by Gary Littman. I felt the mystery worked better on re-read (well, listen) but the romance felt a little lacking the second time around. Meg Galloway kicks ass though. I really like her.
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with a review of Relief Valve by JL Merrow, book two in the Plumber’s Mate series.
This review was originally posted in June 2013 but I’m re-posting it today to help support Jackie Barbosa. Her 16 year old son died in a car crash last week and, of course, her family is devastated. Author friends of Jackie’s, Beverley Kendall and Courtney Milan,have a campaign going to promote Jackie’s books while she cannot, in an attempt to ease her burdens in some small way. There is also a memorial fund for Julian which will become a scholarship. Please consider buying one of Jackie’s books this week (I’m sure romance readers can fine one they will like, she has written quite a few) and/or donating to the memorial fund. It’s every parent’s nightmare. Nothing will take away Jackie’s pain and loss but our support can help, even if only a little and that makes it worth doing.
Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Angela Peterson was always the quiet, shy kid growing up in Harper Falls, crushing on the high school quarterback and honing her football strategy skills. Now grown up and coaching the high school team, she’s shocked when that same sexy quarterback returns to Harper Falls asks her back to his hotel room. And then tries to steal her job.
Injured NFL quarterback Cade Reynolds is in Harper Falls to take over as interim head coach, and he never thought the tall, blond bombshell he propositioned would offer up any resistance. Not to a repeat of the amazingly wild night they shared and certainly not to his coaching position.But the Harper Falls High Eagles are Angie’s team, and even the hometown hero won’t take that away from her, no matter how hot he is. As the two engage in a battle of wits and wills, this is one game neither is prepared to lose.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I liked Angie very much in this book. She is a strong woman in a non tradiational role, kicking ass and taking names. She is the math teacher so popular there’s a line to sign up for Calculus (this is unimaginable to me) and not just because she’s good looking – but because she’s such a good teacher. She’s also the Head Assistant Coach of the high school football team and she designs all the plays for the team. Her vision and imagination when it comes to the team’s playbook is one of the main reasons the team is headed to the championship. She has the respect and affection of the players. She loves her job and wants to keep doing it.
Why I read them: There are three short stories in this series (so far). The first I bought for $1.99 from Torquere Press. It’s too expensive because it’s less than 15 pages. But the good news is that the other two self-published shorts are free from Smashwords in all the formats. Taken together, $1.99 is well worth it. And I think The Caldwell Ghost has possibly my favourite opening paragraph ever.
The Caldwell Ghost
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) When Robert Caldwell inherits a haunted house, he calls on ghost-hunter Simon Feximal to rid him of the supernatural menace. But the ghost is stronger than either man realizes — strong, angry, and desperate for release. Trapped in a haunted house with a dangerously attractive ghost-hunter and a sexually frustrated spirit, can Robert survive the night intact…and will he want to?
What worked for me (and what didn’t): This clever little short has an absolute cracker of an opening paragraph. We are plunged into the action immediately. It’s only about 13 pages but in that time, the setting – both the time period and the creepiness and the characters are drawn with a deft hand. It’s not a romance, but rather the pair meet and, while fixing Robert Caldwell’s ghost problem, have a sexy interlude which promises to be more. We know in fact that they go on to have a very HEA because of the letter to the editor at the beginning. It’s all very cleverly done.
Why I read it: I was provided with a review copy by the author.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Maggie Hendricks loves her life. She’s got a great job, amazing friends. Everything is perfect – except for one smallish problem. Maggie can’t quite get there, sexually speaking. It’s just never happened for her. And while she tells herself she’s fine with that, she can’t help feeling as though she’s missing out.
When her friend shares the intimate details of an encounter with an extremely talented lover, Maggie makes a desperate pact with herself. She will seduce this man – or allow him to seduce her – and if he can’t get her there…well, then she’ll hand herself over to medical science. A simple enough plan. What could possible go wrong?
Within minutes of meeting Rafel Oliveira, Maggie knows the answer to that one: plenty. But Rafel turns out to be far more than simply talented in the bedroom. As he takes her on a journey toward the ultimate pleasure, Maggie finds herself craving a lot more than his beautiful body. The question is, is Rafel’s heart available for the taking?
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I liked this book very much. I’m going to have some criticisms (of course) but I want to say first up that I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a spicy contemporary that is all about the relationship (no suspense, not secondary relationships; just the couple, getting together).
I liked Maggie very much – she’s strong, independent and clever. She runs a successful small business and she loves books (what’s not to like?). She had a believable reason for being anorgasmic (at least, to me) but her back story wasn’t played for sympathy votes. When she makes a plan to get herself an orgasm, she ovary’s-up and sets out to get it. One of her good friends, Cleo, had a sexy encounter with a “Brazilian hottie” named Eduardo at Brothers Ink. So Maggie quietly makes herself an appointment to get her some of that.
She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t thought of any of this before now. It was one thing to be preoccupied, but this was bordering on willful stupidity—especially when she took Cleo’s track record with men into account. Barring one rather dishy specimen, Maggie had never so much as glanced with envy at any of Cleo’s boyfriends. In fact, she and Cleo usually had diametrically opposed taste in men. For example, Cleo thought Ashton Kutcher was hot, whereas Maggie wanted to give him a good shave and send him to work for the UN Commission on the Status of Women for a couple of years.
with a review of Rose Lerner’s new book, Sweet Disorder. I loved her debut book, In For a Penny – she is one of the few authors who can tempt me to read an historical these days and the latest offering did not disappoint.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
