Dear Author » Harlequin Super Romance

REVIEW: Wanted Man by Ellen Hartman

Jayne — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:00:31 +0000

Rhian’s Rooftop Resolutions:
1. Write a children’s book
2. Learn to play basketball
3. Have a summer fling

Between caring for her orphaned nephew and working as a tech writer, Rhian MacGregor has spent several years perfecting the art of abstinence. But the arrival of Nathan Delaney—her gorgeous housepainter—has her contemplating a new instruction manual: Seducing Your Handyman.

She’s not thinking of getting serious, of course. She’s only got the summer to herself before it’s back to real life. Besides, Rhian doesn’t do serious, because the consequences are too painful.
Just as they will be when she finds out who Nathan really is…

Dear Mrs. Hartman,

I guess this is a reissue since the eharlequin website lists it with a publication date of 2007 and an onsale date of September 2011 but whatever it is, I’m glad I’m finally reading it. Oh, and I love that the cover shows the pepto bismol pink painted house that Nathan paints to get into Rhian’s life. Cover images that match what actually happens in the book – yeah!

Okay the set up for the book requires a little suspension of belief about Nathan. I know some famous authors are fairly reclusive but the lengths to which he’s gone just don’t seem like even they’d be enough. Not with today’s easy access via the Internet to everything about everybody. But I’ll just go with it and keep reading. The celebrity, tabloid “journalist” daytime show host’s decision to discover who author Chris Senso really is seems all too real though. Anything for increased ratings no matter who it might hurt or whose life it might change. That being said, the way you’ve fashioned the character of Lindsey Hall makes her sound exactly like the uber exuberant, “will stop at nothing to get the story,” “perfect hair and makeup” type of modern TV personality. Can I say I fairly much despise them? Yes, I can. And Nathan’s ex Patricia – wow, what was he thinking to get hooked up with her? The scene at the end where those two are pitted against each other is worth it though as the perfect revenge.

Nathan Delaney does have some concrete reasons why he wants privacy – both as Nathan and as his nom de plume “Chris.” Because of his bad experience as a college basketball player, I can see why he isn’t eager to be in the spotlight anymore. And why he’s initially skittish when first introduced to Rhian’s friends and her nephew Jem’s family. I like the slow, sweet build up to a physical relationship that they have but I could see the Big Mis situation coming. When one character tells another “I have something to tell you” and that telling gets interrupted for sex, the hand grenade explosion isn’t far off. Nathan loses a few points with me for his reaction to what happens and I’m not entirely sure his initial “I’m sorry, I should have believed you” is enough for me. The man had lots of chances before that night to tell the truth.

Rhian starts the book as if she’s going to turn into one of those martyrs who gives up her entire life for the service of others. I do like the relationship she has with Jem but I’m glad she is going to have most of the summer to herself and that she already plans on having some adult fun when she’s got the chance. And that she goes ahead with her dream and actually finishes it! The HFN ending to that – her being an author – is a nice change from the usual “she becomes a huge worldwide star with her first book!” epilogues I’ve read in the past.

Matt and Min – kind of sound like they’re a pair of cartoon mice, don’t they – are fun secondary characters and really help with the way Nathan resolves the whole issue of his privacy. Jem comes across like an eight year old, basketball mad little boy who hasn’t quite gotten to the independent “don’t hug me in public” stage yet. He’s in the story just enough to not annoy me.

I might not always end up reviewing all your books but I do always look at them and here I’m glad that I’ve got a chance at reading this one that’s been out for a while. Ebooks are wonderful and reissued backlists are even better. B-

~Jayne

REVIEW: The Son He Never Knew by Kristi Gold

Jane — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:00:31 +0000

Dear Ms. Gold:

I probably should have stopped reading at the first chapter when I figured out that the male protagonist of the story would not figure out he had a son until said son was 10 years old, but I didn’t. Unfortunately, the story never got any better.

Jessica Keller and Chase Reed are supposed to be platonic friends. Jessica has been dating Dalton Wainwright on and off for years. Chase learns that Dalton has proposed and the night before Chase ships out for Afghanistan, Chase heads over to Jessica’s dorm room to say goodbye and tell her not to marry Dalton. That night, Jessica and Chase comfort each other in a physical manner. Two weeks later, Jessica marries Dalton.

Jessica, lord where do I start. She appears to marry Dalton because “he can take care of her.”

He nailed her with a serious stare. “Are you going to marry him, Jess?”

She’d asked herself that question many times during the month she and Dalton had been apart. So far, no solid answer. “I could do worse.”

“You could do better.”

“He’s going to take good care of me, Chase. He’ll make sure I have a great life.”

I had to check to make sure I was reading a modern romance. Jessica’s marriage to Dalton so soon after her physical encounter with Chase places the parentage of her child in question. We are suppose to believe that Dalton was suspicious of Danny’s paternity due to how poorly Dalton treats Danny.

Fast forward 10 years and Chase is back from the war, having served several tours, and is now a deputy sheriff and Jessica is a school teacher. A domestic dispute emergency call was placed and Chase responds knowing that the address is that of Jessica Wainwright nee Keller. When he arrives, Dalton Wainwright is lying unconscious with blood pooling around his head. Chase knows immediately that Jessica cannot have done anything and even suggests that when she does give her statement, she shade the truth.

While CSI isn’t know if its accuracy either, even rudimentary familiarity with forensics would have led Jessica as well as Chase, not to mention Chase’s father the current Sheriff, to the conclusion that the angle of the blow on the head of Dalton would indicate the height of the wielder of the weapon. But simple logic escapes every one here. As for actual investigating of this crime, it consists of taking two statements, one from Jess and one from Dalton.

Despite Jessica being a suspect, Chase takes her to his home and then finds a place for her to live. Jessica’s best friend is Dalton’s sister and even she seems unconcerned that Jessica may have bashed his head in. Dalton’s father, the wealthiest man in the county, is determined to see Jessica pay for her wrongdoing.

Let’s just throw out the whole plot and concentrate on the romance. Jess spent five years married to an asshole who treated her kid like dirt. All the while she thinks that maybe her kid is Chase’s and not Dalton’s. She never gets any paternity test done and she never really even questions that perhaps Chase deserves to know, particularly after the divorce.

But putting aside this part, is the romance between Jess and Chase a beautiful and wondrous thing? No, unfortunately not. It’s tepid at best. Chase is constantly saying he would make a bad father and mate for someone while at the same time getting a cabin for Jessica, fixing up said cabin, connecting with her son, and generally acting like a concerned father and husband. I suppose Chase’s protestations are there so the reader can find some sympathy in Jessica’s actions. It might be reasonable for Jessica to have never pursued paternity while Dalton and she were married but given the systemic verbal abuse her child suffered, I wasn’t convinced of her decision making process as time went on.

Jessica did not appear to have grown in the ten years apart from Chase and she didn’t grow in the book. She was one who was always needing to be taken care of. I guess it’s a good thing that there were men around who wanted to take care of her. But the emotional fall out from the secret baby reveal was given short shrift as was the manner in which Jessica revealed the truth. No pesky tests for her. She just knows. It’s a mother’s instinct, you know. C-

Best regards,

Jane

REVIEW: A Risk Worth Taking by Zana Bell

Jayne — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:00:53 +0000

“Any red-blooded American male would be all over Cressa Curtis. She’s gorgeous, she’s wild and clearly she’s open for a no-strings-attached adventure. But Adam Walker’s been there, done that. And now he wants more for himself. Even with his history, Adam still believes in love and family and marriage and the whole white picket fence—hardly what Cressa is offering.

Besides, everything about the crazy Kiwi spells danger and distraction—two things Adam can’t afford to risk with his sights set on medical school. He’s only in New Zealand for a month. Surely he can resist Cressa’s advances that long….”

Dear Ms. Bell,

I enjoyed your other book, “Tempting the Negotiator,” and have been waiting to see what you’d write about next. “A Risk Worth Taking” starts where that book left off, and peripherally continues the series first in New Zealand and then in Texas. But where that book was focused and centered, this one veered all over the place, plotwise, and ended up not working so well for me.

There is a lot going on here. A lot, a lot, a lot. Adam has his issues with his failed first marriage, the loss of his daughter in his life then – at the last minute – getting Stella back into his life, his feelings of inferiority, being a bastard, not knowing his father’s name or anything about him, his other brother being in jail, his mother as an alcoholic and how he feels about not tripping up her recovery, studying for the MCAT and, oh yes, his relationship with Cressa.

Cressa has her issues with marriage in general, her aborted first attempt at it, motherhood, the loss of her child – and this part is really papered over until the very end – her feelings about wanting to be footloose and fancy free, the relationship with her family – good but tempestuous at times, her jobs and – almost forgot – her growing love for Adam. You also include a tiny bit from Adam’s mother’s point of view. I can only hope that perhaps she’ll end up being a future heroine of her own novel or else this was totally wasted.

The bit about Adam finding out anything regarding his father is swept under the rug. There’s a touch about him reconnecting with his daughter then that’s gone. Cressa has one realization scene of losing her child then we get told about how she sobbed on the phone with others but there’s just not enough room for all this angst, and emotion and past events finally catching up with them. As for Alicia – sorry but I don’t get the feeling that this woman is an alcoholic. I also didn’t truly get that Adam burns to be a surgeon. I’m told this but I don’t see it that much. He could be studying for any major college entrance type exam.

Sweet baby Jesus these characters have a lot of edges and depths but enough is enough. Half of these issues would have done just fine and made a wonderful book but all of it together ends up like a huge group therapy session that’s totally out of control. The book just isn’t long enough to contain it all and get me to feel that justice has been done to it all.

Yet parts of this story remind me of what I liked about the first book. There is lots of stuff about NZ – how cold it is in winter, how the bay looks, the local flora and fauna – but I feel you worked it into the storyline well. It doesn’t come off as a travelogue or like a pamphlet from the Chamber of Commerce. The book definitely takes place here and doesn’t read like a generic location. The phosphorescence on the island under the crushed shells is especially cool. I also enjoyed the bits about Cressa seeing the US and Texas for the first time. Yeah, it is big. And humid around Houston.

With few issues for all around I think I would have really enjoyed this book but no sooner did something get introduced then something else would come along and push it out of the way, rinse and repeat. The resolution of the HEA took almost to the last page. I mean, smoking down to the wire with no resolution of the conflict between them being resolved in sight. There are unresolved things here which I’m guessing are to be continued in further books? But it leaves a sense of too little time spent on them in this book and a rushed tying up of some loose strings and a too quick HEA. C-

~Jayne

Sunita’s TBR 2011 Challenge Review: Life Rewritten, by Margaret Watson

Sunita — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:29:32 +0000

Dear Ms. Watson,

Your novels first landed on my radar when Jayne reviewed one of your SuperRomances last summer. When I saw that you had come out with a book about a rock star post-stardom, and for a change the rock star was the heroine rather than the hero, I was sold. But the book sat in my TBR for the last couple of months until I went looking for TBR Challenge books. February’s challenge category is “ugly ducklings,” which covers a range of imperfections, and I decided that a recovering alcoholic fit the bill.

When she was known as Chantal, Delaney Spencer was the drummer and composer for a rock band which fell apart when her lover and fellow band member Diesel died of an overdose. Delaney went into rehab, disappeared into the small town of Otter Tail in northern Wisconsin when she came out, and remade her life as a furniture maker. Her only connection to music now is performing weekly as the drummer for a cover band in a pub run by her friends Quinn and Maddie (who were the hero and heroine of one of your previous books). She has managed to regain a measure of control and stability over her life when Sam McCabe, Diesel’s brother, tracks her down and demands that she release some demo CDs she made with Diesel just before his death. Sam has been forced to take temporary custody of Diesel’s two young children because their mother, Heather, has just entered rehab herself, and he wants to ensure their financial stability and independence from their mother.

Delaney is horrified at Sam’s proposition. She has no desire to let the world know where she is or to test her still fragile sobriety with the scrutiny and pressure that rock-star fame brings, and Sam’s plan to protect Leo and Rennie by sending them to an expensive boarding school reminds her of how neglected she was by her own affluent parents. Sam, who writes thrillers, threatens to write a story for Rolling Stone about Delaney if she doesn’t agree, and he takes a vacation rental in Otter Tail while he waits for her to agree to his ultimatum. Soon, Delaney’s whereabouts are leaked to press by Heather, who hates Chantal/Delaney because Diesel left her to be with Chantal.

I was predisposed to like this book based on the setup and the context. In addition, the children were sensitively depicted. You portray Leo’s anger and his and Rennie’s insecurity and suspicion toward Sam convincingly. Sam’s complete ignorance about small children seemed a bit overdone, but there are probably men and women like that, and I believed in both his frustration at his failings and his desire to do the right thing by them. I didn’t really buy that Delaney turned into a master cabinetmaker in two years, but I found the conflict between her love of music and performing and her fear of falling back into old ways very compelling.

My biggest problems with the book had to do with the characterization of the hero and the way the romance unfolded. I never felt that I understood Sam as a person, much less as a romantic hero. He was angry and frustrated for much of the first half of the book, and he seemed quite underdeveloped. We are told early on that Sam is a writer, and we see him working on his thriller while he’s taking care of the kids, but his profession isn’t really important except that it provides him with a way to spend time in Wisconsin, since he can work anywhere. Crucially, Sam’s reluctance to take care of the children is motivated by his anguish at his failure to save Dylan. But I never really got a sense of what that relationship was like. This was the most informative passage about them:

"I was never around. You said Diesel barely mentioned me."

"I was being snarky when I said that. He missed you. He told me about his big brother who'd practically raised him. Who always protected him."

Didn't she realize he hadn't protected Diesel when it counted the most?

She smiled. "There was a time at school where one of the older kids tried to bully him. He said you kicked the kid's ass around the playground twice."

"He remembered that?" Diesel had been a scrawny kid with bright red hair and a swagger, trying to act as tough as his big brother.

"He remembered a lot of things, Sam."

The ticking of the kitchen clock counted out the seconds as memories spilled through his head.

"Is that why you stayed away from him?" she finally asked. "Because you couldn't handle the reporters and paparazzi?"

"I stayed away because I couldn't bear watching him destroy himself. I tried to get him clean and dried out, but he wouldn't let me help him. It was easier not to be around."

It sounds as if Sam was around for Diesel in their youth and then couldn’t deal with him when Diesel started his downward spiral. But I don’t know if they were close, or why, if Sam cared about Diesel, he didn’t spend time with his children, especially given how inadequate both parents were. The relationship never came to life for me. And so when Sam did his turnaround from reluctant and incompetent uncle to fully committed parental figure, I had difficulty seeing it.

Sam’s incompleteness made his romance with Delaney problematic for me as well. They are both so angry and suspicious of each for a lot of the book. It takes some mighty powerful physically attraction to overcome that, and as a reader I wasn’t quite convinced. And then, even if I could believe that Delaney fell in love with Sam (which was easier because Delaney’s character was more fully and convincingly depicted), Sam’s repeated refusal to believe he could love anyone was followed so quickly by his avowal of love for Delaney that it just didn’t work for me.

On a more positive note, I really appreciated the way you resolved the storyline with Heather and her relationship with her children. Although she had the official relationship with Diesel, she was very much the “other woman” in this story, and the easy way out would have been to demonize her or kill her off. Instead you resolved the conflict in a way that gave her character dignity and understanding, and you handled the custodial issues in a similarly thoughtful way. I closed the book feeling more confident about Leo’s and Rennie’s futures than about Sam and Delaney’s romance, but I can live with that.

Grade: C

~ Sunita

REVIEW: Always a Temp by Jeannie Watt

Jayne — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:56:41 +0000

Dear Ms. Watt,

Since I liked the first book of yours that I read so much, I’ve been meaning to try some more. “Always a Temp” is one that has been loaded on my Sony for a while and which I just now got back to. But while I liked it there are some issues I have with it.

Callie McCarran knows now that she should have come back home to check up on her foster mother Grace but maybe Callie just didn’t want to think that Grace’s time might be limited. The cold shoulder Callie got at Grace’s funeral certainly tells Callie that most of the town thinks she should have made the effort too. But since Callie doesn’t plan on putting down any kind of roots, she doesn’t let it bother her…too much. But the fact that her high school flame Nathan Marcenek wants nothing to do with her does sting. She had hoped they might be at least friendly during her short stay in Nevada.

Nathan is in no mood to give Callie a second chance to hurt him. After she abruptly left town following their graduation, he tried to leave town too only to come back to recuperate after a devastating injury on the job as a reporter. But could they have a shot at a second chance if Callie can and will face what drives her to always pick up and go when it looks like she might settle down?

I like the small town atmosphere you create in your novels. They aren’t rah rah “small towns are so much better than the evil big cities” places but rather a world where there can be good and bad. Some people are friendly and neighborly while others are creeps. Some people will stick their noses in your business and others frankly don’t give a damn. This place could be right for certain people while others can’t wait to shake the dust off their shoes.

You create vivid characters even if all that we know about them are thumbnail sketches. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed to know about people if they’re not the main event in a book. I kind of expected to get more of Callie and Nathan’s childhood but that’s not the case. Okay, I’ll accept that they dated from high school and that Nathan expected more before Callie bolted. And from that I think it totally believable that Nathan would give her a cold reception when she appears 13 years later. But I found it odd that Callie never seemed to understand how much she hurt Nathan by her actions and that she was hurt when Nathan didn’t want to be casual friends with privileges while she’s in town for her planned short stay.

There is a lot of time spent on events outside of the main romance. Callie and Nathan are both writers and Nathan has been a news reporter so I can understand their interest in potential stories and their curiosity about the people and events around them. Yet while I found all this interesting, and probably a means to set up the future stories of Nathan’s two brothers, when I realized I was at the 2/3 mark of the book and the romance hadn’t heated up much yet, I did wonder if too much time was being diverted away from Callie and Nathan working out their future. If I hadn’t known this is a romance and thus I’m pretty much guaranteed a HEA I would have worried a tad.

But I do like that the book ends in a sort of open ended kind of way. There’s no wedding planned, no baby on the way, the main couple looks like they’re going to blow this small town for a bigger city and there are issues to be resolved about investigations in town and with Nathan’s brothers. I did enjoy my time spent reading the book and would continue with the series if there is one. So…maybe a C+ for this one.

~Jayne

REVIEW: Can’t Stand the Heat? by Margaret Watson

Jayne — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:00:54 +0000

Dear Ms. Watson,

Picking “Can’t Stand the Heat?” to try was sort of like a cold call for me. I had nothing to go on, I’d never tried any of your other books – though that will change now, and the blurb:

“Just the sight of Walker Barnes in her kitchen is enough to panic Jen Summers. Those feelings she once had that seemed like cold ashes for so many years are turning out to be hot, hot coals. Walker’s sudden appearance is fanning all sorts of flames. Her guilt, her shame, her deep regret for what she’d done to him.

But this isn’t the awkward geek she’d hurt back in high school. This is a brand-new Walker-’hardened, wickedly successful, brilliant, confident…sexy. And he hasn’t forgotten how she used him. Or forgiven her. In fact, he seems bent on payback. Of all the times to fall for a guy… ”

made me think of heroines who love to wallow in (what often turns out to be needless) guilt. I’m not usually one for needless guilt but when it began to seem like Jen Summers truly did have some repenting to do and that Walker Barnes wasn’t stuck in some time warp that hadn’t allowed him to move on – hate it when that happens, too – I kept reading past my initial coolness towards the main characters.

Past mistakes really have come home to roost here and no one is escaping from them. Plus they had major consequences then – Tony lost his baseball scholarship went to the minors, hurt his arm and lost his chance at a pro-baseball career. Jen cheated on her steady boyfriend, felt she had also hurt Walker because he got kicked out of school and lost his scholarship, while she got pregnant and had to deal with early marriage and raising Nick without Tony there much of the time due to Tony’s road games. And now she finds out what Walker had to endure from his father and being forced to work on the fishing boat which he hated.

As I said, I started the book not really liking either main character and yet liking them at the same time which is a real testament to your writing and character inventing abilities. When reading sections from Jen’s POV, I agreed with Jen’s assessment of Walker as a bastard for forcing the paternity test and contriving ways to be around her and Nick. On the other hand, I love that Walker hates what he’s doing since his hand was sort of forced by Jen who couldn’t bear to face the guilt induced from what she’d done. Thank you so much for turning the standard romance “secret baby plot” around since Jen really has had no doubt about who Nick’s father is since her baby was born. There’s no guilty hiding of any paternity here – she has honestly thought him to be Tony’s son.

Jen is a good mother, used to her growing boys starting to not need her as much, ready to lay down the law, ready to back them up and try to keep them from harm or hurting. She’s also wise to most of the tricks and calls Walker on playing the power game he did when he tried to work with Nick to sort out Nick’s friends’ problems. And the instant connection between long lost relatives? Ha! Love that you turn this Romance fable on its head and how Walker feels initially lost in dealing with Nick even before any results from the paternity test. At same time, he’s still unsure of what to do with a son and then wonders if this is really what he wants/needs. Kudos that he sees Nick as a child and not a toy or commodity to use to get revenge on Jen.

Nick is such a teenager. His parents breathe and he’s embarrassed by them yet he can still show pride in his mother by praising her cooking to Walker at the wedding and later praising her for pursuing her restaurant dream. He also cares for his friends and tries to help Stevie out – though this bit of the plot sort of gets lost and fades out. Another fade out is Walker making the villain of his newest and anticipated computer game look like Jen – though it did lead to Jen’s public fessing up. It’s brilliant that Tony isn’t a complete jerk and does love his sons. Even if he doesn’t understand Nick and gaming, he does try.

Another thing I like is that neither Jen nor Walker are swept with lust at first sight of each other after all those years. In fact they can barely tolerate each other and if Walker hadn’t caught sight of Nick and wondered, he would have left town without trying for any revenge. And though both immediately knew each other and probably had thought of each other over the years, no one is still hung up on what happened and “had never forgotten it!”

What seals my good grade and makes this book a cut above is that everyone learns from their mistakes. Jen finally admits that she didn’t want anything to do with Walker because he reminds her of one of the worst times in her life – when she deliberately used him which lead to everything falling apart for all three of them. Jen and Tony finally talk and even though it’s too late for their marriage this is a nice change from the first husband being the ogre. And I’ve already mentioned how Walker isn’t stuck in the past. BTW, I love the name for his company – GeekBoy! The time that you build into the final resolution and care with which everyone deals with the results of the paternity test are the cherry on top. Thanks for a great read.

~Jayne

REVIEW: Along Came a Husband by Helen Brenna

Jane — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:00:28 +0000

Dear Ms. Brenna:

Sometimes the hardest reviews to write are the ones about books that are totally competent yet somehow failed to reach me as a reader and this is one of those reviews. The writing was competent. There was a sense of urgency that kept the story moving. The core of the book centered around reunited lovers with a dash of marriage in trouble – both tropes that I dearly love. The characters had reasonable justifications for their actions but I guess, in the end, I found them fairly emotionally immature and not ready for a life together.

Missy Charms runs a gift shop on Mirabelle Island. One stormy night she opens her door to find a man with a gunshot wound. He turns out to be her supposedly dead husband, Jonas Abel. Jonas and Missy met and married quickly and then repented nearly every day thereafter. Jonas, an FBI agent, spent most of his waking time working and spent very little time with Missy. Missy felt abandoned and sought to fill the gap by working outside the home. Jonas had a deep seeded insecurity about providing for Missy and her job hunting fed that insecurity. At a very low point in her life, Missy needed Jonas and he was working and so she decided to leave him.

Jonas took the rejection hard and agreed to go deep undercover for the FBI, faking his death and disappearing for four years only to show up wounded at Missy’s home in Mirabelle. Together again, Jonas and Missy begin to question their separation and the fact that in the four year absence neither has found another to love.

The characters are thoughtfully developed. Their actions in keeping with the identities created for them, yet, the images that they both projected were those who were very childish. Jonas is surprised that Missy mourned him. I found this rather incredible because even if you divorce it doesn’t mean you don’t care for that person anymore. Jonas acted quite precipitously in faking his own death and completely removing himself from Missy’s life.

Unfortunately, his cover is blown and his life is in danger and he’s not sure who to trust. His superiors at the FBI might be dirty and Jonas flees to one place where he thinks no one can find him.

Part of Jonas’ insecurity was based on the fact that Missy lied to him when they met and kept a fairly significant fact of her past from him until only shortly before their marriage. There were real and serious issues that separated Jonas and Missy and I thought you did a great job of conveying those. I was less convinced that either Jonas or Missy had learned or grown from their mistakes. There really wasn’t any internal recognition of what went wrong in their marriage. Rather than being insightful, Missy and Jonas both had to be told by someone else what was wrong with their marriage. It seemed like a deux ex machina, in fact. I would have liked to see Missy or Jonas recognize in their time apart what had gone wrong with their marriage and how to fix it.

I guess in the end, I found Jonas and Missy quite juveline in their actions at the end of the book marked the beginning of their maturation rather than the end of it. Jonas just started to awaken that perhaps it was his own self esteem issues and neanderthal mindset that contributed to Missy’s unhappiness. Missy began to realize that her selfishness had inflicted quite a bit of hurt on those around her. Yet even when faced with a few home truths, neither Jonas nor Missy really did anything with that knowledge. And by that I mean, that I didn’t feel like either of them learned anything until the end, nothing in the four tyears that separated them and I didn’t have confidence that this was a couple that would be able to hold it together during a crisis.

The ending wraps everything up neatly with all the previous issues swept aside as if both Jonas and Missy had suddenly become adults yet I never saw the process only the end result. I felt like you did a great job showing the flaws in the characters but I didn’t feel like they learned or grew. C+

Best regards,

Jane

REVIEW: Tempting the Negotiator by Zana Bell

Jayne — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:49:05 +0000

Dear Ms. Bell,

It’s usually Jane who is trying to tout the contemporary but after reading “Tempting the Negotiator” I’m going to give it a go too. This is a solid, well written novel with characters I want to root for acting in believable ways in a plot that doesn’t ask me to suspend my disbelief in any way.

Sass Walker knows she’s up for the negotiating challenge of her career as she arrives in underdeveloped Whangarimu, New Zealand to try and salvage the deal her company is trying to push through to build Aroha Bay Vacation Resort. The previous guy ballsed it up and now she’s got to sooth ruffled feathers and try to come up with a win-win situation that will bring jobs and a future to the area without ruining the natural beauty of the land.

From the beginning she’s known she’s up against some staunch opponents of the resort and after meeting Jake Finlayson, she realizes that going toe to toe with this gorgeous Kiwi surfer will be even harder than she imagined. Jake’s smart, funny, and after some initial hostility, easy to get to know. But both resist their attraction since Sass is only going to be there for a short time. But will the waves, the people and Jake work their magic on Sass, as she does on them?

The conflict begins with the resort but then carries on through the background you’ve invented for Jake and Sass. I love that nothing feels contrived and you don’t pull a last minute misunderstanding out of your hat to prolong the action. Nor do the characters suddenly start changing the way they behave to further the plot.

Sass is dedicated to her job and to seeing all sides of the issue. She does manage to keep it separate from her personal life and truly is interested in trying to deliver the best ending for everyone. What a relief it is not to see her ‘deep six’ anything by letting her emotions run away with her. I can believe that she’s a smart lawyer because she acts like one.

Jake starts out resenting Sass and what she represents but quickly starts acting better when she doesn’t rise to the bait. He also eventually does listen to what she says in her report and gets on board with some smart suggestions she makes – and agrees with his brother that she’s one smart lady. While he also takes the time to get her to loosen up, learn to surf and enjoy the beauty of the land around her.

But I really enjoyed watching these two strike sparks off each other with each winning about half of the time, while the loser ends up enjoying himself anyway. As well, it’s nice to watch them grow as people and learn more about themselves through the eyes of the other. They aren’t static as characters, stuck in ruts and blindly in denial about their faults. There’s a good yelling match where they let it all hang out but then they think about what was said and build on it.

I also like that the book concludes with an open ended romance. Nothing is carved in stone yet and there’s some things which will need to be taken care of but there’s no forced, neat wrap up that negates the issues either one still needs to work out.

It was fun to read about the clash of cultures even if they didn’t clash all that much. As a matter of fact, it was even better for not being open warfare as some authors might be tempted to do in similar circumstances. Adults behaving as adults, what a joy.

So, why the B grade? Well, something about the heroine’s sex life irked me. I find it a tad hard to believe that her lifestyle would have affected it the way it’s written and that she never…well, that she never. But I do like the way the hero takes it to heart and examines his own performance.

I can’t find any other books of yours listed at eHarlequin but after enjoying this one. I’ll be looking for more. Good job and thanks for the enjoyable read.

~Jayne

REVIEW: Quarterback Daddy by Linda Barrett

Jayne — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:00:38 +0000

Dear Ms. Barrett:

With a title like “Quarterback Daddy,” it has to be a Harlequin. No offense to Harlequin and I like this better than most of the “Presents” line but I hope that non-series fans can look past this to the good book this is.

Alexis Brown would never have contacted pro-football player Dan Delito about her niece – and his unknown daughter – if her back hadn’t been to the wall. But the expenses of her murdered sister’s funeral plus all the baby stuff needed for Michelle added to Alexis’s low paying position as a district attorney have depleted her resources. Her first impression of Dan isn’t a good one but she’s not to know that this is the second anniversary of his wife’s death.

Dan’s immediately suspicious of this woman and her claims that he’s the father of this child – after all he is a major sports figure and pulls down an impressive salary – but he and his attorney treat Alexis’s claims with all due seriousness. And when the DNA results confirm he’s a father, he takes on the responsibility maturely. But he doesn’t have a clue how much these two females – one 3 month old and her aunt – will affect his life and his future.

I like a lot of things about this book. Alexis and Dan are level headed, smart, intelligent people and – Glory be – they act that way. Alexis has reservations about Dan due to her family history with an alcoholic but she doesn’t immediately harsh on him and is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. It does take her awhile to finally believe in his sobriety but given what you’ve built into her background, that does make sense.

Dan is shocked to learn about his daughter but – much as it makes them look bad – he’s a well known sports figure with hordes of groupies hanging around and sometimes a condom will break. He doesn’t deny the possibility but does act sensibly to be sure no one is pulling a fast one on him. He’s also cognizant of how the media will descend on the story and moves to control that as well.

The research you’ve done on NFL football is well done and smartly worked into the story. Since the main emphasis of the book is on Dan and Alexis it makes sense that football is used to show how it affects Dan’s private life and how it will influence Alexis’s view of him rather than the sport taking center stage. Fans of New England will be happy to see their Patriots vie for another Super Bowl, even if it’s only fictional. I also like how Dan’s mother has her own way of deciding whether or not it was a good game for Dan.

“He looks good,” said Rita, eyes glued to the screen. “Dirt doesn’t count. He walked evenly and his eyes are focused….”

Which is saying something after a defensive line has been trying their best to sack you for the whole game. I think readers who don’t follow sports and or American Football won’t feel too lost in the story though.

When Dan’s family is introduced, I thought “Oh, dear here we go with another tight-knit Italian sports family” but the Delitos turn out to be solid people, concerned about their son/brother/uncle, welcoming of the newest additions to the family and thrilled that Michelle and Alexis are pulling Dan out of the depression he’d been in. They add a nice touch to the story by showing Alexis what family life should have been for her rather than what she grew up with.

Dan’s interactions with Michelle are fun to read and not because they’re all turned into “aw shucks that’s so cute” moments or become comic pratfall scenes for him. At first he’s hesitant with her as would be anyone who hasn’t changed diapers or dealt with spit up but he gets the hang of it. But I think you show the growing feelings and joy he has for his daughter.

Dan and Alexis take some time to get to know each other before diving into bed. I guess you could say it’s plotplotplotsex. Dan makes a promise not to push Alexis for anything physical and then sticks to it despite being tempted. It was nice to read a story in which the hero and heroine don’t give into mindless lust after knowing each other two weeks. I was glad to see that Alexis makes sure about Dan’s reasons for asking her to marry him before she says “I do.”

Though I felt that these two were growing closer emotionally as well as physically by the end of the book, I was surprised at the issue you revealed about Alexis’s past given how I had thought it was discounted by something she told Dan earlier. This is a major event in her life and is obviously still affecting her, and though I’m glad she’s going to deal with it as the book ends, it seems like something that a significant other would need to know and I’m not sure when Alexis would have told Dan if not for his own revelation.

I was also never quite sure about why you’d made Alexis be a ringer for Dan’s dead wife. But after reading Jane’s opinion piece “Is there Really a Second Chance at Love in Romance,” this bit from Dan eased my mind.

“No one, Ally, should settle for being second best. Not you, and not me. You’re right about Kim and me having a great marriage, a wonderful relationship. It’s exactly because of that marriage that I know what I’m missing — and I want it again! …And with you I would not be settling for second best.”

I’m a long time fan of NFL football so it was nice to read a story using the sport as a backdrop. But even though it features a sports hero, the relationship takes priority here. Despite a groaner of a title, I’m glad I read this one and now I’m on the look-out for other books you’ve written. B

~Jayne

REVIEW: What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss

Jane — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:00:15 +0000

Dear Ms. Bliss:

I hope that is your real name. I love it. Miss Bliss. Has a very naughty sound to it. In any event, it wasn’t your name that prompted me to pick up this title. Instead it was a combination of things. First, an excerpt of your book, Mr. Imperfect appeared at the end of one of the other Superromances I had read, maybe by Molly O’Keefe, maybe by Helen Brenna. I can’t recall as I type up this review. I enjoyed the excerpt and bought the book and had fun reading the book but you had only a few digital backlist titles and I read them and promptly forgot your name. Until I saw a blog post at Wendy’s about this librarian book. I recalled your name and decided I had to read this librarian story.

I knew right away I was going to enjoy it. It opened with the heroine and librarian, Rachel Robinson, tending the university library. If she’s a stereotypical librarian, I wouldn’t know. I’m not even sure what the librarian stereotypes are. But if funny, smart mouthed, kind, with a love for vintage clothes are typical librarians, I need to hang out with them more.

A student, dressed in purple boots and looking big, masculine and a little wild shows up in her library. Rachel has no idea who the latest student is. She knows that he is older and appears arrogant and looks at her as “as if she were part of a female buffet. She got the impression he was already very full but might possibly squeeze in dessert-’if it was handed to him on a plate.” She soon finds out that he is someone famous, a guitarist in a band that “did well”.

Devin Freedman had been lead guitarist and song writer for one of the most popular rock bands of the last couple of decades. Almost two years ago, Devin collapsed on stage due to drug usage. His doctor has told Devin that his current lifestyle was going to kill him. Devin had had enough. Enough of his brother, the lead singer of the band, enough of the band lifestyle, enough of trying to hold the band together when his brother was doing everything to tear it apart and nothing to help Devin stay alive. So Devin walked away and the band dissolved.

Devin is arrogant. He has, as Beyonce would sing, a big ego and he has good reason for it. He has lived as if he were at the center of a small universe where everyone and everything existed to revolve around him. It would be hard not to have a big ego, but at the point in his life, he is a curious and fascinating mix of self assuredness and bravado.

"Your mouth doesn't fit your profession," he explained. "It's like seeing something X-rated on the cartoon network."

He didn't think to censor himself because he'd been a rock star for seventeen years and never had to. And got a sharp reminder he was no longer in that world when she shut the door in his face.

"Lucky the librarian fantasy never made my top ten," he told the door.

Rachel has not been living a pale shadow of a life, sleeping in a cold virginal bed awaiting her prince charming. She has a successful and rewarding career, friendships and, yes, even boyfriends. But her life isn’t perfect. Rachel made a hard decision early in her life to give up her baby for adoption when she was a pregnant teen. It was the one decision that Rachel is sure was right despite the lasting emotional scarring that it has had on her psyche. The rightness of this decision comes into question when Rachel discovers that her baby is now a teen and enrolled at her college.

This is no coincidence. Mark came to this college with the express intent of looking for his birth mother. He knows that she is 34 years of age and is a faculty member. He never once considers Rachel because she doesn’t look thirty four. Most people mistake her for someone much younger. This gives Rachel an opportunity to get to know Mark and have him get to know her without mucking it up with the adoption issue. It’s not the best decision Rachel makes. In fact, the situation readily spirals out of her control.

Rachel is all about control. In fact, her position as a librarian makes perfect sense. She likes things orderly. She likes to be the one to put them in order, control their outcome and arrangement. She doesn’t have that control with Devin, nor does she have that control with her son. And giving up control, losing herself in someone else, might just be beyond her capability.

She chooses men who she cannot possibly love to have relationships with, knowing that they will inevitably end. Devin, after a run in with Rachel’s latest ex-boyfriend, calls Rachel “Heartbreaker” and it becomes his nickname for her throughout the book. But the nickname is more than just an affectionate term. The term becomes almost a gauge of the health of their relationship. At first, Rachel wants nothing to do with Devin. He’s too arrogant, too full of himself. Devin finds Rachel and her x-rated mouth a well needed distraction in his life. And she’s the one person that seems to look at Devin “without deference or sympathy.”

Rachel and Devin’s relationship is so authentic. Devin’s past is part of the conflict in a real way but does not overshadow the story. He feels like he is not a good risk, not strong enough to be relied upon. But when met with the most important challenge of his life, he rises up to meet it. While it might be a slight spoiler, I had to share a quote from the book that I found incredibly romantic.

All his trials had been preparation, strengthening him to become a man capable of loving a woman who so deserved to be loved-’and who might always hold something back.

This is a nuanced romance and Rachel and Devin are vibrant characters. It is easy to see how the two of them fit together as puzzle pieces; both quirky and individual, both with their weaknesses and fears; both with the strong capacity for love. It’s a bit of a tear jerker toward the end, but the emotional aspects of it are well balanced with humor and strong dialogue. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. A-

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon
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REVIEW: Her Best Bet by Pamela Ford

Jayne — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:00:55 +0000

Dear Ms. Ford,

Sometimes I’m in the mood for a nice, gentle story to cuddle up with. A story that features good people who act sensibly without throwing snits over Big Misunderstandings. A story about families who get along. A story set in small town America but one which doesn’t denigrate big cities. Or have characters who all have double first names. “Her Best Bet” fits all them all.

Izzy Gordon faces the fact that in the ten years since she graduated from high school, she’s let go of her major dream. But is it too late for her to break from the perfect life her parents have mapped out for her and reclaim her goal to direct movies? With the help of her room mate, she decides to shoot a documentary for a contest and what better place then at a lake resort in Wisconsin which her parents own. Well, they don’t own the buildings, just the land, and the 100 year lease is ending soon.

Gib Murphy’s family has run the White Bear Lodge for almost 100 years but changes are coming fast. The place has gotten run down and his grandparents look a little frayed at the edges too. 10 years ago, Gib followed his dream to a career in photojournalism and, even after the tragedy that struck friends in Iraq, has no interest in staying on to manage the place. When Izzy and her friend arrive, he sees the place in a new light while she helps him cope with the nightmares that steal his sleep. But what will happen when her true identity is revealed? And is this the end of the Murphy family at the resort?

The main theme of the book seems to be discovering what our dreams really are versus what we think or imagine they are. And then how to deal with them when they collide head on with reality. Izzy thinks she wants to be a film maker but discovers there are other ways to do that than in Hollywood. Gib thought he always wanted to get away from the quiet of the Wisconsin backwoods only to find that peace and quiet take on new meanings after the road side bomb explosions of Iraq. I like that both are open to their dreams changing without putting up angsty fusses.

Izzy’s room mate, Shelly, stands in for Izzy’s non-present family. Their good natured teasing and mutual support are a relief after so many books with bitchy female relationships. Shelly’s Nature Bonding Ritual is a hoot. The Murphy family make the perfect hosts for the resort. Cheerful, helpful, ready to work around a crisis and forgiving of each other. I just wish they’d come right out and tell each other what they really want to do about the resort. The goal here kept changing so much I honestly didn’t want to hazard a guess as to how it would be resolved.

I like that you worked in the current real estate financial situation into the plot but didn’t make it a total downer. As well, no giant corporation is hauled in to be the villain of the story. And when the truth about Izzy comes to light, Gib is hurt but willing to listen to and understanding of why she did what she did. I was fully expecting pouting and stomping of feet from him and relieved when it doesn’t happen.

Oh and before I forget, the fishing scene with Izzy and Gib when they do nothing but laze in silence and contented company is a winner. No forced slick moves, no attempts at being witty just comfortable, warm hours spent relaxing. I also enjoyed when Izzy helps Gib relax and sleep during the storm. I kept waiting and expecting tons of sex but you did something better. Yeah, there is eventual sex but the early scenes are Izzy and Gib getting comfortable with each other so when the sex arrives, I feel these two are ready for emotional as well as physical intimacy.

Gib doesn’t drown in angst though he probably deserves to. Again I could feel the connection between him and Izzy as she gently questions him about what happened then helps him realize he can and should move forward and do what it is he wants to. And oh the bliss of not being drowned in mental lusting. Shelly and Izzy delight in secretly calling Gib “Beautiful Boy,” but no one stands like a statue drooling over the thought of the other.

“Her Best Bet” is like slowly swinging in a hammock, lazing away the afternoon. The neat way you wrap up the story that takes into account what Gib and Izzy both want is a treat. No one loses and everyone seems to get what they want. Win-win. B

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at eHarlequin.com or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

REVIEW: Cowboy Comes Back by Jeannie Watt

Jayne — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:00:37 +0000

Dear Ms. Watt,

I love a contemporary that doesn’t ask me to put up with idiot behavior or a stupid premise that has to be explained every which way to try and get me to believe in it. Thank you for giving me such a book.

Now that his rodeo career is over, Kade Danning has nowhere else to crawl but back home. He wishes he could just keep his head down, fix up his father’s abandoned ranch and then sell it so he can afford to spend more time with his daughter. Move back, then move on–quickly. Unfortunately, after ten long years he can’t avoid Libby Hale.

Kade has loved Libby all his life and he’d give his championship titles never to have hurt her. But he did. And convincing her to forgive him is the hardest challenge he’s ever faced–in or out of the arena.

There are so many things I like about this book. A believable hero and heroine, a plot that makes sense, details that set the time and place and a couple finding a second chance at a love they both thought gone for good.

The way you handled Kade and Libby’s initial interactions was a breath of fresh air. No grandiose fights or flouncing or instantly falling into each other’s arms or too quickly working out the tangled up emotions that had broken them up so many years before. Also, Libby is initially mad and still angry at Kade but she doesn’t keep it up for that long – it’s hard to hate intensely for that amount of time – and she’s honest about that too.

The horse stuff seems well done. The training, the round up, the mustang stuff. Brava for picking an interesting career for Libby with the BLM (Bureau of Land Management). Libby isn’t one of these “save all the mustangs at all costs,” “they must run free” women. She’s all business with them, as she should be in her job. No false bleeding heart stuff – well, except for Blue but he’s the only exception and they have a history. The book doesn’t become a platform for or against wild mustangs, range grazing, or fancy ranches. And I’ve heard of the John Lyons horse training methods through a friend.

There’s enough background information on Libby and Kade’s childhoods to fill in all the blanks but no moaning, bitching or bellyaching – which makes sense for tough western people. And the events of the past – both childhood and as young adults – plays into how they acted then and now. Libby was afraid of marriage since her own parents were AWOL through booze and Kade didn’t want to be abandoned by Libby as he had been by his mother.

I like the bit where Kade calls Libby on whether sleeping with him got rid of her itch and she acknowledges that it didn’t. I also liked that she was initially honest with him that she still felt something for him – no false denials there – but that she would find trust hard.

Libby’s reaction to Kade’s daughter Maddie works for me. Maddie is, after all and through no fault of her own, the reason for Kade marrying another woman and Libby being hurt. Libby hasn’t been around children much and it would be hard for most people to welcome with open arms the cause of their past hurt. But Libby quickly sees that Maddie is a good kid and starts to feel a little more comfortable around her and with her.

Kade’s ex-wife Jillian also doesn’t become a bitch queen just for the plot. She and Kade had their issues but can talk to each other and honestly want the best for Maddie. Kade’s parenting skills are fun to watch, and make sense in that he does the opposite of what his abusive father would have done.

Joe Barton and his crowd are used enough for the plot but never take over the story. The amount of background stuff about the town and people is just right. The villain is gotten in the end but in a believable way – finding Blue’s registration to get Libby off the hook for horse theft and then stunting Ellen’s career advancement. The descriptions sound authentic and give the story flavor. They, and the way I like this story, have already enticed me to try more of your books.

When Libby and Kade fall for each other this time, I think they, and I, are both sure it is the right thing. Epilogues usually don’t work well for me but this one – and I love the teasing about pretending to fix something in the indestructible jeans – was just right. You have a nice, easy, understated way with the characters, some gentle humor and honest actions – nothing felt forced for the story and everyone had their good and bad days. And the action stays centered on Libby and Kade. Good job and thanks for the enjoyable read. B+

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

REVIEW: He Calls Her Doc by Mary Brady

Jayne — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:00:39 +0000

Dear Ms. Brady,

After I bought your book, I pulled it up on my Sony and began to read the opening scene. Which is where I stopped, more than a little afraid that I wasn’t going to be able to read a book which seemed to be headed towards over sensationalism. A screeching vehicle bringing in a badly wounded person who a young doctor is determined won’t die on her watch? Hmmmm, let’s read a different book first.

But something made me give it one more try. One chapter, I promised myself, and I’ll know whether it’ll work or not. Good thing for me I tried again because from that point on, I was hooked.

I have endless admiration for those who are in the front lines of emergency medicine. They get it all – from people in the wrong place at the wrong time to those with a long history of destructive behavior which they then expect doctors to fix with a cure all pill. And then there’s the daily grind of sore throats, chronic diseases and assorted ills which bring patients in to see the doctor.

Working in a small clinic in a small town in rural Montana would allow Maude DeVane to experience it all. Plus the fun of knowing all her patients, socializing with most of them and having them remember her from childhood. There’s not much she can hide behind and with a gossip network as sophisticated as that in St. Adelbert, everyone knows everything about everybody and usually before the people involved even know it themselves.

Maude is the kind of doctor I look for myself. Dedicated to her patients, willing to go the extra mile, funny and smart. But in case I thought you were setting her up as Little Miss Perfect, she has some dark secrets that haunt her plus a whole town of people to win over to having a woman as their sole doctor. With US rural healthcare in the desperate state it’s in, I would think they’d be thrilled that someone wants to live and practice there but maybe there are still hold outs who think having a schlong makes one a better doctor. Idiots.

Guy Daley is the kind of doctor I’d take if a caring one wasn’t available. Not that he doesn’t do a good job but Guy just comes across to me as a man more interested in medicine than patients. But with a Haunting Incident from his past as well, Guy has Issues which have lead him to put medicine behind him. Will Maude win herself a place in this small town and eventually be called “Doc” by her patients? Can Guy overcome the second guessing that has withered his confidence? Will they both get past their five year old images of the other and find love? And what about Guy’s niece who is too old too fast due to the hurts and heartbreaks of her young life?

The story highlights the joys and downside of living in such a small, isolated town. Some characters can’t imagine living elsewhere while others can’t wait to get out. And then there are those who swing back and forth. I think you do a good job of conveying the aspects which keep people rooted to small town living as well as the drawbacks.

I also enjoyed many of the secondary characters. Maude’s BFF Sally is a hoot. She takes on Maude’s enemies as her own, cheers Maude in her romantic encounters yet doesn’t descend into merely a cardboard support for Maude. I was charmed at the image of Maude, Sally and Sally’s young daughter, sitting in front of the TV with deely bobbers on their heads, eating Oreo cookies. Indeed, most of the townspeople we actually meet are portrayed as real people instead of hick stereotypes even if many are briefly mentioned in passing. I still think Gene Wilder’s comment to Cleavon Little in “Blazing Saddles”

What did you expect? “Welcome sonny,” “Make yourself at home,” “Marry my daughter.” You’ve got to remember, that these are just simple farmers, these are people of the land, the common clay of the new west. You know . . . morons.

applies to their feelings about a female doctor, though.

The major exception is Mr. McCormick who is almost a parody. Really he’s just a Baaaad Villain with no real depth to him. Whenever he appeared, I rolled my eyes and plowed through a scene of him being an ass. How did he get to be a town councilman anyway?

Yet, he does serve to illuminate some things. Maude and Guy’s reaction to him and his venom seems real life. They are doctors first and foremost and feel compelled to help even the unlovable and nasty people of the world. In addition, his efforts to oust Maude from her position give her a chance to show the reader a backbone that doesn’t bend when pressure is applied.

Lexie in some ways seems fairly advanced for a twelve year old but then I have to remember that she’s seen a lot and experienced a lot of hurt and loss already in her life. And does any child that age feel truly understood? Or does any parent/guardian really think s/he has a clue what makes a teenager tick?

The resolution between Maude and her mother comes fairly quickly for something that’s been hanging over their heads for so long. I guess the incident with Sally’s family brought it on? I will be honest and say that the romantic ending, though romantic, screamed “movie of the week” to me.

So, even though I was hooked by the story, there were still some downs with the ups. But the ups win hands down. The medical scenes were great. The realizations by Maude and Guy that perhaps they weren’t totally to blame for the things in their pasts plus their lack of allowing those secrets to paralyze them was a nice surprise. The fact that you didn’t feel the need to force a total conclusion of these issues but rather left the feeling that Maude and Guy would continue on their paths to peace at their own pace was a very nice surprise. And the wry humor Maude displays reminded me of Carla Kelly at her best. Yeah, I’m pretty happy to have read this one. B-

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from an independent bookstore or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

REVIEW: The Boyfriend’s Back by Ellen Hartman

Jayne — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:00:28 +0000

Dear Mrs. Hartman,

After the A grade I gave the last book of yours I read, I had high hopes for this one. Perfect heroine and slacker hero find love fifteen years later despite having to overcome the mistaken images they’ve maintained of each other over the years? Okay, I can go with that. Heroine who lies to the people for fifteen years, including her own daughter? That, I had trouble with. Lots of trouble with.

Hailey Maddox was always seen as perfect. A popular cheerleader who had all the boys in knots over her, no one was more surprised than JT McNulty when Hailey agrees to go out with him. But Hailey is keeping secrets including the fact that she’s sleeping with someone else.

After she gets pregnant and the father renounces their clandestine relationship, she turns to JT who lies to both sets of their parents about being the father. But when Hailey rejects his offer of marriage and his parents throw him out, JT leaves town.

It takes the death of his mother to bring him back. Then dealing with his father’s injuries to induce him to stay for a few days while he tries to get Jack McNulty into physical therapy. The realization that Hailey has let his lie stand for that many years and her daughter is searching for her real father is the icing on the shit cake for JT. Will these two ever really know each other and is there a HEA to be found?

I like JT more than I do Hailey – well, most of the time. He does have a decided lack of.. ambition? Drive? Something. After all the alpha heroes I’ve read, JT takes some getting used to. But he does know when to step in with relationships and would be a great dad – as we see by his interactions with Olivia. JT has to learn to take some risks, in his job and in his personal life. Jack does tell the truth when he says JT avoids things where he thinks he could lose. His major risk as a teenager was asking Hailey out and then standing by her. He lost a lot with his decision to do that and has played life safe since then.

Olivia works better for me – she seems like a 14 year old. Getting wise in the ways of the world yet still vulnerable to its slings and arrows. Wanting independence yet still needing to know that home will protect and shelter her if and when she needs it. She’s got guts, I’ll say that for her. It was hard for her to keep pushing past a mother who, with the best of intentions, withheld the truth from her about something so vital and important. She’s also got Hailey’s number about her mother covering herself with a “perfect” front.

Parts of the relationship between Hailey and Olivia are fantastic. There’s respect and love. There’s Hailey trying to look out for Olivia’s best interests based on what she knows about the people involved. It’s unfortunate that this all blows up right when Olivia is in the age when teenage girls want more independence and are already rolling their eyes at their mothers. But the love is obviously there and keeps the two of them from saying or doing anything that would be hard to take back later on. If only it weren’t for those lies…

Jack is harder to grade. I can understand what Hailey says about how men feel it an insult for their bodies to fail them but he and his wife put their sons though a lot. And he continues to work JT over even as JT tries to help him. However, Jack is also facing his demons and the mistakes he’s made with his life. Which can’t be easy for a man of his age who has been used to being in control and having physical strength. To be in a wheelchair and dependent upon others would be frightening.

It’s Hailey who pushes my buttons. She knew what she was doing was wrong but still did it and kept on doing it. She felt some degree of shame when the truth came out but never seemed to truly apologize to JT for allowing the town to think of him as a schmuck. She just kept wailing and whining about how no one saw the “real” her and that people would hate her for what she had done and not think her perfect. But once she was an adult, she didn’t want them to think that so…why not fess up, to a degree, since she wanted to keep Olivia’s real father’s i.d. a secret? But no, she pulls a martyr routine a few too many times for my liking.

Along with Olivia, JT and Charlie’s relationship helps to balance Hailey for me. Charlie says “breasts” and his big brother casually instructs him to call them “tits.” Both brothers are squicked out by their mother’s choice of self portraiture. As am I. And poor Charlie gets stuck with the scut work just because he’s the youngest. However, their relationship is probably the soundest of the whole bunch of them. Plus Charlie is always there when needed, no questions asked. Or few questions asked but he’s still willing to pitch in and help anyway. His first loyalty is to his brother and he obviously doesn’t want to watch JT be hurt again.

I do hope that Hailey and Olivia “see” to Olivia’s father. That man doesn’t deserve the position he has.

You write characters who genuinely have issues and not made up, whiny faux problems that are easily solved. Though I hated to see Olivia suffer and search for her father, I could see that – given what a schmuck her real father is – Hailey was trying to do the best for her. JT and his risk aversion – hmmm. But it goes back to his laid back personality and the way he had to deal with the fall out from Hailey’s lie.

JT finally “deals” with his mother’s death and the guilt/lack of resolution he feels by pushing Hailey to spill the beans to Olivia. Time is short and we never know what will happen 10 minutes from now so don’t leave important things undone. Hailey tried to break out of the image that she feels cages her in but gets hurt badly so…she’s gone back to tight control in her life. Again it all fits with the personality you’ve given her: controlled perfection. This doesn’t make her continued lies any easier to like, though.

One thing I noticed and liked is that while JT urges Hailey to tell Olivia the truth, he never pushes Hailey to tell him. He trusts her when she says the truth would hurt but still feels that Olivia deserves to know it now instead of continuing to live as she is. And he won’t lie to Olivia. I guess he feels she’s been lied to enough and he won’t add to it.

If they had married as teenagers, maybe they would eventually have learned the real people behind the facades they wore and fallen in love. But who knows, perhaps the strains of young parenthood and the secrets would have ruined it all. I hope JT gets his little scraps of silk.

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from an independent bookstore or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

REVIEW: The House of Secrets by Elizabeth Blackwell

Jayne — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:57:57 +0000

Dear Ms. Blackwell,

I didn’t realize this book is part of the “Everlasting Love” line until I began to read it. Which shows how much I pay attention to the “icon” on the front cover. Anywho, since my house has been a renovation project in the works for years now, that aspect of the book description caught my eye.

Alyssa Franklin just knows that the run down old Queen Anne house is meant for her, even if it will take her life savings to buy it, months to restore it and probably cost her a long term romance that, actually, is on its last legs. At first, she’s entranced with the idea of the love affair between the original owners of the house – the scion of what used to be the most prominent family in the area and the daughter of a seamstress. I mean, they must have been deeply in love to thwart social conventions. But as she tackles the issues of the house with the help of a hunky handyman, the truth of that marriage as well as Alyssa’s hopes for a new romance, begin to be uncovered.

Managing to tell one love story in a book is sometimes hard. Fitting in a main story with a secondary one can be tricky. But trying to tell of two couples finding their HEA within the space of a relatively short book is an undertaking. And one that I feel is only partly accomplished here.

While I feel the romance between Evelyn Brewster and her ultimate hero receives enough attention to detail, that of Alyssa and Danny Pierce, the carpenter every woman would love to have hanging around her house, could have used more time and space. I never quite got over the feeling that they were more employer and employee than potential lovers – an awkwardness that you have them share as well.

I do like the other romance, though I would have to wonder if any lingering feelings ever haunted them after what happens. Evelyn certainly does learn the wisdom of the old phrase, “marry in haste and repent at leisure.” I think you captured her disillusionment as well as the stifling atmosphere of a society marriage of the time. I certainly wouldn’t want Alma Brewster for a mother in law.

The way in which you allow Alyssa and Danny to learn the truth about what happened over a hundred years ago is a little contrived but understandable given the circumstances that you had already built into the plot. The whole story would certainly never have been recorded given the prominence of the Brewster family and the determination of Alma to uphold their social position.

Usually I’m not much of one for epilogues but will admit to being charmed by this one. There’s enough information about Alyssa and Danny to satisfy my curiosity as well as a final testimony to the love which Evelyn fought so hard to enjoy. B-

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from an independent bookstore or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

REVIEW: A Natural Father by Sarah Mayberry

Jane — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:00:39 +0000

Dear Ms. Mayberry:

I have to start out this review by admitting my personal bias. I am not a huge fan of kids in romance books, or at least how they seem to be generally characterized. While I am a mother myself, I do not believe that children are necessary to be fulfilled either as a woman or as a married person. One of the reason I dislike baby epilogues is that by ending a romance with a baby more often than not seems to convey the idea that babies are the natural result of love (not to mention marriage) and that a fecund free coupling is really not reaching the pinnacle of happiness.

But why did I buy a book that was called “A Natural Father” and had a baby on the front of the cover? Because I’ve enjoyed almost every Mayberry book I’ve read. On the one hand, I appreciate that you tackled a difficult subject and the story was well done because despite my insides churning, I was compelled to read on. On the other, I don’t know whether the fair handed message you intended was actually delivered because I felt like, at times, the characters were saying that it was okay to a) not want to be a mother and b) that having children did not equal true love but I wasn’t entirely sure that the story was committed to that message.

Lucy Basso was a difficult heroine for me to like. She, like the storyline, presented what seemed like dueling personalities. Her boyfriend cheated on her and then dumped her. She found out she was pregnant and the boyfriend wanted nothing to do with her. The boyfriend had no visible means of support, she supported him and was offering no financial support for the child. Yet, she still clung to the hope that he would be involved in her life and the child’s life. She did come to the realization that the ex wasn’t going to be there, ever; and maybe it was the right time for the book, but just not quick enough for me. She was, however, not a moper. She got on with her life, accepted help when she needed it and put together an awesome business plan to further her fresh produce delivery service.

Dominic Bianco has always had a thing for Lucy, even when they were young. He’s a recovering divorcee who is struggling to come to terms with where he fits in the family business since his father has trouble letting go. Dominic sees an opportunity to partner with Lucy and possibly get closer to her. Dominic has no problem with Lucy’s pregnancy and in fact, her fertile self makes her more beautiful in Dominic’s eyes.

Interestingly Lucy isn’t interested in Dominic in the beginning. She never really saw him until her sister pointed out just how truly gorgeous he was. Then Lucy was uncomfortable with her burgeoning desire and her cratering self image, not to mention her doubt about men in general. Dominic seems like a near perfect hero until he pulls a classic–I know better than anyone else–move toward the end of the book.

The fascinating relationship was the secondary romance involving the sister who does not want to have kids and her husband who does. Unfortunately the sister hasn’t been honest with her husband and repeatedly fails to share with him that his vision of the future, doesn’t match hers. The sister has to grapple with coming clean to her husband and possibly ruining their marriage or hiding the truth from him or going along with trying to have a child even if she doesn’t want to.

I wasn’t thrilled with where the story ended because again, I felt that there wasn’t sufficient validation for the other side of the coin – that children aren’t necessary to have a fulfilling life or that a woman who does not want to have children is somehow abnormal or incomplete. The writing, though, is very good and I was compelled to finish the book, almost against my will. In the hands of another author, I think this could have easily been a wall banger. C

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from the Harlequin Site and other etailers.

REVIEW: A Man to Rely On by Cindi Myers

Jayne — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:00:44 +0000

Dear Ms. Myers,

This book isn’t sunshine and rainbows. Scott and Marisol have both been forced to take classes in the school of extremely hard knocks. So I’d advise any readers who just want a happy, pep-me-up after a hard day at work to save this for a time when they’re looking for something with a bit more depth. A story with a bite to it.

When I say hard knocks, I mean it. Hard as in accusations of, and being on trial for, murder, methamphetamine addiction and, for Marisol, returning to a town for which she harbors few good memories. In the past few years, both these two have hit rock bottom and had the strength to start again.

Marisol has always kept herself to herself which didn’t make it easy for her growing up as a minority maid’s daughter. When a famous basketball player fell for her and moved her into a life of luxury, it was just one more escape for her. She puts on bravado in public but she has to learn to let someone past the wall the protects herself behind.

I like the fact that Scott is the one who’s always fantasized about a relationship with the glamorous and slightly older Marisol. That he’s the one who stayed in their small Texas hometown while she went off to the big city. But as he found out, drug addiction can find you no matter how small a place you live in and it’s even worse when everyone knows who you are and how far you’ve fallen. I think that Scott’s relationship with his supporting father shows the caliber of man he is despite his physical weakness.

Marisol’s relationship with her daughter is obviously in flux. Though each fiercely loves the other, their time to discuss what happened to their family was breached when Marisol was arrested for her first husband’s death after his life of lies, drug use, gambling debts and adultery surfaced. Toni’s teenage life was turned upside down just when her hormones began to kick in. Plus, what teenage girl hasn’t been embarrassed by her mother even if, as Marisol says, she didn’t do what she did with the intention of ruining her daughter’s life 20 years later?

Marisol asks herself some pertinent questions about her budding relationship with Scott. Is he just someone she’s falling back on in times of crisis? Dare she risk getting involved with a man who, like her dead husband, has a drug problem? Because Scott readily admits that the craving for the high he got from meth is still there, even if he can control it now. The fact that she’s willing to question her need for this relationship makes me more willing to believe in it rather than if she’d just jump head first into it.

I really began to feel good about Scott and Marisol’s future when I could see them sitting quietly, sharing time together and simply enjoying each other’s company outside of any sexual relationship, not that their sex wasn’t hot. And even there you take the time to show them opening themselves to each other, bonding beyond a mere physical release.

However, in all honesty though I appreciate and applaud all the issues you’ve given your characters, you’ve certainly dumped a whole lot on them. But I also like how not everything is tied up in neat little bows by the end of the story. Scott will still have his occasional panic attacks, Marisol will still have to face comments about her previous life and Toni is still working her way around to accepting them as a couple. Life isn’t fluffy kittens and bags of candy but it’s true to the story you’ve written. And no sappy epilogue! Thank you for that.

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from Sony and other etailers.

REVIEW: The Wedding Heiress by Pamela Ford

Jayne — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:00:10 +0000

Dear Ms. Ford,

When you offered us a chance to read your novel, the title gave me pause. “Oh dear,” I thought. This is going to be about some spoiled heiress who has to act silly and ends up falling for a poor hero all told against a backdrop of weddings. Which goes to show how deceptive a title can be. Delaney isn’t rich, Mike isn’t poor, they’re both in line to inherit some pretty nice goodies if they, and several other people, meet the terms of a will but yes, there are lots of weddings in the story.

Oh, the will. This would send Jane into orbit no matter if the plot says the hero (a lawyer) and the heroine (who checked with a lawyer) know it’s insane. How could the will as they know it be ironclad? Okay, I just ended up accepting then forgetting this part of the plot to get to the better stuff. The ultimate revelation about the terms of the will also helped me to swallow this. However, why does the villain pay no price for what was done? What they did is literally laughed off despite the time, trouble and expense it caused. I didn’t get this. But I did figure out, almost from the moment this person was first introduced to us, who dunnit.

Mike and Dan were horrible to Delaney when she was growing up. I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to kick both of them in the nuts. And they were certainly willing to play up the pathos and turn on the pressure to get her to come to Holiday Bay despite any other issues she might have had going on in her life. Does she ever learn that she’s the “Pumpkin Project?” I was pleasantly surprised that this didn’t turn out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back – for 10 pages of conflict at the end – before everyone comes to their senses.

I can’t count the number of books I’ve read which feature heroines who’ve loved and lusted after the hero from afar for years. And most of them annoy me to some degree. Usually the grown up heroine is supposed to now be intelligent, pretty, and poised. Yet when in the presence of the object of her long held affections, she suddenly turns into a klutz queen who alternates between tripping over her own feet and drooling over the still hunky hero. I was all set to watch Delaney do just this when something amazing happened. You showed how Delaney’s grown up and over her youthful fixation on Mike. Yeah, she still thinks he’s handsome but she can zing him. She also hasn’t spent the last 15 years secretly still pining for him. She’s had boyfriends and lovers. She’s been a modern American woman.

And then there was the perfect showdown over her childhood nickname of Pumpkin.

"All I know is it’s Thursday night," she said evenly. "And I’ve got an even bigger wedding to pull off this weekend than last."

"And all I know is if we want to get our inheritances, we can’t go around pissing each other off. So let me give you a piece of wisdom learned from my years in law. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

An acid-laced retort leaped to the tip of her tongue, but before she could let loose with it, he was already standing.

"Now, Pumpy, let’s go finish the meeting because I’m sure everyone’s getting restless in there."

Pumpy? Pumpy? She’d had enough of being Pumpy. She’d had enough of trying to figure out why he’d never gotten past the fat redhead she used to be. Who did he think he was?

She stood and leveled a cold stare on him. "No, Mikey, I don’t think so. I don’t need your lectures, I don’t need your sympathy, I don’t need your rah-rah cheerleading." Suddenly, she realized, she wasn’t sure she even liked this adult Mike at all. Maybe she’d never liked who he was, just the image of who she wanted him to be. How could she even have thought herself attracted to him? "And I really don’t need to be Pumpy McBride anymore. Have you ever given any thought to what it felt like-’feels like-’to be called Pumpkin when you’re red-haired and fat?"

He stared at her.

"No. I didn’t think so." Oh, this felt good. "Frankly, I’ve had quite enough of tonight’s heirs’ meeting if you don’t mind." She took off down the sidewalk purposefully, covering long stretches of concrete with her strides, knowing that Mike was watching her go. Let him watch my back. Let him watch me walk right out of this town and out of his life. She tossed her hair dramatically.

Not that she was in his life anyway. And not that she could leave this town before the weddings were done and her inheritance secured. Her steps faltered and slowed. She felt as if she was in a movie and any minute the hero should chase her down the sidewalk and stop her, tell her how sorry he was and beg her to stay.

But at the end of the second block, she resigned herself to the fact that life just wasn’t that well scripted. And this town sure as hell was no movie set.

I read this scene and almost cheered. First because here’s a heroine who is strong enough to finally stand up for herself and secondly because at the end of it all, there’s that bit of realism to show it’s not an ending out of a movie script. It’s also the beginning of Mike seeing – and falling in love with – the woman Delaney is now.

MIKE STOOD IN THE doorway to the shop’s office and watched Delaney as the message played. Watched the soft light from the desk lamp highlight the golden strands in her red hair. He’d known from the moment he’d first heard her on the phone that Pumpkin McBride had grown up. But he’d never taken the time to consider the woman she’d become-’and what she had gone through to get there. Not when Dan proposed he romance Pumpkin to keep her in town. Not even when he reluctantly agreed to do it. And especially not minutes ago when he’d treated her like a wayward child in need of his expert guidance.

"Hey, Delaney?"

"Aren’t you supposed to be at the heirs’ meeting?" she asked.

"We adjourned early again. Seem to have a real problem finishing those meetings." He stepped into the room. "I just wanted to say I’m sorry. And if you don’t want my lectures or my sympathy or my cheerleading, much as it breaks my heart, I understand." He smiled sheepishly. "And, well, how about if I never call you Pumpkin again?"

She looked at him for what felt like a full minute. "That would be a start."

"And I’ll never give you advice again, unless you ask for it."

She just looked at him, her expression unreadable. "And you’ll never bring up vinegar and honey."

"Never."

"Or any derivative of Pumpkin."

"Or any derivative of Pumpkin," he said quietly.

She nodded and looked away.

"We never meant any harm. Not then. Not now. Pumpkin was mostly because of the red hair. Just like they called me 007 because my last name was Connery. And Dan was Hobes because his last name was Hobart. And Jack Turleton was Spike-’"

"Because of his grandstanding in the football games. Yeah, I know. I get it. All the guys had nicknames. All the guys and me, the fat redhead."

"No. Just the redhead. So what do you say, Delaney? Will you forgive me if I promise never to screw up again?"

In the subdued light, he saw the vulnerability in her expression and for just a second, the young girl whose heart had always been big enough to forgive the transgressions against her. And then the girl was gone. Delaney rolled her eyes and stuck out a hand. "Don’t get carried away. You’re a man. You’ll screw up again."

"What? Delaney, you cut me to the quick." He clasped her hand and she flashed him a quick grin.

The weddings Delaney has to arrange weren’t merely to poke fun at the industry. Sure some of the details these brides wanted for their special day could be eye rolling if viewed from the outside, yet in the end it’s what they wanted and Delaney does her best to accommodate their wishes. The tie in to one of my guilty pleasures – Bridezilla! – was au courant. What is it about weddings that turns otherwise sane women into raging maniacs? A career in dealing with these women, and their mothers, ::shudder:: no thank you!

Andy was another great surprise. She’s eleven years old, basically a good kid and her character isn’t played for laughs. The conflict between Mike and his daughter seem real and not manufactured for the plot. Andy’s reaching that stage where she’s beginning to spread her wings, test a bit more, get interested in boys and drive her father up the wall. Yet she retains some vulnerability. She’s also a shrewd bargainer when it comes to her assistance at Storybook Weddings. I can see her as a future high powered negotiator and definitely as the daughter of two lawyers.

So often the conflicts that drive a hero and heroine apart in the final chapters of the book feel manufactured and faux. Especially the ones that a good 10 minute talk would resolve. Not here, though. Mike’s desire to stay in his small hometown for the sake of his daughter vs Delaney’s need to ensure that she has a job to support her in case the inheritance doesn’t work out is real life. I also like that you have Delaney truly agonize over her choices instead of making a snap decision. This part faltered a little bit when Mike was immediately ready to think badly of Delaney for leaving early though he did redeem himself somewhat by thinking the thing through and realizing her reasons for what she felt she had to do.

One shouldn’t rely on preconceived notions about Harlequin book titles. If I’m honest, I might not have tried this book based on that and the blurb. I was expecting cutesy but I got a lot more. A strong heroine, a nice hero and two people who really see the other for who they are. B

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

REVIEW: Stranger at the Door by Laura Abbot

Jayne — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:00:32 +0000

Dear Ms. Abbot,

This is an interesting mixture of contemporary and historical romance. Though I still have a hard time with the idea that stories set before the turn of the 21st century are considered “historical.” I also see this is where Harlequin’s “Everlasting Love” line has ended up.

“Because happily ever after is just the beginning.”

That certainly applies to Sam and Izzy and you drop us right into a crisis which will test their HEA. Izzy fondly imagines that Sam has always been faithful to her despite the ups and downs and separations of their married life. She’s rudely jerked out of her idyllic belief when a young man claiming to be Sam’s illegitimate son arrives on her doorstep. “WTF?” she thinks. Okay, maybe Izzy wouldn’t use that term but she’s definitely floored by what’s going on here. And she’s got some pointed questions to ask Sam when he gets home from their daughter’s house.

Except Sam stonewalls the discussion and announces he needs time to think. Yeah and he’s going to do that at a friend’s cabin in another state. I’m thinking Sam’s an asshole here. But then I’ve not been married to him for over forty years as Izzy has and don’t have a vested interest. So poor Izzy now has to deal with two issues: she’s got a husband who strayed then – really there’s no contesting that since Mark looks exactly like Sam – and is denying all knowledge now. And once again Izzy has to tend the home fires by herself.

So while she’s covering for Sam with their daughters, she decides to finally give in to their elder daughter’s request that she write her life story in a journal. It’ll give her time to reflect on why she still loves Sam, despite what he did. Though she ruefully acknowledges that the girls might get an edited version once she’s finished.

Izzy’s journal entries are my favorite parts of the story. The sections of the book dealing with Izzy and her BFF Twink’s childhood remind me a lot of my mother. Small town Southern girls growing up in the 40s/50s. Going to college when the Mrs. Degree was what most women aspired to. Living up, or down, to a small town’s expectations of what a good marriage is. And sex-education is certainly different today!

Izzy’s aborted engagement to a perfectly nice man, just a man who wasn’t The One for her, gives us not only the main source of conflict between Izzy and her mother but also shows why she was willing to elope with the handsome Air Force pilot who swept her off her feet. Nice is okay but when you’ve met the love of your life, nothing less will do. Sam is intelligent, passionate, strong and determined to win this woman. It looks like rainbows and happiness forevuh in spite of every obstacle provided by Air Force life.

That is until a few very important things go wrong and Sam finally gets shipped out to Vietnam. I can understand why he strays. I truly can. I don’t like it but life sucks sometimes. The death of one of their children followed by Sam’s immersion into the “live for the moment and show no fear” environment of an Air Force pilot explains what he did.

But I got tired of Sam running off throughout the book. Izzy is right to call him a coward and nails the fact that he does a runner whenever things go bad. But then who’s the strongest person in this relationship? Is it Sam for facing danger in the skies and being willing to face his nation’s enemies? Or Izzy for waiting at home for him, for making a home all those years when he was away or training, for facing up to what Sam did before he did? There were plenty of times I just wanted to smack Sam.

Three cheers for Izzy telling Sam that a child is not ever “nothing.” I can understand Jenny’s response to learning she has a half-brother. She’s been the one to idolize her father for so long and this news would be hard to handle. I like that Jenny and Lisa aren’t perfect children or adults. That Sam and Izzy’s marriage and Air Force life does affect them growing up and has shaped them as grown women.

I’ve said I appreciate you including some tough subjects here. Infidelity, SIDS, child-parent relationships, views on marriage. And as Izzy reminisces about her life, she doesn’t make them more aware of the issues in their lives than they would have been then. No one is preternaturally “wise.” But her telling of the events of her past allows her to view them through the lens what we know today.

And yet, when Izzy and Sam finally sit down and begin to discuss their problems and issues, I couldn’t help but feel I was watching a Lifetime Movie Network film. Heightened drama, dialogue intended to ensure that all the angst is included but also sounding like something out of a textbook or women’s magazine. Call me picky and I know that all of a book is staged but I don’t want to see too much of an author pulling the strings when I’m supposed to be immersed in the moment.

You tackle some tough subjects here. And I certainly appreciate that. Books which pussyfoot around issues or include them as just superficial window dressings annoy me. I know most of us are in it for the HEA but if authors are going to add these elements to the plot, make them important and relevant. You do both and I thank you. I just wish the overall presentation had worked better for me. B-

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from Harlequin, Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

REVIEW: His Secret Past by Ellen Hartman

Jayne — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:00:22 +0000

Dear Mrs. Hartman,

I’m so glad you offered DA a chance to read your latest release “His Secret Past.” I gotta be honest and say that when I look at current and future offerings from Harlequin lately, I’m desperately trying to find books that don’t feature a cherubic child or knocked up heroine in either the cover art or the title. Not that I don’t like children but gimme a break here Harlequin.

When I read the blurb for your book what stood out for me was the lack of those elements. When I read the actual book, what stood out for me were so many other wonderful things. This is a book packed with a lot of great conflict, emotion, and secondary characters. There are no standard romance tropes to turn away the jaded romance reader. It’s romance with a great beta guy, an intelligent heroine and un contrived personal problems as the center of the conflict.

Mason Star and Anna Walsh are on a course for conflict before they even know it. He wants nothing to do with his past as an up-and-coming and then downwardly spiraling rock star. She has wanted to know what happened 15 years ago that caused the death of her best friend while on the band’s tour bus. He’s put all that behind him to start and run a nonprofit organization to give a second chance and/or helping hands to those down on their luck and she’s the documentary film maker who could help him save it from the do-gooding efforts of the neighborhood association determined to put it out of business.

Mason’s got more on his plate than just keeping Mulligan’s alive. His teenage son seems bound and determined to follow in his dad’s footsteps as a rock singer while Mason is horrified at the thought that Christian could fall into the drugs and alcohol that nearly cost Mason everything. For Anna, this film marks the last collaborative effort with her brother and the end of their production company “Blue Maverick.” What’s she going to do now when all she’s known for years is a life on the road and planning for the next film?

So many people, including Anna at first, seem to think Mason is still the famous hard rocker he used to be. As he tells her when she arrives to pitch her idea of a film about Five Star, his old band, that man is dead. I love how you show the man he is now. And how Anna picks up on this and uses it in the film. But even she doesn’t initially catch how afraid he is of saying the wrong thing to Chris. How terrified Mason is of making a mistake with Chris.

That relationship, the one with Chris, is so great in this book. Any one can take classes or read about being a parent and have all the right answers – if it isn’t your child. But when you’re in the hot seat, it’s hard to know what to say right then. And poor Mason has almost nothing to fall back on from his own messed up childhood. He’s made a career of trying to fit into the average suburban lifestyle. Something which you show in Anna’s past as not all it’s cracked up to be. I adored the golf scene where Anna reveals her past as a country club kid while showing Mason how to finally relax and truly enjoy the game.

Another thing I appreciate is that there is no inappropriate sex. In fact, I’m not quite sure whether or not these two did the dirty at all and frankly the story is just fine that way. It’s nice to see a couple growing together emotionally before jumping into the nearest bed. The secondary characters are many but each has a place and a reason. They fit this story and add to it without hogging room for any sequel.

Thanks for not pulling any punches as far as Mason’s former life/actions – he did screw up, he did do the ‘rock’n'roll’ lifestyle but he’s learned from it and is determined his son won’t suffer as he did. Just when I was wondering how you were going to pull together all the different threads of the story, you managed it beautifully with a powerfully emotional scene in which Mason finally tells what happened that night on the tour bus and Anna’s heart breaks for the lost soul he was and how far he fell before catching himself. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year and one I highly recommend. A-

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.