Triple Exposure by Colleen Thompson
August 2008
Dorchester Leisure Romantic Suspense
ISBN: 978-0843961430
www.colleen-thompson.com

Photographer Rachel Copeland has spent the past year learning about obsessions. She had only begun to make a name for herself in Philadelphia, still supporting her small studio by teaching at the university, when a nineteen-year-old student’s obsessive attraction changed her life forever. An obsession that Kyle Underwood reinforced with lies and doctored porn shots of her on the Internet. An obsession that culminated the night she awakened to find him standing naked over her bed, reaching for her.

The night she shot and killed a young man to save herself. Then came the press’s obsession with the gory details of the trial that ruined her life, although she was proven innocent of anything but self-defense. Not to mention the obsession of the boy’s mother for revenge. Now she has returned to her remote hometown of Marfa, Texas, hoping to find peace and put her life back together. To her father who loves her more than anything, and who stretched his financial reserves to bail her out this past year, and to the disapproval of her step-mother, whose relationship with Rachel has never been an easy one.

Zeke Pike has an obsession, too. An obsession to protect the secret of his past, a past he buried twenty years before, a past that could destroy his life, take his freedom, and cause him to forsake the promise he made to his mother. His self imposed hermitage for the past fourteen years, hand-crafting furniture from desert wood, closed-mouthed and closed hearted, is a testament to the strength of his resolve to allow nothing or no one to threaten that secret. Until Rachel’s spunky attitude and sense of humor draws him from his shell. Only for both of them to find that true obsessions follow until dealt with, through the miles, through the years.

What follows is a skillful tale of suspense; one whose characters are so – human – the reader roots for them from the very first page. The relationship that develops between Rachel and Zeke is loving and sweet and sexy, a perfect counter-balance to the darkness that tracks them. The secondary character of Rachel’s stepmother Patsy, and their uneasy connection are brilliantly written. The mystery is intense and intricately woven, laid down as surely as a treasure map, which leads to its exciting conclusion. This story will keep one turning the pages, to find if these two artistic and caring souls can survive TRIPLE EXPOSURE.

~ Reviewed by Jo Anne Banker

Surrender to Me by Sophie Jordan
August 2008
Avon
ISBN: 978-0061339271
www.sophiejordan.com

When I learned that the heroine of Surrender to Me was the same Lady Astrid Derring who was a villainess in Too Wicked to Tame (one of my very favorite historicals), I wondered if Sophie Jordan had lost her mind. Okay, at least made a bit of a mistake. I should have had faith. She pulled Lady Astrid’s transformation off brilliantly.

The lady in question was left penniless and shamed when her no-good duke of a husband fled to the continent one step ahead of the noose. For years she’s struggled to survive only to learn her husband has assumed a new identity and is about to marry a rich Scottish noblewoman. Determined not to let him ruin another woman’s life, she heads to Scotland to stop the marriage. On the way, her coach is waylaid by highwaymen bent on rape and pillage until Griffin Shaw, a sinfully handsome American, appears and saves her. She’s resisted lots of men in the past few years and guarded the only thing she has left—her honor—but when she’s forced to accept Griffin’s protection, she’s irresistibly attracted to him and torn between the conventions of her world and the freedom his offers. Griffin has his own ghosts and a personal mission to complete before he can return to Texas. The last thing he needs is to fall in love with a haughty Englishwoman who reminds him of his biggest shame.

One of the things I respect about Ms. Jordan’s work is her characters always remain within the social conventions of the time. Astrid doesn’t have the option of divorce, getting a job or taking a lover if she’s going to maintain her respectability. Her choices are restricted to those available to women of her day and class and therein lies her predicament and her conflict. Griffin has his own baggage, also a product of his world. And they are both strangers in a strange land— Scotland. The plot is both original and believable. I cheered these two people through insurmountable problems to a very satisfying and heartwarming conclusion. Once again Sophie Jordan has given us a story you won’t be able to put down until the very last page!

~ Reviewed by Lark Howard

Eternal Pleasure by Nina Bangs
July 2008
Dorchester Leisure Paranormal
ISBN: 978-0843959536
www.ninabangs.com

It takes a lot of courage to set aside well-loved characters and a writing style that launched you onto the Bestseller lists but Nina Bangs has done just that- with amazing success!

Eternal Pleasure is the first of eleven ‘Gods of the Night’ series. Delving into the dark and serious side of paranormal, Nina has created an incredible new world full of original plot points and surprising twists-so much so, I am unable to summarize without ruining the story for you. Hint: She pairs a predator alpha-male with a perfectly normal human female, throws them in life-endangering situations with breathtaking frequency and- uh yeah- it’s Nina; LOTS of sexual tension! Will they save humanity in time? I’m not telling, buy the book.

Suffice it to say this is a can’t-put-down page turner (warning: if you’re reading it pool-side, be prepared for a seconddegree sunburn!) Congratulations Nina!

~ Reviewed by Sarah Andre

Real Vampires Get Lucky by Gerry Bartlett
June 2008 — Berkley Trade
ISBN: 978-0425221549
www.gerrybartlett.com

Curvy vampire Glory St. Clair arrives home and smells trouble - Type B kind of trouble. When Glory realizes the human woman with her throat torn open is near death’s door, she speed dials the man she begged to turn her into a vamp centuries ago – Jeremy Blade, her on-again, off-again lover, friend, and in this crisis, her only hope of help. Having never made a vampire, Glory is reluctant to bestow eternal undead bliss upon the mortal, but she can’t let her die. The woman she makes is Lucky Carver, a surgically enhanced loan shark enforcer and a loose cannon when it comes to vampire rules of discretion.

Glory is feeling anything but lucky when she receives blackmail threats from an unknown fiend who made a video of her changing Ms. Carver. That is until she speaks to Lucky’s grateful, mobster daddy who promises her a cool million if she finds his daughter’s attacker. She needs the devil’s own luck, however, as multiple suspects emerge among the live and the undead.

Gerry Bartlett’s third installment of her Real Vampire series is loaded with laughter, suspense, and some hot chemistry between the sassy Glory and her Highlander Hunk. Ms. Bartlett weaves the newest tale so well new readers to the series will never miss a beat. For those who have not read the 1st two books, I highly recommend taking a bite out of Real Vampires Have Curves and Real Vampires Live Large as well. All three are Fangtastic!

~Reviewed by Vicky Dreiling

Out of Line by Michele Dunaway
June 2008 — Harlequin
ISBN: 978-0373217908
www.michelledunaway.com

“Some secrets are never meant to be discovered…” Lucy Gunter is a computer guru, a math wiz, and a NASCAR fan. She’s also hurting after breaking up with a race driver who she’d hoped was the one. She tries to swear off everything surrounding the sport, but somethings are easier said than done.

When Sawyer Branch asks her to lunch she willingly accepts – after all, he’s volunteered at the hospital where she works, and though his family is part of NASCAR, Sawyer is a math geek working on his PhD – a polar end of the racing world.

But Sawyer has a secret – one that goes deeper than just working on a friend’s thesis on counting cards in blackjack and using the money to pay off a loan – a loan that if left unpaid would only exacerbate the scandal around his family. A secret that will jeopardize his future with the lovely Lucy.

Lucy is falling for Sawyer – he’s everything and more. But when her friend asks her to use her computer skills to track down an email blackmailer, doubts start to surface. She doesn’t want to believe he could have anything to do with the horrible threats. But like most secrets, they never stay quiet. Can Lucy open her eyes and keep her heart in tack? Can Sawyer resolve the problems with gambling and save his future without loosing the one person who completes him?

Read Michele Dunaway’s fast paced, thrilling ride around the track of love, loss and redemption!

~ Reviewed by Christy Janisse

Deep in the Heart of Trouble by Deeanne Gist
June 2008
Bethany House
ISBN: 978-0764202261
www.deeannegist.com

You know what it’s like when you finish a book and you still think about the heroine? It’s like you’ve lost track of a dear friend and you wonder what she’s doing now. Think Scarlet O’Hara, Jo March, Elizabeth Bennet. Essie Spreckelmeyer from Courting Trouble is one of those characters you don’t forget. You admired her courage, her flair for life. And then, too soon, the book was over.

Well, she’s back and she was worth waiting for. Irrepressible as always, she lives her life according to her own strong belief in God and the quirky double standard of behavior she doesn’t realize she has.

Since being “ruined” by a drifter, Essie has devoted her life to her Velocipede Club and helping her father run Sullivan Oil Company. She doesn’t want or need a man in her life. It will take a strong man with a sense of humor to tame her.

Tony Bryant Morgan considers himself up to the task. Disinherited by his father and accused of murdering his brother, Tony earns the respect of the town and the love of Essie, but it won’t do him much good since he is due to appear before Hanging Judge Parker in Fort Smith. Trying to save Tony, the townswomen turn to the wisdom found in romance novels.

As always, Deeanne’s research is impeccable. The vocabulary fun, right down to running down to the Slap Out, a store you go to when you’re slap out of something.

You’ll love revisiting Corsican, Texas, but it’s changed. Oil has turned it into a boomtown. New people are moving in. There’s a derrick in every backyard. But old-fashioned values still exist. Maybe that’s not so bad.

~ Reviewed by Jodi Payne

Loaded by Joanna Wayne
June 2008
Harlequin Intrigue
ISBN: 978-0373693320
www.joannawayne.com

It’s Matt Collingsworth’s turn for love in this installment of the “Colts Run Cross” series by Joanna Wayne. He can’t explain his attraction to Shelly Lane, the physical therapist who’s been hired to work with his grandfather, and he can’t explain why she seems to attract violence where ever she goes. But his cowboy code of honor won’t allow him to leave her alone and unprotected when someone obviously wants to do her harm.

But Shelly Lane isn’t who she seems to be. How’s a girl supposed to keep up a false front when all she wants is to declare her love for Matt? And how would Matt ever forgive her for betraying him and his family?

This is the first-rate conflict into which author Joanna Wayne has dropped her latest hero and heroine. As fast paced and exciting as the other “Colts Run Cross” books, Loaded will not disappoint the romance reader who has a special spot in her heart for cowboys.

- Review by Joann Robisheaux

Always a Mother by Linda Warren
June 2008
Harlequin Super Romance
ISBN: 978-0373714995
www.lindawarren.net

At eighteen, Claire and Dean were already planning their future. Until they suddenly found themselves parents. With Dean on the road pursuing a football career, raising their daughters became Claire’s first priority and full-time job. Now, with the girls grown, she can finally pursue her long-deferred dream of going to college.

Then she gets the news: she’s going to be a mother again.

Coming to terms with her midlife pregnancy means confronting her hopes, fears and choices she’s made. Through twenty-five years of joy, struggle and near tragedy, the one constant was Claire’s love for Dean. Is that love strong enough to weather the biggest crisis of their marriage and help them embrace the future-together?

This book begs you to contemplate a huge question. When you have the chance to have your dream after years of sacrifice for family, would you put it on hold again for “mid-life” baby? I think that for most people, it would be a no brainer. Have the baby. Give up the dream. Others might say that a woman in her 40’s should be able to follow her dream – whatever means necessary.

Linda Warren doesn’t make the decision all that easy for Claire. Through a great use of letters between Claire and Dean as a gateway into the past, we see the struggles and sacrifices the family goes through during their twenty-five year marriage. By putting family first, Claire’s dream of college continually got pushed to the wayside. And now… It might get pushed aside again. In many ways, I found it heartbreaking, but I like that Dean and Claire discover they have quite an emotional support network with their family.

I highly recommend Always a Mother. Like many of Linda’s books, it enforces the power of family.

- Reviewed by Sarah Schroeder

In Love with the Bronc Rider by Judy Duarte
June 2008
Silhouette Special Edition
ISBN: 978-0373249077
www.judyduarte.com

If you read the first book in Duarte’s “The Texas Homecoming” series, Romancing theCowboy, then you’ve already met Matt Clayton, a grumpy ex-rodeo rider with more than a few rough edges, and Tori McKenzie, a stubborn woman who works as the housekeeper at the Rocking C ranch. Matt knew what it felt like to be bested by broncs and a car wreck that shattered his old life, but he truly met his match when Tori decided he needed to put the past behind him and live. But could she put her own secrets behind her as easily?

Matt was the driver in a fatal car accident that killed his fiancée and her son. When the story opens, he is weighed down with guilt and grief for their loss, as well as anger toward the boy who caused the accident. There is some doubt Matt will ever be able to walk again, much less ride. Some days, he feels like shutting himself in his room and giving up. But then Tori starts prodding him to begin physical therapy. As Matt retreats behind a prickly wall of surly putdowns, Tori becomes even more determined to help him get his life – and his legs – back. But she is fighting her own demons – dysfunctional siblings who have betrayed her and cost her the one thing she values most. Her career as a nurse.

The theme of the book – that you must be able to forgive in order to heal and move on with your life – is a powerful one that will resonate with anyone who has suffered a great loss, or great betrayal. While trying to heal each other, both Matt and Tori learn to heal themselves by forgiving those who have hurt them. And you’ll probably guess that Granny, Matt’s elderly mother and Tori’s employer, could always see beyond their loneliness and prickly defenses to the tender, loving people they once were – and could become again.

This is the kind of love story that simmers hotter and hotter until it fairly sizzles. The ending is also emotionally satisfying, a real winner. Matt and Tori are clearly made for each other and the reader is so relieved when they finally realize it.

- Reviewed by Donna Maloy

Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs
May 2008
Dutton Juvenile
ISBN: 978-0525479420
www.teralynnchilds.com
If Phoebe Castro can keep her grades up and have another stellar cross-country season, her dream of attending USC with her best friends is only a track scholarship away. She’s made all her plans, so it’s a complete shock when her mom announces she’s marrying a mysterious stranger and moving them half-way around the world - to Greece. Phoebe’s stuck on a secret island in the Aegean attending the super-exclusive Academy, where her new stepfather is the headmaster and the kids are anything but your average students – they are descendents of the Greek gods, super powers included. That’s right, Greek gods are no myth! If Phoebe thought high school was hard, she knows this is going to be mortal misery. Securing that scholarship seems like Phoebe’s only ticket out of Greece, but training and maintaining her grades will be grueling, even without a sabotaging stepsister from Hades and a gorgeous guy – what a god! – who just might be her Achilles heel. One thing is for sure – summoning the will to win and find her place among the gods could be Phoebe’s toughest course yet.

This was my first dip into the Young Adult market, and I couldn’t think of a better book with which to get my feet wet. Tera deals with acceptance, finding your place, friends and family with humor and a sharp teen wit and voice. I enjoyed it. However, the true test came when I handed the book to my daughter, who is 11- going-on-35, and said, “Read this and tell me if you like it.” She took it from me, scanned the back, and settled in to read. She read it in between all the other reading she has to do for school. After a few days, I noticed she wasn’t picking it up anymore.

“So, are you finished reading it?” I asked.
“Yep,” she answered, looking up from her homework.
“Well? Did you like it?” I prompted her.
“Yep. It was really great. I told the librarian at school all about it and suggested she get it for the school library.”

Well, I think that just about says it all. I certainly can’t add to that review, no matter how many “Gotta get this book’s” and “I loved the characters” I say. Especially when it comes straight from the teen horse’s mouth.

-Reviewed by Laura Gompertz (and Hayley)

Hard in the Saddle (Only With a Cowboy anthology)
by PJ Mellor
May 2008
Kensington Aphrodisia
ISBN: 978-0758220271
www.pjmellor.com

Poor Madison St. Claire awakens in small town Texas to find her fiance has absconded with her credit cards, emptied her bank account, and left her to settle up with the hotel clerk and the entire town he’d fleeced. Her cell phone on the fritz, left with only a gas credit card, Madison sneaks out of town with hopes of returning to Michigan to pay off ex fiance, Alan-the-rat’s bills. Gorgeous cowboy Sam Austin comes to her rescue when she skids into a tree while attempting to escape, but her city-slicker attitude has him determined to bring her down a notch. Madison not only learns a thing or two about attack chickens and frisky stallions, but that the most exciting and fulfilling intimacy can be found Only with a Cowboy in P.J. Mellor’s Hard in the Saddle contribution to Kensington’s Aphrodesia anthology. P.J.’s light comedic touch is evident in the situations cooked up for poor Maddie (or actually not cooked up because she can’t get the old stove to work and is almost asphixiated). While poking fun at those of us who can’t tell a carrot from a weed or haven’t had to prime a pump, the reader finds a heartfelt, feel-good steaming hot story that proves opposites attract and can find happiness ever after. Like Madison, I can’t say that cowboys were at the top of my alpha male hero list, but P.J.’s sexy Sam may just have me paying a little more attention to who’s busting broncos come rodeo time.

Reviewed by Robin Haseltine

The Legacy by TJ Bennett
April 2008
Medallion Press
ISBN: 978-1933836362
www.tjbennett.com

When Baronesse Sabina von Ziegler escapes from the convent in which her stepfather, Baron von Ziegler, had her imprisoned after a youthful indiscretion, all she wants is to collect the legacy left her by her mother. She has plans for that money. Unfortunately, so does the Baron. Sabina finds herself imprisoned once more, this time in von Zeigler’s dungeon, starved and beaten until she agrees to marry a commoner of his choosing.

Wolf Behaim, a hard-working and successful printer, a still-grieving widower with a small daughter, and the grandson of peasants, is no more eager to marry than Sabina is, but Baron von Ziegler has made him an offer he can’t refuse, not without revealing a secret that will destroy his family.

Hardly a solid foundation for marriage, even in 1525, but Sabina and Wolf’s predicament leads them to discoveries about each other, about themselves, and about the secrets that haunt their pasts, discoveries that will either change their lives or break their hearts. Sabina and Wolf are strong, engaging, well-drawn characters who will pull you into their story, set against the early days of the Reformation in Germany. If you enjoy historical romance in which the history matters, you will certainly love The Legacy.

The Legacy is TJ Bennett’s excellent debut novel. I’m already looking forward to her next book from Medallion, The Promise, the story of Wolf’s soldier-brother, Günter. I hope the third Behaim brother, Peter, will be back with his own tale, too.

- Reviewed by Kay Hudson

Mulberry Park by Judy Duarte
March 2008
Kensington
ISBN: 978-0758220158
www.judyduarte.com

This is a very poignant story about people living in a small community, each suffering from personal tragedies, losses, stresses and loneliness. These individuals are living in isolation, often self imposed. They’ve lost faith in themselves, in humanity and in God.

The protagonist is a woman named Claire whose young son was killed by a hit-and-run driver three years previously. Subsequently, she has shut down emotionally. Her marriage crumbled and she has suffered a loss of faith.

The inciting incident is when a letter falls from a tree as Claire is going for her daily jog in Mulberry Park. The letter is from a seven-year-old girl named Analisa addressed to “God in Heaven” asking God to look after her deceased parents. Analisa is being cared for by her uncle, Sam and by an elderly nanny. Although Claire has lost her own faith, she reaches out to this child in an effort to help her keep hers. She responds to the letter and begins a correspondence with the little girl that helps Claire find her own faith. Like a tiny seed planted and watered, these communications slowly open Claire’s heart and she begins to respond to the world around her and is able to reach out to another little boy who is desperately in need of care. Through the exchange
of letters, Claire becomes involved in her community and is able to help others and heal her own heart.

- Reviewed by June Faver

The Marriage Recipe by Michelle Dunaway
April 2008
Harlequin
ISBN: 978-0373752119
www.michelledunaway.com

Michele Dunaway has cooked up a wonderful mix of humor, spice, justice, the boy/girl next door, family and sighs with her newest release, The Marriage Recipe.

Anyone who’s ever had a secret crush, fallen for the boy next door, or sought to find greener pastures then learned that life is good in your own hometown, will connect with this story. If you’ve ever been the underdog, or rooted for one, you will cheer Rachel as she seeks freedom and retribution from the ex-boss/ex-fiancé who turned from a prince to a toad, leaving her in debt from wedding bills and threatening to take the one asset she’d worked so hard to develop- her recipes.

Colin Morris is a hunk, a good guy, and totally hero worthy. He’s the boy she left behind, only neither he nor Rachel knew it at the time, and he helps Rachel realize that she only needs to look in her own backyard to find happiness.

Don’t miss this delightful story!

- Reviewed by Christy Janisse

The Undead Next Door by Kerrelyn Sparks
January 2008
Avon
ISBN: 978-0061118456

Sweet Heather Westfield has an adorable daughter, an overbearing ex-husband, a feisty nanny, and too many dreams that were never fulfilled. The talented designer/seamstress stayed in her small Texas town to appease her mother and became a school teacher instead of pursuing her ambition to be a fashion designer. When one of the world’s top names in couture opens a boutique nearby, she is drawn to the life she gave up, and to the man who has designed fashions for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

World-weary Jean-Luc Escharpe has seen it all since he was transformed into a vampire centuries ago. A skilled swordsman, he fought as a lieutenant-colonel in the vampire army, and in later decades, pursued his skills a businessman and designer. His career has kept him in the public eye a little too long, however, causing many to wonder how the designer who clad Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant still looks so young and handsome. What he needs is some time away and a place to hide out. But on the eve of his self-imposed isolation, he meets a beautiful woman who has been burned by love. Heather awakens longdead feelings in Jean-Luc and makes him start to wonder if he could have another chance at love after all.

But with a crazed killer bent on revenge tracking Jean-Luc’s every move, being around him is not exactly the safest place in the
world. Then there’s the whole undead element thrown into the mix. Jean-Luc is certain a relationship with Heather would never work out because she could never accept him as he is. But Heather has some surprises up her homemade sleeves: she’s declared a war on fear, and this Texas sweetie vows not to let anyone stand in the way of what she wants. And she wants Jean-Luc.

The Undead Next Door, Kerrelyn Sparks’ fourth book in the Love At Stake series, is a thrilling, fast-paced detour through the beautiful Texas Hill Country with two wounded but strong souls. As usual, the story resonates with Sparks’ trademark humor, wit, and warmth. There’s something here for every reader as the author deftly combines history, humor, deep emotion, and paranormal elements for a deeply satisfying love story.

-Reviewed by Sharon Forret

Point Blank Protector by Joanna Wayne
February 2008
Harlequin Intrigue
ISBN: 978-0373693085

Point Blank Protector by Joanna Wayne is a great read full of fast-paced action that will keep you guessing until the very end. The heroine, Kali Cooper, has dreams of turning her grandfather’s run-down ranch into a horse boarding and training facility, but her dream is threatened by several nasty adversaries. Who better to help her than modern-day cowboy Zach Collingsworth? This son of one of the richest and most influential families in Texas has a head for solving crime. As Kali’s neighbor, he steps in to offer advice and a broad shoulder for her to lean on.

Joanna Wayne certainly knows how to keep the reader’s interest. You’ll find this book an entertaining, quick read. If you’re a fan of Linda Lael Miller’s modern-day cowboy romances, you’re sure to enjoy Joanna Wayne’s series “Four Brothers of Colts Run Cross”. Point Blank Protector is the third in the series, and if Zach Collingsworth is anything like the other heroes, I can’t wait to read the other three!

-Reviewed by JoAnn Robisheaux

Texas Buff (Texas Hold’em)
By Linda Warren
Harlequin SuperRomance
February 12, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0373714704

Luke Chisum spent most of his life running from his past. Now a family crisis had brought the former River Bluff daredevil home. Home to the small-town girl he still loves-and the secret that could tear them apart again.

Sixteen years ago, Like dated Becky on a dare and broke her heart. Now he’s back, rekindling desire and tempting Becky to give him a second chance. But she can’t risk Luke discovering the truth about the child she’s kept from him all these years.

Becky isn’t the only one keeping secrets. A shocking revelation about his own family is about to test Luke he never imagined - as a father and a son…

Even though Texas Bluff is apart of a multi-author series (Texas Hold’em by SuperRomance), Linda has made this book standalone in the series - I didn’t need to read the earlier books. Linda does a wonderful job of making the characters and conflict real to the reader. She shows how different generations of a family can be, and yet how similar they are.

For those that have read Linda’s other books will not be disappointed in this very excellent read.

-reviewed by Sarah Schroeder

Make Me Scream
By PJ Mellor
Kensington Aphrodisia
February 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-2023-3

Fans of P.J. Mellor’s erotic romance novellas will be delighted by her first single title book. Once again she’s returned to the Texas coast, to an apartment complex on the beach where manager Devon McCloud, an aspiring mystery writer, earns extra cash writing product descriptions for an adult toy catalogue. Unfortunately, he’s been testing the merchandise solo for longer than he cares to remember. Then one night blond and beautiful Jamie Cartwright shows up asking to rent an apartment and Devon’s fantasies kick into high gear.

Jamie’s on the run from an abusive ex-boyfriend, Fred. The last thing she needs is a new man in her life but there’s something about Devon that has her hot and bothered from the word go. While Fred lurks in the shadows waiting to claim her, Jamie lets Devon show her pleasures she never even imagined.

Hot, funny and quirky, Make Me Scream is populated with a whacky cast of secondary characters only P.J. Mellor could weave into an erotic romance. From the 80-something sex kitten, Francyne, to the buff and gorgeous male stripper tenants, to a rescue dog named Killer with a speech impediment, there’s never a dull moment at the apartment complex. But when things heat up between Devon and Jamie—steamy Texas nights soar to a whole new level. This book is hot! (Sexually explicit).

-reviewed by Lark Howard

The Billionaire and His Boss
By Patricia Kay
Silhouette SE
January 2008
ISBN: 978-0373281237

Think of all the romance readers who’ve sacrificed sleep to finish stories of alpha-male tycoons tamed by the love of good women. That story arc works. Nevertheless, Houston’s own Pat Kay upends it in THE BILLIONAIRE AND HIS BOSS. Her recent Special Edition tweaks time-honored genre conventions but will keep readers up past bedtime.

Alex Hunt stands to inherit billions. He likes money only because it offers him chances to do good. To show solidarity with his half-brothers and save the charitable foundation he runs, Alex agrees to an outlandish request made by his father after a brush with death: like his halfbrothers, Alex will hide his identity and fortune to seek a bride. What’s more, he’ll marry and start a family within a year.

P.J. Kinkaid supervises the distribution center for the company Alex’s father founded. When Alex reports for work as a stock picker, she makes him as a pretender and fears he’s been sent from the corporate office to spy on her operation. She resolves to keep an eye on him.

Meanwhile, Alex can’t keep his eyes off his boss, P.J. She’s friendly with her workers, fair, and very much in charge. Unfortunately for him, she doesn’t believe in dating anyone at work. When he finally overcomes that dating block, he finds she’s dead-set against marriage.

P.J. has many more secrets than Alex does, and the billionaire struggles mightily to win his bride. I won’t tell you how Alex fights for P.J., but I’ll confide that the ending of THE BILLIONAIRE AND HIS BOSS presented this reader with what she hopes for from every romance novel: a good cry.

-reviewed by Pat O’Dea Rosen

One Bite Stand
By Nina Bangs
Berkley
January 2008
ISBN: 978-0843959543

Daria Abarr is desperate to look ugly. And act mean. She needs to pass the ultimate harpy test; collecting a soul and whisking it down to Hades. So why is none of this coming naturally to her? Maybe if she becomes the night manager for the Woo Woo Inn she can choose the most powerful of guests to carry off and take her rightful place among the ranks of famous harpies like her mom.

Declan MacKenzie, a 900-year-old hunky vampire, has sworn off relationships and sticks to One Bite Stands. Someone or something has been killing off his brethren near the Woo Woo Inn and he’s just arrived to kick some butt. Only the new night manager is causing him enormous distraction. It’s obvious she’s a harpy without the requisite Ugly, but why’s she studying him like she’s either gonna drag him down to Hades with her or jump his bones?

3 Reasons I recommend you buy this book:

1) Ever see a movie where the first guy goes in the house and never comes out- they eventually just find a finger? The second guy goes in and you’re thinking ‘this isn’t a good decision’ and he never comes out and they eventually just find his finger. Then the third guy says “I’m going in.” What do you shout at the screen? Well- that’s where this book opens!

2) Nina’s heroine, Daria, is a harpy; meaning she’s cruel, vicious, ugly and wants to carry someone with her to Hades and on certain days, ladies, can’t we just relate? P.S. The “office memos” from Hades are worth the price alone!

3) Ganymede’s conflict requires a Donald Maass-type decision. In all of the stories he’s been in, he’s never been faced such a horrible set of options. You read these paragraphs open-mouthed and think his life can’t possibly get any worse for him. And then it does. Once again, Nina’s creative plot twists astound me: One Bite Stand is rich with suspense, unique humor and her ever present, over-the-top sexual adventures.

–Reviewed by Sarah Andre

The Senator’s Daughter
By Christine Carroll
Medallion Press
January 2008
ISBN: 978-1933836300

The Senator’s Daughter is a fast-moving romantic suspense novel that follows its two very complex, very passionate characters from the ultra swanky hot spots of San Fransisco, to the lush green, but deceptive quiet of the Napa Valley’s vineyard country.

Sylvia Chatsworth, the wild-child daughter of a U.S. Senator, and Lyle Thomas, the man-to-watch in the San Francisco D.A.’s office, are the city’s new “hot couple”. Their romance doesn’t have time to get off the ground, because to the displeasure of her appearance-conscience parents, the local tabloids soon focus their white hot, destructive lenses on Sylvia. Sylvia decides it would be better for everyone if she disappeared.

For a price, the Sylvia’s Senator father sends Lyle to find his daughter. When Lyle tracks her down in Napa Valley, he finds she’s changed, and finds himself even more attracted and intrigued than before. Reluctant to reveal Sylvia to her parents, Lyle holes up with her at a Victorian Inn. Their passion grows even hotter amidst a suspense thread that involves a missing land developer and his vintner brother.

There were so many things I, as a reader, loved about this romance, but the main thing that kept me riveted was the way Carroll allowed me to watch the transformation of her two main characters. As a reader I love a huge character arc, so it was a true joy to watch Sylvia and Lyle, who’ve layered on their different forms of mental and emotional armor to survive in the glittering, but cut throat social and political society of San Francisco, and watch those layers of armor be slowly peeled away. The story provided an escape into a fantasy many readers might have — of leaving all the complications of real life behind, and getting “real” with the person you really want to be. That the transformations occurred in such a gorgeous setting, and amidst exciting plot twists, made the story even more of a fantasy.

-reviewed by Kimberly Ungar

ONE NIGHT WITH YOU
By Sophie Jordan
Avon
December 26, 2007
ISBN: 978-006133264

Lady Jane Guthrie doesn’t mind being a widow, but she loathes being treated like a servant in her own home. Sneaking out to a masquerade ball seems a daring adventure until she encounters Seth Rutledge, the man she’s always secretly loved, and the man her sister bewitched and humiliated. Her mask makes her bold and he clearly desires her. She
promises herself if he makes love to her as the mysterious masked golden lady just once, she’ll be content with her lot for the rest of her life.

Seth, the new Earl of Sinclair, needs a wife. Unfortunately he wants the golden temptress he made passionate love to and who now haunts his thoughts. If only he could forget her and find a suitable young woman to marry, someone to be a companion, friend and protector to his blind sister. When his sister insists on renewing her childhood friendship with Jane, the irritating, proper widow arouses the most improper fantasies. Can he really desire two such different women—the passionate golden goddess and the prickly Jane?

Life has damaged Jane and Seth. Once they were best friends but Seth became infatuated with the wrong sister and Jane was given to a man who used her badly. Now years later can they overcome the cruelty and hurt that has scarred their lives and allow themselves to trust each other again?

Once again Sophie Jordan brings together a rich, colorful cast of characters in a sexy, original love story. Jane
and Seth are both fairly mature by historical romance standards and disillusioned with life. They must contend with personal tragedies and their own mistakes as well as the harsh restrictions of the social conventions of the time.
Even so, they have a natural optimism, brought to life by the attraction they feel for each other. I love Ms. Jordan’s secondary characters for their individuality and depth, especially Seth’s blind sister who’s determined to defy a world where her blindness condemns her to spinsterhood and dependence.

One Night with You is a wonderful story I couldn’t put down until the happily ever after. Don’t miss this one!

-reviewed by Lark Howard

Marked by Moonlight
By Sharie Kohler
Pocket
December 26, 2007
ISBN: 978-1416542278

In this fast paced tale of a newly infected lycan and a dedicated lycan hunter, Sharie Kohler has created an intriguing world that draws the reader in from the first page.

Claire Morgan is a teacher looking for a missing student when she’s attached by a werewolf. Gideon March kills the beast but not before Claire’s infected. He knows he should kill her too, but for the first time in his life he wants to save a lycan from the fate that awaits her at the next full moon. As Claire and Gideon race against time to find and kill the Alpha of the lycan pack and free Claire, they must learn to trust each other even as they fight the dangerous passion they both feel.

The book’s world unfolds to the reader as Claire learns about the lycans and the secret society of lycan hunters who will kill her on sight. While Claire finds a new strength as a lycan to deal with childhood abuse, Gideon faces his own ghosts to heal the burning hatred that has driven him since he was a teenager. One of the secondary characters, an ancient lycan named Darius, is especially fascinating because he forces both Claire and Gideon to look
beyond the stereotype and trust him.

Although I had never read a werewolf paranormal before, Ms. Kohler’s characters and their world were so skillfully developed, familiarity with the mythology was not necessary. My only disappointment was that the story ended. I sure hope Ms. Kohler writes Darius’s story one day soon.

-reviewed by Lark Howard

Lord of the Night
By Robin T Popp
Grand Central
December 2007
ISBN-13: 978-0446617857

After vampires killed her parents when she was a child, Kacie Renualt devoted herself to becoming a vampire slayer. But now, desperate to being a new life, Kacie decides to trade in her sword for a spreadsheet… only to be accused of murdering a powerful member of the undead. Suddenly this fierce woman is being hunted by a merciless clan — and one ruthless, seductive adversary she can’t resist.

Erik Winslow is shocked to discover the slayer he trained has murdered his best friend. Now he must decide if he will avenge the death or stand against his fellow vampires to save a woman who defies–and captivates–him at every turn. But when she falls victim to a force more formidable that his own, Erik will taste a desire he can’t resist… and a hunger neither he nor Kacie can control.

From the beginning Popp puts the characters in an unredeemable conflict. Kacie hates all vampires, including Erik, for the death of her parents, and Erik is hurt by Kacie for her murder of fellow vampire and childhood friend Sedrick. He is placed under further distress because he would hand her over to the vampires that want revenge or protect her as a member of the family. Popp does a fabulous job keeping them at odds and yet bringing them together.

Lord of the Night is the fourth book in Popp’s Nightslayer series. For those that have enjoyed the earlier books of the series will be happy to see the causes behind the Winslow involvement in vampire hunting.

-reviewed by Sarah Schroeder

Hart’s Victory
By Michele Dunaway
Harlequin NASCAR
Dec 2007
ISBN 13: 978-0-373-21782-3

The secret to writing a great book is to write what you love. This is very true and Michele hints as much when she tells readers in her greeting about her ultimate fantasy, “…that Mr. Right is not only a hot NASCAR driver, but he’s also kind, caring, understanding and downto-earth.”

Hart’s Victory is a fantastic story about Kelley Thompson and her son, Charlie. Charlie is a very special teen – he is battling Leukemia. Now normally this sort of disease in a book is something I steer clear of, but I have to tell you Michele has done a magnificent job of capturing the spirit and hope so many children with this dreadful disease hold onto during their treatments. Where she shows Kelley as the concerned, over protective single mother, she displays Charlie as the wise for his years and “this isn’t going to beat me” attitude which had me cheering him all the way.

The book opens when Charlie – an avid NASCAR fan – and his mother attend a weekend NASCAR themed camp. As a widow, Kelley has faced questions about when she’s going to start dating again – something she is reluctant to do not only due to her son’s illness, but because of losing her husband. Charlie’s response to those asking – that she’s holding out for handsome and successful NASCAR driver, Hart Hampton – becomes the family joke. A joke that backfires when the man in question shows up at the camp and takes a shine to not only Charlie, but herself.

The story, which I will not spoil for you, takes the reader through the ups and downs of cancer treatments, a parent’s need to hold on and protect their child, and a glimpse of behind the scene action of NASCAR that will reveal why the sport is loved by so many women and families as well as men. This is probably my favorite book from Michele so far!

Get your favorite cup of warm beverage, curl up on a comfy seat and enjoy the thrill and emotional ride to the checkered flag!

- reviewed by Christy Janisse

The Christmas Date
By Michele Dunaway
Harlequin American Romance
Dec 2007
ISBN 13: 978-0-373-75195-2

What happens when you ground a free-spirit traveling photojournalist and give a home bound, responsible law clerk wings? Magic!

The Christmas Date is Michele Dunaway’s 14th novel for Harlequin and a true testament to her staying power with this line. This delightful tale of Kate Merrill and Tyler Nichols has a zany cast of secondary characters who will have you rolling your eyes, laughing out loud and filling you with the need to call your Grandma or Aunt in Florida.

Set in Orlando – away from the theme parks – this story starts when Kate and Tyler meet briefly at the gas station.
She notices his behemoth of a gas guzzling Hummer. He notices her. But as fate would have it, these two would run into each other again – across the driveway. Tyler’s sister arranged the purchase of the house next to Kate’s and as Tyler is returning from an assignment in Iraq, he had no idea he’d be moving into a neighborhood filled with zealous neighborhood watchdogs in the form of well meaning older ladies, nor that his neighbor would be so attractive and helpful.

However, Kate, though attracted to Tyler, is resistant to letting herself become swept into the magic and emptation.
Tyler is a roaming soul and she’s a solid, need stability, wants to become a lawyer, settle down and have kids kind of girl. It won’t work. Tyler knows this, loves his life as it has been and doesn’t want to give it up, either.

Can two stubborn, focused people make it work when faced with choices, meddling friends, neighbors and family – some wanting them together –others warning them apart?

Pick up The Christmas Date and find out for yourself! You
won’t be disappointed!

-reviewed by Christy Janisse

THE SALT MAIDEN
By Colleen Thompson
Dorchester Leisure Romantic Suspense
November 27, 2007
ISBN 978-0-8439-6017-4

Colleen Thompson has risen to a new level of complexity in this amazing novel. Talented wordsmith that she is, Colleen has touched depths of characterization a lesser writer might fear with two strong, passionate people searching not only for necessary answers to a wellplotted mystery, but also for their own personal answers, perhaps the more painful of the two.

Dana Vanover’s life has been a little rocky of late. Her small animal vet clinic is operating at a loss because of the time she had to take off for surgery. Oh, and speaking of the whole hysterectomy-at-thirty-one thing, she has not even had a chance to return all the wedding presents for which she was left responsible when her cowardly ex-fiancé dumped her by text message three months before.

She definitely is not going to get sucked into another of her big sister Angie’s dramas.

But the niece Dana has never known because Angie placed the child for adoption at birth needs a bone marrow transplant as a last hope to beat the cancer slowly leaching the child’s life away. So once again, Dana is off on a rescue mission chasing her dysfunctional, druggie sister, and this time to the very end of civilization, a miserable community called Devil’s Claw, Texas.

Jay Eversole is back home, following in the footsteps of his uncle and his grandfather before him as sheriff of Rimrock County. That he has come back after being relieved of his law enforcement duties in Dallas because of PTSD –
flashbacks to the nightmares he survived in Iraq – doesn’t bother the small town folks who have known him all his life.

Now green-eyed Dana Vanover, as attractive as she is big in the trouble department, is stirring it up faster than he can take care of it. Within the first thirty minutes he knows her, she nearly passes out from the unrelenting temperature, then manages to get herself bit by a five-foot rattlesnake.

The shimmering heat of the surrounding area houses more scorpions and centipedes than it does humans. No one has seen Angie in two months, but a stubborn Dana believes her sister is still in the area. The only item sacred to Angie’s sanity is the loom she uses to create her tapestries. Dana knows her sister wouldn’t have abandoned it here had she moved on.

The desert doesn’t have anything on the steamy heat Dana and Jay generate as their attraction grows. Add the intrigue of small town politics, a questionable salt dome project and new clues unfolding in the mystery surrounding Angie’s disappearance that lead to life-threatening danger, and you’ve got an amazing romantic suspense.

This thriller will keep you entranced until its very last secret is unveiled. This is Colleen’s best ever.

-Reviewed by Jo Anne Banker

Divorced, Desperate and Delicious
By Christie Craig
Dorchester
December, 2007
ISBN 13: 978-0-505-52730-1

Sexy, suspenseful and seriously funny. DD&D is the story of a young, hip photojournalist with a broken heart, who has a houseful of strays she’s rescued from the goodness of a giant marshmallow heart, and a seriously deranged “unlucky in love” mother and grandmother. Her problems begin when her antler wearing dog drags home another stray for her to rescue, Chase Kelly. He’s a simply misunderstood hottie of a cop, who is every girls dream. But he’s been set up and needs the time to prove it. Lacy is willing to give the man a chance to prove himself an honest cop. Except that Lacy Maguire’s sworn off romance. She’d been two timed once too often. So even though she’s willing to help out the stray detective, because he’s after all, a total hottie, she can’t figure out if he’s her dream man or her worst nightmare. Lots of temptation!
Add in a mom who won’t discuss Lacy’s sex life, because she doesn’t have one, and keeps searching for Mr. Right in all the wrong places. She’s a mom who’s found Mr. Wrong six times.

You will love this “can’t put it down” and “laugh out loud” romance. Great sexual tension, finely drawn characters, tight plot and a happily ever after ending. What more can you ask for? How about another one, Christie, really fast!

-Reviewed by Ane Ryan Walker

The Blackthorn’s Bride
By Shana Galen
Avon
Nov 2007
ISBN: 9780061124976

Blackthorne’s Bride by Shana Galen is a series of misadventures detailing Lady Madeline’s trip to Gretna Green to marry a man she barely knows. She’d rather marry a stranger than continue to face a never-ending parade of dowry hungry suitors. Her elopement is complicated by many things, including:

• her cousin’s insistence on accompanying them as a chaperon,
• the abduction of her carriage by two nobleman on the run,
• their pursuit by a humiliated Duke intent upon revenge and
• the wounding of her fiancé who is left behind to escape pursuit.

But all of these obstacles are inconsequential when compared to her unexpected and growing attraction
to her cousin’s fiancé, the Marquess of Blackthorne. Travel along with Maddie and Jack as they fight their attraction to each other while trying to evade capture by their pursuers. In this third in her series of Misadventures in Matrimony, Shana Galen continues her pattern of providing a wonderful read with never a dull moment.

- reviewed by Linda Krzywicki

Texas Gunsmoke
By Joanna Wayne
Harlequin Intrigue
October 2007
ISBN-13: 978-0373692866

Tense and moving, TEXAS GUN SMOKE is the second romantic suspense in Joanna Wayne’s Four Brothers of Colts Run Cross series for Harlequin Intrigue.

When Bart Collingsworth witnesses a car being run off the road near his family’s ranch, he’s pretty sure it’s attempted murder. The female driver, however, insists it was just an accident but he’s sure she’s lying. His better judgment tells him the young beauty is big trouble while his cowboy’s sense of honor compels him to help her.

Jaclyn Macgregor wishes she could trust the handsome young rancher although bitter experience has taught her rich men like him break the hearts of poor women like her. Once he finds out the truth about her past, he’ll run, not walk, away anyhow. Besides, Jaclyn suspects a womanizing Louisiana politician is behind her best friend’s disappearance in New Orleans and now he’s out to get her. Can they find her friend and expose a ruthless killer before Jaclyn becomes the next victim?

Bart and Jaclyn are richly drawn characters whose worlds have been so very different they must overcome lifetimes of experience to trust each other and eventually fall in love. Ms. Wayne beautifully captures the strength of Bart’s family who trust him in spite of overwhelming evidence that condemns Jaclyn.

Whether describing ranch life, a small Texas town, New Orleans or the sleezey side of Louisiana politics, Ms Wayne’s writing rings true and brings the action alive. From page one, this book will have you hooked.

-Reviewed by Lark Howard