Reviews Written By: A2Z44AN3F2IN61provided by Amazon.com |
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 | Oceans of Fire | |
 | "4 stars" | 2008-12-19 |
| This is the 3rd story and the first full-length novel of the Drake Sisters series. The Drakes are a family of witches: seven sisters, each with different powers. Abigail is the 3rd sister, with the power of Truth, and that power has given her no end of trouble... including leading her to meeting and then being betrayed by the hero, Russian cop Alexsandr Volstov. Because her gift is so unpredictable, being around other people is stressful, to say the least, so she spends a lot of time in the water with dolphins. Which is what she's doing when she witnesses a brutal murder and Alexsandr reenters her life--the victim was his partner, and they were Interpol agents tracking an antiquities thief. There's lots of action, romance, sensuality, and humor, and we get to know the other sisters, Aunt Carol, and local police officers Jonas & Jackson better, and meet an intriguing assassin with magical powers of his own who's a boyhood friend of Alexsandr's. The four stars is mainly out of loyalty, I have to admit. I enjoy the series, but I think the book could have been quite a bit shorter. And Abby? The man left you to SAVE FREAKIN' CHILDREN! And he's told you this. Get over yourself. ARGH. I'd have liked it much more if Abby wasn't such a self-centered twit. | ||
 | Homeport | |
 | "love those jewel thieves!" | 2008-12-19 |
| I'd forgotten how much I like this book. Gotta love those gentlemen thieves--art thief in this case. Ever since I had a conversation a while back about the appeal or not of outlaw heroes, I've been trying to figure this one out. I certainly wouldn't want one IRL, appealing as they are to read about. I'm a terribly law-abiding citizen. It's the bad-boy appeal, of course, but it's more than that. I think what really grabs me about these heroes is their absolute confidence in their ability to sneak in and out of secured areas, and the intelligence it takes them to do so. They're also, without exception, non-violent. They're not thugs. And while they're not complete Robin Hoods--they don't steal ONLY to give to the poor (though many of them do contribute heavily to charity to assuage their consciences), neither do they steal from anyone who can't afford it, or isn't insured. Sure, that would end up making everyone else's insurance rates increase, but this is fiction--I don't have to worry about it. Okay, now that I've defended why I like Ryan Boldari, on to the rest of the story. I love the way Ryan acts toward Miranda. He wants something from her, but then he meets her and feels protective toward her, sympathetic of her problems, but not condescending, and not letting the problems be an obstacle. That's another reason why I like Ryan Boldari so much--he's supportive but trusts that Miranda can solve her own emotional problems--he just supports her, doesn't try to fix her. And it's a good thing Ryan is so great, because boy, did I HATE a lot of other people in this book. Especially Miranda's mother. Too bad we didn't get to see what they ended up doing with the Dark Lady, but I'll bet Ryan ensures "mom" ends up eating her share of crow. I was just reading something about "write what you know." Well, I'm pretty sure Nora doesn't know how to authenticate &/or restore artwork, or how to cast bronzes, but boy, is she good at making you think she does. Maybe an expert would find flaws, but for the average reader, she writes with such authority that I believe. Some authors you can tell that they researched something. They'll have lots & lots of details, and it doesn't come out as if the author knows what she's talking about--it comes out as "darn it, I did all this research, & by Jove, you're going to read it." Nora's a definite expert at appearing to be an expert. Hmmm. Haven't said much about Miranda. I wouldn't have reacted to her mother the way she did--especially at the beginning. Taking the chastisement for being "late" and not countering with her mugging. But then, she's grown up with this all her life. She's been made to feel ALL HER LIFE that she doesn't matter. And so her reaction is spot-on. Excellent characterization, IMO. And Andrew & Annie. Very sweet romance. Andrew was again, excellent characterization. Alcoholic, feels like a failure, and then the growing self-awareness. I could so relate to Annie when she arrived at the gala and felt so out of place, like her clothes were all wrong and she didn't fit in. So. Bottom line: fabulous story. One of my favorites. | ||
 | Homeport | |
| "love those jewel thieves!" | 2008-12-19 |
| I'd forgotten how much I like this book. Gotta love those gentlemen thieves--art thief in this case. Ever since I had a conversation a while back about the appeal or not of outlaw heroes, I've been trying to figure this one out. I certainly wouldn't want one IRL, appealing as they are to read about. I'm a terribly law-abiding citizen. It's the bad-boy appeal, of course, but it's more than that. I think what really grabs me about these heroes is their absolute confidence in their ability to sneak in and out of secured areas, and the intelligence it takes them to do so. They're also, without exception, non-violent. They're not thugs. And while they're not complete Robin Hoods--they don't steal ONLY to give to the poor (though many of them do contribute heavily to charity to assuage their consciences), neither do they steal from anyone who can't afford it, or isn't insured. Sure, that would end up making everyone else's insurance rates increase, but this is fiction--I don't have to worry about it. Okay, now that I've defended why I like Ryan Boldari, on to the rest of the story. I love the way Ryan acts toward Miranda. He wants something from her, but then he meets her and feels protective toward her, sympathetic of her problems, but not condescending, and not letting the problems be an obstacle. That's another reason why I like Ryan Boldari so much--he's supportive but trusts that Miranda can solve her own emotional problems--he just supports her, doesn't try to fix her. And it's a good thing Ryan is so great, because boy, did I HATE a lot of other people in this book. Especially Miranda's mother. Too bad we didn't get to see what they ended up doing with the Dark Lady, but I'll bet Ryan ensures "mom" ends up eating her share of crow. I was just reading something about "write what you know." Well, I'm pretty sure Nora doesn't know how to authenticate &/or restore artwork, or how to cast bronzes, but boy, is she good at making you think she does. Maybe an expert would find flaws, but for the average reader, she writes with such authority that I believe. Some authors you can tell that they researched something. They'll have lots & lots of details, and it doesn't come out as if the author knows what she's talking about--it comes out as "darn it, I did all this research, & by Jove, you're going to read it." Nora's a definite expert at appearing to be an expert. Hmmm. Haven't said much about Miranda. I wouldn't have reacted to her mother the way she did--especially at the beginning. Taking the chastisement for being "late" and not countering with her mugging. But then, she's grown up with this all her life. She's been made to feel ALL HER LIFE that she doesn't matter. And so her reaction is spot-on. Excellent characterization, IMO. And Andrew & Annie. Very sweet romance. Andrew was again, excellent characterization. Alcoholic, feels like a failure, and then the growing self-awareness. I could so relate to Annie when she arrived at the gala and felt so out of place, like her clothes were all wrong and she didn't fit in. So. Bottom line: fabulous story. One of my favorites. | ||
 | Dangerous Depths: An Underwater Investigation | |
| "3rd in a fabulous series" | 2008-12-19 |
| Third in this mystery series called "An Underwater Investigation." When I was recommending this series to friends, I called it "the love child of (Nora Roberts's) The Reef and C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation. I've really been enjoying this series. This one's grittier than the previous books. This time, Hannah's best friend Elyse's boat burns, and Hannah's the only one who thinks it wasn't just a tragic accident. She's racing against time and her boss to prove it was attempted murder before the killer can finish the job. In addition to the diving details and the exotic British Virgin Islands scenery, Dangerous Depths includes interesting environmental details about sea turtles and the effect of rats in the islands. The mystery has nice twists, and I'm enjoying the development of Hannah's friendships and her romance with O'Brien. Good series. I recommend it if you like mystery. There's romance there, but the door's shut on the sex scenes, and, glory be, the heroine wasn't a relationship idiot--I've seen that WAY too many times lately. | ||
 | Homeport | |
| "love those jewel thieves!" | 2008-12-19 |
| I'd forgotten how much I like this book. Gotta love those gentlemen thieves--art thief in this case. Ever since I had a conversation a while back about the appeal or not of outlaw heroes, I've been trying to figure this one out. I certainly wouldn't want one IRL, appealing as they are to read about. I'm a terribly law-abiding citizen. It's the bad-boy appeal, of course, but it's more than that. I think what really grabs me about these heroes is their absolute confidence in their ability to sneak in and out of secured areas, and the intelligence it takes them to do so. They're also, without exception, non-violent. They're not thugs. And while they're not complete Robin Hoods--they don't steal ONLY to give to the poor (though many of them do contribute heavily to charity to assuage their consciences), neither do they steal from anyone who can't afford it, or isn't insured. Sure, that would end up making everyone else's insurance rates increase, but this is fiction--I don't have to worry about it. Okay, now that I've defended why I like Ryan Boldari, on to the rest of the story. I love the way Ryan acts toward Miranda. He wants something from her, but then he meets her and feels protective toward her, sympathetic of her problems, but not condescending, and not letting the problems be an obstacle. That's another reason why I like Ryan Boldari so much--he's supportive but trusts that Miranda can solve her own emotional problems--he just supports her, doesn't try to fix her. And it's a good thing Ryan is so great, because boy, did I HATE a lot of other people in this book. Especially Miranda's mother. Too bad we didn't get to see what they ended up doing with the Dark Lady, but I'll bet Ryan ensures "mom" ends up eating her share of crow. I was just reading something about "write what you know." Well, I'm pretty sure Nora doesn't know how to authenticate &/or restore artwork, or how to cast bronzes, but boy, is she good at making you think she does. Maybe an expert would find flaws, but for the average reader, she writes with such authority that I believe. Some authors you can tell that they researched something. They'll have lots & lots of details, and it doesn't come out as if the author knows what she's talking about--it comes out as "darn it, I did all this research, & by Jove, you're going to read it." Nora's a definite expert at appearing to be an expert. Hmmm. Haven't said much about Miranda. I wouldn't have reacted to her mother the way she did--especially at the beginning. Taking the chastisement for being "late" and not countering with her mugging. But then, she's grown up with this all her life. She's been made to feel ALL HER LIFE that she doesn't matter. And so her reaction is spot-on. Excellent characterization, IMO. And Andrew & Annie. Very sweet romance. Andrew was again, excellent characterization. Alcoholic, feels like a failure, and then the growing self-awareness. I could so relate to Annie when she arrived at the gala and felt so out of place, like her clothes were all wrong and she didn't fit in. So. Bottom line: fabulous story. One of my favorites. | ||
 | What Dreams May Come | |
| "entertaining anthology" | 2008-12-18 |
| ****½ "Knightly Dreams" by Sherrilyn Kenyon. In a nutshell, a medieval romance novel hero begs a local witch to give him a way out of marrying the insipid heroine. Very clever & inventive. I loved the concept, and the interactions between the characters, especially the clashes between their world-views. It would have been 5 stars except for the dull sex scenes. I got the impression that all 3 authors in this anthology were told to write lots of sex scenes. *sigh* ****½ "Shattered Dreams" by Rebecca York. High school sweethearts are reunited when the hero's psychic abilities put him in the heroine's head when she's in a car crash. There are a lot of twists for a novella-length story, with the psychic angle and the suspense of trying to figure out who's got it in for the heroine, not to mention the romance and the hero needing to come to terms with his own feelings about his psychic abilities, & the sex scenes don't overpower the story. **** "Road of Adventure" by Robin D. Owens. Another smart-aleck cat in this take-off of Heaven Can Wait. Not her best, but still a fun read. The hero, heroine, and cat all die at the beginning (not a usual start for a romance!), and since they hadn't accomplished what they were supposed to, they were offered a do-over. Along with the cat, who was very concerned about getting his crown and wings and Road of Adventure, and the romance, there was a definite theme of taking risks, particularly as it applies to falling in love. I loved all these stories, and heartily recommend What Dreams May Come. | ||
 | Fire Me Up: An Aisling Grey, Guardian Novel | |
| "hilarious, hot, and hard to put down" | 2008-12-18 |
| This doesn't happen all that often. Usually, I enjoy a second book in a series because I got to know the characters in the first book and I'm happy to see them again, but it's usually at best just as good as the first. But as much as I loved You Slay Me, I loved Fire Me Up even more. It didn't hurt that it takes place in Budapest, the site of the most romantic weekend of my life. *sigh* Gotta say, though, I didn't leave any scorch marks on the sheets or burn up any hotel room doors when I was there. Aisling is in Budapest to attend a supernatural conference to find a Guardian to apprentice under so she can learn more about her powers, along with her demon-in-dog-form Jim, who provides help and comic relief. Her cabbie from Paris, Rene, shows up with his usual savoir faire; there's a man who keeps predicting, correctly, all sorts of humiliating things that will happen to her; she's invaded by incubi; and she teams up with professional virgin Tiffany.... and then of course there's Drake Vireo, green wyvern, sexy and exasperating in pretty much equal measures--and he's extremely sexy --who's in town for some delicate negotiations between the various dragon septs. I really don't want to go into any details, because if I start pointing out the good bits, I'll end up giving away the entire story. Fire Me Up is hilarious, hot, and hard to put down. And it wins the award for "most creative use of fire in a sex scene." Just truly a joy to read. | ||
 | Tangle of Lies | |
| "4.5 stars" | 2008-12-18 |
| Tangle of Lies is the perfect title for this book, because that's what Liz Connor's life turns into: a tangle of lies. It all starts when her father calls her up, frantic because her mother is missing. Turns out her mother has been arrested for a murder committed in the course of an armored car robbery by an anti-war protest group... 30 years ago. The revelation of her mother's past and identity is just the tip of the iceberg, however. Thefts, a threatened abduction of her niece, and a house fire make it clear that whatever happened 30 years ago isn't over. And two men show up: ex-cop Caleb Adams who tells her he's writing a book about the robbery, and attorney Michael Gallagher, who says he was sent by her mother's cousin to help in any way he can. But everyone has a different agenda, and there's no way to know who to trust. The unraveling of the tangle of lies is fascinating--trying to determine whether the threats are related to the robbery, or to an inheritance her mother is entitled to now that she's surfaced, what really happened 30 years ago, and who's behind it all. Liz and Caleb are both on emotional roller-coasters, coming from opposite directions to forge a relationship despite the forces conspiring to keep them apart. I tend to be wary of books that include a concealed identity plot, because so often it ends up the same, but that wasn't the case with Tangle of Lies. There were perfectly good reasons for both Caleb and Liz's mother to conceal their identities, and the reactions to the revelations were realistic and understandable. I've been recommending this one. | ||
 | Carved in Stone | |
| "4.5 stars" | 2008-12-18 |
| Wow. I'd been looking forward to reading Carved in Stone ever since I heard about it. Gargoyles? It was an intriguing concept and I wanted to see what Vickie Taylor did with it. I wasn't disappointed. Art history professor Nathan Cross is the gargoyle in question. He's ostracized from the rest of the gargoyles because he's tired of the cycle of death and rebirth, mating only to produce a son and then withdrawing to the all-male domain of guardians in a world that no longer needs them and would fear and hate them if it knew they existed. Interpol agent Rachel Vandemere knows there are monsters out there. She saw one kill her father when she was a child. Now she wants to prove their existence and eliminate them. Their paths cross at an art museum gala where Rachel is tracking an assassin. The conflict between these two just sucked me in: Rachel tries so hard to convince Nathan of the existence of monsters, and even to protect him from them, while Nathan is prevented from telling her what he is by both the gargoyles' ingrained secrecy and his experience-based fear that she'll despise him if she discovers he's one of the monsters she's hunting. Nathan's own principles--stopping the cycle that means not fathering a child--are also at war with the gargoyles' instinctual drive to procreate, made stronger by his attraction to Rachel. As if that weren't enough, the gargoyles are being targeted by someone or something, and both of them get caught in the middle. All the facets of this book were well-done: the characterizations, the suspense, the world-building, the emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. It also has one of the best/most interesting/sensual/unusual sex scenes I've read since the mirror scene in Feehan's Dark Symphony. | ||
 | Lady Midnight | |
| "4 stars" | 2008-12-18 |
| Lady Midnight is a longer Regency about an almost-courtesan who starts a new life after a shipwreck. Trained to be a courtesan by her mother, she's about to take her first protector, a man whose obsession with her makes her uneasy. After the shipwreck, her mother's ghost urges her to take the opportunity to build a new life for herself.
We find her in England, seeking a job as a governess in the country. Of course, the peace she finds there, even as she tries to avoid falling for the widower who's hired her, can't last, and she runs into people who know who she is. Amanda McCabe has done a really good job with the emotions--I feel them right along with the characters, even the secondary ones. There aren't any black and white, 2-dimensional characters in this story. I hope there'll be a sequel about the hero's younger sister. There's a story there. She's already a remarkable young girl. I can't wait to see how she grows up. | ||
 | The Baby Contract | |
| "4 stars" | 2008-12-17 |
| I don't generally like babies in my romances. But there are always exceptions, and this is one of them. The Baby Contract is a Harlequin romance from 1996, but you can see their trademark suspense even then. The heroine is pregnant and is abandoned by her boyfriend after he robs a convenience store. She's arrested and given a deal by the county attorney's office, who wants to use her to stop a baby-selling ring. What makes it shine is some really nice characterization, especially for a category romance. | ||
 | Three Bedrooms, One Corpse | |
 | "3 stars" | 2008-12-17 |
| Three Bedrooms, One Corpse is a mystery about someone who's killing women in for-sale houses. It was an intriguing mystery, and I liked the premise. And there was a romance, which might have added depth, but the romance was pretty inexplicable--the 30-year-old heroine sees a guy with white hair and immediately has the hots for him. My biggest problem, though, was the tone of the story. It felt like the first-person narrator was on valium or something, or that she was bored by the story. There was a distinct lack of feeling, even in dangerous or romantic scenes. | ||
 | Silver Feather | |
 | "2 stars" | 2008-12-17 |
| Okay, there weren't any of those "problems" in this one that get solved by a paragraph of explanation (my usual complaint about this author's stories), but there really wasn't a coherent plot either. The actual romance could have been a short story, not even a novella--and Indian boy and a white girl are friends as children; they vow eternal love at ages 14 and 10; then his parents are killed by her stepfather and he runs off. Eleven years later, they're reunited when she's driving a stagecoach disguised as a man. There are other plot threads filling out the novel, like buttons made out of human bones, and an evil white man who kidnaps her, but nothing's really connected. The characters are all 2-dimensional stereotypes, and boring as heck. On the plus side, the chapters are short, and the font is big, and I got through this one in record time. | ||
 | Public Secrets | |
| "5 stars!" | 2008-12-17 |
| I always forget which is which between Public Secrets and Private Scandals. This is the one with the daughter of a rock star. And boy, is that first part of the book painful to read if you know what's coming. I'm in awe of the depth of emotion in this book. Like the other single titles we've read recently, it seems to be more emotionally intense than Nora's newer single titles, though maybe that's just me. Anyway, though Public Secrets IS a romance, it's really more of a general fiction novel, IMO. Michael shows up here & there throughout the book, but the romance isn't the main point of the book. The main point is Emma, period. We follow her life without too many interruptions from the time she's almost 3 and meets her father to the HEA ending with Michael, another thing that's unusual about this one. Once again, Nora's genius with research shows. It's very convincing. I don't know how to explain it, but some books are obviously researched--you have laundry lists of details proving just how much research the author did, and that are a dead giveaway that the author really doesn't know the subject. Nora doesn't do that. She inserts the details in such a way that it's completely normal feeling, and you'd think that she'd either done a stint as a rock star herself or had one sitting next to her while she wrote it. Since this was a re-read, I already knew whodunit, but it was still painful. Hard to believe they could keep quiet, keep acting as if they were friends when all along... That's just really cold. Like I said earlier, this was Emma's story. Michael was a nice guy and all, but he was just there to be nice, to give Emma someone to fall in love with. For me, the members of Devastation were much more vivid characters than the hero in this story. Brian McAvoy and Johnno, especially. Oh, and the tough, tough subject matter---in addition to kidnapping and murder, there's drug addiction, the perils of fame, AIDS, abusive husband, grief. | ||
 | Public Secrets | |
| "5 stars!" | 2008-12-17 |
| I always forget which is which between Public Secrets and Private Scandals. This is the one with the daughter of a rock star. And boy, is that first part of the book painful to read if you know what's coming. I'm in awe of the depth of emotion in this book. Like the other single titles we've read recently, it seems to be more emotionally intense than Nora's newer single titles, though maybe that's just me. Anyway, though Public Secrets IS a romance, it's really more of a general fiction novel, IMO. Michael shows up here & there throughout the book, but the romance isn't the main point of the book. The main point is Emma, period. We follow her life without too many interruptions from the time she's almost 3 and meets her father to the HEA ending with Michael, another thing that's unusual about this one. Once again, Nora's genius with research shows. It's very convincing. I don't know how to explain it, but some books are obviously researched--you have laundry lists of details proving just how much research the author did, and that are a dead giveaway that the author really doesn't know the subject. Nora doesn't do that. She inserts the details in such a way that it's completely normal feeling, and you'd think that she'd either done a stint as a rock star herself or had one sitting next to her while she wrote it. Since this was a re-read, I already knew whodunit, but it was still painful. Hard to believe they could keep quiet, keep acting as if they were friends when all along... That's just really cold. Like I said earlier, this was Emma's story. Michael was a nice guy and all, but he was just there to be nice, to give Emma someone to fall in love with. For me, the members of Devastation were much more vivid characters than the hero in this story. Brian McAvoy and Johnno, especially. Oh, and the tough, tough subject matter---in addition to kidnapping and murder, there's drug addiction, the perils of fame, AIDS, abusive husband, grief. | ||
 | Nice Girls Finish First | |
| "Much fun. " | 2008-12-15 |
| Nice Girls Finish First is about Kirby Green, a vice president of marketing, who ends up in a bet with her boss: if she can't get someone to call her "nice" in one month, she loses her job. And her assistant, Brianna, an aspiring opera singer, who's TOO nice. Either of their stories would be fun on its own, but together, it adds an extra oomph, with the contrast of Kirby trying to be nicer and Brianna trying to be less nice. Brianna's lists are hilarious, and I LOVED that she had to try to GAIN 35 pounds. Wonder if it's too late to decide to become an opera singer?? | ||
 | Beyond the Pale: The Darkwing Chronicles, Book One | |
| "vampire spies" | 2008-12-15 |
| Beyond the Pale is marketed as paranormal romance, though the romance isn't the main point. Instead, it's about vampire spies. It has humor, angst, quirky family members, serious spy suspense, and a hint of a love triangle. I should have loved this, but it was just a little too uneven. Hopefully in the next book, it'll fit together better. | ||
 | Killing Cassidy: A Dorothy Martin Mystery (Dorothy Martin Mysteries (Hardcover)) | |
| "4 stars" | 2008-12-15 |
| A woman returns from England to investigate the murder of an old friend at the request of the deceased. The problem is, he died of pneumonia at the age of 96, and it seems that everyone loved him. It was a clever mystery, reminiscent of Christie. My only problem was that I didn't buy the motive. | ||
 | Night Fires | |
| "gritty vampire romance" | 2008-12-12 |
| Night Fires is about a female vampire in the French revolution whose mission, given her by her priest as atonement for killing the men who'd turned her into a vampire, is to save those who would be killed. She meets up with an English assassin, and they join forces. The tone of this book is much more... real, gritty, honest... than the usual vampire romance. I think it's because we really see the deep-down emotions of the characters. | ||
 | Twin Peaks | |
| "Jasmine Haynes' stories are great" | 2008-12-12 |
* "Wedding Surprise" by Susan Johnson. OMG, this was horrible. The "heroine" (and I use the word loosely) has sex with the twin brother of the guy she's been lusting after for months but hasn't worked up the guts to talk to yet. She finds out it was his twin, goes back and has sex with the twin again, then a couple of hours later hooks up with the "hero." When the hero finds out, he's angry, which makes her even more angry. He ends up apologizing, but she never does. Gak. Ick. Yuck. I loathed this woman. 100 pages, and probably a good 50% is sex scenes, but they're pretty dull, even though the rest of the pages are the heroine telling her best friend how good the twin is in bed (whereupon the friend decides to check it out for herself). Did I say yuck already? **** "Double the Pleasure" by Jasmine Haynes. I think I figured out the reason for the first story. Berkley's using Susan Johnson's name to sell this book, in hopes that it'll get Jasmine Haynes, who's a much better writer, noticed. Not sure it'll work, though, if everybody quits reading after that first horrendous story. Anyway. Secretary (admin asst) is in lust with her boss, but, well, he's her boss, so she doesn't do anything about it, until a woman calls to say she can't meet him at a bar, so the heroine decides to meet him there, posing as her twin sister. Kind of a simple plot, but it works, we get some nice emotions from the characters, and boy, does this one look great when compared with the first one. ****½ "Skin Deep" by Jasmine Haynes. Ah-ha! Finally checked the author bio. Jasmine Haynes = J. B. Skully, whose Max series has been highly recommended to me. The heroine in this story is the twin of the heroine in the previous one. She's been having phone sex with the hero for 2 years, and finally meets him in person. Like the first story in the book, there's a LOT of sex, but this time, there's a point to it. This heroine can only connect through sex. She's been burned once before (and it's not the oh, my high school boyfriend stood me up--I can never trust a man again, which makes me roll my eyes. It's reasonable for her to feel that way.) Pretty much the story is about the difference between dominant (which the hero IS) and domineering (which he isn't, but the ex who hurt her was). There are some really great scenes about the nature of control in a relationship. And, as a plus, the hero is shorter and balding. He's not a troll--he's got a good body, but he's not the usual 6'5" with flowing locks. Just a really good story. It's a shame these two got classified with a dull story like Johnson's, because sex is all that one has going for it. These have an actual story. *sigh* Another author on my to-look-for list. Darnitall. | ||
 | Hot Blooded | |
| "good anthology" | 2008-12-11 |
| **** "Dark Hunger" by Christine Feehan. Carpathians meet Jaguars. I'd have liked to see more info about how and why the two races can or cannot mesh, but I realize there wasn't space in a novella. Both the hero and heroine have siblings who'll probably get more stories. **** "Awaiting Moonrise" by Maggie Shayne. Werewolf, voodoo, a cryptozoologist. I kept thinking this was by Rebecca York--it felt very much like her Moon stories. It was a nice story, but one that would have been better if it had been longer--I didn't really buy that the hero and heroine fell in love so fast. **** "The Night Owl" by Emma Holly. Again, just too short. I'd been looking forward to Bastien's story, and I wanted to see more of it. Still, it was a nice portrayal of a natural ruler who's wary of taking power. ****½ "Seduction's Gift" by Angela Knight. Lancelot! Woo-hoo. The heroine's a cop, knows all about the magi and majae (sp?--I always get them confused--would have been nicer if AK had given them more distinctive designations from the beginning, but...), and in fact already knows Lancelot and that sex with him will bring her into her powers, so it makes the story fit better into the novella length. | ||
 | Black Wind | |
| "it's no Pitt & Giordino" | 2008-12-11 |
| *sigh* It's almost totally Dirk Junior now. That's part of my problem, though I think most of the reason I didn't enjoy this one as much as I normally would have is that I was interrupted too often while I was reading it. Like all the other Cussler books, it jumps around from thread to thread, and with all the interruptions, it got confusing. I should have just put it down and read something else, waited to read this until I could have some uninterrupted time to enjoy it. The plot was--bio agents developed by Japan in WWII recovered & expanded on by N. Korean megalomaniac. Over-the-top as usual. Dirk Jr. seems to have developed his dad's ingenuity and invincibility, but he and Dahlgren, or he and Summer, just don't have the chemistry of Pitt and Giordino. (who, in my head, look distressingly like McConaughey and Zahn now) | ||
 | Black Wind | |
| "it's no Pitt & Giordino" | 2008-12-11 |
| *sigh* It's almost totally Dirk Junior now. That's part of my problem, though I think most of the reason I didn't enjoy this one as much as I normally would have is that I was interrupted too often while I was reading it. Like all the other Cussler books, it jumps around from thread to thread, and with all the interruptions, it got confusing. I should have just put it down and read something else, waited to read this until I could have some uninterrupted time to enjoy it. The plot was--bio agents developed by Japan in WWII recovered & expanded on by N. Korean megalomaniac. Over-the-top as usual. Dirk Jr. seems to have developed his dad's ingenuity and invincibility, but he and Dahlgren, or he and Summer, just don't have the chemistry of Pitt and Giordino. (who, in my head, look distressingly like McConaughey and Zahn now) | ||
 | Temptress | |
| "Wonderful intrigue. " | 2008-12-11 |
| A man is found, beaten to a bloody pulp, outside Morwenna's castle, and the only thing identifying him is a ring on his finger suggesting he might be Carrick of Wybren, who loved and left Morwenna for his sister-in-law, and reputedly set fire to Wybren, killing his entire family. While he's in the castle, unconscious, someone's creeping around hidden passageways spying on the inhabitants, and someone (else?) has started a grisly series of murders. There are a lot of twists and turns, and so many people who might be the killer. My only quibble was that the romance itself wasn't all that fleshed out, but the rest of the story was so good, I didn't really care. | ||
 | The Angel and the Warrior | |
| "3 stars" | 2008-12-11 |
| The hero's tribe is under a curse--they live in a shadow land, and each generation one young man is chosen to try to break the curse. Visions lead him to the heroine--but is she supposed to help him, or are the visions a warning? The Angel and the Warrior is not a bad story, but in general, I'm not fond of this sub-genre, and a half hour after I read it, I tried to write a review, and found I couldn't remember the story. Not sure if that says more about me, or the book. | ||
 | Dance upon the Air | |
| "4 stars" | 2008-12-10 |
| I never like the victim heroines. At least Nell did fight back and escape, so that helped somewhat. I also didn't like that Zack was more upset that Nell was still legally married than he was that she hadn't confided in him. The Trust Issue isn't my favorite romance plot, but in this one it was okay--Zack & Nell had been together long enough for it to make sense. And since the witch stuff was plot-related, that was okay, but paranormal is right up there with math--not Nora's strong point. I winced every time they said a spell--it was so cheesy. But other than that... I sounds like I hate the book. I don't. Nice characters, nice family/friend relationships. Good dialogue. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I expect all those things when I read a Nora. That's probably why I'm so picky about the parts I don't like. | ||
 | Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts, ISBN 1587882221 | |
| "4 stars" | 2008-12-10 |
| I never like the victim heroines. At least Nell did fight back and escape, so that helped somewhat. I also didn't like that Zack was more upset that Nell was still legally married than he was that she hadn't confided in him. The Trust Issue isn't my favorite romance plot, but in this one it was okay--Zack & Nell had been together long enough for it to make sense. And since the witch stuff was plot-related, that was okay, but paranormal is right up there with math--not Nora's strong point. I winced every time they said a spell--it was so cheesy. But other than that... I sounds like I hate the book. I don't. Nice characters, nice family/friend relationships. Good dialogue. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I expect all those things when I read a Nora. That's probably why I'm so picky about the parts I don't like. | ||
 | Dance Upon The Air | |
| "4 stars" | 2008-12-10 |
| I never like the victim heroines. At least Nell did fight back and escape, so that helped somewhat. I also didn't like that Zack was more upset that Nell was still legally married than he was that she hadn't confided in him. The Trust Issue isn't my favorite romance plot, but in this one it was okay--Zack & Nell had been together long enough for it to make sense. And since the witch stuff was plot-related, that was okay, but paranormal is right up there with math--not Nora's strong point. I winced every time they said a spell--it was so cheesy. But other than that... I sounds like I hate the book. I don't. Nice characters, nice family/friend relationships. Good dialogue. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I expect all those things when I read a Nora. That's probably why I'm so picky about the parts I don't like. | ||
 | A Stockingful of Joy | |
| "read it for Putney's story" | 2008-12-10 |
| ** "The Snow Rose" by Susan King. Bad, bad, bad. A paint-by-numbers historical romance. The writing itself didn't stink, which is why it got an extra star. But mix the 3 most cliched plots in historical romances--a heroine who's being forced to marry against her will, feuding clans, and being snowbound. Throw in a "quirk"--a cat named "dog." Make sure the heroine's a saint: add a houseful of orphans that the heroine takes care of. And then kind of throw it all in a book without trying to actually make any of it, you know, make sense. For example, the heroine has no qualms about asking the hero's family to attack the castle to take it away from her evil uncle, BUT she won't marry the hero because there's a 50/50 chance her uncle will renew the feud because of it. And she can't stay with the orphans because her little cottage isn't big enough, so she worries about them constantly--but it never occurs to her to move into their large house. And.... ARGH. This story feels like it was written by a committee of about a dozen people who weren't talking to each other. ***** "The Best Husband Money Can Buy" by Mary Jo Putney. There's a reason why MJP is famous. She knows what she's doing. The heroine unexpectedly comes into a huge inheritance and decides that what she wants most to do with it is to have a home and family of her own. And luckily enough, the man she's had a crush on since childhood is single and in need of funds. She's smart, and there were so many times in this book where the cliches could have taken over, but didn't. In fact, in response to a secondary plot about a troubled marriage, the heroine asks "don't they ever talk to each other?" I laughed aloud. Excellent example of a story that fits the novella length--it didn't feel incomplete at all. *** "A Light in the Window" by Justine Dare. Pretty standard Christmas novella, with a trio of orphans (the hero, heroine, and her young nephew), and a *maybe* Christmas angel. Magic of the Christmas season healing wounded hearts & all that. Not horrible; not great either. *** "Boxing Day" by Jill Barnett. This might have been a pretty good story, of a 40-year-old spinster in 1893 NYC and a 32-year-old boxer, but the story kept getting interrupted by laundry lists of "this is how things were in 1893 NYC." It's like the author did a bunch of research, and damn it, it was hard work, so she was going to cram all of it in whether it fit the story or not. | ||
 | Macgregors: Serena - Caine | |
| "4 stars" | 2008-12-10 |
| **** Playing the Odds. This was a nice solid romance. I liked that Serena saved herself, always an attractive trait in a heroine. **** Tempting Fate. This is Diana's story. Caine's a nice guy, but he's just... there. He has no character arc. Also, I have trouble relating to Diana. Yeah, it's sad that she grew up with that nasty aunt and feeling that Justin had abandoned her, but I'm so impatient with characters who stay out of relationships for fear of being abandoned. Like love is so trivial you can just throw it away on the off chance it won't last? Bah. Nora's writing saved this one. | ||
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