Book Review: DEFENDING THE DUCHESS by Rachelle McCalla

Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense  

Published: March 5, 2013

Format: Paperback (224 pages)      

ISBN: 9780373445301         

Series: Protecting the Crown

Origin: Publisher through NetGalley (egalley)

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Julia Miller isn’t used to living in a palace, in a foreign land, and she certainly isn’t used to a bodyguard.  

The country of Lydia’s dangerous recent history left their queen not looking all that well in the aftermath.  Leaving her law practice behind to help her sister, now Queen Monica, Julia just needed something to feel normal.  She desired a jog without her handsome bodyguard, Linus Murati.  

However, the last thing this sibling wanted was to bring her sister more trouble, but trouble followed Julia here.

Running to catch up with the future Duchess, Linus wondered what part about an evening in translated into an unsecured jaunt?  A stealthy lawyer from the States, whom could be putting herself in danger, was outrunning this highly trained Royal Guard member. 

Albeit Linus understood her newness to the problems associated with being royalty, he also has seen way too much to believe she’ll be fine on her own.  Their last menace came from inside the palace walls, but there still could be outsiders connected to the dangers that have yet to be discovered.  If it weren’t so worrisome, it would be amusing to watch this woman out pace him and everyone else.  

Finally, he realized, she heard him calling.  

For him, it was just the luck of her running in sand that slowed her enough for him to even get close.  However, he wasn’t close enough to stop a man from kidnapping her.  

She was moved inside a bluff, being carried by masked man who had come from behind her.  

My Take:

In DEFENDING THE DUCHESS, Rachelle McCalla adds suspense and sprinkles it with romance in just the right measure! 

Julia Miller is a heroine who tries hard at being strong.  To her, sometimes strength involves keeping secrets, and those secrets can be costly.  Her coming to Lydia was to help her sister but maybe it also was to keep her troubles at bay.  

In the meantime, the bodyguard of the duchess, Linus Murati, doesn’t need to run outside the palace walls.  The confines of the palace contain his race.  His superior is aware, but the royal family must never know.  He wishes that he can run from is his young, not so clean past, but at every turn it seems to snag him, again.  

Rachelle McCalla’s DEFENDING THE DUCHESS is a standalone title. However, you’ll want to read more of this author’s work in PRINCESS IN PERIL (Love Inspired Suspense 2011), PROTECTING THE PRINCESS (Love Inspired Suspense 2012), PRINCE INCOGNITO (Love Inspired Suspense 2012), THE MISSING MONARCH (Love Inspired Suspense 2012), and A ROYAL MARRIAGE (LOVE INSPIRED HISTORICALS 2012).  ROYAL HEIST and THE SECRET PRINCESS will release later in 2013! 

 

Book Review: THE DESERT SHEIKH (Trilogy) by Katheryn Lane

Published: January 18, 2013

Format: ebook (154 pages)

Origin: Author

***Though the author provides the free ebook, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Book One: KIDNAPPED BY THE SHEIKH . . .

Who could have known that simple automobile troubles would lead Dr. Sarah Greenwich into more than inconvenience and another bill to pay?  It is a dose of perfect luck that the British Ambassador’s driver, whom she is friendly with, happens by and provides a lift.  However, this is exactly where all of her troubles really begin. 

Crews of armed men line the road in the desert, and because of the car, they identify her wrongly.   To save the friendly man, who drove her, she goes along with the kidnapper’s assumption and goes willingly with the kidnappers, hoping her future will turn out like many others’ pasts.  Once the money is paid, she is released, no harm done.  However, she can’t forget her real identity or the fear of what will happen once they find out she’s not whom she says.  It’s even harder to forget about the Sheikh and the emotions he stirs.

 

Book Two: MARRIED TO THE SHEIKH . . .

The handsome Sheikh and Sarah cement their love, after he arranges for Dr. Sarah Greenwich’s escape into safety, which came after she had fallen in love with him.  

For a short time, Sarah and her Sheikh husband are blissful.  However, what should be the best time in he life quickly spirals into a mess.  Yes, her husband is a powerful warlord, but he is working hard to bring the region together, peacefully.  Her employer doesn’t understand or care.  They want her gone, and her husband wants her medical expertise for his people in the desert instead.  

Can she accept his culture, his demands, and her lost position? Will he accept her need to help people, work outside of the desert, and her background that is not like his?

 

Book Three: THE SHEIKH’S SON . . .  

This Sheikh’s son has spent nine years in London with his Mum.  He’s been bullied, teased and harassed because who he is and who is missing from his life.  She wants so much more for her son, Ali. 

His Mum is probably the only still married, non-widowed, single mum she knows.  Working in the medical field gives her less time with him and more time without him.  Romance for her died a long time ago, and a father figure for him never existed.  Once someone knocks on her door, she’s about to be weighted down by major emotions and lots of questions.

Does her child have the uncanny ability to bring parents together?  Does he have the best of his mum and the best of his dad to make them give their love another try?  As much as she loves his father, will the whole new relationship hurt her son?

My Take:

THE DESERT SHEIKH (TRILOGY) by Katheryn Lane begins with a hint of mystery, blends in a huge dose of romance, but keeps true reality intruding on these characters!

I enjoyed learning culture and watching these lovers blossom, but I worried over the original relationship pitfalls that plague this exotic location.   Watching the highs and lows of these two characters kept the pages turning, but it was the couple’s trials that kept me invested in this read and pulling for these two to work out.   

Katheryn Lane’s THE DESERT SHEIKH TRILOGY will leave you looking forward to more of her titles such as THE SHEIKH’S BELOVED (Books 1 and 2) and HER LATIN LOVER!  For more information about this author, feel free to check out her blog at http://Katheryn-Lane.blogspot.com or check her out on Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/author/KatherynLane

Book Review: THE GOOD LIFE by Susan Kietzman

Publisher: Kensington

Published: February 26, 2013

Format: Paperback (352 pages)

ISBN: 9780758281326

Origin: Publisher through NetGalley (eGalley)

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

The Barons have a plush life, and this mode of living has many perks and complications.  

Mike is a CEO, both handsome and powerful; he lives to work and enjoys the chase of making money.  Ann enjoys the drink, basks in the limelight of their status, gloats over others’ lack of status, and gives their children everything money can buy.  

Meanwhile, Nate resents his mother, since Ann thinks she can buy love and denies him what he wants most—time.  Mike does try to make time for him, but when Mike can’t do it, Nate doesn’t let his father off easy either.  On the other hand, Lauren understands her father is a busy man, and for the most part she’s okay with that.  Lauren, oftentimes, feels like she’s little more than a duty to be dropped off and picked up, and she doesn’t miss that her mother no longer spends time with her.  Ann doesn’t even attend her games.  In fact, Lauren finds herself envying those of her peers whom are putting up with meddling mothers, overprotective fathers, and siblings who constantly tag along.  Her peers tell her she’s the lucky one.  But is she?

Soon, this dysfunctional family dynamic gets an injection of family values and a lesson in what being a family really means, when Ann’s parents ask to live with them.

Due to Ann’s aging father’s illness, her mother claims she cannot care for him, but she must wait for an opening in the assisted living facility.  At first, Ann thinks her mother, Eileen, is being dramatic—as is her nature, but she quickly realizes that his mental abilities are diminished.  After attempting to solve the problem by throwing some money at it, Ann is faced with having them move in.  

However, Ann has a plan to minimize the interruption to their lives and Mike agrees, since Ann will be handling most of the problems and facing most of the interruptions.  After redecorating the guesthouse, Ann places her parents there with a nurse.  

Will this living arrangement take a problematic turn?

 

My Take:

In THE GOOD LIFE by Susan Kietzman, you’ll find a family in turmoil before the living arrangement ever comes into play. Hiding behind wealth and status can lie insecurities, failures, alcoholism, eating disorders, dysfunction, and distorted egos.  

I found characters with a sense of dislike at the life that some love and a dislike for themselves while living it.  At first, I understood Ann, having to come to terms with sick parents and problems that money can’t fix, but soon I found myself relating to Mike.  Although, he likes to work and make money, he recognized Ann’s parents’ issues and tried his best to help. However, I fell in love with Nate and Lauren, as they fell in love with their grandparents.  

A standalone novel, THE GOOD LIFE by Susan Kietzman will leave you hoping for another read from this author.

Book Review: THERE ONCE LIVED A GIRL WHO SEDUCED HER SISTER’S HUSBAND, AND HE HANGED HIMSELF

by: Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

Publisher: Penguin Books

Published: January 29, 2013

Format: Paperback (192 pages)

ISBN: 9780143121527  

Origin: Publisher 

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

In this book of romance stories, told from a macabre perspective, you find some less than happy representations of love, love gone awry, and unrequited love, just in time for Valentine’s day . . .

In A MURKY FATE, a woman is lonely and tired of not being able to brag about a man in her life. She takes a man from her office home—who is already married—and is overjoyed at telling people she is in a relationship. Though, it was hardly ever one.

THE TWO DEITIES introduces Evginia, an unmarried woman, who at thirty-five has an office tryst with a twenty-year-old male. Their one night resulted in a son. With the death of her grandmother, Evginia keeps the baby. Though she never marries the father, he visits his child. His family history is one of poverty and alcoholism, but he finishes his schooling. Eventually, they live as a family and the father abuses his alcohol.

In the story of CLARISSA, this woman thinks people are talking about her, although most are not. She marries but grows tired of her distant husband. Soon, she marries again and had a child. However, her husband drinks, cheats, and is abusive. But when her husband leaves her taking the child, she roamed and ranted before disappearing. She returned—divorced with a child, but her problems continue.

She finds another husband, a pilot, and she had another child. Nevertheless, despite her now peaceful life, Clarissa calls the airport dispatcher demanding her husband’s flight information, repeatedly, when he was on duty. This behavior leads to the reprimand of her husband.

YOUNG BERRIES is about a child in a sanatorium for sickly children. She is attacked in the park, but, due to her scream she is not harmed. However, she is harassed and targeted by one of the boys. A boy she grew to love. After she left the sanatorium, this boy tormented her at home, over the phone—using her love for his amusement.

My Take:

THERE ONCE LIVED A GIRL WHO SEDUCED HER SISTER’S HUSBAND, AND HE HANGED HIMSELF by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya translated by Anna Summers is a collection of dark “love” stories that will leave you understanding these things that on the surface can not be understood.

Ludmilla Petrushevskaya writes about her home country of Russia, and she immerses the reader in the life of her characters. Although you maybe know where one story is going, you will still read on. It’s simply something you must see to the end.

Book Review: FINAL RESORT by Dana Mentink

Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense  

Published: February 5, 2013

Format: Paperback (224 pages)      

ISBN: 9780373445264         

Series: Treasure Seekers

Origin: Publisher through NetGalley (egalley)

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Ava Stanton has suffered too much loss in her life, from losing her mother to suicide—while she was still in her young teen years, and at the same time, losing her healthy father to an accident—leaving him a paraplegic with a host of health issues.  Now, as an adult, Ava faces the soon-to-be loss of her impoverished, winter resort home, Whisper Mountain.  

Through all of this turmoil, Ava has known only one constant in her life, her mother’s brother, Uncle Paul.  

She can remember her parent’s arguing over Uncle Paul, and Ava’s dad still carries a firm dislike for this man.  It wasn’t that Ava was ignorant to Uncle Paul’s wayward nature of get rich quick schemes, owing and borrowing money from everyone and anyone, and the not-so-honest way he will manipulate things toward his favor; she knew his exploits quite well.  However, his optimism and infectious smile was something Ava could always count on and that meant the world to her. 

So, why was she on a deserted mountain road of the winter wonderland that she once called home, despite the winter storm warnings?   Ava was here at Uncle Paul’s request, of course. His message about his “purl”, although he used that term about everything he ever chased.

Finally, Uncle Paul arrived, but he wasn’t himself.  

Ava’s selling the resort really saddened him, but she tried to get him to understand.  She can’t afford to keep it.  However, yet again, he’s coming into money.  It’s big this time.  Not wanting to hurt him, she simple restated that she had to sell.  Maybe since it was worth more in painful memories than cash, she figured he’d understand.  

Suddenly, a snowmobile arrives on scene.  His face was hidden, but his intention was clear. Someone was about to run them down! Uncle Paul pushed Ava out of its path, but Uncle Paul didn’t get away.  

Meanwhile, Luca Gage left his sister and was skiing toward old memories of a high school crush, when he saw a snowmobile driving at increasing speed toward a couple.  The woman landed with a thud and the man was abducted.  There was only one he could save, and his gut knew exactly who it was.  

Once skiing these slopes with pure abandon, she became different and weighted with loss and pain.  It doesn’t seem her pain ever stopped.  Luca knew her former home was on the market, and he was charged with checking into a possible purchase for his father.  Since the Gage property, Gold Summit, was next to Whisper Mountain to acquire it would make sense. However, from what he knew, it would take a whole lot of money just for modernization.   

He was not going to let her die up here on this mountain.  

Both of them were on thin ice, now, and as it breaks, his emotions reheat, cracking his heart’s protective barrier.    

 

My Take:

FINAL RESORT is a thrilling ride of suspense and romance! 

Luca Gage is a hero whose heart hunts for the treasure that he’s never found, as he finds worldly treasures he doesn’t need.  His strong faith brings him through, and he believes enough for two.

Ava Stanton is a strong woman, but to her, prayers aren’t answered and bad things still happen.    Faith doesn’t mean much to her, and to find someone who actually still believes is disorienting.  

In fact, she sometimes sees the world in have and have not, and the Stantons were always on the have not list.

Dana Mentink’s hero and heroine are opposites in life, faith and socioeconomic factors, but their personalities complement.  His family brought him stability while her unstable family brought challenges to bear. Abandonment left her brokenhearted, and she’s not prepared for love. However, she must learn to ask for and accept help, but he must accept her need to do things herself.  Can they make it work?     

FINAL RESORT by Dana Mentink is a standalone title.  However,  you’ll want to read more of this author’s titles including  DANGEROUS MELODY (Love Inspired Suspense 2012), LOST LEGACY (Love Inspired Suspense 2012), ESCAPE FROM THE BADLANDS (Love Inspired Suspense (2012), BURIED TRUTH (Love Inspired Suspense 2011), TURBULENCE (Steeple Hill 2011), and BETRAYAL IN THE BADLANDS (Steeple Hill 2010). Or check out other books by this author!

 

Book Review: THE AFFAIR by Colette Freedman

Publisher: Kensington

Published: January 29, 2013

Format: Paperback (352 pages)

ISBN: 9780758281005

Origin: Publisher 

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Kathy Walker’s resentment built, as she climbed the stairs. Taking a shower, Robert was oblivious to what she was doing and what she did every year—sending out the company Christmas cards without any of his help.  Kathy is the K in R&K and she helped him build the business in their early years, and then kids came along.  She was regulated to being the mother and the courier of the kids, and they settled into this he goes to work and she stays home routine.  However, Robert just doesn’t get how much work she does at home and how much she could use his help sometimes.  With his own company to run, her husband is never home and that only makes life for her much harder.  At times, she’s mother, father, chauffeur, and all around errand person, and it gets to be just too much.  

She had four Christmas cards remaining that she didn’t have addresses for and figured he’d have them in his newfangled phone.  Yep, he had kept her up one night showing her how to work it and that knowledge did come in handy right now.  Kathy’s made it to the B’s and found something she wasn’t expecting.  Why was this woman listed in his new phone?  And what did that red flag mean?

He came out of the shower and heard the patter of feet going downstairs.  He figured it was Kathy.  Peering into the bedroom he knew it for sure.  What had happened to them?  She helped him at the beginning and they gleefully left the business once the kids came along. Now, he was near to burning out and the company was close to going under.  If it hadn’t been for Stephanie it would have sunk this year.  Stephanie’s been passing business to his company and he’s been passing himself to her.  Guilt still stung, sometimes.  What would he ever do if Kathy found out?  He knew Kathy didn’t love him anymore.  His wife had shown that in so many ways.  Stephanie made him feel excitement, passion, and alive.  When was the last time Kathy and him even had sex?  That question was just another way he knew she didn’t love him.  She probably was staying in this dead-end marriage for the kids.  Wasn’t that the reason he was still here?  Besides she’d abandoned not only him but also R&K.  To Kathy the K was just a letter, now.   

Stephanie Burroughs had left the office.  Soon, Christmas was near and her mother wants her to visit.  Every year it’s the same.  She doesn’t seem to fit in with her family and probably never would.  Maybe Robert would be around on Christmas?  She promised her best friend that she’d tell him it’s now or never and truth told she was ready for the answer.  She loved Robert and she was in love with Robert.  Yes, he was technically married, but she knew they were only together for the kids.  He’s told her he loves her a million times and maybe now it’s time to show it.  

Meanwhile, after this last gig, she’d have to stop sending him business.  She was waiting until they sorted things out before she’d told him that.  How could she ruin his Christmas that way? She’d felt so bad that he was so close to losing what he’d built.  At least this way, she’d given him time to think it through, and he must’ve realized that closing the company was the best course of action.   He hasn’t talked about it they way he used to, and he wasn’t as depressed.

After all, she’d taken a huge risk with her own career to help him, and her boss found out about it too.  

Someone had told him about Robert’s and her relationship, and he was not happy.  Luckily, she’d done everything as right as she could.  Robert had been the most competitive bid and the best choice, but he did his own evaluation and found out that it was so.   He was disappointed that she became personally involved, and Stephanie had to assure him that due to Robert’s and her relationship she would not send further business his way.   He was okay with that.  She didn’t lose her career, but she would have to do some damage repair anyway. Robert and her making things official would go a long way in that department too. 

Right now, her whole world seemed to revolve around Robert, and in truth, it did.  He made her feel so special.  She wasn’t expecting to find her real love for the first time in her life at her ripe old age, but it happened anyway.   She smiled.  She does that often when she thinks of her future with Robert.  Why his wife threw him aside is something Stephanie could never understand.  

 

My Take:

THE AFFAIR by Colette Freedman is an intimate look inside a marriage on the rocks.  This author really does show that there are three sides to every marriage story—his, hers, and the truth.  

Although truth is subjective, upon the telling, it is Kathy Walker’s that resonated with me. However, I didn’t see Stephanie Burroughs as a home wrecker either and neither does Kathy. Robert’s truth is somewhat selfish in nature, but given his circumstances, you can see how he ended up in this situation.  He’s the wounded bird that Stephanie is helping, and he’s a husband and father to a family who needs him to keep them in the standard of which they are living. Meanwhile, Kathy tries to get the marriage back on some standing and faces some hard truths of her own, but Robert’s too deep in his own situation to see it. However, the end is something you won’t see coming!    

Colette Freedman’s THE AFFAIR is a standalone novel, but you will look forward to her next title.

Book Review: HOW HARD CAN IT BE by Robyn Peterman

Publisher: eKensington

Published: January 17, 2013

Format: ebook (265 pages)

Origin: Publisher through NetGalley (eGalley)

***Though the publisher provides the free ebook, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Rena Gundershlict’s life consists of a career she enjoys at a job she hates and her faithful, Vinnie.  We’ll speak more about Vinnie later.

Rena searching for an excitement that corporate America doesn’t provide.  She’s recently out of trouble for the weather girl mix-up that would have never happened if she didn’t listen to Oprah. But, I digress.  Rena’s onto a new career, of sorts.  She’s keeping the accounting bit until her new life takes off, but she’s walking into the first step of being a romance writer.  

This group—the one that the best-selling romance writer, Evangeline O’Hara, is supposed to be a part of—is mainly made up of seniors, and there was no sign that the author was here or no announcement that the author was expected either.  Rena sits quietly and listens, but she is walloped at the conversational topics including handcuffs, lover recipes, threesomes, and sexy uses for hardware?  Really?  Maybe Vinnie could use something to help in his solo job?  

However, when the women turn their attention to Rena, she starts spouting a story that comes from nowhere and makes little sense, but these generous ladies are nothing but encouraging—even providing her further ideas for a threesome.  Not that she was opposed to the topic in her novel, but since she didn’t really have a novel, it was kinda was a moot point.

The meeting takes an even stranger turn once Rena brings up the bestselling author.  Their smiles turned to growls and their sweet voices moved to accusation, as they demanded to know if Rena was friends with the viper!  

Luckily, it all calmed down but Rena was more confused than ever.  Why would these sweet ladies despise this author so much?  

It didn’t take long to find out.

This viper radiated evil and these nice ladies shook with fear, all the while pushing Rena behind the group to keep her safe.  Trying to help her new-found friends, Rena goes on to meet the novelist and finds herself earning money to buy a new car by helping the author.  

Here’s where the problems really begin.  Rena is asked to run an errand.  A simple errand that shouldn’t cause a fear, but due to the restraining order, after her television station debacle, this one errand can become money lost and an arrest record.  Sure, with a little help, she can dodge the arrest; Rena accepts the errand.  However, she wasn’t counting on seeing the sexist man alive.  

Unfortunately, he did take notice of her, and his notice could brand her all for him.  However, this lust a first sight ends badly.  

Once Detective Jack Careena figures out who she is, he’s slapping cuffs on her.  Real cuffs. Ultimately, he finds the pickle she’s in rather amusing, and he’s not dismissing a lustful relationship with her either.  Maybe things won’t be so bad, after all?

On the way back from the police station, Rena finds out that those jewels she didn’t steal has the Viper on her with the threat of  blackmail.  She’ll help the author for free or face charges. Now the many things that she’s heard about this author is beginning to make sense.  She’s been blackmailing these women too.  

Fine, Rena’s pulling the next story from her butt and bringing this woman down!  

 

My Take:

HOW HARD CAN IT BE by Robyn Peterman is an over-the-top, zany parody based on the romance writing world with romance and bits of suspense built into it!  

Rena Gundershlict is a young for her age thirty-year-old, and her search for the job that will make her happy gets her into some hysterical situations.  However, throughout all the craziness, you’ll find Rena quite lovable.  It takes a group of elderly writers, a hot and grounded detective, and an aunt who believes in Bigfoot to bring about the right career path and a wonderful life for Rena.  However, it takes Rena’s abilities and courage to save her friends from the Viper for Rena to find herself.   

Even though HOW HARD CAN IT BE by Robyn Peterman is a standalone novel, you’ll look forward to the next adventure from Robyn Peterman! 

Book Review: TRACKING JUSTICE by Shirlee McCoy

Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense  

Published: January 2, 2013        

Format: Paperback (224 pages)      

ISBN: 9780373445202            

Origin: Publisher through NetGalley (egalley)

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Police detective Austin Black and his tracker dog, K-9 partner—Justice— arrive on scene. In fact, they were the first responders.

For Austin, it’s never about just routine.

A missing child call doesn’t become easier and the fact that some of those missing never go home never gets old either. These worried mothers and hurting families’ bruise his heart every time and leave more than a few sleepless nights ahead. However, this worried mother was just as determined to be there for her missing son, Brady, as Austin was on finding him. She’s even brought out a coat for when he is found. The more time spent on trying to deter her brings a higher possibility that Brady’s trail will grow cold. Caving in to those beautiful, pained eyes, Austin couldn’t turn her down and couldn’t let Brady down either.

She accompanies him but with an understanding that his first priority is to find Brady, and if she can’t keep up, he’ll radio for her escort back and keep on going forward. She’s more than happy with this deal.

Meanwhile, to Eva Billows, nobody was moving fast enough!

She last saw her son at her midnight check and everything was fine. Brady was asleep. At two, Eva heard Brady’s call, and she found his window open and Brady gone. This detective and his bloodhound are the only hope she has of finding her son and knowing how he’s been taught to stay away from strangers, Eva knows Brady might not respond to the detective. Brady is cold, scared, and in trouble, and if he is out in those woods, she needs to be out there too.

Guilt overtook Eva. Tonight, Brady had been quiet, but he didn’t say much with her prompting either. Figuring he was getting sick, she left him alone and didn’t insist he talk to her about what was bothering him. His sitter hadn’t mentioned anything, but she did say he seemed subdued.

However, Detective Austin Black gave her start, when he started asking her about the dog. Eva had heard about Slade’s dog, but at the mention of that crime and her son’s kidnapping in the same breath dread roiled within her. 

What did a police trained dog and Brady have in common? Why would anyone take her son?

 

My Take:

TRACKING JUSTICE pumps up the adrenaline and tightens the romance! 

Shirlee McCoy’s hero, Austin Black, has a past that pulls him into his job. Tracking is his life, and he’s already found out the hard way that many women couldn’t share in that. They want him for birthdays and events, but his work didn’t always allow that. Sure, he has a casual date, now and then, but he keeps his distance. His job choice excludes him from the life and family that he wants, although he wished he knew that before he restored his old Victorian house.

In the meantime, single mother, Eva Billows, tries hard to keep Brady’s life stable, something she never had growing up. Brady’s father is the one major mistake in her life, but Brady was not a mistake. Her son is her world. Early on Eva decided she’d rather parent alone then allow Brady to suffer from any relationship mistakes she would make.

TRACKING JUSTICE puts together a hero and heroine with rocky pasts that keep them alone, reminding each that love and family is just a dream. However, they must learn to trust themselves and each other when the stakes are high.

Standalone title, TRACKING JUSTICE, is book one of the continuity series Texas K-9 Unit. You’ll want to read the upcoming books in this mini-series: DETECTION MISSION by Margaret Daley (Feb 2013), GUARD DUTY Sharon Dunn (Mar 2013), EXPLOSIVE SECRETS by Valerie Hansen (Apr 2013), SCENT OF by Terri Reed DANGER (May 2013), LONE STAR PROTECTOR by Lenora Worth (June 2013)!

Also, you’ll want to read Shirlee McCoy’s other Love Inspired reads including NAVY SEAL RESCUER, UNDERCOVER BODYGUARD (Love Inspired Suspense April 2012), THE LAWMAN’S LEGACY (Love Inspired Suspense January 2012), and PRIVATE EYE PROTECTOR (Love Inspired Suspense November 2011).

 

Book Review: TAKING THE REINS by Kat Murray

Publisher: Brava

Published: December 24, 2012

Format: Paperback (288 pages)

ISBN: 9780758281043

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

For Peyton Muldoon working in a man’s world came with challenges.  

The first one had been her dearly departed mother, Sylvia.  Forget gaining her mother’s approval, Peyton had spent most of her time keeping Sylvia from killing off her father’s ranch. Her mother hired the wrong people, slept with the worse people, and chased Peyton’s siblings away from home.  

However, Peyton couldn’t leave the M-Star ranch. 

From early on, the land was in her blood, and while her father brought Peyton to tag along, he hoped to pass the ranch off to his son, Peyton’s brother, Trace.  The only problem was Trace had the bug for the rodeo, not the land.

The ranch was left to his wife and his children’s mother—until she died, but it was Peyton who worked the land, caring for the animals. Now, after facing down the truth about the thief on the inside, Peyton fired her mother’s former lover, Sam Nylen, leaving her with one big problem. Who could she get for her trainer?  There was only one answer.  Red Callahan.  His name drew a shudder, especially since she just now heard him telling a man not to do business with M-Star.  

Red Callahan was a drifter, of sorts.  

Meanwhile, his reputation allowed him to pick and choose what jobs he took, and he always took them on a temporary basis.  Sometimes, this was out of necessity. Red wouldn’t let a ranch owner boot out help to hire him.  However, most times, the temporary lifestyle suited him.  Red was from bad stock too.  His father, Mac Callahan, left his parenting skills on the train to nowhere and looked to his son to bail him out of trouble.  With his last job ending, he already had a folder filled with offers.  Most times, he went on instinct but when instinct didn’t answer he did it the old-fashioned way . . . eenie . . . meenie . . ..  

A knock sounded to interrupt his unscientific picking process.  The woman on the other of that door took his sense right away.  

The Peyton “spitfire” Muldoon was laying out an offer that he needed to walk right away from, but his instinct decided to malfunction on him now.   He could think of at least 100 reasons why this would be the wrong move.  He would have been able to recite them to Peyton too, but she just issued him a timeline for a response and walked her fine form out the door.  

A timeline?

Peyton was a fine filly who acted like a sulky mare, but she’d cut you down faster than blink. He understood her situation more than he wanted to admit.  She was fighting the bad reputation her mother actively forged, being a woman—a handicap in this business, and her own stubborn streak. Not to mention, she was doing everything herself.  If there was a ranch who really need him, it was M-Star.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.  

Well, maybe that was the problem, he could bring himself to do it, but she wouldn’t be receptive to that.  

He’s been in lust with this woman a long time.  To be around Peyton meant all his senses would be on high alert, teasing himself with something he could never have.  Walking away was the right thing to do.  However, he couldn’t do that either.  He stayed hold up trying to will his instinct into submission and reject the offer.  This was a battle he wasn’t winning, but the clock ticked passed the allotted forty-eight hours.  

Now, like it or not, Red Callahan was going, hat in hand, to M-Star to drive himself crazy every day, hoping for something that would never be.  

However, for the first time, Red was nervous.  What if she turned him down now? 

My Take:

TAKING THE REINS by Kat Murray is Western, with a sexy twist and a hint of mystery!

I fell in love with Red long before Peyton, but I knew Peyton wouldn’t be far behind.  He cared about the land and the horses the same way she does.  This is Peyton’s life and Red has a part in that now.  Her tenacity and strength draw you in, and you’ll feel about M-Star the way she does.  Soon, you’ll figure here’s a woman inside those boots who is afraid. Peyton’s not afraid of making choices, but she worries how those choices will change her way of life.

Red knows lust from love, but the respect he has for Peyton changes everything.  He wants her dream to succeed, and it doesn’t take him long to know that he wants to be a permanent fixture at M-Star, with Peyton.  Although Red knows his horses, he doesn’t know the fairer sex, and he’s in for a bumpy ride.  A ride he’d take no matter what the cost. 

TAKING THE REINS by Kat Murray is a standalone novel, but you’ll look forward to the release of BUCKING THE RULES coming June 2013 from BRAVA! 

Book Review: THE DARLINGS by Cristina Alger

Publisher: Penguin Books

Published: December 24, 2012

Format: Paperback (352 pages)

ISBN: 9780143122753

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

It’s the day before the Thanksgiving holiday, when his signature ride is found near a New York bridge, and a scandal is about to implode the Darlings of New York.  However, a mere death is but just the beginning to this story.  

Greed, family bonds, corruption, and patsies are in all the right places, resulting in a house of cards ready for a strong wind to send it careening out of control.

Paul Ross didn’t come from money.  He fell in love with Merrill Darling and money came with her.  Although some things about him the money has changed, he likes to think most of him stays intact.  He’s tried hard to keep family and business separate, in as much as he could, despite running in the same circles, and he had done a good job at that too.  However, things changed.  

Paul’s former employer has just been indicted on tax and securities fraud, and all the clients scattered.  Now, Paul works for Carter Darling at Delphic, in a newly created General Counsel position, and although he is grateful for the kindness of his father-in-law, Paul still isn’t keen on working with the Darlings, being owned by them.  He didn’t have a choice.  Firms saw his former employer then ran the other way and the financial sector was a mess, from Freddie and Fannie to AIG. Carter has always treated Paul with respect, but he barely has any job duties. His new employment was still being “created”, and after two months, he hadn’t added a whole lot to his job description.  

He handled the legal minutia and waited for items to be doled to him.  Some men would love this cushy job, but Paul’s legal mind needs to form a complete picture of Delphic. While signing documents didn’t make you an expert on things, it did make you the point person. And the points meant always having to go to Carter for answers.  

Sometimes, Paul just didn’t like the answers . . . take RCM for instance.

A lower level SEC lawyer is asking questions about RCM and even Carter don’t seem to know the answers, since RCM is the baby of the other Delphic partner, Alain.  As such, even though Carter is a close friend to the head of RCM, Morty Reis, Alain is the only one who has the knowledge about the fund and all the answers.  

RCM is an investment opportunity that even Delphic has flesh in the game on, so you’d figure that Alain would be providing feedback constantly.  He doesn’t.  Carter won’t push him because Alain is the face of Delphic and the reason Delphic has done so well.

Meanwhile, the television news pans over a crowd to land on a townhouse.  

This red door Paul knows well.  Instinctively, he calls Carter.  The call goes straight to voice mail.  Turning up the sound, Paul realizes trouble is about to begin.

Morty is dead.  Now, the answers can’t wait.

My Take:

THE DARLINGS by Cristina Alger will keep you in suspense!

Inside the New York Darlings, you’ll find some jewels and some thorns.  You’ll be an invisible part of the inner circle—watching things unfold to bring down powerhouses of the financial world.   In 2008, the financial sector fell apart, taking with it families like the Darlings. 

Nothing will prepare you for the end, since there really is no honor among thieves.

Cristina Alger’s legal and financial experience lends itself to writing a gripping story and her background will bring to life THE DARLINGS series on BRAVO!  I’m sure you’ll be full of anticipation with me to meet this family on television. THE DARLINGS by Cristina Alger is a standalone title but easily lends itself to the upcoming series.