Night Sins

by Tami Hoag

A small, quiet Minnesota town where crime doesn’t happen just experienced its worst nightmare- the disappearance of a young boy without witnesses or clues with only a taunting note left behind by the perpetrator.


Tall and trim Police Chief Mitch Holt is the local cop who escaped the big evils of the city only to have them reemerge in his small home town. Agent Megan O’Malley is a tough hard-willed investigator on her first big case. Together they hunt for a kidnapper to protect the families of a united town. Immediately engaging and engrossing I couldn’t put it down. About mid-way through the book I guessed who the suspect would be and for me the rest was just filler until I got to the end.

From the moment they meet, Mitch and Megan engage in an undercurrent of sex and tension that follows them throughout the case. Agent O’Malley was brash and annoying. She decided early on to not sleep with the Chief of Police because it’s hard on the streets for a woman. For the duration of the case O’Malley wavers back and forth and back and forth. I guess it wouldn’t be a story if she stuck to her guns but I found it grating. If a woman doesn’t want to sleep with a man to the detriment of her career then she shouldn’t do it. If a woman decides to sleep with a man knowing the career ramifications then she should accept it and move on. The cat and mouse game these adults play was frustrating for this reader of romance novels.

The characters of Deer Lake, Minnesota are well described especially the family dynamic between the parents of the kidnapped boy. The struggles that they’ve had as a working couple who are unhappy with were they’ve ended up was well written. Hannah and Paul Kirkwood are characters whose story I cared about. Demands of work, marriage, infidelity and anger make them a couple that is complicated and intriguing.

This was my first time reading a Tami Hoag novel. I felt the ending was predictable and anti-climatic with an improbable ending. It wasn’t big on romance and started off fast-paced with suspense but ultimately Ms. Hoag couldn’t maintain that pace throughout.

Midnight Bayou

by Nora Roberts

Ms. Roberts has done it again. She’s created a fast and fun read with a bit of the paranormal thrown in for the perfect summer read. Set in lively New Orleans, the city is the perfect backdrop for haunted souls, Creole history and modern day romance. Roberts has created an infectious spirit with her dialogue littered with French phrases and descriptive imagery of the people and quarters of the city.

Declan Fitzgerald, arriving in the Big Easy to escape his Yankee upbringing, Ivy League law degree and a fiancée whom his mother whole-heartedly approves of, purchases Manet Hall. Situated on the bayou outside of New Orleans Declan sets about restoring the dilapidated plantation and discovers a haunted past shared between this world and the next. Declan is the man that most women are searching for. He is kind, has a tender nature and a big heart of gold.

Lovely Lena Simone is guarded and flippant who has other things on her mind besides a relationship with the trust-fund Yankee. Lena is a business woman who enjoys men but isn’t looking for anything more than fun. She is probably one of my favorite female characters in a Roberts novel because she reminds me of me. Quick with a smart ass remark and not susceptible to suave men. She can give as good as she gets. Theirs is a spicy romance which is thoroughly enjoyable to read.

I loved the supernatural aspect of the story involving the Creole history of the bayou and the rich plantation families. Exploring their feelings for each other, Declan and Lena share visions of a past life with a ferocious intensity. Are the visions merely clues to solve a past murder or are they a pathway to finding love and happiness in this life?

I felt like I knew where the story was going but I think Ms. Roberts did it with skill interweaving the stories between present and past. Definitely a must read if you love romance or Nora Roberts.

Guilty Pleasures

by Laurell K. Hamilton
When I came across the title of this book I thought it would be perfect to read and write about. I envisioned a combination of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight with a whole lot of steamy romance thrown in that isn’t exactly appropriate for the tween crowd. Unfortunately, what I got was a lackluster story filled with gory creatures, gruesome scenarios and a lot of biting and blood. The world that Ms. Hamilton created wasn’t filled with sensuality or sex or even caring and I found myself wholeheartedly disinterested.

The story follows Anita Blake, vampire slayer, executioner, and animator (she raises of zombies in cemeteries) as she is called upon to solve a series of crimes involving the murder of vampires throughout the city. She’s a vampire slayer, yet because she is the best the Master vampire requires her expertise to stop the violence. She agrees because her loved ones and her personal well being are threatened by the very vampires that hired her for the job.

Anita soon learns that she can trust no one: not Jean-Cluade, the seductive vamp with a soft spot for her, nor Philip, the vampire junkie who is addicted to the pain and pleasure of letting vamps feed on him daily, nor the powerful Nikolaos, a Master vampire who has joined Anita to him for purposes of survival. I thought there was potential for romance, even heady vampire romance between Anita and Philip or Anita and Jean-Claude. However, there was only one semi-steamy kiss in a bathroom.

I was not a fan of the first person narrative. I didn’t like the world Ms. Hamilton created and found no redeeming qualities in any of the characters, including the heroine, Anita. Towards the middle, Guilty Pleasures began to grate on my nerves and I couldn’t wait to get to the end so I could be done with it. If you are looking for a good horror book, I can recommend a few Stephen King novels that are exquisitely written and will have you jumping out of your socks.

Stay In Bed Sundays

Definitely a lazy Sunday. Nothing on TV, no movies to watch & not really in the mood for Lifetime (although I am excited about the Army Wives season premiere tonight).

So I’m left with reminiscing about the man I’ve recently met who saw my apartment in total disarray a few days ago, otherwise known as abs of steel (AOS) to my friends. Provocative, charming, talkative and reads a lot. We get along splendidly.
The other day as we were discussing life and the struggles we’ve been going through being unemployed, AOS complemented me on my “beautiful feet” with their long toes and high arch. Strikingly, neither man nor woman has ever made notice of my feet, except for my mother who longs to find similarities between us wherever she can.

Laying there minimally clothed I looked at him perplexed. AOS nonchalantly adds: Amazing no one has ever complemented them before (he definitely knows how to disarm a woman). Just the podiatrist I was thinking but he doesn’t count. Stunned I reply: Well…no. No one has ever noticed my feet. Maybe they were just too busy noticing my boobs and ass. So today on lazy Sunday sitting on the couch I am obsessed with my feet. They are smooth, recently polished, in need of a tan but actually very nice. Now, can I get a massage, please?

The Absence of Nectar

by Kathy Hepinstall

Warning: The Absence of Nectar is raw and disturbing and intense. Love and romance do not exist in this world. The author creates characters that are meek, evil and show the worst state of human consciousness. The book is written in the voice of 12 year old Alice recalling the suspenseful and evil events surrounding her family and her new stepfather, Simon Jester. Even Simon’s act of heroism immediately exudes hate and menace like a rotting flesh.

As the story opens we are introduced to bible verse spouting Simon Jester as he presses a hot spatula on 12 year old Alice’s face leaving a scar for life. And soon Alice’s mother is telling Alice and Boone to Run. Run to where or to whom is not immediately certain but it propels the story and introduces crazy nutcases such as Persely Snow, recently escapee from the mental institution. Persely brings an energy to the story that saves it from drowning in morbidity and depression.

The cloth of oppression builds as Alice describes her terror and suspicion that Simon is trying to poison her and her family at every meal. Every cough and tic is analyzed and remedies are memorized in the event they are injected with poison. And then the dog dies.

Meg, Alice and Boone’s mother, is a depressed, lonely, sad woman who inspires nothing but banality. Relieved to have a man, even an abusive man in her life, she ignores the needs of her children and the increasingly monstrous actions of her husband until the tension grows and weighs down the life and relationships of the characters.

The author is successful in creating an atmosphere that is off-balance and murky. It’s a harsh fact that people are more willing to accept a glossy lie rather than the truth, especially if it tells them what they want to hear. A story of child abuse, The Absence of Nectar, raises questions about how we deal with evil, especially if the target of the abuse is young and surrounded by a parent that is unable and/or unwilling to protect. Alice becomes obsessed with evil, Boone turns to God, who provides no continually provides no answers and Meg turns away hoping that not acknowledging it will make it disappear.

I have never read Kathy Hepinstall but have discovered that she writes about provocative and dark subjects. If you are looking for something different that will make you think pick up one of her books when you see it.