Deep Waters

by Jayne Ann Krentz

Elias Winters and Charity Truitt are two powerful business executives in Seattle, WA who surrender their lucrative careers for a quieter and simpler life in Whispering Waters Cove, WA. Creating sparks from their first meeting Charity and Elias are an enjoyable couple to read.


However, the small town of the Cove isn’t what it appears. Their longed for quieter life is disrupted by a disruptive cult and a series of mysterious deaths to locals. The mystery of the book doesn’t last for long. I figured it out long before the end but really you’ll read this book for the chemistry between the two main characters.

Charity and Elias are both flawed. Elias must deal with his feelings of guilt and remorse for the toll his revenge plots have taken on himself and others. Charity must learn to trust others and her emotions before she can be successful with someone else. Their romance is unconventional especially since they are brought closer by murder, break-ins and danger lurking at every corner. If you enjoy a man’s man who has a lot of muscles and knows how to fight and break people’s noses then you will love Elias Winters.

The supporting characters are colorful ranging from the space ship cult followers to the local shopkeepers.  They are charming and add significantly to the setting and tone of this Krentz story.

Rock Star

by Rosylyn Hardy Holcomb

After tragedy in his life, Bryan, the heavy metal rock star, escapes to a small town in Alabama for a break from the media attention in LA. He doesn’t count on meeting a young, beautiful intelligent black woman unlike most women he meets.


After a brief run-in with Callie at her bookstore Bryan incorporates himself into Callie’s life and they become friends who enjoy each other’s company. Soon Callie and Bryan are spending every day together until Bryan has to return to his life and fulfill his publicity commitments. Will Callie choose the young rocker or stay safe in her small home town and give up on her chance at love.

I found this book enjoyable. It was easy to read and was perfect while I decide what book I want to read next. The love scenes were romantic and I enjoyed the closeness of the relationship between Callie and Bryan. However, I had a few problems with it. The author brings up the themes of interracial relationships several times without really getting into the issue deeply. I feel if she really wanted to discuss the difficulties or some of the issues black women and white men face while dating she could have used the entire book to flush those issues out instead of a few lines here and a few lines there.

Also, call me a snob but a part of the book happens in LA and involves the “celebrity” scene. I’ve lived in LA forever and even know a thing or two about the “scene” and I just felt that the author didn’t really know that much about it. Which makes sense since she lives in Alabama. It’s never good as a reader to doubt the authenticity of what is going on in the story.

This is the first book for Roslyn Hardy Holcomb. She lives in Alabama and is involved in an interracial relationship. I think Rock Star is a solid first effort and is perfect for an afternoon at the pool or beach.

Castles

by Julie Garwood

Castles is witty, sexy and romantic with enough danger and suspense to keep the story going-in short everything a good romance should be.


Enchanting Princess Alesandra and her hero Colin embark on an unlikely and amusing partnership to protect her from the turmoil in her homeland and the thugs who want to kidnap her. Colin’s 5 year plan does not involve marriage…to any woman. But when Princess Alesandra is nearly kidnapped at the theater there really is no other choice to keep her safe but to marry her and allow her to live under his roof. Immediately, it becomes obvious that Colin and Alesandra are made for each other.

Colin is strong, sexy and confident with a touch of arrogance. He’s just lovable enough so Alesandra can love him even if she doesn’t realize it herself. But he never realized that he would ever be in love with a woman so much that he could be so vulnerable.

Alesandra is beautiful, intelligent and clever with an odd habit of making lists for everything. Including a master list which is a list of her lists. She is likable and you root for her and Colin throughout. She loves Colin and doesn’t know how to get him to love her back before the end of his five year plan. They fit together fabulously as people and lovers. Their love is charming and funny and sexy…and isn’t that what we are all looking for.

The love scenes are well-written. Reading them you will be taken on a ride that is filled with charm, heat and love. Alesandra charms her way into Colin’s heart and leaves him burning with desire so much that the reader can easily imagine him naked on her bed.

The conflict that brings these two together is the main conflict of this story. It is fast paced with enough gotcha moments that you never know what is going to happen.

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?