Guest Review - Saturday Shorts

One Brave Cowboy 
By Kathleen Eagle 
Publisher: Harlequin (Harlequin Special Edition) 
Release Date: September 20, 2011

His name is Cougar. Just Cougar. He’s the latest of Kathleen Eagle’s strong, stoic Indian cowboys who need love’s healing touch. Cougar is a former soldier recently released from a VA hospital where horse therapy helped him recover from physical and psychological wounds of war. At the suggestion of his friend Sergeant Mary Tutan, he’s visiting the Double D Wild Horse Sanctuary in South Dakota to check out the wild horse training competition run by Sally Drexler White Horse.

Cougar meets schoolteacher Celia Banyon when he almost runs down her young son Mark. He is drawn to both mother and son, two more wounded warriors even though their battleground has been a domestic one. Cougar and Celia move from friendship to love, and Cougar helps Mark bond with a horse. The breakthrough when Cougar and Celia trust one another enough to admit their love is quieter but no less powerful than the breakthrough when Mark, who has been deaf and mute since a horrific accident, names his horse Flyboy.

These are not showy characters, but their vulnerabilities and their strengths make them deeply human. They survive pain, betrayal, and broken dreams to discover a love strong enough to heal their wounds. My only disappointment in this book was that it ended too soon, making the HEA feel a bit rushed. Some of the best contemporary romances being written are category romance, and Kathleen Eagle’s books are in that company. I recommend not only One Brave Cowboy but also the other books in the series: In Care of Sam Beaudry; One Cowboy, One Christmas; Cool Hand Hank; Once a Father; and Cowboy, Take Me Away.


All That Remains
By Janice Kay Johnson
Publisher: Harlequin (Harlequin Superromance)
Release Date: October 4, 2011

Wren Fraser is on the run, hoping to find a safe place with her best friend from college, when she’s caught in a flash flood. Her car runs off the road, and she takes sanctuary in an abandoned house. She’s alone in an empty house somewhere in Arkansas, with flood waters rising and labor pains getting stronger and closer together. Retreating to the attic, she hangs a white sheet out the window and hopes help will come.

Police Detective Alec Harper has spent three days rescuing stranded people in a borrowed aluminum fishing boat. He almost skips the old Maynard house because he knows the owner is in a nursing home but decides to check it out on the chance that someone has taken shelter there. He sees the white sheet. He knows there is no way the heavily pregnant woman can make it to the boat, and so when he learns she’s in labor, he joins her in the attic and delivers her baby.

The intimacy created by this act is intensified as their isolation continues. Wren tells Alec about the father of her child, the abusive boyfriend from whom she is running, and Alec tells her that he and his ex-wife have two daughters. By the time they are rescued after several days in survivalist mode, a bond has formed between the two. When Wren finds out that her friend no longer lives in Saddler’s Mill, Alec invites her to be his guest until her identification and credit cards can be replaced. With the connection that has already been created between Wren and Alec, it’s no surprise that the two fall in love. But Wren is determined to prove she can be independent of any man, and Alec is afraid of letting anyone inside the walls he’s built to protect himself from more losses. They can build a life together only of Wren overcomes her pride and Alec overcomes his fears.

Janice Kay Johnson has been an autobuy author for me since I read her Patton’s Daughters series in 1999. I have learned that I can count on her books to give me well-developed characters with depth who confront credible challenges and are changed by their experiences. All That Remains is vintage Johnson, and I highly recommend it.

~Janga

Liz is the Biz!

by Anna Campbell

First of all, do Americans use that phrase that something is 'the business'? Meaning it's the bee's knees, the cat's miaow, the cream in my cawfee, the salt in my stew? Anyway, just in case you're wondering, it's an expression of the highest approval!

Liz Fielding is one of the best writers in romance today. Two RITA Awards don't lie!

Liz is a British writer who, as far as I know, has written exclusively for Harlequin Mills and Boon's Sweet/Romance line. But if you're not familiar with her books, don't be fooled that there's anything sugary about these stories, nor that they're anything less than passionate. I find the sexual tension in a Liz Fielding keeps me turning the pages with the best.

I first discovered Liz's work in 2004 when I went to the Romance Novelists Association conference in Leicester (it's the British equivalent of RWA Nationals - lots more tea involved!). A couple of people recommended her books and when I came home after my lovely four months of wandering around the U.K., I took their advice.

Wow!

Liz has since become one of my favorite writers. There's a stack of stuff I love about her books. They're absolutely perfectly pitched when it comes to the emotion (and there's LOTS of emotion in a Liz Fielding, I regularly shed several tears, sometimes more, she just gets it so right!). They're intelligent and they feature intelligent, realistic characters. You absolutely fall in love with the people in a Liz Fielding. They're flawed and they're real and usually they really have to struggle to get their happy ending - by which stage, you've stopped crying (well, mostly) and you're cheering.

I find myself in awe of what Liz can pack into a measly 180 pages. She gives you a whole world of love and desire and romance and closes with a sigh-worthy finish.

My most recent Liz Fielding read is probably my favorite. It's called A WEDDING AT LEOPARD TREE LODGE. On the surface, it's a terrifically simple story. Wedding planner Josie Fowler hides her vulnerability and the scars of her difficult past under a cocky attitude and thick punk makeup. When she finds herself responsible for the society wedding of the year at the luxurious Leopard Tree Lodge in Botswana, she expects problems. What she doesn't expect is that she'll fall in love with the owner of the resort, Gideon McGrath. Gideon has tragedy of his own to overcome and it's heart-wrenching to watch these two wounded souls edge towards trust and love. It's a bit like trying to coax a leopard to eat from your hand, if you'll pardon the obvious simile!

There's a couple of scenes in this that are just so perfectly written and so deeply true to the emotions, I dare you not to get misty eyed. And the ending just takes my breath away, it's so beautiful.

As you can gather, this month's second helping is highly recommended! I haven't read a book of Liz's that I haven't liked, but this is one of the best romances I've ever read. Just gorgeous.

So do you like a book that brings a tear to the eye (even if the characters get their happy ending!)? What was the last book you read that made you cry?