Review - - Operation Blackout

Operation Blackout

by Maria Lokken

Publisher: Harlequin Romantic Suspense

Release Date: October 28, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

 

Her identity is erased and replaced with a criminal record

A stranger is the only man she can turn to for help

When Jordan Logan infiltrates a company’s mainframe, the world-class hacker becomes the hunted—by the very people who hired her. Only by teaming up with Max Ramirez can she clear her name and restore her life. But convincing the cybersecurity expert that she’s the real Jordan Logan is as challenging as the attraction simmering between them. Max can’t trust Jordan…and Jordan doesn’t trust anyone. They’ll create a plan to bring down the culprit. But will their intimate, conflicted dynamic prevent justice from being served?

PJ's Thoughts:

One of the facets that makes this book so compelling is the frighteningly realistic premise. The advancement of cyber technology has brought with it many life improvements but with those improvements have also come a dark underbelly of criminal opportunity. It's that dark element that takes center stage in Operation Blackout, creating an intensely suspenseful story that reeled me in and held me in its grasp right up until the final page. 

Imagine waking one morning to discover your entire life (identity, money, possessions...all of it) has been given to someone else and you are now not only penniless but also have a criminal record and, even worse, are suspected of murder. Scary, right? And that's only the beginning. Maria Lokken grabbed me by the throat with that opening. There was no way I was putting this book down until every one of my questions had been answered. 

I really enjoyed the blend of suspense and romance in this book. The pace never lags and the intensity continues to build throughout. The characters are well drawn, with intriguing back stories and layers. I became emotionally invested in both Jordan and Max. Nothing brings two people together like running for your lives while attempting to save the world from a deviously brilliant villain. I was right there with them, cheering them on from the edge of my seat, enjoying their ever-growing closeness while trying to figure out how in the world they would ever defeat the villain and regain their lives. This well-crafted story kept me guessing right up until the end. 

Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed the warm, loving Ramirez family and the roles they played in this story. I'm hoping the author has more stories planned for them. 

Review - - Someone to Remember

SOMEONE TO REMEMBER
By Mary Balogh
The Westcott Series - Book 7
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: November 5, 2019
Reviewed by Maria
  

I’m a total sucker for a continuing saga. I’m that reader who wants to know what happens to the brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, children and distant relations. I want a happily-ever-after for all of them. And Mary Balogh delivers on all counts.

Her most recent series, The Westcotts, is filled with intrigue, deceit, secrets and most of all romance. There are now a total of seven Westcott books to give you hours of reading enjoyment. Whether you’re lounging in your coziest reading chair, or riding the subway to work, you’ve got a lot to look forward to.

In the latest installment of the Westcott Family Saga, the novella, Someone to Remember, the author has taken Matilda Westcott, a secondary character from the previous books, and shone a spotlight on what had become the hopelessness of her life.

Matilda is an aging spinster destined to stand in the shadows watching everyone around her find happiness while she cares for her Dowager mother. Any hope of an independent, fulfilled life was squashed thirty-six years ago, when her parents forbid her to marry the one man she loved, Charles Sawyer.

The ensuing years weren’t kind to either of them. While Charles went on to marry another, he never loved again. As for Matilda, the loss of Charles proved to be too much, and the once vivacious young woman, interested in life, retreated behind a docile façade, becoming an overly fussy companion to her mother. In short, they both lived lives they endured, rather than enjoyed, until years later when they unexpectedly found themselves attending the same dinner party.

Surprisingly, old emotions resurfaced and Charles becomes determined to win Matilda back. The question is, can he breakthrough the wall she’s built around herself and strip her of the notion that it’s never too late to fall in love?

The story arc is multi-layered with confessions and reconciliations, as Charles tries to win Matilda back and create a relationship with his illegitimate son. Truths are hard won in this lovely story of love lost and second chance romance.

When Matilda and Charles finally rekindle their love, the courtship is swoon worthy. It’s sweet, kind, tender and oh, so romantic. I do believe you can read this novella without having read the series. But the series is richly filled with characters and intrigue you shouldn’t miss.

As a final note - it was refreshing to read a romance where the hero and heroine were in their ‘mature’ years. After all, one is hardly dead at fifty, and I wish there were more romances written with heroines in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Just saying.

Review - - Would Like to Meet

PJ, here. We all make mistakes. Recently, I made one when I accidentally assigned this book to be reviewed by Hellie after already receiving a review of the same title from Maria a few months ago. I blame my mistake on the fact that I was knee-deep in packing when the error occurred. Of course, it could also be due to the fact that I'm old but I reserve the right to pick my excuses so I'm discarding that one and sticking with the packing. ;-) My amazing Dish team members were very understanding and so, today I bring you not one, but two reviews of the debut novel, Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters. Enjoy!

Would Like to Meet

by Rachel Winters

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Release Date: December 3, 2019

Reviewed by Maria

  

Can you fall in love like they do in the movies?

It's Evie Summers's job to find out. Because if she can't convince her film agency's biggest client, Ezra Chester, to write the romantic-comedy screenplay he owes producers, her career will be over. The catch? Arrogant Ezra thinks rom-coms are unrealistic--and he'll only put pen to paper if Evie proves to him that it's possible to meet a man in real life the way it happens on the big screen.

Cynical Evie might not believe in happily ever after, but she'll do what it takes to save the job that's been her lifeline . . . even if it means reenacting iconic rom-com scenes in public. Spilling orange juice on a cute stranger? No problem. Leaving her number in books all over London to see who calls? Done. With a little help from her well-meaning friends and the adorable father-daughter duo who keep witnessing her humiliations, Evie is determined to show Ezra she can meet a man the way Sally met Harry. But can a workaholic who's given up on love find a meet-cute of her very own?

Maria says...

Rachel Winters has taken rom-com to another level. Her debut novel features a creative, smart heroine, Evie Summers, who in order to save her agency, and thereby her job must convince an Oscar winning screenwriter he has what it takes to write a romantic comedy.

In addition to being a wonderfully descriptive book that puts the reader right into the crazy world of a British film agency, she is also dead funny. Seriously. There are sections in this novel that are laugh out loud funny. I don’t mean lol, I mean I guffawed.

It was almost as if I were watching a movie instead of reading a novel, complete with a unique set of “Bridget Jones-esque” best friends who pop off the page and take you on a delicious journey as you flip from one scene to the next.

The plot relies on the fact that the heroine doesn’t know she’s being duped, and while I wasn't 100% convinced of that through line, the author gives the reader such an amazing, curl your toes, rom-com ending, I went along with it. The story will take you to a happily-ever-after-ville, with all the wonderful 'will-they, or won't-they' in between.

This is without a doubt a book that begs to be curled up with in your favorite chair, with a cast of characters that will live with you long after you’ve read the last page. It's a fun contemporary romance destined to be on my keeper shelf.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would Like to Meet

by Rachel Winters

Publisher: Putnam/Random House

Release Date: December 3, 2019

Reviewed by Hellie 

Can you fall in love like they do in the movies?

It's Evie Summers's job to find out. Because if she can't convince her film agency's biggest client, Ezra Chester, to write the romantic-comedy screenplay he owes producers, her career will be over. The catch? He thinks rom-coms are unrealistic--and he'll only put pen to paper if Evie shows him that it's possible to meet a man in real life the way it happens on the big screen.

Cynical Evie might not believe in happily ever after, but she'll do what it takes to save the job that's been her lifeline . . . even if it means reenacting iconic rom-com scenes in public. Spilling orange juice on a cute stranger? No problem. Leaving her number in books all over London to see who calls? Done. With a little help from her well-meaning friends--and Ben and Anette, the adorable father-daughter duo who keep witnessing her humiliations--Evie is determined to prove she can meet a man the way Sally met Harry. But can a workaholic who's given up on love find a meet-cute of her very own?

Hellie’s Heeds:

Imagine you’re me and you were around the last time Chick Lit was popular; and imagine you’re me and you’ve seen, owned, and/or randomly quoted every rom-com movie as if they’re roadmaps to love. You can see why I am such a fan of this book. This book is the love letter for all the lovers of rom-coms and are unashamed to say so. You’ll laugh at each of the meet-cutes that comprise the novel--because the entire book is based on the heroine reliving every meet-cute ever written--and enjoy how horrible they actually go. In the movies, meet-cutes are actually cute. In Rachel Winters’ book, they’re the stuff that make you notorious at the local coffee shop. 

Now this is not to say you need to go and watch every rom-com ever made to get the jokes. By no means. The book is a stand alone and if you had never seen a rom-com before, you’d simply think this girl has some awful luck. But if you have seen a rom-com or two in your time, it will make the experience that much more enjoyable, as if you too are in on the joke. 

It’s action-packed and light on sexual tension (since there are possibilities for more than one love interest), but it was a quick read and I could not put it down. I didn’t notice I was missing love scenes--if anything, it reminded me of the chick-lit books of old I really enjoyed. So...it’s very rated PG-13, even with the erotic book club fiasco and the roommate who has a different sex partner every night. 

Since there are a couple of possibilities as far as the love interest goes, I am loathe to explain too much more, except that the author picked the right hero. There was a time or three where I was panicked it was going in one direction, but eventually it came around to the right Happily Ever After. This book is going immediately on my keeper shelf next to the Bromance, and it’s going on my list this year as best books of 2019. I’m also adding Rachel Winters to authors to watch. Enjoy!

Review - - WIRED

WIRED
By Julie Garwood
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 4, 2017
Reviewed by Maria Lokken

Allison Trent is in her last year of college. She also happens to be a drop-dead gorgeous computer genius, who models on the side. The modeling gigs allow her to make the money she’s forced to fork over to her lying, cheating, aunt and uncle who raised her. Their beloved son has criminal tendencies, and they need the money to pay top-notch lawyers to keep him out of jail.

Allison spends most nights on campus, in her room with her headphones on, hacking into sites and solving crimes no other government agency can. She’s a modern-day Robin Hood, returning monies to people who’ve been scammed. It’s illegal, but hey, she’s only helping out people who shouldn’t have been robbed in the first place. 

Handsome, sexy, Liam Scott is an FBI agent. Liam needs Allison’s hacking skills to find the leak that’s wreaking havoc at the FBI headquarters and preventing them from solving crimes.

Liam and his partner somehow manage to convince Allison to work for them, but only after they promise they will help keep her good-for-nothing cousin out of jail.  Allison’s desire to help her deceitful relatives is based on a guilt she should have let go of long ago.

The author paints a powerful opening, giving us insight into Allison and creating a strong, independent heroine. However, this heroine had flaws that were difficult to overlook, in particular her continued financial support of a family that had no for regard her. In addition, the romance between Allison and Liam felt thin. Throughout the book, one never gets the sense they are falling in love, nothing builds in their story line.  As a Reader, I had no stake in their staying together.

While the novel starts with a driving pace, it doesn’t keep up and falls short on both the suspense and the romance.

Release Day Blitz Review - - Comeback Cowboy

Comeback Cowboy

By Sara Richardson
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: June 27, 2017

Reviewed by Maria Lokken

 

In “Comeback Cowboy,” author, Sara Richardson has written a rich second chance love story giving the reader a satisfying look at what it means to forgive and move forward. Set in the picturesque town of Topaz Falls, this is the second book in the Rocky Mountain Riders series.

Lucas Cortez and Naomi Sullivan’s high school romance was more than a first love, it was a forever love. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. His incarceration, and subsequent release left hurt and doubt.  In virtually every scene Ms. Richardson advances the theme of second chances between the central characters and with the family and friends that surround them.   From a father who yearns to reconnect with a child he’s abandoned, to a town who cannot lay down their suspicions.

“Comeback Cowboy” is about one man’s search for happiness against prejudice and fixed ideas, and his honor and integrity to win back the woman he should have always had. It’s about a woman who knows how to take care of herself and doesn’t surrender independence even as she gives her heart to the man she’s always loved.  It also highlights what it means to be a family, whether related by blood, or choice. All these elements bring this story to life, giving it a pulse that will keep you turning the pages. 

This book gives you characters to root for and creates friendships you would count yourself lucky to have. Ultimately, it’s a romance where all things end happily ever after – but for this reader, it’s about how you get there that counts. And this journey is one that gives you just enough ups and downs to make it an exciting read all the way to the last page.

Why do second chance love stories capture our hearts?  Maybe it’s because you get a ‘do-over’ - and I find that very appealing. What’s your do-over wish?

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Sara Richardson grew up chasing adventure in Colorado's rugged mountains. She's climbed to the top of a 14,000 foot peak at midnight, swum through Class IV rapids, completed her wilderness first-aid certification, and spent seven days at a time tromping through the wilderness with a thirty-pound backpack strapped to her shoulders.

Eventually Sara did the responsible thing and got an education in writing and journalism. After a brief stint in the corporate writing world, she stopped ignoring the voices in her head and started writing fiction. Now she uses her experience as a mountain adventure guide to write stories that incorporate adventure with romance. Still indulging her adventurous spirit, Sara lives and plays in Colorado with her saint of a husband and two young sons.

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Review - - The Chosen

The Chosen 

By J.R Ward

A Black Dagger Brotherhood Novel

Publisher: Ballantine

Release Date: April 4, 2017

Reviewed by Maria Lokken

       

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood universe is huge, each book in the series features a myriad of characters and issues in addition to the central romance, and this latest installment is no exception. The Chosen, book number 15 in the series, is the long-awaited story of Layla and Xcor.  I have to admit as much as I love the BDB universe the books are getting successively more debilitating, because nothing is sacred, nothing is safe, nothing is forever. This is so unnerving for me as a reader that for this series only, I have to read the last chapter before I read the book to make sure the main characters are all in tack and happy.  Seriously.  I mean - remember The Shadows, Book 13?  (Spoiler Alert) Ms. Ward killed the heroine!? Who does that?

At the start, we find our heroine, Layla, the Brother Quinn, and his husband/soldier Blay happily ensconced in the Brotherhood’s mansion living a seemingly happy domestic family life.  All was well as I turned the pages, but this is a J.R. Ward book so I didn’t get too comfortable because I knew this familial tranquility couldn’t last. However, I did not expect things to blow up with such ferocity, on so many levels, to so many characters, so quickly.

Xcor and his Band of Bastards are wanted for high treason after their assassination attempt on the King.  I wondered how Xcor was going to come back from that and become the hero of this book, and in that respect, the author has done an excellent job.  As she has done in her previous books, the flashbacks to a character’s history reveals their emotional and troubled past giving us a better understanding of how they came to be who they are. Xcor’s physical disfigurement gave him a world of hurt in a mother who abused and then abandoned him and a father who had absolutely no use for him. For centuries, his existence was shaped by men whose cruelty was limitless. 

The heroine, Layla is one of The Chosen who has spent centuries in a gilded cage serving the Mother of her race - The Scribe Virgin. That Layla and Xcor, two seemingly disparate characters, would find each other and fall in love is the stuff of romance novels.  Their love is forbidden. After all he did try and kill the king. When Layla tells Quinn that she is in love with Xcor all hell breaks loose and she is sent away. And so, the misery, uh, I mean story begins.

After a protracted and angst filled journey the Chosen, Layla and the head of the Band of Bastards, Xcor finally have what I would call is an extremely happy ending. The kind of Hallmark happy ending that makes you sigh, smile and dab a happy tear from your eye.  However, I was pretty much exhausted by the end of the book.  My head was spinning and I was left with a feeling of foreboding.  A feeling that the next few books were going to be an exercise in misery for the BDB. 

It’s the cliffhangers, ever changing and evolving world, and new insights into established characters that keeps readers coming back.  Just when you thought everything was settled, the author throws in a “what if” you could never have imagined. In The Chosen, the Brother Vishous, who has had two previous books dedicated to him and has already had his happy ending, is once again questioning his relationship. And not in a good way. To some readers this may be maddening.  For me?  Not so much. I think Ms. Ward is brave to continually keep her world alive and in fact a bit messy. So messy in fact (Spoiler Alert) the mother of the race, The Scribe Virgin, is no more.  Oy!  Didn’t see that one coming. Now the new head of the race (you’ll have to read the book to find out who that is) is feeling their way on how to fulfill the prophecies of the race.

In the end, The Chosen leaves us with a new villain, new heroes and a new threat to the Vampire race.  Never a dull moment as the war between the Vampires and the Lessening Society continues to wage. And seriously -  I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

What are some of your favorite long running series and why?

Review - - Finding You

Finding You

By Jo Watson

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: May 2, 2017

Reviewed by Maria Lokken

  

It wouldn’t surprise me if most readers didn’t equate a quest to find one’s birth parents with a romantic journey, but they’d be wrong. Ms. Watson uniquely tackles the subject of adoption while delivering a quirky, romantic trip to an Island in the Mediterranean.

In Finding You, our heroine, Jane Smith, wakes on her 25th birthday to an unsettling feeling she can’t place. But she follows that emotion out the door and straight to a travel agent’s office where she books a ticket to Santorini, Greece. Jane is going to find her birth father.

In its essence, this isn’t so much a destination novel as what the destination does for the main character, Jane Smith. Yes, that’s her name, I’m not making it up, the author already did. Jane has spent a lifetime pushing away her adoptive family who she feels is better, prettier, and livelier than she is. Through her search to find her father she stumbles into a romance, and equally important, she discovers who she really is.

The author loosely works within the ‘ugly-duckling’ trope. The heroine’s ditzy, apologetic, I’m-not-beautiful mantra became tiresome until I realized the author had a plan. The self-deprecation was finally dropped and our heroine transforms into woman who is self-aware and confident.

As for the hero, well, I have a litmus test he must pass.  Above all things, he needs to be a man who can say the right thing when everything around him is going to hell. Particularly when he’s attempting to win back the heroine in the middle of the third act after he’s done some unspeakably stupid thing.  So, I judge.  Don’t we all? In this novel, Dimitri, the hero, gets high marks from this reader on how to win back the woman he loves.

The journey Jane Smith travels isn’t a simple one. There’s heartbreak, but there’s also a great deal of growing, and this is one heroine that needed a serious adjustment. But that’s what keeps us romance readers going, how our heroes and heroines change and grow and love.

This novel takes place in the romantic country of Greece. So for a few minutes I’ll ask you to forget the fact that you may have a family and twelve children, or a job you can’t leave. Instead, just let your mind wander and imagine a fortune teller has told you your one true love is out there waiting for you. Where in the world would you want to find him?

Review - - It Happened on Love Street

It Happened on Love Street

By Lia Riley
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: April 25, 2017 

Reviewed by Maria Lokken

    

Why would a young, attractive, smart law school graduate leave the excitement of New York City, sell all her belongings and move to Everland, Georgia?  Why indeed? Well, it’s part one of her life plan. The town of Everland has offered her a clerkship and our heroine, Pepper Knight, believes it’s the perfect stepping stone toward a solid career and a steady paycheck. But when she arrives, nothing is as promised.  Left with no money and a lease on a rental cottage she can’t get out of, Pepper is stranded, everything she was counting on seems to have melted away into the hot Georgia sun.

However, all may not be lost, because she runs into the very sexy, very handsome, very, very, Rhett Valentine. Yeah, that was a double very because the author has created a character so swoon-worthy you need to catch your breath a few times before you turn the pages.

The opening of the book seems a bit forced but you will be handsomely rewarded once you get past the first twenty pages.  After the heroine and hero’s initial encounter there is so much to like about this book that you’ll want to get settled into your favorite reading chair, grab your snickers bar, and hope you don’t have any early morning appointments.

Let’s take the plot.  What I assumed would be a predictable story, was anything but. After the initial meeting the story opens up and breathes. Nothing is rushed and the pacing is perfect. Through the author’s deft use of dialogue, her quick wit and sense of humor, you meet a host of characters who are distinct, quirky and alive. You almost forget you’re reading and feel as if you’ve been dropped into Everland, Georgia and are a local resident watching the events of the day. It’s that seamless and that immersive.

Much of the book is concerned with Pepper’s inability to realize she cannot live everyone’s life for them, or be solely responsible for taking care of her family. As a storyteller, Ms. Riley writes movingly on the relationship between Pepper and her father. And she brings our heroine to the understanding that living one’s life is about taking a chance that each day you’ll find a way to make your own happiness. There’s nothing sentimental about this relationship, it’s honest and a perfect portrayal of what one hopes their relationship with their father would be or has been. There is a certain delight in seeing characters outgrow those things that have held them back, it gives this reader hope that all things are always possible.

So, let’s recap, Lia Riley has:

·       Created a heroine, that’s strong, beautiful, and smart.  Who in the end doesn’t give up herself to be with the man she loves.  That gets a A plus plus from me.

·       Created a hero who is a composite of every woman’s fantasy of what a caring, loving, I’m-so-into-you man should be. Whose words will take your breath away. Oh, and I forgot to mention, in the bedroom, it’s all about her. Yeah, he’s good there too.

·       A story with pitch perfect pacing.

·       A book with a sense of humor.

·       And a happy ending.

Lia Riley is a contemporary romance writer with a unique and exceptional voice.

It Happened on Love Street has a wonderful line from the heroine, Pepper Knight – “Her detour to Everland was a shortcut to forever.” I thought this was such a well-placed line encompassing many aspects of the book.  What are some of your memorable or favorite lines from books?

  

Review - - Reed

Reed

By R.C. Ryan

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: April 25, 2017 

Reviewed by Maria Lokken

    

  

Who wouldn’t love a tall, handsome, sensitive, modern-day cowboy?  Particularly one that saved your little boy from hurling head long into on-coming traffic. That’s reason enough for any red-blooded woman to want to get a little closer, find out his name, and hope he asks her to the local watering hole. But, it’s a romance. And we’re going to need a few complications before we get to that drink. Here’s how it plays out:

Reed Malloy, the youngest brother of the Malloys from Montana, is a work obsessed cattle rancher. He’s had his share of women, but nothing permanent.  Reed’s been much too busy working the ranch and tending to their first ever organically raised cattle.

Ally Shaw quit her big government job in Virginia, sold everything she owned and traded it for a more peaceful existence in Glacier Ridge, Montana.  Now she’s focused on getting her business up and running and spending quality time with her four-year-old son Kyle, who by the way is an adorable character. Kyle comes complete with funny quips and great manners. I’d keep him.

Reed is the kind of man any woman would be happy to have in her life, he loves his family, he’s sensitive, smart, intuitive, romantic. Yes, he is the complete package. But Ally’s not just any woman. She’s strong, smart and she’s been burned in love once and is in no hurry to give away her heart again.

When reading a romance, I am guaranteed a happy ending, but I do not expect a smooth journey. And this romance novel has several pitfalls and one rather large mine field that I found surprising and exciting. it wouldn’t be fair of me to reveal much more. Suffice it to say, this author knows how to keep the pages turning with a little mystery here, a red herring there, and lots of romance.

The writing captures a tenderness and warmth that flows off the pages and extends beyond the hero and heroine to an array of secondary characters that make you want to be invited to the Malloys ranch for Thanksgiving dinner.  Each character comes vividly alive - the parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, children and friends - drawing you closer to Reed and Ally through dialogue and action.

This is the third book in the Malloys of Montana series. It’s a tender and warmhearted romance that will keep you smiling long after the last page.

What is your favorite type of hero? Sweet and tender, bad boy, rough and tumble, geek? Or is there another type that makes you sigh?