Keeper of the Keepsakes

I am the first-born and only daughter in a family of five children. With this position comes certain responsibilities, one of which is being the designated repository for family memorabilia. And when I say memorabilia, I mean postcards, report cards, Sunday School certificates, high school musical playbills, newspaper clippings, letters, notes, dress patterns (like the one from the 1940's on the left) and photos. Many, many photos. In fact, thousands of photos. Over the years, I've kept the items stored in plastic bins with new bins added as family members have died and their memorabilia has been added to the repository. That's about to change.

It started with my neighbor. She remodeled her living room which gave me the itch to finally do something with my guest bedroom a/k/a the storage room. I ordered bedroom furniture but then I had to make room for the furniture and that meant diving into the boxes for some heavy-duty sorting and tossing. Remember back in the olden days when we put film in our camera then took the film to the store for processing? Remember the stores that offered double prints? It seemed like a good idea at the time but I have to ask, "Why did I keep two copies of hundreds of photos for more than twenty years?" And that's just the beginning...

I'm still working on the first box but here are a few treasures I've uncovered so far:





A packet of postcards from Georgia that my mom mailed to my brother and me (we were staying with our grandparents) in 1957. Postage was $0.04.

A photo from 1953 of my cousin and me dressed for a special occasion. Love his hat and my cross-body bag! As you can see, the cat is obviously impressed by our fashion style.
















The program from my Junior Prom. I had no idea my mom had saved this. Our theme was "Three Coins in a Fountain." A few months later, I would be throwing coins into the actual Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy.

Mileage Ration stamps for a relative's 1936 Pontiac. My mom also saved one of their food ration books from the WWII years. It brings home the deprivation they endured in a tangible way.



















A birthday card my college-student dad mailed to my mom when they were dating in the late 1940's. The sweet note he wrote inside shows he was definite romance hero material!

Letters from my uncles to my grandparents, sent via Veterans Mail in 1944.









A 1943 receipt for my grandmother's annual dues ($1.00) to her local Rebekah Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. I wasn't familiar with this organization so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Here's what they have to say:

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a global altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the British Oddfellows service organizations of the 18th century.^[ 

The word "Independent" in the organization's name was given by the English parent organization as part of the chartered title of the new North American chapter:

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was founded on the North American Continent in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 26, 1819 when Thomas Wildey and four members of the Order from England instituted Washington Lodge No. 1. This lodge received its charter from Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows in England.^[1]

Odd Fellowship became the first fraternity in the US to include both men and women when it adopted the "Beautiful Rebekah Degree" on September 20, 1851. This degree is based on teachings found in the Christian Bible, and was written by the Honorable Schuyler Colfax who was Vice President of the United States during the period 1868–73. Odd Fellows and Rebekahs were also the first US fraternal organizations to establish homes for senior members and for orphaned children.

Go, Grandma!








A photo of my other grandmother that looks remarkably like me at the same age (at least in my eyes). Love those high tops she's rockin'!

The Official Guidebook from the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair.`Not exactly a politically correct cover by today's standards but I doubt anybody even blinked at it back then.
Note the $0.35 price. It's a pretty thick book.











Those are a few of the unexpected treasures I've uncovered so far. I can't wait to go exploring in Box #2!

Who is the keeper of the keepsakes in your family?

What's your most prized family keepsake?

Did your mom keep a lot of memorabilia from your childhood? If you're a mom, do you do the same for your own children?

Are your keepsakes keeping company with one another in boxes or have you organized them in some way? If you're one of the organized folks, what method are you using? Photo albums? Scrapbooks? Something else?

What do you think? Do I look like my grandmother or do I just look like myself? 

Let's dish!

~PJ


Since some of my favorite keepsakes are books, let's give some away today. One person who leaves a comment (U.S. only) will receive a package of books from my stash!

Meredith Duran Winner

The randomly chosen winner of the three signed books by Meredith Duran is:

catslady

Congratulations!

Please send your full name and mailing address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Blog Tour Review & Giveaway - - Luck Be a Lady

Luck Be a Lady

By Meredith Duran

Publisher: Pocket Books

Release Date: August 25, 2015

Catherine Everleigh and Nick O’Shea were introduced in Meredith Duran’s Lady Be Good. In Luck Be a Lady, they are the lead characters. The most important thing in Catherine’s life is her family’s auction house. Her most cherished childhood memories involve her father’s teaching her the skills employed in maintaining the reputation of Everleigh’s and his pride in her ability to evaluate accurately the items acquired for auction. As an adult, her devotion to Everleigh’s is all-consuming.

But for her, Everleigh’s was everything. Their father’s legacy. Her sacred birthright. Everleigh’s made her who she was – which was not merely a spinster, the “Ice Queen” that rude wits had dubbed her. She was a person of business. An expert in the field of fine arts. A learned professional, regardless of her sex.

Her brother Peter lacks Catherine’s knowledge and integrity; he sees the auction house only as a means to his goal of gaining political power. Catherine knows he is embezzling funds from Everleigh’s to finance his political ambitions. He even threatens to sell the business, but there is little she can do to stop him. She is also wary of his scheme to arrange a marriage for her that will benefit him. Desperate to prevent Peter’s destroying the business she loves, she approaches Nick O’Shea for help. During their conversation, she proposes a marriage of convenience.

Nick O’Shea knows what it is to have nothing, to be nothing in the eyes of those with money and power. He learned at an early age the connection between money and power, and he set his sights on acquiring both. He wasn’t overly particular about how he achieved his goal, but he is powerful enough now to be more businessman than crime lord. He can be ruthless or benevolent as the situation demands, and he is clever enough to know that his power must extend beyond Whitechapel if he is to protect his interests there. As he tells Catherine, “It helps to hold the markers of the men who make the laws.”

The marriage offers mutual benefits, but these benefits are not the usual gains of money or status. Catherine knows that news of her marriage to the notorious Nick O’Shea will damage her brother’s political career, and she offers him her pledge to keep the marriage secret in exchange for control of Everleigh’s and his vote on the Municipal Board of Works. The latter will give Nick the votes he needs to protect his buildings. Initially Catherine’s focus is solidly on protecting the auction house, but Nick has been fascinated by Catherine since his niece secured a position as an Everleigh Girl. Marriage deepens his fascination, and as Catherine discovers Nick is far more than the uneducated ruffian she thought him to be, she struggles to maintain her Ice Queen detachment. But however strong the attraction grows, can it ever be enough to bridge the gulf of social class and experience that separates them?

Once again Meredith Duran gives readers romance with a difference. Cross-class romances are standard fare in romance fiction, but most involve a hero marrying below his class. Romances in which the heroine marries down are less common. Even rarer are such romances in which the higher class protagonist is not an aristocrat. Catherine is not a debutante reared to find a husband with the highest title. Her father started training her to appreciate and evaluate the items that came into the auction house and to see Everleigh’s partnership with artists as service to art before she was seven. Fully aware of her intelligence and committed to her role as a businesswoman, Catherine prefers to remain unmarried.

Despite the fact that by birth and experience Catherine and Nick inhabit different worlds, they are alike in their fierce preservation of the facades they have erected. The facades may be different—hers cold and smoothly polished and his raw power and rough edges—but the images serve to protect their vulnerabilities and preserve them from intimacy. Nick is less isolated and more self-aware than Catherine, and he wants to make Catherine aware of the passionate woman he sees in her. The barriers between them crumble gradually and convincingly. They are both intelligent, complex characters, and watching them fall in love is wonderful, rewarding reading.

In addition to the layered characterization and a compelling central relationship, Luck Be a Lady also includes some delightfully comic scenes. Exchanges between Nick and Catherine prove Duran can do banter with the best in the genre, and the twenty-four-page marriage contract is worth several giggles on its own. But the highlights are the wedding and consummation scenes. The wedding is unique, and the consummation scene manages to combine humor and sizzle. I also found the ending completely satisfying, an increasingly rare experience even with books I like. In other words, this one is a full bells-and-whistles, five-neon-stars recommendation. It’s on my Best of 2015 list.

Luck Be a Lady can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend that you read it with Lady Be Good. The two books were released on consecutive months for good reason. If you love historical romance, you owe it to yourself to read Meredith Duran. She is among the very best. This pair of books is a great place to start, and then you can move to her backlist.

~Janga

 
Have you discovered Meredith Duran's books yet?

Do you have a favorite?

Do you enjoy cross-class romances?

One person who leaves a comment on today's post will receive the following three autographed books by Meredith Duran: Fool Me Twice, Lady Be Good, and Luck Be A Lady. (U.S./Canada only)
 

S&S: 

AMAZON 

B&N 

BAM 

INDIEBOUND 

IBOOKSTORE (ebook) 

KINDLE (ebook)

NOOK (ebook)

GOOGLE PLAY (ebook) 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MEREDITH DURAN is the author of eight previous novels, including The Duke of Shadows (winner of the Gather.com First Chapters Romance Writing Competition); Wicked Becomes You (included on the Woman’s World List of Best Beach Reads for Summer 2010), and the USA TODAY bestseller Fool Me Twice. She blames Anne Boleyn for sparking her lifelong obsession with British history, and for convincing her that princely love is no prize if it doesn’t come with a happily-ever-after. She enjoys collecting old etiquette manuals, guidebooks to nineteenth-century London, and travelogues by intrepid Victorian women. Visit her at MeredithDuran.com, or catch up with her on Twitter: @meredithduran and Facebook: AuthorMeredithDuran.

 BLOG TOUR

8/24       HEROES & HEARTBREAKERS

8/25       TWO CLASSY CHICS

8/26       BOOKTALK WITH EILEEN

8/27       MICHELLE & LESLIE'S BOOK PICKS

8/28       HARLEQUIN JUNKIE

8/31       LIVE TO READ

9/1         MRS LEIF’S TWO FANGS ABOUT IT

9/2         THE LOVELY BOOKS

9/3         WTF ARE YOU READING

9/4         SIMPLY ANGELA

9/5         COFFEE TIME ROMANCE

9/6         THE READING ADDICT BLOGSPOT

9/7         MARTINI TIMES

9/8         BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS

9/8         GOT FICTION

9/9         MICHELLE & LESLIE'S BOOK PICKS

9/9         FRESH FICTION

9/10       NIGHT OWL ROMANCE

9/10       THE LUSTY LITERATE

9/11       THE ROMANCE DISH

9/16       CELTIC LADY'S REVIEWS

9/18       ROMANCING RAKES

9/19       RAMBLINGS FROM THIS CHICK

10/2       ASHLEY'S BOOKSHELF

Harlequin Giveaway: Win a Trip to New York City!

How would you like to win a trip to New York City? 

To celebrate the release of IF YOU ONLY KNEW 

by Kristan Higgins, Harlequin is giving away a 

3-night, 4-day trip for two to New York City, 

including air, hotel and $1,000 in spending money! 

Now that's an awesome giveaway and to make it

even more fun, check out this additional

offer from Kristan's September 6th blog:

"Don’t forget: my publisher is sending one of you and a friend to New York City! Four days and three nights at the beautiful Tribeca Grand Hotel (as featured in IF YOU ONLY KNEW!), travel and a thousand bucks to spend! Plus, if you want, I’ll pop down to the city and take you out to dinner. Make sure you’re on my mailing list! Enter on the home page of my website."  

How do you enter, you may ask? 

Just click on the link below and write, in 100 words or less, 

why you need to escape to New York City with a friend. 

Good luck!

Click to enter 

From New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Kristan Higgins comes her much-anticipated new novel, IF YOU ONLY KNEW, a perceptive and touching story—centered on two sisters and the bittersweet summer that changes their lives forever—that displays all the quirky humor and captivating romance that fans have come to expect from the acclaimed creator of the tremendously popular Blue Heron series. 

When wedding dress designer Jenny Tate finds herself holding the baby of her ex-husband and his seemingly perfect new wife, all she can see is the life she had always imagined for them—but one her ex never did…not with Jenny, anyway.

Wanting to distance herself from the constant reminder of what will never be, Jenny decides to swap Manhattan for a brand-new start in an old place…her hometown up the Hudson River where, at the very least, she’ll have the love and support of her sister Rachel’s solid family to embrace her. Rachel believes she has the idyllic life—stay-at-home mom to young triplets and married to the ideal husband…until the day she accidentally discovers that her “perfect” spouse has been sexting and having an affair with a coworker. Devastated and furious, Rachel finds herself frozen—unable to forgive her husband for ruining their perfect life, yet terrified of losing everything they’ve built. Her parents had a “perfect” marriage, after all, and Rachel won’t accept anything less for herself. But Jenny knows something Rachel doesn’t—a secret she’s kept to herself since childhood, but to reveal it might be the last thing the emotionally fragile Rachel needs.

Amid all the emotional pain and drama, with their worlds upended by revelations of lustful affairs and marital indifference, both Jenny and Rachel must rely on each other as they try to make sense of their screwed-up lives. But for any chance at future happiness, they must first come to terms with the truth behind not only their marriages, but themselves, as well.

IF YOU ONLY KNEW 

KRISTAN HIGGINS 

$14.95 U.S./$17.95 CAN. ISBN-13: 978-0-373-78497-4

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author and two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, Kristan lives with her family in a small Connecticut town that boasts a wonderful library, a great agricultural fair, a really good ice-cream stand and not much else. She is the mother of two lovely kids and the wife of a brave firefighter who is also (perhaps more important) a fantastic cook. Previously a copywriter, Kristan began writing fiction when her children graced her life with simultaneous afternoon naps. Writing, she found, was infinitely more satisfying than folding laundry, and so began her first novel. Kristan holds a BA in English from the College of the Holy Cross, which means she can identify dangling participles, quote many great novels and play a mean game of Scrabble. Kristan is an award-winning baker, devoted fan of the New York Yankees and an avid reader. She and her crew spend as much time as possible at the family home on Cape Cod, where they shiver in the Atlantic, ride bikes, swat horseflies and don’t catch any fish.

Kristan is an award-winning baker, devoted fan of the New York Yankees and an avid reader. She and her crew spend as much time as possible at the family home on Cape Cod, where they shiver in the Atlantic, ride bikes, swat horseflies and don’t catch any fish.

Click here to visit Kristan Higgins' website.

Click here to sign up for Kristan Higgins' newsletter.

Click here to read an excerpt from IF YOU ONLY KNEW.

Click here to like Kristan Higgins' Facebook page.

Review - - Wildest Dreams

Wildest Dreams
By Robyn Carr
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: August 25, 2015

Professional triathlete Blake Smiley has searched the country for the perfect place to put down roots - roots he's never before had - finally settling on a beautiful house overlooking the water in Thunder Point, Oregon. He's looking forward to the training opportunities the location affords as well as the serenity of the small town where he can focus without distractions. Thunder Point seems like the perfect place to wind down his competitive career as he begins the transition to running his foundation full-time. What he doesn't anticipate is a family of retired Olympic athletes next door, a young boy who steals his heart and an undeniable attraction to the boy's mother.

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Simmons aches to break free of his mom's restrictions. Once a sickly baby with life-threatening asthma, Charlie's illness is controlled by medication though he still has to be watchful. His mom insists he spend his days quietly, sitting on the steps with his computer, but Charlie longs to run, swim and bike like other teens. Lin Su Simmons is a home health nurse working for Winnie Banks. Winnie and Charlie have become thick as thieves and Charlie has spent his summer days at the Banks home overlooking the water in Thunder Point, at Winnie's insistence. When Blake Smiley moves into the house next door with his million-dollar bike, Charlie seizes the opportunity to meet the athlete, hoping that he might share some of his training knowledge. Charlie does not intend to spend his days watching life pass him by, no matter what his mom says.

Lin Su Simmons has a complicated history, one she refuses to discuss, even with her son. She's a proud woman who holds herself apart from others. She put herself through school, works hard, and is a dedicated single mother. Perhaps, too dedicated. Charlie is her whole life and, in her opinion, there's no need to add anyone else to the mix, especially the good-looking athlete next door who is filling Charlie's head with dangerous ideas about riding bikes and working out. It doesn't matter that Blake finds her attractive or that she feels the same or that others think they are perfect for one another. Lin Su's heart is surrounded by solid steel and breaking through that barrier is going to be the toughest challenge Blake has ever faced.

Speaking of tough challenges, reviewing Wildest Dreams was one for me. Let's start with the positives. I'm a fan of Carr's Thunder Point books. I enjoy the community aspect of the series and the opportunity to catch up with current residents while also meeting new ones in each book. That holds true for Wildest Dreams. I adored both Blake and Charlie. Blake is a self-made man who came from abject poverty. He's caring, compassionate and gives so much of himself to help disadvantaged young people. Charlie squeezed my heart on a regular basis with his desire to live life and not be relegated to the sidelines. I enjoyed their interactions and looked forward to each time they graced the pages. Winnie Banks, a prominent character in this book, continues to deal with the effects of her declining health due to ALS and Carr's handling of this storyline is both poignant and empowering. Winnie's scenes with Charlie as well as those with her daughter's former coach, Mikhail are among my favorites.

What I did not enjoy was Lin Su. I understand that she's had a difficult life and I appreciate her concern for her child but I found her to be controlling, judgmental, and inflexible, not just with Blake and Charlie but with everyone. I had a hard time buying into Blake and Lin Su's HEA and found myself feeling sorry for Blake that she was the person his heart had chosen. If not for Charlie, I would have told him to run as far and as fast as he could.

It's a testament to Carr's writing that I still enjoyed this book, even with my intense dislike of the heroine. Also, just because I didn't like Lin Su and didn't buy into her romantic chemistry with Blake doesn't mean others will feel the same. I'm sure there are many readers out there who do not share my opinion.

~PJ

Review - - Not Always a Saint

Not Always a Saint

By Mary Jo Putney

Publisher: Kensington

Release Date: August 25, 2015

Although life is lonelier since his sister Laurel reconciled with her husband (Not Quite a Wife), Daniel Herbert still finds great satisfaction in his medical practice at the infirmary he and Laurel founded in Bristol. That life is threatened when he unexpectedly inherits a title and all the responsibilities that go with it. Daniel finds comfort in the assurances of his brother-in-law, James, Lord Kirkland, that becoming Baron Romayne does not mean the end of Daniel’s medical career. Indeed, Kirkland reminds Daniel that the fortune that came with the title can be used to build more infirmaries and fund medical training for promising but impecunious young men. At Kirkland’s invitation, Daniel accompanies him to London to take his place in society.

Since the death of his betrothed a few weeks before their wedding, Daniel has given no thought to marriage, but he decides to look for a wife while he is in London, preferably one with sufficient knowledge of estate management to leave Daniel free to treat the sick. He seeks a mature bride who is not too fond of London society, and he is emphatic that she be “reasonably attractive but not beautiful because beauties require too much attention.”  But his requirements are forgotten in an instant when he sees the beautiful Black Widow, Jessie Kelham: “She radiated mystery, sensuality—and danger. She looked like original sin—and he craved that promise of reckless passion as intensely as Adam had craved Eve’s apple.”

Daniel fails to recognize Jessie as the battered woman he had treated in his Bristol clinic several years earlier, but Jessie knows immediately that he is the doctor who helped her when she was at her most desperate. It was thanks to the aid that Daniel and Laurel gave her that Jessie was able to flee Bristol and create a new life for herself. Eventually she married Philip, Baron Kelham, and found in her marriage to the much older Kelham a happiness and security she had never before known. But Kelham’s recent death left Jessie vulnerable once again. Frederick, Kelham’s nephew, furious that the title and entailed property he expected to inherit, through an ancient barony of writ recently uncovered, instead has gone to his uncle’s four-year-old daughter, threatens to sue for guardianship of Beth, claiming that Jessie as a former actress is unfit to bring up her daughter..  Kelham’s lawyer advises Jessie to remarry a husband with reputation and influence enough to ensure that the court will rule in Jessie’s favor if Frederick follows through with his threat.

Like Daniel, Jessie is in London to find a spouse. Like Daniel, she has definite qualities in mind. She wants an older husband who possesses the kindness and wisdom she found in Philip. Twice betrayed by youthful passion, she is particularly wary of men of her generation for whom she feels a strong attraction. Daniel is unsuitable for these reasons, but he is even more unsuitable because if he remembers her from their earlier meeting, he can link Jessie to the life she fled and memories that still fill her with terror.

She refuses Daniel at first, but when the two are discovered in a compromising situation, marriage to Daniel offers the only way to avoid a scandal that would benefit the vicious Frederick. Just as happiness seems within the reach of this deserving pair, danger from an unexpected source menaces their future.

This is a book I have eagerly awaited since I turned the final page of Not Quite a Wife, and I am happy to report that it exceeded my expectations. Putney has indicated in the past that she finds the alpha/beta tags unsatisfactory, preferring to describe her heroes as “warrior poets.” Nevertheless, I suspect most readers will see Daniel as a beta hero. Regardless of labels, he is a rare hero, complex and likeable with a strong sense of honor, a compassionate heart, and a clear vocation in the fullest sense of that word. He is a good and decent man, but he is a far cry from the stereotypical pallid saint. He is a fully dimensional character with fears and regrets and as much passion as piety.

Having fallen for Daniel in Laurel and Kirkland’s book, I was particularly interested to see what kind of heroine Putney would give him. Jessie is as unusual in her way as Daniel is in his. A beautiful woman whose beauty for most of her life has led to abuse and exploitation, she has little sense of her own worth. Despite having been a victim, she has developed surprising strength and is fierce in her determination to protect her daughter. Beginning with some of her earliest books, Putney has integrated social issues into her stories in interesting and realistic ways. She does so once again in this book by using Jessie’s situation to show how vulnerable women were physically, psychologically, and legally in a world that saw them as the property of males.

If you like historical romance that combines character-driven stories with intense action and historical accuracy, I highly recommend this book. I never miss an MJP book, and I loved seeing characters from earlier Lost Lords books appear in this one. I was especially pleased to see Lady Agnes again. (I’d love to know more of her history.) But I think Not Always a Saint can be read as a standalone, although reading it after at least Not Quite a Wife likely provides a richer reading experience.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Lost Lords series and was sorry to learn that this book, the seventh Lost Lords book, marks the official end of the series. However, I am delighted that MJP’s new series, Rogues Redeemed, is a spinoff from the Lost Lords. Will Masterson, half-brother of Damian Mackenzie (hero of Nowhere Near Respectable, Lost Lords #3) will be the hero of Once a Soldier, the first book in the new series. Look for it in 2016. For readers like me who are intrigued by Gordon, Lady Agnes’s one failure and a minor but significant character in Not Always a Saint, I have it on the best authority that we will see more of him in the new series. The first book is not yet available for pre-order, but I’m already hooked on the series.

~Janga

Review - - Brown Eyed Girl

Brown-Eyed Girl

By Lisa Kleypas

Publisher: St. Martin’s
Release Date: August 11, 2015

Avery Crosslin left New York City and a not-very successful career as a designer of wedding dresses to start an event planning business in Houston with the half-sister she discovered only when they were the only two offspring of their father’s many marriages to show up at his deathbed. After three years, their business is finally taking off. Avery has high hopes that the wedding they have planned for the daughter of one wealthy client will lead to more work among the city’s elite. She’s prepared for everything except battling a scorpion. When her trusty glue gun proves an ineffective weapon, a man hot enough to melt even Avery’s reinforced defenses comes to her rescue. Noting his professional-looking camera, she concludes that he is an extra photographer. When he identifies himself as a wedding guest, Avery is embarrassed by her mistake. But when she learns that he is one of “those Travises,” she is certain he is out of her league.

Joe Travis is both a professional photographer with a growing reputation and the youngest of the three sons of the late Texas magnate Churchill Travis. From the moment they meet, he is interested in Avery, and he refuses to be discouraged by her attempts to avoid him. Avery allows herself to be persuaded to share a post-wedding evening with Joe, although she has no interest in a relationship. She tells Joe this, but he is persistent. The combination of the Travis charm and the memories of that one night eventually erode Avery’s resistance. But Joe wants a commitment, and Avery has been burned too often by men who leave her to risk her heart.

It has been more than six years since the third book in Kleypas’s first contemporary series was published, six years with fans eager for the story of Joe Travis, brother of Gage (Sugar Daddy), Haven (Blue-Eyed Devil), and Jack (Smooth Talking Stranger). Expectations have been building since Kleypas announced that she was writing Joe’s book. Perhaps those expectations were impossibly high. I admit to being disappointed. Brown-Eyed Girl is a good book. It has Kleypas’s usual lovely writing, and fans of the series will enjoy glimpses of other Travis couples. But this book lacks the indefinable special quality that made the other three books outstanding.

Joe Travis himself was not a disappointment. Some readers may be less than thrilled that his alpha characteristics are muted, but readers who have a fondness for beta heroes (as I do) will adore him. Joe is a man confident with himself and with what he wants from life. He knows from the beginning that he wants Avery, and he never wavers. He is convinced that what they found together that one night was extraordinary. He sees past the prickly façade that Avery has created, but she has a difficult time believing that he sees her as beautiful and desirable.

Clearly Avery has issues. Neither of her parents was able to commit to a long-term relationship, and her father’s role in her life particularly was defined by his absence. She thought she had found a man who loved her when she became engaged after four years with her boyfriend, but he jilted her on their wedding day. A full-figured woman in a culture that defines female beauty as slender bodies in low-digit sizes, she hides her body in unflattering styles that are too old for her. She can’t trust Joe’s feelings for her. She persists in seeing what they have as temporary.

I wanted him. Every part of me wanted him. We were alone, and the rest of the world was far away, and I knew somehow that if I slept with him, it would be extraordinary. To a woman who’d lived twenty-seven years of ordinary, one night with a man like this didn’t seem too much to ask.

Avery’s attitude was logical given the realities of her life, but I grew tired of her entrenched position. It is not until late in the story that she seems to see Joe with the clarity with which he views her. There’s so little conflict that she has to maintain her position to keep the story going, but it felt forced to me.

However, the secondary romance between Avery’s half-sister and business partner Sofia and Steven, Avery’s assistant, was wonderful. It had the energy and the conflict that was missing in the primary relationship as well as some delightful humor. I also liked the interactions between Avery and Sofia. And as a rereader of the first three Travis books, I fully enjoyed seeing the couples from those books.

Overall, I rank this book as a novel with wonderful moments rather than as a wonderful book. Nevertheless, it is still Kleypas, and even with its flaws, it is better than many of the books I read. I’m not sure if Kleypas intended Ryan Chase, the Travis cousin introduced in Brown-Eyed Girl, to start readers dreaming of one more Travis novel, but I am sure that I am not the only reader to see hero potential in Ryan.

If you are a fan of Kleypas’s contemporaries, I recommend this book, but with the caveat that it may not measure up to the other books in the series.

~Janga

Review - - Melting Point

Melting Point  
(a Hot in Chicago novella)
By Kate Meader
Publisher: Pocket Star
Release Date: August 31, 2015

Gage Simpson, youngest of the firefighting Dempsey foster siblings, is the golden boy of Chicago's Engine Company 6. Blonde, blue-eyed, and always ready for a good time, Gage has the looks, smile and rock-hard body that stop men - and women - in their tracks. When he's introduced to Brady Smith, the owner of the hottest new restaurant in Chicago, his only goal is to get the man naked and start a few fires of the personal variety. Be careful what you wish for, Gage.

At no point in his life could Brady Smith ever have been accused of having a light and sunny personality but since returning from Afghanistan the former Marine has been immersed in darkness. Sex with Gage - on Brady's terms - is fine for the hot new chef and restaurant owner but at the first hint of deeper feelings he shuts down and runs the other way.

When an accident brings Gage back into Brady's life and painkillers lower Brady's guard enough to give Gage a glimpse into his real feelings, it gives them the second chance both want but they are still a long way from a relationship. Both men have painful pasts with fears, vulnerabilities, and deep emotional wounds, even though Gage has done a good job of hiding his beneath his easy-going, party-boy exterior.

I fell for Brady and Gage while reading Flirting With Fire and am so glad Kate Meader decided to write their story. I'm also glad she didn't take any easy roads with them. They needed to walk through the fire (pun intended), baring themselves emotionally as well as physically, and facing their painful pasts for the healing to begin. Only then would they have a chance to move forward...together.

I don't normally read M/M romance but I wanted Gage's story from the moment he strutted onto the pages of Flirting With Fire, the first book in Meader's Hot in Chicago series and Melting Point did not let me down. The chemistry between Gage and Brady is scorching with sex that is off-the-charts hot but it's the emotional intensity, the sweetness, and the caring between these two strong but vulnerable men that captured my heart. I just finished reading their story and all I want to do now is go back to the beginning and read it all over again.

Melting Point is good on its own but for a deeper understanding of these characters and a richer, more complete reading experience, I recommend reading Flirting With Fire (Luke and Kinsey's story) first. Then you can join my countdown to the next Hot in Chicago book, Playing With Fire (out Sept. 29th) which tells the story of Gage's firefighting sister, Alex and sexy Chicago mayor, Eli Cooper. I can't wait!

~PJ

Review - - When a Scot Ties the Knot

WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT

By Tessa Dare

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: August 25, 2015

We all knew way back when the first Avon Fanlit contest happened, Tessa Dare was going to be a name we were going to know as well as we knew Eloisa James or Julia Quinn. While Tessa Dare stole my heart (and a place on my auto-buy list) with her Spindle Cove series, when she introduced her new series about damsels who inherit castles, the idea just titillated me. A castle. I mean, you know a castle must come with a library, and bitches love libraries. It was the sort of escapist idea I immediately embraced, identified with all the characters, and fell in love with just how brilliantly Tessa Dare makes me forget time, obligations, and housekeeping.

WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT is the third in this delectable series; and as is my way, I preordered and received my book the day of release. I took it with me to lunch, curling up on the chair and laughing like a hyena on the first page. Two grad students checked to make sure I was okay; I snorted at them and waved them away, never lifting my eyes from the book. The next day, at lunch, I continued snickering and if asked, telling people about this book. The Thursday after the release, I got a massage and told my masseuse about the book—and when she said it sounded good—I gave her my copy because by then I had received a free review copy and could finish it when I got home. I hope she loves it as much as I did. I hope you do too!

Maddie, our intrepid heroine, is a panic-attack-ridden SHY artist; and on her 16^th year, when she is “threatened” by the prospect of a glorious London season, she does the unthinkable: she invents a fiancé. A mysterious soldier who is off fighting for home and hearth—and she couldn’t imagine finding anyone else and thus participating in a London season. It worked—Maddie was as amazed as the rest of us—and then she had to keep up the pretense for five years, when she decided she needed him to be “killed off” so she could get the family to stop bugging her about when he was coming home. (Details. Tsk.) While she is keeping up the pretense, she had to write letters—for five years—to the fictitious Captain Logan MacKenzie, the love of her life.

Maddie inherits a castle and is saved from coming out of mourning and having to find a husband. In fact, at her castle, she’s quite content with her life. She lives with her beloved Aunt Thea and works on her illustrations. Her greatest ambition in life is to do illustrations of nature for an encyclopedia. Currently, she is keeping two lobsters, waiting for them to mate, so she can draw the illustrations for the Big Event.

Let that sink in. Our heroine wants to draw her pet lobsters copulating.

But this perfectly ordinary (if eccentric) world is disrupted when her fictitious fiancé returns from the dead, taking up all the room in the parlor with his six foot plus, two hundred plus, brawny, hairy, Scottish self. She is even more flummoxed when he demands she make good on their promise to be married. If she refuses, he’ll have all her sent letters published, humiliating her and her family with her web of lies. 

She decides to marry him, in name only, at least long enough to find said letters and burn them; but meanwhile, she has to contend with his ragtag group of soldiers who become more endearing than a batch of mutt puppies, an inexplicable attraction to a man she never imagined existed and who is irking her every minute of the day to protect his own, and make sure no one figures out about her web of lies, which of course, she’s covering with another web of lies.

There were scenes in this book that made me go, “Really? Why is this scene here?” (because you do that as a writer) and then voila, it all made sense. It was really quite a miracle. Yes, this book has the sort of silliness Dare is known for doing; and it also has the emotional and intense vulnerability for which Dare is also known. And who knew a lobster could be such a perfect metaphor and foil for our shy heroine? It was just brilliant.

For me, it’s a Top Dish. Enjoy!

~Hellie

Tasty Bites of Western Romance

People who follow my posts know that I have a particular fondness for novellas. While I love full-length books that I leisurely read over a period of several days, there are times when I need that quick beginning-to-end satisfaction that a novella offers. Set that novella in the historic American West, with resilient heroines, tough but tender heroes, a dash of humor, a hint of danger, and a happy-ever-after and you have made me one very delighted reader. In the following three novellas, that's exactly what Tracy Garrett has accomplished.

COMING HOME
By Tracy Garrett
Publisher: Prairie Rose Publications
Release Date: December 4, 2014
Release Date: January 13, 2014 (as part of the Hearts and Spurs anthology)

River's Bend, Missouri - - 1853

Instead of the joyous reunion she had been anticipating, school teacher Maryland (Mary) Henry arrives in River's Bend to collect her three orphaned nieces after their parents are killed when outlaws attack their wagon train. She plans a quick trip; meet her nieces, gather their belongings, then return with them to the town where she has been living and teaching since her cad of a fiance abandoned her at the altar. When circumstances change, Mary finds herself dependent on the mercy of the citizens of River's Bend and, in particular, former U.S. Marshal Jericho Hawken, the man who rescued her nieces...the man Mary holds responsible for the deaths of their parents.

Mary isn't the only one who holds Jericho responsible for the wagon train deaths. Hired as extra security, it was Jericho's job to keep those people safe and the fact that he didn't haunts him. He's determined to do whatever he can to help Mary and her nieces, girls he came to know well during their time on the trail, and equally determined to track down and bring to justice the outlaw who robbed them of their parents.  

As Mary and the girls settle into life in River's Bend, in the home Jericho has opened to them, Mary slowly comes to know the inner man and her initial feelings about him begin to soften, clearing the way for other, deeper feelings to appear. And Jericho, who had despaired of ever being blessed with the family for which he yearns, begins to hope that, with Mary and the girls, that dream may finally come to be. But danger lurks and only when a murderer is finally brought to justice will this family be free. Only one question remains: will the Marshal rescue the fair maidens or will they rescue him?

NO LESS THAN FOREVER
By Tracy Garrett
Publisher: Prairie Rose Publications
Release Date: July 24, 2015 (as half of A River's Bend Duo)
Release Date: May 18, 2014 (as part of the Lassoing a Bride anthology)

River's Bend, Missouri - - 1854


Dr. Franz Bittner has many friends in River's Bend. While not a native of the small town, the German immigrant is respected and well liked. He enjoys his work and the home he shares with his sister. He's never really felt the need for more...until the night when the body of a young woman, beaten within an inch of her life, is found in the river. 

Rebekah Snow Redmann may have been born into a prominent family back East but her life of privilege came to an abrupt end when her father, a well-known judge, gave her to a terrible man as payment for gambling debts. Her life since then has been filled with pain and abuse. She knows she has no rights under the law. If she's found, she'll be forced to return to the husband who tried to kill her but she would rather die than go back, especially after experiencing the gentle care and friendship of Dr. Bittner. 

As her body slowly heals and her friendship with Franz deepens, they both dream of a life together but a would-be killer - who happens to be her husband - stands between them. In the end, it will take trust, courage and faith in their feelings for one another to win the day.

WANTED: THE SHERIFF
By Tracy Garrett
Publisher: Prairie Rose Publications
Release Date: July 24, 2015 (as half of A River's Bend Duo)
Release Date: May 18, 2015 (as part of the Lassoing a Groom anthology)






Sheriff Matthew Tate left his wealthy Boston family behind and has made a good life for himself in the small Missouri town of River's Bend. The confirmed bachelor has a nice home, all the creature comforts his wealth can buy, and none of the matchmaking mamas of Boston society. He enjoys his job and the company of friends, often sharing meals with Franz Bittner and his sister, Martha - a good friend who creates magic in the kitchen. Even though his good friend, Jericho recently fell in love and married, Matt doesn't feel there is anything lacking in his life. A determined woman is about to change that.

Martha Bittner is twenty-seven, single, and her brother's cook, housekeeper, and medical assistant. She is also in love with Sheriff Matthew Tate and has been since moving to River's Bend four years ago. She's not getting any younger. With the town's first annual spring dance on the horizon, the time has come to take a stand and show the Sheriff exactly what he's missing.

I so enjoyed watching the courting dance between Matt and Martha, especially how Martha blossoms once her course is set and Matt's vulnerability when it came to Martha's feelings for him. Then there's this: "His library was comfortably sized with bookshelves on two walls, from floor to high plastered ceiling. Arranged on them was every book he'd ever purchased or been given in his life. Books were his first love. He couldn't imagine parting with a single one." How could I not fall in love with this book-loving, peace-keeping hero? 


I've enjoyed my visits to Tracy Garrett's town of River's Bend where sweet love flourishes as hardy souls build new lives for themselves amidst the frequent life and death struggles of life on the frontier. I'm hopeful that she will take readers back there in the future. A certain missing sister has a story I want to read! 

~PJ