Guest Review - - Everywhere She Goes

Everywhere She Goes

By Janice Kay Johnson

Publisher: Harlequin (Superromance)

Release Date: January 7, 2014

Cait McAllister, a graduate student in urban design and planning, broke up with an abusive boyfriend who refused to accept that she had left him. Frightened by his anger and the physical threat he posed, she applied for a job as community developer in Angel Butte, Oregon, the town where her older brother Colin and his wife, the former Maddie Dubeau, live (Bringing Maddie Home, 2013). Cait was a child when she left Angel Butte with her mother, leaving Colin and their father behind. Despite Colin’s efforts, he and Cait have a distant relationship, but Cait is feeling vulnerable now. A protective big brother who is also a cop seems like a good ally in the circumstances.

Noah Chandler, restaurateur and mayor of Angel Butte, is finding his elective office a bigger headache than he expected. He’s dealing with the fallout of recently revealed corruption in the police department and trying to move his town into the twenty-first century. He is concerned about finding the best people for city positions. Noah knows Cait is trouble from his first glimpse of her. She’s overqualified for the job, and the immediate attraction he feels could be a problem in an employer-employee relationship. He hires her anyway because she promises to be good for the town and because he can’t stop thinking about her. When he discovers she is being stalked and threatened by an ex-boyfriend, Noah becomes even more protective than Colin.

Cait and Noah both have some heavy baggage. Cait, with an abusive father in her past, is ashamed that neither experience nor intelligence kept her from becoming entangled in another abusive relationship. She has sworn off men for the time being. Noah, whose problems with his parents make him believe he is unworthy of being loved, avoids commitment. Yet none of these barriers are enough to prevent the two from becoming lovers. However, their inability to fully trust one another and the antagonism between Noah and Colin, who blames Noah for giving the police chief job Colin expected to be his to an outsider, complicate their relationship. But when Cait’s childhood memories lead to murders, recent and past, keeping her safe takes precedent, especially when it turns out that the threatening ex may not be the one determined to kill her.

Everywhere She Goes is the second book in Johnson’s romantic suspense series set in a town that may be small but, with its drug trafficking, political corruption, and murder, is anything but warm and cozy. Cait and Noah are complex, flawed, richly human characters, and Johnson manages to keep their relationship central to the story while maintaining the tension in the mystery plot. I really liked that Noah is a super sexy hero who is not conventionally good looking. I also found the look at small-town politics interesting.

Although Colin and Nell/Maddie are significant secondary characters in this book, it is not necessary to have read the first book to follow Cait and Noah’s story. I don’t read a great deal of romantic suspense, but I’m a fan of Johnson’s storytelling and characterization. Everywhere She Goes showcases these skills, and it kept me turning pages long after I should have been asleep. If you are a romantic suspense fan, or if you just like compelling stories, I recommend this book.

There are two secondary characters that I found intriguing, Angel Butte’s new police chief, Alex Raynor, and a female cop, Jane Vahalik. Alex’s story, All a Man Is, will be released  March 1, 2014, and Jane’s story will follow in July. I look forward to them. I never miss a JKJ book.

~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com

Guest Review - - Sweetest Mistake

Sweetest Mistake

By Candis Terry

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: December 31, 2013

Jackson Wilder and Abigail Morgan grew up together in Sweet, Texas. The Wilders made Abby feel like one of the family and gave her a sense of stability that her own materialistic, irresponsible parents did not. Abby loved all the Wilders, but her relationship with Jackson was special. They were best friends--sharing adventures and confidences, giving one another advice, and being present for one another in the needy moments. A few times their relationship moved to a more intimate level, but, afraid of jeopardizing their rare friendship, they always retreated to the familiar roles, viewing their time together as lovers as moments out of time, the one thing they could not talk about.

Abby kissed her friend Jackson goodbye when he headed off to war, and then she left town. Jackson never heard from her, not when he was in danger daily in Afghanistan, not when his brother Jared was killed in action, and not when his father died. He feels betrayed and angry by Abby’s disappearance from his life, but he has never forgotten her. Now, nearly seven years after she left, Abby is back in Sweet to prepare her parents' house for sale, and Jackson wants some answers. However, every meeting with Abby leads to another meeting and raises more questions for both of them. The only things they are certain of are the still-strong link their history forged between them and the still-explosive chemistry they share.

Reunited lovers and friends–to-lovers are two of my favorite tropes, and Candis Terry offers readers both in this book. While the story picks up at the point of reunion, Terry supplies enough details about Jackson and Abby’s past for readers to understand how rich and multi-layered the history between them is. I particularly liked that these characters are not frozen in time during the seven years that they are apart. They both try to create lives in which the other has no place, and they both make mistakes in choosing a marriage partner.

Abby tries on her parents’ values for size and marries a man who is fabulously wealthy and socially prominent, but it doesn’t take her long to discover that the things her parents covet leave her feeling empty when there is no real love or communication between her and her shallow husband who is more interested in image than in substance. Jackson marries a woman he loves, a good person with whom he has a child that they both adore, but he finds that loving and being in love are not the same thing. One of my favorite scenes shows him patiently allowing his three-year-old daughter to put hair accessories in his hair and makeup on him. Only a doting father who is totally secure in his masculinity would do that. I also really like that Abby and Jackson acknowledge their mistakes. While they each feel that the other contributed to their separation, neither tries to avoid his/her own responsibility. In other words, they have become grown-ups.

What separates Jackson and Abby is a misunderstanding of how the other feels that could have been cleared up with some honest communication. Usually such misunderstandings have me closing the book and muttering imprecations, but Abby and Jackson are young and they value the friendship that has been important to them for much of their lives. Both these factors make me willing to accept the misunderstanding as more than a weak plot point.

Terry has a gift for creating small towns that feel real. I liked her Sugar Shack series, but I think the Sweet series is even better. The widowed Jana Wilder and her sons are all characters with a high credibility quotient and strong appeal, and Joe and Jared, whose deaths occur before the series begins, have a real presence in the books and in the hearts of the surviving Wilders. I’m eager to see the remaining brothers, Jesse and Jake, earn their HEAs, and I am equally invested in seeing the hints of Jana’s romance developed.

If you are a fan of small-town romances with emotionally engaging stories and characters who will win your affection, I recommend Sweetest Mistake. The first book in the series, Anything But Sweet (Reno’s story) is also a good read, one with a rich vein of humor. Jesse’s story, Something Sweeter, will be released on June 24. It’s on my list for 2014.

~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com

Today's Special - - Jennifer Bernard

Author photo by Dylan Patrick Photography 

It's my pleasure to welcome contemporary romance author Jennifer Bernard to the Romance Dish today. Jennifer has had an interesting journey to her current romance author profession.  A self-admitted geek with parents who didn't understand her love of romance fiction, Jennifer nonetheless inhaled books by Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Victoria Holt and more from an early age.  After graduating from Harvard with a degree in History and Literature, Jennifer worked for Macmillan Publishing writing encyclopedia updates then moved to a fishing island in Maine where she wrote screenplays with her college roommate. She eventually ended up in Los Angeles where she wrote news copy, screenplays and short stories.  It was during a difficult time in her life that she turned to romance novels for comfort and, for the first time, considered focusing her writing talents in that direction.  She now writes contemporary romances about sexy firemen for Avon.  You can find more information about Jennifer and her books at her website.  

Please give Jennifer a warm welcome.  

When your good friend calls you up and says, “Hey, I went to a fireman bachelor auction and bid on a firehouse dinner! Want to come with me?” … it’s hard to say ‘no.’ I’d always had a secret crush on those strong guys whizzing past in their shiny engines. In my mind, they were the perfect manly-men, daring, gutsy masters of the elements – fire, water, chemistry. Especially chemistry. Lord have mercy, they were sexy in their turnouts!

But how could real-life firefighters sitting around a dinner table measure up to what my fantasy had created? I worried about having my illusions destroyed, but decided it was worth the risk.

Little did I know that one dinner would end up changing my life completely; that my writing career would be born that night.

It was such a fun dinner, and it completely upended all my expectations about firefighters. They were down-to-earth, gracious, eager to show us around, delighted to tell us about the pranks they liked to pull on each other. Their dedication to their work and their pride in their firehouse shone through in everything they did. And the food was fantastic! Those guys could really cook.

Fast forward to three years later, when I’d finally decided to try my hand at writing my favorite genre, romance. That dinner came back to me, those fun, brave guys, and I knew my hero absolutely had to be a fireman. And since he worked at a firehouse filled with other handsome firemen, it cried out to become a series. And so the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel were born.

Of course I had to pay tribute to the original inspiration by including a bachelor auction. That’s how my first hero, Captain Brody, met the love of his life, Melissa. In my latest novella, DESPERATELY SEEKING FIREMAN, they’re back, along with another captain at the firehouse, Jeb Stone, who gets stranded on an island with beautiful press secretary Nita Moreno.

The moral of the story is, if you ever get invited to a firehouse dinner, don’t hesitate. Say yes. I can guarantee you won’t regret it.  

Readers, have you ever attended a firehouse dinner?  

Are you a fan of firefighter heroes?  

What do you think it is about a man in uniform that draws in readers?  

Have you read Jennifer's Bachelor Firemen books?  Do you have a favorite?  

One randomly chosen person leaving a comment will win a copy of the first book in Jennifer's Bachelor Firemen series, The Fireman Who Loved Me.

Today's Special - - Allie Burton

We're delighted to welcome Young Adult author, Allie Burton back to the Romance Dish. Allie didn’t realize having so many jobs would become great research material for the stories she writes. She has been everything from a fitting room attendant to a bike police officer to a professional mascot escort. She has lived on three continents and in four states and has studied art, fashion design, marine biology, and advertising.

When her kids asked, “when are you going to write a story we can read?” she switched from adult novels to Young Adult and Middle Grade and hasn’t looked back.

Allie is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, Romance Writers of America including the Young Adult, Dallas Area Romance Writers and Heart of the Rockies chapters. She is also a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Currently, she lives in Colorado with her husband and two children.

www.allieburton.com

www.twitter.com/Allie_Burton

www.Facebook.com/AllieBurtonAuthor

Why Take A Risk On A New Author?

            Picture yourself on your last birthday. Balloons, a big cake, and lots of shiny wrapped presents. You were curious and excited about what was inside the gifts.

Think of a new author or a new book the same way.

            The book cover is shiny and new, like a present waiting to be opened. And inside thousands of words are strung together like ribbons tied around your gift. The words promise to entertain and delight. Or to scare and terrify. Or to romance you off of your feet. It is a surprise present to yourself.

            Not that you would pick any book off the shelf and start reading. There are things to consider like

the genre. In the case of SOUL SLAM, it’s a mix of romance, adventure, and mystery. Three genres in one.

You also should look at the subject of the book. Do you find it interesting? SOUL SLAM combines Egyptian history and mythology, secret societies, mysterious powers, and love.

Let’s not forget about the promise of the book. Whether it’s a who-done-it or an edge-of-the-seat suspense, do you want what the author is promising? The ride of your life? A mystery you must puzzle out? A happy ending?

If you like all of those about the book and are curious, go ahead and read a few pages. You may be surprised. So, take a risk and give a new author a shot.

Thanks so much for hosting me!

Have you picked up any books by new-to-you authors and been happily surprised?

Allie is giving away one e-copy of Soul Slam to a randomly chosen person who leaves a comment on today's blog.  

Allie is also running a contest on her website for people who sign up for her newsletter.  If she reaches 100 subscribers, one person will be chosen to win a Kindle.  

Soul Slam

Soul Force Book 1

A sixteen-year-old on her first heist to steal an ancient Egyptian amulet inadvertently receives the soul of King Tut…and the deadly curse that comes with it.

            And Olivia is not alone at the museum.

            A member of a secret society, Xander believes it is his place to inherit King Tut’s soul and justly rule. He knows nothing about the society’s evil plan to control the world or the curse. Now, he must deal with the female imposter who stole the amulet.

            Xander convinces Olivia they must form a temporary partnership. The two teens develop a connection, and together they must figure out how to end the curse before it turns deadly. On the run, unable to touch because of the curse, and managing the male soul inside her female body, Olivia must learn to trust Xander.

As the mystery surrounding the amulet unfolds, Olivia and Xander start to fall for each other. But is love enough to save them and the world from destruction? 

Blog Tour Review - - Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard

Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard
By Vanessa Kelly
Publisher: Zebra Books
Release Date:  January 7, 2014

Though acknowledged as the youngest son of Lord and Lady Thornbury, it's a well known "secret" within the ton that Captain Aden St. George is actually the product of an extra-marital liaison between his mother and the Prince Regent.  In effect, a Royal bastard, a fact that the late Lord Thornbury never let him forget.  Despised by his "father" and emotionally abandoned by his mother, Aden learned early to hold himself apart from the messy emotions that accompany relationships, a trait that makes him perfect for Sir Dominic's secret agents of the Crown.  But after several years working undercover throughout Europe and a recent mission gone wrong, Aden has returned to England weary in spirit and re-thinking his life path...just in time for Sir Dominic to send him on a mission that will turn his life upside down and, perhaps, bring into his life the one thing he never wanted but most needs.

Vivien's family certainly isn't making it easy for her to honor her promise to her father to look after them following his death.  Her mother and younger brother keep piling up debts and her older brother is more interested in his political career than doing anything to help his family.  But her family is the least of her worries when Vivien is kidnapped from a carriage in the middle of Mayfair and stashed in a smuggler's cave. Drugged, manhandled, facing possible rape or, worse, death, the feisty Vivien isn't going down without a fight.  Rescue arrives in the form of the sexy, handsome and enigmatic Aden St. George but, for Vivien, her troubles are just beginning.

Vivien and Aden strike sparks from their first meeting.  When it becomes evident that Vivien is still in danger but the source is unknown, Aden is assigned to protect her and those sparks gradually grow into full-blown flames of desire.  Not only do they desire one another but they also like each other and it doesn't take long for emotions to become entangled though Aden fights it with everything he has.  He's never known true, unconditional love and believes he isn't worthy of it; believes he isn't worthy of her. While Vivien is strong and well able to take care of herself (after all, she's kept her mother and brother afloat all these years by winning at card tables across the ton), she yearns for someone to love her for herself, not for what she can do for them.  She wants Aden to be that man but can he overcome years of emotional wasteland and offer her his heart or will he abandon her at the moment when she needs him most?

Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard is an exceptionally well-written book.  Perfectly paced, with characters that are brought to life by Kelly's skilled hand, this book also includes a sensually romantic love story, taut drama, a scarily realistic psychopath, snappy banter and a sigh-worthy happy ending.  Aden and Vivien are complex, three-dimensional characters who captured me from the get-go.  While I appreciated their strength, it was the underlying vulnerability of each that engaged my emotions.  Secondary characters, both good and bad, moved the story along and added flavor.  The scenes with Griffin Steele have me eagerly anticipating his story in Kelly's April release, Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom.

While it's not necessary to have read "Lost in a Royal Kiss," the novella prequel to Kelly's Renegade Royals series, I highly recommend it. Set twenty years earlier, it provides the background that will make the reading of the Renegade Royals books a richer, more deeply enjoyable experience.  It's available at $1.99 for both Kindle and Nook.

If you're already a fan of Vanessa Kelly's work, you'll want to add Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard to your collection.  If you haven't read her books yet, now's a perfect time to begin.  Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard showcases the strength of her writing.  It's my favorite of her books and going straight to my keeper shelf.

~PJ


Blog Tour Giveaway:

One ARC of CONFESSIONS OF A ROYAL BRIDEGROOM, book two of The Renegade Royals series, and one copy of HIS MISTLETOE BRIDE will be given away per the total number of blog tour stops. (US/Ca only) Please see Terms & Conditions on the Rafflecopter widget.

Vanessa Kelly is also hosting a giveaway on her website for a reproduction of the original art for SECRETS FOR SEDUCING A ROYAL BODYGUARD, and original sketches of the heroines from LOST in a ROYAL KISS (#0.5) and SECRETS for SEDUCING a ROYAL BODYGUARD (#1).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Link to contest on Vanessa’s website:  http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com/contest/

Vanessa Kelly is an award-winning author who was named by Booklist, the review journal of the American Library Association, as one of the "New Stars of Historical Romance." Her sensual, Regency-set historical romances have been nominated for awards in a number of contests, and her second book, Sex and The Single Earl, won the prestigious Maggie Medallion for Best Historical Romance. Vanessa's next series, The Renegade Royals, is due to hit the shelves in November with an introductory novella, Lost in a Royal Kiss. Book One in the series, Secrets For Seducing a Royal Bodyguard, will release in January, 2014, and Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom will be out in April, 2014.

When not dreaming of plots for her next Regency historical novel, Vanessa also writes USA Today Bestselling contemporary romance with her husband under the pen name of V.K. Sykes.  She's also a member of Rock*It Reads, a group of bestselling traditional authors who are self-publishing, and of The Jaunty Quills. 

website:  http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com

blog: http: //www.vanessakellyauthor.com/vanessa-blog/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanessakellyauthor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/VanessaKellyAut

goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2728107.Vanessa_Kelly

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/vanessakellyaut/

Jaunty Quills:  http://jauntyquills.com/

Grandma's Kitchen Winner

Oops!  I just realized that while I announced the U.S. winner of my Grandma's Kitchen Revisited giveaway, I did not announce an international winner.  I'm so sorry!  

The randomly chosen international winner is:

ADA

Congratulations, Ada!  

Please send us an email with your full name and mailing address as well as your choice of either The Devil Wears Kilts by Suzanne Enoch 

OR 

Sweet Madness by Heather Snow.  

Please send your information to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Guest Review - - Boots Under Her Bed

Boots Under Her Bed

By Jodi Thomas, Jo Goodman, Kaki Warner, and Alison Kent

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: January 7, 2014

Berkley hit upon a recipe for success when they chose to combine novellas from four excellent and popular authors in this anthology.

“Crazy Callie” by Jodi Thomas

Callie Ann Cramer needs a groom in a hurry. Marriage will ensure that her husband is her next of kin and thwart her step-father’s plan to have Callie committed to an institution for the insane. He covets the ranch that he has worked since he married Callie’s mother, and there’s not much he is unwilling to do to achieve his goal. Callie has evaded his efforts to marry her off, survived attacks on her person, and found some measure of contentment living in a small house on the edge of the property. Her step-father has already been successful in persuading most of the town that eccentric Callie who prefers animals to people is crazy. Now that the woman he wants to marry refuses to love on a ranch with Crazy Callie, he has a new reason to get rid of his step-daughter.  Lawyer Luke Morgan—dumped, broke, and drunk—looks like Callie’s best bet, but he proves to be a better bargain than Callie dared dream.

Jodi Thomas is one of the best storytellers writing romance fiction, and in “Crazy Callie,” she takes one of the oldest tropes in the genre, the marriage of convenience, and gives it a fresh twist. The result is a story that blends humor, sweetness, and a sigh-worthy ending. Thomas is an expert at creating quirky characters that retain their credibility, and she does so again in this story. Even the villain is human. If you are a fan of Thomas’s Western novels, you will fully appreciate this one.

“Nat Church and the Runaway Bride” by Jo Goodman

Felicity Ravenwood left her groom at the altar and ran away in the private rail car her father had built for the couple’s wedding trip. Her father, a railroad tycoon, calls in a favor and sends Nat Church, an expert in repossession and recovery whose service is usually under the direct orders of the President of the United States, after his wayward daughter. Nat finds Felicity in a jail cell in Falls Hollow, Colorado, along with seventeen local temperance activists. Felicity has no intention of meekly accepting a return to her father, and refuses to leave the jail. But Nat is a man who knows how to ensure his success. The next thing Felicity knows she is in her private rail car in a leg iron, listening to Nat tell her that her father has cut off her funds but given her freedom to travel in the car so long as she never leaves it.  Thus the two begin two journeys: a circuitous one in the luxurious car through thinly inhabited Western towns and an emotional one that ends in an HEA.

Goodman’s story is my favorite. I too fell in love with Nat Church, who reminds me of a younger, sexier, more handsome version of Paladin in Have Gun—Will Travel, one of my early heroes. And Felicity’s independence and intelligence make her almost as delightful as Nat. The seduction scene is one of those perfect scenes that readers are lucky enough to be given sometimes. Readers of Goodman’s recent Western romances will recognize Nat Church as the fictional character in the dime novels referenced in those books.

“The Scent of Roses” by Kaki Warner

Richard Whitmeyer and Rachel James meet on a train shortly after a bank robber in Omaha City escaped with two hundred bearer bonds and a fortune in uncut jewels and left behind not a single clue as to his identity. Richard is an insurance investigator on track of the robber; Rachel is employed by a detective agency for the same task. Each holds his/her own identity close, and each is suspicious that the other knows something about the robbery. Warner adds a powerful attraction between these two strong-minded, intelligent people, the spice of danger, and some genuinely funny moments.

I love Kaki Warner’s characters. I always find them fully dimensional with an extra dollop of wit and warmth. Richard and Rachel are just as appealing as the characters in Warner’s novels. The battle between attraction and suspicion is handled with great skill, and the interactions between the protagonists often left me smiling.

“The Hired Gun’s Heiress” by Alison Kent

Maeve Daugherty ran away from her life as a banker’s privileged daughter in New York City because of her parents’ interference in her efforts to make a difference in the poorest sections of the city. She joined her Uncle Mick on his journey to Texas, but Mick gambled away their funds and left Maeve in San Antonio with the advice that she seek employment as a housekeeper on nanny. Instead, she finds work as bookkeeper in a brothel. Zebulon Crow, her father’s bodyguard, comes after Maeve. She thinks he has been sent by her father. In reality, her father is far more concerned about Mick and money he has stolen from him. Finding Maeve is Zeb’s personal mission, but the two will have to survive danger and defeat dangerous enemies before they can claim their HEA.

Kent’s story is the darkest in the group, and the most action-filled. It features degrees and varieties of villainy, class issues, a tortured hero, and an unconventional heroine. That’s a lot to pack in a novella, and it is a measure of Kent’s skill as a writer that she does so and makes them all work. 

Boots Under Her Bed is a rare anthology in which all the stories are entertaining with engaging characters. The voices and styles of the four authors are diverse, so there is never the sense of a story retold that plagues some collections. If you are a fan of any of these authors or if you just have a fondness for Western romance, I think you will agree that this book is a winner.

~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com

Review - The Greatest Lover Ever

The Greatest Lover Ever
By Christina Brooke
Publisher:  St. Martin's Press
Release Date:  December 31, 2013

Six years ago, she was too young and he was too inflexible.  Something was bound to come between them. In their case, the something was another man and his insinuations were ugly.  Pride and honor demanded the two men meet on the field of honor.  Young and frightened, Georgie gave Beckenham an ultimatum:  call off the duel or she'd call off the engagement.  She expected him to fight for her, not lecture her then walk away without a backward glance but pride was a wall he wasn't willing to climb - not even for the girl who was to be his wife.

Georgie Black has done a lot of maturing in six years.  She leads a much more circumspect life and even though her looks still draw men to her like bees to honey, she's grown into her power and doesn't abuse it as a young girl would.  She's managed to successfully avoid her former bethrothed...until she goes looking for her younger sister at a party thrown by Beckenham's notorious cousin and finds herself locked into a room with the only man to ever own her heart.

Marcus, the Earl of Beckenham has managed to avoid Georgiana Black, the woman who jilted him, for six years.  But now, just as he makes the decision to seek a wife - a quiet, biddable wife - fate sees fit to bring Georgie back into his life.  Beautiful, lush, stubborn, intelligent Georgie, who is about as far from biddable as possible.  The attraction is still there.  The desire is still there.  So is the stubbornness.  And the pride.  But Beckenham is older.  Wiser.  As is Georgie.  Will the second time around bring them the happiness for which they both yearn or will an enemy from their past come between them once again?

I love second-chance stories, especially the ones where characters are too young the first time around and re-connect years later after life's experiences have 'seasoned' them.  I love this couple. They were made for one another and I was in their corner from beginning to end. That doesn't mean that I didn't become frustrated with both Georgie and Marcus at times but that's what makes them so real.  They have flaws and lessons yet to learn before the author is finished with them.  Their journey to a happy ending is realistic for them, even when Georgie, who believes Marcus will never love her, encourages him to look in a different direction.  It breaks her heart to do so but she feels she's doing the right thing for him and for someone else who means the world to her.  It's a rocky road to love for these two but that makes the arrival at their final destination all the sweeter.

I've really enjoyed the books in Brooke's Ministry of Marriage series and connected Westruther series. The writing is fresh and well-paced, with witty dialog, chemistry that sizzles and characters so real they fairly leap from the page.  I've grown to care about these people and am fully invested in what happens to them.  As soon as I finish one book in the series, I find myself counting the days/weeks/months until the next.  While I enjoy reading a series in order, Brooke has written the books to be read either as part of the series or as a stand-alone so I don't think it will have a negative impact on your enjoyment if you begin with The Greatest Lover Ever.  However, if you're like me, as soon as you finish this book you'll be off to buy the ones that preceded it!

~PJ

Winners, Winners, Everywhere!

The winner from PJ's blog, "Grandma's Kitchen Revisited" is:

MARTHA LAWSON

The winner from Anna Campbell's "This Spinster is Special" review is:

PAM P

The winners from Alison DeLaine's visit are:

LIBRARYPAT

and

CONNIE

Congratulations to you all!  Please contact us at the email address below.

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Guest Review - - Snow Day

Snow Day

By Shannon Stacey, Jennifer Greene, and Barbara Dunlop

Publisher: Harlequin

Release Date: December 31, 2013

Christmas may be over, but seasonal books are still showing up on bookshelves, real and virtual. Harlequin offers this trio of stories about lovers reunited when a major winter storm hits Tucker’s Point, Maine in early January, forcing the lovers who have been apart for various periods of time ranging from six months to ten years into one another’s company.  The storm, the reunion theme, and a thread concerning a child lost in the storm link the three stories.

In “Heart of the Storm” by Shannon Stacey, Brody Rollins plans a quick, low-key visit to the hometown to which he has not returned in five years. His purpose is to meet his sister’s two-week-old son. Brody expects to spend one night with his sister and her small family, pay a brief duty visit to his parents, and get out of town as rapidly as he can. Instead, when his sister’s home loses power because of the storm, he ends up seeking shelter with her, her husband, and their baby at the local emergency shelter in an elementary school. One of the volunteers in charge is Delaney Westcott, the girl Brody left behind him with only a note to tell her that none of her dreams for the two of them were coming true. When Brody and Delaney meet again, it is immediately clear that the jagged edges of that goodbye still cut both ways, but five years of silence is a lot to overcome. Have the years softened the intensity of Brody’s dislike of Tucker’s Point and his fear of replicating his parents’ lives? Can Delaney forgive him for walking away with no explanation? Is an HEA for these two possible?

In “Seeing Red” by Jennifer Green, Whitney Carr has returned to Tucker’s Point at the urging of her mother and sister who think the “treasure” Whitney’s deceased grandmother left in her house might be truly valuable. Whitney left town at eighteen shortly after her high school boyfriend, Henry “Red” Redmond dumped her with no explanation on the night of their senior prom. Whitney still retains enough of her Mainer pragmatism to arrive prepared for the storm with food, candles, and a heat source, but she’s not prepared for the emergency crew member who awakens her in the wee hours of the morning to be Red nor for the feelings that the sight of him awakens. Red realized long ago that he made a mistake in not telling Whitney the truth about why he was setting her free, and he’s not about to miss his second chance with the only woman he’s ever loved. If these two can learn to be fully honest with one another, they just might deserve their HEA.

The lovers in the third story, “Land’s End” by Barbara Dunlop, have been apart for a much briefer period of time. Six months ago, Tessa Ambroise returned the engagement ring that she had been given by Colton Herrington of the Boston Herringtons. Tessa is in Tucker’s Point going through Land’s End, the twenty-six–room stone mansion built by her ancestors on twelve acres of prime beach front land nearly two centuries ago. The death of her great-aunt less than two months earlier has left Tessa and her brother heirs to the property. Since her brother is a busy doctor in Atlanta, Tessa volunteered to do the inventory at Land’s End. She may still think of her former fiancé; after all, it’s not easy to forget the perfect man—wealthy, good-looking, gentlemanly, and a skilled lover. But Tessa could never live up to his standards, and she grew tired of trying. She’s confident that she did the right thing in breaking things off. She doesn’t expect to see Colton again, certainly not at Land’s End. But she doesn’t know that Colton, with her brother’s full cooperation, has his eye on Land’s End as the site of the next Herrington Hotel and Resort. When her brother and Colton both arrive in Tucker’s Point, Tessa has a lot of questions, not all of them about real estate. No one expects the group, plus best friends, snobby neighbors, and adolescent athletes to end up iced in at Land’s End. And Tessa doesn’t expect the storm to reveal new and fascinating aspects of Colton Herrington.

I’ve been reading Jennifer Greene’s (aka Jeanne Grant) books since the 1980s, and I’ve been a Shannon Stacey fan since I read her first Kowalski novel. I was delighted to discover an anthology that included novellas by the two of them. The premise that links the stories is one to which most readers can relate, and I found it especially interesting that the stories show three different settings during the storm—an emergency shelter, a modest house that has been empty for months, and a mansion. The town of Tucker’s Point itself is a real presence in the first story where nameless, interested citizens watch the progress of the romance. It is represented by distinct personalities who remember Whitney and Red as a couple in the second story, and it serves as mere background for the Ambroise estate in the last one.

I enjoyed the three stories to varying degrees. I liked the characters in “Heart of the Storm,” as I generally do in Stacey’s stories, but I thought the heroine forgave the hero too easily. I believe one can realize a mistake in a single moment’s realization, and perhaps breaking off a relationship in a note seems less callous to a generation conditioned to celebrity breakups via text and Twitter. But I had problems believing the entire direction of a life can be changed so quickly, and I wanted to see more serious groveling on the hero’s part for what seemed to me a cruel, cowardly act. 

I liked parts of the Dunlop story a lot. I have seen friends and family try to become someone they are not in order to live up to a significant other, and thus that part of the story rang true. I also appreciated the rich humor in the story. But I felt the secondary romance needed more development to keep it from being merely a distraction, and I thought both the Ambroise sibling relationship and the reasons for Colton’s perfectionism needed more development. I think this was a novella that needed a novel’s length to become its best.

“Seeing Red” was my favorite of the three because I believed wholly in the reunion. First, eighteen-year-olds are entitled to make foolish mistakes. Common experience and biological research supports the idea that judgment is often flawed at that stage. Then, Red admits that he was wrong in thinking he knew what was best for Whitney. He explains why he acted as he did, but he doesn’t attempt to justify his choice as wise or smart. He also offers heart-melting evidence of his continued devotion.

For me, the collection offered an A- read, a B- read, and a C read, which averages four stars--not a bad result for an anthology. If you are looking for contemporary romance that offers a mix of sweetness and spice, some engaging characters, and a shivery winter setting, you should check out Snow Day.

~Janga

http://justjanga.blogspot.com

New Releases for January

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday ushering in 2014. Our family had a great Christmas—the kids got all they asked for. And of course, I got several gift cards for Barnes & Noble that I will put to good use in the upcoming months. J I’ll start with this month as there are several I am looking forward to, including, Boots under Her Bed anthology (I love Jo Goodman’s books), Hope Flames by Jaci Burton, Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard by Vanessa Kelly, and The Greatest Lover Ever by Christina Brooke.

Which January releases have you read? Of those, which ones do you recommend? Which ones are you most looking forward to reading? Tell us and one lucky commenter will win a random book from my prize stash!

Until February, happy reading!

Historical

From Ruin to Riches – Louise Allen

The Smuggler Wore Silk – Alyssa Alexander

The Lone Warrior – Lori Austin

The Scandal in Kissing an Heir – Sophie Barnes

If Wishes Were Earls – Elizabeth Boyle

Rancher Wants a Wife – Kate Bridges

The Greatest Lover Ever – Christina Brooke

Unforgivable – Joanna Chambers

Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival – Jennifer Chiaverini (Historical Fiction)

A Gentleman ‘Til Midnight – Alison DeLaine

The Magic Between Us – Tammy Falkner (Paranormal)

A Marriage of Notoriety – Diane Gaston

One Rogue Too Many – Samantha Grace

How to Master Your Marquis – Juliana Grey

Wild Burn – Edie Harris

Under the Wide and Starry Sky – Nancy Horan (Historical Fiction)

Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard – Vanessa Kelly

The Memory of Lost Senses – Judith Kinghorn (Historical Fiction)

Montana Bride – Joan Johnston

The Lion and the Rose – Kate Quinn (Historical Fiction)

Somewhere in France – Jennifer Robson (Historical Fiction)

Secrets of a Gentleman Escort – Bronwyn Scott

Between a Rake and a Hard Place – Connie Mason & Mia Marlowe

Boots under Her Bed – Jodi Thomas, Jo Goodman, Kaki Warner, Alison Kent

Contemporary

Let Me Be the One – Bella Andre

Mercy Snow – Tiffany Baker (Women’s Fiction)

After the Storm – Maya Banks (Romantic Suspense)

Sins from Her Past – Jules Bennett

Hope Flames – Jaci Burton

Single by Saturday – Catherine Bybee

The Wedding Favor – Cara Connelly

What I Had Before I Had You – Sarah Cornwell (Women’s Fiction)

Alone – Kendra Elliot (Romantic Suspense)

Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink – Kim Gruenenfelder (Women’s Fiction)

River Road – Jayne Anne Krentz (Romantic Suspense)

The Valentine’s Arrangement – Kelsie Leverich

Baller Dreams – Tasha Macklin (Women’s Fiction)

Marrying the Cowboy – Trish Milburn

Big Sky Secrets – Linda Lael Miller

More than a Touch – Alexis Morgan

Scent of Butterflies – Dora Levy Mossanen (Women’s Fiction)

Busting Loose – Kat Murray

And Then She Was Gone – Rosalind Noonan (Women’s Fiction)

A Well-Tempered Heart – Jan-Philipp Sendker (Women’s Fiction)

Badlands – Jill Sorenson (Romantic Suspense)

Sweetest Mistake – Cadis Terry

An Unexpected Grace – Kristin von Kreisler (Women’s Fiction)

Primitive Nights – Candi Wall

The Last Man on Earth – Tracy Anne Warren

The In-Between Hour – Barbara Claypole White (Women’s Fiction)

Return to Tradd Street – Karen White (Women’s Fiction)

Somebody to Love – Lori Wilde

Unleashing Mr. Darcy – Teri Wilson

What She Left Behind – Ellen Marie Wiseman (Women’s Fiction)

What Nora Knew – Linda Yellin (Women’s Fiction)

Before Jamaica Lane – Samantha Young

Turn Up the Heat – Lori Foster, Christie Ridgway, Victoria Dahl

YA/Teen

The Impossible Knife of Memory – Laurie Halse Anderson

Going Rogue – Robin Benway

Real as It Gets – Reshonda Tate Billingsley

The Killing Woods – Lucy Christopher (Mystery)

The Promise of Amazing – Robin Constantine

The Offering – Kimberly Derting (Fantasy)

No One Else Can Have You – Kathleen Hale (Mystery)

A Breath of Frost – Alyxandra Harvey (Historical, Paranormal)

Come to Me Quietly – A.L. Jackson (New Adult)

Control – Lydia Kang (Sci-Fi)

Vitro – Jessica Khoury (Sci-Fi)

Pendulum – Ciara Knight (Fantasy)

Being Sloane Jacobs – Lauren Morrill

Enders – Lissa Price (Sci-Fi)

Diamonds and Deceit – Leila Rasheed (Historical)

The Edge of Always – J.A. Redmerski (New Adult)

Hollow City – Ransom Riggs (Paranormal)

Darkest Fear – Cate Tiernan (Paranormal)

Roomies – Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando

Paranormal

Bitter Spirits – Jenn Bennett

Love Your Entity – Cat Devon

Dark Wolf – Christine Feehan

Forsaken – Jacquelyn Frank

Autumn Rose – Abigail Gibbs

Dark Heat – Donna Grant

How to Run with a Naked Werewolf – Molly Harper

Lord of the Hunt – Shona Husk

Born in Blood – Alexandra Ivy

The Descent – Alma Katsu

Dark Bites – Sherrilyn Kenyon

Cursed by Destiny – Cecy Robson

Haunted Sanctuary – Moira Rogers

Kindred of the Fallen – Isis Rushdan

Shatter – Joan Swan (Romantic Suspense)

Night of the Tiger – N.J. Walters

Heart of Stone – Christine Warren

God of Frye Mountain – Renee Wildes

Urban Fantasy

Deadshifted – Cassie Alexander

Iron Night – M.L. Brennan

The Spider – Jennifer Estep

A Study in Ashes – Emma Jane Holloway

Black Arts – Faith Hunter

Fury of the Demon – Diana Rowland

Touch – Michelle Sagara

The Grendel Affair – Lisa Shearin

Dirty Magic – Jaye Wells

The Sharpest Blade – Sandy Williams

Erotica/Erotic Romance

Color of Grace – A.M. Arthur

Tangled – Emma Chase

The Expert’s Guide to Driving a Man Wild – Jessica Clare

The Redhead Plays Her Hand – Alice Clayton

Just One Night – Kyra Davis

Obsessed by Him – Red Garnier

I Take You – Nikki Gemmell

Sand Angel – Mackenzie McKade

Pleasuring the Lady – Jess Michaels (e-book)

The Sinners Club – Kate Pearce

Control – Charlotte Stein

The Delicious Torment – Alison Tyler

Beautiful Scars – Shiloh Walker

Guest Review - - If Wishes Were Earls

If Wishes Were Earls

By Elizabeth Boyle

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: December 31, 2013

Harriet “Harry” Hathaway decided that the Earl of Roxley was her perfect match when they were both children. Now that her best friends Tabitha Timmons (And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake) and Daphne Dale (Along Came a Duke) have married respectively the Duke of Preston and Lord Henry Sheldon and shattered the curse of Kempton that meant the marriages of Kempton maidens ended in tragedy, Harry is free to see the fruition of her plans to wed Roxley.  She has no doubt that Roxley loves her, particularly after a certain night they shared under the stars eight months ago. He may seem to be taking an inordinately long time to propose, but Harry refuses to be discouraged.

Tiberius Maximus Marshom, the 7th Earl of Roxley, left Harriet after that memorable night with the intention of securing a special license and marrying her immediately. But given all that has happened to him recently, he fears that his Harry may be safer far away from him. Suddenly his famous luck in every game of chance has turned ruinous, Home Office files under his care have disappeared, and his man of business, in a move totally out of character, absconded in the middle of the night with a hefty portion of Roxley’s money. Most suspiciously, a merchant, Mr. Murray, has purchased all Roxley’s debts, and he holds the mortgage on Foxgrove, the unentailed property that provides the income that supports Roxley and his aunts in the style to which they are accustomed. Roxley is confronted with the choice of marrying Murray’s daughter or losing everything—including the secure world of the aunts to whom he owes so much. The only way to avoid this fate is to solve the mystery of the person responsible for his sudden turn of bad luck.

Not even finding out that Roxley is on the verge of marriage to another woman discourages Harry. She knows that something is awry, and she is determined to find the answers she needs to see that Roxley is hers as he was meant to be. A villain in determined pursuit of famous diamonds does not deter her.

This is the third novel in Boyle’s Rhymes with Love series, and readers of the first two books will take a particular delight in seeing Harry and Roxley achieve their HEA. I found the pair charming when they were introduced in the first book and I thoroughly enjoyed the blend of romance, mystery, and humor that is their story.

I have an abiding affection for the hero who plays the fool but is really quite astute and brave. Roxley is a great example of such a hero, and Harriet calls him on his disguise, reminding him that he doesn’t have to act with her because she knows the person that he really is. The exchange where she reminds him of this truth is a great scene in a story that with many great scenes, particularly those that involve Harriet and Roxley in conversation.

As much as I like Roxley, however, it is Harriet who is the true star. She is smart and funny and active in pursuit of her desires. She knows Roxley, and she knows herself. Often with heroines of historical romance, while I find them perfectly satisfactory at the stage in life they are in the story, I have difficulty imagining them aging. They just seem perennially young. But I can imagine Harriet as an interesting old lady, wiser and more mature, but with no iota less of passion and conviction and willingness to act than she displays in this book.

If you are a reader who appreciates lighthearted romance that may seem all froth but which contains a core of substance underneath the delightful entertainment it offers, I definitely recommend If Wishes Were Earls. I feel certain that some of you will share my pleasure in the snippets from the Miss Darby novels that serve as epigrams for each chapter. Despite its being the third in the series, Boyle provides enough glimpses into Harriet and Roxley’s long relationship that the book can easily be read as a standalone.  However, if you’ve read the other two books, I predict you will embrace this one with special enthusiasm. I confess it’s my favorite.

~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com