The Devil She Knows
Diane Whiteside
Kensington Brava, Jun 2010, $14.00
ISBN: 9780758225177
In 1880 her father puts unbelievable pressure on Portia Townsend to marry into the British aristocracy. Although she loves her Uncle William Donovan’s friend Gareth Lowell whom she met two years earlier in San Francisco following her mom’s death, he apparently does not return her regard. She weds the earl, St. Arles.
Five years of marital abuse ends when St. Arles divorces her based on a false charge of infidelity that a joyful Portia does not challenge. She travels to Constantinople where St. Arles demands she abet him in his efforts to overthrow the Ottoman Empire Sultan if she wants her freedom. Failing her the last time they met, Gareth rescues Portia and insists they marry until he can insure her safety; then they will obtain an annulment. As Portia and Gareth try to prevent St. Arles’ revolutionary scheme from happening, she realizes her beloved loves her, but for some reason carries guilt that makes him believe he is undeserving of her.
The latest nineteenth century Devilish romance (see Southern Devil, Irish Devil, and Northern Devil) is an exciting around the world in several years thriller. The story line is action-packed as Gareth meets his match in feisty Portia. Although St. Arles is so over the top as a villain caricature that even his servants recognize him as such, fans of Diane Whiteside’s Devil historicals will want to travel with the lead couple on their adventures.
Harriet Klausner
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Bliss-Opal Carew
Bliss
Opal Carew
St. Martin’s Griffin, Jun 22 2010, $13.99
ISBN: 9780312580148
Sex columnist Kara Spencer believes that making love is a normal physical activity just like going to the bathroom. She is flying to Indianapolis via a stop in Cleveland, but her flight is delayed. Also waiting for the same flights is Tantra master J.M. whose triangular relationship with Hannah and Grey just ended as he went from teacher to third wheel (see Blush). Hannah’s sister Grace is to join him at the Indianapolis sex conference where he is to speak, but she will not be able to fly out until tomorrow. However, when J.M. and Kara notice one another, she feels a deep need for him and he knows she is perfect for him. They share what she assumes will be a one-night stand.
The next day, Kara is stunned to find out her last night’s lover is a keynote speaker at the conference and the person her editor wanted her to interview re Tantra sex. J.M. teaches her Tantra sexuality while hoping she will realize they are a prime pairing of bodies and souls even as he expands her horizon to a much wider range of sexual encounters.
Bliss is a heated erotic romance that returns the Tantra master who trained Hannah and Grey with his prime woman whom he mentors with the full palate of physical and energy orgasms derived from role playing fantasy, triangular encounters and bondage. The story line more than just sex, sex, and more sex (though that seems like 75%) as Kara does not believe love exists ever since her dad left when she was young. Opal Carew has written an enjoyable erotica with just enough of a plot outside of the sexual encounters of the first kind to grip the reader’s libido and more.
Harriet Klausner
Opal Carew
St. Martin’s Griffin, Jun 22 2010, $13.99
ISBN: 9780312580148
Sex columnist Kara Spencer believes that making love is a normal physical activity just like going to the bathroom. She is flying to Indianapolis via a stop in Cleveland, but her flight is delayed. Also waiting for the same flights is Tantra master J.M. whose triangular relationship with Hannah and Grey just ended as he went from teacher to third wheel (see Blush). Hannah’s sister Grace is to join him at the Indianapolis sex conference where he is to speak, but she will not be able to fly out until tomorrow. However, when J.M. and Kara notice one another, she feels a deep need for him and he knows she is perfect for him. They share what she assumes will be a one-night stand.
The next day, Kara is stunned to find out her last night’s lover is a keynote speaker at the conference and the person her editor wanted her to interview re Tantra sex. J.M. teaches her Tantra sexuality while hoping she will realize they are a prime pairing of bodies and souls even as he expands her horizon to a much wider range of sexual encounters.
Bliss is a heated erotic romance that returns the Tantra master who trained Hannah and Grey with his prime woman whom he mentors with the full palate of physical and energy orgasms derived from role playing fantasy, triangular encounters and bondage. The story line more than just sex, sex, and more sex (though that seems like 75%) as Kara does not believe love exists ever since her dad left when she was young. Opal Carew has written an enjoyable erotica with just enough of a plot outside of the sexual encounters of the first kind to grip the reader’s libido and more.
Harriet Klausner
Alaska Bride on the Run-Kate Bridges
Alaska Bride on the Run
Kate Bridges
Harlequin, Jul 1 2010, $5.99
ISBN: 9780373295999
In 1899 in Eagle’s Cliff, District of Alaska, Harrison Rowlan prepares to open a neighborhood tavern in which locals can drop by for a pint and a bite. He does not want a bar where patrons drop to the floor either from too much to drink or a brawl. He places an ad for a bartender in the window of his new establishment. Willa Banks wearing a torn wedding gown applies for the position. She persuades Harrison a lady will bring in the type of customer he desires. He hires her on a temporary basis that quickly turns permanent.
An orphan Willa thinks back to her uncle and cousins who took for granted her hard work on the ranch and ignored her plea for some land. She read of opportunity for even women in Alaska and left. In Skagway, she made friends with Keenan Crawford the butcher, but fled when her groom tried to rape her; she muses he can stuff his sausage elsewhere. As Willa and Harrison fall in love, cattle rustlers and Crawford intrude.
This is a strong late nineteenth century Alaska Territory romance that enables the audience to feel they are in the Panhandle region (think of Call of the Wild by London). The lead couple is a caring pair, but it is the towns that have sprung up since the Gold Rush that make for a vivid atmospheric historical. Nobody does 1880s and 1890s Alaska-Canada better than Kate Bridges consistently does as affirmed by returning lead characters (see Alaska Renegade and Wanted in a Alaska)
Harriet Klausner
Kate Bridges
Harlequin, Jul 1 2010, $5.99
ISBN: 9780373295999
In 1899 in Eagle’s Cliff, District of Alaska, Harrison Rowlan prepares to open a neighborhood tavern in which locals can drop by for a pint and a bite. He does not want a bar where patrons drop to the floor either from too much to drink or a brawl. He places an ad for a bartender in the window of his new establishment. Willa Banks wearing a torn wedding gown applies for the position. She persuades Harrison a lady will bring in the type of customer he desires. He hires her on a temporary basis that quickly turns permanent.
An orphan Willa thinks back to her uncle and cousins who took for granted her hard work on the ranch and ignored her plea for some land. She read of opportunity for even women in Alaska and left. In Skagway, she made friends with Keenan Crawford the butcher, but fled when her groom tried to rape her; she muses he can stuff his sausage elsewhere. As Willa and Harrison fall in love, cattle rustlers and Crawford intrude.
This is a strong late nineteenth century Alaska Territory romance that enables the audience to feel they are in the Panhandle region (think of Call of the Wild by London). The lead couple is a caring pair, but it is the towns that have sprung up since the Gold Rush that make for a vivid atmospheric historical. Nobody does 1880s and 1890s Alaska-Canada better than Kate Bridges consistently does as affirmed by returning lead characters (see Alaska Renegade and Wanted in a Alaska)
Harriet Klausner
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Mailbox-Marybeth Whalen
The Mailbox
Marybeth Whalen
David C. Cook, Jun 2010, $14.99
ISBN: 9780781403696
In 1985, teenager Lindsey Adams left her first letter at the Kindred Spirit mailbox in Sunset Beach, North Carolina. Every year afterward, she would write a letter about what happened to her and loved ones and drop it off at the mailbox.
In 2004, following her husband Grant divorcing her, Lindsey and their two kids (eleven years old Anna and eight years old Jake) return to Sunset Beach to stay in her uncle’s home. She assumes she will be writing her saddest letter since her first love with Campbell Forrester ended heartbrokenly without the long term commitment she desired. However, in Sunset beach, Lindsey and an also divorced Campbell meet and are still attracted to one another and want a second chance at love.
This is a terrific whimsical contemporary romance that uses the real Kindred Spirits mailbox as a focus into the past and present lives of the lead characters. Readers will enjoy the fine tale and take guilty pleasure in reading someone else’s personal letters. The Mailbox is a wonderful quirky tale.
Harriet Klausner
Marybeth Whalen
David C. Cook, Jun 2010, $14.99
ISBN: 9780781403696
In 1985, teenager Lindsey Adams left her first letter at the Kindred Spirit mailbox in Sunset Beach, North Carolina. Every year afterward, she would write a letter about what happened to her and loved ones and drop it off at the mailbox.
In 2004, following her husband Grant divorcing her, Lindsey and their two kids (eleven years old Anna and eight years old Jake) return to Sunset Beach to stay in her uncle’s home. She assumes she will be writing her saddest letter since her first love with Campbell Forrester ended heartbrokenly without the long term commitment she desired. However, in Sunset beach, Lindsey and an also divorced Campbell meet and are still attracted to one another and want a second chance at love.
This is a terrific whimsical contemporary romance that uses the real Kindred Spirits mailbox as a focus into the past and present lives of the lead characters. Readers will enjoy the fine tale and take guilty pleasure in reading someone else’s personal letters. The Mailbox is a wonderful quirky tale.
Harriet Klausner
Money, Honey-Susan Sey
Money, Honey
Susan Sey
Berkley, Jul 6 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425235485
Patrick O’Conner blames two feisty females over the end of his previous felonious career as a successful jewel thief. He surrendered six years ago to FBI Agent Elizabeth Brynn to keep his sister Mara out of jail. They cut a deal and he assisted the Fed on her cases for the next three years. Ironically she is also the only woman he has wanted but failed at making their relationship personal.
Patrick, who is now a published author, leaves Palm Springs for Grief Creek, Minnesota because Mara, whom he has not spoken to in three years, says she and her Brightwater’s Casino and Restaurant are in trouble due to counterfeiters. Liz says she has the case under control and he should go back to Los Angeles after she reads the riot act to Mara. Looking forward to the cat fight between the women who turned his life upside down, Patrick accompanies Liz to Mara’s place. As the reformed felon and the Fed work the case together; their desire for one another turns to love. However, she has childhood issues that make commitment impossible and he knows the FBI is her first love.
This is an amusing romantic police procedural starring two likable lead characters who belong together if the her heroine can see passed her childhood demon biases. The investigation is fun due to the squabbling between Liz and Patrick; as each knows the other places them on constant edgy tension by just being near each other. With some late suspense to round out the fun Minnesota thriller, fans will want to read this entertaining investigative romance.
Harriet Klausner
Susan Sey
Berkley, Jul 6 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425235485
Patrick O’Conner blames two feisty females over the end of his previous felonious career as a successful jewel thief. He surrendered six years ago to FBI Agent Elizabeth Brynn to keep his sister Mara out of jail. They cut a deal and he assisted the Fed on her cases for the next three years. Ironically she is also the only woman he has wanted but failed at making their relationship personal.
Patrick, who is now a published author, leaves Palm Springs for Grief Creek, Minnesota because Mara, whom he has not spoken to in three years, says she and her Brightwater’s Casino and Restaurant are in trouble due to counterfeiters. Liz says she has the case under control and he should go back to Los Angeles after she reads the riot act to Mara. Looking forward to the cat fight between the women who turned his life upside down, Patrick accompanies Liz to Mara’s place. As the reformed felon and the Fed work the case together; their desire for one another turns to love. However, she has childhood issues that make commitment impossible and he knows the FBI is her first love.
This is an amusing romantic police procedural starring two likable lead characters who belong together if the her heroine can see passed her childhood demon biases. The investigation is fun due to the squabbling between Liz and Patrick; as each knows the other places them on constant edgy tension by just being near each other. With some late suspense to round out the fun Minnesota thriller, fans will want to read this entertaining investigative romance.
Harriet Klausner
Friday, June 4, 2010
Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico-Lena Nelson Dooley
Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico
Lena Nelson Dooley
Summerside, Jun 2010, $12.99
ISBN: 9781935416746
In 1890 Golden, New Mexico, elderly and ailing former miner Philip Smith explains to his best friend Jeremiah Dennison why he plans to place an ad in the Boston Globe for a mail-order bride. He has money without family and figures someone can nurse him until he dies or recovers while he would be helping a Lady in desperate straits to take such a position. Jerry tries to talk the man he considers his father out of doing this, but fails.
In Boston, Maddy Mercer grieves the death of her father when his former business partner Horace Johnstone informs her they will marry just like her dad wanted. With a responsibility for a newborn while also loathing the avaricious Horace and knowing she and her baby needed to escape a life of hell if married to him; kind hearted Maddy decides on the unknown. She responds to an ad for a mail-order bride placed in the Globe.
Unable to talk Philip out of doing the insanity, Jeremiah plans to persuade the bride to go home. Then he meets Maddy accompanied by baby Pearl and her devoted servants Frank and Sarah Sneed who nurture a dying Philip like he was their father; not understanding her Massachusetts secret toddles between them.
This is a pure golden historical romance starring a courageous caring woman, a wonderful old man, and the male hunk who loves both of them (and Pearl too). The strong lead cast and solid support characters bring alive the mining town in 1890, but it is the relationships that make for a strong Americana tale. Lena Nelson Dooley writes a warm wonderful winner.
Harriet Klausner
Lena Nelson Dooley
Summerside, Jun 2010, $12.99
ISBN: 9781935416746
In 1890 Golden, New Mexico, elderly and ailing former miner Philip Smith explains to his best friend Jeremiah Dennison why he plans to place an ad in the Boston Globe for a mail-order bride. He has money without family and figures someone can nurse him until he dies or recovers while he would be helping a Lady in desperate straits to take such a position. Jerry tries to talk the man he considers his father out of doing this, but fails.
In Boston, Maddy Mercer grieves the death of her father when his former business partner Horace Johnstone informs her they will marry just like her dad wanted. With a responsibility for a newborn while also loathing the avaricious Horace and knowing she and her baby needed to escape a life of hell if married to him; kind hearted Maddy decides on the unknown. She responds to an ad for a mail-order bride placed in the Globe.
Unable to talk Philip out of doing the insanity, Jeremiah plans to persuade the bride to go home. Then he meets Maddy accompanied by baby Pearl and her devoted servants Frank and Sarah Sneed who nurture a dying Philip like he was their father; not understanding her Massachusetts secret toddles between them.
This is a pure golden historical romance starring a courageous caring woman, a wonderful old man, and the male hunk who loves both of them (and Pearl too). The strong lead cast and solid support characters bring alive the mining town in 1890, but it is the relationships that make for a strong Americana tale. Lena Nelson Dooley writes a warm wonderful winner.
Harriet Klausner
Love Finds You in Lahaina, Hawaii-Bodie Thoene
Love Finds You in Lahaina, Hawaii
Bodie Thoene
Summerside, Jun 2010, $12.99
ISBN: 978935416784
UCLA American History graduate student Sandi Smith goes to bed every night for the past four and a half years wondering whether her husband John is dead or a guest of the Viet Cong. The military list John as an MIA and though she prays for him, Sandi knows he probably will never come home and she will never know his fate. As part of the university sponsored history project she flies to Maui to meet with the oldest person on the island Auntie Hannah to discuss with the elderly woman what she recalls about the Kingdom of Hawaii royal family in the late nineteenth century.
Auntie Hannah provides more than just a verbal response to the visiting Californian: she provides insight as she attended school with Princess Kauliana in London; whimsicality remarking her last great cup of tea was in 1897. She gives Sandi journals that focus on the 1890s when her best friend and companion Crown Princess “barbarian princess” Kauliana of the Kingdom of Hawaii tried diligently to return the nation back to a monarchy. As rebellion stirs to become part of the United States, Scottish missionary Andrew arrives on Lahaina leaving the Princess with difficult choices to make; just like Sandi must do on a lesser scale now that she has met Archie.
This is a great historical romance with a strong historiographic spin and a terrific Royal Flush twist. With a strong sense of place and eras (the 1890s and 1973), this character driven by the lead females in the two periods provide the audience with an excellent entry in the Love Finds You series.
Harriet Klausner
Bodie Thoene
Summerside, Jun 2010, $12.99
ISBN: 978935416784
UCLA American History graduate student Sandi Smith goes to bed every night for the past four and a half years wondering whether her husband John is dead or a guest of the Viet Cong. The military list John as an MIA and though she prays for him, Sandi knows he probably will never come home and she will never know his fate. As part of the university sponsored history project she flies to Maui to meet with the oldest person on the island Auntie Hannah to discuss with the elderly woman what she recalls about the Kingdom of Hawaii royal family in the late nineteenth century.
Auntie Hannah provides more than just a verbal response to the visiting Californian: she provides insight as she attended school with Princess Kauliana in London; whimsicality remarking her last great cup of tea was in 1897. She gives Sandi journals that focus on the 1890s when her best friend and companion Crown Princess “barbarian princess” Kauliana of the Kingdom of Hawaii tried diligently to return the nation back to a monarchy. As rebellion stirs to become part of the United States, Scottish missionary Andrew arrives on Lahaina leaving the Princess with difficult choices to make; just like Sandi must do on a lesser scale now that she has met Archie.
This is a great historical romance with a strong historiographic spin and a terrific Royal Flush twist. With a strong sense of place and eras (the 1890s and 1973), this character driven by the lead females in the two periods provide the audience with an excellent entry in the Love Finds You series.
Harriet Klausner
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