Gripping the steering wheel with white-knuckled hands, Wren Fraser struggled to see the narrow country road ahead through sheets of rain. She'd lived in Seattle, for goodness' sake, and had never seen rain come down like this.

• Gabby.
• You slept with your boss. Ewww. So not professional. And you're still working for him? I mean come the F on. Why are you still working at a firm where you screwed the boss for three years, a man you still love (who in my opinion was a dork and he and his wife are oblivious freaks who are using you for their own selfish purposes and to think they were the hero and heroine of a previous book!). Really. You're an office manager, you can get another job, especially since you've been there what three years since you and Ty broke up.
• Screwing brothers. Ewwww! And then you go and screw Ty's brother (the hero). Really. I mean no one had an ick factor where you were screwing one brother and then the other. Granted my male cousins used to pass girlfriends back and forth between each other, but they were in high school at the time and they never did it between brothers only other cousins (I come from a large family and we all lived pretty much in the same neighborhood).
• Whine fest because you don't own the company and can't shut up and do what you're told. You are the office manager, you don't own the company what's what the hissy fit when you're boss tells someone that they can use your computer. That was sooooo lame. It's not your computer, you don't own the darn thing. He does. Also, what business is it of yours how Jon is getting paid, kept your freaking mouth shut and do what you're told. As a former senior admin this aspect hit on my last nerve.
• Jon. Sorry man. You need therapy not a girlfriend. And why didn't you have an ick factor when you realized that your little brother had his wick in the pot you just dipped yours into? And what's up with everyone patting you on the bat for nearly killing a man. Granted something needed to be done about the situation but really? Really? The judge should have at least made you go to therapy, anger management, something if not jail.

 

 

Author Name: Olivia Gates
ISBN #: 9780373730636
Publisher Name: Harlequin Enterprises/Silhouette Desire
Date Released: November 2010
Page Count: 192 pages
Price: $4.75 Retail
Genre: Series Romance
Book Format: Print

BACK COVER BLURB:
He'd noticed her across a crowded room, and in that instant Sheikh Shaheen Aal Shalaan wanted her. With just a few words, Shaheen had his mystery woman in his bed, where she awakened passions he'd long denied.

Then the sheikh discovered his lover's true identity. She was Johara, his childhood friend, now fully blossomed into a vision he could not do without. But his lineage demanded he take a wife of the throne's choosing. Anything else would have catastrophic results. Yet how could he turn away from the woman who carried his baby?

COVER SNARK:
Cute, arrogant, looking guy but don't you think he should be looking at the woman in the bed and not me!

FIRST LINES:

Johara Nazaryan had come to see the only man she'd ever love. Before he married someone else.

I had a hard time understanding how Shaheen, a man who in the first pages describes himself as a person who is so repressed that he doesn't like his female partners to touch him much during sex, to wanting Johara all over him from the moment they met (he didn't recognize her as the girl he once knew). I wish that a couple pages could've been expressed to making him come to the realization that she was different (besides her being beautiful). I needed Shaheen to have some conflict to figure out why he needed her touch so much when he didn't want others.

However, I shrugged that feeling of, as this is a series romance and rolled with the punches.

I really enjoyed the beginning and middle of TO TAME A SHEIKH. I loved how Shaheen and Johara were separated and how they found each other again and the conflict inherent in them discovering each other again and why. To be more clear, Johara returns to their country because her father who is ill has resigned his post as the jeweler for Shaheen's family. Someone in Shaheen's family realizes that the crown jewels have been replaced with forgeries. Of course, suspicion falls on Shaheen and her father.

While I normally hate it when the hero or heroine distrusts the person they are knocking boots with (to put it delicately – LOL). In this instance it bothered me that Shaheen didn't question Johara's innocence at all. He had not a doubt that she and her father were innocent despite the compelling evidence. He didn't even go and confront her with the news. That bothered me. I know I'm a fickle person, but in this instance, I couldn’t believe in his 100 percent trust. Maybe if the reasoning behind his decision would have been outlined somewhat I could've bought into it more.

This is where TO TAME A SHEIKH started to loss some of my love. The beginning and middle were very strong and I loved the story and where the story seemed to be going, yet when I got near the end where things were wrapped up . . .. It seemed to me that things were wrapped up a little too quickly and a little too conveniently. I wished the author had taken the time to explore some of the issues she brought up instead of having everything wrapped up so quickly and in a neat little bow. I felt that I was getting the first half of a movie, not only with the subplot but with the hero and heroine's relationship. Despite the, fact that this is the first of series, I wish that I had a little more resolution in the plot and the hero and heroine's happily ever after.

Despite this, I enjoyed the author's writing and would read her work again


WHERE PURCHASED:
Received copy from Publisher for Review!

RATING:
C

$4.99
Contemporary Romance/Series/Erotic
Print
BACK COVER BLURB:

Native guide Clint Sisnuket is one of the hottest guys in Alaska! But he's managed to keep a close watch over his battered heart…until he meets Tessa Bellingham. In the independent videographer, Clint finds the sexual soul mate he'd been dreaming of.

Too bad she's got temporary fling written all over her.

Tessa's in town to record native culture…but she can't seem to turn her camera lens away from Clint. The strong, silent, sexy man can make her tremble with a single smoldering glance. And, oh, what he can do when he actually touches her! Still, even though she feels at home in his arms, she doesn't fit into his world. And they can't stay in bed indefinitely.

Or can they…?

COVER SNARK:
Umm, the guy on the cover is pretty hot. LOL!

FIRST LINES:

Clint Sisnuket leaned against the window frame in the airstrip office in Good Riddance, Alaska, and watched the snow sifting out of the dark sky.

Once I was able to get over what I was expecting and just read the story, I found myself enjoying NORTHERN ENCOUNTER.

I loved the setting (a small town in Alaska). Good Riddance seemed like a great town, with diverse and interesting characters that I couldn't wait to know more about. I thought Clint and Tessa had interesting careers and were interesting people. However, when they were together, I wished there were more sparks between them. The conflict keeping them apart (Clint's fear of being with someone outside of the tribe and of someone not being able to commit to Alaska's rough life) was realistic, but a little heavy handed. Clint made a lot of assumptions and I wish that the conflict could've been more genuine. By this I mean I wished the conflict came from real situations based upon conversations between Clint and Tessa instead of stuff just inside Clint's head. I also wish that some of the subplots revolving around another character in the book would've been left out so that more pages could've been developed around Clint and Tessa's relationship, especially given NORTHERN ENCOUNTER's word count.

These issues while distracting did not stop me from enjoying the story. The characters, setting, and writing were compelling and if I saw another book by this author I'd definitely pick it up.

WHERE PURCHASED:
Received copy from publisher for review.

RATING:
B -

Author Name: Kay Thomas
ISBN #: 978-0-373-69464
Publisher Name: Harlequin Enterprises/Harlequin Intrigue
Date Released: April 2010
Genre: Series/Romantic Suspense
Pages: 216
Book Format: Print

BACK COVER BLURB:

NOTHING COULD INTERFERE WITH HIS ASSIGNMENT – UNTIL SHE STOLE HIS HEART.

Marcus North was an intriguing mystery to the residents of Murphy's Point, Mississippi – especially Cally Burnett, the single mom who ran the B and B where Marcus stayed. But despite the instant attraction that flared between them, Cally couldn't have guessed the secrets Marcus hid, or the way those secrets would come to haunt them both.

Working undercover on a crucial case, Marcus had to keep his identity hidden . . . but his desire to protect the young mother and her son had him putting everything else at risk. Including his career – and his life.

Passion – and desperation – rise as the determined mother and sexy cop come to an uneasy alliance, and everything rides on one deadly night.

COVER SNARK:

Frankly. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this cover. It's perfect for the story. The model is rugged, handsome, and believable and no man titty in sight.

FIRST LINES:

Sweat rolled down Marcus's back and sides. The heat was cranked up too high and the room was stifling. To top it off, the tape from his body mike was ripping out hairs every time he moved.

I really loved this book. It was the perfect blend of suspense and romance. I hate when novels have too much suspense and you don't really get a feeling for the romance between the hero and heroine. I love character driven novels. BULLETPROOF BODYGUARD is very character driven, but it is also filled with suspense that kept me turning the pages. I never got bored. Something was happening on every page. Marcus was a great conflicted character and Cally's actions given the situation were realistic, and I believed her 110%


However, I did have a couple questions. These questions stem from my background and didn't distract from the quality of the story or the writing (both which were stellar). However, they were in the back of my mind. I doubt they'd be in yours, but here they are . . .. I didn't get how Marcus who was a police officer in Jackson, MS could be that far out of his jurisdiction on a case. It didn't seem plausible for me since he was not a federal officer. It seemed like he was in a different county than where he usually worked. I couldn't buy into that. While my department's undercover team incorporates officers from the various departments in the area, its scope is still regulated to a specific area. The area inside BULLETPROOF BODYGUARD seemed too large for me. Also, Marcus seemed to be suffering from a major case of burn out. Being an undercover officer in local police departments is not a career, it is an assignment. Like most assignments of that nature there is usually a limit to how long you can be assigned to a division like that to prevent instances of burn out like Marcus has suffered. Of course, I have no clue if other departments employ this action, but it gave me pause.

That was a quirk of mine and like I said, the above questions I had didn't detract from my enjoyment. I'd definitely read this author again. And I'm seriously thinking of purchasing this for ShaNayNay (aka Kindle) so I can have a copy of my own.

WHERE PURCHASED:
Borrowed from my local library.

Rating:
B

Author Name: Michelle Monkou
ISBN #: 978-0373861835
Publisher Name: Harlequin Enterprises/Kimani Press
Date Released: October 2010
Genre: Series Romance/Contemporary
Pages: 224
Book Format: Print

AMAZON BLURB:

After a daring, headline-making rescue, basketball star Naomi Venable accepts Zack Keathley's invitation to spend a week recuperating at his sprawling country estate. The sinfully sexy millionaire could have his pick of any woman in the world. But once he sets his sights on Naomi there's no way she can resist this rugged alpha male's charms….

Zack owes Naomi for coming to the aid of his baby sister. But grateful isn't all the driven developer feels for the sleek and sultry pro athlete. And once he makes up his mind, there's no stopping the aroused penthouse playboy! Caught in Naomi's seductive spell, can Zack convince this fearless sorority sister that their passionate paradise is meant to last forever?


COVER SNARK:

Okay, so he has a nice chest, but personally I'm getting tired of the man-titty covers. I'd like to see his face. Also, sense this book is primarily about Naomi, I thought they both should've been on the cover. And I totally didn't get the yacht cause unless  missed it, there wasn't a yacht in the book.

FIRST LINES:

Seattle's Key Arena buzzed with the energy similar to an electrical storm. The fans roared their excitement as the women's professional basketball game steamrolled to its final minutes.

Naomi Venable looked up at the oversize electronic game board as a time-out was signaled by the coach. Sweat covered her body. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

FAVORITE LINES:

"You're beautiful," he remarked. He had to say something to give his body time to stand down.

"I know. So keep kissing me."

"I've decided that you would be good for him."

"I'm not a health tonic."

Naomi is a professional basketball player. She and her team are in Seattle performing an exhibition game. After the game Naomi is delayed by fans and overhears some guys attempting to attack a girl at the arena. She makes her way to help and on her way to where she overhead the attackers, she passes a group of people who are leaving the arena. Does Naomi tell them what's going on to ask them to assist her?

OF COURSE NOT! This is weird as she has been attacked before and yet she still won't elict support from the people exiting the arena. She doesn't even ask anyone to call 911. ARE YOU FREAKING INSANE. I totally get being a bad ass, but COME ON!

So for trying to be superwoman, Naomi get's her butt whupped. She comes to in the hospital and there she finds the girl who she helped and her older brother. Our hero, Zack. Of course, they are way too grateful and since her team has to leave town to make the next game, and she's too hurt to travel with them or be on her own back at her place in Chicago, they offer to have her come stay at their parents house. To make her feel comfortable, they also fly in her grandmother to come stay for a couple days. And what does our heroine do . . .

Act like a total witch (substitute b with w and you get the idea) about this kindness without any reason or common sense.

I'm being harsh I know. But I get tired of picking up books and the black woman is always portrayed as a witch. I am a black woman and I am a witch (once again substitute a b with the w there) but that doesn't mean I want to read about witches 24/7. I can just look in the mirror if I want to see a witch in action.

Sorry for the rant. Witches in black romance is a major, major pet peeve of mine. That and girlfriend books. I think every black author must be channeling that old television show Girlfriends. BTW, I honestly think that someone is going to come and revoke my black girl card if I admit that I only watched that show a couple of times. I am so not the giggly girlfriend person and I hate being in groups. That's why I socialize online, if someone annoys me all I have to do is go to the top right hand corner and click the red x button and it's over with. LOL!

BTW, let me just thank the author for that one. While the heroine does have a big group of girlfriends, they are regulated to one big conference call where I could quickly flip the couple pages and get back to the main action.

The hero Zack is a hotty who looks like Idris Elba as Naomi crones to her buddies. Okay, so I scanned the pages as I flipped through them. Sue me.

I liked Zack. Although I thought he acted like a pussy with Naomi, I liked him overall as a character. He was adopted when he was five years old and feels that he has to constantly prove himself to his family when his family expects nothing of the sort. Instead of joining his father's business, he branches out on his own to some success. That success is being called into question as he gets involved in a deal with some business partners who are not exactly on the up and up and is trying to push him to do things that he's not wiling to do. As everything is closing around him, he has to fight with his desire to prove himself or succumbing to ask for help with his family and friends. I do love how Naomi gets him to reach out to his family, which is ironic really considering she's been going through her independent black woman phase throughout THE MILLIONAIRS ULTIMATE CATCH.

I do wish the plotline focused more on Zack because in my humble opinion that is where the meat of the story was as Zack searched for his past to come to grip with his present and allowing himself to lean on and depend on other people.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing, loved Zack, thought Naomi was an annoying twat and thought Zack deserved better.


WHERE PURCHASED:

This is one of the books I downloaded for free over at Mills and Boon UK. They had one from each line. You can find the books HERE for download!

Rating:
C –

Author Name: Jenna Ryan
ISBN #: 9780373745487
Publisher Name: Harlequin Enterprises/Harlequin Intrigue
Date Released: September 2010
Page Count: 224
Price: $5.75
Genre: Series Romantic Suspense
Book Format: Print

BACK COVER BLURB:

Sera Hudson didn't need an invitation to Blue Ridge; she was looking for an escape. The only surviving witness of the Blindfold Killer, Sera wanted to lay low, but when danger found her yet again, she had no choice but to turn to the handsome local sheriff.

Logan may have patrolled a small town, but he had big-city instincts. The object of every woman's desire, he had a soft spot for newcomers and there was no chance he'd allow a murderer free rein over his charge. But he wasn't going to babysit Sera, either. He knew more about her than he let on, and their shared past held clues to the killer's identity. If they could find common ground, then maybe, just maybe, Sera could finally stop running away and see that he was her reason to stay….

COVER SNARK:

Given the snarkiness of Harlequin covers at times, I actually like this one. My only grip is that Logan isn't a cowboy so the cowboy hat is a little misleading.

FIRST LINES:

The dream unfolded piece by resistant piece in Serafina Hudson's sleeping mind.

LAST LINES:

As his mouth came down hungrily on hers, Sera slipped the Sedona rock he'd given to Sig as a child into the pocket of his jeans.

FAVORITE LINES:

As his mouth came down hungrily on hers, Sera slipped the Sedona rock he'd given to Sig as a child into the pocket of his jeans.

LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:

Confession: I still read a lot of series romance. My favorite lines are Silhouette Romantic Suspense, Harlequin Intrigue, and Silhouette Desire. I love these books. They are my secret vice. While I can see the umm cheesiest sometimes, I still devour them.

I couldn't devour SHADOW PROTECTOR. Usually I can read a series romance in about a day and a half, it took me almost two weeks to read SHADOW PROTECTOR. I just couldn't get into it.

Usually when I read a series romance I can see that even if it wasn't to my tastes where it fit into the line it was published into. I didn't get that sense with SHADOW PROTECTOR. If you are familiar with the Harlequin/Silhouette lines, while reading SHADOW PROTECTOR if felt like I was reading a Harlequin American romance instead of a suspense novel and the American romance line isn't one of my favorites.

SHADOW PROTECTOR seems more about the quirky characters Sera meets in the town she's hiding away in instead of the suspense (who's trying to kill her) and her relationship with the hero (the local sheriff).

Things I didn't understand.

• Someone is trying to kill her and she is still wanders about all by herself. Despite various attempts made on her she is still wanders around town like she doesn't have a care in the world. VERY, VERY, VERY implausible!

• Sera the heroine is a psychiatrist, yet she acts in a manner that I can only describe as TSTL. One of her best friend's has died, someone keeps trying to grab her, yet she acts in a TSTL manner when the hero tries to protect her. She doesn't need him hovering over her.

• In a brand that is so focused on the romantic relationship between the hero and heroine, there was very little if any interaction and sexual attraction/tension/relationship buildup between Sera and Logan.

• All the quirky characters, some who seem very stereotypical to what you find in small towns, distracted from the developing relationship between Sera and Logan.

• Not sure how to describe it. The plot seemed very disjointed. Like it wasn't meant to be a series romance. As if the writer had written the story to be a single title romantic suspense and had to chop it down to try to make it fit as an Intrigue.

Although the Shadow Protector didn't work for me, I decided to let YOU DECIDE! Want to win a copy of SHADOW PROTECTOR? Look below to figure out how!


CONTEST:

I'm offering up a copy of SHADOW PROTECTOR for you to decide. If you'd like a copy please say ENTER ME in the comments section below so I know you're not just commenting on the review but want to enter the contest as well. I'll be announcing the winner Monday!


WHERE PURCHASED:

Received copy from Publisher for review.

Rating:
E

Author Name: Marie Ferrarella
ISBN #: 978-0373276868
Publisher Name: Silhouette Romantic Suspense
Date Released: July 2010
Genre: Series Romantic Suspense
Pages: 224
Book Format: Print


BACK COVER BLURB:

Susan Kelley remembers the long-ago teenage crush she had on rancher Duke Colton. Some things don’t change—like Duke’s sexy half smile and the way it leaves her breathless. What’s different now is Susan’s all grown up with very real desires....

Accustomed to minding his own business, Duke can’t walk away when he spots Susan crying outside a hospital. Ever since that day, their paths keep crossing. They finally surrender to the scorching passion between them, and suddenly she’s all he can think about. And when Susan begins receiving threats, Duke must do everything in his power to protect the woman he can’t resist loving.

FIRST LINES:

Duke Colton didn't know what made him look in that direction, but once he did, he couldn't look away. Even though he wanted to.

Moreover, he wanted to keep walking. To pretend that he hadn't seen her, especially not like that.

Susan Kelley's head was still down, her short, dark-blond hair almost acting like a curtain, and she seemed oblivious to the world around her as she sat on the bench to the side of the hospital entrance, tears sliding down her flawless cheeks.

Duke reasoned that it would have been very easy either to turn on his heel and walk in another direction, or just to pick up speed, look straight ahead and get the hell out of there before the Kelley girl looked up.

Especially since she seemed so withdrawn and lost to the world.

Sometimes a girl is just in the mood for a light, quick read. I love series romance and my favorite series are Harlequin Intrigue and Silhouette Romantic Suspense. If you haven't read a series romances try them out.

I picked up COLTON BY MARRIAGE because it looked like the story was about old childhood sweethearts rekindling their romance. I love stories like that, so I was a little disappointed/annoyed that it wasn't. The blurb mentioned Susan had a crush on him when she was a kid when she didn't. Of course I'm fallible (I'm not really, but it's good to not appear as if I'm NOT always right, especially when I'm discussing my opinion on books – LOL) and I could be wrong. Maybe her crush was mentioned in COLTON BY MARRIAGE but if it was, it was mentioned in passing.

Overall, COLTON BY MARRIAGE is a well written novel. I would buy the author again, but I just couldn't connect with the characters.

Susan (the heroine) is annoying and has too many TSTL (too stupid to live) moments!

To be honest, it could be because Susan's very removed from me that I had a hard time relating to her. She's the youngest of a lot of children (can't remember how many now), and lives behind her parents home and works in their company but she complains that they are always in her business! WTF. Or am I the only one who can see the irony? I hope not!

Why I can't relate. I left home soon after it became legal and haven't been back. This is despite the fact that my mother would still do anything for me that it's in her power to do/give. This is despite (or maybe because) the fact that I'm well over the age of twenty-one with a family of my own. During a recent telephone conversation with my mother (we live in different states) I happened to mention that I had a headache, she freaked and told me she'd mail me some aspirin (no, I'm not kidding)! Even still, it's hard for me to relate to Susan's annoying whining. She's in her late twenties, yet she seemed very immature emotionally.

1. She has a stalker boyfriend. He tries to assault her and she's saved by the hero but Susan snaps at the hero when he tells her stalker that her stalker is not a man for trying to attack a defenseless woman. She seems to think she's not defenseless, but did she knee the bas%%rd in the groin or anything? Not a once. Honey, you were defenseless. Get over it!

2. She has several temper tantrums wanting to be taking seriously. Umm, honey well stop throwing temper tantrums!

3. Okay. I know there are virgins over twenty years old, but it didn't see believable to me why she was (religion, dating history, etc.). It pulled me out of the story.

Because of this, I couldn't warm up to Susan, which ruined the book to me. I also had problems with Duke, though not as many. Basically Duke's father runs a million dollar ranch, is a jerk, and uses his children more like slave labor. Duke also lives with Daddy on a home on his father's ranch. He doesn't like his father but . . . umm there is nothing inside COLTON BY MARRIAGE that makes you understand why he's still living under his father's roof and dealing with his bull crap.

I could go on and on. Basically I wished COLTON BY MARRIAGE had more character development that would make me connect emotionally to the hero and heroine. Also, while I love romantic suspense novels that are more focused on the characters development than the suspense, the suspense in COLTON BY MARRIAGE wasn't as developed to me as it could be. In the end I had a WTF this came out of nowhere feel, but it wasn't in an edge of a seat kinda way, it was in a this didn't make sense way.

Despite this, I would try the author again, because I enjoyed her writing, just not this particular story.

WHERE PURCHASED:
I purchased with my own hard earned money!

Rating:
C –