Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


OK. So, I might be back in love with Kristan Higgans. I loved this book. A neurotic hero who is borderline obsessive compulsive is not common in romance, but it works here. Liam Murphy is a guy with some serious issues and it's refreshing to see how he deals with them. And Posey Osterhagen is the ugly duckling that never quite made it to swan status. She is the adopted daughter of some pretty tall, Germanic people and finds herself lacking. At some in their youth, Posey overheard Liam say some pretty nasty things about her and she has been scarred by his words ever since. But now, widowed Liam has moved back and Posey finds it hard not to fall for him all over again.


In true Higgans fashion, the secondary characters are awesome. Posey is surrounded by her gay brother-in-law, her jock best friend Kate, her German parents, and Vietnamese brother. I loved this book.




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The Next Always by Nora Roberts


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Something about the working man characters of Nora Roberts. Recall the Quinn’s of Chesapeake Bay and the Gallagher’s of Ireland; these are men who are hardworking, loyal, and handsome and just plain, good. The Montgomery’s of BoonsBoro, Maryland are much the same type of men. I can’t lie: this book was a bit slow for me coming out of the starting block. I might have been expecting the grab of Chasing Fire or the instance of romance in Vision in White. I wasn’t sure why I would be going with this book and laid my Kindle the side several times before I began to fall a bit for Beckett, Ryder, and Owen. As a reader, you will fall for the men in this series rather than the women (even the little men). Apparently, Beckett Montgomery has been walking around BoonsBoro for the better part of his life, waiting for the one woman he could not have---Clare Murphy Brewster. I don’t think he even realized that he had been waiting for her until her had her. There’s a serious love connection going on here but the real romance is not Beckett and Clare…it’s the Inn BoonsBoro that the Montgomery’s are building that makes this book so delicious.


While I was reading and discovering this book, I became like the lady from 30 Rock: I want to go to there. This Inn is themed and feature rooms based on literary characters: Elizabeth and Darcy, Nick and Nora, Oberon and Titania, etc. I was instantly in love and enjoyed reading about this place this place that I secretly hoped was a reality. Roberts has this way of making the setting a major character of her novels and the first book is always just the hook you need to draw you into waiting more than six months for the second installment. I think The Last Boyfriend comes out in May of 2012 (really!) Again, with the anticipation. A good book for a cup of tea, a blanket and a chilly day.






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Deadly Desires by Ann Christopher


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Great book but not a standalone title. Deadly Pursuits should be read first in order to understand who the characters are and their motivations. Apparently, Kira Gregory has been helping DEA Special Agent Dexter Brady to bring her drug kingpin husband down. Agent Brady has been holding back his feelings for the criminal's wife but once Kareem Gregory is dead, nothing can hold him back any longer. However. Kira has a few more skeletons in her closet that will make Dexter question his judgement.


Since I just met Kira in this book, I have to withhold judgement of her. She is the wife a drug kingpin but claims not to have known what her husband was doing for most of their marriage. Though she is a strong female characters, I need to find more about her in order to like her. Once I have gone back to read Deadly Pursuit, I might have to revisit and change my opinions of this book.




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The Qwillery: 2011 Blogversary Giveaways!

The Qwillery: 2011 Blogversary Giveaways!: I started The Qwillery as a general blog on October 1, 2008. In the last 3 months of 2008, I posted 19 times. In 2009, the number increased ...

Only Us: A Fool's Gold Holiday by Susan Mallery


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Awww. I love a good love story, especially at Christmas.




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Bring Me Home for Christmas by Robyn Carr


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Let me begin by saying that I love the Virgin River series and when Denny Cutler first arrived there, I was dying to hear the rest of his story. However, after reading Bring Me Home for Christmas, I think I could have waited. I did not feel as if this story fit in with the rest of the series: the characters that avid followers have come to love have become peripheral, no real build of emotion and tension. Almost as if the relationship between Denny and Becca was a forgone conclusion and nothing else needed to be added. One of the things that I have come to love about this series is the secondary stories and lead-ins to future books; I got none of that here. This could have been a standalone novel.


The book is basically about the girl that got away. Denny left Becca to return to Iraq and she moved on without him. After a few years, she has begun to date a law student and it’s leading to marriage but before a proposal can be made, Becca decides to piggyback with her brother on a guys-only hunting trip. Really? Denny doesn’t know she’s coming and all the old feelings come right back. Throw in a broken ankle, a rival, and close quarters and the couple is once again, a couple. Denny decides to quit working at the farm and follow Becca back to San Diego. Did I mention that he quit his job? This doesn’t seem like the same Denny that we’ve been reading about.


I just couldn’t make the connection with this book. After having read all of the previous novels in this series, I guess it was time for the law of averages to kick in. I think I would have liked this book if it had been a single title; definitely not Virgin River material.






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Holiday Hearts by A.C. Arthur


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Scrouge is a woman. A young woman, who has been scarred by her parents bitter divorce. Keysa Donovan has been so affected by her parent's break-up during the holdiays, that she refuses to celebrate Christmas at all. But there is someone looking out for her and waiting to restore her faith in family, love and the true spirit of the season.


Ian Sanchez has been jonesin' for Keysa ever since becoming a director at the marketing firm where she works and at nearly very turn, she has managed to keep him at a distance. Not anymore. This man is determined to make her see that she can't always live inside of her mother's pain and must start to live for herself. Though Keysa is now a grown woman, she is still taking sides in her parents failed relationship and doesn't speak with her father. This has also the reason why she tries to keep Ian at arms length. After spending time with Ian and realizing that he means a lot to her, Keysa decides speak to her parents and understand what happened to them will not happen to her. I would have loved for her to be so over this but it is a novella and only so much can be done and I don't think I could have stood her whining for a full novel. I was rooting for her to "take the man and run."


This was a good holiday treat about the healing power of forgiveness.




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Books Don't Expire....

I read a lot a book reviews on new books...Books by authors I've never heard of; which make me wants to read them. But what about the books that have been out for a few months or years that I haven't read? I find that I only rush out to get a newly published book when it is part of a series that  I have been waiting on for some time. Even new books by authors I love have a waiting period of a few months to a a year because I'm already working on a hefty stack.  I just read A Lady Most Likely by Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, and  Connie Brockway  last night and it came out in January 2011. I ahppen to love all three of these authors and and added the book to my TBR immediately after reading of its release. I downloaded The Hangman's Daughter  to my Kindle and have not even thought to begin reading it; so that means that I will be reviewing it several months from now.   But still, I'm reading everyday. Sometimes I read several books in one day. But they are not newly minted titles.
 Does anyone care that I read and review older titles? I don't know. Maybe there are other people like me who read in a constant stream and have a endless stack of all the books I have been meaning to get to.  Right now in my TBR pile I have: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick,  The Darkest Lie by Gena Showalter,  Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass,  Corralled by Lorelei James, Too Hot to Handle by Robin Kaye,  and Snowfall on Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs ( not including those I just picked up from the local library).   A few of those titles are part of a series and I ahev already read the newest installment. Weird. I know.
The point is: I read what I like ...and when I get around to it.  Books don't go bad. If they did, Hamlet and Native Son wouldn't be on anyone's high school reading list.

Guarding His Body by A.C. Arthur


My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Lorenzo "Renny" Bennett has been getting death threats from an unknown source. As he is a artist, he is unconcerned and tries to move on with his life. His wealthy family has different ideas and hires Sabrina Dedune as a bodyguard to protect Renny from his stalker. Renny takes one look at the petite ex-Marine and dismisses her ability to keep him out of trouble. They are immediately attracted to each other but his playboy reputation and her own personal issues with men is making it really hard for them to be professional. Though there is a real threat to Renny's life, I could not, for the life of me, figure out what it was. Too many variables : ex-girlfriends mixed with corporate espionage and a social climbing business partner. What was really the issue here? I just couldn't understand.


The story would have been a lot better with a simpler (or clearer) plot line. I know there are a limited number of pages but I can at least expect to understand the flow of the book. The developing relationship and sexual attraction between Renny and Sabrina over powered the story. As I have read other of Arthur's books, I am not too bothered by the one book I didn't care for.




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Cowboy by Staci Stallings


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I haven’t been reading Christian fiction for a long time, mainly because some of them become preachy and I don’t want a sermon with my romance. I do, however, appreciate different points of view. My reading of Cowboy was thoroughly entertaining and endearing and I didn’t miss out on any of the romance.


This is a story about a man who feels like he is outside of God’s Grace and has nothing to live for. Ashton Raines is the hottest country music star in America but has lost his passion for the music. With each passing night it comes more of a chore to go out on stage and give the fans a performance worth the ticket price and on a rainy night he turns off the highway and finds the one person who understands exactly what it means to lose everything. That person is Beth, single mother working at the diner where Ashton ends up. Beth immediately knows that something is wrong with the man who steps in from out of the rain. She becomes his lifeline and prays for him daily and even through her pain she prays for him. Shows him that in order to heal, all he has to do is trust and open his heart to God and He’ll take care of the rest. Ashton must turn his life around if he is to survive and he faces all the challenges of life a musician on the road that are, by design, meant to lead him away from her.


I was fell completely in love with these characters who try to stay faithful and move through tragedy. These aren’t portrayals of people with perfect lives; rather, they are people who worry about where the next meal is coming from and how they will make it through the next day. There are wonderful little stories about how God uses unknown people and situations to save you; leading you to where He needs you to be to receive His blessings. Very good read with a wonderful HEA.






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Lust on the Rocks by Dianne Venetta


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Samantha Rawings is the roughest, toughest, rootin’, tootin-est, shootin’-est lawyer on South Beach and looks model-perfect while doing it. On the fast track to partner she’s not about to let the new guy take over the case that could get her the brass ring. If you’ve read Dianne Venetta’s previous book, Jennifer’s Garden, then you will recognize Sam as Jennifer’s martini drinking best friend. I thought that Sam’s characterization was one of the better parts of the book and now here is her story in Lust on the Rocks. As Sam is about to try the case of her career, her boss strongly suggests that she allow a new associate of the firm to become part of her legal team. Though she allows Victor Marin access to her team, she is still wary and thinks that he has something to hide. She is also very attracted to the man, nearly ten years her junior. (If you remember her Sam from Jennifer’s Garden, you will recall that Sam is a no holds barred kind of woman). Pretty soon, Sam and Vic give in to each other and try to forge out a relationship while butting heads about the best way to win a wrongful death suit. Sam and Vic go through some real life struggles reconciling their personal morals and professional ethics which made the characters seem real and not just romantic cookie cutter pieces. Vic keeping something from Sam having to do with his personal involvement with the case and Sam’s sister is trying to figure out what to do about an unexpected pregnancy. This book is super sexy without being raunchy and romantic without being sappy.


Here comes the but…..


Since this is a sequel, one would expect to have the reappearance of characters that were featured in previous books. Right? What happened to Jennifer’s fiancé, Jackson Montgomery? I know the guy was a free spirit and wanted to explore the world, but did he fall from the face of the Earth? I kept wondering, chronologically, where this action was taking place because in Jennifer’s Garden, Sam was tending to another of her sisters after the death of her husband. I know this story wasn’t about Jennifer or Jackson but Jennifer was in the book but never once mentioned Jackson or his whereabouts. All in all, I like this book so much more than I did Jennifer’s Garden. Sam didn’t do much whining and, surely, didn’t apologize for who she was. Great book.






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Split Second by Catherine Coulter


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ever read a book from a favored author and found that it wasn’t the best you’d ever read? Did you feel let down? Or just glad that the series was moved along with another book? Well, I’ve had such an experience with Split Second, the latest installment of Catherine Coulter’s FBI series. Rationale and the Law of Averages suggest that I can’t have an awesome book every time, but I still have hope with each new printing. The idea of the book was great and I was caught immediately in the chase of the daughter of a prolific and infamous killer and also the mystery in the life of another FBI agent. Of course, Savich and Sherlock are back but their roles are more supporting than in previous books. I don’t know if I like that as I have gotten used to them being in the forefront at all times.


Somehow, I missed the action in this book. The timeline of the book says everything happened in under two weeks, the action and intensity just weren’t there, even when chasing a serial killer. Also, I missed the sinister mood that Coulter usually evokes with her books. I mean, I’m reading about the daughter of one of the world’s most known killers and I don’t feel like she is coming for me. Also, what was the story with the aunt? That went nowhere; just left me wondering if I needed to read a few chapters over again. I just didn’t feel the urgency with this book. And the side story of agent Lucy Carlyle……just felt under developed and, in the end, unfinished. The thing paranormal connection just wasn’t there, not in the way that it had been with Hemlock Bay with the Satanist twins.


I know this sounds a bit ironic but I did like this book…only not as much as I thought I should. Does that make sense? I have been reading the FBI series since The Cove and The Maze and will continue to read as long as Ms. Coulter chooses to write them.






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#nowreading....

Split Second by Catherine Coulter




What if one of the most infamous killers of all time had a child that no one knew about?





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Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Beverly Jenkins is the best at what she does. Her depth of research is amazing. Each time I read another one of her historicals, I want to travel back in time to find and marry one of those men. Her books are not just about a pair of lovers but about people finding love in perilous times.


The story of Ian Vance and Maggie Freeman will take you a on very nice ride from jail house to whore house, and a few other interesting places in between. As usual, the book is well written with humor, sensuality, historical references and great characters. Definitely a worthwhile read.






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The Soldier by Grace Burrowes


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I had an inkling of what was going to happen at the end but I like to journey to get there. Devlin St. Just was an interesting and intriguing character from The Heir but I don't think Burrowes did him any justice in this book. Most of what the man was about came too late in the book and that makes for a longer read. Burrowes writes lovely books, it just seems that some things are out of place or missing and I kept waiting for some action. On the part of Emmie Farnum, here is another woman intent on leaving for the good of everyone. Let me just say, Regency women were brave as hell to uproot themselves in a time when being a single women without means could get you shunned, ridiculed, possibly stones (Oh wait, that still happens). And I didn't like the fact that she was so passive about Winnie until Devlin came into the picture and then she became a mother bear.


I guess I expected more from the second book; just wanted more MORE.








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The Heir by Grace Burrowes


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Inching towards 5 stars for this book. This was a thoroughly enjoyable book and one of the most complete historical novels I've read in a long time. This book had been on a perpetual TBR list and I was finally able to have The Heir and The Soldier (haven’t read yet) together so that I would be able to read in sequence. For fans of regency romance this is wonderful example of witty language and just enough sexiness to keep you turning pages.


Gayle Windham, Earl of Westhaven is being plagued by his father to begat an heir; so much so that the Duke of Moreland has planted spies inside his son’s residence, bribes his mistress, and blackmails women into betrothals. His Grace reminds me of Prince Charming father from Cinderella. In fact, there are more than a few parallels to be drawn from that fairy tale. Anna Seaton is playing at being the best housekeeper in Mayfair and when the Earl appears to take up residence, the two of them become most intimate. She has been changing houses and looking over her shoulder, hiding from a mysterious enemy. Their relationship seamlessly turns into affection and neither one of them is trying to deny their mutual attraction.


This book took several days to read and I almost gave up because it seemed as if I was always reading the same thing (due to the length of the book, of course). Also, I think the author assumed that we were a part of her creative process because I had to keep re-reading the beginning to understand where the story was going. I loved Devlin (The Soldier) Valentine., and Morgan. A wonderful read and I can’t wait to begin on The Soldier: Devlin St.Just is an interesting character and can’t wait to see what happens with him.






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