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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