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This is the first book in the "Born In" trilogy of the daughters of Tom Concamman.  Mave                  Camcamman is an angry and  very bitter woman who takes her disappointments and resentment out on her two daughters, Maggie and Brianna. Maggie fights with her mother, Breanna is the peace keeper.  Born in Fire is Margaret Mary Concannon (Maggie) Story. She is both comforted and torn apart by her family.  Maggie is a glass artist. Her work attracts Ragan, the owner of Worldwide Galleries and he is determined to display Maggie's art. On their first meeting the sparks fly and the attractions begin.   The spotlight is not what Maggie wants, but the promise of financial independence convinces her to accept Rogens offer.  This is a sizzling romance with emotions and relationships that are like a tangled web.

This is the debut novel of the Cynster Family. "Devil's Bride" has many, many things to recommend it. There is the mystery element of the very first pages, the very sensual meeting of its hero and heroine and then the betting book....Both of the main characters are headstrong and arrogant and stay that way through the book. With names of the Bar Cynster cousins like: Scandal, Vane, Demon, Gabriel and Lucifier who could not like this very humorous book.  The hero, Devil, falls for the heroine (Honoria) immediately but because she has her plans laid out for her independent self she refused to marry the Duke, even if it means she might be ruined after their compromising situation. This sets in motion a number of things that all come to pass during the passage of the pages that one can't seem to put down once you start reading.

I for one (a new devoted fan) likes how this author knows how to set up and carry out a sensual scene, develop a wonderful cast of side characters and create an overall great read. Can't wait for more Cynster cousin sequels.

This spin-off from Lord of Scoundrels, which by the way is also a must read, is so very good you hate to come to the final page. The main characters are so bent against each other that there is only one thing left to do which is: meet, fight, seduce each other and fall in love.  Lydia Grenville is a 28 year old, just a few inches under six feet tall and is mind numbing beautiful with a less than lady like occupation, checkered past and of questionable lineage. Vere Mallory (about six feet six inches, built and not to hard on the eyes) is the notorious Duke of Ainswood, which has to keep us with a long legacy of hell raising ancestors. When these two meet, sparks fly, the ton tongues wag and one hilarious contest of wills sets off a winner take all contest. During this race our hero and heroine finally come to terms with each other plus add in the great characters from the Lord of Scoundrels it makes for a terrific historical romance.  This book is very humorous, sensual, has a terrific cast of characters. This author is very good with her one liners of humor.

This is Nicholas Sparks’ firs novel based on a story about his wife’s grandparents. It is a wrenching story of love found, love lost and found again that will bring you to tears. At first I thought it was another "Bridges of Madison County". Not true. The story is much wider and deeper in scope. The setting is rural and the author paints a vivid picture of the North Carolina countryside. It is essentially a two-person story that spans their lifetimes. The end has an expected twist. It is a very tender story, so have your favorite tissue close at hand. It’s short, but powerful.

Victoria Storm is the heir to a fortune and the darling of New York Society. She has grown up with everything money can provide. "Boring " (I should be so bored). Then excitement comes into her life with Mitchell Storm and his man who mooned the guests at her charity ball, for goodness sake.  Mitchell Storm is the Chief of the Clan Storm.  Unfortunately, Mitchell hasn’t any money, his castle has a leaky roof, he is in debt and his Clan of Scots are depending on him.  Mitchell comes to America to find his cousin Victoria and ask for her help searching for a family treasure. The search takes them to the Isle of Storm, gold and romance.

This is Nicholas Sparks’ second novel and I had great expectations when I began to read it. A journalist finds a tender love letter to a deceased wife in a bottle as she vacations on Cape Cod. She schemes to meet the man who wrote the letter. She does and they fall in love: but he doesn’t know that she has found the message. Two thirds of the way through I felt the story was falling apart.  I was right and you won’t like the ending. Romance readers prefer happier conclusions to love stories.

When her mother shows up at her door with a two year old boy, Julie Cochron wonders how far  her mother will go to get her married off. The bathroom scenes are priceless. I laughed out loud at least three times. 

Cotannah Chisk-Ko is banished from her Texas ranch home to the Choctaw Nation where she must learn to behave like a proper Maiden of her tribe.  Walks-With-Spirits desires Cotannah. But her restlessness upsets serenity (that’s not the only thing about her that upset him) Oh My, does he dream and want her. When Cotannahs flirtatious ways put her in danger of being hurt, Walks-With-Spirits must fight for his like.  After the Thunder is the last book in the Choctaw Indian trilogy, and was not one of the best Indian romances. A so-so read.

This one stretches credibility a bit, but if you can suspend disbelief, it’s not a bad read, although Archer breaks a fundamental rule of writing - being too didactic. Sure, she’s right that working conditions in the sweat shops in the last quarter of the nineteenth century were horrible, but she beats the reader over the head with it, which takes away some of the charm from the love story of Harmony Harper, survivor of a terrible sweat shop fire, who leads the Wild Child Gang of robbers, the wild children being seven young, and I do mean, young, girls orphaned by the same fire. Thor becomes their captive when they use his huge body to escape enemy fire during a robbery. Later the question might better be "Who's the hostage?" Thor has a nice, socially-conscious family, maybe a bit too socially-conscious given the period.

This novel is a good blend of suspense and romance. A movie producer, Sy Spencer, is murdered on Long Island and his former wife, Bonnie, who is living in anonymity in the Hamptons, becomes the chief suspect. A seasoned detective, Steve Brady, is the chief investigator and becomes romantically involved with Bonnie. Before long, Steve is laying the case and his career on the line for her. I like Susan Isaac’s novels and I am never disappointed in her characters or in her plots. Good read.

The Night Remembers                                                                                                        Kathleen Eagel                                                                                                       Contemporary                                                                                                                              By Dorothy Dodd-Watson                                                                                                          ***

Angela Prescott is hiding in Minneapolis from an abusive former boyfriend. She is a schoolteacher working as a waitress.  Tommy T.is a 12 year old street kid who adopts Angela and becomes her protector. Tommy's mother has disappeared and his brother belongs to a street gang. Tommy T. takes care of himself and does a real good job.  Jesse Brown Wolf works as a handy man, but by night he walks the streets and sleeps in a cave in the park.  Tommy T. names the night walker Dark Dog and knows where Jesse lives. One night he runs to Jesse's cave for help when a gang member hurt Angela.  This is a real different read, most unusual story and certainly not one I would put on the keeper shelf.

Shades of a Desperado                                                                                                        Sharon Sala                                                                                                        Contemporary/Time Travel                                                                                                         By Carol Grajales                                                                                                                      **1/2

This is a silhouette intimate moment time travel. Well, sort of. They only travel 250 pages. Rachel has flashbacks about two characters out of the old west named Dakota and Mercy. She is Mercy reincarnated and the man of questionable character that she meets in Razor Bend. Oklahoma turns out to be Dakota. Boone McDonald, is in reality a DEA agent and is involved in the subplots which keeps the story moving. He is clueless about the reincarnation thing, but falls in love with Rachel anyway. It’s a fairly good read. I like Sharon Sala’s longer books better.

Fields of Fire                                                                                                                            Carol Caldwell                                                                                                                    Ireland                                                                                                                                          By Joan Newcomb                                                                                                                       **

Mediocre. Enough Said.

 Dark Eyes                                                                                                                           Colleen Corbet                                                                                                                   Colonial America                                                                                                                         By Joan Newcomb                                                                                                                      ****

Never jot down the names of three characters, tell yourself you’ll remember the story, then deliberately leave the book behind on the train when you get off in Edinburgh! Especially when you wait a week to locate the notes and then sit here trying to review it. Oh well, here goes. Caroline was married off to a handsome young lord who liked men and boys better than his wife. His sexual advances to her were rare., impersonal, painful, and brutal. The cad decides to do away with her but the hired killers kidnap her instead and sell her into indentured servitude in the Colonies. When the sixteen year old slime of her owner tries to rape her, he falls and is killed (yes!). She escapes and ends up at the isolated cabin of settler Zachery Pitt. Zachery isn’t having a very good day himself, badly mauled by bear, he barley (OOPS, Make that Barely) crawls back to his small house. In the meantime, Caroline has found his baby daughter almost dead from lack of food. What is notable about this one is the dialogue and Zachery’s determination to teach Caroline that sex can be beautiful. He succeeds.

 Sleeping Beauty                                                                                                                  Judith Ivory                                                                                                                            Victorian England                                                                                                                         By Dorothy Dodd-Watson                                                                                                          ***

James Stoker wins fame and fortune by exploring Africa. He meets Mrs. CoCo Wild, an older, wiser woman with .....? "reputation". James could care less about Co Co’s past and sets out to win her for his lady love.  Victorian society gives the couple trouble but true love wins with a sleeping beauty kiss and some help from Queen Victoria.  This was not a romance to recommend. Just so-so.

Mediocre at best, although I like the Black Panther.

Shadow Of The Storm                                                                                                            Debra Dier                                                                                                                          America 1865                                                                                                                               By Joyce Peach                                                                                                                         ****

Miss Sabrina O"Neill fell in love with Ian Tremayne when she was but 13 years old. She was spying on him from a tree in her aunt's garden when she was visiting her in New York City. Falling from the tree Ian manages to catch her and she lands on him instead of breaking her neck. She then informs Ian that he should wait for the "right woman" meaning herself before he marries.  Nine years later on a river boat going down the Mississippi River with her father she once again meets Ian. For revenge for everything that was lost to them during the Civil War she helps her father fleece Yankees in poker games with marked cards. Her father has set his sights on Ian. Sabrina refuses to aid her father this time.  They meet all over again and fall in love. Believing Ian's words of love and marriage she surrenders her innocence to him but their happiness is short lived. Before Sabrina can tell Ian about what she and her father do to Yankees, Mac informs Ian about the marked cards. Ian, feeling used and betrayed, confronts Sabrina and tells her she was just a game and didn't mean any of his words of love and deserts her.   Sabrina then seeks revenge. She goes to New York City and enters the glittering world of high society with the help of her aunt. Ian notices her in her masquerade and sets out to find out the real reason she came to New York. Then the real battle of wills sets in between the two. During this battle several attempts have been made to kill Ian.   I recommend any of Debra Dier's previous books. She can spin a mystery, suspense and love story without any boring pauses.

During the reign of Edward I, rebellion is a Norman way of life, but some nobles like Lynx de Warenne remain loyal to the English Crown. Lynx is like most peers, living for the next battle. However, he knows that he must produce an heir, but he believes that he is incapable of siring a child. Following royal orders, Lynx secures Scotland's Dumfries Castle. The castellan, Jack Leslie, learning of Lynxs's fears, proposes that the new lord of the castle handfast with his youngest daughter Jane. Lynx agrees to the arrangement that makes any child born during the year and a day of the handfast legitimate. If by some chance Jane gets pregnant, Lynx plans to marry her anyway to make it legal under British law. True to her Celtic beliefs, she wants nothing to do with the Norman warrior. However, she reluctantly accepts for the sake of her family. The newlyweds engage in a battle of wills as the Scottish lass leads her English Lord on a merry chase, determined to make him earn her love.  Any fan of Virginia Henley will read this book from cover to cover. She proves once again why she is a great writer of historical erotic romance. The story mixes erotic sex and history in a manner that will definitely please you. Always a keeper.

Lord of Scoundrels                                                                                                             Loretta Chase                                                                                                                     Regency                                                                                                                                       By Konnie LeRoy                                                                                                                        ****1/2       

I loved it! Jessie (whose tongue should be registered as a lethal weapon) is a 27 year old virgin "femme fatale". Dain is a confirmed woman-hater who intends on teaching her a lesson. HA! Great dialogue. First one of several tie-ins.

Mrs. Beatrice Poole journeys to see Leo Drake, aka the Mad Monk of Monkcrest, at his bachelor country home armed only with a former prostitute as her companion. She seeks Leo out for he is an authority on antiquities and ancient legends.  Rumor has it that the dangerous Earl of Monkcrest is believed to dabble in the supernatural. She needs his help in finding the Forbidden Rings of Aphrodite to locate a fortune in hidden treasure. She needs this treasure to help aid her cousin so can marry the man she loves. She feels that her Uncle Reggie was killed for the information regarding the rings.  Leo agrees to help Mrs. Poole because five minutes in her company is all it takes from him to realize that never has he met a woman more stubborn, more infuriating or more likely to rescue him from boredom than this lady. As the couple risks their reputations and consequently their lives, they find a more valuable treasure; a deep and abiding love for each other that was never present with their first spouses. Somewhere in the netherworld of London a villain lurks waiting for the lovers to unearth the Forbidden Rings which could mean that when they do that day might just be their last.  Anyone who is a fan of Amanda Quicks books will love this story of a very bold widow and a very enigmatic scholar as they are drawn into a brew of mystery, danger and love.

Hawk's Woman                                                                                                                      Janice Reams Hudson                                                                                                            Texas 1870                                                                                                                                By Dorothy Dodd-Watson                                                                                                         ***

Abby May McCormick and Hawk become friends as children when she decided to teach a half-breed boy to read until the day they made love as young adults for the first time. Abby and Hawk kept their feelings secret until they can get married.  Then one night after seeing Abby on the way home, he was ambushed, beaten and reported dead. Abby leaves Texas and returns a widow with a child.  After four years Hawk returns and claimed Abby's father ranch the Circle M. (He believes that Abby's father responsible of the attack on him) as his own. Soon Hawk and Abby are struggling with new and old feelings.   This is a good western with realism and two unlikely lovers.

Once upon a time, he was the most successful and notorious thief to roam London. He was so feared that his name, Nightshade, was never even whispered by the dregs of society for fear he might make an unannounced appearance and turn his wrath on the whispered.  Since he had not been seen in years, most people breathed a sigh of relief praying that he was indeed dead. However, out of nowhere, he returns, seeking that a missing aristocrat, a Miss Primrose Dane be found and brought to him.   Primrose, a teacher of poor children, did not return from one of her frequent jaunts into the slums. Her family hires Nightsade to find her, discreetly of course, so that no scandal will occur. She had witnessed a murder and saw the murderer.   Thinking her to be a dried up spinster he soon realizes his mistake. She also finds out that he is more than just a disreputable felon. An attraction flares up between them, but before they can explore any relationship, they must deal with an enemy that wants to see them as an unsolved murder statistic.   Suzanne Robinson readers love the hero as he struggles between two worlds and two identities while trying to better himself. One can visualize Primrose as the feisty woman trying to straddle her silver spoon upbringing bringing together two different worlds and two different people. If you should care for struggles in your historical romances read her series: Lady Gallant, Lady Defiant, Lady Valiant and Lord of Enchantment.

When his son dies, Shane Howard, a half Irish and half English aristocrat, decides it is time to visit his Irish roots in an attempt to understand the conflict. When he arrives in Ireland, he hides the fact that he is the Marquess of Sherbourne, an absentee landlord despised by his tenants, known as "His Devilship".  Shanedoes not know that his agent, Oliver Radnor, has been skimming the profits and letting Shanes tenants do without.  When Shane meets the widow Kathleen McNamara by almost running her down with his horse there is a spark between the two of them. He doesn't tell her his true identity because she informs him that "His Devilship" murdered her husband. While going fishing one day he meets Kathleen's young daughter and strikes up a friendship with her and soon finds himself unable to do without either of them.  His eyes are soon opened to the problems of being an absentee land owner and begins to correct the problems. All though Kathleen returns feelings for Shane he also realizes that he loves Kathleen for her feisty independence but at the same time is terrorized by the fact that that same spirit will end their relationship once she uncovers the truth about his identity.  Once again Marlene Suson displays why she is one of the best historical romance writers around. You can enjoy a terrific story line, secondary players that bring alive a story of conflict between the plight of the Irish under English rule. She writes a very passionate romance between Kathleen and Shane that can sit you on a fence between happiness and misery until the last page.

Following his triumphant African expedition, Sir James Stoker has become the darling of High Society. At last, this coachman's son achieves fame, fortune and the Order of the Bath from Queen Victoria. He is also scheduled to receive the title of  Earl and all its estates but he is about to throw it all away with his growing affection for a famous Parisian courtesan by the name of Nicole "Coco" Wild. She is 37 years old and is just about 8 years James's senior. Around London Coco is known to have "the Pillow of Diplomacy".  From England to France this fair hero plots his seduction. Coco is flattered by his youthful charm and gallantry. Although she is tempted she rejects his advances. After repeated chance encounters he finally breaks through her defenses and becomes her lover. Finally realizing the she loves James their association threatens his reputation and his chances for his  becoming an Earl, his friendship with his mentor (the father of Coco's son David) and even his life amid threats of greed, betrayal, treachery and political machinations.  I like the way Judith Ivory gets her point across without being heavy handed and beating the reader over the head. It is a nice even read of seduction and love story. The author shows that you can still find love and happiness if you are willing to stand up and fight for it.

The Vow is a book to enjoy. The novel brings to the reader laughter, wittiness and just the right amount of emotion to the second chance at marriage and the reclaiming of love between a child and parent.  Ammabel McKeige returns to Parable, Nevada after 12 years to see her husband, Gabriel, the son, (Nicholas) she never saw grow to adulthood, and the home where her baby daughter died. Ammable has come back to ask for a divorce, but Gabriel will not give her the divorce because he still loves her; she returns the love. Ammabel and Gabriel make love, worry over Nicholas’ rebellion, make love, worry about Nicholas' outlaw friends, make love, worry about Nicholas’ older woman lady friend, make love, worry about a Englishman who isn’t what he seems, and make love.      "Very Good"

This is another one of those books I've had for a while. Boy, am I glad I finally decided to read it. It's a genuine charmer. Heiress Zoe Smith has fled her husband's home, fearing a murder charge. Desperate to escape the hangman's noose, she ends up in a boom town in New Mexico. Nothing in her pampered upbringing prepares her to survive there, but she does, even though she loses more money improperly laundering her customers' clothes and even though her food is inedible. Despite all this Zoe not only survives but proves herself a good business woman. If only she can fight her growing attraction to the local sheriff, one Daniel Whittaker, who takes one look at her limpid blue eyes, her generous curves, and her sultry smile, and is doomed. For a woman who has grown up being thought of as plump and plain, this is quite surprise. But in a town where men outnumber women 300 to one, standards of beauty are different than Zoe thinks. Not so, Daniel, the romantic, who embodies her with all the traits a lovesick swain can conjure up. The dialogue is charming; the town's characters a joy, and a cow named Molly certainly deserve their own stories.  This is definitely worth reading.

Half-breed Blade Lonewolf is fulfilling a promise to his dead wife; he will go through with the adoption of orphaned Penny St. John, one of the children arriving on the orphan train. He doesn't expect opposition to the adoption but without his white wife, the minister in charge won't let him have Penny. The day isn't going well, and it gets worse, when Elise St. John, Penny's older sister, coerces him into an arranged marriage. Desperate to be with her younger sister and close to her thirteen year old brother who is being adopted by another rancher, Elise will do anything. Life hasn't gone well since the death of their parents; their aristocratic eastern grandparents turn the youngerchildren over for adoption and tell Elise to make her own way, not an easy task for a young woman who has never cooked, cleaned, or done chores in her life. And now she's married to a man who doesn't want her and is fully confident she's too citified to survive on his small farm.

Dominic Kirland has spent most of her life in a convent. A summons from someone the nun's claim has paid for her stay there, sends her west, where she loses her money and the letter of introduction. Cowboy Luke, a sardonic, plays his cards close to his chest guy, reluctantly agrees to take her to the cattle ranch of baron Toma Colfax, a man he obviously dislikes. What Domini finds is the original dysfunctional family from hell, a mother who hates her younger son, and a brother who is a slug.

This is a keeper for people like Dorothy who are running out of shelf space but still can't get rid of the special ones. The heart of this book are complex characters set in the dirt-hard, prairie-fire reality of life in a Texas which cuts no slack. Eliza Beaudry is the daughter of sharecroppers; she dreams of a wider world out there; the hard life, the endlessly, grinding poverty, living in a one room shack with dirt floor, a father aged by his labors, a half Comanche mother who is not accepted by the townsfolk-Eliza dreams of a world free of these grim realities. She sees in traveling through gambler Cole Wallace her escape; she's wrong, of course. Cole has his sights on a society girl in Dallas; Eliza is just a momentary distraction he forgets the moment he leaves town. Two months later he is rudely reminded of her when her father tracks him down, shotgun in hand, and orders him to marry his pregnant daughter. But it is Cole's shy brother Aaron who becomes the unwilling bride groom. Enough said. Read it for yourself.

The first of this threesome was My Steadfast Heart, about Colin. This one is about Decker Thome. When the three brothers' parents are murdered, they are sent to an orphanage and later adopted out, none of the three knowing where the other two are. In the first one, Colin and Decker are reunited; in this one, Decker, a former pickpocket, has worked his way up to sea captain for Jonna Remington who makes no secret that she disapproves of him and his careless ways. Both are actively involved in the Underground Railroad; neither has a clue that the other is similarly engaged.

The Old West is disappearing but writers like Stephanie Winslow keep the mystique alive with their dime novels, novels which, in Stephanie's case, have enabled her to live an independent life. She has come to Arizona Territory in search of more inspiration for her writing and what she gets is Clint Tanner, a slightly tarnished hero; okay, rusted. Are you happy now? Their first meeting is not under auspicious circumstances; he mistakes her for a whore, slaps her on the rump, and then kisses her passionately. For Clint who complains that an honest gunfighter can't make a decent living any more escorting a proper Easterner on a tour of the West is the nadir of his professional career. After all, he has a reputation to uphold.

I've liked other novels by Holm better than this one which is okay, but nothing distinctive. Camry Parker has come West to be with her father, a widower, who has left her in a posh girls' school for years. When she arrives unexpectedly, she finds her father's finances a mess; moreover he gives her two weeks to find a bridegroom or he'll find one for her, and the one man he finds is Nick Treistead, an ordinary, hard-working miner. For Camry who is used to nice things, daddy's choice is unwelcome. Besides Nick has a way of annoying her.

How did I miss this delightful story of a modern young American who inherits an English castle only to find it inhabited by a 700 year old ghost and his mates? And nothing prepares her for Kendrick de Piaget, who has spent those years pushing her ancestors into insanity and suicide. Geneva knows things aren't going to go well when Kendrick bursts into her room, an arrow sticking out through his chest, covered with blood. But Kendrick has some surprises waiting for him, too. Geneva refuses to run screaming for her life and even engages in serious conversations with him when he creeps up behind her prepared to stab her. It's bad enough waiting to die but the least Kendrick could do is either get it over with or get out of her way as she sets about ridding the castle of some of the most distasteful furniture restorer Geneva has ever had the misfortune to see. Killing the lady proves more difficult than Kendrick anticipated, especially when he gets a good look at her pajamas, fire engine red long-johns with bunny slippers. It's enough to frustrate an experienced house-hunter who wiles away the hours watching American football on the telly and then presumes to try to teach a San Franciscan the finer points of the game. A most delightful book. Best one I've read since I got here.

This must be part of a trilogy on the seafaring Baron men, with this one about Matthew Baron, the younger of two brothers; the other two are his brother Jared and their cousin Alex. Matthew falls in love with missionary daughter Rachel Todd, who has nothing but contempt for a man who is trading in opium. Entranced by the young woman who throws champagne in his face to emphasize her disgust for his business practices, Matthew vows to marry her. With a backdrop of the short opium war between China and Britain