The Golden Season-Connie Brockway

The Golden Season

Connie Brockway

Onyx, Feb 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780451412836

In 1816 Lady Lydia Eastlake learns she is broke, but wants a final Golden Season before she is forced to marry an affluent lord.  She assumes finding a wealthy match will prove easy as she is beautiful and has the proper pedigree though her age at a shelf life of twenty-four and never been under the control of any male or for that matter even a female but being an orphan might go against her.

War hero Captain Ned Lockton returns to England in search of a wife with money as his family estate is teetering on bankruptcy.  When Lydia and Ned meet, they are attracted to one another while also believing the other is rich.  Each learns the dire straits of their beloved’s finances and sadly concludes they must pragmatically look elsewhere as love does not pay the bills.

This terrific Regency romance stars two strong lead characters (especially the pursuing female) who are both in financial trouble due to an economic recession and in her case too much spending.  Ironically, his fighting against Napoleon left him and his family vulnerable to the economy’s slump.  Lydia and Ned make the tale as they want one another, but look to the odious Smyth types for marriage as neither can afford to wed for love.

Harriet Klausner

Pretty in Ink-Karen E. Olson

Pretty in Ink

Karen E. Olson

Obsidian, Mar 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780451229625

Brett Kavanaugh owns the  Painted Lady tattoo parlor in the ritzy part of Las Vegas while giving her clients custom-made tattoos.  Her whole body is filled with tattoos, a walking advertisement for her shop.

One night Brett is at the Chez Terso watching a transvestite on stage when a man pops a champing cork and hits the performer in the chest.  Brett gets a look at the man who did it noticing a queen of hearts playing card etched onto his right forearm.  Trevor McKay seems all right, but the next day he visits the Painted Lady appearing very ill.  He dies at the hospital at the same time Brett’s trainee Charlotte disappears.  A waiter saw the man the person who hit Trevor with the cork; he describes him to Brett who makes a sketch.  The man is Wesley Lambert, a transvestite who dropped out of sight over a year ago.  Brett finds herself through a set of circumstances in a condo with the corpse of Wesley.  She is decontaminated from ricin, which is all over the place.  The tattoo artist believes there is a link between the two deaths and Charlotte as she hops from one hiding place to another to find Charlotte and the killer.  She remains resolute in finding her friend, but ignorant that someone is watching her very closely.

Pretty in Ink is a non-stop action amateur sleuth mystery starring a brave strong heroine who thinks outside the crypt; something needed on this deadly case.  The support cast adds humor and suspense (even off stage) to this well constructed complex whodunit.  With a touch of romance to augment the deep look at another side of Vegas, fans will enjoy the second Tattoo Shop Mystery (see Missing In Ink).

Harriet Klausner

Legend of the White Wolf-Terry Spear

Legend of the White Wolf

Terry Spear

Sourcebook, Feb 1 2010, $6.99

ISBN: 9781402219054

While their partners Cameron MacPherson and Vin Summerfield remain in Seattle as the former hunts only criminals and the latter hates flying, David Davis and Owen Nottingham are in Maine hunting black bear.  Their guide Kintail Silverman, co-owner with Lila Grayson of Back Country Tours, takes them deep into the wilderness when thirtyish David suddenly suffers a heart attack.  Owen knows David and pleads with Kintail to save his friend; he will pay any cost.  Kintail agrees and suddenly one of his purebred white wolves leaps at the two private investigators.

Faith O’Mallery is town searching for her former boyfriend Hilson Snowden who stole her father’s research paper.  Her father tells her not to read the paper once she recovers it.  At a hotel, she enters an occupied room as the desk clerk gave her the wrong key.  He says his name is Cameron and he is a private investigator from Seattle seeking his missing two partners.  They team up in search of his buddies and her dad’s paper, but neither is prepared to what they find as she learns her dad is not insane with his sociology study and he that his friends live.  Soon they will understand the howl of the wolf for its soulmate as their new loupe garous pals are in danger of extinction from Dark Angels.

The fourth werewolf romantic suspense thriller (see To Tempt a Wolf, Heart of the Wolf and Destiny of the Wolf) is a super entry as two dedicated individuals combine their mission only to fall in love at first bite.  The pristine descriptions of Maine and elsewhere add to the feeling that a werewolf pack runs free in the tundra.  Fans will relish this strong paranormal entry as no one does tales of the wolf better than Terry Spear does.

Harriet Klausner

Succubi Like It Hot-Jill Myles

Succubi Like It Hot

Jill Myles

Pocket, Jan 19 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9781416572831

New Yorker Jackie Brighton is still learning the rules of being a Succubus as going from B to double D in an instant takes an adjustment.  She figures how bad can it be as she has a drop dead figure, a dig gig as an archeologist, and two hot hunks from opposite sides of the spectrum, Noah the angel and Zane the vampire, thirsting to make love with her.  Life is perfect as long as she has sex at least every two days.

However, something is not right starting with her leaving the pizza guy unconscious and the shrinking gap between her sexual appetites.  Unaware never to make a deal with a demon, she desperately arranges for a powerful demon to remove her curse in exchange she will deliver a message to Delilah, the oldest succubus working America.  Jackie and her succubus BF Remy drive to New Orleans with Zane along for the sexual ride.  However, he vanishes at a rest stop leaving Jackie sexually in trouble, but the danger awaiting her in New Orleans is someone wants her dead.

Jackie knows first hand that any species of Gentlemen Prefer Succubi over archeological humans is good for her.  However, this time her need for sexual release is causing an implosion for her as the time between encounters shrink Causing amusement for her fans.  This is one wild zany road show as It Happened one Night after another and another until all hell breaks out in New Orleans.  Although the plot is sexually thin, fans will enjoy this humorous lighthearted frolic mindful of Harry Rheems’ “bandaged” character in Deep Throat.

Harriet Klausner

The Dark Storm-Kris Greene

The Dark Storm

Kris Greene

St. Martin’s, Feb 2 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780312944223

Her dad directed De Mona Sanchez to seek a Redfeather on the streets of New York City.  She is ecstatic to find one though Hunter College student Gabriel Redfeather is a bookworm computer freak rather than a sword carrying warrior.  He prefers the paranormal to be in novels or online.

However, kick butt De Mona ignores his pleas that he is not the legend, but just a geek who cherished his grandfather’s tales as tales not as fact.  Now this young woman insists he must use an ancient weapon as a descendent of a knight who long ago fought the demons, but Gabriel only knows textbooks.  Yet with De Mona’s encouragement and kicks to his butt, he prepares to fight the growing demonic horde that is threatening the city with the return of the Dark Storm.

This opening urban fantasy grips readers from the onset when street tough De Mona meets reticent bookish Gabriel as she needs a hero and he is the one.  Fans will appreciate The Dark Storm because of the lead couple.  He is her chosen one, but seems unlikely as a warrior as he is a shy college student whose hobby of deciphering of an ancient text on the net places him at the point of the war.  This is a fun thriller.

Harriet Klausner

McKettricks Of Texas: Tate-Linda Lael Miller

McKettricks Of Texas: Tate

Linda Lael Miller

Harlequin HQN, Feb 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780373774364

When Libby Remington was a child, her mom deserted her.  She was still young when her father died.  Finally she fell in love with Tate McKettrick, but he ended their relationship to marry the woman Cheryl he made pregnant when he got too drunk to know better.

In Blue River, Texas divorced Tate visits Libby at the Perk Up Coffee Shop to beg for a second chance.  She wants to say yes, but refuses as she fears he will break her heart again even though he swears he would do anything for her except give up his beloved six years old twins Audrey and Ava.  However his former wife uses their kids as emotional blackmail to make Tate do what she wants which leaves a wedge between him and Libby.

The first McKettricks Of Texas tale is an entertaining second chance at love romance although there is a soap opera feel to the plot.  The story line grips readers when Tate’s brother Austin is hurt at the rodeo and never let’s go until the finish.  Although Cheryl is a drama queen and the twins too precocious, McKettrick fans will enjoy the opening act of a new trilogy.

Harriet Klausner

Down River-Karen Harper

Down River

Karen Harper

Mira, Feb 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780778327479

The teambuilding event planned by Carlisle, Bonner & Associates at the Duck Lake Lodge near Bear Bones, Alaska could prove divisive as managing partner Graham Bonner will use the off site to choose the next senior partner.  One of the three attorneys in the running for a senior slot is Lisa Vaughn, who feels strongly this is not a good way to select.  She also has bigger personal issues with the location chosen by top management  that overlooks the Wild River where her mom and baby sister drowned twenty-six years ago and the lodge  is owned by Mitch Baxter, her former fiancé who dropped her last year when he relocated from Fort Lauderdale.

Lisa falls into the Wild River with its strong rapids.  Mitch knows something is wrong and follows her by kayak until he jumps in to complete the rescue.  The powerful current had carried the pair several miles from his lodge, but they survive the water.  As they struggle with the ordeal of getting back to the lodge, Lisa believes someone deliberately nudged her into the icy water.  Though Mitch initially leans towards her accidentally tripping; he soon believes his Lisa is in peril from an unknown adversary who will try anything to kill her, but neither know why.

Down River is an exhilarating romantic suspense thriller as the audience wonders along with the heroine why this location and who wants her dead.  Faster than the raging Wild River and yet filled with vivid descriptions of the Talkeetna Mountains, readers will feel transported to the home of Sarah Palin.  Karen Harper provides a powerful who is doing it and why that sub-genre fans appreciate.

Harriet Klausner

The Next Best Thing-Kristan Higgins

The Next Best Thing

Kristan Higgins

Harlequin HQN, Feb 1 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780373774388

Over five years ago, Lucy Lang joined the extended family club when her spouse Jimmy died.  Like her mom, aunts and cousins, she is just another Black Widow mourning their losses at the family bakery.  However as she turns thirty Lucy feels her suburban biological clock ticking so she decides to end her sexual only relationship with Jimmy’s brother Ethan Mirabelli to find a new husband who will turn her into a soccer mom, but she must never love him or the family curse will occur.

Loving her from first sight Ethan rejects Lucy’s kicking him to the curb to marry someone else.  Unlike her, he is not afraid to defy his parents, owners of Gianni’s Ristorante Italian, as he did when he dropped out of culinary school to go corporate.  He knows she fears what her heart is telling her as she does not want to be a widow twice before she reaches forty, but Ethan cannot deal with his beloved with someone else so begins his campaign to make his Lucy pick him “Instead”.

Kristan Higgins provides her audience with a warm contemporary romance filled with pathos and humor as a strong cast make for a wonderful tale.  Ethan is a man on a mission, but recognizes his obstinate beloved is very determined to find a spouse; they agree on her being married, but not to whom.  The Next Best Thing to eating cannoli with your significant other is reading Ms. Higgins’ engaging story.

Harriet Klausner

Twice As Hot-Gena Showalter

Twice As Hot

Gena Showalter

Harlequin HQN, Jan 26 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780373774371

Paranormal investigator, Belle Jamison is still learning her new job while planning her marriage to shapeshifter Rome Masters whom she met when she was Playing with Fire.  However since the mad scientist spiked her latte she can control, well almost control, the four elements.  Of course putting your wedding dress ablaze makes life a wee bit difficult, but Rome is there for her; now that he is not trying to neutralize her.

However, the real calamity and not just minor roach stressors, is when Memory Man erases from Rome’s mind that he even met Belle, let alone fell in love with her.  Instead the only woman Rome remembers is his nasty former wife Lexie.  Although hurting, Belle, accompanied by her empathic partner Tanner, plans to kick some butts starting at the top of her list with Memory Man.

The latest Tales of an Extraordinary Girl (see Playing with Fire) returns Belle, still hesitant about using her new powers especially as she learns frustration and anger could lead to out of control reactions.  She is particularly upset with what has happened to her fiancé and their relationship which is so out of control due to Memory Man and Lexie. She has to keep the collateral damage to an absolute minimum; superhero gigs are not easy.  Fans will enjoy Gena Showalter’s latest amusing chick lit superhero romance as Belle’s constantly changing list sums up how she feels.

Harriet Klausner

Triumph In Arms-Jennifer Blake

Triumph In Arms

Jennifer Blake

Mira, Feb 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780778327486

In New Orleans Christien Lennoir takes one look at Widow Reine Cassard Pingre and feels he took a sword to his gut as he instantly wants her; love at first sight.  In 1847 in a card game with her gambling-addicted father, he wins her and the family home River’s Edge.

Christien offers Reine a proposal of marriage.  If she accepts, her family can stay in their home.  She prefers to say no as one abusive marriage was enough, but she has to care for her five year old daughter Marguerite so she considers the proposition, but also reminds her suitor that rumor is she killed her husband while he slept.  Christien remains resolved so Reine takes a chance on him when she watches how gentle the swordsman is with Marguerite who saw her papa murdered.  However, all hell breaks loose during their wedding ceremony; leading to Christien having to choose between the Maitres D’Armes Brotherhood and Reine.

This sixth Maitres D’Armes historical romance is a terrific entry with a strong cast, but made fresh by the hero as he displays a wide range of feelings from fierce protectiveness of his beloved to loyalty for his Brotherhood and kindness to Marguerite, etc.  The story line is fast-paced and filled with plenty of action including a super spin as Christien ironically got what he covets, but before he can win Reine’s love his latest Brotherhood assignment will earn him her contempt.  Jennifer Blake provides a Triumph in Arms.

Harriet Klausner