Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Beth K. Vogt

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Beth K. Vogt

Howard/Simon and Schuster, Jun 30 2015, $14.99

ISBN: 9781476789781

Though she prefers her current home Denver, Hawaii or just about any other place, Vanessa reluctantly acquiesces to marry Ted in Destin, Florida where he will attend a pediatric emergencies medical conference.  Nessa also agrees to take time off from work to leave before Ted to arrange their Panhandle destination wedding.

In Destin, storm-chaser Logan Hollister has never moved on from the end of his marriage to Vanessa.  If he ever sees her again, Logan believes they can make it work as he feels they were too young and immature as a teen couple.  As a hurricane hammers the Panhandle, he and Vanessa meet for the first time since their divorce eight years ago.  Resolute Logan campaigns for a second chance, but she is in town planning her wedding to Ted and besides has stormy gale-sized memories of when they were married.

Although the initial happenchance is over the top of Britton Hill, the first Destination Wedding is a well-written second chance.  A large segment of the storyline occurs when the leads were teen newlyweds, which provides an appealing perspective but also limits the audience understanding of how far each has emotionally grown or shrunk as adults since they initially split.  Still overall Beth K. Vogt authors an interesting contemporary.

Harriet Klausner

The Devil Wears Spurs – Soraya Lane

The Devil Wears Spurs
Soraya Lane
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, Jun 30 2015, $7.99
ISBN: 9781250060082

At a Texas rodeo, used to getting his way with women and horses, following the title run ultra-wealthy star performer Ryder is stunned when Chloe rejects his asking her out. However, her drunken friend Shelby gives him Chloe’s number. Chloe tells “the hottest cowboy in Texas” that she might change her mind if he plays his cards right. Not long afterward, he informs his older brother that he just accepted a challenge from a non-groupie.

In that same evening, Ryder loses his ranch in a poker game. In shock as he always wins, Ryder is in disbelief at two strikeouts. Thus he accepts Chloe’s proposal that she win back his spread in return for his paying her law school costs. Chloe and Ryder head to Vegas where the daughter of a professional card-player prepares for high stakes games of poker and love.

The first Texas Kings contemporary is an entertaining romance that takes readers from an earthy rodeo and ranch to the glitter of the Vegas night lights. The lead couple’s jocular bluffs and calls make for a fine read; as the protagonists are unaware that the real ante in the game of love is the king and queen of hearts.

Harriet Klausner

Hope Harbor – Irene Hannon

Hope Harbor

Irene Hannon

Revell, Jul 7 2015, $14.99

ISBN: 9780800724528

Since the death of his wife eighteen months ago, Michael Hunter wallows in self-pity and loathing of God.  Taking two months leave from St. Joseph Center not for profit, Michael drives almost non-stop from Chicago to his seaside destination, his late spouse’s hometown Hope Harbor, Oregon.  Tired and frustrated to learn his motel is closed due an electrical fire, when he steps onto a street without looking Michael causes a cyclist to crash to avoid hitting him.  At Charley’s food truck, Anna Williams thinks the stranger looks remarkably like someone she has not seen in two decades; thus the sexagenarian offers Michael a place to stay.

Bruised from her bike crash caused by the daydreaming pedestrian, Widow Tracy Campbell blames God for the death of her late husband and ignoring her furtive prayers.  At her family’s 80 acres farm Hope Harbor Cranberries, Tracy, works alongside her uncle on the 20% of their spread dedicated to cranberries.  She also provides accounting services and volunteers at Helping Hands.  After their first encounter, the widow and widower find commonality in their anger towards God and their grief.  With help of townsfolk like Anna, Charley and her uncle; Michael and Tracy begin to move on from their respective deep loss as their broken spirits mend and restore their trust in God and in love.

This leisurely-paced inspirational second chance at faith, life and love is an engaging contemporary ironically due to the newcomer’s invigorating impact on the townsfolk though they affect him even more than he does them.  Containing humor mostly from Floyd the seagull and mysteriousness (Charley’s perceptiveness and Anna’s past), readers will enjoy visiting coastal Oregon with mostly Michael, Tracy and Anna as our guides.

Harriet Klausner

In Too Deep – Kira Sinclair

In Too Deep

Kira Sinclair

Harlequin Blaze, Jun 16 2015, $5.50

ISBN: 9780373798568

Jackson Duchane, his girlfriend Lorelei Lancaster (see Under the Surface), Asher Reynold, and Knox McLemore filed with the US Government salvage rights to the Civil War wreckage Chimera near the Bahamas.  However, Anderson McNair claims their vessel is not the Chimera, but instead another ship so that he owns the salvage rights.  All parties involved in the dispute agree to allow a nautical archaeologist determine whether this sunken ship is the Chimera or not.

From the moment Knox sees the expert he feels the heat but relies on his SEAL experience and training to conceal his desire; especially since he assumes Dr. Avery Walsh works for McNair so he distrusts her almost as much as he hates his treacherous body’s reaction to her.  Using her icy demeanor Walsh also hides her attraction to McLemore.  Knox takes Walsh to their ship the Amphitrite in the Caribbean.  They soon become embroiled in a drug drop that leaves the pair alone on a deserted island.  As they wait rescue and give in to their passion, they each keep secrets that when revealed will nuke their relationship before love can fully blossom.

The latest SEALs of Fortune contemporary is a pleasurable High Seas adventure romance.  Leisurely-paced especially with revelations, readers will root for the Doc and the SEAL to reveal their souls on their “Blue Lagoon” retreat.

Harriet Klausner

Dead Dog Like Me – Max Davis

Dead Dog Like Me

Max Davis

Worthy Publishing, Jun 23 2015, $15.99

http://www.worthypublishing.com

ISBN: 9781617955242

Megachurch pastor Nick Gregory blames himself that his son Philip committed suicide, his daughter Carlee hates him and his wife Abbi left him because he lost his way.  Adding to his mental disarray, his Grace Life Church flock wants to abandon him as he did them and likewise he believes God did the same to him.  His publisher demands the book they paid a hefty advance and he cannot sleep without nightmares.  Wallowing in guilt and despair, Nick considers joining Philip, but hungry Deuce intervenes with a need for food.  However, not paying attention, Nick runs over Deuce who had the sin of loving him and his family; just one more reason for Carlee to hate him.  Unable to cope Nick drives his Escalade into a cement pylon.

When he awakens, he no longer is in twenty-first century DC; or even in his body.  Instead his mind resides inside King Saul’s crippled grandson Mephibosheth, circa 800 BC.  Mistreated by guards, who bring him to King David, a confused Nick begins seeing parallels between his life and that of his current host, a broken lost soul; leading Nick to think Mephibosheth is a “Dead Dog Like Me.”  That is until he wakes up confused from an induced coma in a hospital.

Dead Dog Like Me is a remarkable Christian drama that looks at how far a person can fall when they lose their way (faith), and seek atonement and a merciful second chance with God, family and believers.  The juxtaposition of Mephibosheth and Gregory make for a captivating tale though more insight into the life of Saul’s grandson would have enhanced the plot; hopefully Max Davis does a sequel reversing who morphs into whom.

Harriet Klausner

The Lawman Lassoes a Family – Rachel Lee

The Lawman Lassoes a Family

Rachel Lee

Harlequin Special Edition, Jun 16 2015, $5.50

ISBN: 9780373658961

A little over a year ago in Texas, Vicki Templeton’s husband died in the line of duty.  Recently, her persistent Aunt Lena Winston persuades her grieving niece to move in, along with Vicki’s four year old daughter Krystal, to her home in Conard County, Wyoming.

Lena’s next door neighbor Conard County Sheriff’s deputy Dan Casey meets the two female newcomers when he helps unload their van.  Vicki is attracted to the kind lawman, but refuses to act on her feelings out of guilt for her late husband and fear what could happen to Krystal if the child gets too attached to Dan whose job places him in peril.  Widower Dan understands why Vicki hesitates, but can’t comprehend why he wants her (and her daughter) in his life.

The latest Conard County: The Next Generation romance (see A Conard County Baby, The Widow of Conard County and Reuniting with the Rancher) is a charming rural contemporary starring two adults whose spouses passed away.  The key to this wonderful Wyoming family drama is the leads place the needs of Krystal before their own desires even as their relationship nicely matures.

Harriet Klausner

Best Man…With Benefits – Nancy Warren

Best Man…With Benefits

Nancy Warren

Harlequin Blaze, Jun 16 2015, $5.50

ISBN: 9780373798582

At the Hotel Messina on a Southern California barrier island, Amy and Seth are getting married.  Her Maid of Honor BFF Lauren Sanger and his Best Man and BFF Jackson Monaghan simply detest each other in spite of the bride and groom pleading with them to play nice.  Others in the wedding party led by Willie and the Frat boys, well aware of the animosity, pull a prank in which the best man and the maid of honor share the same hotel room with only one bed.

Instead of killing each other, the enemy combatants share a tryst that has both stunned by the intensity.  Lauren and Jackson continue their benefits even after they go home to their different towns while concealing their rendezvous from everyone who knows them.  As they fall in love, tremors shake the perfect HEA marriage between Amy and Seth when pragmatic realism supersedes sexual idealism.

As Nancy Warren states in the forward of Best Man…With Benefits this is her riff on Much Ado About Nothing.  Filled with humor and shrewd comparisons of relationships, this Wrong Bed entry (see Just One Night) is a delightful contemporary.

Harriet Klausner

Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor – Melanie Dobson

Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor

Melanie Dobson

Howard, Jun 16 2015, $14.99

ISBN 9781476746142

In 1954 Clevedon, England, yachtsman Elliot leaves behind pregnant Maggie Emerson.  Though she comes to the docks in wintry weather, her lover never returns.  When newspaper editor Walter Doyle proposes, Maggie accepts.  Though many of the locals believe she was carrying before her wedding, Maggie persuades her husband that he sired their “premature” newborn tiny Libby.  The family relocates to a servant’s home at the Ladenbrooke Manor in Gloucester where Maggie becomes the housekeeper and in town Walter obtains a position as a postman.

Libby grows up as a free spirit who loves to paint butterflies while dreaming of being as free to fly as her subjects.  In 1969 she and Ladenbrooke Manor family teenager Oliver Croft have sex.  Soon afterward he drowns in the nearby river while she becomes pregnant though her parents hide her delicate condition.  Nine months later Libby gives birth to Heather, whose grandmother raises her as her late in life second child since her first daughter cannot.

After a quarter of a century away from her home, divorced Heather Toulson leaves Portland Oregon for England to prepare her late parents’ home for sale following the death of her estranged widow father Walter.  She uncovers shocking secrets about her family, a cold case murder, and the man she loved and lost twenty-five years ago.

Moving effortlessly between three generations, Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor is a superb family drama as with each new revelation Heather uncovers further makes her believe that the truth will set you free is a bold lie.  Though the wrap-up is too perfect for this convoluted family, the mysteries grip the audience with a need similar to that of Heather and her married daughter Ella to know more.

Harriet Klausner

The Last True Vampire – Kate Baxter

The Last True Vampire

Kate Baxter

St. Martin’s Paperbacks, Jun 2 2015, $7.99

ISBN: 9781250053763

Hundreds of years ago, claiming the Fate ordained their extinction mission, the Sortiari hunters committed genocide of the Ancient Ones after torturing each of their enemy.  The brutalized Last True Vampire to die from the stake Mikhail instead survives when the sharpened spike fails to strike directly into his heart.

In present day Los Angeles, Michael Aritsov remains tormented by what happened centuries ago to his species.  Wallowing in self-pity and abject loneliness, Michael gave up on life and ignores his duty to the hybrid Dhampir who desperately need him and though he pretends otherwise he needs them too.

On her own since she was sixteen, Claire Thompson works as a waitress who reluctantly supplements her income with pickpocketing and pool hustling.  Needing cash to pay the rent on her dump after giving away her money to her young neighbor, Claire selects Michael as her target.  Instead he marks her as his savior mate from the first sniff of her blood.  While most Dhampir rejoice, the horrified Sortiari realize a true Vampire exists.

The first Last True Vampire urban fantasy romance is a terrific opening act that introduces the audience to Kate Baxter’s awesome paranormal spin of Southern California.  The First Couple’s behavior leads readers wanting to kick both their butts until he finds her (relatively early) and she finds acceptance of him (much later); their relationship eventually endears them to the subgenre audience and most Dhampir.  However, it is Baxter’s world with its competing final solutions that make for an exciting thriller with more to come.

Harriet Klausner

The Detective – Adrienne Giordano

The Detective

Adrienne Giordano

Harlequin Intrigue, Jun 16 2015, $5.50

ISBN: 9780373698479

While on medical leave from CPD, Chicago homicide detective Brodey Hayward reluctantly agrees to help his Hennings and Solomon private investigator sister Jenna with solving the Jonathan Williams’ murder that another cop has lead.  He visits Williams’ vacant house where the homicide occurred.  There he runs into interior designer Alexis Vanderbilt; hired by the widow and mother of three Brenda to renovate the house.

Brodey persuades Lexi to delay her modifications and instead assist him on solving the case.  However, determined Lexi fails to heed Brodey’s warning of take no risks when she begins sleuthing on her own.  This places her in the crosshairs of a cold killer with no compunction to murder a pretty, foolish but intelligent interior designer.  Revising his mission from solving a murder to keeping the woman he loves safe, Brodey has never felt this scared even when he worked the nastiest streets of Chicago.

The latest Hennings romantic suspense (see The Marshal, The Defender and The Prosecutor) is an enjoyable investigative novel.  The leisurely-paced storyline entertains the audience especially once the inane heroine goes rogue.

Harriet Klausner