Recent Reads

Tangled Up In You by Rachel Gibson

Why This One: Rachel Gibson – ah Rachel Gibson. She’s probably my most up and down author. When I love her book, I really, really love it. But when I don’t, it’s such a disappointment. But I get all her books hoping for that thrill I get when I read one of her really really good ones.

Steam Level: Would make a drink nice and hot

Chapters Blurb: Maddie is determined to uncover the untold story about the town’s sordid past—her past. As a child, Maddie lost everything, and now she’s back at the scene of the scandal—a local establishment that’s always belonged to the Hennessys—determined to uncover the truth, and nothing is going to stand in her way. Especially not a black-haired, blue-eyed Hennessy.

Everyone in Truly knows that the Hennessy men are irresistible, and the current owner, Mick, is no exception. His late father was a skirt-chasing heartbreaker who ended up causing disaster for two families. So far, Mick’s managed to keep the ladies in line, but when he claps eyes on Maddie, with her luscious curves and tempting lips, he can’t resist getting tangled up with her.

But Maddie is keeping secrets, not the least of which is her true reason for being in town. And when Mick discovers what‘s really going on, there is going to be a whole lot of trouble in Truly.

My Thoughts. While it’s not quite up there with my favourite Gibson book, See Jane Score, it’s pretty damn close and I did really, really enjoy this one.

It reminded me a bit of After The Night – my favourite Linda Howard, in that both books had the heroine returning to the scene of the crime many years later to try and puzzle out what happened. Both books also featured a somewhat off-kilter sister of the hero. And both featured the heroine’s mother having a thing with the hero’s father. But other than those similarities, the books weren’t the same feel at all.

Mick is adorable. He’s pretty scarred from what happened to his family in his youth but lives in a state of denial. He loves his sister and his nephew and moves back to a place he hated in his youth to take care of them.

And I really liked Maddie. I thought she was a great heroine. She was strong and overcame a terrible childhood. She writes true crime books and while she has been affected by her subject matter, still she has maintained her sense of right and wrong. She knows it’s wrong that she kept something major from Mick, but I could really buy her reasons. The banter between them is very well-written and this is Rachel Gibson at the top of her game.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5


A Reason To Believe by Maureen McKade

Why this one: It’s a Western, I loved the first one and I’ve read a few by the author that I’ve really enjoyed.

Steam Level: Warm but it’s not going to burn your tongue.

Chapters blurb: Lonely and filled with regrets, Dulcie McDaniels struggles to provide a decent life for her daughter. Usually shunned by proper folks, she's suspicious of Rye Forrester, a drifter offering to work for his keep. But after he helps harvest the crop, her feelings toward the handsome stranger turn into a consuming passion. But Rye has his own secrets. When their tragic pasts catch up with them, these two wounded souls must fight for the love that will keep them together for a lifetime.

My thoughts: I loved this one. Sybil told us that Ms. McKade told her it wasn’t A Reason to Live and I agree, it didn’t have the same kind of punch to it that ARTL did, but I enjoyed it quite a bit for it’s own sake.

Dulcie is a very prickly heroine and at times almost a little too prickly. She took a long time to trust Rye, but eventually she let her guard down. She also had certain issues that I’d never really read about before and I thought they were very believable and very well handled by the author.

Rye is one of those ‘oh so wonderful’ tortured heroes. He feels responsible for the dire straights that Dulcie finds herself in and works hard to help her out. What I appreciated is while he didn’t approve of the ‘issue’ that Dulcie had, he never judges or condemns her for it.

I’ve been reading another book, The Stranger, by Elizabeth Lane. It has a very similar storyline but while it’s taking me quite a while to get through – not that it’s bad, I’ve had times where I haven’t been reading or reading something else, I zipped through Reason to Believe in a day and a half.

If I could change anything, it might be to make Dulcie just a tad less prickly and turn up the steam level just a bit. But other than that, this was a fine book and a great addition for Western fans. It's also a good one for those thinking of trying a Wester.

(well all except Cindy because there is a little girl who plays a role and Cindy's not to keen on children in her romance *g*)

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

'til later