Recent Read - A Classic

Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was reminded the other day that it’s been a while since the last time – but by far not the first time – that I read this wonderful and amazing book.  So of course I had to fix that and read it again.  It has really stood the test of time since the very first time I read in 1990.  It needs to be read by everyone who loves romance.  Here’s the review I wrote ages ago and everything I said then.

******~~~~~*****

There are classics in literature, Moby Dick, War and Peace, Oliver Twist and many more. I think the romances of yesteryear have their classics too, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and more. With modern day romance I’m not so sure if there are what would be considered classics yet or not, it may be too soon, but if they did, I’m sure they would have a book or two by Georgette Heyer, Kathleen Woodiwiss.

And then we come to another author who has written some of what I consider modern day romance classics and that’s LaVryle Spencer. I’ve read most of her books except for perhaps her last couple before she retired and of all that I’ve read, I truly believe Morning Glory needs to be added to the classics of romance. I first read this book more years ago than I can remember and I’ve reread it every year or two since then. I can’t quite remember the last time but I have it on my Ipad and I know I’ve read it since I bought it but when I saw a friend recently post a review on GoodReads, I had the urge to reread it. And heaven knows when a book starts calling, there is no relief until you answer it.

This is an emotional and moving story of two sad and lonely people, how they come together in an enduring gentle love and heal each other with that love. Will Parker and Elly Dinsmore are characters that have stayed with me since the first time I read this book more than 20 years ago. It’s almost like I’ve absorbed them.

The book opens with Will Parker working at a lumber mill. He’s only been there 3 days and he’s literally starving. The book opens just before the second World War and Will has just been released from prison for murdering a prostitute. We find out details later in the story. His bully boss finds out this info and dismisses Will on the spot. Will has just been wandering around the countryside trying to find work and now he’s out of yet another job. The men laughingly tell him that maybe crazy Elly Dunsmore will take him in. She has an add up advertising for a husband to help work her farm. She is known as the local crazy widow woman and her story is just as sad as Will’s. She was the bastard granddaughter of the town’s religious zealots and was practically locked into the family home with the blinds drawn. Only after the truant officer found out about her was she allowed out but only to go to school, then back to her prison. She somehow managed to escape long enough to meet and marry. But her husband died in an accident and she has two young boys and is pregnant with her third child and is in desperate circumstances. Her only option is to look for a husband. After some thought and due to his own desperate circumstances, Will does go to see Elly and to check things out. It’s an awkward meeting; neither one of them is comfortable in dealing with others, Elly because of the isolated way she was raised and Will because of his prison record. But they manage to come to an agreement and thus starts the most poignant, tender, beautiful, tear inducing books I’ve ever read.

Seriously, I mean it. If I only had one word – the story is haunting.
Will has never known love and he sees all he’s ever wanted in the mother that Ellie is. He falls in love with her partly because of that. He was an orphan who never knew his parents, doesn’t even know his own birthday. His only friend betrayed him, resulting in his prison sentence. I think he’s the loneliest, saddest hero I’ve read in the of a book.
Elly is also sad and lonely but not as defeated.  She has her children and she had a good husband. Despite, or maybe because of her lonely upbringing, Elly has quite a streak of whimsy to her. She’s actually rather upbeat all things considered and this is just what someone in such a dark place as Will is needs.

Throughout the story, they heal each other. While she had loved her husband, Will is different. He’s young, and strong and determined and handsome and he has beautiful eyes. He loves her two sons and is a wonderful father figure to them. He is loving and very appreciative of everything Elly does both for him and her children. He never takes anything for granted. Who wouldn’t fall in love with someone like Will?
And for Will, Elly is everything he couldn’t even have imagined he wanted. She meets the mothering role he has needed filled all his life. There is a scene where she cuts his hair and one is almost in tears reading just that scene alone.

Slowly, Will gains a sense of pride and self worth. When he first comes to Elly, he’s a broken man. But with Elly’s help along with Ms. Beasley gets respect. Ms Beasley is the local librarian who helps him when he wants to learn more on different things he fixes around the farm, plumbing, bees, a number of different things. Ms Beasley is another wonderful character. She’s starchy and she’s tough and she’s opinionated and she has such a soft heart for Will. He’s like the son she never had and she is a lion in defense of him and when she offers him a job as library custodian, he gains a pride he’s never had before.

And of course there is conflict that comes along in this book. It takes place in 1941 and the threat of war hangs in the air. Will knows he is a prime candidate to be called up and wants it to be on his terms. But Elly is terrified and would rather keep her head in the sand. Finally the inevitable happens and Will must leave and he joins the Marines. It turns out that he completely becomes the person he was meant to be.

This part of the book, told through letters, is as wonderful and poignant as the rest of the book and it marks a turning point. Will comes back but not quite the same person he left. But now there is another block. He is being stalked by a woman who refuses to accept the fact he’s not interested.

I really don’t have the words or confidence to completely explain how truly wonderful this book is and how I think it needs to be read at least once by every reader who loves this genre. Ms. Spencer makes us feel every emotion that Elly and Will in particular experience. We feel the betrayal that Will feels when his best friend testifies against him during the trial that sends him to jail. We feel his despair and shame when he brings up the green apples he ate because that was the only thing he could find. We feel his wonderment over his growing relationship with Ellie’s two boys. We feel his panic when Ellie insists he be the one to help her give birth and we feel his pride when Ellie gives her new-born daughter his last name.
This is a book that shows, not tells the story and because of that she makes us feel like we are right there with them during their journey to healing and love. If you check reviews for this book on GoodReads and or Amazon, many reviewers give this higher than 5 stars even though that’s the highest grade allowed.

Having just recently read this book again, it’s timeless, it’s a classic and it only gets better with each telling.

They don't have anything higher than 5 so all I can do is give this a 5+++

View all my reviews

Recent Read

About Last Night by Ruthie Knox

Why this one: I read a pretty good review for it at AAR.  The reviewer said it had been "recommended" by Amazon if she "liked" Sarah Mayberry.  I was getting the same rec and once I read the AAR review, was convinced to try it myself.

Steam Level:  Oooh, it's a steamy one alright.

Blurb:  Sure, opposites attract, but in this sexy, smart, eBook original romance from Ruthie Knox, they positively combust! When a buttoned-up banker falls for a bad girl, “about last night” is just the beginning.

 
Cath Talarico knows a mistake when she makes it, and God knows she’s made her share. So many, in fact, that this Chicago girl knows London is her last, best shot at starting over. But bad habits are hard to break, and soon Cath finds herself back where she has vowed never to go . . . in the bed of a man who is all kinds of wrong: too rich, too classy, too uptight for a free-spirited troublemaker like her.

Nev Chamberlain feels trapped and miserable in his family’s banking empire. But beneath his pinstripes is an artist and bohemian struggling to break free and lose control. Mary Catherine—even her name turns him on—with her tattoos, her secrets, and her gamine, sex-starved body, unleashes all kinds of fantasies.

When blue blood mixes with bad blood, can a couple that is definitely wrong for each other ever be perfectly right? And with a little luck and a lot of love, can they make last night last a lifetime?

My Thoughts:  I thought this was a very enjoyable read. It was the story of two opposites, Cath, an American with ties to the Mafia living in England and Nev, a uppercrust businessman with the soul of an artist. Although a contemporary and while not titled, Nev kind of reminded me of how  an author might right the second son of a duke or earl or something.

 

Both Nev and Cath were well done characters.  Cath was a bit on the prickly side, not wanting to get involved with Nev because of her screwed up past and certainty that someone like him was too good for her screwed up self.  When done right, a prickly heroine is one of my favourite kinds and Cath is done very good.  I love the way Nev, a wonderful Beta type heroes admires so much about Cath.  He is completely gone for her and I love when the hero is so take with the heroine and has to battle to 'win her over'.

And I appreciated that despite his upper class upbringing, Nev, far from being the starchy banker Cath thought he was by the very nickname, City, that she gave him, was very unpretentious and down to earth.  And I also enjoyed the fact that Cath worked so hard to overcome her early mistakes.  I got a kick out of the inner battle she wagered between earlier, wilder Cath and wiser and more mature Cath.

Although I've read English set historicals for years, this is the first contemporary book I can remember reading that is set in England and that made it even more interesting. I like that she was an American trying to make her way in the art world in London.  

I'm glad I have Ruthie Knox's other book, Ride with Me in my queue.  It saves me the time in having to go back and read it.  This is the second LoveSwept title I've read recently and both have impressed me quite a bit.  I have a few other ones in the line now on my Kindle, both new releases like Ride With Me, Slow Summer Kisses by Shannon Stacey and Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry along with some older books rereleased under the LoveSwept line such as Lightning the Lingers by Tom and Sharon Curtins and the next one I plan to get asap, The Last Warrior by Kristen Kyle.  Love those two books!

Recent Read

Because of You by Jessica Scott

Why this one: To be explained below

Steam Level: Just about perfect

Blurb: From the war-torn streets of Baghdad to the bittersweet comforts of the home front, two wounded hearts navigate the battlefield of coming home from war in this explosive eBook original from newcomer Jessica Scott.

Keeping his men alive is all that matters to Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison. But meeting Jen St. James the night before his latest deployment makes Shane wonder if there's more to life than war. He leaves for Iraq remembering a single kiss with a woman he'll never see again- until a near fatal attack lands him back at home and in her care.  Jen has survived her own brush with death and endured its scars. And yet there's a fire in Shane that makes Jen forget all about her past. He may be her patient, but when this warrior looks her in the eyes, she feels - for the first time in a long time - like a woman. Shane is too proud to ask for help, but for Jen, caring for him is more than a duty -it's a need. And as Jen guides Shane through the fires of healing, she finds something she never expected - her deepest desire.

My Thoughts:  Not long ago I got an email from this author asking if I would do a review of her book.  I don’t always respond to requests to review, but something prompted me to this time.  As I was reading the email and then reading the synopsis she had included, it did sound like a book I would enjoy so the next time I went out to a place with WiFi – yes, I still can’t get the WiFi working at home – I bought a copy and sent her an email saying I didn’t like accepting books but I did buy a copy and hopefully I’d be in a mood to read it and would let her know what I thought.

Well, I was in the mood sooner than I thought I would be and started reading Because of You yesterday.  Once I started, I could hardly bear to put it down.  I worked today – I’m working overtime like crazy these days – but even as I was working I was looking forward to getting home so I could read some more.

 

I’m not quite sure where to begin in describing this book.  From the very first page I appreciated that the hero, Shane Garrison, was a regular soldier.  It’s not that I don’t like SEAL’s but they are becoming the dukes and viscounts and earls of contemporary romance and a little are starting to go a long way.  So I found it refreshing that Shane was a Sergeant First Class.

Another thing that really struck me from the beginning was Because of You has such an authentic feel to it.  Apparently Ms. Scott is a career soldier herself and you can tell with every word and every nuance that this is real.  The characters may be fictional, but they don’t come across that way at all.  They truly come to life, from the hero Shane and the heroine Jen St. James, a nurse who works as a nurse in the army hospital, to the men under Shane’s command and the friends of Jen, each one is so fully alive, you could swear you are reading about real people.

And while this is a romance, it’s a romance plus so much more.  It’s about loss, the loss of a way of life for Shane when he is severely injured and shipped home to recuperate.  His whole identity is wrapped up in leading his men and he’s lost when he can’t be there to protect them.  It’s about physical loss with Jen.  She has lost a part of her body and hasn’t come to terms with it yet.  She is unprepared really for the desire that flares between her and Shane.  It’s about the loss of a partner that Jen’s best friend feels every time her husband and good friend of Shane’s is shipped into combat and it’s about the loss of friends that plagues one of the men under Shane who has also been seriously injured while fighting for his country.

And it’s about healing. It’s how Shane and Jen heal each other.  Shane is a loner who hasn’t had much of a personal life; he didn’t know who his father was, his mother was a drunk and his ex-wife cheated on him and took him to the cleaners.  So he is awed by Jen and who she is.  And with Shane, Jen is forced to confront her own issues that have remained unresolved.

While this is an intense and emotional book, there are wonderful moments of humour, especially in the hilarious character of Carponti, one of Shane’s men and the bane of his existence.

I don’t know what it was that caused me to linger on this one, but I’m sure glad I did.  I missed the buzz when it first came out due to my terrible online track record lately so I’m glad I found it now and will be waiting eagerly for her next book.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

Recent Read

Celebrity in Death by JD Robb


Why this one: ‘Cause it’s JD Robb, ‘nuff said

Steam Level: Eve and Roarke make each other very happy shall we say.


Blurb: Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no party girl, but she's managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity-packed bash celebrating The Icove Agenda, a film based on one of her famous cases. It's a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks almost like her long-lost twin. Not as unsettling, though, as seeing the actress who plays Peabody drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director's luxury building.

Now she's at the center of a crime scene-and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster and step into the role she was born to play: cop.



My Thoughts: I HEART Roarke. I’m not sure if I’ve ever come right out and said it. Others may
rhapsodize over Jamie Fraser, but it’s Roarke all the way for me. I’ve never read about a hero who ‘gets’ the heroine as much as Roarke’ gets’ Eve. Of course he’s had 34 books now for that to happen – but still, I think he’s understood her from the beginning way back in Naked in Death. There are so many reasons why I love this series, this many books in when I get tired of most series after only four and my love for Roarke is a big reason. I love Eve too of course, though she still scares the heck out of me. She has mellowed considerably over the course of the series, but still, if I were to commit a murder and she hauled me into interview, I would cave like a wet Kleenex.

This latest installment is much mellower than some of her previous books considering they are murder mysteries that is. The victim is a real nasty piece of work so we readers don’t mind that she has met her demise. This particular book is far different from some stories where our hearts hurt for both the victim and the families. But in Celebrity, even Peabody wishes she had had a chance to beat the crap out of the victim before she ‘bought the farm’ so to speak. And this is PEABODY readers, Peabody, who comes from a family of Free Agers. And she is serious.

Of course part of the reason is the murder victim. KT Parrish is her. You see if you’ve been following along with the series, Nadine Furst wrote a best seller about one of Eve’s cases, the Icove case. And now they are just wrapping up filming a movie of it. Each of our beloved In Death crew has an actor portraying them and this makes for some nice levity. The ‘other’ Dallas, a very sweet woman in involved in a secret affair with the ‘other’ McNab. The ‘other’ Dr. Mira is a real potty mouth and the ‘other’ Roarke is an affable yet dim witted man slut drunk. The ‘other’ Peabody is the victim and a truly vile person she was. And as you can imagine, the more Eve and Peabody dig into her background and find more slimy things about her, the more upset Peabody is that such a person is portraying her.


There is a second victim in this book but as the murder happens ‘of screen’ so to speak and we never get this person’s POV, the murder isn’t as upsetting as it could have been if we readers were attached to this character


There is also a scene where we get a glimpse into a hair raising, rather tragic incident from Roarke’s past. As noted also by Eve, we really don’t see many details into his past, not from Roarke himself so I found this a bit insightful and appreciated.


I’ve always found it hard to put into words what I find so very appealing about this series, besides Roarke that is. But it’s the quiet moments when there is such a connection between characters whoever they may be. There was a scene in a previous book that encapsulated what is so special. Dallas and Whitney are discussing a case while both are watching as a fish swims around in a tank. It was a gift from Whitney’s wife and both are puzzled as to why she would buy such a thing. It’s moments like that that keeps me coming back book after book after book. It’s
like hearing a few chords of music that are so beautiful that you are transcended for a moment or two. That moment in Celebrity occurs early in the morning. Eve has just woken up from a bad dream; not the horrific nightmares she used to suffer from, but rather a dream about her mother where she knows she’s dreaming. She wakes up, not frantic as with her nightmares, but still a bit shaky. Roarke holds her and tells her gently shh and is just very loving to her. I know this happens many times, but like just a few chords of a song, this moment just made me melt.


There was one thing I got kind of a kick out of. Back when JD Robb first started this series, she was way ahead of her time. I’m thinking specifically of the ‘links, which today of course are cell phones or tablets or whatever. There was no such thing as texting so of course the characters didn’t do it. But I noted that a few times Dallas and Roarke would text each other. I dunno – that just kind of made me chuckle.


There was also a delightful scene between Peabody and McNab after the ‘other’ Peabody was found murdered. A bit of development in their relationship if you will.

I even found Mavis tolerable in this book. I don’t really care for either her or Nadine,
the only characters I don’t really like in this whole series.


This wasn’t my very favourite In Death book. For some reason I like to see more tension
between Roarke and Eve, but this was pretty darn close. Oddly enough, it was almost restful for an In Death book and I like that. I like that very much.


Grade: 4.75 out of 5

TBR Challenge - March

Um, ah, um - just ignore this as the March TBR challenge and it will now revert to a regular Recent Read. It seems I got the wrong date AND the wrong challenge. It seems that this months's TBR day is March 21 and the challenge is catching up on a series book.

Back to our regularly scheduled program


RECENT READ





Marrying the Captain by Carla Kelly



I know, I’m a day late on this one. But as LMFAO sings, I work out. Bad excuse, I know. Another delay is I only finished my Challenge book last evening.

Why this one: I’ve long heard wonderful things about this author but though I’ve got a number of her books, they still languish in the TBR pile – the very purpose of this challenge, reading them – so who better to choose for this month’s New to Me Author than Ms. Kelly. I picked this particular book as I love the cover, yes shallow I know.

Steam Level: Warm

Blurb: Ever since her father tried to sell her as a mistress to the highest bidder, Eleanor Massie has chosen to live in poverty. Her world changes overnight when Captain Oliver Worthy shows up at her struggling inn.

Despite herself, Nana is drawn to her handsome guest....

Oliver planned to stay in Plymouth only long enough to report back to Lord Ratliffe--about Nana.
But he soon senses that Lord Ratliffe is up to something, and Oliver will do anything to keep this courageous, beautiful woman safe--even marry her!


My thoughts: Ah the curse of the damned with faint praise. I liked this one. It reminded me somewhat of the Marion Chesney books I read many years ago, though it’s been so many years since I read one of hers that I don’t know if they are similar or not. But still it reminded me of the book I read when I first came back to reading romance.


Both Eleanor, or Nana as she is called, and Oliver are very nice people. Oliver is a Navy captain on a short shore leave who was asked by a superior to check in on his illegitimate daughter who helps run a small struggling in with her grandmother. Oliver reluctantly agrees, though he is
instantly smitten when he sees her picture. He thought he was smitten with her picture, but when he gets to the inn, he is even more taken Nana and over times begins to reconsider his resolution to never marry and subject his wife to a life time of worry and sorrow. Oliver is a good guy. He’s not really a standout kind of character like a reformed bad boy or anything. I
did appreciate that he was the son of a parson rather than a member of the
nobility. But he’s honest and noble and honourable.

Nana is equally nice. She falls quickly for Oliver as he does her, but thinks he is above her
because of her illegitimacy. She is quite pragmatic about this. I liked her because, like Oliver, she is honest and forthright. She behaves as regular people do. Though quite straightened in circumstances, she isn’t bitter. She does what she has to do in order to help
and survive even if it includes selling her hair.


This wasn’t a thrill a minute kind of book, but rather a nice comfort read about two good people who work better as a whole than without each other. I’m glad I finally got around to reading a book by Carla Kelly. I can see why she is so popular even though my socks weren’t knocked off.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

TBR Challenge - February

This month's challenge is a "recommended read" book. You are going to see some quick tap dancing and some interesting justifying and should there be a prize at the end of this year long
challenge, I should technically withdraw my name from consideration. This isn’t so much a book that’s been in my TBR pile as much as a book by an author that should have been in my TBR pile.

I’ve loved Cheryl St. John books for years and whenever she has a new one come out I scoop it right up – which reminds me – I do believe there should be a new one soon. And I just assumed I had all her back list. So when I read Leslie’s TBR January Challenge and it was The Mistaken Widow, I read it, prepared to nod in agreement or shake my head in disagreement. But much to my astonishment, nothing sounded the least bit familiar and when I checked my Most Excellent Spreadsheet, it wasn’t there. So that very same day I got an electronic copy.

So this was recommended by Leslie but hasn’t been in the TBR pile very long – but should have been.


The Mistaken Widow by Cheryl St. John

Why this one: explained above

Heat Level: there was only one love scene at the end
but it fit with the story so I found it fine

Published: 1998

Blurb: Sarah Thorton wanted to shout, but revealing her true
identity could only bring disaster on herself and her infant son. Still, sorrowful circumstance had turned a mistake into a miracle. She suddenly had a home, a family—and Nicholas Halliday, a man as dangerous to her as he was desirable…!

His newly widowed sister-in-law wore mystery as elegantly as an evening wrap, rousing more than suspicions in Nicholas Halliday—for this beautiful stranger had a claim not only to the family fortune, but also to his heart and soul…!


My Thoughts: Just a couple of weeks ago I reread Joe’s Wife for probably about the 4th
or 5th time and I have to be honest and say I enjoyed that one ever so much better. Though I liked The Mistaken Widow and I’m glad I read it, I don’t think it will be one I’ll read over and over like Joe’s Wife.

I was only meh about both the hero and heroine. Whether I might have had warmer feelings for
them if I hadn’t read Joe’s Wife so recently I don’t know, but Sarah kind of got on my nerves after a while. She was feeling guilty over stepping into the shoes of the heroe’s sister-in-law to the point of almost annoyance. Then when she finally decides to come clean, she does it in a letter and then leaves; a cowardly act in my opinion. On top of that, the letter is stolen by a villain so Nicholas and his mother are still in the dark about what really happened. The decent thing for her to do was tell them to their faces. I’m sure she should have realized they would have been understanding.


And Nicholas failed somewhat in the role of a hero too. He was rather nasty and judgmental to Sarah in almost a passive aggressive way which I didn’t find as a heroic way to act. He should have come out in the open with his suspicions of who Sarah really was. I also didn’t think he suffered enough angst over lusting for his just Very Recently deceased brother’s wife.

I also thought there was a noticeable lack of grief displayed. I know if I were to lose one of my sons, I’d be broken, yet his mother didn’t display the amount of grief I would think she would. But then that’s a personal thing I guess.

I almost hate to say it, but of all the Cheryl St. John books I’ve read, this is one I didn’t ‘feel’ at all. But since it was written in 1998 and I’ve read many an excellent book since then, the fact that this one didn’t work for me is alright and I’m glad I read it anyway since it could have been a Joe’s
Wife kind of book.

Grade: 3 out of 5


And oh, oh, oh - I forgot to mention. If you travel around and see other participants, you will notice a number have chosen the same book! Our fearless Challenge Leader Wendy, SonomaLass, Phyl, and Nath and Leslie did a joint review at Breezing Through. And guess what? They ALL really enjoyed it!

TBR Challenge for January - The Series Book

I haven’t done one of these for a couple of years. I find as soon as I sign up, I have no desire to read a book from that particular pool of books. But I thought I’d give Wendy, our SuperLibrarian’s challenge a try. See, when it comes to a theme I know she has a book in that I might have read and loved, I might make a suggestion. Plus she’s been my ‘roomie’ at RWA a number of times so I’m doing it for my ‘roomie’.

Much to my great surprise and astonishment, most of the books I read these days are eBooks. I don’t have as great a TBR electronic pile, but I do have some. This month’s challenge, a series book, has been sitting on my IPad for over a month and may have sat there longer if not for this challenge

All They Need by Sarah Mayberry

Blurb: After all Melanie Porter has been through recently, it's time to put her dreams first. And she starts by opening a vacation retreat outside of Melbourne. As she considers her next step, the unexpected happens. One of her guests -- a friend -- the very attractive Flynn Randall makes it clear he's in pursuit.

Mel is definitely tempted. Who wouldn't be?

But Flynn comes with strings that could derail her plans. First, he's part of the world she eagerly left behind. Second, he's ready for a commitment, while she's still embracing life on her own.

A resolution seems impossible until Flynn proves that she's still in the driver's seat!

My Thoughts: Ever since I discovered the Harlequin SuperRomance line not all that long ago really, Sarah Mayberry is an author I snatch up as soon as I see her newest release. Some are good and some are incredibly wonderfully good. This book for me, falls somewhere in between.

I found Melanie to be a very unusual heroine. She’s taller than normal, and bigger than life though her ex-husband has tried his very best to drum that out of her. It was a very emotionally abusive relationship and understandably Melanie is very wary of getting into another one with Flynn so shortly after getting out of it. She has taken her money and opened a B&B. While she’s met Flynn a few times in the past and he has certainly noticed and been attracted to her, Melanie doesn’t know him that well. At the beginning of the book, Flynn stays at her B&B with his girlfriend at the time. But he realizes he admires and is developing deep feelings for Melanie so breaks with his girlfriend in a real emotional scene.

As I said, Melanie is very gun shy about getting involved with Flynn, and then when they do begin a relationship, she is most reluctant to let it progress further. But Flynn is the definition of patience and understanding and doesn’t pressure her at all.

And Flynn – what a hero. He’s almost too good to be true. He is dealing with his fathers advancing Alzheimer’s, a wonderfully written, realistic side line story, and gives up his own business to take on his fathers company. His feelings and admiration for Melanie keep growing and although he finds it difficult not to push her, he manages not to. Instead he allows her to make her own choices in her own time, not even sure she will take the relationship the distance he wants it to go. I really appreciated that about him.

This is not my very favourite Sarah Mayberry book, but it is up there in top percentile of them. I’m glad this challenge pushed me to read this book sooner than I might otherwise have gotten around to reading.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

*******

As Wendy said on Twitter last night, this TBR challenge was planned before the black out of the WWW by many sites in protest of the proposed SOPA/PIPA bill that's in Congress now. I don't claim to understand a lot about it and as it's a bill proposed in the US, there's not a lot I can do anyway. But I stand in support of those who are.

I'm as much against piracy as anyone. I ache for authors whose works have been pirated and put up on sites for people to steal. It's an outrage to me that all the talent and effort and love they have put into their writing is being reduced to nothing so someone somewhere can get something for free.
I cringe whenever anyone tells me about movies they've watched on line before they are officially 'out' on video (or DVD or BlueRay any more). I have gotten into serious arguments with my oldest son over the fact it's not the George Clooney's and Meryl Streeps who are being ripped off - it's the small guys you never hear about that contribute to the making of a movie.

But from what I can understand, SOPA/PIPA is NOT the way to try and combat this. Instead it takes even more away from our freedom. So though I am posting this today, my heart is also with those who have gone black.

*******

And while I'm at it - an update on the cats. Zina - the attack cat - has gone back to being her normal timid self. The Little Shit aka Cally the Tortoise Shell Cat is doing her business outside so that's not an issue - and if she doesn't well, I really do need to get them each their own litter boxes.

Recent Read

The Taming of the Rake by Kasey Michaels

Why this one: It was an impulse purchase. I’ve read her in the past and quite enjoyed her books but I’m not reading as many historicals these days so she kind of slipped my radar

Steam Level: Nice and toasty warm

Blurb: Charming, wealthy and wickedly handsome, Oliver "Beau" Blackthorn has it all…except revenge on the enemy he can't forget. Now the opportunity for retribution has fallen into his hands. But his success hinges on Lady Chelsea Mills–Peckman—the one woman with the power to distract him from his quest.

Desperate to escape her family's control, Lady Chelsea seizes the chance to run off with the notorious eldest Blackthorn brother, knowing she's only a pawn in his game. But as Beau draws her deep into a world of intrigue, danger and explosive passion, does she dare hope he'll choose love over vengeance?

My Thoughts: While I was reading this book I wondered why I hadn’t been reading as many historicals in recent times as I really enjoyed this book – everything about it. From the stubborn but not annoying (to me) heroine Chelsea Mills-Beckham, to the scrumptious hero Oliver (Beau) Blackthorn to the well drawn secondary characters, this book was such a pleasure to read.

Beau and Chelsea first meet years earlier when he is coming to call on her older and very spoiled sister. But alas, his suite is not at all welcome as he has the unfortunate stigma of being a bastard born. Not only is he thrown out of the home, he is whipped like a dog by the older brother.

Fast forward to years later and Chelsea is all grown up and about to be married against her will and wishes to a wet-mouthed dour reverend who has a secret hate on for women. Her brother, still a nasty piece, has changed his ways after a real scare with chicken pox and embraced the horrid man of the cloth. In order to escape this farce of a wedding,

Chelsea high tails it to the home of Beau and suggests they elope to Gretna Green, she to avoid marriage and to Beau’s benefit a way to get back for the humiliation done to him years ago. Beau agrees to the scheme to ‘get even’. Beau is currently being visited by his devil-may-care brother Puck and the three of them set off on a road trip to Gretna Green.

I found this book charming. I loved the character of Chelsea. I can see why she might get on some readers nerves, she’s quite bossy, but Beau or Oliver as she kept insisting on calling him, thought she was a ‘character’ and when the readers sees her through his eyes, well, I thought she was one too.

And Beau makes for a most fine hero. Although he’s been limited in society by his bastard status, he’s still managed to make a good life for himself. He made good friends when he joined the army after being treated so cruelly years earlier. He’s making a successful living looking after his fathers estates even though he can’t inherit them. While not wild about his situation and he does hold a certain anger at his parents because of their selfishness, especially his mother, he doesn’t hold any bitterness.

I also love the character of Puck, the youngest brother. He is with Beau and Chelsea much of the time and seems to be a real hoot. His book is out now too and although it didn’t get that high a grade at AAR, I still think I’ll give it a go if only to read more on the third rather mysterious black sheep brother Jack.

With books like this one out there, I think I’m going to have to rethink my reading habits and take up reading more historicals.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

Recent Read

The Bride Raffle by Lisa Plumley

Why this one: I’m not really sure. I had a code and it was an impulse buy. I have read books by her previously and enjoyed them, was ready for a Western so I just went for it.

Steam Level: There really wasn’t really any steam created in this book. It was more warmish

Blurb: Famous home-keeping expert Daisy Walsh is overwhelmed by the warm welcome she receives in Morrow Creek, and then she realizes she's the star prize in the town raffle! She can bet the lucky winner's not expecting a pregnant woman who needs a place to stay.

Single father Owen Cooper suspects he's been set up because his daughter is thrilled to have a woman around the house. He could get used to the smell of home baking tempting his taste buds, but the sight of Daisy's stockings is one temptation too far!

My Thoughts: As I said, I’ve read books by Ms. Plumley before and enjoyed them. This is an author you don’t really hear that much about. Again this is going to be a damned with faint praise kind of review. I really want to love every book I start reading but alas I didn’t with this one. I liked it, but it’s one I know I’ll never read again.

There were parts I liked and parts that I had issues with. The parts I liked; I really liked Owen. He’s a gruff, grumpy bear kind of guy and I liked that about him. He’s a widower whose been told again and again and again by his late wife he must improve his ways until he’s convinced he’s not good enough and must not let any fun into his life. He’s a wonderful, all thumbs kind of father who adores his little girl and will do anything to try and make her happy.

Daisy is equally interesting as a heroine. She’s been emotionally and verbally stomped on by her tour manager until she believes that she pretty incapable of doing anything on her own. But Owen is the opposite, admiring everything about her and making her believe in herself again.

Élodie, Owen’s daughter is a charmer. She wants her father to be happy, she wants to see him smile and she wants a mother. Daisy is the answer to all of these.

And you are asking yourselves what’s wrong? Why isn’t a love it book? Well, the things that didn’t work are what took it down a number of levels. One of the silly reasons is I could never figure out how to pronounce Élodie’s name in my head. Really dumb reason, I know. But I found it annoying and distracting

Another issue I had is the fact that Daisy is pregnant and all the issues around that. It wasn’t that she was pregnant in itself that bothered me. It was that she had no feeling for the father and I don’t know why she would have slept with him in the first place. He didn’t force her, but she had no attraction to him. It was like the only reason she was pregnant in the first place was to make it part of the storyline and that was a fail for me. I also had an issue with the fact that she couldn’t clue in that she was pregnant. It was up to the hero to tell her. Another issue is Owen never had even a nanosecond qualm about the fact that this woman he was falling for big time was preggers by another dude. Owen was a good guy and I could see him accepting the fact that she was, but only after at least a slight struggle certainly.

Another thing I just didn’t get was after a certain time, they lived like man and wife and no one seemed to object. This is a historical and I may be wrong, but I would think the townspeople would at least insist they get married or something. And they were living like this in front of Élodie and neither had the slightest thought that ‘oh, maybe this is wrong for the child to see’. Again, if this were a contemporary it would be a different thing, but it isn’t and it bothered me.

Then at the end they had this convoluted conflict that I didn’t get. I don’t even know if one could call it a misunderstanding exactly but I was scratching my head wondering what their problem was.

The writing was good, it made me smile at times, I liked both the hero and heroine, but ultimately the issues I had kept me from enjoying the book the way I hoped I would. But I do like her writing enough and have in the past, to read other books by her and the issues that tripped me up might not bother others.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

Recent Reads

Dancing on Coals by Ellen O’Connell

Why this one: Adoration for her previous books

Steam Level: Just about perfect

Blurb: After escaping robbers intent on murder, Katherine Grant says, "I jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Before long I'll be dancing on the coals." The highwaymen were the frying pan; the handsome young Apache who saved her from them was the fire; and the coals? Gaetan.

Rage against the enemies of his people has consumed Gaetan from boyhood. The only use he ever found for any white was to test the sharpness of his knife. Forced by his brother to endure Katherine's company, Gaetan tries to deny what he sees - the white woman has a man's temper and a lion's courage. She has an Apache heart.

In spite of hate, distrust and fear, surviving in the rugged country of southern Arizona and northern Mexico forges a strange bond between Katherine and Gaetan. When the bond turns to love, can they admit it? Can they bear the consequences?

My Thoughts: One of my very best discoveries last year (or was it the year before? Hmmm – aging is a bitch) was Ellen O’Connell. I loved Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold and Sing My Name. I’ve read both 3 times now. She is a self-published author so she doesn’t come up when I check Fiction DB for upcoming releases, but thank goodness someone at AAR posted that she has a new book out now. The same day I read that, I visited my local coffee shop, since my Wi-Fi doesn’t work with my IPad at home and any e-book purchases have to be done somewhere else, which at the rate I’m buying them is for the best. I bought the book that day and started it last night.

I probably said it about EOS, EOG and Sing My Name, but wow this author awes me. She is self-published and more technical type readers may find errors, or others who read it may not be entirely happy that the story takes a while to get going, but once it does, my goodness does it pack an emotional wallop for an emotional type reader. And since I am, it did.

A bit of a note to begin with. This is an ‘Indian Romance.” Now this particular genre has gotten a bad rap in many ways because of some of the truly horrendous books written. Cassie Edwards comes immediately to mind. There are other authors who do a bad job in this job, very bad. There are also authors who write wonderful of cross cultural love stories. Of those authors, I think Kathleen Eagle and Roseanne Bittner are the best. Pamela Clare also does wonderful portrayals in her historical romances I think.

So I wasn’t quite sure where this book would fit it. I didn’t have many worries though as she had done such excellent writing previously. And I was RIGHT! This book is such another true winner. It’s everything I love in a romance.

I adored Katherine. She behaved just as a heroine should when faced with the kind of situation she was faced with. First her stage coach was robbed, then she taken hostage by an Apache raiding party, one of whom was particularly hostile to her. She’s justifiably scared but never acts stupid about it. She gives in when she needs to and stands up for herself when she can. She really is a wonderfully written character.

Gaetan, the hero is an equally richly written character. He hates whites with good reason. He and his younger brother were taken away from their people and raised in a missionary where they were looked down on and scorned. Although he does know both English and Spanish somewhat, he refuses to speak the language of the people he hates and for much of the first part of the book, until Katherine learns to speak Apache, there isn’t much verbal communication between them. But there is PLENTY of communication going on non-verbally wise. Despite the fact that Gaetan hates the white man, Katherine is different. He admires and respects her courage. And he is forced to follow up on a promise in regards to taking care of her.

This book is outstanding, outstanding, outstanding. The author doesn’t make a caricature of Gaetan, which often happens with less talented authors. He is a stoic kind of guy and stays in that character throughout the entire book. But although he keeps many of his feelings to himself, he expresses how he feels towards Katherine through his actions, even if they are misinterpreted at times.

At times this isn’t an easy book to read. It’s very realistic and true to the times. Something happens to one character in particular that almost had me in tears. But I highly recommend this book to all who are even the slightest bit curious about this often poorly written genre. At only $2.99 at Amazon or same price at Smash words, it’s a great opportunity.

Although most of me wants to give this a 5 out of 5 and in some ways I am, it gets a 4.99 only because the interaction between Katherine and Gaetan takes so long to get going, though I could understand why. It’s my own personal impatience waiting for their poignant love story to begin that got in the way. In fact, after having written up this review, I started reading it again even though it wasn't that long ago that I read it.

Grade: 4.99 out of 5