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Good Boy (WAGs #1) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

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Good Boy book coverGood Boy is the first in a spin-off series from the Him and Us books by the two authors (about Jamie and Wes), which I previously reviewed. Two of the side characters in Us, Blake (Wes’s teammate) and Jess (Jamie’s sister) reappear in this book as hero and heroine. Blake was probably the most significant secondary character in Us and I have to admit I found him a wee bit annoying. He’s a bit on the effervescent side and is always making up words that make little sense and just being silly in general. It probably says something about me that that annoys me, but whatever.

In Us, we find out that while Jamie is down for the count with a bad flu and Jess is supposed to be 100% focused on taking care of him, she instead hooks up with Blake, who has inserted himself in Jamie and Wes’s lives again.

In Good Boy, Jess is back in Toronto to plan and coordinate Wes and Jamie’s wedding, which brings her back in touch with Blake, who’s the best man. She’s a serial career-changer and although she was sure wedding-planning was going to be her permanent gig, actually carrying it out make her realize she doesn’t ever want to do it again. She has an epiphany based on when she was taking care of Jamie—she wants to be a nurse. So she moves to Toronto and starts nursing school there. She spends a lot of time with Jamie and Wes, which brings her in regular contact with Blake, as well.

He’s as interested in her as he was that afternoon in the chair in Wes and Jamie’s apartment. But she regards him as a mistake. She’s trying to get herself into proper adulthood and messing around with a giant goofball doesn’t seem the right thing to do. Actually, messing around with anybody seems the wrong thing to do. She’s trying to earn her family’s respect, after all.

The one problem? Their chemistry is off the charts. So eventually they do start hooking up but it’s not intended to be a long-term arrangement. How that comes about is a joy to watch. As always with Bowen and Kennedy, the writing is superb. They deliver with all the feels, dialogue, strong characterization, and hot sex that you would expect from them.

Five Ways to Fall (Ten Tiny Breaths #5) by K.A. Tucker

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Five Ways to Fall book coverI have mixed feelings about this book. Reese, the heroine, is awesome—I love her. She’s strong, smart, but a little lost. After getting royally screwed over by her husband of a few short months—she catches him screwing his ex in their shower—she starts to get herself together. Her former stepfather, who’s a better parent than her own mom and dad ever were, is helping her get back on her feet. She’s got a good friend who serves as a good secondary character. And she’s only twenty-one, so you wouldn’t expect her to be all the way set up in life.

The book is funny and the voice is great. Tucker has a real way with words, that’s for sure. Reese and the hero, Ben, have a sarcastic relationship that’s entertaining to read. The dialogue and descriptions are vivid and very real. You really see all the characters and the environments they’re in. And the characters are complex and layered, including the secondary characters.

The issue I have is with Ben. Yes, he’s charming. Yes, he’s really good-looking. And confident. And funny. And on the cusp of having lots of money due to his just-completed law degree. Yippee, great.

But he’s a total ass. He’s a huge playboy and call me a cynic, but I don’t think he’s believably redeemable. I mean, I suspended disbelief long enough to read the book because I wanted to see what happened to Reese. But I kept thinking, “You can do better.” At least for long-term. I mean, it makes total sense for them to hook up, which is how they meet. But I just don’t buy the “he’s totally changed” thing.

They first meet on vacation in Cancun. It’s Ben’s last day before he goes back to start his real adult life at a law firm. And Reese is there with a couple friends to get over the demise of her marriage. Her friends want her to hook up with somebody—anybody—and she and Ben end up back in his hotel room, where something unexpected and mortifying (but still pretty funny) happens. Reese sneaks out of his hotel room later without saying anything and they both expect to never see each other again.

But that wouldn’t be a book. So instead, the job her stepfather helped her get (and which she has become very good at) is being a paralegal at his firm. And that firm also happens to be the one Ben’s starting at, because he’s buddies with Mason, Reese’s ex-stepbrother. Ensue awkwardness.

Anyway, I did really enjoy the book all the way to the end and will probably check out some of Tucker’s other books because she’s an excellent writer. Perhaps I should just get over my reservations about Ben. Romance is basically fantasy, after all. And the long-held fantasy that a woman can change a man into a better person is still going strong in the real world, so why not in books?

I guess I still just prefer betas.

Grin & Beard It (Winston Brothers #2) by Penny Reid

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Grin & Beard It book coverThis book is a little unusual because it features a charming heroine who is both ridiculously famous as a comedic actor and overweight. I’m not particularly interested in famous people, so I thought I might not enjoy this one as much as some of Reid’s other books. But Sienna Diaz is an engaging character a little at odds with her status. And Jethro Winston is completely oblivious to and not remotely interested in who she is to the rest of the world, which is one of the things that draws her to him.

I mean, how they meet is a tad cliche—she’s out driving in rural Tennessee and gets lost. But many of us can relate to this. I’m terrible in rural areas; I can’t tell the difference between roads and driveways sometimes. So, it works for me. And Jethro is the park ranger for the national park Sienna keeps driving circles inside. In the end, they give up and he gives her rides to and from the set, which works out for both of them and lets them get to know each other. Of course, most of the time Cletus is there in the truck with them, with his comic relief.

Not that we really need him for that—Sienna herself is funny with a small side of snark. That’s the main reason for her fame, and Reid manages to pull it off and then some. When she’s thinking about the “other woman” (Jethro’s best friend’s widow) being beautiful, she thinks:

She was fuckingly gorgeous. She was so gorgeous, her beauty deserved the f-bomb used as an adverb.

I also like the fact that she’s fat (not just by Hollywood’s definition) and still manages to outshine the rest of Hollywood in a way that is believable, at least for the duration of the novel. Overall, I really liked Sienna and was interested in seeing how she worked out what she really wanted to do while dealing the all the pressures of being famous Sienna.

Jethro is also an appealing guy. If you’ve read the first book, you know he’s got a sketchy past. That comes out here as significant in how he sees himself and any kind of relationship he might be able to have with Sienna. He’s also not remotely concerned with who she is in Hollywood, as he’s not into such things. They connect on a different level, one Sienna would love to be able to exist at. Jethro’s sweet and classy in his own way. When they’re having dinner on night and discussing the word “buxom,” and how it describes what she’s got going on in a certain area, he says:

‘Just like, the word clever describes what you have going on here,’ he motioned to my brain, ‘and the word beautiful describes what you have going on everywhere.’

Love it.

Things are up and down for Sienna and Jethro, but the resolution is nice. The book delivers with Reid’s trademark humor and her slightly-steamy heat level. Read it if you’ve enjoyed her other books, or if you haven’t.

Bad Boys Do (Donovan Brothers Brewery #2) by Victoria Dahl

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Bad Boys Do book coverBad Boys Do is the second in the Donovan Brothers Brewery series. Jamie, the hero of this book, was portrayed as a total playboy in the first book, which I previously reviewed. He’s the bartender at his family’s brewery and got them in a lot of trouble with one of his sexual escapades. He hooked up with the daughter of a businessman for an airline they were trying to sell to, which ultimately resulted in a break-in because their alarm code was compromised. I don’t have a lot of patience for men like that, so I figured I wasn’t going to like this book as much as the first.

However, Jamie ended up being a much more sympathetic character than I expected in Bad Boys Do. There’s a lot more to his story than what we got in book 1. In fact, this one ended up being my favorite in the series. We do get to see a lot more of Tessa and Eric, the siblings he runs the brewery with. Tessa was featured in book 1 and Eric’s got book 3. They’re a close family but there is a lot of tension there, some for good reason, that doesn’t get entirely resolved until book 3. Eric, in particular, is really hard on Jamie, unable to get that he’s moved beyond his playboy days.

As I’ve implied, I loved Jamie, but I also loved Olivia. She’s a college professor, which I enjoy because I’d always thought that’s what I’d end up being (didn’t happen). She has an ex-husband who’s a total douche, not surprisingly. And she’s really struggling because she let herself be completely enveloped by his web and tried to be exactly what he wanted, losing herself in the process. So she’s struggling to redefine herself as a woman on her own again.

Jamie is secretly (secret from his family) taking a business class because he has some ideas on how to take the brewery in a new direction and wants to learn how to do it properly. It’s something that makes him a very sympathetic character because we know his family won’t take him seriously even though he’s passionate about his ideas.

They first meet when she attends a “book club” meeting that’s really just a girlfriend gathering at the Donovan brewery. She’s already uncomfortable because of the content of the meet up (sexual escapades and whatnot) and when the women she’s with make a big show of openly flirting with Jamie, who wears a kilt (which apparently a lot of women find very appealing*). Still, Olivia admires him along with the other women. And then her newest semester starts out—and it turns out Olivia is teaching the class Jamie’s taking.

When they do start dating (and it takes some work on Jamie’s part for that to happen), Olivia’s ex-husband threatens to out her to the administration, which might have a problem with her dating a student. So there’s concern about that, along with the fact that Olivia’s a little uptight, self-conscious, and a few years older than Jamie. It’s not clear how things will truly work out between them. Additionally, to complicate things among the Donovan siblings, the fallout from the break-in the brewery experienced (and Jamie’s ill-advised rendezvous) continues and finally gets explained. Olivia’s problem with her husband also get resolved satisfactorily. All in all, this was a great story with a lot going on, plus Dahl’s trademark high heat level.

 

* Okay, so a quick story about a man in a kilt. Men in Scotland really do wear them frequently, especially when expressing some kind of national pride, like when Scotland’s playing in a soccer match (though they wear them for about any soccer match…). One day when I lived in Glasgow, I was walking home through the city center at four a.m. after a bar shift, and I glanced over at a Chinese place that was still open. There was a man in a kilt manspreading in a booth, and I could see everything. They really don’t wear anything under those things.

The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev

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Bollywood Bride book coverAlthough I previously reviewed A Bollywood Affair (the sequel to this one), this is the one I read first. And it really sucked me in, with its troubled characters and their fascinating backstory (they were so angsty that they could have almost fit in in a YA novel).

It starts with Ria, a Bollywood star living in Mumbai, who’s got some kind of past in Chicago that’s hinted at in the first chapter. She also apparently went through a year when she was very young where she didn’t talk at all, until a boy named Vikram charmed her into talking. Of course, he’s the hero.

In the first chapter, she gets a call saying that the cousin she’d basically grown up with in Chicago is getting married and she needs to go “home” for the wedding. She feels the obligation even though it will bring her back into contact with people she betrayed, especially Vikram.

Since she spent most of her childhood effectively being raised by her aunt and uncle in Chicago, Ria does go back for her cousin’s wedding. The wedding and preparations for it take up most of the book and they’re fun because they’re so involved and different from western traditions. Almost all of Ria’s and Vikram’s interactions occur with that as the backdrop. While in Chicago, Ria kind of escapes her identity as a Bollywood star and becomes just one of the family again, though it’s not a complete break. Life in India interferes to cause trouble, which makes for good story.

Watching Ria and Vikram figure out how to come together—Vikram has to learn to forgive her and she has to figure out how to forgive herself, as well as truly come clean about why she left—was great, because there is so much conflict there. Vikram is understandably really pissed off, because when they were young and he thought they would soon get married, she just up and left him without any explanation. He’s still mad and bitter. One thing that made him less likable than he might otherwise have been was that while I definitely got his anger, he should have given Ria the benefit of the doubt, especially as a more mature adult. He should have know that there was a reason she left, even if he couldn’t fathom what it was. But still, he’s believable and it gives him a good flaw.

The book is full of little details that really bring the setting and characters to life. Ria is a great, troubled character who has a lot to overcome. Her backstory is heartbreaking, and although many of the choices she’s made (and makes) maybe aren’t the best, we definitely understand why she makes them. Vikram is also a good character. He dealt with ultimate betrayal and made the best of things. Additionally, the background cast is great, with lots of parents, aunties, uncles and more, all colorful and realistic (also, a little stereotypical at times, but that’s forgivable). Overall, this is an interesting book steeped in Indian culture that western readers will still be able to understand, all while providing a satisfying love story with a believable HEA.

Rainshadow Road (Friday Harbor #2) by Lisa Kleypas

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Rainshadow Road book coverAfter reading the book 3 in this series, I went back and read the first one, which is a short novel set around Christmas-time featuring another Nolan brother (Mark). I enjoyed it so I got the whole series. Book 2 is about Sam Nolan and Lucy Marinn and is also set in the small town of Friday Harbor on an island off the Washington coast. Book 3 takes place at basically the same time this one does.

Despite being about one of the brothers, this book is really Lucy’s story. The first fifth of the book is all from her perspective, giving us her backstory, which starts when she was very young because we have to learn about her very crummy and spoiled younger sister. This matters because it’s who her lame-o boyfriend is cheating with right before the book starts. But we also learn that she can do something a little magical with glass, both in the literal sense and the metaphorical sense (she’s a successful glass artist). The first thing we get in the today storyline is him breaking up with her and asking her to move out.

She meets Sam right afterward, and though they’re interested in each other, she naturally says no when he asks her out. Then we start getting Sam’s story. Sam’s a good-time guy but he’s helping to raise his 6-year-old niece, who Mark got guardianship of when their sister was killed, as told in book 1. So we know Sam’s a good guy because he’s a very good Uncle Sam to Holly. Sam and Lucy also run into each other some more and he’s encouraging her to sublet Mark’s old studio apartment. They decide to not get involved with each other because they know he’s not available for anything serious. Then she’s in a bicycle accident that bangs her up pretty good and breaks her leg (technically it’s not broken but it might as well be).

This is where the book gets a little odd for me, because somehow Lucy’s friend convince Sam to take care of her in his house for the first three days she’s out of the hospital, when she’s supposed to be bedridden. And for some reason, they decide she needs to have multiple showers while she’s there. I mean, most people wouldn’t bother until they could move on their own. There are lots of other opportunities for them to get close, which they do, and at one point they almost have sex but are interrupted. This whole part was a little hard to accept, but I was able to suspend disbelief enough to get through it, because other than the strange pretense, their growing relationship was fun to watch.

It takes a long time for Sam to realize he loves Lucy, though she figures out that she loves him a lot sooner. One thing that made me happy about this book was that Lucy had a great opportunity that would take her away from the island, and they figure out a way to make that work. She doesn’t have to give up the greatest move her career has seen just to stay with him.

Simply Irresistible (Chinooks Hockey Team #1) by Rachel Gibson

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Simply Irresistible book coverI think I’ve mentioned before that I’m relatively new to romance. Most women who’ve been reading it have been doing so since they were kids, but I only started a couple years ago. I’ve embraced it fully, but most of the canon is still new to me. So I’m reviewing another old book, because she was one of the first authors I read and she hooked me into the entire series and some of her others, too.

Rachel Gibson writes very strong alpha heroes, which isn’t my favorite type. However, she does it really well and I consistently enjoy her books even if I wouldn’t be able to stand the hero in real life (never mind that he wouldn’t have the time of day for me, either). I also would never have expected to enjoy sports romances, as I’m not into sports, either. However, Sarina Bowen taught me that a good hockey story is a little addictive.

So I came into Gibson’s first novel in a series centered around players on the fictitious Seattle Chinooks Hockey team a little unsure—would she be able to pull off the sporty, alpha in a way I could appreciate?

Yep. Despite some faults, I had trouble putting this book down.

In this secret baby/enemies-to-lovers tale, Georgeanne Howard flees her fiancé, the uber-wealthy owner of the Seattle Chinooks, the day of their wedding. One of the team’s players, John Kowalsky, inadvertently helps her get away. He takes her to his beach house so she can regroup and come up with a plan. This is the low point of her life, after all—she has no clothes except a tight dress and only 7 dollars in her wallet. Yet this is a romance novel, so it’s not surprising that they end up in bed together.

Georgie is young and naive, and she instantly falls for him. He, on the other hand, wants to stay out of trouble with the team owner, so he buys her a plane ticket back to Texas. She’s had a tough life with some kind of learning disability and has grown up thinking the only thing she can do is cook well and be friendly and charming. And she decides she doesn’t want to go back to her crappy life. So she stays in Seattle, landing a job at a catering firm (due to her cooking expertise, fortunately) and slowly working her way up until she’s a successful caterer herself. The only hitch: she got pregnant on the night with John, and she doesn’t tell him about their daughter, Lexie.

Seven years later, he finds out about Lexie, and he’s understandably pissed (even though it’s also somewhat understandable—though clearly wrong—that Georgie never told him). She reluctantly lets John into Lexie’s life, although she worries about his influence. But as it turns out, he adores Lexie and they get along very well.

Okay, so this book isn’t perfect. Georgie and John fight a lot and he really is a jerk for most of the book. He’s crude and rude in general, as well as specifically to Georgie. He sometimes tries to be better, but they still fight a lot, and that’s an issue I sometimes have with the enemies-to-lovers trope—are the things that were done and said during the enemy phase truly forgivable? I’m not entirely sure here, but I do believe Georgie forgave him. Also, Georgie thinking she’s fat at tall and 140 lbs. gets old. I mean, I know that’s the way it is, but still, annoying.

Gibson writes good characters, in the sense of being well-drawn and very distinct from each other. The dialogue is great and Georgie’s southern-inspired monologues (which John calls rambling and which drive him crazy when they first meet) are funny and fairly true-to-reality. Why use five words when you can do it with twenty? Gibson’s books also feature lots of palpable sexual tension that delivers when it should. I suppose these are the things that drew me into the story despite several potential issues for me.

The Fixer (Games People Play #1) by HelenKay Dimon

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The Fixer book coverI was new to HelenKay Dimon with this book. This is another romantic suspense recommended at RT, this time for its strong heroine. So again I delved into the romantic suspense genre.

Emery Finn is definitely strong. She’s not afraid of confronting a man who clearly thinks of himself as in control. She’s not totally stupid about it—arming herself with a bat when she goes to see what he thinks he’s doing by sitting in a car watching her apartment.

Now, the fact that Wren is watching is a little creepy, it’s true. But that’s the field he’s in—surveillance, tracking down, “fixing” stuff, and the like. Normal in romantic suspense, not so much in straight-up contemporary. So I went with it. He’s dark and more than a little socially awkward, but not in the nerdy way. Emery teases him for not being human, or even being a little robot-like, which he resents. But he’s so used to being in control of himself that he has sort of lost touch with the normal-person part of himself.

The plot is pretty interesting, dealing with the disappearance of Emery’s cousin/best friend back when they were tweens. Emery’s been desperate to find out what happened to Tiffany since then—thirteen years. Even her career choice was influenced by the disappearance. I admit I was never entirely sure exactly what her job was, but she works for an agency that helps other people track down missing people, using databases and whatnot. However, the reason she comes into contact with Wren is that Tiffany’s father had Wren’s name among the various files and such he’d compiled in searching for his daughter. Her serious digging on him brings him out of the woodwork. Tiffany’s disappearance therefore forms the backbone of the story. The mystery of what happened isn’t too hard to unravel, but it’s still entertaining to watch it unfold.

After Emery and Wren first encounter each other, the interest is there, though Emery does a better job of denying it in her head for a while than Wren does. Still, it’s a relief when they do finally hook up for the first time. Dimon has a deft hand with the love scenes. They’re long and luscious and you always know what’s happening, but she leaves out a lot of the almost clinical detail that a lot of authors include. They’re a joy to read.

The characters are, as I’ve implied above, interesting and well-developed, although Emery’s deep emotional needs are more transparent than Wren’s. Still, Wren is compelling and his behavior is justified by his wounds. Overall, Dimon’s a very good writer and if you’re a fan of romantic suspense or very mysterious men, you’ll like this one.

Good Girls Don’t (Donovan Family #1) by Victoria Dahl

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Good Girls Don't book coverThis book was my introduction to Victoria Dahl, who instantly became my favorite romance writer. I began devouring everything else she wrote, starting with the rest of the series. One overall comment I have is that the original covers on the series bely the sexiness packed within.

Good Girls Don’t features Tessa Donovan, a beautiful blonde who also happens to be an integral part of her family’s brewery business, and Luke Asher, the detective investigating a break-in at the brewery. Tessa’s the baby of the family with two older brothers who are both (hilariously) convinced that she is pure and innocent and needs protecting. A little early-on confusion ensues when Luke believes his old friend (and Tessa’s older brother), Jamie, about said innocence. But fortunately, they make it past all that silliness and seeing each other in a very adult way.

One of the reasons I liked the book so much was that the romance was definitely not the only thing going on. For one, there was the investigation of the break-in. Even more important is the fact that her brothers’ relationship is very strained, as the oldest, Eric, thinks Jamie is a thoughtless playboy even while Jamie is trying to take on more at the brewery. It won’t happen if Eric finds out what Tessa finds out the morning the robbery is discovered—that Jamie offered the daughter of one of their most important customers a tour of the brewery—and then took her home, if you know what I mean. Tessa’s really mad, but she also wants to keep the brothers on good terms so she thinks it’s her job to hide Jamie’s indiscretion.

As the story of the break-in unfolds, so does the web of protective lies Tessa’s has helped weave. Tensions get really bad with the family, but the two brothers sort of band together to protect Tessa. She doesn’t want or need protecting. But she does need some things she doesn’t recognize. When some of Luke’s own backstory comes out, it throws a wrench in their relationship. It takes some soul-searching to patch things up, but of course they do. As the reader you’re happy they do because they’re both very cute and smokin’ hot together.

Truth or Beard (Winston Brothers #1) by Penny Reid

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Truth or Beard book coverI have to admit, I am not enamored of beards. Stubble, yes—yum—but beards, not so much. I also am not overly fond of redheads. So Reid had to manage to convince a skeptic that Duane Winston was attractive.

I’m happy to report that she pulled it off. Dark and a little broody with clear hidden depths, Duane still comes across as very appealing, so I was right there with Jessica James, the poor high school math teacher who has quite a bit of a challenge before her when she tries to fight off her desire for Duane.

The setup is fun—Duane has a twin brother Beau who is way more charming than he is, being friendly, not broody, and maybe a teeny bit shallow. And Jessica has spent her whole life crushing after Beau, so when she ends up making out with him at a party only to find out that it isn’t Beau after all, she’s horrified. She actively dislikes Duane because he was mean to her when they were young—which, it turns out, was because he’d always liked her. His latest escapade isn’t particularly nice, either—he was fully aware that she thought he was his twin.

Unlike his brother, it’s clear from the outset that Duane’s personality runs quite deep. He’s complicated. He’s also got a past he’s trying to recover from and he has some risky hobbies. Drag racing. Antagonizing the local motorcycle club. Still, he’s determined to convince Jessica to date him—actually, he’s already convinced he wants to marry her, but he gets that he shouldn’t exactly bring that up yet. It’s quite the uphill battle for him, as Jessica is rightly perturbed at him for tricking her. Also, her brother and father are local cops and they do not approve of Duane. Even more important is the fact that Jessica has no intention of sticking around their small Tennessee town. Nope, she’s going to see the world, once she gets herself financially sorted.

Duane and Jessica are both great characters, deeply drawn and likable. Their chemistry is great. The surrounding cast of characters is also highly entertaining. Duane has a whole gaggle of hot and easily distinguishable brothers, making the backup cast quite fun. Even if some of the books weren’t already out, you’d know it would have to be a series. There’s plenty of typical Reid humor (i.e., smart and a wee bit nerdy) sprinkled throughout, though the book has many steamy moments, as well. I wouldn’t have minded more of the steam, though, but that’s my only near-complaint. If you like reading about intelligent characters making life choices, you’ll like this one.

Keepsake (True North #3) by Sarina Bowen

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Keepsake book coverIn Keepsake, Bowen continues the story of the Shipley farm, moving us back there full-time. This time it’s Zachariah’s story. Zach grew up in a polygamous cult and got kicked out for a small transgression (mostly because he was a young man, when the old men wanted the girls all for themselves). Zach’s been working at the Shipley farm for a while and he’s beginning to feel that his time there is coming to a close. Not because he wants it to be, but because he thinks they need it to be.

But Keepsake is also Lark’s story. She’s one of May Shipley’s oldest and best friends. She just survived a terrible incident while she was on a work assignment in Guatemala, which broke her fearless, adventurous spirit. We don’t learn exactly what happened until close to the end, but we do know that she was kidnapped and held for a while. Everyone assumes she was raped and that’s why she is so traumatized, but she insists that’s not it. The result of her trauma is that she decides to spend some time at the Shipley farm because her parents aren’t taking her waking-screaming-from-bad-dreams very well. She’s going to help with the apple-picking and try to heal.

Zach and Lark have previously met at the farm and admired each other from afar. When it turns out that Zach is the first one to hear one of Lark’s screaming dreams in the bunkhouse at the farm, he goes in to comfort her, despite his own awkwardness in doing so—and Griff Shipley’s mandate for all the men to keep their hands off Lark. This happens several times as he becomes very attuned to listening for her. Also, interestingly, she ends up sort of comforting him, because he too is broken after his upbringing and exclusion from his home. These nightly interludes happen regularly and then, not too surprisingly, turn into more, though it does take a long time. It’s quite a slow burn of a story, in general. But in a delicious way.

Being with Zach doesn’t fix Lark. It seems like only time and some more therapy can do that. And Zach has some growing and self-discovery to do, himself. It takes some time apart before they figure out a way to come together and stay that way.

Both characters are richly developed and absolutely believable, despite their difficult life experiences. The chemistry between the two of them and the love scenes are as hot and sensual as you’d expect from Bowen, with the added complexity that Zach is a virgin and they both know it. Bowen handles that very well, expertly weaving in a bit of humor with the super-sexy. There’s also more going on with the supporting characters, especially May, which deepens the book quite a bit. Still, the focus is on Zach and Lark, and it’s a wonderful comfort story.

Run to Ground (Rocky Mountain K9 Unit #1) by Katie Ruggle

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Run to Ground book cover

Now, I don’t read a lot of romantic suspense, but I got an ARC of this book when I was at RT this year. We actually discussed one of the author’s earlier books in one of the sessions in my writing boot camp at RT, too, and it sounded good. This is a spinoff series. The book comes highly recommended, with recommendations from Charlaine Harris among others.

Theo is a small-town Colorado K9 officer whose partner has just died suddenly. He’s also inherited his partner’s dog and they’re not bonding very well. Theo is in general not coping very well—he’s just sort of going through the motions. Even his new K9 partner is suffering because of Theo’s partner’s death; he’s struggling to fulfill his K9 duties even as Theo tries to get him working again. Despite all this, the moment Theo sees the new server at the local diner, he’s intrigued. He knows she’s hiding something and that he should therefore stay away, but he doesn’t.

The secret that Jules is keeping is that she kidnapped her four siblings (taking them out of an abusive home situation), got five new identities, and brought them to Colorado to hide. So she’s a very young woman trying to take care of kids in junior high and high school, all while knowing that if they get caught, not only will she go to prison, but they’ll all go back to their crap home situation. Understandably, Theo makes her very, very nervous.

But of course they can’t resist each other. The attraction between them is clear and well-portrayed, even though I personally don’t find Theo that appealing. He is kind of jerk to everyone but Jules, because he is emotionally damaged by the death of his partner (and, not long before that, his own K9 partner). Jules, on the other hand, is definitely likable. She’s trying so hard to support herself and her siblings that you can’t help but feel for her.

One thing about the book that disappointed me was a distinct lack of strong resolution regarding the cop vs. kidnapper conflict, which I felt seriously detracted from a true HEA. But I don’t know, maybe this is acceptable in romantic suspense. After all, some things can’t realistically be reconciled. So if you enjoy romantic suspense, especially if you also like cops and/or dogs, you’d probably enjoy this book and the series. If I liked the subgenre more, I’d pick up the second book or even the original series that this one spun off of.

Dream Lake (Friday Harbor #3) by Lisa Kleypas

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Dream Lake book cover

I said in an earlier review that I’d definitely try Kleypas again. I did, and I’m glad. This time I picked up my preferred subgenre, contemporary.

Alex Nolan is an unhappy man. He’s a drunk, actually. He comes from drunk parents and although his two brothers seem to have done okay, he’s drowning his sorrows. It’s not entirely clear why he’s unhappy, though. He had a crappy first marriage, which is breaking up, so that’s part of it. But it seems like he’s just fundamentally unhappy. Maybe it’s who he is. He definitely thinks so.

Enter two people: a ghost and Zoë Hoffman.

The ghost somehow (it’s never quite clear how) gets attached to Alex and can’t travel too far from him, which drives them both crazy. The ghost has only vague recollections of his life, although it’s tied to the house that Alex’s brothers live in. But more importantly, Alex and the ghost need to figure out what’s tying them together, and how they can break that.

Zoë, on the other hand, is just a nice, sweet girl whose ex-husband shocked her by coming out as gay. She’s no match for Alex’s dark moods and when they first meet by chance at Alex’s brothers’ house, they’re both drawn to each other but Alex is total douchebag to her. Plus, she has problems of her own—her beloved grandmother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and is already showing signs of fast decline. Zoë is going to have to take care of her from now on, which she plans to do by renovating a house near where she works, but the house seriously needs fixing up. Alex is recommended to her by her cousin because he’s an expected carpenter/builder-type. So enter Alex into her life.

Something about Alex pulls Zoë to him. Probably that ridiculous thing a lot of women have about fixing broken men, but in this case Alex makes the choice to fix himself and acts on it. Zoë loves to cook and plies Alex with baked goods and breakfast and eventually he starts to come around as a more decent person. But he’s still convinced he’s nothing but bad news for Zoë and warns her to stay away, despite the simmering attraction between them.

Fortunately for us, Alex’s ghostly friend helps him to see things in a slightly new light, even if it’s a painful process for both of them. Alex gets quite involved in helping the ghost solve his mystery, which ends up being tied compellingly to Zoë and her grandmother. When he and Zoë finally give in, it’s such a relief, but it also involves wholly believable transformations for both of them.

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

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A Bollywood Affair book cover

For some reason, I really enjoy reading (and watching) things set in Indian culture. It all started when I dated a Punjabi guy many years ago and I started reading Indian authors. I’m by no means an expert on Indian culture (or, cultures, as it’s a very big and diverse country), but it’s all interesting. I also have a certain amused appreciation for Bollywood, even though it’s been a while since I’ve seen anything.

When I was first reading Indian authors, I preferred high-brow, literary fiction, but now I generally stick to romance and YA. I was looking for some more diverse romance and stumbled across Dev and read her second book, The Bollywood Bride, first. I quite liked that one. I liked this one less well, because I couldn’t really appreciate the hero, although I liked the heroine, even though she couldn’t be more different from me. Most of A Bollywood Affair is set in the U.S. (Michigan, specifically), yet it’s a story about Indians rather than Indian-Americans.

Mili is twenty-four and she’s technically been married since she was four, when she she and a twelve-year-old boy named Virat were forced to marry by their very traditional grandfathers. The groom and his family soon left Mili’s village and haven’t returned. Mili is no feminist—she’s dutifully been waiting for her husband to return so she can start her wifely responsibilities. She’s afraid that the reason he hasn’t returned to her is because she isn’t good enough, so she’s always trying to improve. Her situation isn’t great—she and her grandmother don’t have much money. However, and a little ironically, being married gives Mili a little more freedom compared to the other girls in her village. So her grandmother allows her to go to America to study. This should make her an even better, modern Indian wife, right?

This all makes Samir Mili’s brother-in-law, even though he and Virat had both totally forgotten about the marriage until she reminded them with her first communication—a letter pointing out that she took care of their grandparents until they died, as were her daughter-in-law responsibilities in “our great culture,” as she puts it. She also says that it’s time for her to start taking care of him, too. And that she’s been caring for Virat’s ancestral home since his grandfather’s death, but now she needs money to pay for the more serious repairs it needs. This enrages the brothers because they think she’s some type of gold-digger.

Samir and Virat didn’t think the ceremony their grandfather had forced them into was truly real. In fact, Virat has been planning to marry his now-pregnant long-term girlfriend. So he needs a divorce from Mili. Then he’s in an accident and things look particularly dire, because now he’s in a coma and can’t pursue the divorce himself. Nobody wants the child to be a bastard—horrors. So Samir steps up to convince Mili to sign for the divorce from his brother.

By this time, she’s already in Michigan, so off Samir goes. Oh, and by the way—Samir happens to be a very well-known Bollywood director. Samir deceives her when he reaches Michigan. She knows he is the famous director, but she doesn’t know he’s Virat’s brother. But he ends up taking care of her after she breaks her ankle, so she thinks he’s a great guy.

So, as I mentioned, I do have some issues with the book. Samir is actually a big douche. He has a troubled past so we’re supposed to forgive him that and believe in his redemption at the end. But he doesn’t respect women, getting all pissy when they “inevitably” fall in love with him. So this is troubling. Mili is likable though, even if her innocence and devotion to a missing husband are kind of sickening at times. She grows a little, but not as much as I’d like. I wanted her to see how limiting the traditional view is and at least be glad she’s going to be able to escape that.

Despite these reservations, I still enjoyed the book. It is believable that Samir’s fallen in love with her and he does sort of face his past. Maybe he’s really changed. So if you’re looking for something a bit different from the vast majority of romances out there, check this one out. I wouldn’t recommend the book if you can’t read rake heroes, though.

Steadfast (True North #2) by Sarina Bowen

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Steadfast book cover

Steadfast is a gritty second-chance-at-love story. We first met Jude in Bittersweet as the former junkie trying to make good. He had just been released from prison and then detox and worked on the Shipley farm as a way to get established again and stay clean. In that book, he comes across as a decent, if troubled, guy.

In this book, Jude has nowhere else to go as the harvesting season has ended, and he has returned to his home town, Colebury, to live with his father and work as a mechanic at his garage. Jude assumes that the love of his life, Sophie, is still in town. Of course he’s decided to stay away from her because he doesn’t want to drag her down with him. He’s genuinely trying to stay clean, fighting the cravings that haunt him every day.

Sophie is still in town. She’s finishing up her Bachelor’s degree and working as an intern in a social work position, which she’s hoping will turn into a full-time job after she graduates, even though she doesn’t really expect it to happen because her fellow intern is finishing his Master’s. Then there’s her mess of a family. Her father is a bonafide asshole, the local police chief who can’t do any wrong. And her mom has been basically nonfunctional since the accident that killed Sophie’s brother.

The accident is even more significant because her brother was in Jude’s car when he was killed. And although Sophie and Jude had been very much together when it happened, he went straight to jail and then prison and she hasn’t spoken to him in the three-plus years he’s been gone. He refused her letters in prison and she hasn’t even been able to learn anything about him. Her brother was a douche, but she’s still eaten up with desire to know what happened that night. What happened to her brother—and what happened to Jude.

So, with that setup, a lot happens. As I mentioned, this is a gritty book—we feel Jude’s suffering as he tries to resist the urge to find more junk to take himself away from everything that’s shit. Because on top of everything he’s dealing with, there’s some fallout from the night of the accident. Even though he doesn’t remember himself what happened, there were some drugs involved and somebody’s looking for them. Sophie is dealing with taking care of her parents, cooking dinner every night for her hateful and ungrateful father and her practically comatose mother.

But of course, when they run into each other, sparks fly yet again. After one of his NA meetings at the church, Jude ends up getting talked into volunteering to help at a community dinner by the priest, only to find that Sophie is a regular volunteer there.

After a while, they can’t keep away from each other even though they both try. She is trying to not be in love with him because he really hurt her, and he naturally thinks the best thing for her is for him to not be in her life. If her father finds out that she’s seeing Jude at all, she’s in real danger. We don’t see her father’s true nature until the end of the book, but we sense it throughout. That combined with the threat looming over Jude’s head means constant tension.

The book is immensely satisfying. There are enjoyable flashbacks to when Sophie and Jude were first together, when they were teenagers. And there are also a couple of good twists that I didn’t really see coming (at least not at first). Even though there’s plenty of sex, the sexual tension is there throughout (just as you’d expect from Bowen). Although it’s the second in the series, there’s no reason you need to have read Bittersweet first (except for the fact that it’s awesome).