Review: Her Passionate Plan B

Title: Her Passionate Plan B

Author: Dixie Browning

Number of Pages: 185

Series: Silhouette Desire #1628

Mini-Series: Divas Who Dish

Publisher: Silhouette

Published: January 2005

Date Read: November 6th, 2009

Rating: 2 Stars

Honestly, ladies, I had the perfect plan to catch a good man...until he showed up out of nowhere! With his come-hither, all-male looks, sexy stranger Kell Magee could melt the chrome off a bumper. But marriage material? Men like Kell are good for one thing -- wild, scorching sex.

No, I'd do much better with someone like our town accountant. Sensible, dull, he wouldn't drive me crazy with desire or have me dreaming of hot kisses all day long. The sooner Kell finds his family roots and leaves town, the better. Because I, Daisy Hunter, can't afford to lose my heart again, even if I've already lost my mind to preposterous fantasies of ditching Plan A for a very passionate Plan B!

Review:

I didn’t care for this book right from the first page. Why? The heroine Daisy was checking out the hero Kell (whom she hadn’t met yet) at a funeral. And the story just went downhill from there.

Daisy was the palliative care nurse for Harvey, Kell’s half-uncle. Kell has just found out about Harvey and come to meet him; only by the time he arrives Harvey has died. So of course, Kell moves into Harvey’s home with Daisy. Now I love romance novels and yes, this typically happens. Hero and heroine just meet and already they are living/sleeping together. Now I know in real life this typically doesn’t happen, so I take it with a grain of salt in romance novels.

But in this book it bugged me. I think it was because I really didn’t like the characters at all. Daisy was pushover not only for Kell, but also with her friends. And Kell, he kept going on about how ‘plain’ Daisy was. That really hit a nerve with me. Now I like how when a heroine is described in a book as being pretty but not stunning. I like the idea of the characters being normal women, but does the hero have to call her ‘plain’.

I probably won’t be ready the other two books in this trilogy.

Review: Kill The Competition

Title: Kill The Competition
Author: Stephanie Bond
Number of Pages: 358
Publisher: Avon
Published: November 2003
Date Read: November 4th, 2009
Rating: 4 Stars

Good
girls
finish
last...

That's Belinda Hennessey's new philosophy in life, work, and love after moving to Atlanta to escape a disastrous six-hour marriage. Now she has a killer job, spunky carpooling gal-pals, and the velvety voice of a traffic helicopter reporter to guide her on her way. She's even feeling lively enough to contribute to the manual on relationships and men her friends are writing to kill time during their commute.

But then a traffic mishap with a drop-dead gorgeous cop unleashes a series of events that bolsters Belinda's new bad-girl attitude -- she gets a tune-up from "Officer Goodbody," catches the eye of the throaty traffic reporter, and is targeted for a big promotion. But before Belinda can say "corner office," a coworker is murdered, and evidence points to a carpool conspiracy! With a killer on the loose, her friends at one another's throats, and two men offering southern comfort, Belinda knows only one thing for certain: climbing to the top can be murder on a girl.

Review:
Belinda comes to Atlanta to start a new life, after a disastrous 6-hour marriage. She has a great job at Archer Furniture and new carpool mates, Libby, Rosemary, and Carole. Everything seems to be going well until a car accident with a hunky cop sets off a bad chain of events.

First Belinda is late for a big meeting, and gets yelled at by her boss Margo. Then Belinda stands up to her and actually (as far as Belinda knows) earns her respect. Then the files from the big meeting have gone missing, then Margo is found murdered, and stuffed in Belinda's truck, and Belinda and her carpool friends are to blame.

It was a fun read by Stephanie Bond (of whom I am a big fan, thanks to the 'Body Movers' series). I liked all the characters; they all had their own separate identities and secrets (which were fun to find out).

This is a great read that I recommend to any Stephanie Bond/romantic suspense fan.

Review: And Then There Were Three

Title: And Then There Were Three
Author: Lynda Sandoval
Number of Pages: 249
Series: Silhouette Special Edition #1611
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: May 2004
Date Read: October 30th, 2009
Rating: 3 Stars

WHEN LIFE THROWS YOU A CURVE...

Single father Sam Lowery was good at many things, but raising his little girl to be a lady didn't seem to be one of them. So before his precious daughter started swearing like a truck driver, Sam set out to find a nanny who could steer her in the feminine direction...and in walked sunshine, aka Erin O'Grady. The redheaded beauty was all female, and before long she'd charmed his daughter and jump- started Sam's on-hiatus libido. Then Sam was forced to confront his family history, and lovely Erin offered an ear to bend and a shoulder to cry on. And then she offered him her virginity....

Review:

In ‘And Then There Were Three’ Erin O’Grady because the nanny to widower Sam Lowery. Erin has loved children her whole life and knew that being a nanny would be a fantastic. After her young nephew died a few years earlier, Erin majored in how to help children and families deal with loss, which made her the perfect match as a nanny for Sam’s two-year-old daughter Jessica.

Six months earlier Jessica’s mother Jenny was killed in a house fire saving Jessica. Since that day Jessica has not said a word about her mother, nor has Sam. After only a week Erin was able to break down part of the wall, that allowed Sam to begin talk more to Jessica about her mother. This hurts him a great deal because Sam and Jenny were not getting along prior to her death, and Sam blames himself for what happened.

And during all of this, Erin begins to fall for Sam. But there is another secret that Sam is hiding. He was orphaned as a young child, and went from foster home to foster home. He now believes that he is part of a set of triplets that were also adopted, who recently found each other.

I enjoyed this story. I did think that Erin seemed so young. I mean, I know she is 23-years-old in the story, but just seems so much younger to me. Sam was a nice guy, when he tried to be. He was rather rude to Erin during her first interview, even though Jessica took to her right away. My only major issue with this book was the whole triplet thing. It seemed like it was added in last minute and it was resolved at the end so quickly, it almost didn’t make sense. Other than that, a quick, fun read.

Review: Boardroom to Bedroom

Title: Boardroom to Bedroom

Author: Carole Mortimer & Penny Jordan

Number of Pages: 219

Series: Harlequin Presents #2446

Publisher: Harlequin

Published: February 2005

Date Read: October 27th, 2009

Rating: 2 Stars

Her Boss's Marriage Arrangement

Everyone in her office thinks Harriet is boss Matthew Cole's fiancee! Harriet has to keep reminding herself it's all just for convenience -- but how far is Matthew prepared to go with their arrangement...marriage?

His Darling Valentine

It's Valentine's Day and a secret admirer is bombarding Tazzy Darling with gifts! Any woman would be delighted -- but not Tazzy. There's only one man from whom she wants to receive love tokens, and that's her boss, Ross Valentine....

Review:

‘The Boss’s Marriage Arrangement’ was the first of the two short stories in this book. I can’t say much about this story except I hated it. Harriet was a pushover who couldn’t stand up for herself, and Matt was a major asshole. I would have told him where to shove it by page 2. I only gave this story 1 star.

‘His Darling Valentine’ was a bit better of a story. Tazzy and Ross have been in love with each other for a long time, but neither is able to tell the other. Then on Valentine’s Day Tazzy begins receiving many gifts from a secret admirer. Then at the end she finds out it’s Ross. It was very sweet, and I believe would have been better as a full length novel because the characters could have been developed more. I gave this story 2 stars.

Review: Fools Rush In

Title: Fools Rush In
Author: Kristan Higgins
Number of Pages: 379

Publisher: HQN

Published: November 2006
Date Read: October 25th, 2009
Rating: 5 Stars

Millie Barnes is this close to finally achieving her perfect life . . .

Rewarding job as a local doctor on Cape Cod? Check. Cute cottage of her very own? Check. Adorable puppy suitable for walks past attractive locals? Check! All she needs is for golden boy and former crush Joe Carpenter to notice her, and Millie will be set.

But perfection isn't as easy as it looks -- especially when Sam Nickerson, the town sheriff, is so distracting. Sure, he needs a friend after being dumped by Millie's fortune-hunting sister, but does she really need to enjoy his company that much? He is definitely not part of her master plan. But maybe it's time for Millie to start a new list . . .

Review:

‘Fools Rush In’ is the third Kristan Higgins book I have read, and like the others I loved this one too!

Millie Barns has returned to her hometown of Cape Cod to be a family doctor. A year earlier her sister, Trish, had run off to New Jersey after cheating on her husband, Sam. Now Sam and Trish are officially divorced and Millie has made it her job to keep Sam and her teenage nephew Danny happy. She has also decided to try and set Sam up with her best friend Katie.

Millie also had her heart set on a man of her own. Joe Carpenter. The same boy she has been madly in love with since freshman year of high school. In order to win Joe over, she decides she needs a makeover to get him to notice her. So its new cloths, new hair, new makeup... and she takes up running. And it all works, after all the years of pining after him, Joe is finally hers.

But he isn’t the man she made him out to be, and she soon realises that she’s in love with someone else. Sam. Her sister’s ex-husband. And when Trish catches them in bed together, everything that had seemed to be going wonderful, soon goes downhill. When Trish shows up at Millie’s to tell her to back off Sam, and that Trish wanted him back, I was so mad! But like every great love story, everything works out in the end.

The characters in this book were great. Millie was fantastic, she seemed so normal. She struggled with her weight and insecurities, being the ‘ugly duckling’ to her big sister Trish. Sam and Danny were wonderful. Joe was a sweetheart, just not the right guy for Millie (but he is for someone else). And Mille’s two gay best friends Curtis and Mitch were fabulous.

I will totally recommend Kristan Higgins to anyone who loves a good romantic comedy.

Review: The Unwilling Mistress

Title: The Unwilling Mistress
Author: Carole Mortimer
Number of Pages: 184
Series: Harlequin Presents #2382
Mini-Series: The Calendar Brides
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: March 2004
Date Read: October 23rd, 2009
Rating: 2 Stars

March Calendar: Single and determined to stay that way...certainly while Will Davenport's around. He may be the most eligible bachelor March has ever met, but he's also the most lethal! She'll never get involved with a man who plans on destroying her family's business!

Will Davenport: Single and on a mission to buy the Calendar family's farm for redevelopment. But when he meets the feisty March, he's hooked. Perhaps he can do a deal that will bring the best of both worlds -- satisfaction for March and for him. But is March willing to sleep with the enemy?

Review:

I have read a few Harlequin Presents books, and I will admit that some were good and some were not so good. This is one I consider not so good.

I story itself was a good idea, but I had some issues with it. I haven’t read the first book in the series, but I gather that the three Calendar sisters live on a farm, that is looking to be bought by a big company in London. In the first book, the youngest sister January falls in love with the man being sent to talk the girls into selling the farm. In this book the middle sister March falls in love with another man, Will Davenport, for the same reason. I thought that was just a little silly. I believe the author could have come up with something better. Because March is an artist, maybe she could have fallen in love with a gallery owner, or another artist.

My other issue was with the characters. The eldest sister May was a dear, often quiet embarrassed by her sister March’s behaviour. And Will was a gem. He was very kind to the sisters and only trying to do his job. March was a pain in the butt. She was so self-centered, and refused to ever listen to reason about anything. I just didn’t believe that Will and March made a good match for each other.

Review: Mountain Sheriff

Title: Mountain Sheriff

Author: B.J. Daniels

Number of Pages: 250

Series: Harlequin Intrigue #744

Mini-Series: Cascades Concealed

Publisher: Harlequin

Published: December 2003

Date Read: October 20th, 2009

Rating: 4 Stars

TROUBLE ALWAYS ACCOMPANIED THE RAINY SEASON

Rain and isolation could make folks crazy in these parts. Sheriff Mitch Tanner -- the most eligible bachelor in the county -- would have his hands full for sure. Bigfoot sightings and sundry strange happenings he could handle...but he wasn't prepared for murder. With a killer on the loose, he'd have to keep a tight grip on the investigation and a close eye on the mounting list of suspects. Unfortunately, the person causing the most trouble to his male senses was none other than the town's biggest gossip and the one woman he'd do anything to avoid: Charity Jenkins. Sure enough, she'd whittled away at his confirmed-single status with her annoying questions and all-American-girl good looks and had him thinking about something more permanent. Except a killer had other plans for Charity.

Review:

I just love B.J. Daniel’s and this book was another reason why.

‘Mountain Sheriff’ takes place in a small town in Oregon. Charity Jenkins owns and runs the local paper, and Mitch Tanner is the sheriff. When Nina, an employee at Denison’s Ducks goes missing, and someone in a black pickup truck is stalking Charity, Mitch knows something very strange is going on in town.

Everyone seems to have a theory of what happened to Nina. She had only been in town a month, but seemed to have made a lot of enemies. Coupled with the fact that Wade Denison took a liking to her, made many people suspicions. But Charity had her own theory, that Nina was in fact Angela, Wade’s daughter who was kidnapped when she was only 3 months old. Then when Mitch find’s Angela’s silver baby spoon in Nina’s cottage, the pieces begin falling into place.

This was a really fun read that I had a hard time putting down. Charity was a ball of energy and a perfect match for Mitch, whom she has known since she was in grade school. There is a definite romance there, but unlike most romance novels, this one doesn’t end the way most do. It is a great ending, just not what I expected.