Jill Marie Landis
Historical Romance
Steeple Hill Books - 2009
Jill Marie Landis is 20 novels deep into a career which includes titles that have earned their way into the New York Times and USA Today best seller lists. That suggests she’s a good writer. Her latest book, The Accidental Lawman, does the same. Interesting characters and a small town in which any sensible person would want to live grace this historical set in 1874.
Glory is a small town in Texas populated by good hearted, salt-of-the-earth folks for whom a penchant for gossip is essentially non existent. (The small town exception that proves the rule.) The towns folks genuinely enjoy and care for one another, so much so that the place has no sheriff and no jail. But the quiet, friendly town is suddenly shaken by the bank robbery that opens Landis’s story.
The robbery introduces us to the novel’s main characters, Hank Larson and Amelia Hawthorne. Hank is a widower recently arrived in town to open a newspaper (without a sheriff and a jail—and folks who love each other—what is he going to write about?). The beautiful Amelia, the daughter of the small town’s recently deceased doctor is, a healer.
Hank thwarts the robbery, but it turns out that one of the robbers is Amelia’s nineteen-year-old brother. Ahh, the plot thickens; and it thickens into a well-written, taut adventure romance.
Still grieving the loss of his wife and child, Hank Larson wanted nothing more than to start his newspaper and become part of this small town. He wasn’t ready for any serious involvement and yet the good folks of Glory, Texas, insisted that he become their sheriff, at least until another could be found.
Amelia Hawthorne had convinced herself that she was meant to be an old maid. She had raised her brother, Evan, since her mother died; and she was frustrated because at nineteen he no longer listened to her. She felt guilty for not being able to control Evan, but then no one else could either.
This is an adventurous story with many twists and turns. Tension builds to the very end. Enjoy this very satisfying book!
Showing posts with label Historical Romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Historical Romance. Show all posts
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Wild One
Denise Eagan
Historical Romance
Zebra Books - 2009
The Wild One is Denise Eagan’s second book, her second book to be published. She began writing at fourteen. Typical of so many good novelists, she began young, worked hard, trained for a real job (accounting, she graduated from a college from which my husband holds a degree), gathered her obligatory trunk full of reassuring rejection, continued writing, joined Romance Writers of America, won a contest, and soldiered on to a two-book contract with Kensington (while being a mother, wife, and homemaker). I’m tired just thinking about it. The Wild One is the second of the two and a sequel to her first, Wicked Woman. Yes, hers is that old familiar story: Overnight sensation!
She mentions that The Wild One came to her in pieces, scene by scene, most often out of order. That is a sign she’s a gut writer, one who lives the story as she writes, letting the winds of inspiration drive her to unplanned destinations. The gut is the writer. The head is the editor. When the writer learns to let the first roam free and keep the second in check, the result is usually a deliciously surprising story. And that it is.
Jessica Sullivan was a beautiful, serious actress. She had no interest in men because her husband had abandoned her while she was in labor with their child. As if that weren’t enough, her child died when he was two days old. She continued living as a married woman because she couldn’t afford to divorce the man who abandoned her. But that was not the beginning of life’s destruction of her self worth.
Because she was serious about her craft, Jessica didn’t fit well with the other actors in the troupe who used the stage to advance their sex lives. She didn’t “play” with men because she thought that was morally inappropriate. But more importantly, her experience with men showed her they couldn’t be trusted. At a deeper level and in spite of her moral convictions, she felt that life was just passing her by.
Not only that, she had asked the director of the traveling players to set apart a portion of her weekly salary so that she could repay a debt to her brother, but he was a man, too, and true to her experience, he gambled away the money he was supposed to be saving for her. Her view of herself kept getting lower. She tried so hard and yet never succeeded. In addition to that, her family had disowned her. Her self-worth was hitting bottom.
Could the tall, dark, handsome, and rich Lee Montgomery keep it from hitting bottom. Since this is a romance novel, that’s reasonable to expect, but he had his problems, too. While he came from a wealthy Boston family, his success at gambling fed his desire to never settle down He didn’t want his family’s money if it also required him to be a proper Bostonian. Besides, there was this actress who had caught his eye. Her name was Jessica Sullivan.
Then she was wrongly accused of murder and was on the run. To top it all off, her estranged husband showed up and kidnapped her. She thought her life was over and the thought didn’t displease her. Would Lee Montgomery spring for the ransom? She figured not. Psychologically, she had hit bottom.
But, let’s not forget this is a romance novel. While it starts out more slowly than I like, Eagan crafts well drawn, engaging characters. Their depth made them fun to be with and drew me into the story. When the pace took off in the last third of the book, being intimate with the characters made the read more rewarding than most.
Historical Romance
Zebra Books - 2009
The Wild One is Denise Eagan’s second book, her second book to be published. She began writing at fourteen. Typical of so many good novelists, she began young, worked hard, trained for a real job (accounting, she graduated from a college from which my husband holds a degree), gathered her obligatory trunk full of reassuring rejection, continued writing, joined Romance Writers of America, won a contest, and soldiered on to a two-book contract with Kensington (while being a mother, wife, and homemaker). I’m tired just thinking about it. The Wild One is the second of the two and a sequel to her first, Wicked Woman. Yes, hers is that old familiar story: Overnight sensation!
She mentions that The Wild One came to her in pieces, scene by scene, most often out of order. That is a sign she’s a gut writer, one who lives the story as she writes, letting the winds of inspiration drive her to unplanned destinations. The gut is the writer. The head is the editor. When the writer learns to let the first roam free and keep the second in check, the result is usually a deliciously surprising story. And that it is.
Jessica Sullivan was a beautiful, serious actress. She had no interest in men because her husband had abandoned her while she was in labor with their child. As if that weren’t enough, her child died when he was two days old. She continued living as a married woman because she couldn’t afford to divorce the man who abandoned her. But that was not the beginning of life’s destruction of her self worth.
Because she was serious about her craft, Jessica didn’t fit well with the other actors in the troupe who used the stage to advance their sex lives. She didn’t “play” with men because she thought that was morally inappropriate. But more importantly, her experience with men showed her they couldn’t be trusted. At a deeper level and in spite of her moral convictions, she felt that life was just passing her by.
Not only that, she had asked the director of the traveling players to set apart a portion of her weekly salary so that she could repay a debt to her brother, but he was a man, too, and true to her experience, he gambled away the money he was supposed to be saving for her. Her view of herself kept getting lower. She tried so hard and yet never succeeded. In addition to that, her family had disowned her. Her self-worth was hitting bottom.
Could the tall, dark, handsome, and rich Lee Montgomery keep it from hitting bottom. Since this is a romance novel, that’s reasonable to expect, but he had his problems, too. While he came from a wealthy Boston family, his success at gambling fed his desire to never settle down He didn’t want his family’s money if it also required him to be a proper Bostonian. Besides, there was this actress who had caught his eye. Her name was Jessica Sullivan.
Then she was wrongly accused of murder and was on the run. To top it all off, her estranged husband showed up and kidnapped her. She thought her life was over and the thought didn’t displease her. Would Lee Montgomery spring for the ransom? She figured not. Psychologically, she had hit bottom.
But, let’s not forget this is a romance novel. While it starts out more slowly than I like, Eagan crafts well drawn, engaging characters. Their depth made them fun to be with and drew me into the story. When the pace took off in the last third of the book, being intimate with the characters made the read more rewarding than most.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Someone Like You
A Night Riders Romance
Leigh Greenwood
Historical Romance
Leisure Books - 2009
Leigh Greenwood is the exception that proves the rule. (I’m still not sure what that old saw really means. It makes no sense to me. The exception disproves the rule; but it is undeniably a good way in which to launch this review.)
Leigh Greenwood is one-of-a-kind in the world of today’s romance writers. He’s not one-of-a-kind because of the quality of his books, although that’s a case I can easily make, he’s one-of-a-kind because in the midst of all those wonderfully creative women novelists, Leigh Greenwood stands tall—as a man. Once a man; always a man. He may not be the only man entertaining us with successful romance novels, but in my view he is certainly the best. That could be because he has devoted his life to the craft with three series, totaling 23 novels, and eleven other novels. Prolific is thy name.
Greenwood titles the fourth book in his Night Riders series Someone Like You. His hero, Rafe Jerry finds his girl friend in bed with his father. That begins the back story that estranges Rafe from his family as he joins the Confederate Army to fight the good fight.
Leigh Greenwood has always been a shocker. He writes romance from a male point of view, but surprisingly his intimate scenes honor the woman. They are delicate, building, and often reveal fascinating qualities in his characters.
In Someone Like You, there is a lot of pain and lack of trust. There is reason for this. When Rafe finds his girlfriend in bed with his father, he immediately loses trust in his girlfriend and experiences pain for his loss. Unfortunately, the psychological effect tends to conclude that no woman can be trusted. It’s easy to generalize such feelings, no matter how inaccurate they are. Once again it may be time for a good psychotherapist.
You can always count on Leigh Greenwood to deal with people in an even handed way. It’s always a joy to read his work.
Leigh Greenwood
Historical Romance
Leisure Books - 2009
Leigh Greenwood is the exception that proves the rule. (I’m still not sure what that old saw really means. It makes no sense to me. The exception disproves the rule; but it is undeniably a good way in which to launch this review.)
Leigh Greenwood is one-of-a-kind in the world of today’s romance writers. He’s not one-of-a-kind because of the quality of his books, although that’s a case I can easily make, he’s one-of-a-kind because in the midst of all those wonderfully creative women novelists, Leigh Greenwood stands tall—as a man. Once a man; always a man. He may not be the only man entertaining us with successful romance novels, but in my view he is certainly the best. That could be because he has devoted his life to the craft with three series, totaling 23 novels, and eleven other novels. Prolific is thy name.
Greenwood titles the fourth book in his Night Riders series Someone Like You. His hero, Rafe Jerry finds his girl friend in bed with his father. That begins the back story that estranges Rafe from his family as he joins the Confederate Army to fight the good fight.
Leigh Greenwood has always been a shocker. He writes romance from a male point of view, but surprisingly his intimate scenes honor the woman. They are delicate, building, and often reveal fascinating qualities in his characters.
In Someone Like You, there is a lot of pain and lack of trust. There is reason for this. When Rafe finds his girlfriend in bed with his father, he immediately loses trust in his girlfriend and experiences pain for his loss. Unfortunately, the psychological effect tends to conclude that no woman can be trusted. It’s easy to generalize such feelings, no matter how inaccurate they are. Once again it may be time for a good psychotherapist.
You can always count on Leigh Greenwood to deal with people in an even handed way. It’s always a joy to read his work.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Give Me A Cowboy
Jodi Thomas, DeWanna Pace, Linda Broday, Phyllis Miranda
Historical Romance
Zebra Books (410 pgs) - 2009
It’s anthology time around the old coral: The four one-hundred page novellas in this Zebra Historical are set at the same time and in the same town, Kasota Springs in the Texas Panhandle. It is rodeo week and the rough-and-tumble festivities drive all four stories, except that with one exception, the characters in the different stories are unrelated.
In Silent Partner, Jodi Thomas builds her story around Rowdy Darnell and Laurel Hayes. Rowdy’s name fits the character. He was a hell-raiser since childhood, but except for the imprisonment for a crime he didn’t commit, he could count on his ready charm to ease the consequences of his patented scrapes. He didn’t know there was going to be a rodeo until he got back in town. But decided he’d give it a go. He had only enough money to enter one event.
Laurel Hayes is the other side of the coin. She’s a solid citizen and a successful rancher’s daughter. She has known Rowdy since they were kids. She knows he’s poison, but she finds it a compelling poison, a spider and fly thing, and Jodi Thomas turns their dichotomy into a fast-moving, rewarding read. Rowdy had always been nice to Laurel and she has never forgotten it. She has a plan. She told him she would pay his entry fees and if he won “All-around-winner” Rowdy could keep the money prize and half the cattle and give her the other 100 head of cattle. One other stipulation – Rowdy had to keep quiet about their deal. It had to be a silent partnership.
Rowdy thought she was crazy to make such a deal, but, he was up for it. Her main objective was for her father not to find out about this silent partnership.
In Luck of the Draw, DeWanna Pace takes us to the rodeo. The legendary bull, Bone Buster, had killed Dally Angelo’s dad. When Dally Angelo’s dad was killed by Bone Buster, Augusta swore that she’d make sure that Dally would never get the chance to ride Bone Buster. Augusta Garrison who broke her engagement to Dally Angelo back in Pecos, with no explanation, was in charge of the drawing for the bull rides. Augusta also didn’t tell Dally that she was pregnant at the time of the break-up. That together with rodeo intrigue builds a story of love laced with action (or action laced with love, depending). Either way DeWanna Pace takes you off to the races. Whoops. Sorry. Off to the bull ride and Bone Buster’s questionable future.
In Texas Tempest, Linda Broday travels outside the box for her western historical. Not that her story doesn’t end well, but it begins in an unlikely setting, the Kasota Springs Community Cemetery. Tempest LeDoux (again the first name fits the character) carefully tends to a group of adjacent graves. Her obvious loving care catches the attention of gunslinger McKenna Smith. After she leaves, he looks closer.
All five graves belong to Tempest’s previous husbands, suggesting serious overuse of the death-do-us-part department. Checking further, McKenna finds they were all natural deaths. As beautiful as this woman was, husband number six would clearly be tempting fate. Husband number six? I wonder who that will be?
In Roping the Wind, Phyliss Miranda has an imaginative title for her page-turning contribution to this Give Me A Cowboy set. Boy meets girl in an unusual way. It involves a bow and arrow. Not Cupid’s bow but Alaine LeDoux’s bow. (Yes, Tempest’s daughter.) While practicing for a rodeo bow-and-arrow competition, she shoots Morgan Payne in the upper thigh, proving Alaine still needs practice. But her bow-driven ballistics does get the boy-meets-girl thing done with some charm.
While Morgan Payne (who should change the spelling to “Pain”) has come from the distant city, beneath his dude-like facade lurks a Pinkerton undercover man and one hell of a cowboy. Not unexpectedly, Morgan Payne will become Alaine’s husband number one. Hopefully the curse of the mother will not be visited upon her fetching daughter.
Personally, I like anthologies. Each story is shorter than a novel and therefore moves faster. I especially like that part. This anthology leads off with a story by Jodi Thomas, one of my favorites. The other three writers were new to me. The writing was all acceptable, however, some of the stories seemed to have a lot of western jargon in them. I understand that is an issue that has had a lot of discussion. Evidently, each section of the country had its own jargon. Therefore, it’s too confusing to use all of the jargons, so we usually see a generally accepted mix that won’t throw anyone.
Historical Romance
Zebra Books (410 pgs) - 2009
It’s anthology time around the old coral: The four one-hundred page novellas in this Zebra Historical are set at the same time and in the same town, Kasota Springs in the Texas Panhandle. It is rodeo week and the rough-and-tumble festivities drive all four stories, except that with one exception, the characters in the different stories are unrelated.
In Silent Partner, Jodi Thomas builds her story around Rowdy Darnell and Laurel Hayes. Rowdy’s name fits the character. He was a hell-raiser since childhood, but except for the imprisonment for a crime he didn’t commit, he could count on his ready charm to ease the consequences of his patented scrapes. He didn’t know there was going to be a rodeo until he got back in town. But decided he’d give it a go. He had only enough money to enter one event.
Laurel Hayes is the other side of the coin. She’s a solid citizen and a successful rancher’s daughter. She has known Rowdy since they were kids. She knows he’s poison, but she finds it a compelling poison, a spider and fly thing, and Jodi Thomas turns their dichotomy into a fast-moving, rewarding read. Rowdy had always been nice to Laurel and she has never forgotten it. She has a plan. She told him she would pay his entry fees and if he won “All-around-winner” Rowdy could keep the money prize and half the cattle and give her the other 100 head of cattle. One other stipulation – Rowdy had to keep quiet about their deal. It had to be a silent partnership.
Rowdy thought she was crazy to make such a deal, but, he was up for it. Her main objective was for her father not to find out about this silent partnership.
In Luck of the Draw, DeWanna Pace takes us to the rodeo. The legendary bull, Bone Buster, had killed Dally Angelo’s dad. When Dally Angelo’s dad was killed by Bone Buster, Augusta swore that she’d make sure that Dally would never get the chance to ride Bone Buster. Augusta Garrison who broke her engagement to Dally Angelo back in Pecos, with no explanation, was in charge of the drawing for the bull rides. Augusta also didn’t tell Dally that she was pregnant at the time of the break-up. That together with rodeo intrigue builds a story of love laced with action (or action laced with love, depending). Either way DeWanna Pace takes you off to the races. Whoops. Sorry. Off to the bull ride and Bone Buster’s questionable future.
In Texas Tempest, Linda Broday travels outside the box for her western historical. Not that her story doesn’t end well, but it begins in an unlikely setting, the Kasota Springs Community Cemetery. Tempest LeDoux (again the first name fits the character) carefully tends to a group of adjacent graves. Her obvious loving care catches the attention of gunslinger McKenna Smith. After she leaves, he looks closer.
All five graves belong to Tempest’s previous husbands, suggesting serious overuse of the death-do-us-part department. Checking further, McKenna finds they were all natural deaths. As beautiful as this woman was, husband number six would clearly be tempting fate. Husband number six? I wonder who that will be?
In Roping the Wind, Phyliss Miranda has an imaginative title for her page-turning contribution to this Give Me A Cowboy set. Boy meets girl in an unusual way. It involves a bow and arrow. Not Cupid’s bow but Alaine LeDoux’s bow. (Yes, Tempest’s daughter.) While practicing for a rodeo bow-and-arrow competition, she shoots Morgan Payne in the upper thigh, proving Alaine still needs practice. But her bow-driven ballistics does get the boy-meets-girl thing done with some charm.
While Morgan Payne (who should change the spelling to “Pain”) has come from the distant city, beneath his dude-like facade lurks a Pinkerton undercover man and one hell of a cowboy. Not unexpectedly, Morgan Payne will become Alaine’s husband number one. Hopefully the curse of the mother will not be visited upon her fetching daughter.
Personally, I like anthologies. Each story is shorter than a novel and therefore moves faster. I especially like that part. This anthology leads off with a story by Jodi Thomas, one of my favorites. The other three writers were new to me. The writing was all acceptable, however, some of the stories seemed to have a lot of western jargon in them. I understand that is an issue that has had a lot of discussion. Evidently, each section of the country had its own jargon. Therefore, it’s too confusing to use all of the jargons, so we usually see a generally accepted mix that won’t throw anyone.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Rachel and the Hired Gun
Elaine Levine
Historical Romance
Zebra Books - 2009
No one wants to find themselves in the middle of a hassle, especially a hassle that could kill—especially when you’re the “bait,” the “target,” or the “score.” That’s what Rachel Douglas discovered when summoned west to live with her dad. She thought she was lucky to leave the eastern situation in which she was nearly a slave. But with her unscrupulous dad she found herself a pawn in a ranch war.
But then there was this hired gun named Sager. He was a tall, dark, and, yes, handsome half-Indian guy who was handy with his gun, his fists, and, well, it’s a romance novel, right?
While the old west did have lawmen, they were few and far between, especially in the Eastern Dakota Territory; and the ranchers there “had a hankering” for making up their own law, especially Rachel’s dad who hired Sager to do the dirty work. Sager had his own score to settle, so for him it was two for the price of one, getting well paid for seeking making a score in his own vengeance column.
Thus unfolds Elaine Levine’s first book, Rachel and the Hired Gun. This is a well crafted book. It moves right along advancing the story at a good pace. Rachel's dilemma is a tough one, but she managed to make the best choices. Elaine had lived with relatives in Virginia. They treated her like a servant. Her mother had died when she was very young and her dad thought it wouldn't be safe to keep her in the wild west so he sent her to Virginia. Psychologically, that had led Rachel to think she had little value and that no one really cared for her. Needless to say her self-esteem was really low. It seemed to aid her self worth when she really had to take care of herself in the wild country.
We can all look forward to more books from Elaine Levine and hopefully it won't be long!
.
Historical Romance
Zebra Books - 2009
No one wants to find themselves in the middle of a hassle, especially a hassle that could kill—especially when you’re the “bait,” the “target,” or the “score.” That’s what Rachel Douglas discovered when summoned west to live with her dad. She thought she was lucky to leave the eastern situation in which she was nearly a slave. But with her unscrupulous dad she found herself a pawn in a ranch war.
But then there was this hired gun named Sager. He was a tall, dark, and, yes, handsome half-Indian guy who was handy with his gun, his fists, and, well, it’s a romance novel, right?
While the old west did have lawmen, they were few and far between, especially in the Eastern Dakota Territory; and the ranchers there “had a hankering” for making up their own law, especially Rachel’s dad who hired Sager to do the dirty work. Sager had his own score to settle, so for him it was two for the price of one, getting well paid for seeking making a score in his own vengeance column.
Thus unfolds Elaine Levine’s first book, Rachel and the Hired Gun. This is a well crafted book. It moves right along advancing the story at a good pace. Rachel's dilemma is a tough one, but she managed to make the best choices. Elaine had lived with relatives in Virginia. They treated her like a servant. Her mother had died when she was very young and her dad thought it wouldn't be safe to keep her in the wild west so he sent her to Virginia. Psychologically, that had led Rachel to think she had little value and that no one really cared for her. Needless to say her self-esteem was really low. It seemed to aid her self worth when she really had to take care of herself in the wild country.
We can all look forward to more books from Elaine Levine and hopefully it won't be long!
.
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