Saturday, August 27, 2011

Guilty Kisses by Killarney Sheffield or Not Proper Etiquette for a Barbeque Guest


When Lady Cassandra is visited by a thief in the dark of night, she finds her body awakened in a way that her husband's touch has never stirred her desires.

However there are consequences for even a brief stolen night of passion that leave Cassie in dire straights. She turns to the only one she thinks can help her...but will he come before it is too late?

Comte Cohen Ashton's mission is to retrieve a priceless artifact and return it to its former country of origin. He doesn't expect to have his heart stolen by his sworn enemy's lovely young wife or to discover a treasure of his own making that is more valuable than any other.

In the midst of a war between England and France, Cohen must save them both from their folly and Cassie must forgive herself her own sins. Can they prevail or will their fates be sealed by guilty kisses?

 
Killarney Sheffield it’s all your fault!  I was only going to read for an hour until we left for the barbecue.  But because of you I did not spend the evening hanging out with my daughter, Elizabeth and her boyfriend offering advice on how to put together the grill she and the kids bought him for Father's Day.

Because of you, I did not tell them how to cook the steaks.

Because of you, I did not hang out with the teenagers.

Because of you I sat on the couch and read Guilty Kisses!

Between Cohen (who somehow I forgave for having his way with her), and Cassie (who kept going when I would have just…)  Read the book!

I couldn't put the darned thing down. Especially not after the thing with the ship to France. You should put a warning not to start the book on a holiday.  I just HAD to finish it!

I highly recommend this page-burning read. And have tissues ready. This is not only a five rose book, it’s a five tissues book. No—it’s a whole box of tissues book.


Price:  $5.95
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Sunday, August 21, 2011

Working Under Covers by Kat Holmes


Due to the economy, the Gods of Olympus are now forced to work among mortals. Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty decides to open her own Internet dating service in Los Angeles. Taking on the name Ariel Schell to hide her true identity, she opens Venus Connections.

Jordan Cade is a retired cop turned PI. But when several women go missing, his former boss drags him back for one last assignment. The only thing the women have in common is a dating service.

All Aphrodite wants is to earn a living. All Jordan wants is to find the missing women. But Fate has other plans and a little under covers work may be needed.


This is a difficult review to write because Kat Holmes is a good friend of mine.  If you like erotica, you will probably greatly enjoy this book.  Unfortunately, I’m not fond of it.  This story is only thirty-five pages long and there are three(?) four(?) sex scenes in it.  Just as Aphrodite and Jordan were about to discover who the culprit was, they stopped to make love.  At that point, I skimmed over the sex to see who did it.  I’m sorry, Kat, but for me that last session got in the way of the plot.  If you like erotica and lots of hot sex, this is the story for you.

Price:  $2.50

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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Whodunit and Another Twin?!




Kate Wesley left Twinsburg, Ohio five years ago after her fiancé jilted her. Now she’s back, happy and content with her single life. She doesn’t need men to fulfill her dreams, she has her florist shop. At least she didn’t until Mark Westfield showed up looking for his sister. Kate didn’t much care for the attraction she felt toward him. To make matters worse, her ex showed up, now one of Twinsburg’s finest and her heart about dropped to her feet. What was wrong with her all of a sudden attracted to two men?

Widower, Mark Westfield wasn’t interested in women. He had twin five year olds to raise and they took all his time and energy. But Kate sparked something in him he hadn’t expected to feel again.

Adam Shaffer left Kate two days before the wedding. Left a note and took off to LasVegas. Biggest mistake of his life. But now they were both back and he aimed to get Kate back. They’d both been too young before, too immature. At least he had been. Kate always had her head on straight. But he had a dream, and he needed to see it through before he settled down. Now part of that dream came true, if he could just make Kate see he had changed.


Roseanne Dowell does it again, this time adding mystery to the romance—from the kidnapping of a bride on the eve of her wedding to stumbling across a body under a bush in the local cemetery, Kate Wesley has more than just two love interests distracting her.  Not to mention, the victim’s identical twin.  Ms. Dowell kept me guessing throughout the book both whodunit and who was gonna “do it” with Kate.

As to whodunit —was it the kidnapper?  A stranger passing through town?  Someone the victim knew from college?  The mailman?  The suddenly absent pizza/flower delivery guy?  An Alzheimer victim witnessed the murder from her window in the nursing home, but no one believed her.  She said the killer wore a University of Ohio jacket, but everyone in Twinsburg, Ohio wears them.

And, yeah—who will Kate end up with?  Adam who jilted her, or Mark and his ready-made family of identical twin girls.  Do I see a pattern here?  Or am I focusing on the line of my bifocals and seeing double everywhere again?  You’ll have to read the book to find out.  ;-)  I highly recommend it.

Price:  $5.50

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Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Space Station Murders by A. M. Roelke



An ex-cop on a space station struggles to overcome alcoholism and the death of his partner. Against his better judgment, he befriends a station newbie, and the two begin to investigate the murder of their fellow homeless space station residents.

Excerpt:
 
Ahead, a fight.

A long, loping run took Herbert to the fracas. Three thugs—the Jensen brothers—wailing on a smaller guy, curly hair. He was giving as good as he got, but with three to one, the odds were obvious.
Herb slammed a fist into the eldest Jensen’s ribs, hooked a leg around his, and pulled him down. Trod over him and tackled the next guy in the pack, the biggest Jensen, leaving Curly with only one opponent. Curly, breathing hard, trying not to double over, blew on his fists, rocked side to side, and clocked his opponent a left hook.

Herb smashed the giant’s face a few times, dodged the return blows; he was too fast for the giant’s fists, so the giant lunged forward to tackle him.  He sidestepped and caught the guy from behind, jumping on his back.  They both toppled to the floor. By the time he’d gotten loose, the oldest Jensen was getting up, the one Curly had been fighting was down, and both Curly and his opponent had a busted lip.

“Molloy,” growled the biggest Jensen, picking up a pipe hidden beneath the park bench and smacking it into his palm. He advanced on Herb, murder in his eyes.

“Time to go, kid,” said Herb Molloy, voice rising. “Street fight looking to turn into a homicide fest.”

The kid kicked the approaching thug in the back of his knees and took off running, scuffed sneaker soles flashing behind him. He ran all out, the way he’d fought; Herb was behind him the whole way, even when he put on a burst of speed.

They stopped three streets down, leaned against a shop wall (Spaceship Repairs), and panted. “Thanks,” said the kid, doubled over, holding his side. He spat phlegm in the alley, stood up, and offered his hand.
Herb looked at it a second, took it. Most street folks didn’t offer to shake hands.

“Zack Ives,” said the kid.

“Herb Molloy.”

My Review:
It was the writing style in the excerpt that caught my eye.  It reminded me of my favorite science fiction author, Robert A. Heinlein.  After reading it, I just had to buy the book and I was not disappointed.  Herb Molloy, the burned-out, alcoholic cop who befriends newbie Zack Ives and shows him the ropes among the homeless on the space station reminded me of a few of the men in some of Heinlein’s shorter works—down and out curmudgeons who claim it only pays to watch your own back, but they still have a core of ethics that won’t let them ignore a situation of three against one, or allow people to go hungry or let themselves live on charity when they can work at something, anything.  They are, to quote Heinlein, “too stinkin’ proud.”  Ives is cut from the same cloth and somehow, Molloy recognizes that in him.  Nor is either man willing to allow their fellow homeless to continue to be killed while they’re breathing and able to do something about it.  Their investigation will keep you guessing until the very end of the book.

It is sixty-nine pages of good sci-fi mystery and I think the Old Man would be proud.

Price:  $3.50
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