Three Little Words by Susan Mallery

I loved this book! Since Ford Hendrix came home from the military, Isabel has made a dedicated effort to avoid him. She is currently temporarily house-sitting and living in her parents’ house. This is convenient because she is currently watching their bridal shop while they are away. Not so convenient to have the person you are trying to avoid renting the garage apartment next door. Isabel and Ford have a complicated history. Isabel had a major crush on Ford in her youth but he was engaged to her older sister. When she was 14, her sister ditched Ford in favor of his current BFF Leonard. In response, Ford signed up with the Navy and shipped out – but not before Isabel confessed her love. She wrote to him for years while he was away. Ford never wrote back. What she never knew is that he read and cherished all those letters, even when they morphed into diary entries more than letters. Those letters were his rock in some very tough times. Flash forward to the present. Isabel is divorced and killing time until watching her parents’ shop until she jets off pursuing her retail dreams in NYC. Ford is running a defense academy with his military buddies and dodging his mom and sisters. His mother, Denise, recently set up a booth taking applications from women who might be interested in a romantic relationship with either of her two sons – Ford & Kent. If she was my mother, I would be livid but since she’s not, it’s hilarious. It occurs to Ford that if he could get Isabel to be his pretend girlfriend then maybe his mother will back off. I loved the sexy romance that develops between the two. I also loved this book because of the secondary romance that develops between Kent and Consuelo. It was just a sweet thing to read. Kent is so surprised by Consuelo’s apparent interest in him. He can’t imagine what such a beautiful and strong woman would want with a boring math teacher. He has no idea. Consuelo is attracted to him physically but she is looking for the complete antithesis of the kind of guy she is normally around. She likes that Kent is such a normal, sweet guy. Very happy with how things end. Can’t wait for the next book!

Mine To Take by Cynthia Eden

Skye Sullivan has a stalker. She comes home to find things rearranged. She goes to the police but feels like they don’t believe her or take her seriously. She then goes to Trace Weston. Trace is her one great love, the man who pushed her away, but also the man who fiercely protected her in the past. Skye and Trace grew up in the foster care system together. Over the course of the book, you get glimpses of their past which give you a flavor of what their relationship was like and what they mean to each other. Trace is thrilled to have an opportunity to get Skye back in his life. He also believes that the person stalking Skye now is the same person who stalked her years ago while she was a professional dancer working in New York. It would also be the same person who caused her car to crash, thus ending her dancing career. I loved the sexiness of this story, as well as the taut thriller aspect of the story. The story is set up so that the reader is constantly wondering who the bad guy is. Is it some unknown person? Is it one of Skye’s other former lovers, or is it Trace – the man she never stopped loving and came to for help? In this story, Trace behaves in a very possessive and protective manner toward Skye. Does he really love her? Is it just protective and possessive, or is it a dangerous obsession? I very much enjoyed this story and look forward to reading other similar stories by this author.

Two of a Kind by Susan Mallery

Gideon Boylan - the hero of this story - is one of a group of former soldiers currently making their home in the town of Fool's Gold. Just about all of these former soldiers bare some type of mental scarring leaving them with emotional issues that need to be worked out. In Gideon's case, he was held captive and tortured at one point. He was the only survivor. He believes that the main reason he was able to endure and survive is because he didn't have any emotional ties to anybody back home like the others did. He thinks that is what weakened his fellow captives. Enter Felicia Swift. Felicia was in the military as well. She has been super smart all her life. Some people find her intelligence intimidating - her parents were freaked out. Her parents pretty much "opted out" on raising her, leaving her to basically raise herself in various institutional settings. She became emancipated at age 14. Due to her super brain, and how she grew up, she is aware that she processes things a little differently than everybody else. She and Gideon had a one night stand years ago. She was a virgin at the time and, after some consideration, picked out Gideon to lose it to. Flash forward to the present and Felicia and Gideon find themselves in the same town and still deeply attracted to each other. There are many things about this book that I loved - the great characters, the sexy romance, the comradery between the former soldiers, and the relationship that develops between Felicia and 13yr. old Carter. The mother-son type relationship between the two was very touching. In addition to liking Carter, she finds that she can relate to his situation because of her teenage experience. I also liked the tease of a possible love match between Consuelo and Kent Hendrix. After reading this book, I couldn't wait to read the next book in the series.

Beyond the Masque by Kae D. Jacobs

So...... I had just finished watching Love Never Dies - the sequel of the musical The Phantom of the Opera so I was looking for some "phantom" spin-off books or "inspired by". Turns out there are quite a few, much like the cottage industry of Pride & Prejudice spin-offs, etc. I realize that some readers dislike these types of books and only see them as terrible bastardizations of classic works of literature. I have no problem with them - provided they are good and work overall.

I was able to find, and requested, a few from various libraries. The first book I read was a truly horrid contemporary "inspired by" story. It was bad on so many levels. It referenced the original works and had main characters who were crazed fans. Sigh. The "hero" was a total nutjob/stalker and the heroine totally went total Stockholm Syndrome.

But I digress. This second book I tried was Beyond the Masque, by Kae D. Jacobs. I found this book to be very well-written and exactly what I was looking for. It felt like it was written by a professional author, rather than somebody writing fan fiction. The story opens more or less picking up where the original story left off and goes from there. It tells a story of how Christine and her phantom could wind up together and still make sense and not make you roll your eyes. The characters are fleshed out with added depth. This book had the best version of the Christine character. In this book Christine is a product of her times, but she is not quite the passive damsel in distress that she appears to be in some incarnations - she is more self-aware. This book does not, as I'm told other "Phantom-inspired/spin-offs" do, make Raoul into a villain. The book is very romantic, almost very "Song of Solomon" at times. If you enjoy The Phantom of the Opera, or if you just enjoy romantic historical fiction, you might enjoy this book. It is written very much in the style of the period written about. It is most definitely not a snooze but it is also not a book w/ a million assorted conflicts haphazardly thrown in. It is simply the story of two people's journey through life and love. It is a rather lengthy book. The Epilogue ends at page 700. There is also an extensive character description/biography at the end that I found very helpful. In spite of it's length, I didn't feel as though I was trudging through it. I've read a few chapters each evening before bed, taking about a week or two to finish. Again - not for everybody but exactly what I was looking for & loved the writing. I very much look forward to reading more by this author - especially if she writes about some of the other characters that were in this book as she hinted at on her website. But after reading this book, I would try anything else by this author.

A Tine to Live, A Tine to Die by Edith Maxwell

I wasn’t sure I was going to like this mystery at first because of how intense the supporting characters were about eating local. Almost immediately, however, the main female character seemed to be more low key and easier to relate to. She is committed to working her farm and going totally organic, but she is not as religious about only eating or drinking locally grown/made products herself. She respects the passion of others but is more like everybody else. The main character, Cameron, “Cam”, Flaherty has taken over her great-uncle’s farm and is committed to it being totally organic, not using chemicals on the produce. At the opening of the book, she has to fire her handyman for going against her orders and farm policy. He doesn’t take it well. He is soon found murdered on Cam’s farm with a pitchfork through him. I really enjoyed this mystery the more I read it. Cam is a likable character and easy to relate to. The members of the locavore club were interesting suspects and supporting characters. I liked the romantic interest for Cam. I hope that angle keeps going through future books. I liked the friendship Cam had in the book with Lucinda & Ruthie, as well as the mentor role she had with Ellie. I look forward to seeing all of them in future books. The mystery kept me interested until the very end. I found the issues brought up in this book regarding immigration and guns to be very relevant. I found the plant info scattered through the book to be interesting as well. Great mystery & I look forward to future books in this series!

Night's Mistress by Amanda Ashley

The heroine in this story, Mara, first appeared in the book Night’s Kiss. Mara is an ancient vampire; much sought after by attractive men and vampire hunters – albeit for different reasons. At the start of this story, she is in a melancholy mood. She’s been on the earth for a very long time, loved and lost, seen friends start families, and the end of her last romance hit her pretty hard. Her last romance was with a human man named Kyle. He was an artist and she fancied herself very much in love. However, when he discovered what she really was, he was repulsed and horrified. She took off to lick her emotional wounds. It’s during this time that two major things happen in her undead life – she starts to turn mortal and she runs into a former flame now going by the name of Logan Blackwood. Not only does Mara want to stay a vampire, but if word gets out to her vampire enemies that she’s mortal & therefore vulnerable, she is in extreme danger. Logan is a vampire, whom Mara turned a few hundred years ago. It is something he doesn’t resent her for. They had a hot love affair until Mara left, worrying she was getting too close. Now the tables have switched – Mara is weaker and Logan is in the role of looking after her. She finds out the miraculous fact that she got pregnant by Kyle. This is the heart of the story – who should Mara choose, her human ex-lover & father of her child who spurned her when he first learned what she is or Logan the vampire who has loved her for hundreds of years  no matter human or vampire. For me it would be an easy choice. After all, besides being wealthy & Greek god sexy, Logan takes care of her for months before her ex-love turns up on the scene again. My only nitpicks about this book is that I feel like the author’s personal stance on certain social issues was really put out there. Also, I disliked a choice Mara made toward the end of the book. However, everything righted itself by the end and these things didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book. I look forward to more books in this series and more books in general by this author.

A SEAL Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear

ARC copy gotten from the author.

This is Book 12 in the author's "Heart of the Wolf" series. I loved this book! I have been looking forward to Anna & Bjornolf's book since reading about their first meeting in A SEAL In Wolf's Clothing. I loved the idea of a romance between these two because they are so evenly matched. Bjornolf has "ghosted" various paramilitary teams and field operations. Like Bjornolf, Anna is a highly skilled operative. There were definitley sparks back when they first met. They meet up again when, at the opening of the book, Bjornolf is found to be "ghosting" a team that Anna is on down in the Amazon jungle. Her team, led by fellow wolf shifter Hunter Greymere, is on a mission to recover a kidnapped family. I was happy that this book revisited the characters from To Tempt the Wolf because they were some of my favorite from the series. It's while on this mission that Hunter tells Bjornolf of another mission that he would like both he and Anna to be directly involved in. Hunter got word that the scent of some dead wolf bodies turned up at a Christmas tree farm. He wants Anna & Bjornolf to go undercover posing as newlyweds (as well as aunt and uncle to the teen werewolf who discovered the scent) to investigate. Bjornolf is familiar with Nathan because he had previously brought back the teen after he ran away. Anna is hesitant about handling a teenager underfoot. Her doubts prove to be groundless. Both teens in this story, Nathan & Jessica both come to care and respect Anna. She also surprises herself by how she's able to relate to their situations, drawing on her past experiences. She soon comes to care for them both as well. The interaction between the three of them was very sweet at times. Besides the sinister things going on at the Christmas tree farm, Bjornolf makes it his personal mission to discover why Christmas leaves Anna cold. Several things make this a satisfying paranormal romance: the mystery, humor, the characters, and the sexy love story. The mystery kept me interested and the resolution made sense. I look forward to the next book in the series! I also look forward to revisting the characters in this pack again in a future book. I'm hoping for Rourke to get his own book.