Courting Justice by Brenda Jackson

Once again, Brenda Jackson has written an intoxicating romantic story that makes the reader just fall in love with the characters. We are familiar with the hero and heroine from previous Madaris books. Peyton Mahoney is a self-made attorney who is in a law partnership with her two best friends. Because of a romance gone bad in her earlier college days, she has put her heart in a lock box, especially against rich suitors. DeAngelo Di Meglio is the brother of one of her law partners. He has had romantic feelings for her since he got to know her through his previous visits to his sister.

Everyone seems to know how DeAngelo feels but Peyton. DeAngelo decides to take the bull by the horn and seduce Peyton with good intentions. He convinces Peyton’s law partners to give her a vacation for her birthday at a resort that he partially owns where he will just happen to be also spending a vacation. All of the pent up feelings between Peyton and DeAngelo surfaces to the top and it was non-stop loving from then on. DeAngelo was determined to storm Peyton’s defenses and he accomplished it. Just when things are going his way, there is a conflict where Peyton will finally have to decide if she wants the forever after or if she wants to keep the chip on her shoulder. How this problem is resolved is classic Brenda Jackson and I really loved the dynamics between our two love interests.

I completely loved this book and highly recommend this story.

 

Sweet Southern Nights by Rochelle Alers

I loved this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Once, I started reading, I couldn’t put it down until the very last page. Levi is just dreamy as the hero and Angela holds her own with him. I have so many accolades that I will just have to limit myself to the very best ones. I have always been a huge fan of Ms. Alers and just keeps putting out quality stories one after the other.

Levi Eaton is a pediatrician working temporarily in a small town that does not have many paying customers. He is asked by the Doctor who owns the practice to escort his sister, Angela Chase, to a wedding where she is sure to meet up with her ex-fiance. Angela’s ex ran off to Las Vegas with her best friend and maid of honor right after the rehearsal dinner. Neither Levi nor Angela wanted a long-term relationship so you would think that both of them would be happy with the situation. They met and then found themselves agreeing to a relationship before they knew what was happening. Levi and Angela was to go their separate ways after the wedding but they found themselves planning dates left and right. Of course, they talked themselves into believing that they were just friends.

The most delightful aspect of the story was when both of them were trying to get their own way and they had to compromise. Their repartee in coming to the compromise was just wonderful. I couldn’t stop chuckling. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.

 

A Tryst with Trouble by Alyssa Everett

“A Tryst with Trouble” is quite an entertaining tale. The characters were well-defined and stayed consistent throughout the book. The Marquess of Beningbrough (Ben) had always lived in the shadow of gossip because of his father’s homosexuality. He tried to counter the gossip by becoming the ultra male. He was also very protective of his nephew and wanted to save him from a potential arrest for murder because of Lady Barbary Jeffords’ sister. Barbara’s sister was the “pretty” one who got all of the suitors and was very selfish.

Barbara was also trying to protect her sister because she was totally embroiled in this murder up to her neck. Ben and Barbara decided to work together to figure out why and who murdered the footman before Ben’s nephew is accused of the crime. Barbara’s sister and Ben’s nephew was engaged but the sister was trying to implicate either the nephew or Ben. In solving this murder, Ben had to face his fears and accept help from his father and accept his way of life. This was a classic whodunit that kept me engrossed in the story and wondering how these characters would end. The story did not disappoint and I highly recommend it. This is the first book that I have read from this author and I look forward to reading more of her offerings.

 

She Tempts the Duke by Lorraine Heath

I am a great admirer of Ms. Heath’s books. She develops characters with depth and a full range of emotions. Lady Mary Wynn-Jones and Sebastian Easton were childhood friends. Sebastian’s father had died in an accident and he was to inherit the Duke of Keswick title with its extensive properties. After the accident, Mary overheard Sebastian’s uncle give orders to kill his three nephews so that he could steal the title. Mary helped the boys run away before anything bad could happen to them.

Twelve years later, the uncle was on the verge of having the boys declared dead and claiming the title. The boys returned–all being injured physically and/or mentally–before the uncle could claim the title. Needless to say, there was not a joyous reunion between uncle and nephews. Sebastian has been through a war–losing an eye among other physical ailments. I, personally, would have preferred a hero who was a little less maimed but it doesn’t detract too much from the story.

At this time, the uncle is still determined to get the title at all costs and the nephews are determined that he pay for his crimes and misdeeds. Lady Mary was always drawn to Sebastian and his injuries do nothing to hinder those tender feelings. There are a few obstacles that stand in the way before Mary and Sebastian can find happiness–including Mary’s fiance. But Mary is still protecting her old friends which leads her into tarnishing her reputation. Sebastian feels the need to come to her rescue since he was the cause of her indiscretions. Although our hero and heroine go down a crooked road before they realize that they have always cared for the other, true love eventually wins out as well as our villain getting his comeuppance.

This book was an easy read which flowed smoothly and I just enjoyed going along for the ride. Hopefully, Ms. Heath will give the other brother stories and loves of their own to help them heal from their arduous ordeals. It was very satisfying to see Sebastian transform from a tormented man to someone who has attained all of his dreams. I give this book a Very Good recommendation.

 

Escape to Paradise by Pamela Yaye

I have not read any of Ms. Yaye’s previous books but if her heroines are anything like this one, I won’t be reading another one again. This book for me was a train wreck from the very beginning. I had so many problems with this book that it is too hard to list them all. Claudia Jefferies is a successful event planner who just divorced her older husband of several years. On the day the divorce became finalized, her ex-husband was arrested for fraud. The public and the police treated Claudia as if she was an accomplice in the fraud. Her answer to this was to get upset, change her hairstyle, hire a less than mediocre attorney, and then run away. Instead of getting some competent advice, she wanted to be “independent” and solve these problems by herself. Now is not the time to do it yourself when you can be thrown into jail.

First of all, wigs would have been a better answer to the hair change because she could change her looks at a moment’s notice. She could have contacted any lawyer referral service to find an attorney who has won a fraud case. And she ran away after all of her assets were frozen–meaning how does she intend to pay for anything. Being broke, the author even had her hesitating to accept a lucrative job offer. Ms. Yaye made a point of telling us that Claudia is a college graduate and has run her own business. Claudia should have been able to find a decent attorney if she ran her own business especially since she had to be using contracts as an event planner.

Claudia runs away to Cabo San Lucas and met Santiago Medina at the airport. She had already turned away every enquiring man but Santiago was determined to spend time with her. With her surly attitude, I couldn’t see the attraction. The dynamics and other relationships in the story were equally irksome such as, out of nowhere, Santiago’s father jumps down Claudia’s throat without listening to her side of the story. The story was so disjointed that I could not wait until it was over.

To make matters worse, this book actually ended before we found out what happened with Claudia or her ex-husband’s SEC case. Claudia’s actions are unbelievable under the circumstances and I could never believe that Santiago is that enamored with her. This book was just too problematic and I cannot recommend this book.

 

The Husband Hunt by Lyndsay Sands

I usually enjoy stories written by Lyndsay Sands. She always has a way with writing a story that is delightfully interesting and captivates your attention. She succeeds in doing just that with The Husband Hunt. Lisa Madison is a slightly naïve but lovable heroine who gets caught in some very compromising situations. She has been in love with Robert Langley since she was in leading strings and decided long ago that he was going to be her future husband. The problem with this scenario is that Robert has no intention of getting married to Lisa or anyone else because of his parents’ horrible marriage. The question is who will change their mind first–Lisa or Robert. Minds get changed several times before this couple finds romance.

Somewhere along the way Lisa has picked up a stalker who leaves no stone unturned in wanting to grab her. Being that Lisa has just recently come to London for the season from the country, she is not experienced in dealing with some of the not so well meaning town people. Although Robert doesn’t want Lisa for himself, he decides to move in with her family to protect her from her unknown stalking suitor. This results in Robert finally looking at Lisa and recognizing that she is a fully grown woman who actually appeals to him. Of course, Robert isn’t going down without a fight and after he pulls away from Lisa too many times, she decides to look at some of her other suitors for love. While protecting Lisa, Robert feels the ice slowly melting around his heart and he sees Lisa with different eyes. Now after having rejected Lisa’s love in the past, Robert must woo her and prove to her that he is the best man for her.

I really enjoyed how Lisa gradually start seeing the real world and Robert grew as a caring and considerate man. Ms. Sands has also written a nice suspenseful story with a villain that you can’t wait to see get his comeuppance. The only thing that I would have suggested is that Ms. Sands could have lengthened the scene where the villain is apprehended and finally dealt with. I would have liked to know more about his past and the motives which caused him to become such a monster. I give this story a Very Good recommendation.

 

The Last Cowboy by Lyndsay McKenna

The Last Cowboy is one of the few books that I have read that was written by Ms. McKenna. I was very impressed with her storytelling abilities. The characters were believable and I became engrossed in the couple’s problems and how they worked to solve them. I definitely plan to read more of her books in the future.

Jordana Lawton is an emergency room medical doctor who wants to participate in more competitive endurance races with her horse. Slade McPherson competes himself and takes on serious students to help finance his ranch operations. Slade and his twin brother, Griff, inherited the ranch from their parents who died when they were youngsters. The twins were separated after their parents’ death which caused them to have different values in life. Slade is very lonely and almost ran Jordana away because he felt something for her at their first meeting. Jordana is attracted to the lonely rancher and doesn’t back down from exploring possibilities with Slade. She convinces him to take her on as a student when he realizes that she is serious about succeeding as an endurance rider. This story follows them along as Slade begins to let Jordana into his heart and she proves to be his rock and salvation.

There are plenty of problems greeting this couple before they can settle down to a blissful life ranging from bank payments that Slade can hardly make to dealing with an unemployed estranged brother. Slade also has a jealous competitor who is unscrupulous enough to not let anything stand in his way to get what he wants. All of these elements translated to an entertaining read with an opportunity to learn about little known horse races. I give this book a Good recommendation and look forward to reading a sequel about the estranged brother.

 

Private Arrangements by Brenda Jackson

I must admit before I begin this review that I am an avid Brenda Jackson afficionada. I have read her entire catalogue of books and liked every one. My expectations for her books are extremely high and she has never disappointed me yet and this book is no exception. The story grabbed my attention from the very first page. Nikki Cartwright and Jonas Steele are both gorgeous, intelligent, talented, sexy, and want something different in a romance. Nikki wants happily ever after with one man and Jonas wants happily ever after with a different woman every day.

Nikki is Jonas sister-in-law’s best friend which means that they run into each other quite often at family gatherings. Jonas runs an up and coming Marketing firm where he has used Nikki’s services as a freelance photographer on several successful projects. Eighteen months ago, Nikki and Jonas shared an extremely sensual kiss which made Jonas run for the hills until now. Presently, he has just been offered an account that could take his firm to the next level but he needs the best photographer for the marketing campaign and Nikki is the best. Nikki is hesitant about accepting the job because she was secretly almost in love with Jonas and didn’t want her heart broken by being so close to Jonas for an extended period of time. Jonas won’t take no for an answer and he does everything in his power to get her to accept his job offer.

As both Nikki and Jonas had anticipated, their being in each other’s company made the sparks come fast and furious between them. Their closeness just oozed sexual chemistry. They could barely keep their hands off each other and they made every excuse to be in each other’s company. Jonas learned what love really means and Nikki learned how to give her all in hopes of obtaining her dreams of babies and a happy marriage. I really loved how these two evolved and recognized their needs as they learned to be a loving couple. This might have been an unorthodox courting, but if agreeing to your own “private arrangements” helps you to get what you want most in life is well worth it.

I enjoyed reading about family members and friends of Ms. Jackson’s core fictional families and this book is just one more that I can add to my keeper file. I, enthusiasticly, give this book an Excellent recommendation with two thumbs up.

 

Sinful Seduction by Ann Christopher

Sinful Seduction has all of the elements to be a fantastic book. I really loved the heroine, Skylar Lawrence. She was feisty, intelligent, and she went after her man. I enjoyed the reading the dynamics between the secondary characters who were well-defined and our story leads. Ms. Christopher characterized the hero, Sandro, very well with an intriguing personality that offered lots of story opportunities. This was a good book but it could have been exceptional if the story had better transition in the story lines. I think that the author was trying to put too many events into a small space and could not give them all enough attention. Some of the events could have been omitted and others should have been lengthened to give us a more satisfying interaction between the couple.

Skylar Lawrence was barely engaged to Alessandro Davies’ brother when she met Sandro. Soon, thereafter, she broke her engagement days before the twins were deployed to Afghanistan. Her former fiance was MIA after an explosion and Sandro came back injured physically and mentally because he couldn’t save his brother. Skylar felt the sparks with Sandro from the day that she met him. She tried to contact him after he came back but he didn’t return her messages. Sandro fell for Skylar immediately but he didn’t want to act on his feelings because he felt like he was betraying his brother’s memory. Skylar decided to take matters in her own hand and showed up on his doorsteps. Gloves were removed an the romance adventure was on.

I thoroughly enjoyed the interplay and dynamics between all of the characters in the story. A few surprises manifested themselves along the way but Skylar was determined to win her man. The bumps in the road helped this story eventually come to a satisying end. I give this story a Good recommendation and I am looking forward to reading the sequel to this book to find out how all the relationships evolve.

 

Romancing the MD by Maureen Smith

Maureen Smith has written a very appealing third entrant in the Hopewell General miniseries. I must add that all of the books that I have read in this miniseries have been presented very well with a strong plot thread and well-written characters. This book is no exception to the group. Tamara St. John and Victor Aguilar are two of the most promising interns in Hopewell’s program. They are very competitive and feed off each other to be the best.

I really liked how the two leads were transformed from just colleagues to romantic partners. For equal measures, they had to deal with family issues and acceptance. They also had to prove that they could handle a romantic relationship as well as a working one. Ms Smith did an excellent job blending friendships, romance, and external influences in a very entertaining read.

I give this book a very good recommendation and hope to read more of her books in the future.