TBR Challenge: The Reluctant Surrender

I can now say that I've read a Harlequin Presents, but the jury's still out on whether or not this is a line for me to continue with.  When I realized that the deadline for June's TBR Challenge was looming and it featured a contemporary theme, I momentarily panicked.  Then I remembered that I'd finished reading The Reluctant Surrender by Penny Jordan just last week.  It's actually one of the books in the stash that a friend of mine at work gave me while I was on leave over the Christmas holidays, but since it sat on my TBR then I'm counting.  Again....my rules, I'll break 'em as I make 'em.  Heh.

The Reluctant Surrender is tagged as "Part One of the Parenti Dynasty", and it looks to be the first in a two-book series.  The second is Giselle's Choice, and I'm dithering about whether or not to hunt that one down.  Judging by the couple of reviews I've read, it's obviously a continuation of The Reluctant Surrender, but don't read them if you don't like spoilers and haven't read the first book.

Saul Parenti comes across to many as a man who takes what he wants and turns it into gold.  If that's their assessment of him, then so be it since it's true.  He's a successful businessman with a comfortable wealth, a member of the royal family of Arezzio, and has the knack to turn even the shakiest deals into raging successes.  His latest project will involve hiring an architectural company that will help in seeing his vision of a luxurious vacation destination become real.  That's what Saul does: brings fantasy to life, in the form of holidays.  He isn't prepared to work alongside the woman who had stolen his parking spot in the garage earlier that morning.

Giselle Freeman's day does not start off well when she nearly comes to blows with a domineering man who claims she's stolen his prime spot in the car park.  Since she was already late for an important meeting to meet the firm's latest client, the delay only makes her that much later.  And does nothing for her mood, to say the least.  When she finds out that the ass she'd had words with earlier is actually her new boss, things can only get worse from there.  Saul Parenti hires Giselle as his personal assistant during this project and expects her to report directly to him for every little thing.

Giselle's reputation as an ice queen at the office is about to be tested when her protective frost melts under Saul's fiery regard.  The tension between them can be cut with a knife, and before long their relationship goes from professional and lands headfirst in the bedroom.  Giselle figures it's safe to have an affair with Saul without messy emotional entanglements since she vows to never love anyone, and he vows to never have a family.  Yeah, there's baggage galore here, folks.   It'd be the perfect relationship if their attraction didn't turn into something deeper, nearing that L-l-love word.

For all intents and purposes, The Reluctant Surrender was an ok read but maybe I got too entangled in the soap opera-y feel that I think this line can dip into.  Seething CEOs, bold businessmen, and hot Arabian princes populate the Presents book, and I know many people enjoy the heck out of them; I'd love to find one that packs a punch so am open to suggestions.  But I just never could get too emotionally invested in Saul and Giselle.  Whether it's the page count, or the characterization itself, The Reluctant Surrender just ended up being an 'eh' read for me.

So, I'm up for any suggestions from this line from anyone out there.  Whose read a Presents book that just blew their socks off?      

     

April TBR Review: 2nd Chance

I had honestly planned to have my review for April's TBR Challenge up and ready to go by the buttcrack of dawn today, but I fell asleep at the wheel.  While I may not have read a book that fit this month's theme, contemporary or historical western, I did finish one this past weekend that's been sitting on my TBR for, like, evah...:  2nd Chance by James Patterson.  This book actually qualifies for two challenges, my own personal challenge, Finish the Series, and Wendy's TBR '11 Challenge, so I'm multi-tasking, people!  

To be warned is to be prepared: if you haven't read 1st To Die and want to, there might be a spoiler or three.

2nd Chance takes place a few months after San Francisco police lieutenant Lindsay Boxer closes the Honeymoon Murders case (1st To Die).  Many things had happened on that case that eventually led to Lindsay's self-imposed leave of absence, the death of her newish boyfriend (also a cop), the diagnosis and cure of a blood disease, and the emotional upheaval that is inherent while on a case like the Honey Murders.  In the end, she caught the bad guy, but it was a long-fought battle and about did her in.  At the end of it, she'd scored herself the promotion of lieutenant and a group of girlfriends who all stylize themselves as the Women's Murder Club.  Series, we have lift off...

2nd Chance starts off with Lindsay back on the job after some time away when a young black girl is gunned down at her church after choir practice.  The shock and rage, both from the community and Lindsay herself, is deafening with community members and leaders knocking down the SFPD's doors for them to catch the killer.  Interviewing eye-witnesses nets her a lead that the killer may have driven from the scene with a Chimera logo on his white van.  Quick needle-in-a-haystack detective work leads her to another death across the city, and it's not long before Lt. Boxer is able to tenuously tie the two murders together.  When another man is killed, this time a cop who Lindsay knew, Lindsay's math is not adding up to a pretty resolution:  since all of the murders share two things in common, race and the chimera calling card.  Could there be a racial serial killer on the loose in San Francisco?   The answer to that question is more than apparent when yet another murder takes place and takes the sails right out of the SFPD.  This killer has an agenda, and his style is shock and awe...

In 2nd Chance we meet up with Lindsay's gal pals who were first introduced in the first book, 1st To Die:  Cindy, the crime reporter; Claire, one of Lindsay's best friends and a medical examiner; and Jill, an up-and-coming asst. district attorney.  The friends all gather together despite Lindsay's orders from brass to keep a tighthold on the case and not talk to anybody, but together the women start putting together the pieces of a very ugly puzzle.  This killer is only starting and won't stop until someone either kills him first - not likely at this rate - or he delivers whatever message he feels that everyone needs to know.

I'll be honest, I brushed aside every book I was reading -- library and review books (don't tell Terrie!) -- to finish this one this past weekend.  I've only read a few of Patterson's books, but they always wind up being page-turners for me and go very quickly.  Maybe it's the way he engages the reader with his edgy suspense and raw characterization.  Some have said that Lindsay Boxer is a female version of Patterson's more famous character, Alex Cross.  Since I'm still on the waiting list for the first book in the Cross series from the library, I don't have anything to support or negate that comparison.  I just like her and am amazed at how well James Patterson fleshed out a character that is so out of my realm in understanding, but yet I very easily see and hear her in my mind when I read these books.

It seems that the Women's Murder Club procedural series is still going strong with the tenth book, 10th Anniversary, coming out in May.  It's a shame that a tv series version of the Women's Murder Club failed a couple years ago, because Angie Harmon did well in the role of Lindsay.  With Brett Ratner as one of the producers, I thought it was bound for success...but, no.  Maybe they should've left it alone and let people fondly remember the tv movie they did for 1st To Die, starring Tracy Pollan.  It worked, but honestly, how often does a book-to-film gig work?

I digress...  I'll leave it with, I adore this series, or what I've read of it so far, and now have added the rest of the books to my mission to Finish the Series.              

March TBR Challenge Review: First Date by Karen Kendall

Maybe it's the mood I'm in.  Or it might be because this week I didn't feel like I could take on the dark, stormy, history-drenched romance novels that I tend to gravitate towards, so I chose light and fluffy.  Or that's what I thought.  What I wound up getting was something that pleasantly surprised me and made me think that I'm missing out a lot by not reading a whole lot of straight contemporary romance.  What I'm talking about is First Dance by Karen Kendall, the 3rd book in the Bridesmaid Chronicles series.

Vivien Shelton, an Ivy League, ball-busting divorce attorney has earned the descriptor bitch with the number of cases she's won for her clients.  What she won't let many people see is her soft heart that's easily won over by dogs (particularly Greyhounds, but she'll take any puppy kisses) and her best friends, and she'll actively take on a battered woman's case to see that she's housed in a safe environment.  She's traveled to Texas to stop her best friend Julia's wedding (First Love by Julie Kenner, the 4th in the series) before it's too late and to hopefully talk some sense into her.  If she can't stop the wedding, then Viv will get Julia to sign a prenup if it's the last thing she does.  If all of that fails, she's still a bridesmaid and is prepared to hate the dress.   

The only problem with that is Julia's relationship with her fiancé, Roman, is a bona fide true thing, the real deal (after all, it's the fourth book in the series, right?).  Viv knows that she's running a risk of getting on Julia's bad side by bringing up a prenup, and if that isn't enough, her chances of running into Roman's best friend and attorney, J.B. Anglin, is a threat all on its own.  That wouldn't be a problem if Viv hadn't slept with J.B. a few years ago while he was in Manhattan representing his own client against Viv's in a divorce that was more daytime soap opera than courtroom status quo.  J.B.'s hot, sexy Texan twang did a lot more than just work her libido, so before he got underneath her skin and started becoming more than the scratch to her itch, Viv kicked him out.  Of the hotel room.  In his underwear.

Yeah, she was not at the top of her game that night.  But here in Texas, Viv starts to melt all over again when she sees J.B.  The heat is definitely clouding her judgment and before she knows it, she's doing her own Texas two-step with him.  God may have blessed Texas, but He's given Viv and J.B. a challenge of their own that only they can work out for themselves.

Maybe it's the fact that the book is set in Texas, and for some reason that always brings out the warm fuzzies in me.  Well, yeah, sure it's hot out there, but I've always loved the laid-back vibe I always get when I read a book that takes place there.  It's definitely a Bucket List vacation for me one day.  But Texas isn't the only star in First Dance.  There's not a whole lot that I didn't love about the book.  Vivien may sound like a stereotypical modern day heroine (ballsy lawyer by day...), but she really shines here.  I know I've read the first two in the series (First Date by Kendall and First Kiss by Kylie Adams), but they've kind of faded in the background now.  Viv almost takes the entire stage with her secret big heart and her many layers -- lawyer, dog rescue nut, philanthropist working for battered woman AND dogs, best friend, and a gold spoon baby who made her own way, not her Mummy's.  Now she's finding out that she may have been missing that extra spark by denying herself love.  J.B. is just the Texan to teach her what that's all about.

There's definitely a theme in the Bridesmaid Chronicles series, and it took me half the book to figure out why this title for this book.  It's definitely a Moment when J.B. shares his First Dance with Viv, and it's one that not only makes this a hot one, but melts your heart a lil'.

There is a 4th book, First Love by Julie Kenner, is Julia's book and the final installment in the Bridesmaid Chronicles and I'm challenging myself to Finish the Series this spring.  Can you imagine?  I have it on the TBR...

First Dance = definitely a B+/A- read.                   

TBR Challenge: Stealing Heaven

A bit of back story...

I started reading romance back in the mid-90s or so.  Historical romance was my drug of choice, especially after I read Julie Garwood's Castles.  Dude, for me that book did no wrong.  It was sweeping, highly romantic, dashing, and featured love scenes that just made me utterly melt (to this day, Princess Alesandra and Colin's day-after-the-wedding scene in his office is my most memorable).  Back in the early days of my reading fix, I focused on the bigwigs -- Garwood, Jayne Anne Krentz, Nora Roberts, Heather Graham (oh oh oh, I loved her Civil War series to pieces!), and even dabbled in Kay Hooper and gave Linda Howard a try.  Gah, I remember snatching up armfuls and armfuls of romance books at Walden's Bookstore (do they even exist anymore?).  We won't even go into the type of buying I continue to do these days.  I may be more picky, but there is so much more to choose from.  For every day in the week, there is probably a brand spanking new author whose book is being released.

To be frankly honest, I still have unread books on my shelves from the initial days of my romance buying frenzy.  This month's selection for the TBR Challenge, Stealing Heaven by Kimberly Cates, is just one of them.  It features just the sort of trope and atmosphere that rocked my socks back in my first days of romance fandom -- angsty, dramatic, saga-like historical romance with a brooding hero who absolutely does not want a wife but winds up with one anyway.  In this case, spinster Nora Linton answers a "want ad" of sorts when she starts sharing letters with an Irishman who seems as lonely as she.  The fact that the letters she responded to were written by his 15-year-old daughter, Cassandra, is revealed after she arrives in Ireland to begin what she hopes will be a short engagement and subsequent marriage.

From the tone of his missives, she senses a commiserating loneliness and depth of understanding.  But when she first meets Sir Aidan Kane, the aforementioned Irishman, it isn't hearts and stars, puppies and rainbow kisses she sees, but a living breathing irate man who feels as if he's been set up.  He's pissed.  And he's arrogant.  Norah's hopes are dashed almost immediately.  Despite the fact that Aidan will do anything for his daughter, he just cannot fathom marrying a woman desperate enough to travel to unknown lands to marry a man she's never met before.  Uh, desperation?

To make a long story short, Norah and Aidan thrust and parry and finally succumb to an attraction that defies either of their beliefs despite Norah's less than belle-of-the-ball looks.  While she considers herself plain, Aidan finally (hallelujah!) begins to see the beauty beneath her porcelain complexion.  It only takes approximately two-thirds of the book for that to happen.  He's been burned in the past from his first marriage to a ghee-ore-jous slut who may have posed as an innocent in society, but really was a whore at heart.  The only thing good out of that marriage is his daughter, Cassandra.  From page one we know that Aidan's lackluster image results not only from his drinking and gambling, but his reputation as a lady's man and the possible murderer of his wife as well.

If I remember correctly, Kimberly Cates had several Revolutionary War-set novels.  While I may have a handful of qualms about Stealing Heaven today (yeah, the fact that the 15-year-old daughter gets away with just about everything, after all she's just lonely and needs a mama -- gah!), it still reads very well and kept me flipping the pages at a pretty decent speed.  After all, it's angsty and, at times, tragic and is all that I embodied in romance back when I first started.  Back then I loved the saga feel to my historical romances, and there's enough meat to Stealing Heaven that translates well even among today's offerings.

The proof is in the pudding and this type of book is what made me fall in love with the genre...             

TBR Review #2: Santa, Baby

Once I'd finished reading Under the Boss's Mistletoe I figured, why not, I'm on a roll and I went for another category romance.  What I ended up choosing was Lisa Renee Jones's Santa, Baby, a Blaze from December 2009.  It's part of the Dressed to Thrill mini-series, and I don't honestly know if I have any of that series in the TBR or not.  It might be worth a look-see.

 
In Santa, Baby, Caron Avery, a owner of a small bookstore that caters to what women want to read, is asked to pose as Marilyn Monroe in a hoity toity charity ball's fashion show, but is late for the gig after her store's toilet goes heel's up.  (That's a conversation starter if I've ever heard of one -- "Hi, I'm Caron and I'm late because my shitter broke.")  Anyway, already late and in a hurry to have her car parked so she can get backstage so the wardrobe and makeup folks can do their magic, Caron meets Baxter Remington, owner of the mega-popular (and expensive) Remington coffee shops across the country.  Figuring he's definitely out of her league -- hello!  he's gorgeous and mega rich -- Caron can't ignore a few steamy mini-fantasies that pop into her head while the valet takes his sweet time dealing with her car.  She never once thought that she had a shot in hell at spending an evening alone with Baxter, let alone in his bed.

Baxter Remington likes what he sees when he comes up on a sexy brunette haggling with the valet parking guy to get her car at the front of the line.  Despite the less than sleek sweatsuit and haphazard hairstyle piled on top of her eye, even without makeup, she perks more than his interest.  When his mystery lady tells him to watch for Audrey Hepburn (Caron's assigned character for the charity) later on, Baxter can't help but hope for a better meet and greet session.  Maybe he'll get more than her number...

After her tardiness leads to a costume change up, Caron must take the stage as none other than Marilyn Monroe.  Being nothing like the blond bombshell, Caron allows herself enough to have some fun and enjoy the role.  That includes when she meets up with Baxter after the fashion show.  Neither one count on anything more than a one night stand, but it will be one to remember.  But their one shared night turns into something more when they begin getting to know each other.  Who ever thought that dressing up would be this fun?

Now, on the surface, Santa, Baby looks to be a holiday read, right?  Honestly, the book could've taken place at any time during the year.  But that wasn't my biggest problem with it.  I just never connected with Caron all that much, didn't feel like I got to know her hardly.  Her parents died when she was a kid and she was taken in by her grandmother, who fostered her love for books and reading.  Being the owner of a bookstore is a big dream for Caron, and she's living her fantasy of selling the types of books that many women want to read -- sexy, romantic fiction and other types that cater more to the female reading gene.  That was pretty much all I got out of Caron.  For some reason she just appeared to be too one dimensional for me.

But Baxter on the other hand, not only does he ooze sex appeal to me, but I loved the way Lisa Renee Jones wrote him as more than a rich business mogul who can get any woman he wants.  He doesn't know that he wants a more permanent partner in his life until he gets to know Caron better, and can see her in his future quite nicely.  There is an angle to the book that features Baxter's business partner off-stage, an apparent major crook who seems fairly intent on painting Baxter as the bad guy.  With all the bad press, it has not only caused Remington's stocks to take a dip, but also has the FBI interested in Baxter.   So, honestly the last thing Bax probably needs is a romance right now but Caron becomes a balm, and something more than a romp in bed.  Not that there's anything wrong with s-e-x.  These two hit it off like fireworks on the 4th of July.

That's another thing that Ms. Jones did well in Santa, Baby -- keeping the chemistry, both sexual and emotional, fresh from one page to another.  While Caron may not have been my favorite character ever and the bada-bing bada-boom (well, the first time) happens fairly early on, I never lost interest in seeing them work beyond just keeping their relationship as a sexual one and allowing it to turn into more.

On the whole, I enjoyed Santa, Baby, even with that minor quibble with Caron.  Maybe if I'd felt more connection with her I would've given it higher than a B reading, but I still feel overall that Baxter and the rest of the book somewhat made up for it for me.

(Oh, and I have to say, because I'm such a cover whore -- I loved this cover.  BUT the woman in it appears to be of Asian descent.  I don't remember anywhere in the book mentioning Caron's nationality or her family's origin.  Argh!)    



 

TBR Challenge Review: Under the Boss's Mistletoe

I should put it out there right away -- I had a mini-binge earlier in the month.  I actually read two category romances in a row, and for me that constitutes a binge of sorts.  I know I'm not knocking down any huge statistics columns or anything, but for me it's huge.  The fact that I'm gradually edging towards a total count of 10 books read for the month so far is another huge thing for me.  I might even do a monthly tally for January!

I have mixed reasons for dipping into my Harlequin stash this month.  First, of course, is that it's the theme for the 2011 TBR Challenge, hosted this year by my coffee klatch buddy, Wendy.  One of these days we have to work up a post deal and feature these women.  Some of them are out and about in the Blogisphere too.

Getting back to topic, my other reason for the categories is that...well, they're easy to read.  We're talking maybe a day for me to read one of these suckers, if I'm on a reading bender.  So, for your reading pleasure, I offer TWO mini-reviews for my January installment of the TBR Challenge.  See how lucky y'all are?

TBR Book #1: Under the Boss's Misteltoe by Jessica Hart.  A November 2009 Harlequin Romance.  Not sure about availability, but I do know when I keyworded at eHarlequin.com, I had no luck in finding it.

Cassie Grey had always harbored a fascination for Jake Trevelyan in high school, and the last time she'd seen him, he'd given her a kiss that would knock any teenager's socks off.  Jake had always fostered his bad boy image and seemed to be happy with that role, so kissing Cassie should've gone a long way in emphasizing that, right?  But that day, Jake knew he'd never regret the kiss, or forget Cassie.

Fast forward ten years: Cassie works for a wedding planning business (the blurb calls it "events planning"), trying to find her niche in the world since every other job she's ever had has turned into just that...a job.  Not a career.  When she finds out her next assignment is Jake Trevelyan, Cassie wonders if it's too late to pack her bags and leave the country.  The last time she'd seen Jake, he'd kissed her, and damn it all if Cassie hadn't enjoyed every second of it.  Cassie can't squash a little jealousy that she'll be planning a wedding for her former bad boy crush, but with their first meeting she finds out that the assignment is not his wedding.  Jake asks for her help in turning his deceased mentor's mansion into a wedding venue, which may call for them spending several hours together -- alone -- in the mansion that had been their stomping grounds as kids.

Have I mentioned that Jake is rich as Croesus now?  In the past ten years he's gone from bad boy to the Chief Executive of a thriving business, and he now appears as comfortable in high end business suits than he did in a leather jacket sitting on his motorcycle.  Initially when I started out with Under the Boss's Mistletoe, I thought that Cassie would slow the book down for me.  She seemed a bit immature, maybe too much so for Jake.  But as the story progressed, it quickly became apparent that there was more than meets the eye with her.  She has a heart of gold, is a klutz extraordinaire, but is one of the most genuine heroines that I've read in a while.  Her honesty was quite appealing, and almost from her first meeting with Jake as an adult, she wears her heart on her sleeve.  Honestly, it was evident to me that she still had the hots for him, but we wouldn't have a full-scale romance if the hero could pick up on it by page 20, right?

The thing that I loved about Under the Boss's Mistletoe (other than the cover -- it's gorgeous!) is that the theme is growth and maturity, and that both of these can happen while keeping true to yourself.  Jake has come a long way in turning his life around.  He'd done everything he could to not only leave his past behind and shed his scoundrel ways, and he's succeeded in doing just that.  But you can take the man out of the leather (amen!), but sometimes you can't take the leather out of the man.  Jake still has a kernel of bad boy in him, but he's afraid to let that come out.  What he has a hard time doing is finding an even balance between successful business man and motorcycle riding man of steel, so he does the only thing he thinks is safe -- maintains a squeaky clean image.  The kiss he'd given Cassie had been meant to teach her a lesson (don't play with fire), but he'd wound up getting burned himself.  And as they spend more time together, making plans to turn the Hall into a wedding venue, he begins to see that maybe his life would be better with a bit more spontaneity, and definitely a lot more Cassie.

The steam level in this is pretty mild, but I loved the slower simmer that burns all the way through.  It goes a long way to prove that I don't need to read of calisthenics and bedroom Pilates for me to enjoy a book (although they have a time and place as well).  Will I be rereading this one one day?  Hm, not sure since I'm not much of a rereader, but I can say that this book has stayed with me long after finishing it.  I loved the British setting, and I loved the simplicity of the theme, high school crush all grown up.  For that alone, I'm pretty comfortable with giving Under the Boss's Mistletoe an A- rating just because I keep going back and reading parts here and there, which I guess could constitute a mini re-read.

ETA: After reading this review, I've decided to divide up my two TBR reviews into two posts because, seriously, I don't want to make anyone's eyeballs bleed.