Perfect Touch by Elizabeth Lowell

When Sara Medina goes to Jackson to meet Jay Vermilion, she walks into a firestorm. First she discovers that the wonderful sexy voice she has been intrigued been belongs to a man who fits the voice. Jay and Sara make a connection almost immediately. When they go out to the Vermilion ranch, it is a western paradise. The big problem is that the paintings she has come to curate seem to be a lure for a murderer and Sara is in the center of it all.

I love Ms. Lowell's mix of suspense and romance in this book. There is plenty of both spicy and scary action, enough to keep you turning the pages pretty quickly.  A great summer read!

Obsession in Death-Fabulous #40 in the series!

What can one say about the 40th book in a series other than Wow!; how does J.D. Robb keep doing this? 

Obsession in Death is a page turner about a murderer who offers their kills as an homage to Lt.  Eve Dallas.  Eve knows that this type of fixation will eventually turn against her and has to solve the case before that happens. 

What I really liked about this book was how it showed the personal growth that Eve has made since the first book in being able to let go of her need to only count on herself. All of the favorites are in the book, Mira, Nadine, Mavis and some new names are added in Cop Central. As the killer keeps moving closer to a confrontation, Eve has to rely on her friends and coworkers to shoulder some of the load she carries. She and Roarke have a couple of sheet burning episodes in this book and the cop and her civilian consultant have their teamwork down working to catch the killer.

This is such an amazing series. The little touches, like Eve and baby Bella interacting, add so much to each book and keep you hooked. The continuity is perfect.I loved reading it and now I'm stoked to listen to the amazing Susan Ericksen audio version.

Re-reading old favorites.....why do I do this?

So, I have a gazillion eARC's that I should be reading and reviewing,  but,instead I am re-reading the entire Fortune Hunters series by Christina Dodd.  
It started when I began listening to the audio version of Tongue in Chic in my car  I decided that I needed to read the other books in the series and also the series before that connects to this one, Lost Texas Hearts.  I have all of the books so off I went.

I love listening to audio books! but sometimes they just go too slow with my short commute, so I find myself listening to books I have read before. Sometimes it's a book I read really quickly and want to revisit. Other times it's a book by a favorite author that I usually enjoy but found this one book not up to par.  When I listen to it, I often find that I enjoy it more than when I read it. 

The other thing that happens, is what happened this time, it triggers the need to read all of the other books in the series just because! Oh, well, it's a long weekend and it's only time..... 

Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood

When FBI agent Grayson Kincaid first encounters Olivia MacKenzie, she makes quite an impression.

The beautiful, tough, young attorney has stumbled into the middle of an FBI sting operation and has reduced it to chaos.  Months of surveillance and careful planning down the drain, Kincaid's partner is furious and lets Olivia know that she's ticked off the wrong guy.  After all, he's FBI.

Olivia isn't intimidated by his partner's bullying because she's something even scarier...she's IRS.  And working for the IRS isn't for the faint of heart.  She's on the trail of an elaborate Ponzi scheme, one that threatens to ruin the lives of naive and unsuspecting victims, and one she has personal reasons to be angry about.  But after she asks questions of the wrong people, her life is suddenly endangered.  She's accustomed to fighting for the underdog but being vulnerable herself is a very different story.  Smart enough to know when she need reinforcements, she looks to Grayson Kincaid.

Together they make an excellent team to fight corruption, but Olivia is also fighting the immediate and intense attraction she feels for Agent Kincaid, and that may be a battle she is bound to lose. ( synopsis from juliegarwood.com)

Hardcover, Dutton, 368 pages



Every one of Julie Garwood’s FBI themed books has been a great read and this one continues the streak. The book opens with a look back at the Four Pips, young girls all undergoing a highly experimental treatment for a life threatening illness. The girls, Samantha, Jane, Collins and Olivia, have banded together to survive the grueling treatment and Olivia is the ringleader of this band of pranksters.

Twelve years later, Olivia is having lunch with smarmy CEO, Eric Jorguson ostensibly to talk about a position with his accounting firm. She is worried about her current position as there is talk of cutbacks and she is the new kid on the block. When she tries to steer the conversation away from her famous financier father, she triggers Eric’s suspicions and he rips her blouse thinking she is wearing a wire and trying to trap him. Olivia responds by punching him and breaking his nose, only to be set upon by his thug bodyguard. Keep in mind this is all happening in full view of the other diners in the restaurant but when other people try to help the thug pulls a gun and then backhands her. All of a sudden the man is on the ground being cuffed by an FBI agent. Apparently Olivia has accidentally gotten into the middle of an FBI operation and disputed months of planning.  The best line of the book occurs when the Agent in charge threatens “I could make your life a nightmare.” He put his hand in front of her face and unfolded three fingers as he said. “I’m F...B…I.”   She smiled. It wasn’t the reaction he expected. “You want to talk nightmares?” she said. She put her hand up to his face and unfolded her three fingers.  “I’m I…R…S.”

Olivia meets FBI Agent Grayson Kincaid at this lunch debacle and the chemistry sizzles right off the page. Unfortunately, Olivia is up to her neck trying to get evidence to prove her father is a crook and it is consuming her life. Her family is distant and disapproving with the exception of her maternal aunt.  She is also getting death threats. Grayson has problems of his own.  He is raising his nephew and watching out for his ailing father.  He is also still trying to connect Jorguson to a serious crime.

Circumstances throw the two together and romance blooms. There is a lot going on in this book with death threats, attempted murder, recurring illness of one of the Pips, and lots of other mayhem.  This book cannot be put down once you start it!  The story is fast paced and the relationship between Olivia and Grayson makes your heart beat faster.  There is the sense that some of the other Pips might be featured in future books, I really hope so.   Write fast Ms. Garwood, please!

The Last Victim by Karen Robards

A sought-after expert in criminal pathology, Charlie Stone regularly sits face-to-face with madmen. Obsessed with learning what makes human monsters commit terrible crimes, Charlie desires little else from life—no doubt because when she was sixteen, she herself survived a serial killer’s bloodbath: A man butchered the family of Charlie’s best friend, Holly, then left the girl’s body on a seaside boardwalk one week later.

Because of the information Charlie gave police, the Boardwalk Killer went underground. She kept to herself her eerie postmortem visions of Holly and her mother. And even years later, knowing her contact with ghosts might undermine her credibility as a psychological expert, Charlie tells no one about the visits she gets from the spirit world.

Now all-too-handsome FBI agent Tony Bartoli is telling Charlie that a teenage girl is missing, her family slaughtered. Bartoli suspects that after fifteen years, the Boardwalk Killer—or a sick copycat with his M.O.—is back. Time is running short for an innocent, kidnapped girl, and Bartoli pleads for Charlie’s help.

This is the one case Charlie shouldn’t go near. But she also knows that she may be the one person in the world who can stop this vicious killer. For Charlie—whose good looks disguise a world of hurt, vulnerability, and potent psychic gifts—a frantic hunt for a madman soon becomes a complex test of cunning, passions, and secrets. Aiding Dr. Stone on her quest to catch a madman is a ghostly presence with bad intentions: the fiery spirit of seductive bad boy Michael Garland who refuses to be ignored, though in his cat and mouse game they may both lose their hearts. ( Synopsis from karenrobards.com)

Hardcover, Ballentine Books, 336 Pages

When I started this book, I figured it was going to be the typical former victim meets hot FBI agent and romance blossoms.  Wow, was I ever wrong!  This is a romance like no other I have read in a while.

Charlotte “Charlie” Stone is a psychologist studying serial killers for the Department of Justice.  She is uniquely qualified for this because she is the only survivor of a killer known as the Boardwalk Killer. She has dedicated her life to finding out what makes these killers do what they do.  At the present time she is working with Michael Garland who is on death row for the murder of seven women.  Garland is a handsome and charismatic man who tries to play Charlie whenever she works with him.

Her latest session is interrupted by two FBI agents who have come to ask her help on an urgent case of a missing girl whose family has been slaughtered at a beach area.  This scenario is the exact thing that happened to Charlie when her friend Holly was killed a week after her family was murdered. Charlie does not want to get involved for many reasons but eventually agrees to do so. Before she can leave, Garland is stabbed by another inmate and despite her best efforts to save him, dies on the prison floor.

This is when the book gets interesting. It turns out that Charlie has otherworldly skills that involve recently dead people who have died violently.  This is more of a curse than a blessing and causes Charlie all kinds of problems with the FBI unit when she arrives at the scene of the murder. At first it is kind of amusing reading about Charlie trying to act normal while ghostly activity is happening around her, making her seem a bit of a strange one to FBI people.   There is a budding romance with Bartoli, the handsome but solid team leader. The other two members, Crane and Kaminski, are quirky and interesting with a history between them

The major twist in the book is the continued appearance of Garland and how his appearance impacts the case and Charlie’s equilibrium.  Suffice it to say, it is unexpected to say the least. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about how the story played out but I found myself reading faster and faster to see what happened.   According to the end notes there will be future books with Dr. Stone in them and it will be interesting to see how this series works.  Charlie is an unusual character, a mix of strength and fears who find herself in a situation she would have never imagined.  The whole premise could have gone wrong but it works.  I am actually looking forward to reading more of the series and I wasn’t sure about that mid-way through.  My advice is keep reading and you will be surprised how the book pulls you in.

Betrayal, Bella Terra # 3 by Christina Dodd

Noah Di Luca and Penelope Alonso shared one passionate summer together. And then, when the secrets of his past threatened, Noah walked away from her without a word. Years later, Penelope must return to Bella Terra, never expecting that she will encounter Noah...or that one glance will reawaken their fiery passion. And as danger stalks the streets, she has no choice. To survive, she must once again trust the man who betrayed her.

Paperback, Penguin, 448 pages   Rating 5/5

Christina Dodd wraps up her Bella Terra series with a winner. This book tells the story of Noah, the last brother still unmarried. His past lover, Penelope, has returned to the area after the death of her mother to confirm her mother’s deathbed confession. She plans to stay away from Noah but ends up befriending his sister in law, Brooke and working as the decorator on Brooke and Rafe’s house. Needless to say, she meets up with Noah pretty quickly and the sizzle is still there.

After reading the first two books in this series, I expected suspense, but WOW!  This book is a page turner. Noah has some big secrets in his past that are about to unravel and take his family down with him if he isn’t extremely careful. Penelope has secrets of her own and she can tell that Noah is carrying a heavy burden but she isn’t sure that she is strong enough deal with her emotions about him. Ms. Dodd does an excellent job of setting up a scenario that seems impossible to end any other way but badly.

The characters from the other books play a big part in this book along with some new ones who really stir up the pot. Villainy abounds from every place  in which Noah and Penelope look for answers. There are parts of the book that seem very slightly contrived but somehow it works,  the plot stays true and doesn’t seem a stretch. The ending of the book is very satisfying with a nice twist in the last paragraphs.

Sleepwalker by Karen Robards

It’s not that Micayla Lange is afraid of the clinking she hears coming from the first floor of the empty McMansion she’s housesitting for her uncle Nicco. She’s a cop, after all. It’s just that finding out her boyfriend was cheating on her was enough drama for one night. Now she’s alone on New Year’s Eve, wearing flannel pajamas and wielding a Glock 22 as she zeroes in on the unmistakable source of the sound: Uncle Nicco’s private office.

Jason Davis steals things for a living, so unexpected developments are a natural part of the job. Getting caught red-handed by a hot, pigtail-sporting police officer in what is supposed to be a gangster’s deserted house is just one more twist in the game. Kind of like finding incriminating photos in Nicco Marino’s safe, only to discover the cop — and the security cameras — have gotten a real good look at his face.

Unfortunately for Mick, she also got a good look at the damned pictures. Her “uncle” might love her like family, but if he knows she’s seen evidence that implicates him in the murder of a city councilman, she doesn’t like her chances. Which is why she’s having a hard time reconciling her professional instincts with what she is rapidly concluding is an inescapable fact: She’s about to help a criminal get away with a suitcase full of stolen money. And she’s going with him. ( synopsis from B& N .com)

Simon& Schuster, hardcover, 370 pages

I wasn’t sure that I would like Sleepwalker because I am not a big fan of books where the main characters are on the run through the book.  Boy was I wrong about this one.  This book will keep you on your toes with suspense from beginning to end.

Micayla (Mike) Lange is a cop spending New Years at her Uncle Nicco’s house, when she wakes up after a nightmare. She is about ready to go back to sleep when she hears an odd noise.  When she goes to investigate it, she walks into a crime scene.  Jason Davis sees Mike and knows the plan has gone sour.  Over the next few minutes, Mike sees pictures that changes her life as she knows it.  Forced to make a run for it together, the two are in deep trouble with their lives in danger and not a lot of resources.  The trust issue looms large between them which isn't good when you are trying to outrun people who want to kill you.

Ms. Robards does a great job keeping the suspense level high throughout the book. The chemistry between Mike and Jason is hot but in a sense somewhat forbidden. Mike is a cop and an honest one to boot, so the reader wonders how a relationship will work between the two characters.  It is a romantic suspense book so you know that a romance will develop. I kept wondering how this was going to be resolved and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  There are twists and a big red herring before it all ends. I started the book and couldn’t stop.  A great new book from one of my favorite authors!

RPL Notes: This book will be available in the Adult New Fiction section after 12-27-11. Ms. Robards is a popular author so it is likely there will be a waiting list for this book. Other books by this author are available in the Adult fiction section.

Revenge at Bella Terra by Christina Dodd -Loved It!

Eli Di Luca lives in Bella Terra, but now the family vineyard he runs is in financial trouble. Enter Italian magnate Tamosso Conte, who makes a proposition Eli can't refuse: marry his daughter, and Conte will solve Eli's money problems.
Unfortunately, the beautiful Chloe has no intention of getting married without a fight. Soon she discovers Eli's been keeping secrets from her, and the truth will put them both in mortal danger. (Synopsis from Barnes & Noble.com)

Revenge at Bella Terra is a fast paced romantic suspense novel, the second in a series. I love the fact that Ms. Dodd has incorporated two tried and true romance concepts- secret baby and marriage of convenience-into a book you cannot put down. Eli DiLuca is in between a rock and a hard place when it comes to his family winery. He needs 4.5 million dollars and if he marries Chloe Robinson, her father, Tamosso Conte, will give it to him.
In the typical forced marriage novel, the heroine is a shy, retiring, young thing who can't attract a man and whose father finds her a husband. Chloe is feisty, independent, and fully aware of her father's plots. She and her father have only met recently and he is old school, wanting to plan her life. Eli is closed emotionally and focused only on work. He has a conscience, which makes him hesitate to follow through on the marriage, but circumstances force his hand. The chemistry between Eli and Chloe is combustible (in more ways than one). There is just the right amount of backstory to make both characters believable. The supporting characters are fleshed out as well, so all of the interactions add to the plot moving forward rather than distracting from it.
The first book introduced a mystery plot involving a feud between families and a missing item that seems to be a key component to the feud. In this book the mystery is unraveled a little more, but there is still enough left to keep your interest peaked. The set up for the third book made me want to read it NOW, not wait for several months. I will definitely be in line to buy it when it comes out.

Paperback; 431 pages

RPL note: This book is available in the Adult new paperback section. The first book in the series" Secrets of Bella Terra" is also in that section.

Prey by Linda Howard- Disappointing

In this captivating novel of romantic suspense, New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard brings us deep into the wild, where a smart and sexy outdoor guide and her ruggedly handsome competitor must join forces to survive—and avoid becoming what they never expected to be:   PREY   Thirty-two-year-old Angie Powell has always spoken her mind, but in the presence of Dare Callahan she nurses a simmering rage. After all, why give Dare the satisfaction of knowing he can push her buttons and push her to the edge?Three years ago, Dare returned home to rural western Montana and opened a hunting business to rival Angie’s. Complicating matters is the fact that Dare has asked Angie out (not once but twice) and has given her a gift of butterflies in the process. Angie has no patience for butterflies. They only lead to foolish decisions. And now the infuriatingly handsome Iraq war vet has siphoned away Angie’s livelihood, forcing her to close up shop. Before Angie is to leave town, she organizes one last trip into the wilderness with a client and his guest, who wants to bag a black bear. But the adrenaline-fueled adventure turns deadly when Angie witnesses a cold-blooded murder and finds herself on the wrong side of a loaded gun. Before the killer can tie up this attractive loose end, a bear comes crashing through the woods—changing the dark game completely.Luckily, Dare is camping nearby ( Synopsis from Barnes & Noble, com)

Linda Howard is one of my favorite authors. I own every book she has written, so it pains me to say that I really did not like this book. Angie and Dare have minimal interaction throughout the first half of the book. She thinks about him. he thinks about her but they don't really talk to each other. There are some fairly gruesome descriptions of bear attacks and the aftermath. Yuck! Once Angie and Dare meet up, the book gets better, but by then I really didn't care. In all honesty, I have to say I am not a big fan of books where the heroine has to trek through the woods or the steaming hot jungle for a good part of the book so that may have influenced how I felt about this book.  Since Death Angel, the once reliable Ms. Howard has not been the author I have loved for over 25 years. The last 5 books have been 2 good, 2 bad and 1 so-so. I hope she comes back with the next one.

RPL Note: Prey is available in Adult New Fiction. 

Pursuit by Karen Robards

When the First Lady dies in a fiery car crash, rookie attorney Jessica Ford is the only survivor of the tragedy. As the nation mourns, Ford has reason to believe it wasn't an accident. One by one, others in the First Lady's inner circle are being killed. Jessica must find out why- before she's next. ( 2010 -Synopsis form Barnes& noble.com)

I  have always enjoyed Karen Robards' books. She has a new book coming out next week which is the second in the Jessica Ford series. When I would read the information and they would refer to Pursuit and it's plot, I gradually realized I had never read the book. So, I did!

Jessica Ford is a lawyer in a prestigious D.C. law firm, who, through a bizarre series of events ,ends up as the only survivor of a fatal car crash that kills the First Lady. After she is attacked in the hospital ,she partners with Mark Ryan, a Secret Service Agent. Together they try to figure out who is involved in the plot and who is behind it.

This is suspense from beginning to end. You don't know who to trust and who is the enemy. When you have no access to your normal resources, how do you survive in a city? When the government may be your enemy, how do you get information?  The story keeps you on your toes all the way through and the resolution is a total surprise.The romance between Jessica and Mark is developed in a believable way even when you're not sure at first if he is actually on her side.

 I can't wait for Justice, the next book, to come out next week!


RPL notes: Pursuit is available in the Adult Fiction, Large Print and Audio CD version at the library

Dr. Ellie Sullivan has just completed her residency at a large urban hospital. While jogging in a park nearby, she witnesses the shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of wanted criminals, a couple identified as the Landrys. The only person to see the shooter’s face, Ellie is suddenly at the center of a criminal investigation.
Agent Max Daniels takes over the Landry case. A no-nonsense lawman, he’s definitely not the ideal man that Ellie has always imagined, yet she’s attracted to him in a way she can’t explain.
Ellie heads home to Winston Falls, South Carolina, to attend her sister’s wedding. Shortly after she arrives, though, she receives a surprise visitor: Max Daniels. The Landrys have been captured, and she’ll be called to testify. But they’ve been captured before, and each time the witnesses are scared into silence—or disappear before they can take the stand. Max vows to be Ellie’s shadow until the trial, and it isn’t long before sparks fly. . . . (Synopsis from Barnes & Noble.com)

Ellie Sullivan has it all…she is young, beautiful, and a gifted trauma surgeon. Unfortunately, she is also the witness to a murder, has been stalked since her pre-teen years by a man from her home town, and has to go home for her sister’s wedding to Ellie’s ex-fiancé. She meets FBI agent Max Daniels at the murder scene and there is instant attraction between them. Because of the history of disappearing witnesses against the killers, Max becomes her “plus one” at the wedding to keep her safe.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. Ellie is feisty and independent even after having her life disrupted by her crazy neighbor. She and Max have major chemistry and both have been traumatized by events in their early life which make them somewhat wary in relationships.  The unfolding of their relationship is classic romance and yet the suspense element is always there.  There were some good bits of humor in this book as well. I especially enjoyed a scene where they go out to eat and Max eats a ginormous BBQ meal which leads Ellie to realize she doesn’t have to worry about him being killed at work because his cholesterol will kill him first.  There is also a very funny part about an air conditioner that is in the bedroom they share.

The subplot with her “bridezilla” sister Ava adds tension and humor to the story. I would have liked to see Ava get a little more comeuppance than she gets, but she is Elli’s sister after all. There is an interesting twist with Ava’s twin, Annie. The back home section of the book dealt very realistically with the stress on a family when a member is threatened. Max’s brother adds a little bit to the story as well.

This book is a page turner from beginning to end. Ms. Garwood always does a great job with her characters and plot and this book is no different. I can’t wait for the next book to arrive!

RPL NOTES: This book will be available in the New Fiction section as of August 9, 2011. The audio version will also be available after that date.

Breaking the Rules (Troubleshooters#16) by Suzanne Brockmann

Izzy Zanella wasn’t looking for another reason to butt heads with his Navy SEAL teammate, and nemesis, Danny Gillman. But then he met Danny’s beautiful younger sister, Eden. When she needed it most, he offered her a place to stay, a shoulder to cry on—and more. And when she got pregnant with another man’s child, he offered her marriage. But Eden’s devastating miscarriage shattered their life together—and made the intense bad blood between Izzy and Danny even worse.
Now Eden’s back, and she’s on a mission to rescue her teen brother, Ben, from their abusive stepfather. Even if she and Izzy can prove that their broken marriage is still in one piece, winning legal custody of Ben is a long shot. But they’re not alone: Danny and his girlfriend, Jenn, offer to help, and he and Izzy agree to bury the past and fight for Ben’s future.
As they plan their strategy, Izzy and Eden grapple with the raw passion that still crackles between them—while Danny and Jenn confront new depths in their own rocky relationship. But events take a terrifying turn after Ben befriends a girl fleeing a child prostitution ring. When the young runaway seeks refuge with Eden and Izzy, her pursuers kidnap Ben—and a deadly standoff begins. Now they must all pull together like never before and strike back, swift and hard, to protect their unconventional little family and everything they hold most precious. ( Synopsis from Barnes & Noble.com)

I couldn't wait for this  book to come out as I have read all 16 books in the Troubleshooters series and all 11 of the Tall Dark and Dangerous Series which is being reissued by HQN. Both are series which feature Navy SEALs, and FBI agents. This latest book continues the story of Izzy Zanella and Eden Gillman, who married when she became pregnant by another man and separated when Eden miscarried. Add to the mix Eden's brother Danny, who is in Izzy's SEAL unit and isn't exactly his best bud. Danny has issues of his own with his quasi-girlfriend JenniLynn, a full figured aide to a NY politico. Danny & Izzy get injured during a mission and all four are brought together.

Izzy and Eden have to start communicating with each other before they can decide whether to move on together or separately. Eden is working as a dancer, trying to raise money so she can provide a place for her 15 year old brother to live.  Ben is haunted by bad experiences in New Orleans during Katrina, has diabetes, and is targeted by his stepfather because he is gay. Eden is frantic about keeping him safe and realizes she needs help from both Izzy and Danny. All four of the adults need to work together to help Ben and it isn't easy.

There is a sublot involving child prostitution that adds a little more tension to the story. It is fast paced and you have to pay attention to keep up with the plot. Just like her earlier books in the series, the action is realistic and the characters are true to life. Although the hits keep on coming  and it seems overwhelming at points, the plot never becomes overblown.  It's a nailbiter right to the end. And I love that my favorite character,Jules the FBI man, gets a brief part of the action. As usual, Ms. Brockmann has little bits of humor throughout the book which helps keep the reader focused on the people.

Library note: This book is available in the NEW book section after 3-29-11. Ms. Brockmann's earlier books are also available at RPL in both book and audio format.