Valentine's Day, 2012--Won't You All Be My Valentine?

Well, it's Valentine's Day and I have to admit forgetting that it was approaching until I received a box from 1-800-Flowers by UPS yesterday with a beautiful bouquet of day lilies from my Honey. What a lovely surprise, but it did remind me that this fun and for many, important day was upon us.

History tells us that there was indeed a St. Valentine, a Roman soldier who lived a couple of hundred years into the Christian Era and who converted to Christianity. Before he was martyred, he was the epitome of kindness and caring, very different from the expected demeanor or persona of a Roman soldier.

Most of us remember Valentine's Day from our childhood and our yearly trips to the grocery store or Wal-Mart or some such retail venue to buy our big bag of Valentines so we could make them out and be prepared to give one to each of the kids in our homeroom class. As I recall, they were silly, often cheesy little two-liner sayings that inevitably ended with: "Be My Valentine." Most of us couldn't even figure out what that meant until we got closer to our teen years when the youthful crushes on another human being made us delighted and miserable all at the same time with newly discovered hormones in all their glory.

I wonder now if we don't get caught up in the greeting card frenzy just a little, but I do know that most people who have a significant "other" try to remember that person in a quality and authentic way. I never remember receiving a really expensive gift on Valentine's Day, but just being remembered and treated to that something special really meant a lot, especially when our kids were little and I felt like such a sexless drudge a good deal of the time. It's a wonder my Honey kept me around.

Just yesterday I read a really cute novella from one of my favorite authors, Cat Johnson

entitled Valentine Cowboys. It is no secret that I would probably love this book, sight unseen, as I really like cowboy romance as well as fine all of Cat Johnson's writing to be really fine--readable, good stories, balanced action, and characters that live as real people. And like all her stories, it brings real people into love situations that resonate with all of us. Two cowboys remember their experience when in 5th grade and their respective crushes on the same little girl that sat near them in the back row. Both received a message: "Meet me behind the monkey bars and I will give you a kiss." The boys missed out on the kiss when they began fighting over who was going to kiss her first, and from that time on decided they would never allow a woman to come between them again. Now, 12 years later, they again are in the presence of that little girl but now she is all grown up, and for one of those cowboys, the feelings come to the surface, feelings that haven't manifested themselves for over a decade. Yet, their friendship has matured and they are best buddies and neither man can conceive of a future without their friendship. So they make a proposition to their long-ago heart throb: Take us both or we walk away. It is a fun read, one that will probably take any reader back to those long ago elementary Valentine's Day traditions, possibly to our own heart throbs and remembering school chums who made our hearts zing just a little bit, no matter how young we were.

We all have our memories, and few of us have had some old school chum become a love interest later in life. But it's a fun thought, and its a novella that is beautifully written and which embraces the idea that those childish experiences could conceivably become the foundation for a mature relationship later in life.

I hope this Valentine's Day is a good experience, that re-visiting memories is a good thing, and if by some act of fate your heart is hurting this day, give it time . . . there's lots of love in the world and lots of people who can fill those empty places with friendship and kindness until that special someone comes along. Won't you all be my Valentine?

Baby It's Cold Outside, And That's Especially True in Alaska!! "Edge of Survival" by Toni Anderson

Dr. Cameran Young knew her assignment wouldn't be easy. As lead biologist on the Environment Impact Assessment team, her findings would determine the future of a large mining project in the northern Canadian bush. She expected rough conditions and hostile miners--but she didn't expect to find a dead body her first day on the job.

Former SAS Sergeant Daniel Fox forged a career as a helicopter pilot, working as far from the rest of the human race as possible. The thrill of flying makes his civilian life bearable, and he lives by his mantra: don't get involved. But when he's charged with transporting the biologist to her research vessel, he can't help but get involved in the murder investigation--and with Cameran, who awakens emotions he's desperate to suppress.

In the harsh and rugged wilderness, Daniel and Cameran must battle their intense and growing attraction while keeping ahead of a killer who will stop at nothing to silence her...

I really like stories set in the cold and stark wilderness of Alaska and its surrounding areas. Perhaps that is due to really loving sdome of Jack London's stories that we read during my school years. In any event, this story is stark in its background, unadorned living with only the bare necessities of human existence, and the kind of surroundings that insist that all who venture there be sure to make good decisions because there just may not be a second chance. This novel features the story of a young and attractive environmental scientist who is charged with judging the activities of the oil company employees so that they do not violate the environment or those animal species that are endangered. No doubt her efforts are not readily received and almost from the get-go her life is in danger. Bring in our hero--a man who is wounded in spirit and body, whose military career as a British Special Ops soldier was cut short by an unscrupulous officer and his own personal decision to leave the military as a way of protecting its honor and tradition and reputation. Now he is a charter pilot flying his helicopter as a way of making his existence bearable. Meeting up with Cameron Young threatens his carefully orchestrated life, boring though it may be. She's sexy and cute, sassy and forthright, but she doesn't want to get involved, until she realizes that she has sacrificed her personal life, her personal thoughts and needs, to her career. Now she wants to "seize the day" and Daniel seems to be her best option right now.

This is a complicated novel that is full of really different people with their personal idiosyncrasies, their strange habits, their own efforts to dodge the realities and responsibilities of mature living. There's a dead body and accusations flying through the air as to who might be the killer. There are law enforcement officers who bring their own take on life to the story, full of their own sets of personal problems and career snafus. There are a few native characters who have a very different viewpoint of their homeland and when all these characters with their individualities and personal quirks come together, the story gets interesting, suspense-filled, and its all spiced up with some hot loving.

I have really enjoyed this author's work in the past and was delighted to have the opportunity to read this novel. I've made no bones about the fact that some of my favorite romance novels have that added tension caused by a really good murder mystery. Ms Anderson has brought tension, twists and turns to this story, so much so that the ending really caught me off guard. That's not really easy to do. So I found this novel to be compelling and kept my interest from start to finish. I actually read it in one sitting. The excellent story and the really fine writing testify to this author's command of the writing task. And after all, when a serious romance reader encounters a story that just keeps the heat turned up, it's the best of all literary worlds. I hope you will seek this one out and enjoy it as much as I did. I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

Christmas May Be Gone, but the Love Lives On! "Holiday Kisses" by Alison Kent, Jaci Burton, HelenKay Dimon, and Shannon Stacey

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Love!

A man gives the gift of trust and receives a second chance at love in return. A woman helps to heal the wounded heart of a soldier. A couple finds that true love knows no distance. And a young widow learns that there can be two great loves in a lifetime. Love, romance and passion come together in this collection of four seasonal shorts.

Anthology includes:

This Time Next Year by Alison Kent

A Rare Gift by Jaci Burton

It's Not Christmas Without You by HelenKay Dimon

Mistletoe and Margaritas by Shannon Stacey

"This Time Next Year" tells the story of two people who have vastly different plans for their future. Dillon Craig is a doctor returned from Afghanistan and who is trying to heal from the inner wounds of losing so many to war wounds. He is "hiding" on the mountain where Brenna Keating's grandmother lives in the Carolinas. Brenna is a nurse who has long wanted to travel and work in medical clinics throughout the world and has already signed on for a year in a foreign setting. (Her parents were committed to the same kind of medical missions and so she comes by this naturally.) Yet as badly as Brenna wants to be with her grandmother for Christmas, she is stranded in a blizzard with Dr Dillon as her only refuge. This is a love story, right? So we won't be surprised that they were attracted to one another and then acted on that attraction. But the crisis that is always lurking in the background is Brenna's plan to go overseas and Dillon's determination to stay on his mountain and tend to the families there. What starts out to be your usual love story does not turn out that way. It's a great story and very touching as each of these people come to a greater understanding of themselves.

"A Rare Gift" by Jaci Burton tells the story of two people who have known each other for years but who are separated and essentially made unavailable to one another by the presence of the ex-wife--the former Mrs. Kent, Cassandra. The big problem is that Cassie is Calliope's sister and Calliope has long had a crush on her former brother-in-law. Wyatt is nearly struck dumb by Callie's mature self--he always saw her as a pimply-faced kid, and now he realizes that she is hot, hot, hot. Yet the spectre of her sister looms between them. This story seems to get worse, and then get better, and then gets worse again. It certainly kept me on the edge of my chair as I hoped that these two could find their way back to each other. Callie is sassy and doesn't seem willing to accept the eventualities of life and just let Wyatt go. No--she is going to do whatever she must, and it is Callie's "doing" that gives this story its verve and vitality and the sparkle that makes the love story live as it possibly would in real life.

"It's Not Christmas Without You" by HelenKay Dimon. There's an old saying, a rhetorical question of sorts that asks: "How are you going to keep them down on the farm after they see Times Square?" So it would appear with the hero, Austin, a botanist who works his family's tree farm, and Carrie, a girl who is wildly in love with Austin but whose dream job is at an art museum in Washington, D. C. that lifts up and celebrates women's artistry. No matter how much she has loved Austin in the past, no matter how many times they reconcile and then break apart, the museum job and her life in Washington, D. C. interferes. Now Austin is making one grand gesture, a final attempt to woo Carrie away from her grand experiment and get her to come home at last. She ain't goin' to do it, so there!! It's a story that begins and ends with their crisis, a story that highlights how people can genuinely love one another and yet their lives just don't seem to run in the same direction. I must admit that I wasn't sure that here was a solution for these two, and I don't think the ending was a well-done as it might have been. This author is so good--she writes from the heart with wit and sensitivity to real people and their difficulties and joys, and while I was happy with the ending, I felt that it came at me too quickly and the resolution to the problem was all of a sudden there. Probably just me. Anyway, I loved the story and was vastly entertained by it.

"Misteltoe and Margaritas" by Shannon Stacey. Claire and Justin are a couple that are bound together by their deep and abiding friendship. Each had been close to Claire's husband and Justin is very open (in his thoughts) that Claire would have been wooed by him rather than her husband if he had seen her first. Since Brendan was his best friend, he backed off, and supported the lovers through their wedding and brief marriage. Yet his heart was always Claire's and now that two years have passed since her hubby's death, Justin wants to bring Claire into a different kind of relationship with him. In some ways this is the most emotionally charged story of the four but it is a story of hope for the future. I found it very touching and am honest when I say that this, like the other Shannon Stacey stories I have read, connected with me on a very deep level.

Like a number of holiday stories I have read and review this year, this is a collection that will entertain and resonate with romance fiction lovers no matter what time of the year the reader may indulge. Yes, the setting is holiday in nature. But the sentiments, the situations, the real human circumstances and feelings are all pertinent to any time of the year. This anthology is worth the time and effort to read, and I hope you will avail yourselves of the entertainment. I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5.

This collection was released by Carina Press in December, 2011.

Could Most of Us Even Remember our First Love? "The Christmas Cookie Chronicles: Carrie" by Lori Wilde

Come join a meeting of the First Love Cookie Club

"On Christmas Eve, if you sleep with kismet cookies under your pillow and dream of your own true love, he will be your destiny.""

Carrie MacGregor doesn't believe this--not one bit. She might be a "paid up" member of the Cookie Club and the local Sweethearts Knitting Club, but she's not about to give in to the forced ho-ho-ho of the season. And why? Mark Leland. When he left town he broke Carrie's heart. Now, the local-guy-made good is back, hosting the reality show "Fact or Fantasy."

Fact: Mark broke her heart. Fantasy: her friends think they'll be getting back together. But could the magic of a Twilight, Texas Christmas make Carrie's secret dreams come true?

Once again we encounter a wonderful holiday story that may seek to embrace the miracles and wonder of a Christmas season, but which is really, at its core, a delightful love story. But as most mature adults will testify, the road to true love seldom runs smooth, and so it is with Carrie, a woman whose first love left her, their home town, their brief, weekend-long marriage, and left her with eight years of silence. Mark was the man who stole her heart, who gave her a sense of belonging, and then disappeared even though he left her with promises that somehow never came true. Now Mark is a famous TV personality and host of a reality show dedicated to debunk local myths throughout the United States. The producers have now focused on Twilight and its myth that one can and will be re-united with one's true love when a penny is cast in the town fountain or one sleeps with these special cookies under one's pillow. Carrie is prepared to testify that it is all foolishness.

This is a story of two people who have gotten off the emotional track even to the point that they have strayed from their life goals and plans. Carrie is now a successful business owner but inwardly she is bitter and disappointed. Mark somehow knows that while he has the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry, complete with arm-candy women and sumptuous life style, he knows in his heart that what he has always wanted to write is a novel. He is a journalist at heart.

I found this story to be a delightful read, one that reminded me of those days when I wondered what path my life would take. It introduces the reader to fun characters and a town which has built its entire social calendar and economy on this business of lovers finding each other. I had the sense that I was once again experiencing some of the feelings that made Carrie's days depressing, her persistent sense of disappointment over Mark's betrayal of their love, and her almost palpable loneliness. Yet underlying the obvious negatives of Carrie's personal experience was also a layer of optimism which even Carrie's unhappiness couldn't erase. It's a holiday story, to be sure, but it is a love story that will entertain and be a fun read at any time of the year. I had not read any of Ms Wilde's work recently, but was excited to be re-acquainted with her style, her evident story telling ability, and a story that left me with the sense that this is a story that will leave readers with that satisfaction serious readers experience when completing a really good story.

This is a book you'll not want to miss. I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

The Kindle edition of this novel was published in November, 2011.

Romance in the Midst of War: Deadly Descent by Kaylea Cross

Devon Crawford is an officer; Air Force Pararescueman Cam Munro is enlisted. Dev flies medical evacuations; Cam jumps into danger zones to save lives. Dev wants to return home from Afghanistan with her heart untouched; Cam will do anything to win the woman he loves.

Reaching for happiness in a war zone is the last thing Captain Devon Crawford plans, but she can't ignore the feelings she's hidden for so long. Cam's sexy charm and wicked kisses weaken her resistance, but she's too afraid of losing him to give in.

When Dev's helicopter and crew are shot down and set up as bait by a notorious warlord, Cam risks all to save the team. What he doesn't know is that the trap is set for him....

* * * * *

Just as readers were inundated with stories that grew out of past wartime venues, so we are experiencing a number of fine fictional efforts set in the midst of the Middle East conflict in Iraq or Afghanistan. This story takes readers right into the war action through the experiences of a Black Hawk helicopter pilot whose mission is primarily rescuing wounded soldiers. It is an incredibly dangerous assignment, and yet Capt. Devon Crawford feels that sense of power and the adrenaline rush each time she lifts off the pad. Yet the certainty of war's hurt and possible death is never absent. Add to the danger from attacks by the enemy as she is hovering over the landing zone, weather can often play a role that may mean the difference between life or death to everyone concerned.

Now Devon must wrestle with her own inner demons: her decision to turn back to the base rather than put her craft and crew in mortal danger because of deadly fog has now given her the sense that she was partly responsible for the man she had been dating before she was deployed to Afghanistan. Even though she was preparing to break off the relationship, her sense of deep guilt is keeping her from feeling OK about her almost overwhelming attraction to his friend, Cam. It is the kind of survivor guilt many experience because of the deadly nature of war.

This story is full of colorful characters, all of whom are really special people, skilled and ready to do their duty, but still dealing with that underlying reality that any one of them might not return from the next mission. Cam and Devon are kept apart by the fact that one is an officer and the other enlisted, by their continuing struggle over Ty's death, by being deployed on missions at different times of the day, and eventually, by needing medical care that means that they are separated by thousands of miles. Yet throughout there is that connection with all the characters--the bonds that develop when human beings find themselves in this kind of pressure cooker circumstance.

I had not previously read any of this author's work but I am looking forward to this continuing series as well as looking up other works available. The story is well-written, the plot and storyline are interesting from start to finish, and the insertion of passages which bring the reader into the thoughts of the enemy keep the tension at a consistent level. This book is definitely a "keeper" and one that is well-worth reading. Even though all war stories bring in the crisis of battle, this book seemed to have a fresh feel about it. I felt that I had been privileged to share the characters' experiences in a way that has not always been the case. I hope you will find time to enjoy this book. It is really good! I give it a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

This novel was released in September, 2011, by Carina Press.

Can Love Survive the Hurt of Betrayal? "Reece's Bride" by Kat Martin

Wounded in battle, Major Reese Dewar returns to England—but his injuries are nothing compared to his shattered heart

Years ago, love-struck Reese departed his home at Briarwood with a promise from raven-haired Elizabeth Clemens that she would make a life with him upon his return. But mere months later, she married the Earl of Aldridge, attaining wealth and status Reese could never match. Memories of that betrayal make his homecoming far more bitter than sweet.

Seeing Elizabeth on his doorstep dressed in widow's garb twists the knife even deeper. But fear for her young son's safety has overcome her pride: she begs Reese for protection from those who would see the boy dead to possess his fortune. He agrees to an uneasy alliance, sensing Elizabeth still harbors deep secrets—and Reese knows that he's placing himself in danger…of losing his heart all over again.

I have been reading a number of novels that deal with the fall-out of war, some set in contemporary times as the few I have reviewed just prior to this book, and some set in historical venues as in this story where several of the characters have come home from the Crimean War, some injured or missing limbs, and some without a scratch. But even those who managed to escape physical wounds have still often paid a high price for their service and sacrifice. In the case of our here, Reece DeWar, he has come home with an injured leg that is slow in healing as well as a shattered heart, a wounded spirit, and a whole load of hatred for the woman he loved, who had promised him faithfully that she was his alone, but now she is a widow with a son. While he was gone she had married a titled and wealthy aristocrat. However, this novel is testimony to the fact that there is often far more to the story than meets the eye.

Elizabeth is now a dowager countess with a son whose title and fortune is being threatened by his father's brother--his fathers greedy brother--and who have been slowly poisoning her with opiates in order to take over the guardianship of the young boy. His safety, his future, his very life are in jeopardy, and she runs to her ex-suitor for safety and sanctuary. Reece is angry and unwelcoming, but he is also an honorable man, and when Elizabeth collapses at his feet, obviously terribly unwell, he cannot turn her away. The story of their subsequent encounters with danger force Reece to seek safety and protection for this woman and her son.

This is not a simplistic love story and it is not a historical romance that fits into the Regency romance format. It is certainly another encounter with the English way of living and doing, of the ways of the aristocracy, and the struggles of Reece and Elizabeth to find some kind of peace together that will protect their son. It is only down the road a bit that Reece will learn more of the "why" of Elizabeth's seeming betrayal. Those who were loyal to him and openly hostile to her have their eyes opened gradually and that is an important part of the story. Reece's delight in Elizabeth's son is a heart-warming part of the story that reveals a great deal about what kind of man he really is. His loyalty to his friends, to comrades from the war, to doing the right thing are the defining values for this interesting man and go great lengths to add to the story as well as bring secondary characters in that flesh out the story and make the novel "work" on many levels.

This novel was released in 2009 by Harlequin under their Mira imprint, but it is one that is a delightful read and should still get attention from historical romance readers. Many people will recognize this author from her recent "Raines of Wind Canyon" series about brothers who have had difficulties early in their lives and while going into different occupations are still loyal and true to one another and those they come to love. Ms Martin brings that same kind of attention to the writing task in this novel. It's one that is worth reading and I hope those of you who do so will enjoy it as much as I. I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

The Hurt Just Seems To Go On and On: "Touch Me" by Callie Croix

Arriving home on leave from his tour of duty, Army Captain Alex Montoya knows there's a beautiful woman waiting for him-his best friend's sister. She's always been off limits...until now. He fully intends to move them out of being "just friends" and encourage her to release the sexual needs he senses she's buried deep.

Tianna McIntyre is starting over after her marriage ended. Her ex-husband weakened her self-esteem and caused her to deny her true sexual desires. But being around Alex brings all her dormant fantasies to the surface, and now Tianna feels the stirrings of her secret, submissive wishes.

Determined to help repair the damage Tianna's ex did to her self-worth, Alex will use whatever means necessary to convince her they're meant for each other, including tying her down to make sure he has her full attention while he takes her to the heights of pleasure she's always dreamed of.

There are indeed an endless stream of stories that come out of the horror of war and the effect that such military conflict brings, not only to those doing the fighting, but to those who must remain at home, who must contend with the long-term effects of injury, and whose lives are forever altered, often not in positive ways. Out of the wounds and disaster of the Middle East conflict comes this story of three people who must live with the damage war continues to do, even after the original injuries occur.

Tianna has been separated from her veteran husband, a man who she loved and who loved her, who went to war with every expectation of returning home and picking up the frazzled strands of his life and their relationship. Now he is struggling with a wound that has changed him, altered his personality and the way he relates to her and the world around him. Known as Traumatic Brain Injury, Tianna's husband has become hurtful, abusive pschologically as he criticizes her looks, her housekeeping, her professional skills as a physical rehab therapist, and on and on. When she shares her sexual needs and desires with him he berates and demeans her as a whore. Slowly but surely he kills her love for him and ultimately, their marriage. She is now house sitting for her brother's best friend who an Army captain and is serving in Afghanistan.

Alex is home for a short post-injury leave, having been involved in an accident that wounded him and resulted in the death of several of his squad. He has desired Tianna for a long time but has been prevented from acting on his love for her by her marriage and the fact that she is his best friend's sister. But no longer. He senses that she is not only saddened by the failure to help her husband and the death of her marriage, but she is unfulfilled as a woman and he wants to be the person to bring life back into her passionate spirit.

This is a novella that talks plainly about the inner wounds of war, not only to the soldiers but to those who must find a way to live with men and women who will probably never be the same. It is also a story that is blunt about the hurt and sense of emotional numbness that comes when one's own needs are stymied and when those who express their needs are belittled verbally abused. Yet in the midst of all the negatives comes a love relationship that is new and good, that is poised to bring Tianna back to life and which potentially will get both Tianna and Alex past the bad stuff war brings into human experience. It is not an extended read and will not take an inordinate amount of time to enjoy, but it is good writing, a good story, a slice of life in the real world with real people, and certainly set in our contemporary times. This is a relatively new author for me but I have recently read two or three of her works. I find her writing style to be very readable and the editing of her work is well-done. This is a story that will entertain as well as instruct, but it is no light-weight love tale. There is a lot here and it is one of those kinds of stories that makes me feel that I have been enlightened through the experiences of fictional characters. I hope you will get this novella and will find it as compelling as I have. I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

This novella was released in January, 2012, by Carina Press.