My O My, Look At Her Now . . . "Her Wildest Dreams" by Shiloh Walker

Timid and shy, in her wildest dreams, Allie never imagined Alex would look at her with anything more than friendship and maybe a little pity in his eyes.

One horrible night Allie is attacked and Alex comes rushing to her rescue.
He wonders if he is really needed when he finds a little hellcat fighting off her attacker. Much later that night, Alex holds that little hellcat in his arms.

Months later, he runs into Allie again and he barely recognizes her. She's no longer the shy little wallflower she had once been.

Problem is…she doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with him. Allie's about to find out that Alex is the only man guaranteed to make her wildest dreams come true.

This novel is a sequel to Good Girls Don't and tells the story of Allie, a very quiet, shy young woman who has a nice job and keeps to herself and knuckles under to her over-protective and over-bearing cop brother. She is a nursing assistant in a convalescent facility and the patients have become her friends. Whenever someone wants to take some extra time off using a false excuse, Allie is always there to work the extra shifts. And then something happens to jar her out of this carefully orchestrated existence: a drug addict attempts to molest her and steal her purse in the dark area just outside the book store she visits weekly. Surprisingly, her efforts to fight off the attacker are successful, and in addition, the cop who responds to the call is her brother's partner Alex, a man she has known since she was a teen. (He is the man she has always had a crush on as well.)

The fact that she is so easily dismissed as a person comes home to her as she sits patiently in the police station waiting for Alex to take her home. After a while, she realizes that he has forgotten her. Only as she is waiting at the curb for a cab does Alex realize that she has left and catches her in time. He takes her home to his place in order to feed her and help her to talk out the traumatic events of the evening. Somehow, as she relaxes, Alex begins to see her differently, and lo and behold, she ends up in his arms and they make love. In the euphoria of the encounter, Alex's responses lead Allie to believe that he is disgusted with himself for even getting close to her, and in her hurt and upset, she dresses quickly and leaves. Allie begins to realize that her entire life has been as a doormat and she determines to change.

Some people make adjustments in their lives; others CHANGE! And Allie was one of those that really made some significant changes in her life. Over the next couple of years, she completely changed her looks with a new wardrobe, re-styling her hair, using a gym membership, going back to school and getting her R.N. certification, quiting that old dead-end job and now working in a vibrant Emergency Room environment, and taking a trip to Ireland, a journey she had long planned. While there she met a young man with whom she had a two-week affair--her first lover. Wow!! She was on her way. When she returned, at her brother's request, Alex met her plane and didn't even recognize her. He was still "knocked off his nine-pins" over the one time love-making that had occurred on that night years earlier, and unbeknownst to Allie, that encounter had refused to leave his memory--it was one of the most overwhelming encounters he had ever experienced. Now he sees a woman who has "come into herself" and not only has Allie changed within herself, she has also changed toward him. Now he had to treat her with respect--not just as the baby sister of his partner.

This is a compelling story of a woman who experienced a significant metamorphisis not only externally, but internally as well. Now she is not willing to settle for "whatever," but she has goals and dreams that she strives to achieve. She is no longer afraid to go after what she wants. In truth, her desire for a relationship with Alex has not diminished, but she is no longer willing to be that forgettable female who just hangs around the periphery of her brother's world. This is also a story about a police officer who has knocked around the dating world for years and is wanting something more and he wants Allie. But she is the baby sister of his partner and Mike's response to any involvement with Allie would not be positive. Oh brother!!

I found this story so very readable, and one that kept drawing me forward. Ms Walker's writing style keeps all the aspects of the story in balance between the external action and the internal monologue within the characters. And there is something that truly hold's the readers interest in watching these two people find their own path, realize their own goals, and eventually find each other and the ways in which their personalities, their dynamics as individuals and all that goes into an attraction come to the fore. Both Alex and Allie are fascinating in that I think there are so many people just like them. They were almost iconic in my mind and perhaps that was the deeper attraction for me to their stories. This book was published several years ago, but of the Walker writings I have read, it still stand out as one of the stories that "speaks" to me below the surface.

If you haven't encountered this book, it is well worth the time and effort to obtain and read. I give it a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

I'm Back From Desert Island Keepers and I'm Still Reading . . . "Good Girls Don't" by Shiloh Walker

Well, hello, everyone and I'm glad to be back over here at the Book Place and sharing with all of you again. For three days I was one of those DIK ladies and it is always fun and a challenge. It is an honor to be included in such a great group of reviewers as well as guest authors.

Perhaps you might want to visit there if you haven't already--yesterday I let my irritations fly far and wide and ranted about folks who find way too much time on their hands and decide to use it to say nasty things about others, especially those who have ingredients in their lives that about which they disapprove. You can click here if you want to check it out -- Desert Island Keepers -- and I hope you keep going back. Lots of good stuff over there.

I'm still in my discovery mode of reading some of the older books written by some of my favorite authors. Shiloh Walker has been one of the authors I keep coming back to and who has wowed me with a number of her works that have been out for some time. Good Girls Don't is one of those books that has been published for about five years and which lots of people miss while chasing down the latest and newest releases. I found this book almost by accident and thorough

ly enjoyed it. In fact, it is on my Keeper list and I have gone back to it a couple of times.

Lori has a nice, safe job and a nice, safe fiancé. She has played it safe most of her life. Until she finds that nice, safe fiancé in bed with another woman. But the ultimate betrayal is that he is willing to play sexy bedroom games with the neighbor that he wouldn't play with Lori, no matter how often she asked. She kicks him out of her bed, out of her house, and out of her life. Now she's ready to make her fantasies come true. She starts at Exposé, a sex club where anything goes.

Mike has been attracted to Lori since moving in next door. She is taken though, and even if she were free, she's not his type. Too sweet, too innocent, too nice. So what in hell is she doing at Exposé? He doesn't know, but he's determined to protect her from the other guys in the club . . . and from himself. Determined to protect her even if it means bringing her pain.

By the time Mike realizes Lori doesn't want or need to be protected, it's almost too late.

Mike is a cop who has no intention of ever marrying--he is too involved in his law enforcement responsibilities, the hours are hell, and his sexual tastes are just too dark and rough for any woman to take on permanently. He gets what he needs from the subs at Expose and that just has to be good enough. He is mightily attracted to his neighbor, but apart from the fact that she is already engaged, same reasons, same excuses. He spends time with his partner Alex, and he finds lots to do with buddies when not at the club. His life is OK.

Lori wants something more from her relationship with her fiance. She tells him about needing more than "vanilla" sex, but he is controlling and decides what she needs, completely ignoring what she shares with him. The @#$% hits the fan when she comes home early from her job and finds him boinking another woman, doing exactly the kinds of kinky things she has been begging to do with him for months. That was the end . . . and he and all his stuff is on the curb. Good thing they hadn't signed the papers to put him on the deed to her house. Now she is free to follow through finding some way to answer the darker needs that won't go away, that seem to swirl around inside and which keep intruding on her composed and organized life. So she makes a few trips to Expose and there she sees her sexy neighbor who immediately gets angry because she is there, declares that she has no business being there, and ushers her to her car--on more than one occasion. What's it going to take to 1) get Mike to take her seriously and 2) either get involved with her or leave her alone?

This short novel is really about two people who know what is going on inside of them and while they really desire a committed relationship, are convinced that no one would be willing to "take them on" long-term. Both Mike and Lori have lots to give, but they are also convinced that any long-term relationship is, by definition, vanilla. Their journey of discovery is troubled and loaded with ups and downs, disappointments, and small rejections that really don't hinder each from seeking what they need, but which postpone them seeking what they need with each other. Even when they finally take their liason home, they are both afraid to take the other seriously. Being hurt in the past, both really have some serious trust issues which is kind of counter-productive, since any form of BDSM really rests on a foundation of trust. They begin their relationship as a "no-strings" neighbors-with-benefits kind of togetherness, but the question is really if they can move beyond past disappointments toward a positive involvement that really meets their deeper emotional need to belong, to be loved for who they are, bumps, urges, bunions, and all.

As always, Shiloh Walker is one of those writers who has proven that she is well in touch with the human condition, with those deeper feelings that drive individuals toward one another, sometimes not even realizing how needy they are. She seems to have the sensitivity and perception to create characters with whom her readers can relate and which resonate with real people. Readers may not align themselves with the kink in this story, but they can always understand strong personalities who put forth a very mature and hefty public persona, but who are needy and wanting on the inside. These are the kinds of characters we all know and who are far more numerous in our circles of friendship and employment colleagues than most of us realize. It is one of the reasons I keep going back to her books, both old and new.

So I hope that if you are looking for a really good love story that won't take up boogobbles of your time, you will look this book over and make it a part of your TBR pile. It is well-worth the effort and is one of those HEA stories that just seems curiously satisfying when all is said and done. I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5.

Review: Her Best Friend's Lover by Shiloh Walker

There are times in everyone's life when each person comes face to face with something they want that they can't have. For me it is an XJ-6 Jaguar sedan and a brand new Macintosh I-Book. For others it will obviously be other things, but the most difficult situation a person encounters is when the "something" one wants is a person--their presence in one's life, their love and loving. So it is with the two main characters in this early story from Shiloh Walker's creative mind.

Dale is a published author who is a great guy, loves women, and who never has any trouble getting a steady stream of them to fall for him and fall into his bed. Yet while he is making love to them, he is envisioning an old love from his home town, a girl who only dated him a few times in order to make the guy she really wanted jeolous. He has been living next door to his best friend Lauren, an artist whose paintings had gained national and international fame. For five years they had been best friends and Lauren had watched the steady stream of women in and out of Dale's life with interest and dismay. You see, the "something" she wanted and couldn't have was Dale. She had been one of those girls in high school that just didn't seem interested in the boys in her classes. She didn't seem much interested in men in general. Not that she didn't date, but she was more interested in her art and in making sure that her life was carefully under control.

These two very creative and interesting people were indeed best friends who sniped at each other about the romantic shambles each saw in the life of the other. Neither seemed to make any headway with the other--Dale couldn't seem to give up his obsession with the old love interest Nikki, and Lauren knew that no one would do for her except Dale. So she kept him in the "friend" category carefully and with some emotional distance between them, while Dale chafed under her accurate and perceptive analysis of his profligate lifestyle. He was constantly trying to "fix her up" with guys he knew, believing that she was lonely and needed romance in her life. She was and she did, but she didn't want it from anyone other than Dale. That is, until one night, when Dale had once again found out that the old love interest was again pregnant, another proof that she was well and truly married to the man she wanted--and not to him. Having consumed a fair share of beers and a goodly amount of whiskey, he is drunk and bawdy and irreverant when Lauren comes to the door to apologize for a "fight" they had a week earlier. For the first time ever, Dale "sees" her sexually and unbeknownst to him in his inebriated state, he takes her virginity while shouting Nikki's name. He does not even remember their encounter later, so Lauren does not tell him that he is the father of the child she is now carrying.

This is a love story in the truest sense of the word--two lonely and emotionally scarred people, both seeking to avoid the hurts of the past, both needing to love and be loved. Both Dale and Lauren are on a journey of discovery that will eventually force them to face their past and to make some important decisions about the present. Each must decide not only if they have faith in their growing relationship but whether they have faith in themselves.

This novel, like all Shiloh Walker's stories, challenges the reader to look deeper than the obvious. We all have secrets but how do we handle those? Do we share them with those we love? Do we trust them enough to let them see us as we are, or do we screen them out for fear of being rejected? These are the core questions I think this novel poses. And even though I know that Ms Walker likes the HEA as much as the next author, sometimes getting there is painful, just as life's reality can be painful. Fictional Happily-Ever-After's are often easier to obtain, and life can dish out some fairly overwhelming realities. We don't plan for them, or perhaps we don't realize that we are setting ourselves up for the let-downs that come. And perhaps that is the other core truth that is operative in this story. Dale and Lauren were both honorable people, but their difficulties were not so much the result of normal relational wear and tear. Both had what we now call "issues" that kept intruding into a relationship that needed to be open, honest, and filled with trust. Is that not the way we should all live? Risky? Yes, absolutely. But there are no for-sure kinds of relationships in real life. These fictional characters remind us to give up the fear and embrace the hope that comes when someone is brave enough to say, out loud: "I love you."

This novel is well-written and the story moves along beautifully. It engages the reader's attention from the first paragraph and keeps one "hooked" until the very end. I know that I kept wondering how these two could be getting along so well--there had to be trouble on the horizon. And there was. How they weathered the storms is a great part of this tale.

Ms Walker has given romance fans many stories to celebrate and embrace. As one of her early works she shows the promise that we all now see continually fulfilled in her recent publications. It is another reason to go back and enjoy what came early on. It is a reminder that really good love stories never get old. I give this story a 4.75 rating out of 5.