Review: Bachelor Unleashed by Brenda Jackson

This latest novel from the pen of acclaimed writer Brenda Jackson is due for release in November, 2010. Ms Jackson has over 70 titles to her credit and has proven that her writing expertise and creativity have not waned over the years.

This is a wonderful love story about two well-educated, highly intelligent and personable people who have been severly wounded in the "Love Wars." Each had given their full love and devotion to a person who was unworthy and both had decided that they would never again allow themselves to be placed in such a hurtful situation. So now Xavier Kane and Farrah Langley have been in a torrid love affair having met through mutual friends. Both of them have made a point of finding physical satisfaction in brief affairs in the past. However, their affair has gone on for nearly a year and Farrah has now decided to call it quits. She was beginning to feel way too comfortable with Xavier, even to the point of thinking about him more than she wanted to, looking forward to his visits more than she wanted to, and beginning to fear that the walls around her heart were in danger of weakening. Xavier accepted her decision, even though he didn't necessarily agree with it. He knew that she had been terribly hurt by a husband who was unfaithful and who had a child with someone else while denying her the child she wanted. He wanted her to have complete control over her personal life so he acquiesed.

Six months later they literally and physically bumped into each other in a New York City shop. Both of them were there on business. Just those few minutes made them realize that their mutual attraction hadn't lessened, and over the next several days they had more than ample opportunity to realize the truth that they still might want to resume their affair. What Farrah didn't realize is that Xavier wanted more than just an extended affair with her and he was determined to get the whole package, marriage included.

My sense is that as erotic as their encounters may be, these two people are learning the futility of trying to keep their emotions out of the intimacy equation. The betrayal of their trust with their ex's kept them apart and their insistence on keeping their relationship purely physical was becoming more difficult to maintain. Farrah was being reminded often by her best friend that she was unfairly judging all men by her ex-husband. And Xavier was becoming aware that his feelings for Farrah--just the pure truth that he missed her--were beyond the need for an occasional tryst.

Ms Jackson has written a story that surely resonates with all those who have loved and lost, especially by being betrayed by the person they trusted the most. Those kinds of wounds don't heal quickly and often don't heal well. The fear of being re-injured can be quite overwhelming and it seems that's the case with both these people, especially Farrah. This is a novel about loving and trusting, about hurt and betrayal, about fear of the future as well as the fear of being close to another human being. Yet throughout this story there is the sense that both Xavier and Farrah really want to move beyond being stuck in this emotional impasse. Their attachment to each other, in spite of six months apart, seems to testify to this.

So, romance fiction fans, here's a great story for you. I think you'll like both these good people because they are real, human, flawed as are all of us, authentic in sharing their feelings at times and not sharing them at others. It is a novel that will keep your interest and perhaps encourage all of us to work very hard to be faithful to those we love. It is just a very, very good read! I give this novel a rating of 4.75 out of 5.

Review: The Promise by Brenda Joyce

Historical fiction has always been my first literary love. In the days when I had a house full of grade school kids, I would inform the family that a certain day would be "Mom's Reading Day." With kids in school and the evening meal in the oven, I would retreat behind my bedroom door with a stack of historical novellas--short, easy to read, and a feast for my mind and a wonderful way to "check out" for a few hours from the mother grind.

My interest started with the classics of Georgette Heyer, Jean Plaidy,Anya Seton and others. But later on I had a subscription to Harlequin Books and was delighted when I received short but interesting historical novels--just what I needed for my reading days and for those few "reading" moments I allowed myself each night before turning out the light.

My delight in historical romances has never faded. As anyone who visits this blog regularly realizes, my fictional feast has grown to include many other kinds of romance fiction, non-fiction books, and will eventually include some philosophical treatises and possibly some family/self-help books. But the book in question right now is one more delight in my long love affair with historical romance. It is the latest in the De Warenne family saga and is one of those books that helps fill in the gaps that are often appear in love stories, periods of time when critical happenings in the romantic history of a couple just seem to get left out. Thus it is with Alexi and Elysse De Warenne. Parts of their story is told in other novels in this series, but this particular book details their personal encounters, all the way from their childhood, through their six year estrangement, and the renewal of their marriage.

There are relationships that just seem destined to play out and to endure, no matter the circumstances. It would seem that Alexi & Elysse's friendship began when they were mere children, each fascinated with the other, connected by friendship and affection which remained as they grew into their adolescence and beyond. Elysse was the pampered darling of her parents, easily one of the most beautiful women in Ireland and certainly one of the most sought after of all the debutantes of her time. That she was an accomplished flirt was a given. That her heart had always belonged to Alexi was probably not as evident to her as it was to everyone else, but it was true. He always knew that she belonged to him and had even entertained serious thoughts that she would one day be his wife. That is, until he discovered sex, and then he determined that no one woman would ever tie him down or prevent him from enjoying all the women he pleased. Likewise, Elysse believed that it was her right to flirt with every male in sight. She was confused by her responses to Alexi but never considered him a serious suitor. He was just a best friend. Clearly, their future path was in serious danger.

Matters came to a head when Elysse insisted on flirting with a close friend and shipmate of Alexi's who he had brought home to meet his family following a two year absence as captain of his own ship. William Montgomery was his friend, his shipping pilot, but he was also an opportunist who was more than responsive to Elysse's beauty and was led on by her flirting. Against the warnings of Alexi that his friend was not "a gentleman," she allowed Montgomery to take her for a moonlight stroll that turned ugly. Disheveled, distraught and afraid, Alexi rescues Elysse from Montgomery's unwanted attentions, but the encounter becomes an argument which becomes a fight which results in Montgomery's death. Her reputation ruined, Alexi offers to marry her to protect her, but the circumstances are less than fortuitous for their marriage. Angered at her part in the whole debacle and feeling guilty at his own part in the death of his friend, Alexi leaves on a sailing voyage the night of their wedding, refusing to return for six years.

Six years later he returns the hero of the China trading and shipping industry and holder of the speed record. He has a well-earned reputation as having a mistress in every port which he doesn't deny. After all, his marriage is in name only. He feels justified having heard reports that his wife has had her share of lovers in his absence, that she is one of London's most dazzling hostesses and living as an independent woman in every way. Little did Alexi know that his wafe was still a virgin and had remained faithful to him. She refused to get an annulment because she didn't want anyone to know that their marriage had never been consummated.

This is the story of two passionate, really good people who are caught in the throes of a romantic tragedy that just never seems to get any better. Their attraction to one another cannot be denied. Their anger and hurt over the past seems insurmountable. This is a very emotional story, one that certainly held me in its thrall. There were times I wasn't sure they would ever be able to find their way back to one another. This tale is of a love which grows out of deep friendship but which is wounded almost beyond repair. It is a story which is built around the idea that the human spirit can endure almost anything when hope is not dead. But there were occasions when hope, friendship, and possibly love were doomed. It is a story of strength and fidelity, perhaps mishandled and misunderstood, but there all the same. And in the final analysis, Alexi and Elysse had to look deeply into themselves and decide who and what were really important to each of them. Like all good fiction, there is a lesson for the reader and one that can speak to the futility of jeolousy and anger, miscommunication and a refusal to see beyond one's own hurt pride. Love can find a way, but sometimes people make that discovery very difficult.

The De Warenne family is quite large and the novels written about their individual stories have come to result in a significant number of books over the years. Yet it is to Ms Joyce's credit that the energy and vitality in each novel has not diminished throughout the series. Such energy is never easy to sustain. This latest story is well written and is also a historical feast in reference to the development of the shipping trade in England. While the characters and specific companies involved may be fictional, the historical context is not. It is one of the reasons that I appreciate good historical romances. They are fun to read but they are a really great way to learn a lot of history.

So be sure and latch on to this book. It is a great read for romance fans and will please the history fans as well. I give this novel a rating of 4 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.

The Week in Review: OMG . . . I Can't Believe I Have All Those Books!!

Lots and lots of reading this week, not unlike most of my weeks for the past nine months or so. But this week was unusual in that I had to catalogue all the books I had waiting to be read for review -- and that's not even counting the books that I read on my own for this blog and for my own enjoyment. Don't get me wrong. I actually tend to enjoy almost all the books I have waiting to be reviewed for The Book Binge. Lots of new authors but some that are also on the Favorites list, too. Some of those have gone on the "To Be Re-read" shelf and I have a number of ebooks that are on the re-read list as well. I'm not sure I will accept new books for weeks and weeks and weeks . . . well, maybe when I see what is coming toward me I might change my mind on that(LOL). I just can't seem to resist a new book . . . just like the girl in the musical "Oklahoma" -- "I'm just a girl who can't say no!" Why do I get the feeling she wasn't talking about books?

One of the things I have decided this week is to be sure to post some reviews on this blog of the early books of some of my favorite authors as well as display book covers of books that are newly released and are scheduled to be released this fall. My next review for this blog will be a book that was one of Shilow Walkers earliest--and then I hope to be reading one of her latest. I have a bias against the way so many romance fans seem to miss out on some of the early work of romance authors. I suppose there is a belief that as the writing expertise grows, so grows the quality. And that is not an unrealistic expectation. But I have also read some "first novels" that are so spectacular that they still knock my literary socks off. So if you come across a book review on this blog of a work that has some age on it, don't be surprised. I will also continue to include books that are recent, possibly new releases, and try to preserve a good mix between the two.

Until next time . . .

Review: Nothing Personal by Jaci Burton

Arranged marriages were far more common in centuries past but were even more common in the early 20th century. It is not often that one comes across an arranged marriage, or at least one that the participants will be honest about. I wonder sometimes if there are more high society marriages that are "arranged" in some way to preserve social standing or family fortunes. Anyway, Jaci Burton has come up with a novel that is certainly contemporary in its setting and very modern in its scope. The characters are taken right out of corporate America and the ramifications have their impact in a modern boardroom.

Wanting to insure that his playboy grandson married and settled down, Ryan McKay's grandfather had put a caveat in his will that stated that Ryan must marry and father a child in one year or lose controlling interest in the family corporation, one which owned some of the largest hotels in Las Vegas. With five hours to go, Ryan's fiance changed her mind--she didn't want a pregnancy to ruin her cover girl figure--Ryan was back to square one and facing turning over the family corporation to his cousin, a man who cared far more about the power than about sustaining the viability of the company and insuring the livelihood for hundreds of people. Turning to his ever-dependable adminstrative assistant, Faith Brewer, McKay proposes marriage and our story begins.

Now Faith was one of those kinds of women whose mothers constantly imprint their minds with the notion that they are plain--dull, just another woman to blend in with the masses, unnoticeable and better off that way. So imagine her chagrin or better yet, her astonishment when Ryan McKay asks her to "help" him out with his problem by marrying him. A emergency business proposition, a solution to the McKay difficulties--nothing personal. Living together, sleeping together, making a baby together, and then divorce after one year. Could she do it? Could she take a chance on venturing into this emotional mine field? In just a few hours Faith was transformed into a fairy princess complete with the designer wedding gown and a wedding ring to die for. But it was just business -- nothing personal. Perhaps the greatest surprise in store for Ryan was that Faith was prepared to truly be his wife, even though she knew it was only for one year. Marriage meant something to her, not for the purpose of preserving a family corporation. And the child? Ryan was prepared to sign away all rights to "her" child. He didn't want a family. So the journey of discovery for both of them begins.

This is a beautiful romance novel that embraces the best and the worst in people, love won and love lost, rapture, ecstacy, and disappointment. It is living the high life with money as no object while facing the emptiness that conterfeit relationship brings. In the midst of this is that simple but stalwart woman, Faith, and her determination that no matter how bloodied she may ultimately be, she would be strong for herself and for her child, a little one that would be loved and would never feel alone like she had felt all her childhood.

Of course, it is a love story with the incomparable stamp of the Burton writing expertise. The plot is probably not all that unique, but somehow the story stands on its own, filled with all the stuff that keeps a reader glued to the pages. This story was published several years ago, but like so many good stories, deserves to be read or revisited. It is my hope that more romance fans will discover this book. I give it a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

Review: Black Passion by Lorie O'Clare

A number of months ago I reviewed the first in this series from Lorie O'Clare entitled Black Seduction, the story of a den of jaguar shapeshifters, the VicMoran brothers, plus Angela Kalusian, who live in a community in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Angela's littermate, Natasha, once her closest and dearest friend besides being her sister, now has decided that the coffers of the community can be enriched by "selling" her community members as mercenary killers for hire. She is bloated with the greed for wealth and power, and the VicMoran brothers and Angela are wanting no part of it. They leave, and their destination is Central America, the only other place where jaguar shapeshifters reside, deep in the heart of the Costa Rican rain forest. In the course of their journey, Angela and Raul become mates.

Now this second novel in the series picks up the story of these brothers as they have not settled in their new home. Angela and Raul VicMoran have established their own den, and the Ran and Rafe, as single males, have a den of their own. This novel is really Ran's story and how he acquires a mate, one he is not sure he really wants but obtains in spite of his reservations about her family, especially her mother.

While the first novel was really insight more into the personal relationship of Raul and Angela and the inner workings of a family, this second novel expands on what it means to be a part of the greater community with its power struggles, its family dynamics, and how this jaguar community resolves the issues that are vital to its survival. The evil that was left behind in Colorado is now threatening them and Ran's expertise with computer technology assists them in being prepared for the onslaught of unprincipled forces who want to capture these shapeshifters and force them to be mercenary killers to satisfy Natash's greed and lust for power.

At the core of this story, however, is Ran and Olivia's love story and the dynamics of their mating. Olivia is out of step with her community; she wants to be independent, determining her future for herself, yet forced to remain in her parents' den as a single female, under the heavy hand of her overbearing mother and her seeminly passive father. Yet her desire to mate with Ran, a male who has fascinated her ever since the brothers arrived in her community, gets out of control. Even though Ran is aware of her mother's penchant for being in charge (a position that is not favored throughout the jaguar community), Ran is drawn to this beautiful feline and mates with her. He is distressed at her unwillingness to be cooperative with the rules of the community and resists moving forward with the mating process. Yet his desire for her does not fade, and in spite of all his efforts, her scent remains on him--proof positive that she is already his mate.

The ups and downs of this rocky romance, complicated by a manipulative mom, outside pressures from those seeking to capture and imprison the jaguars, form the core of this novel. I think Ms O'Clare has a true story teller's heart and yet in this second novel I think the words got just a little bit away from her. Unlike the first book, she lost just a little of her edge, efficiency and economy of word usage and the passages containing internal dialogue, especially over the problems with Olivia's mother, just seemed to get away from her. Now this may be more about me as a former English teacher than about the author. I am more than willing to acknowledge that. But in spite of what I felt was an overload of verbage at some points, I think this is a really good story and a very enjoyable one. I like shapeshifter stories anyway so was fascinated with the fictional society that O'Clare created. It was inventive and brought in the tension often encountered when two males are interested in one female, the part played by the larger community in the process, and the internal family dynamic. The loving was certainly hot, but I felt it was well balanced within the context of the wider community. I was quite taken with their interdependence. Would that humans could work so well together.

So I can recommend this novel as one that feline shapeshifter fans as well as romance fans would probably enjoy and find readable and stimulating. I give it a rating of 3.75 out of 5.

Review: Aftershock by Jill Shalvis

Those of us who live in Southern California can relate well to this story. In my own family, my oldest daughter and her family were stuck in the San Francisco Loma Prieta quake and were out of communication with us for hours. It was very scary. And then hubby and I and our kids living close by all had a shock in January, 1994, at 4:00 AM , when the house started shaking and just didn't seem prone to stop. The Northridge Quake was a dilly--a 7.0 biggie.

So this story rings very true for a reader like me who has been through some of these "temblers" as they are sometimes called, both big and small. The aftershocks go on for days, and they are often just as scary as the very first quake action.

We've all heard the miraculous discoveries of people who have been trapped in rubble for up to 4 days and somehow they survive. While it wasn't 4 days in the case of the characters in this story, their long and frightening experience being trapped under an old warehouse that was unsafe to begin with is not unusual in our part of the country. But the story is deeper than just the quake that brought Amber Riggs and Dax McCall together, huddled under the only sturdy furniture they could find deep in the warehouse basement--an old oak desk--with both of them pretty much accepting the fact that they have a better than even chance of dying. Cool and motivated real estate manager Amber with successful, single, fun-loving Dax who was the fire inspector, both now knew the core-liquifying truth that they were going to die. In the harsh reality of several aftershocks that threatened to flatten the full weight of a multi-storied building on top of them, Amber and Dax comforted themselves with body heat and finally, kisses--kisses that turned into so much more--an affirmation of life in the face of certain death. When they were eventually rescued, Amber remembered that Dax had told her that he was single and determined to remain so. Thus, when they were separated by the necessities of speaking with authorities, Amber quietly slipped away. As she put it: "I have no desire to be the 'flavor of the week.'"

It was a year later, when Dax was accompanying one of his sisters to the OB/GYN clinic for her late pregnancy check-up, he spied a familiar face across the waiting room and realized it was Amber, and she was holding a baby. . . as it turned out, his baby. And thus began a small war of wills and emotions and trying to find a way to both be parents to this remarkable little girl, one that had been a surprise to both of them and who kept them connected.

But Amber had issues . . . a military father who had never forgiven Amber's father for leaving him and her, who had raised Amber believing that her mother was a slut. Now he had also repudiated Amber over her pregnancy and she was truly alone. She had been alone for years, if the truth be known, so she would do this alone. Except Dax would have none of it. He was a responsible man, very good at his job as a county fire inspector, and one who fell instantly in love with his daughter. Yet his anger over Amber's apparent decision to not tell him about their child angered him for a very long time. How to get these two really good people to get past all this?

That is the crux of the conflict in this novel. Shalvis has crafted a story that gently but relentlessly works through the issues and barriers to each of them coming to grips with the other. Both love their child, but actually it is Amber's fear of being controlled by another person--mostly growing out of her father's never-ending control of every aspect of her life when she was growing up--that kept them from growing close. Dax was determined--he grew to love Amber as the strong, caring, genuine person who had weathered that quake with him. He saw her fearless protection and love for their daughter, and he resonated with gratitude that she was always willing to allow him maximum access to his daughter's life. These were just two really good people. When I finished this book that is the overwhelming impression I had of these two characters and even now, having read the book again, I am still sure that would be wonderful people to know in real life.

So go sit in your best chair and turn on your reading light. This is Shalvis at her best and you don't want to miss this story--a beautiful woman, a tall, sexy man, and an adorable baby. All the kinds of stuff that make warm, fuzzy, enjoyable, and memorable love stories. I give this book a 4.5 out of 5.