Review of Sugar Daddy

Sugar Daddy
Lis Kleypas
St. Martin’s Press
371 pages
Sugar Daddy is the first of Lisa’s contemporary novels staring the Travis Family of Texas.
First of all I have to admit that this is my first foray into the wonderful world created by Lisa Kleypas, it was only by way of a bet between my friend Melanie Murray a talented author in her own right and myself that I even took up the gauntlet, one I’m so glad I did. So thanks Melanie, I owe you yet another thanks for introducing me to yet another incredible author.
Liberty Jones has from childhood taken a can do attitude which has helped her a great deal with her less then wonderful life. Her father, the love of her mother’s life died in a tragic accident on an oil rig. Since then her mother has tried to comfort herself by quantity and not quality of boyfriends none of who seem to stay around. But there’s a lot that momma’s not telling her and it will follow her all her life. Her one solid thing through the whole of it is Hardy Cates. Hardy has not got an easy life either, but he’s convinced that Liberty is someone who needs caring for and he’s going to do it, the only thing wrong with this is that as soon as Hardy can get out of Welcome Texas he’s gone so the one thing he doesn’t want Liberty to do is to count on him indefinitely.
Ms Kleypas gives us a unique modern day Cinderella story, one where the heroine has a lot of spunk, wit and panache and the fact that Cinderella only wants to take care of herself and not rely on some rich “Sugar Daddy” for her livelihood. The dialogue is a mix of urban sophistication and Texas twang, interspersed with common man slang and it’s a great fit for the diversity of the characters. And let’s talk about the characters which are all tremendously important to the story no matter their standing in the story line, they all fill a certain role and do it wonderfully. Her heroine Liberty is unequalled in the ranks of heroines, she’s got everything in life going against her and yet just like the little engine that could, she did and she does it with style, grace and that Unsinkable Molly Brown attitude. She shares the stage with multiple heros that all stand out for their various reasons and some of them more than others. Ms. Kleypas doesn’t introduce us to all of them in the beginning so I’ll just say they’re great and let the reader find out who, what, when and where for themselves. The romance is novel worthy, it’s met with constant sink holes and pit falls and she really makes her couple work hard for their Happy Ever After. Her love scenes are sensual and spicy and descriptive without being too risqué, but believe me when I tell you that romance lovers like me who love their baser love scenes, we will not be cheated.
So if like me you’ve never had the pleasure of reading Lisa Kleypas, what are you waiting for. For those who love a great contemporary romance with a lot of heart and soul, this one’s for you. Don’t forget to read the other two volumes dedicated to the Travis Family. I know I’m on my way to get the next one now.

Review of The Darkest Lie

The Darkest Lie
Gena Showalter
Harlequin
444 pages
The Darkest Lie is the 6th in the Lords of the Underworld series.
Back when the world was young and Gods ruled the Heavens Zeus created mighty immortal warriors as his elite guard. Curiosity got the cat when the guards decided to open Pandora’s Box. As punishment Zeus made each lord host a demon trapped inside the box, the earth and her human citizens barley survived the ensuing years as the lords became accustomed to their symbiotic partners. This is Gideon’s story, Gideon was given the demon of Lies so he can never tell the truth without suffering great pain. Throughout his lonely existence he’s experienced memories of a woman but he’s not sure where they came from or if they’re even true. Suddenly the object of those memories appears before him claiming to be his wife. Scarlet born of a match between the God Queen Rhea and a mortal has never known a moment of peace. Hated by her mother she’s put in prison as a child until the fall of Greeks and the rise of the Titans when she escapes and tries to find her husband. Gideon and Scarlet have more in common than they think, but is marriage one of those things.
Gena Showalter has a hit of a series going with her Lords of the Underworld tales, they are each more fantastical than the previous one all filled with larger than life incredible characters, characters that you will be grateful to revisit in future novels. Her storyline is about as far out there as any of the other thousands of urban fantasy romance but she remains very popular because of her storytelling. She makes her readers unable to wait to finish a page or a chapter and before you know it, it’s 4am and you’re still turning pages. Her characters as I’ve said before are larger than life and yet you’ll find yourself yearning to be the heroine to the very manly heros of her books. The romance is sweet, sad and full of pitfalls. The love scenes are raw, physical and expressional.
This is not your mother’s romance, so keep it on the top shelf and out of the hands of curious young readers. But pull it down again often to totally enjoy the magic of Gena Showalter and her Lords of the Underworld. They can be read as stand-a-lones but I would suggest reading the series in order to understand all the special relationships and connections.

Review of Swept Aside

Swept Aside
Sharon Sala
Mira
329 pages
Swept Aside is the third and final novel in Sharon Sala’s Storm Front series.
After surviving a Columbine type shooting Amalie Pope is coming home to Bordelaise Louisiana to lick her wounds and reclaim the only place that’s ever been home. Nick Aroyo is far from home working for the DEA undercover on a drug case bad karma or fate has him and his three compatriots arrested and thrown in jail in small town Bordelaise Louisiana. But there’s a killer storm brewing and the biggest question is will Nick and Amalie survive or will they be Swept Aside.
Ms. Sala has given us a whopper of a finish for her Storm Front series. Her plot could be straight from the headlines, it’s fraught with all the emotional tension and angst as if it were true. Her dialogue is what you’d expect from 4 escaped convicts plus one demure High School Art teacher, but you’d be surprised by that teacher’s spunk especially after living through what she has. Her characters are intense and seem the genuine article even though they are a figment of Ms. Sala’s very fertile imagination. Her hero Nick and heroine Amalie are great especially authentic feeling and you can’t help but hope them through all their hardships and setbacks. The character development genius doesn’t stop with Nick and Amalie, it makes it’s way to the three real convicts where Ms. Sala divides them into human and devil. The romance is edgy and what you’d expect from a couple who don’t know if they’ll live to see each other or the next day, it’s that life affirming coming together you need in the face of death and because of that the love scenes are really physical and very intuitive and even though you know there’s real feelings between the couple she makes us wait and wonder if and when they’ll get that great ending that they of all characters so rightly deserve.
If you like a little action, adventure and terror with your romance Swept Aside is the one for you. This is the third and final volume in the Storm Front series and it does well as a stand-a-lone, but why stop here, experience the "Perfect Storm" and get all three Blown Away Torn Apart and Swept Aside believe me you will not be sorry.

Review of Torn Apart

Torn Apart
Sharon Sala
Mira
298 pages

Torn Apart is the second of Sharon Sala’s Storm Front series.

The Earles are a loving, caring family but they’re in a crisis right now seeded in JR’s job and Katie’s fear of leaving Bordelaise. But soon none of that will matter because a tornado that hit’s town takes away more than they could ever fear and their family may never recover from being “Torn Apart”.

Ms. Sala has given us a dramatic, heart stopping thriller in Torn Apart. Her story line is the darkest fear of any parent and could have been taken from the front pages of any newspaper or the headlines of any TV new program. Her dialogue flows so well that you won’t be able to stop turning pages until the end and her words bring the tale to life in your minds eye, as her scenes take us through the hell of a family and back. It’s a tale filled with terror and hopelessness and light at the end of the tunnel. Her characters are wonderfully depicted and you will love and hate them as their parts predict. Her protagonists the Earles are an amazing show of talent on her part as her audience will cry, feel fear and hurt with them. Her romance is tender and heart wrenching and healing. Her love scenes are spicy enough to please the most hardcore romance lover and yet leave enough to the imagination for those who don’t need explicit descriptions.

This is an amazing piece of fiction dedicated to all the lost and found souls that the story is about. It’s a thrill a minute roller coaster ride of horror and will leave you gasping for breath in one minute and crying the next. So if you need a lot of angst with your romance and you need your happy ever after to be hard reaching, run, do not walk to your nearest bookstore for this great novel. This is the second in her Storm Front series but could be easily read as a stand-a-lone, the series share a town and a tornado and a few characters.

Review of Blown Away

Blown Away
Sharon Sala
Mira
361 pages
Blown Away is the first of three of Sharon Sala’s Storm Front Series. It’s a thriller, a romance and a great read in one.
Bestselling Mystery author Carolina North lives a much quieter life in the Louisiana Bayou town of Bordelaise then she writes about until one morning during a walk she comes upon something she never thought she’d see a man she once loved burying a body, in her frantic rush to get home to her parents and report what she’s seen she’s unaware that everything she’s loved and known up until this point is about to be “Blown Away”. Mike Boudreaux, Baton Rouge business man is notified that his personal assistant is in the hospital only when he arrives he sees an imposter in the bed. He wants answers and as soon as this look-a-like wake up, he’s going to get them.
Ms. Sala really knows how to get to the heart of a reader by giving them what they want in a plot, a force of nature followed by a great romantic suspense read and knows just where to place it, in the Louisiana Bayous a place of majestic beauty that can and does turn deadly. Her dialogue is flowing and filled with that wonderful Cajun jargon that really gets to the heart of any romance lover. I mean who can resist that all inclusive “cher”. She’s also a genius at painting pictures in our heads with her words as we live through the tornado and fear for the lives of the characters as they play out their roles. And let’s talk about the characters who are all wonderfully portrayed and developed especially her hero Mike and heroine Carolina who you can’t help but cheer for as they reach for that all elusive Happily Ever After. Her romance is sweet while the love scenes are hot, spicy and intense.
So if you love a great romance, that grand passion, this is your read. If you shutter with excitement at suspense then this is definitely what you want. If you like your romance on the sizzle burner, look no farther. And if you like series, well you’re in luck because there are two more coming your way so stay tuned for my review of them.

Review of Hurricanes in Paradise

Hurricanes in Paradise
Denise Hildreth
Tyndale Publishing
375 pages

Hurricanes in Paradise is a wonderfully written inspirational and riveting novel by a wonderful storyteller.

At the famous Atlantis resort in the picturesque Bahamas there is more stirring than the weather as four very different women are soon to find out. Riley Sinclair is seeking a new beginning for her and her small daughter accepting a position at the resort. Best selling author Laine Fulton is seeking information for her next novel and using the resort as background while she deals with demons of her own making. Beauty pageant winner Tamyra Larsen has been hiding from everyone after receiving devastating news, news that will change her life forever. Widow Winnie Harris has been forced on this vacation by her too caring and children. As these three women’s lives connect they will experience a myriad of emotions from fear, hurt, rage and finally redemption when they finally look to the one source who can solve their problems and heal their hearts and souls.
Denise Hildreth brings to life for her readers the tropic breezes, the soulful Atlantic ocean and the characters that are obviously close to her heart. Her plot is four overlapping stories that intertwine together to make one beautiful story. Her dialogue is witty and expressively devout. Her characters are far from perfect and yet they are very earnest and honest which makes them unbelievably real. They are well rounded and precocious and funny and sad and readers will find themselves pulled toward each of them while finding similarities to our own struggles as they stumble toward a better road. There are love stories here that are genuine and sweet and there are losses that are hard to comprehend.

This is a tale of what was and what can be, a story of loss and of gain, but most of all it’s a story of faith and healing and of how friendship helps get us there.

Review of Outside the Ordinary World

Outside the Ordinary World
Dori Ostermiller
Mira
374 pages

It’s the rare novel that stays in your mind for a long time after you read it and yet that’s exactly what you’ll get with “Outside the Ordinary World”.

Sylvia Sandon is a complicated woman, which stems from her complicated childhood. Married with two daughters of her own she finds herself following in the footsteps of her mother, footsteps that she doesn’t want to walk in and yet seemingly without conscience thought she’s doing. The secrets of her past have found their way into her present and by reliving them finds herself on a precipice she would rather not straddle.

Dori Ostermiller gives us a remarkable and unforgettable story of family crisis, family failure and possible triumph and she does it with her amazing skill of storytelling. Her eloquent prose like dialogue takes us deep into the psyche
of a troubled woman and the people who surround her. She’s not afraid to use hard language to tell us her tale and yet at the same time uses literary phrases to describe a scene or thought that enables her readers the ability to visualize her words. Her characters are all well thought out, three dimensional and all totally necessary to the novel. Her protagonist Sylvia is an exceptionally portrayed character and readers will find themselves entranced by her and will share in her sorrow and cheer in her triumphs and at times will want to slap her silly. This is no romance but there is a thought provoking love story here, one that will make her audience sit up and take notice, one that will resonate within all of us, especially those of us who like me can relate to it. The love scenes are creative and thoughtful and here is where you’ll find her most imaginative prose.

Outside the Ordinary World is a masterpiece of the written word. It’s a hard story to tell and yet one that needs to be told. So if you’re looking for a world class piece of literary fiction, a story on the dark side of family turmoil with that all elusive light at the end of the tunnel, then give this wonderful novel a try. It’s not an easy read but it’s one that needs to be read. So if this is the kind of tale that floats your boat believe me you will not be sorry that you took the plunge. It’s bound to get critical accolades, it’s that good.