Review of Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl

Good Girls Don’t
Victoria Dahl
Harlequin
Publish Date August 30, 2011
ISBN 13: 9780373775958

Good Girls Don’t is book one in the Just One Taste Donavan Brewery series.

Tessa Donavan is and will always be the “little sister” to her two brothers. With the tragic death of their parents Eric, Tessa and Jamie became life support to each other and joint owners of their father’s brewery. Now as adults that little sister stigma still exists and when Tessa wants to date an old college buddy of Jamie’s the microbrew will hit the fan. But there’s more going on in this family than Tessa’s dating habits, there’s an underlying lack of continuity that the siblings must find to seal some old wounds.
Luke Asher became a cop because of his ingrained sense of wanting to help, it took him first to LA but after a close call injury and a nasty divorce he comes back to Boulder for some kinder gentler police work and walks right into a robbery case involving the Donavan’s Brewery, he can smell a rat, he just doesn’t know where. Then there’s Tessa, beautiful, vivacious, sexy as heck Tessa and even warned off by her brother can’t keep him away. But will this feeling last, or will he be brokenhearted once again, can he take the chance or is it too risky.

The first thing I have to say about this novel is WOW, not only is it hilarious, it’s emotional, it’s filled with can’t forget characters and then there’s the love scenes, the only word for them is “SMOKIN”.
Ms. Dahl gives us a story that anyone with siblings can relate to and believe me the family dynamic is dynamite, she does this with her in your face hip dialogue that fans of all ages will get, now if you’re opposed to four letter words and explicit scenes of lovemaking, pass this one by, but if you’re like me and really enjoy a “real life” experience in your romance you will love this one. Now let’s talk about the characters, the Donavan family trio is so endearing and it’s heartbreaking too, to watch these siblings who would do anything for each other, not be able to figure out how. And then there’s Luke, who’s every girls dream come true with a bad reputation to boot, why the bad rep, sorry that you’ll have to read for yourself.
And watching the romance develop is like watching an almost trainwreck. Now my suggestion for reading the love scenes would be in a walk in cooler, but if that’s not possible just make sure you’re under an air conditioning vent. All in all it’s the last blast of summer must read, it’s got it all, action, romance, mystery and family drama, plus those afore mentioned love scenes.

Make this your next must read, you won’t be sorry. Be sure to look for “Bad Boys Do” Jamie’s story in October and “Real Men Will” Eric’s in November.
Thank you Ms. Dahl for one incredible tale.
Buy the book here visit the author’s website here.

Review of The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

The Madonnas of Leningrad
Debra Dean
Harper Collins
256 pages
ISBN 13:9780060825317

Marina doesn’t recognize her daughter but can picture clearly the residents of the Hermitage museum during 1941 as Hitler marched on Russia, she can’t comprehend that the woman standing before her is her granddaughter and yet she can see the faces of her cousins as they board the busses leaving Leningrad, can still feel the anguish of their mother and the resolve of their father, she sees before her a spread of food and thinks it’s a dream because she remembers like yesterday the starvation of a whole city during one terrible winter.

Set in modern day Seattle Ms. Dean takes us into the cloudy web of the mind of a woman who’s lived through mindless tragedy, unspeakable degradation and survived to tell the tale only to be ravaged by another foe that will make her forget, but she doesn’t stop there she takes us into the heart of this family and how they cope with a mother who’s not all there anymore and a father who won’t let her go. She does this by spending a chapter in the present and one in the past to show us the continuity of her story and then to show us further the effect on the victim some of the chapters meld together in one confusing episode. Her narrative is haunting, it’s raw, it’s terrifying and it’s beautiful, it’s love in the first degree between Dimitri and Marina and she captures that feeling no better than on page 119 where Dimitri says  of Marina “She was his country and he hers. They were inseparable”. Her descriptions of war torn Leningrad and her dying people is horrifyingly realistic and yet she also brings forth the utter stubbornness of this people who refuse to give up as they go through they’re daily routines even as they slowly die.

It’s a love story, it’s a tragedy, it’s a story of life and the end of it. It’s a tale of literary fiction that you will find yourself coming back to time and time again.
It’s important to not forget that there are works out there that are not hot off the presses that need to be discovered or in my case rediscovered, like this one.
Buy the book here.

Review of Trust-book one of the Bannon Brothers trilogy by Janet Dailey

Trust Book One of the Bannon Brothers
Janet Dailey
Kensington Publishing
352 pages
ISBN 13:9780758255761

RJ Bannon needs something to do while he’s on the last leg of his two year rehab from a drug bust gone bad, why not the 25 year old cold case of the disappearance of Ann Montgomery age 3 daughter of wealthy Hugh Montgomery. What RJ doesn’t know is that by reopening this case he’s stepped in the middle of a hornets nest and someone’s bound to get stung, will it be him, artist Erin Randall that he’s taken a shine to, sheriff Hoebel who wants him out or Hugh Montgomery himself. RJ Bannon’s about to find out it’s not who you know it’s who you “Trust” that counts.

Janet Dailey brings us a contemporary romance with a good dose of suspense and mystery inside with a plot that belongs on CNN because who wouldn’t be interested in the very cold case of a missing heiress. She brings us this with an everyday easy to read dialogue that makes the reading go very smoothly. She give us characters that run the gamut from larger than life horse breeder millionaires to low life ex-cop/cons to your girl next door. Her characters are all defined very well and she makes sure we know as much about them as we need to so that by the end of the read we know why and how things happened. Her hero RJ Bannon is the wounded hero but will defend his heroine even through his pain, the heroine is a frail and demure woman who has claws when needed. The romance is predicable but that’s the beauty of it, it’s simplicity, the love scenes are rated a G so no romance reader will be offended but those of us who love hot scenes know exactly what goes on behind closed doors.

Ms. Dailey brings us the first in her new Bannon Brothers trilogy with a bang up mystery that’s fast paced and full of good guys vs bad guys and she makes sure the good guys come out on top.
Buy the book here visit the author’s website here

Review of Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

Then Came You
Jennifer Weiner
Atria Books
352 pages
ISBN 13: 9781451617726

India Bishop reinvented herself from a past she wants to forget to a present she’s proud of, she has her own PR firm and she just met the man of her dreams, wealthy beyond belief Marcus Croft. After a whirl-wind courtship they marry and even at their age she’s 39 (43) he’s mid 50’s they decide to have a baby.
Bettina Croft, doting daughter of Marcus knows right away what India is, a fake, a gold digger and only after her father’s money and she’s going to do the right thing. Have her investigated.
Jules Strauss had everything until one fateful night when her father was involved in an accident that injured a mother and child in the other car, why is this life changing, he was drunk. Now after years of habitual abuse and trying to stay clean Jules has the perfect solution to pay for a last chance effort of total sobriety, she’s going to sell her eggs to a fertility clinic.
Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart has two children a run down farm and mountains of bills, it’s hard to maintain a growing family on one income and she really wants to stay home for her boys and she’s found the perfect solution, she’s going to be a surrogate for a fertility clinic.
Amazingly or not these women’s lives all intertwine with each other, sometimes they act like evasive weeds and sometimes like the gentlest of flowers, how will it all turn out. Read on.

Jennifer Weiner has a way with words that no one quite matches. She can grow a story like no one else, she can nurture the narrative and drive the dialogue until her readers simply can’t stop turning the pages. This tale comes straight from the latest gossip rag and it’s hot off the presses. Her dialogue is informative, easy to read and to understand no matter if she’s using the voice of the highest of echelon or most blue-collared worker it just resonates. The characters are unequaled in their respective roles and each one will stay with the reader long after the novel is finished. This is a story of friendship, of love, of pain, of forgiveness and of redemption, it will touch every reader on a personal level and leave them with that all elusive glass half full feeling.

No matter what kind of reader you are, this is your next story, and your go back to tale for years to come, it’s the one that you’ll recommend, the one that you’ll buy as a gift and the one that will rest on the shelves with that well used patina.
Thank you Ms. Weiner for another incredible journey.
Buy the book here visit the author’s website here.

Review of Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Touch of Frost
Jennifer Estep
Kensington Teen
350 pages
ISBN 13: 978075826692

Gwen Frost has had a lot to contend with in her young life, her mom dying tops that list, but what she didn’t expect was what happened after that when her Grandma decided she need to attend Mythos Academy, a place where Gwen is an automatic outcast a place that’s as mysterious as the students who attend here and the real reason she’s here too. Mythos Academy is nothing like any high school we’ve ever seen, it’s sort of a prep school for how to be a Titan, that’s right the students are living breathing descendants of Amazons, Vikings, Spartans and Valkries among other myth busting species, and they’re here to learn how to be warriors to stop another Chaos war by keeping Loki in his magical prison and his minions at bay. But what does this mean for Gwen, well she’s about to find out as she tries to solve a murder at the school and gets pulled deeper into the reality that things are not always as they seem and sometimes all it takes is a “Touch of Frost”.

Jennifer Estep is no stranger to me as I love her adult urban fantasy Elemental Assassin series. This series takes place in close proximity to that one and she even mentions the prolific Pork Pit from that series in this one, but that’s where the similarity ends because she floats from adult to YA with the ease of a surfer catching the perfect wave. Her story line is just as incredible as the adult series filled with all mythological beings from our high school ancient history classes and yet she fills those pages with characters that pop off the page with their realism and their believability. Her narrative is very “high school”, well I think it is anyway, since I’m way over that limit, but it seems very hip and very young to these aging ears. Her heroine Gwen Frost is such a likable character, needy and yet brave at the same time. She shows us very different sides of Gwen which makes me all the more impressed with her. She fills the pages with fast paced action, danger and more myth come to life beings on both sides of the good vs evil fence.

If you like YA, this one will rate right up there with the best, if you’re a fan of urban fantasy, or paranormal adult or YA you’ll like this one. If you are just a lover of a great story told by an amazing storyteller, pick this one up.

Buy the book here visit the author’s website here

Review of Inside by Brenda Novak

Inside

Brenda Novak
Mira
440 pages
ISBN 13: 9780778329930

Vrigil Skinner spent 14 yrs in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, now thanks to the efforts of his sister he’s out but far from free because to survive “INSIDE” you need more than determination, you need friends but they come with a high price in prison, they come with a gang tag and Virgil entwined himself with one of the most notorious The Crew. Now that he’s out his ex-brothers think he’s going to turn on them so they want to get him and all those he loves before he gets them. The Feds want to get the lowdown on another gang so they send Virgil undercover to flush out the truth by infiltrating the gang, his reward he and his family will go into WITSEC, the witness protection program.
Deputy Warden Peyton Adams has a very personal reason for choosing her career path and she gives it her whole heart, so when she learns that the Feds want to put a plant inside she fears for his safety but ultimately agrees to using him. They only have a few days to prepare, but what they weren’t prepared for was the way they feel about each other and it’s more than just lust. Now Virgil has more incentive to stay alive and Peyton to keep him that way, but the odds are stacked against them in love and in living.

Brenda Novak is an awesome mom, a champion of causes and an award winning author and in this first of her Bulletproof trilogy with In Seconds coming in September and In Close coming in October you’ll see why.  Inside is a runaway train that won’t let you breath until it finally comes in for a smooth landing at the end of a treacherous trail. You get amazing good guys masquerading as bad guys, you get bad guys wearing white hats and pretty soon you don’t know who to trust, well trust your heart. Her dialogue keeps the frenzy going and your heart beating double time while the narrative shows you despicable crimes and heartwarming romance. The characters are incredibly true to life, depicted so accurately that you can see the gang tattoos, feel the sea breeze in your face and feel the heat in the presence of our hero and heroine.  The romance is doomed from the start, but that doesn’t stop these two from wanting what they know they shouldn’t, do they get it, for that you’ll have to read yourself. The love scenes are as explosive as it gets and yet you can feel the innocence in the Virgil character and the tenderness in Peyton towards him. It’s just a have to have it now read.

You can check out my review of In Seconds the second in the trilogy in the September issue of RT Reviews magazine.

Thank you Ms. Novak for a splendid journey
Buy the book here visit the author’s website here

Susan Mallery has a new contest

In celebration of the release of her new novel

She has a brand new contest from August 1, to September 1

Click the link here for the details

Good Luck!!