Georgette Heyer/Sourcebooks/Barnes & Noble ...

If you've been thinking about trying Georgette Heyer or if you have and plan to buy more of her novels then this promotion might be for you. Sourcebooks & Barnes and Noble is having a really good promo and you could win a $200 Barnes and Noble Gift Card. Yep, $200! See the info from Sourcebooks below for more details...

Sourcebooks B&N Heyer Receipt Promotion

This September, Sourcebooks is exclusively releasing The Foundling by Georgette Heyer in Barnes & Nobles stores Nationwide!!

Sourcebooks is holding a fabulous receipt promotion! Send us your receipt/proof of purchase of The Foundling from your local Barnes & Noble to our office or a scanned receipt in an email to Danielle Jackson and you’ll be entered to win a $200 Barnes & Noble gift card! Receipts must be dated between September 1 – September 31, 2009, and can be from an in-store or online purchase. Any questions please contact Danielle Jackson.

Sourcebooks is so excited about the warm embrace everyone has given the Georgette Heyer reissues! Good luck—we look forward to hearing from you!

Send your Barnes & Noble The Foundling receipts to
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Naperville, IL 60567

Free Short Story By Lisa Kleypas...

Just in time to get readers ready for the next release in Lisa Kleypas' Hathaway series, a free short story of the wedding of Merripen and Win. Just click on the image above and it will take you to the publisher's site where you can sign up to the get free read by email. The next novel in the series, Poppy and Harry's story, Tempt Me At Twilight releases September 22.

Movie Review: The Outsider

Johnny Gault (Tim Daly) is a cold-blooded gunslinger who wasn't looking for trouble but finds it when he rides into a dusty little town. An escalating feud over land between ranchers and new settlers is ready to explode into violence. As tensions mount, Johnny gets involved with a beautiful settler (Naomi Watts) and the fight becomes personal. Now it's the outsider who will need to settle the score in a final face-to-face showdown.


Stunning and beautifully acted adaptation of Penelope Williamson novel of the same name. The Outsider (Showtime/2002) tells the story of Rebecca Yoder, a woman of the Plain People. The Plain People believe in a strict life of no violence and that God will take care of them. Rebecca is recently widowed and is alone with only her young son. When notorious gunslinger Johnny Gault stumbles onto Rebecca's land she takes him home and nurses him back to health.


Tim Daly has played a number of different roles but I remember him best from the show Wings. In The Outsider he plays Johnny Gault who is a very bad man. Just the way I like them. :) Daly played this role surprisingly well. He was dark, violent, coarse and wicked, often just to get a reaction out of Rebecca. As Johnny he seems to relish his reputation as a killer. It's what he knows and what he's good at. He is confused by Rebecca's beliefs, especially after finding out her husband was killed because he would not fight back. Johnny even offers to kill the men who killed Rebecca's husband. He figures he owes her for saving his life. I really liked the character of Johnny and the way he changed over the course of the movie.


The movie opens with Rebecca and her husband in bed. You definitely get the sense that Rebecca isn't shy when it comes to sex. Not that she's promiscuous but that she loved her husband and loved the physical side of their relationship. She was at times a very simple woman who lived her beliefs and kept her faith in God. After some time with Johnny she didn't question those beliefs so much as begin to interpret them in a different way. She still doesn't believe that violence is the answer and tells Johnny this a number of times. He doesn't want to give up his guns since this is all he knows.

The movie worked on so many level. The relationship of Johnny and Rebecca and how she was afraid of him but felt it was her duty to save him because of her beliefs. Johnny comes to realize that violence isn't always the answer. There is also the range war going on and Rebecca and her sheep ranch are right in the middle of it.


Overall this was a wonderful story of two people who despite everything are attracted to each other to the point of going against their beliefs. The scenery was beautiful and the acting superb. Tim Daly as Johnny was smoking hot. He had that cool, "I don't give a damn" attitude down pat. Naomi Watts as Rebecca made for an admirable opponent to Johnny. There were also some scenes of humor that only added to the realism of the story. The drama of their everyday lives played out while their love story grew. When they do sleep together the sex is hot and both Rebecca and Johnny give and take. Their passion seems to take them by surprise for there was nothing quick or sedate about the love scenes. Their physical relationship merely adds another dimension to their bond.

If you are in the mood for a splendid love story then I would recommend The Outsider.

Rating: A

*Do I even need to mention who got me to watch this? :0)*

Review: Come Spring

Title: Come Spring
Author: Jill Marie Landis
Genre: Historical Romance/1892/Wyoming
Series: Flowers series/Book 4
Published: October 1992

Nath's Re-Read Challenge 2009

From the inside cover ~

In, 1892, lovely Bostonian Annika Storm is traveling to meet her brother in Wyoming. But her plans go awry when tall, blond trapper Buck Scott mistakes Annika for his mail-order bride - and kidnaps her from her train! By the time he will admit his error, they are snowed in at his tiny mountain cabin until spring.

Passion grows between Annikia and Buck, and when it blossoms into ecstasy she is ready to share his life forever. Then Annika is kidnapped again, by outlaws seeking reward money. Believing she has run away, Buck feels betrayed. Yet he vows to find the woman who has stolen his heart.

Come Spring has been at the top of my potential re-reads for this challenge. What made me choose it this month was the overwhelming need to read a western. :) That was brought about by Kristie, Wendy and Sybil and their Great Western Drive. And while Come Spring may not be a western with cowboys and gunslingers, it was still a very enjoyable read and I loved it this time as much as I did the first time around.

The hero, Buck Scott, isn't a cowboy or gunslinger but a skinner. He's a mountain man who makes his living trapping and skinning animals, then selling their pelts. His trade is not well thought of by most and he is looked down on by many. Buck Scott does come across as a man who prefers his own company to others. He's not open or friendly and he's rather intimidating in size at over 6 feet in height and well muscled. But for all his gruffness there lies the heart of a gentle soul. Buck was such an easy man for me to like. At one point even Annika tells her brother that it's hard to stay mad at Buck. :)

Buck is a very giving individual without being obvious about it. It's the little things that he does that made a big impression on me. His patience with Baby, his 3 year old niece, is amazing given that he has only the very basics to hold her attention. He's rough with Annika in the beginning but that's more out of frustration and urgency than it being his true nature. He gives her his gloves to wear while the travel up the mountain. Once they are snowed in he makes sure she can fend for herself and Baby if something should happen to him. He makes her a coat and carves the buttons for it. He's so sweet when he gives it to her, so afraid she won't like it.

Annika Storm was raised by two loving parents in a home where her every need was seen to. She has never had to work for what she needs or worry about having food or a place to live. She has lived a life of privilege and secure in a family filled with love. I wouldn't say that she's spoiled so much as that she's simply accustomed to wealth and a loving family. All that changes when she is kidnapped and taken to a mountain cabin. It's a crude one room cabin with the basic necessities but none of the comforts that Annika is accustomed to.

At first Annika thinks she will only have to suffer Buck Scott's company for a couple of days but when those few days turn to weeks she is forced to adjust to life in the small cabin in the valley. Annika for all her pampered upbringing adjusts well to life on the mountain. At first she's standoffish and not so easy to get to know but once she spends more time with Buck and Baby she became a heroine worthy of her hero. Annika takes fairly quickly to Baby but with Buck the process was more slow and steady. Each of them exploring the other person that was so different from everyone they had known before. Her relationship with Baby came about a lot easier than her relationship with Buck. With Buck it was anger and fear. Then she just got good and pissed off. LOL This was after Buck realized his mistake, that Annika wasn't his mail-order bride, and he agreed to take her to Cheyenne as soon as the pass was clear.

There was one part where Buck is gone hunting all day. When he gets back Annika is angry that he had left her there alone with Baby. During the day her thoughts had gone from fear at being alone in the cabin to anger that Buck might be with a woman. This happens before they sleep together. When Buck returns it's an angry Annika that greets him. ~

"Where have you been?" she yelled.

"Why are you shouting?" He pushed her aside and stepped over the threshold, intent on getting warm. Walking straight to the bed, he stood for a moment and gazed down on Baby as she slept, then turned to survey the room. The fire was burning brightly, there was a stack of clean dishes on the kitchen bench. He was relieved to note that everything looked fine.

Everything but Annika. She was still glaring at him.

"Close the door," he said softly, so as not to wake the child.

She slammed it shut. Baby stirred and rolled to her stomach.

"Are you going to tell me where you've been or not?"

"I was until you started ranting. What are you so upset about?"

"Upset? Upset? I'm not upset! I'm furious. How dare you leave me here all day to watch over this place and that child while you go traipsing off, God knows where. I won't do it again, do you hear?"

At this point Annika gives him some coffee and biscuits and tells him he's lucky to get that much. LOL Buck's response ~

"If I thought I would have gotten this much kindness out of you I'd have stayed away all daylong before now," he said around a mouthful of biscuit.

She gasped aloud and turned on him. "You are an outrageous imbecile, Buck Scott."

"Anyone every taught you any manners, Miss Storm?"

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"I mean real manners, like not shouting in the house, not making too many demands on a person, like giving out a bit of the milk of human kindness?"

She lifted her hands and appealed to the ceiling. "And this from a man who dragged me here against my will."

"A mistake you're not ever likely to let me forget."

"Not while I live and breathe."

Buck threw back his head and laughed. It wasn't a mere chuckle, nor was it a quick bark. It was loud and long and came from the depths of his soul.

pages 145-146

It was so sweet and such an intimate moment between these two. They realize that they missed each other, missed the arguing and banter.

For a great deal of the book Buck and Annika are together, along with Baby, aka Buttons. I liked the addition of the child in this story. She played a pivotal role in the plot because she was the reason Buck needed a wife. He couldn't continue to hunt and trap with Baby along and he couldn't leave her alone at the cabin. So he placed the ad for a wife. Buck's relationship with Baby was also a joy to read. This big, mountain man and this adorable little baby who has him wrapped around her finger. He would do anything for this child, even marry a stranger. Or give Baby up to a good home. The emotions that came through in the writing, of Buck's love for Baby, show what a beautiful person Buck is beneath the gruff exterior.

The plot itself is fairly standard. Hero kidnaps heroine, they're forced to spend time together, they are separated, they are reunited through adversity. It's what Jill Marie Landis does with that plot that makes this book stand out. The events that bring these two people, who are such opposites, together and then create this little family are what make this such a wonderful read. The character development is such that the reader gets to know, care and forgive Buck and Annika of their flaws, mistakes and misunderstandings. When they are separated I found myself thinking "they have to get back together" and "he can't just leave her" even though I knew they ended up together I was swept up in their story and worried that their stubbornness would keep them apart.

As you can see from the book info above, Come Spring is the fourth book in the series. The first book is about Annika's parents, Analisa and Caleb, Sun Flower (loved that book!)

The second book is Wild Flower. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't remember this one. All I could find was this:

From the great peaks of the West to the lush seclusion of a Caribbean jungle, two 1830s' lovers discover the deepest treasures of the heart. Dani braves the Rocky Mountains alone, dressed as a man, until a handsome explorer kidnaps her on a dare. Now her heart holds nothing but passion.

If anyone can jog my memory, I would appreciate it. :)

The third book, Rose, is about Annika's brother Kase and his love, Rose. This one I remember as a fun read with Rose a beautiful stubborn Italian cook and Kase a grumpy, good looking sheriff.

Both couples, Analisa and Caleb and Kase and Rose, also appear in Come Spring. It was fun to revisit with this characters and gave me an itch to do some more re-reading of Ms. Landis.

Ms. Landis has a fairly extensive back list with both historical and contemporary novels. She is currently writes Inspirational Western Romances for Steeple Hill Books. Information about Jill Marie Landis and her writing can be found here.

Rating: A+

Cover Love ~ Silver Borne

From Patricia Briggs Website ~

This will be the fifth Mercy Thompson novel. I may be premature putting it up, but a number of people write wanting to know if Bone Crossed was the last in the series. Happily, ACE has contracted for a total of seven Mercy novels, and it's possible the series could go even longer.

Another awesome cover by Dan Dos Santos. Thanks to Orannia over at Walkabout for the heads up. This is definitely one of my favorite UF series. I do hope we get more than seven Mercy books. It's one of those series that I could read for a very long time. It does amaze me how big the author's name gets as the sales increase. :) Silver Borne is set for release in hardcover on March 30, 2010.

YotC Review: In Care of Sam Beaudry

Title: In Care of Sam Beaudry

Author: Kathleen Eagle

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Published: May 2009

Silhouette Special Edition

Year of the Category Challenge

Keeping the people of his Rocky Mountain hometown safe was Sheriff Sam Beaudry's top priority. But his quiet life suddenly came under scrutiny when a young stranger came to town, claiming to be Sam's secret daughter, upsetting his very existence, not to mention his budding relationship with lovely nurse Maggie Whiteside.

Maggie wasn't swayed by all the talk surrounding Sam. Because she believed that she and the rugged lawman shared something special. Maggie and her young son had always known that he was a man to count on.

Now she had to show him that he could count on her...

What a beautiful cover. The colors are stunning in RL and even though it doesn't feature the hero or heroine I still like it. There is some horseback riding in the story but it's minor so my guess is that the horses on the cover are just there for show.

This was a short, sweet story. The local boy, Sam Beaudry gets out of the Marine Corps, comes back to his home town of Bear Root, Montana and becomes the sheriff. Sam's an easy going guy who has finally come home to settle down after doing some hard living. He left town years ago to work the oil fields. While traveling around the west he met and fell in with people who loved to party and use illegal drugs. Sam joined the Marines in the hopes of straightening his life out. Once out of the Marines he headed home, knowing that's where he really belonged. Sam's a hero that's easy enough to like but I didn't quite know what he wanted. He seemed like he was settled into his life as sheriff and had no ambitions beyond that. Sam is attracted to Maggie but he's certainly taking his time acting on that attraction.

Maggie has lived in Bear Root for almost two years, which is considered by locals about the time most outsiders leave. But Maggie intends to make this home for her and her son. She's a good nurse and good mom. She's easy to talk to and easy to like. Maggie is a single mom to her 12 year old son Jimmy who happens to idolize Sheriff Sam Beaudry. I liked Maggie for the straight forward way she had about her. She let Sam know that her son comes first and that she wouldn't do anything that wasn't in his best interest. She's attracted to Sam but doesn't think he's right for her. She isn't looking for anyone but can't seem to stop looking Sam's way.

Sam and Maggie dance around their attraction. Hilda, Sam's mom, has been encouraging the two to get together but so far she's having no luck. They are friends but keep that friendship from becoming more. When they finally do come together it's more of a clandestine meeting late at night. This is a small town and there is always talk and Maggie doesn't want that talk to hurt her son. Then there's Sam's past to deal with and the possibility that Star, the little girl, is his child. Who really is Star's father? Sam's not so sure it's him but he can't help but feel protective towards the little girl. The problem is he's not sure who or what he's protecting her from. There is an element of suspense and a bit of mystery to the story with no one knowing for sure who Star's father is.

I think this is one of those stories that while I enjoyed it, it could have done with more back story and more fleshing out of the characters. I didn't feel like I got to know them as much as I would have liked. Sam also has a missing brother, Zach, who might get his own book but I was unable to find any information on it. There was a character, a friend of Maggie's, that seemed to have a history with Zach. Maybe the two old flames will reunite in an upcoming book.

Rating: B

For All You Werewolf Lovers...

This looks wicked!




Synopsis from IMDB ~

Nobleman Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) returns to his ancestral homeland, where his brother has gone missing and villagers are being killed by a nightmarish beast. The search reunites him with his estranged father (Hopkins) and draws him near to his brother's fiancée (Blunt), however, Talbot's lager concern is the discovery of a side to himself which he never could have imagined existed ...

Great casting with Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving. I'm getting DH to take me for Valentines Day. LOL Perfect gift. :) I still remember seeing the old Lon Chaney B&W movie on TV when I was a kid. I loved it even while it scared the heck out of me.

Scheduled for release ~ February 12, 2010.

Coming Soon ~ Shades of Midnight...

I still like this series even with my less than favorable response to the last book, Ashes of Midnight. I couldn't find a blurb on the author's website, found the one below on Fantastic Fiction. Releases December 29. Enjoy...

In a frozen wilderness steeped in darkness, the lines between good and evil, lover and enemy, are never black or white but drawn in Shades of Midnight.

Something inhuman is stalking the frigid Alaskan wilds, leaving unspeakable carnage in its wake. For bush pilot Alexandra Maguire, the killings stir memories of a horrific event she witnessed as a child and evoke in her the inexplicable sense of otherness she has long felt within herself but never fully understood . . . until a darkly seductive stranger with secrets of his own enters her world.

Sent from Boston on a mission to investigate the savage attacks and stop the slaughter, vampire warrior Kade has his own reasons for returning to the frigid, forbidding place of his birth. Haunted by a secret shame, Kade soon realizes the stunning truth of the threat he faces-a threat that will jeopardize the fragile bond he has formed with the courageous, determined young woman who arouses his deepest passions and most primal hungers. But in bringing Alex into his world of blood and darkness, Kade must confront both his own personal demons and the even greater evil that could destroy all he holds dear.

The Breeds are off to Alaska for this one. This is Kade's book and I'm looking forward to the different setting. It sounds like he's alone on this mission, too bad since I was hoping for more of Sterling Chase. The heroine, a bush pilot, has potential. She's got to be tough and smart to survive being a pilot in Alaska. I do like that Adrian makes the heroines part of "the team" and doesn't leave them sitting on the sidelines.

Westerns are Alive and Well...

Doesn't everybody love a western romance? I know I do and so do many of my fellow bloggers. In case you haven't heard, KristieJ of Ramblings on Romance, Wendy of The Misadventures of Super Librarian and Sybil from The Good, The Bad, The Unread declared last week The Great Western Drive. They blogged about western romances all week. Their posts have brought back some great memories of some of my favorite reads and in the true sense of romance bloggers they have added to my TBR pile. :)

If you haven't had a chance to check out their posts about all thing western then mosey on over to their blogs and get some great recommendations of some truly fine western romances. And there are some great giveaways too. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more reviews of western romances in the near future. And if you prefer contemporaries - they're on the list too.

Many of my favorite authors were recommended and if you haven't read a western romance or it's been years since you have, I encourage you to give them a try.

Since the ladies gave so many good suggestions I thought I would make a different type of suggestion.

Authors I Wish Would Write A Western Romance

If you've been reading romances for any length of time you know that authors will sometimes do a switch. Either a switch in genres or sub-genres and their readers are not always happy about that switch. Personally, I would be happy if some of my favorite authors wrote one western romance. Just one please.

Lisa Kleypas ~ As a long time fan of Lisa Kleypas I have always enjoyed her heroes. Now imagine some of those heroes in a western setting. Maybe Nick Gentry as a card sharp in Tombstone? Or Derek Craven running a house of ill repute in Deadwood? Kleypas could definitely write a western hero to rival all western heroes.

Nalini Singh ~ The changelings out west... I know you can picture it. :) The wolves and cats all out in the wild west. They would have a heck of a lot more room to roam and the ancestors of Lucas and Hawke could really go wild.

Kresley Cole ~ Kresley Cole has written 5 historicals but no westerns. How much trouble do you think her Valkyries could cause in the old west? Lots! The Valkyries could be gunslingers, madams, ranchers, gamblers or trail bosses. Anything thing a man could do and still look beautiful doing it. I think they would fit right in. Three words: Nix ~ Train Robber.

So which of your favorite authors would you like to see write a western romance?

Review: Hot Pursuit

Title: Hot Pursuit

Author: Suzanne Brockmann

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Series: Troubleshooters/Book 15

Published: July 2009

From the inside cover ~

Alyssa Locke is no stranger to dealing with danger. As team leader of the nation's number one personal security company, Troubleshooters, Inc., she's seen more than her share of action, survived plenty of close calls, and holds her own with the best of them--and against the worst of them. Guarding lives is her game, and no one plays it better. But her toughest challenge will be protecting herself from a serial killer she’s been after for years -- known only as “The Dentist” -- who is determined to make her his ultimate trophy.

The assignment was supposed to be an easy one: teach self-defense techniques to a newly-elected New York State Assemblywoman and her chief of staff, after a political controversy generates a blizzard of hate mail – including some death threats -- from hotheads and cranks. But as soon as she mobilizes in New York City with her squad of moonlighting Navy SEALs, Alyssa begins butting heads with the hard-case cop who thinks they’re chasing shadows.

Until they discover a dead body. And then another. Now Alyssa really has her hands full ---bodyguarding two independent, busy women, managing a murder investigation, and trying to find time for her husband, Troubleshooters operative Sam Starrett, and their infant son. Meanwhile, it wouldn't be a Troubleshooters operation without romantic sparks and heated rivalries--and any time the SEALs of Team Sixteen are involved, there are plenty of both.

But then, while investigating a suspect, Alyssa is ambushed, and suddenly finds herself imprisoned by The Dentist. Now cut off from everyone she loves and relies on, Alyssa must call upon all of her strength and skill to survive this final confrontation with the sadistic monster, and trust that her Troubleshooter teammates, led by her beloved Sam, will reach her before it’s too late.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this latest installment in the Troubleshooter franchise. It was said to be Sam and Alyssa story, again, but while they did get a bunch of page time I think it would be safe to say they were not the center of the book. Brockmann had a number of story lines going so it read more like an ensemble than simply Sam and Alyssa's book. I have to confess, I know Sam and Alyssa would probably be listed as a favorite couple of many fans, they're not mine. I do like them but I was never crazy over them. I did find that I had a greater liking for them after reading Hot Pursuit. I think it was because Sam has finally got his shit together. I just find him far more likable now than he was in his own book. *ducks head*

It's January in New York City and Alyssa, Sam and some Navy Seals are there as a security detail for Maria Bonavita. Maria is a State Assemblywoman, who is also a good friend of Savannah von Hopf, wife of Ken Karmody of SEAL Team Sixteen. It's like that six degrees of separation thing. Anyway, what usually happens when the Troubleshooters take what is suppose to be a working vacation? Murder, mayhem and sex. Cause you just have to have the sex. :) The plot was fairly standard with the gang running here and there. Protecting the civilians, setting up security and looking in the wrong direction for suspects. Jules and Robin decide to join the gang. Jules brings Robin with because it's suppose to be a pseudo vacation and Robin whined and complained until Jules agreed to bring him. (Sorry, not a big fan of Robin, aka BW).

So far it sounds like I didn't like Hot Pursuit much and while there were parts that I could have done with out: Danny and Izzy - just grow up already! And Jules - please stop calling everyone "Sweetie", kay? Thanks! One part that I did like was Dan Gillman's new love interest. I'm trying to keep this spoiler free so I'll just say that I enjoyed their interactions and even though their relationship developed very quickly, I still like the way it developed. In the short time frame, I do think Brockmann did a good job in making the feelings they had by the end believable.

There was also Sam and Alyssa, who at this point, have been married for almost 6 years. Wow - how time flies. They also brought their baby son Ashton with since everyone and their brother thought this was an easy assignment. Izzy and Robin get babysitter duty. I did get the feeling that Brockmann was foreshadowing Robin, Jules and baby makes three. *shrugs* - wouldn't surprise me. It's obvious she uses her books to help promote gay rights. So to have Robin and Jules with a baby down the road only makes sense. Jules, IMO would make a great father. Robin eh, still too immature.

Back to Sam and Alyssa. I liked both of them more this time around than I have in the past. Alyssa seems more, I don't know, approachable? She comes across as a more open character, fulfilled and less closed off. And Sam, while he is still a stubborn, opinionated S.O.B. at times, he's mellowed and learned to let his teammates take the lead at times, especially Alyssa. He still has one heck of a temper but he's learned to control those impulses far better than before.

There are still a number of characters, both old and new, that are left at loose ends. Brockmann did keep my interest through most of the book with a few stops and starts and minimal eye rolling at some of the language. Maybe I just don't spend enough time out on the streets, hanging with the cool kids, but there were a few times when I just had to shake my head at the lingo. I do think a small part of me was waiting for Izzy to say "I'm outtie." :)

Check out Suzanne Brockmann's huge back list at the author's website.

Rating: B