TBR Challenge: Secret Admirer

Secret Admirer
Susan Napier
Contemporary Romance
A Year Down Under Series
Harlequin Presents/May 1993

Grace under pressure
 

Running into a potential business partner late at night in a broken elevator - when one was wearing a glamorous fur with nothing on underneath - was awkward, but Grace Blair was cool enough to handle a hot situation.

Her poised, controlled demeanor belied the insecurity she felt taking over her late husband's business empire, but Scott Gregory was able with one caressing glance to strip away all her pretenses. Especially since the handsome New Zealander had made it clear from their first inauspicious meeting that in business, knowledge was power - and that he knew exactly what he wanted.

This is not the first book I picked up for this month's challenge.  I started with a historical western but after a week and only 125 pages in, I decided to set it aside.  Unfortunately, I decided this yesterday morning which meant if I was going to make the challenge deadline, I would need to pick something I could read and review in a day.  So I dragged out the underbed storage box filled with Harlequins and came up with a Susan Napier romance.  I've not read Ms. Napier but have read some positive reviews of her work which is how she landed in my TBR pile.

 What a memorial impression Grace leaves on Scott Gregory upon their first meeting!  She is mortified, he is intrigued.  Fast forward a few months and Grace is trying to keep her late husband's company afloat, learning as she goes.  It turns out Mr. Gregory is in the same business  Grace now finds herself in and he has an interesting business proposal to make.  

Scott Gregory is not only known for his amazing business ventures but also for escorting a variety of beautiful women about town.  He can be either a ruthless competitor or an asset to Grace's company.  Right off you know Scott has plans that extend past the boardroom when it comes to Grace.  His fascination with her may have started in the elevator but it has gone beyond there.  He does have this tendency to show up everywhere Grace goes.  Stalker-ish or a man who goes after what he wants?  It didn't feel like Scott was a stalker simply because the intent was not malicious.  Yes, he does want to get to know Grace and she says she wants to keep things business only but the vibes she's sending out say something else.

Grace Blair has gone through a lot in the past months.  Her husband's death left her feeling alone and insecure in running the business he left to her.  She doesn't give up but instead is determined to learn what she needs to know to run the business. Grace is a former model, starting in childhood with a stage mother who focused all of Grace's time and energy on her career.  We see how Grace's modeling experience only feeds into her insecurities when it comes to business.  Grace was too indecisive when it came to her personal life and her feelings for Scott.  When she did make a decision, I was merely waiting for her to change her mind.

There is a big ol' WTH moment about two-thirds of the way through.  It was plausible, given the character's childhood but believable?  Yes, but ... I still had to remind myself that this is fiction.  Speaking of childhoods, both Grace and Scott has some bumps from theirs with Scott's bumps being far more traumatic.  Looking back, it is surprising how much detail was put into this category.  The focus does stay on Grace and Scott with little to no development on the secondary characters.  That didn't really bother me since it is a short format.

Even with the less than stellar heroine, the WTH shocker and the potential stalker moments, Secret Admirer turned out to be a engaging, short romance. 


Rating:  B-

TBR Challenge Review: The Mistaken Widow

The Mistaken Widow
Cheryl St. John
Historical Romance/1869
Harlequin/August 1, 1998

I'M NOT WHO YOU THINK I AM!

Sarah Thornton wanted to shout, but revealing her true identity could only bring disaster on herself and her infant son. Still, sorrowful circumstance had turned a mistake into a miracle. She suddenly had a home, a family --- and Nicholas Halliday, a man as dangerous to her as he was desirable!

His newly widowed sister-in-law wore mystery as elegantly as an evening wrap, rousing more than suspicions in Nicholas Halliday --- for this beautiful stranger had a claim not only to the family fortune, but also to his heart and soul...!

Another year, another chance to conquer, or at least tame the ol TBR pile. Thanks to Wendy for once again hosting. It not only helps reduce the TBR pile, it also helps to confirm why certain books are in that pile when other participants post positive reviews of those books. I have a number of books by Cheryl St. John on the TBR pile but decided to go with The Mistaken Widow because it's a stand alone and I liked the mistaken identity premise.

Sarah Thornton's life has taken a tragic turn when she finds herself pregnant, alone and thrown out of her father's house. She's traveling west, trying to start a new life when another tragedy strikes. Sarah is then mistaken for the widow of a man from a wealthy family and is taken under the protection of his brother. It's easy to understand why Sarah doesn't tell the truth. If she had she would have been left destitute with her newborn child and no means to take care of him. Instead she is welcomed into a beautiful home where she and her son have everything they need. St. John does well showing how Sarah is pulled between her guilt and her desperate situation. But the longer Sarah lives the lie, the harder it is to confess.

Nicholas Halliday knows something isn't quite right about his brother's widow. She's sweet, quiet and his mother adores her. But Nicholas is suspicious and is determined to find out more about the woman his brother wed. Nicholas is not in an ideal situation - falling for his dead brother's wife. Talk about uncomfortable! I liked how he continued to question her story even as he was falling for her. He tries to keep his role as family protector, there's money involved, even as he continues to see Sarah as a wonderful person. He's certainly conflicted in his feelings for Sarah, thinking she's his late brother's widow along with his gut feeling that she can't be trusted.

Sarah is walking on a tightrope as she pretends to be someone she's not. It was inevitable the tightrope would become shaky and Sarah would start to fall. The cause of the fall didn't come as a surprise, neither did Sarah's reaction. So in that sense the suspense was not very suspenseful. The romance is slow moving, with Sarah and Nicholas having some huge obstacles to overcome. Even with those obstacles I was surprised at how long it took Nicholas to make his move and follow through.

The Mistaken Widow was a touching story of one woman's desperation to find a safe home for herself and her child. Instead she finds a family and love. It's sweet and tender, sad at times but ultimate a lovely read.

Rating: B

Review: Wife for a Week

Wife for a Week
Kelly Hunter
Contemporary Romance
Bennett Family/Book 1
Eligible Bachelors/Book 1
Harlequin Presents/August 7, 2007

From Goodreads ~

Nicholas Cooper must produce a wife for his business deal, and Hallie Bennett is beautiful and intelligent enough to pull it off. She needs the money, and Nicholas has determined some strict rules for their week together.

Rule No. 1: Displays of affection in public only

Keeping their hands on each other in public turns out to be surprisingly easy. It's keeping them off in private that's the problem. Hallie is falling for Nicholas, but will Nicholas make his contract wife his real-life bride?

First I have to thank Angela James for tweeting about how much she enjoyed this book. I was curious enough to check out the blurb, which I liked. A quick look at the local library's website showed they had it available as an e-book. Score! I don't read much from the Presents line, I usually stick with either Harlequin's Historical, Blaze or SuperRomance lines. I'm just not into billionaires, Greek tycoons or their secret babies.

Shoe shopping with your mother can be dangerous. It can also tempt fate and give you everything you've been looking for. Nick Cooper finds out the hard way when he walks into the shoe store where Hallie Bennett works. The sparks are there from the beginning and Hallie shows that she's no pushover when it comes to dealing with bossy men. Right from the first scene with Nick and Hallie, I liked these two. You would think with Nick being the boss and the one paying Hallie he would be the one with all the power. Not so. Hallie is very good at maneuvering situations for the optimal outcome. She doesn't always get it right the first time but her heart is in the right place. This is something that Nick comes to learn and love about Hallie.

Their business relationship takes them to Hong Kong. I was surprised at how much detail Ms. Hunter was able to included in such a short format. I've never been to Hong Kong but certainly had a feel for the city by the end of the book. There is action and passion as Nick and Hallie pretend to be a loving couple. The lines become blurred when the rules are broken and Nick and Hallie do more than pretend. The plot sounds like one you've probably read before and the outcome is obvious but the way Hunter wrote it, I didn't care that it was predictable. It was pure escapism in the very best way!

The romance is sweet and funny. The secondary characters add to the story without taking the spotlight from the hero and heroine. The dialogue is witty and the pacing is spot on with a rich story packed into this short format. Definitely worth reading.

Rating: A

Books in the Bennett Family Series ~

Wife for a Week
Bedded for Diamonds
The Maverick's Greek Island Mistress
Untameable Rogue
Red-Hot Renegade

Review: Soldier on Her Doorstep

Soldier on Her Doorstep
Soraya Lane
Contemporary Romance
Harlequin/July 2011

From the back cover ~

One knock at her door will change her life forever...

Soldier Alex Dane promised his dying comrade he'd make sure his wife and daughter were okay, and so he finds himself on a doorstep with his heart in his mouth.

Lisa Kennedy loved her husband, but she must focus on her daughter, Lilly, who hasn't spoken since her daddy's death. Still, the least she can do is offer this battle-weary hero a place to rest.

When Lilly's little hand reaches for Alex's big, strong one, for the first time Lisa feels her buried emotions begin to stir...

When you have a heroine who was deeply in love with her husband and has been widowed for a matter of months, it can be tricky to have her fall in love again and make it believable. I did believe in Lisa's love for Alex by the end, and while she had her moments of missing William, the conflict she felt at falling in love with Alex felt very minimal. Which would have been fine but I couldn't help but think it had only been months since William died. Yes, he had been overseas for months prior to that but still...

Lisa Kennedy knew there could come a day when her husband William might not make it home. It still didn't make it any easier when she found out that William had been killed overseas while serving in the army. It's been months since his death and Lisa and her six year old daughter Lilly are trying to move on with their lives in Alaska. The way Lisa is portrayed you can tell she loved William very much and still does. But she understands that loving him doesn't mean she can't someday love another man. She's just not ready for it, instead concentrating on helping her daughter speak again. Lisa's reactions and thoughts were realistic for her situation but I was surprised at how quickly she fell for Alex. I did like that she's practical about it and I think that had to do with her being in love before and still believing in love. She could have become cynical and depressed but instead she continues to try to keep a positive outlook, if not for herself, then for Lilly.

Alex Dane is just passing through to fulfilling a promise. But instead of a quick stop, he ends up staying for a few weeks. Alex would be the last one to call himself a hero but that's what he becomes in the eyes of Lisa and Lilly. The way the relationship between Alex and Lilly developed was critical because there was no way Lisa would ever fall for a man that Lilly didn't trust or feel comfortable with. In creating that relationship Lane allows for Lisa to have a relationship with Alex. With both these relationships, Alex shows little bits and pieces of himself, letting Lisa, Lilly and the reader get to know this solitary man.

The romance is there but it takes a while to develop which makes sense since neither character is ready to jump in, feet first, to love. The problem is, for a short book (187 pages) it moved at nearly a snail's pace. I kept waiting for something, although I'm not sure what, to happen. There is some conflict from Lisa's family, specifically her sister, but it didn't play a large role in the story. Alex's feelings of guilt are lifted after a serious talk with Lisa and Alex finally has a home to call his own.

Soldier on Her Doorstep was a sweet, if a bit slow, romance. The writing is easy to read even with what I thought might be regional terms but now I'm thinking they might be due to the fact that the author is from New Zealand. Whatever is the case, I'm looking forward to reading more from Ms. Lane.

Rating: B

TBR Challenge Review: Forever Blue

Forever Blue
Suzanne Brockmann
Romantic Suspense
Silhouette Intimate Moments #742/October 1996
Reissued by MIRA/February 2003
Tall, Dark & Dangerous/Book 2
Purchased

Blue McCoy was once the hero of Lucy Tait's teenaged dreams -- quiet, dart and dangerous. After high school he left Hatboro Creek, South Carolina, to join the military. Years later, now a Navy Seal, Blue was a man who embodied all of Lucy's fantasies.

Now Blue is back in town, and Lucy is not the person he remembered. She's a no-nonsense police officer -- and a woman Blue can't take his eyes off. But then Blue is accused of murder. And Lucy is assigned his case. Now their brief affair has became part of an extensive investigation, where what's at stake is critical -- Blue's future . . . and maybe Lucy's heart.

January's suggested reading was for a Category. I've decided to follow along with the suggestions since that will help with the selection process and believe me it's a process. :)


Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooter series is well known but she actually started writing about Navy SEALs with her Tall, Dark and Dangerous series for Silhouette. I read the Troubleshooter series first, they are full length novels and I enjoyed them so decided to start gathering the Silhouette series. I'd only previously read Prince Joe, the first book in this series. I did like it but it didn't blow me away. It turns out the same can be said for Forever Blue. I liked okay but wasn't wowed by it.

Blue McCoy is a hero right out of every girls dreams. One of those girls is Lucy Tait. They knew each other in high school, barely. Blue was a senior and a popular guy. Lucy was a freshman and an outsider. Their interactions in high school were brief, Blue helped Lucy out a few times. She fell hard, he scarcely noticed her, at least not in the way she hoped he would. Fast forward twelve years - Blue McCoy is back and Lucy Tait is all grown up.

Blue is in town for his stepbrother's wedding. It's awkward since Blue's stepbrother Gerry is marrying Jenny Lee, Blue's high school sweetheart. Lucy still has a torch for Blue and Blue is surprised when he sees Lucy. She's not the tomboy he remembered. Some things never change and pretty soon Blue is helping Lucy out and then Lucy gets a chance to help Blue when he's accused of murder.

Part of the time I was reading Forever Blue I was hoping some of the other SEALs would show up. Maybe blow up a building or car, something. Sadly, it was left up to Blue and Lucy to fight the bad guys. I liked Blue and Lucy together, it was the small town, hicksville setting that I didn't find all that appealing. Too many of those small town stereo-types lived there. The good ole boys network that neither Blue nor Lucy were remotely part of. This put them at a distinct disadvantage when it seemed like nearly everyone in town had tried and convicted Blue.

The murder plot was a bit far fetched but Brockmann pulled most of threads together and finished it off with a rousing car chase. The plot did have some holes. Lucy, a rookie cop, is made the investigator in the murder that Blue is accused of. Blue, shunned by the townsfolk, is banned from the only motel and has nowhere to stay. Lucy has a big house so... that's where her suspect stays, in her house. Oh, boy. Eventually they're sharing a house and a bed. By this point it's obvious there's something shady going on and Lucy doesn't know who she can trust.

I did like how Lucy and Blue became friends then lovers. The memories of their time in high school were sweet as they discovered things about each other they hadn't suspected. Lucy's enthusiasm for everything SEAL was cute. She was a walking encyclopedia and impressed Blue with her knowledge and her interest in his work. Blue didn't intend to come back to Hatboro Creek and fall in love but when he did he fell hard. Of course he waits until the last minute to tell Lucy. Men! LOL

The next book in the series is Frisco's Kid, which I have on the TBR pile. I'll read it, just not sure how soon. I did find Brockmann's writing good but so far I think she does better in the longer format. It could be that I'm just more attached/invested in her Troubleshooter series but I find I simply connected better with them than the SEALs from Alpha Team. Still, a decent story.

Rating: B