October 2013 Reviews

Happy Holidays to everybody!

I 'm going to have to change my banner soon with the upcoming Outlander miniseries movie in production!  Sam Heughan is perfect as Jamie Fraser!  This clip is quite swoonworthy!

How to say Sassenach

Now, once your heart has returned to normal, onto the reviews:


Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan (audio)

Book Description:
In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who’s best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald's, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children—everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to toddlers’ communication skills (“they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news”), to the eating habits of four year olds (“there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor”). Reminiscent of Bill Cosby’s Fatherhood, Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.

This really was simply hilarious, I didn't want it to end!  I had the pleasure of being in the audience and seeing Jim Gaffigan at the Book Expo this past Spring in New York City.  He talked about how he came about writing the book (with his wife) and read excerpts from it - and he really is a scream.  I'd never really heard of him before then, though my son and husband were fans.  Well, after that, I just had to get the book, though I missed out on getting a free autographed copy since they ran out and I was near the end of the line.  Didn't matter anyway, since I loved it on audiobook.  It's a must for any parent whether they have one or a dozen kids, you will relate.  Even non parents and future parents will relate to it!  On audio it's like listening to a long stand-up routine.  I found reasons to listen to this audiobook every chance I got, I think it took me less than two days to go through it.  Do yourself a favor and read it - a real pleasure!

4.5/5

The Best Man by Kristan Higgins 

Book Description:
Sometimes
The Best Man
Is The One
You Least Expect...

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she’s ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family’s vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there’s some great scenery there....

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief - and best friend of her former fiancé. There’s a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it’s not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she’s having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.

This was okay, but not great. My first by this author, it seemed to take forever to really get going between the the two leads and I felt there was a lot of low-brow humor that I didn't really appreciate - nor like.  Just made me uncomfortable.  Much of it I just didn't even think was funny and the heroine was just too cute.  Faith was left at the altar when her fiance came out and admitted he was gay.  Levi, his best man, knew the truth, but didn't do anything about it until right before the wedding.  For that reason, Faith really has it out for him.  Like I said, okay story, Faith reminded me of a cutesy Disney character, but I did like Levi's character.   Frankly, I don't know what he saw in her, no chemistry between them.

3/5

Dragon Warrior by Janet Chapman

Book Description:
Maddy Kimble has no time for a suitor—not with caring for her spunky nursing home patients, her shy nine-year-old daughter, her widowed mother, and her rebellious teenage brother. William Kilkenny’s stunning lack of modern dating protocol doesn’t help. The man is uncouth and outrageous—a towering, drop-dead, breathtakingly hot warrior. Who refuses to give up.

William is secretly a ninth-century Irish nobleman formerly trapped in a dragon’s body. All Maddy knows is that lately, she can hardly resist the urge to lose herself in his powerful arms. But as their uncontrollable passion grows, eerie occurrences in her small coastal Maine town begin to rouse Maddy’s suspicions about her lover. He begs her to trust him, but how can she surrender—body and soul—when she fears the danger he poses to her yearning heart?

It's been a while since I've read anything by this author.  I really enjoyed her earlier series, Pine Creek Highlanders, of which this newer series of hers is an offshoot.  I kind of OD'd on highlanders so I took a break for a while.  Here we have in the 2nd installment in the Moonlight Bay series, William's story.  William, believe it or not, used to be cursed and was turned into a dragon.  The curse was lifted in book 1, and now he's in human form seriously attracted to Maddie who works in a nursing home and is Eve's (from last book) best friend. Strange things to say the least are going on in Midnight Bay. I liked this book and the love scenes were steamy, but Maddie was so annoying in the way she just wanted to have sex and kept shying away from a relationship.  Then all-of-a-sudden she comes around and "loves" William.  Frankly, I don't see how she couldn't have fallen for him from the moment he opened his mouth and she heard his Irish lilt. Still, it had a happy ending, albeit an offbeat book and the last 20 pages could have been wrapped up in 2.

4/5

The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters (audio)

Book Description:
The Ape Who Guards the Balance begins in 1907 in England where Amelia is attending a suffragettes' rally outside the home of Mr. Geoffrey Romer of the House of Commons. It seems Romer is one of the few remaining private collectors of Egyptian antiquities, and a series of bizarre events at the protest soon embroil Amelia in grave personal danger. Suspecting that the Master Criminal, Sethos, is behind their problems, the Emerson Peabody's hasten to Egypt to continue their studies in the Valley of Kings where they soon acquire a papyrus of the Book of the Dead.

As with past seasons, however, their archaeological expedition is interrupted. The murdered body of a woman is found in the Nile. Ramses, Radcliffe, and Amelia all have their theories as to the origin of the crime, but their own lives might soon be at stake if the cult of Thoth and their ancient book is, indeed, involved.

I never tire of the family of Elizabeth Peabody and Emerson.  Their shenanigans in Egypt never fail to make me laugh.  As the series progresses, Ramses is grown now into a handsome young man, which leads to some very interesting developments.   Ramses and Nefret are still playing this coy game between each other, it's only a matter of time when they will declare their love for one another.  Surprising developments between Daoud and Lia as well, which I kind of found hard to believe.   As usual, the mystery is secondary to me, I find the interactions of all the characters the best part!  On audiobook this is a real treat and Barbara Rosenblat is as fantastic as ever - she IS Amelia and Emerson.

4/5

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (audio)

Book Description:
Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome--and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life....

But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of--big surprise--murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next...

I finally caved and gave in and started this well-known Southern Vampire series that has been made into the TV series True Blood.  I'm glad I did, eventually I'll check out the series on TV.  On audio, it's a real treat, for I love Sookie's way of talking and you get that real Southern flavor.  She can hear other people's thoughts, which can be a real nuisance and then along comes Bill - the vampire.  In Harris' world, vampires are accepted, though not liked very much.  They can buy blood - even get it in bars.  They are treated as if they have a virus, rather than being the living dead.  This is all just good PR, they really are dead, but to be accepted in the world, the virus story has been created.  Bill seems like a nice vampire, but his friends aren't, as Sookie learns as she and Bill become closer and closer, while trying to find out who or what is killing the women in town with unusual sexual proclivities.  It doesn't help that Sookie's brother is a prime suspect.  I look forward to the rest of the series, narrated well by Johanna Parker, though her rendition of Bill is a little on the boring side.

4/5

Heartless by Mary Balogh

Book Description:
Life has taught Lucas Kendrick, Duke of Harndon, that a heart is a decided liability. Betrayed by his brother, rejected by his fiancée, Luke fled to Paris, where he became the most sought-after bachelor in fashionable society.

Ten years later, fate has brought him back home, to the rescue of the very people who had once shunned him. Luke is amused by the advice that a wife will make his takeover of both the title and the family estate smoother, but amusement turns to desire once he sets eyes upon Lady Anna Marlowe.

Unbeknownst to Luke, Anna is also no stranger to pain, but her suffering can't be so easily overcome, not when her tormentor stalks her to the very doors of Bowden Abbey.  Luke and Anna, each made fragile by the past, must learn to trust both each other and their love if they are to have any chance for a future together.

I love Georgian historicals and this one was pretty good, although through much of the storyline you have this awful sense of angst.  It was almost painful to read for you are worried that the heroine and hero cannot be happy because of this awful secret she has (which leaves the reader wondering as well).  Lukas jumps to the wrong conclusions about his bride and he's somewhat cruel to her, which I also found hard to stomach.  Despite the angst, it succeeds in sucking you in to keep reading to see what it's all about and if there is a happy ending.   Still, I enjoyed the book, though I am sick of the storyline in which hero's feel they have no heart and are incapable of ever loving anyone!

4/5
 

The Cowboy Takes a Bride by Lori Wilde

Book Description:
Ex-champion bull rider-turned-cutting-horse cowboy Joe Daniels isn't quite sure how he ended up sleeping in a horse trough wearing nothing but his Stetson and cowboy boots. But now he's wide-awake, and a citified woman is glaring down at him. His goal? Get rid of her ASAP. The obstacle? Fighting the attraction he feels toward the blond-haired filly with the big, vulnerable eyes.

When out-of-work wedding planner Mariah Callahan learns that her estranged father has left her a rundown ranch in Jubilee, she has no choice but to accept it. Her goal? Redeem her career by planning local weddings. The obstacle? One emotionally wounded, hard-living cowboy who stirs her guilt, her heartstrings, and her long-burned cowgirl roots...

Not a bad contemporary Western, set in Texas, about a city girl from Chicago who returns to her estranged father's hometown of Jubilee, TX after his death. Her father was a cutter, as is everyone else in this town.  The first person she meets is a widower cowboy who's still mourning the death of his wife after two years. Both of them have some baggage to get over, with an homage to "Sleepless in Seattle." I liked it and was rooting for the two of them to just get on with their lives and stop worrying so much!  Nice development, but seemed a bit rushed at the end and the title is a misnomer.  One bonus: I learned all about cutting, which I had never even heard of before!

3.5/5

Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne

Book Description:
As scruffy and rootless as the other prospectors searching for gold in the Rockies, Low Down wanted nothing in return for nursing a raggedy bunch through the pox. But when pressed to reveal her heart's wish, she admits she wants a baby. Not a husband, not a forced marriage to the proud man who drew the scratched marble and became honor bound to marry her. To be sure, Max McCord was easy on the eyes, but he loved another woman and dreamed of a different life. Yet they agreed to a temporary marriage that could end only in disaster. But can this strange twist of fate lead to the silver lining that both have been searching for?

A heartwarming, funny tale of an unlikely marriage between Max McCord and Low Down/Louise who meet in the late 1800's panning for gold.  Low Down nursed all the men on the river back to health after a smallpox epidemic.  As a thank you they said they'd grant her greatest wish.  And she says she wants a baby!  This had so much originality!  Their story unfolds as Max is the one that has to marry her.  He takes her back to his family's home but all is not well for his marriage to her sets off a series of ramifications that seem insurmountable, mainly because he has jilted his fiancee and her rich father, who is not happy about it - nor is the fiancee.  Lots of great little tidbits in this story and I'll definitely be reading more by this author.  Memorable.

4/5

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The Man Must Marry by Janet Chapman

Book Description:
Trying to escape marriage, they are snared by love.

When Sam Sinclair's self-made millionaire grandfather sends Willa Kent, a woman none of the three Sinclair brothers have even heard of, as his proxy to an ultra-important meeting of the Sinclair shipping company, most people would think the old man had lost his marbles. But Sam knows his grandfather too well. For some reason, the wily old man has decided that one of his three grandsons should marry Willa, and this is his way of trying to force the issue....

So Willa and Sam team up on what seems like a wild-goose chase to find some loophole in Grandfather Sinclair's crazy notion. But as Sam crews Willa's yacht en route to Maine, he finds to his surprise that his grandfather's offbeat scheme is growing more attractive by the moment. Willa is smart, beautiful...and has a wild streak that sends them soaring together above the clouds.

But Willa isn't about to let Sam fly away with her heart until she knows his true motives. If the man wants to marry for money, then the woman in her says that first he must fall in love.

I'm a big Janet Chapman fan and I've loved her Maine Highlander books, but this stand alone contemporary was not up to what I've come to expect from her.  Although this novel had some quirky cute things in it, for the most part I found the story far fetched and I didn't connect with the heroine at all.

Here we have a story of a plump-ish, klutzy young woman, Willa Kent, who can't seem to get her act together.  Although she is obviously smart and attractive, she's been keeping herself holed up in Maine, afraid to live a real life after a tragic car accident that maimed her niece.  An accident she felt she was responsible for after witnessing her ex-husband's infidelity.  Instead, Willa has been living it up with a bunch of retirees that work for her in her casket factory.  Yes, I kid you not.  A casket factory.  Fate steps in when she winds up inheriting a fortune from an aging billionaire she befriended before he died.  He was building his own casket in her factory!

The sneaky billionaire wanted to make sure she'd be happy in life after his death.  So, he built in a catch to the inheritance.  It turns out he has three good looking grandsons who are eligible to take over the company.  He made a condition in the will that she must marry one of them - and have a baby within a few years - or else the family company reverts to his arch enemy and biggest competitor.  He knew she'd never let the family lose the company so this was his way to insure she'd marry, have kids, and be set for life.  Unfortunately, she has no idea about his plan until the will is read.  But before that, she's already met the grandsons...

One in particular, Sam - a hunk of the first order - falls for her overnight.   Sam is just too good to be true, except for the fact that he fell for Willa hook, line and sinker too fast.  I kept asking myself - why?  What did he see in her?  We never actually find out just what is Sam's reason for falling for her so quickly.  Is it for the company?  Is it just mad lust?  Has he been yearning for a certain someone all his life?  Na-da.  Willa is such an unlikely type for him, I really felt like we needed more background and thought process to justify Sam's impetuous behavior towards her.  Later on, when he's trying to win her while in Maine, we hear he's gained all this weight and has become depressed - and still we don't know why?  Is he demoralized that she's rejecting him or is he distraught over losing his grandfather?  That was fuzzy too.  Plus, I wasn't sure, are we actually supposed to believe he's really upset, or is it an act to work on Willa's sympathies?  There were a lot of gray areas in this book that had me doubting and second guessing and just plain scratching my head - why?

In New York, where they meet, she is a living wreck.  She can't walk in high heels and looks awful in a suit - the Sinclair brothers think of her as "a partridge."  It turns out she's aces captaining a boat at sea, but on land - especially around Sam - she's all thumbs.  She's hampered by all sorts of inferiority issues and baggage from the car crash.   Once she finds out about the will she hightails it back to Maine on the boat she just inherited.  But Sam has other ideas.  He has himself dropped into the ocean by a helicopter so she will be forced to rescue him and he crews for her from New York to Maine (hence, the cover of the book).  Another thing I forgot to mention about is how Willa changes when she's at sea.  On board she suddenly becomes a "wild woman" and she jumps Sam's bones and they have mad, passionate sex for four days at sea.  But, Willa's deal is, when they land, their fling is over.  Sam has other plans.  He intends to marry her and get her pregnant immediately.

As you can imagine, for most of the book Willa is running away from Sam and he's chasing after her.  Why would any sensible woman in her right mind resist a gorgeous guy who's crazy about her, wants to marry her and there's a huge fortune to go with it?  Like I said, she has issues.  She's convinced that she's such a klutz that she'd be an unsafe mother.  So, she had her tubes tied after the car accident.  Uh-oh, what does that do to the will?  No problem, Sam's sperm is so big and strong - she gets pregnant anyway! *rolls eyes*  Eventually she gives in to Sam and admits she's crazy about him too, but it was torture to read about how she finally determined how important he is to her.  Willa is such a basket case through most of this book, I could barely get through it. 

I had so many issues with this plot, I couldn't help shaking my head and can't believe I finished it. I was tempted to toss it.   I haven't even mentioned the whole side story of the battling retirees and Willa's sister who's married to a jerk.  However, one glaring item that was never fully developed upon was Barry, the grandson of the old man's arch enemy, who would get hold of the family company if Willa didn't marry one of the Sinclair brothers.   I thought we'd see more of him in the role of a villain.  After a few dates with Willa, his plot line just kind of fizzled out.  One of the things I did like in the book was Willa's niece who was unbelievably wise and well adjusted for a teenager with a prosthesis. 

If you like books with quirky plot lines, quirky settings and heroines who are in denial and don't believe they're worthy of a happily ever after ending then you might like this book.  Unfortunately, it was more of a head banger for me.

2.5/5

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Secrets of the Highlander by Janet Chapman

Book Description:
He is the father of her child, but the secrets they are hiding are tearing them apart....

Megan MacKeage escaped the smothering protectiveness of the Highland MacKeage clan to work as a scientist on the Canadian tundra. But when fellow researcher Wayne Ferris breaks her heart by rejecting her, Megan returns to Maine alone.... Then she meets the town's new police chief, Jack Stone--the man she knew as Wayne Ferris. Instead of the quiet scholar he posed as, he's an aggressive private eye who's willing to fight for what he wants, just like all the overbearing men in her clan. So why is Megan still feeling a dangerous attraction? And though Jack claims he followed her here because he loves her, can she ever trust a man with so many secrets?

Another winner from Janet Chapman! I pretty much read this in a day - a snowy blizzardy blustery snow day off from work. Nothing like spending the whole day in your pajamas curled up in bed reading a romance that takes place in the snow in Maine! Perfect!

This is the official last book in the Pine Creek series of time traveling highlanders from the 12th century (not including her recent Christmas book, which is coming up on my TBR list) that wind up in present-day Maine running a ski resort. One of the highlanders, Greylen MacKeage, has seven daughters - and this book is about Megan MacKeage who finds herself pregnant and single. On top of everything else, she's not sure of how she's going to handle the fact that the father of her baby basically ended it with her as soon as he found out she was pregnant while working together in the tundra of Canada. Now, lo and behold, he has shown up in her home town in Maine as the police chief with a new name and new look to him - granted, a very attractive look - but, what's he up to??

To say the least, Megan is pissed off!

The man she knew as her nerdy boyfriend Wayne, has now morphed into rugged and attractive police chief, Jack Stone. And he expects her to come running - to forgive the way he humiliated her and sent her packing, breaking her heart and wondering what she's supposed to do with a baby on the way? Well, Megan starts out determined to send him packing instead, with a swift kick in the you-know-what, but soon she learns the truth about him, that he sent her off for her own good, and though it takes her a while to believe him, she begins to thaw when it comes to Wayne/Jack, and it doesn't hurt that her father likes him as well as everyone else!

As usual in Chapman's Pine Creek books, there is lots of paranormal and fantasy elements. This is no exception. There's a mysterious dragon-like creature breaking into bakeries and stealing doughnuts in addition to the subplot of who is after Megan to get some DNA samples she took in Canada. Plus, there's lots of Greylan and Grace (from the first book in the series - Megan's parents) and Winter and her husband Matt, and his brother Kenzie, who is mixed up in the mystery as well!

I found the plotline exciting and compelling, but most of all I loved the chemistry between Megan and Jack. No matter how much she resisted him at first, she couldn't stay that way forever. Not only does he explain away what he did and why, but he's a great guy in the end. Okay, so he's not over six feet, like all her relatives who were Scottish highlanders, but he's someone that you'd want to have with you if you're lost in the woods on a cold winter's night. Adept at survival with his own brand of magic up his sleeve he is a man after my own heart. He also has a wrenching backstory of his own of how he became orphaned at the age of nine, which is unforgettably sad. I really loved Jack, a great guy (plus the back picture of the book makes him look very yummy!)

I won't reveal too much of the plotline, but this was a great addition to the series, one of my favorites! I highly recommend this series! I'm sad it's almost over! :(

4/5

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Only with a Highlander by Janet Chapman

Book Description:
She must choose between her destiny...and her desire.

As soon as Pine Creek's new mystery man steps into her art gallery, Winter MacKeage is intrigued. This sexy stranger, Matt Gregor, wants her to do some drawings of his dream house. And with his tiger-gold eyes and masculine charm, he's impossible to resist. But so is Winter's Scottish heritage. As the seventh MacKeage daughter, she must embrace her true magical calling...and deny her mortal desires. Soon Winter is heating up--in Matt's strong arms--and her fiery heart is torn. Can she give up the destiny she was born to fulfill for the only man she's ever truly loved?

Book five and 2nd to last of the Pine Creek Series, this is Winter MacKeage's tale. Unaware that she has a mystical calling as a druidh to save the world one day, she meets a handsome stranger, Matt Gregor, who wastes no time in wining and dining her - leading to her ultimately falling for him. Not a bad story, but not the best of this series either, but I enjoy reading about the MacKeage's and the time traveling highlanders in Maine.

Winter in the daughter of Greylen and Grace MacKeage, who are now in their 60's and 70's. It's been 35 years since the first book about them in the series, although there is not much to indicate things have changed in the backwoods of Maine to indicate it's the future, except for fast flying private jets that can surpass the speed of sound at Mach 1 (or something like that, to be honest, I was a bit lost in the technicality of it all-let's just say private jets can fly really fast now!)

Winter is an artist and owns a gallery in the town of Pine Creek where she lives with her family. In walks tall, dark and handsome Matt Gregor one day and - did I mention he was rich? - buys up a few of her paintings. He's used to getting what he wants. His next acquisition in mind? Winter MacKeage. She's instantly attracted to him too, but a bit wary of starting things up with this handsome stranger. Still, they begin to have a few dates and she gets to know him and before long she's fallen in love with him. Why, all of sudden, we don't know, but she does. It's a big vague, but you're supposed to assume it just by being with him a lot and he's a great kisser and all that. But, Winter is a virgin and Matt knows this, so he doesn't rush her or anything. He's very understanding in that regard - although Winter is beginning to feel it's time for her to give it up. I don't blame her. He has long dark hair, tall, virile, rich, independent, commanding - why, he sounds a bit like a medieval Scottish highlander - doesn't he?

Still, there is the sticky problem that Winter is fated to be Father Daar's (the cranky old priest from the other books who is really a 1000 year old Druidh) heir and is needed to save the continuum and the world from destruction from a renegade druidh from 800 years ago that is causing all sorts of trouble. She cannot get into a relationship with anyone - and definitely cannot have a baby! - or she will lose her powers. It's complicated and this is the main plot of the book, and there is a big surprise about who Matt really is - and his brother - which I won't spoil, but all in all it was a good story but convoluted - especially towards the end and the big wind up which I found to be somewhat of a cop out - but hey, it's time travel, it's fantasy - anything goes - right?

A couple of steamy moments between Winter and Matt - one in particular in the bathroom *fans self* They do like to get it on everywhere - the bathroom, a cave, a hot tub - finally towards the end they make it to a bed! Phew!

A good story, with lots of familiar characters from the other books, especially the now older Greylen and Grace, a must read for this series, though not my favorite.

3.5/5

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Moonlight Warrior by Janet Chapman

Book Description:
Kenzie Gregor purchases a series of islands off the coast of Maine to set up an animal sanctuary, only to find a very tempting obstacle in his way: Eve Anderson, who lives with her elderly mother on the main island. Since she has no place else to go, Kenzie allows Eve to stay in exchange for her help -- and just maybe because she's so brave for such an adorable wee lass.

Eve swore off men after her husband ran away with another woman, and she's not the least bit interested in Kenzie, even though her mother and everyone else in town in trying to push her into his strong, capable arms. After all, she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself, her mother, and their failing woodstove business all by herself; she doesn't need some rich, gorgeous knight to come save her. Besides, she doesn't trust him: strange things have begun to happen at night since Kenzie's arrival, and she's sure he's involved somehow...

I'm a sucker for Janet Chapman's Pine Creek series, about a group of displaced highlanders from the 11th century that time travel forward and live in the mountains of Maine in present day running a ski resort. This book is a continuation of that series, only it takes place on the coast of Maine, Midnight Bay. This book centers on Kenzie, a tall, dark and handsome Scottish highlander who was once a panther who now, with Father Daar (from the Pine Creek books) has gone to set up a haven for other cursed animals that are really human. Kenzie's raison d'etre is to help them become human again by breaking whatever curse it was that made them become animals in the first place.

His current case is William who is a man that "believes" he is a dragon. Can Kenzie help William become a man again by showing love for someone more than himself and break the curse that was put on him 1000 years ago by a vengeful witch? Meanwhile, Kenzie finds love himself in the shape of Eve Anderson, a newly divorced and jaded young women that is facing near bankruptcy, eviction and the worries of seeing her mother slowly succumb to dementia in her later years. I really enjoyed this book and it was good to see some of the old characters from the last series, although, since I haven't finished that series yet, I was clued in to what happens in it, but not to the point where it was spoiled for me. If anything, it just whet my appetite to finish the Pine Creek series and read about what happens in the last two books of it!

I really liked Kenzie. Gorgeous, strong, capable, a highland warrior from his own medieval time, he's been human for six months after roaming Tar Mountain with the McKeague's as a black panther. It's been aeons since he's had a woman too, so once he sees petite, blonde Eve Anderson he is smitten. Luckily, she is in need of a knight in shining armor to help her with all her woes, but she's the last one to admit it. Kenzie immediately befriends her mother, Mabel, and as it turns out he has (unknowingly) bought the farmhouse they're being evicted from. Wanting to help, he asks them to stay on at the farm as his housekeepers while he camps out under the stars taking care of William (the dragon) and fighting off unatural lightning storms from the evil witch that wants to kill him for rescuing William. It sounds a bit complicated, but it's really not. The main gist of the story is, how can Kenzie get Eve to warm up enough to him so that he can court her in the traditional way, and at the same time keep her and her mother safe while battling supernatural forces and not revealing that he was once a panther for six months and has a dragon hiding out in the woods?

If anyone can do it, Kenzie can. Eve took some getting used to. She's scarred from her first marriage and isn't eager to get married again. Albeit, she is attracted to Kenzie, and her friend, Maggie, is determined to convince Eve to have an affair with him. One drunken outing with a bottle of spiced rum and loose lips was hilarious between Maggie and Eve and the knight in armor, Kenzie, who came to their rescue after Maggie crashed her truck. But, Eve is a tough nut to crack. Yes, we know she can take care of herself with karate lessons as a girl and the fact she can break a guy's nose and fingers in a bar, but she's cranky a lot. But hey, what it all comes down to is - she just needs a good lay! Kenzie succeeds in getting the job done and eventually she can't resist him and lets down her defenses and her life changes because of him. I liked reading about how she comes around and relaxes, yet still helps him battle the unatural forces that come to Midnight Bay. She learns to accept her mother's condition, she even accepts the fact that there is a dragon living in the woods who talks to her mother, and she learns that it's not such a bad thing to be barefoot and pregnant while churning butter!

The side characters in this book are strong, Maggie is a dear friend who we care about and I loved what happens to her with William at the end (one of my favorite moments of the book!) Mabel, Eve's mother is slowly losing her mind, but it is written well and thoughtfully. It is not maudlin or sappy, we like Mabel and it doesn't take away from her feisty and charming characteristics. Chapman writes from her experiences with her own mother's illness (as is explained in the author's endnotes). You can tell this is a subject she knows about and although Mabel's illness is handled with kid gloves, dementia and long term care is a very real problem in today's society, and it will only become more and more of a problem in the future. It was good to see it and it's repercussions addressed, even if it was in the most idealized and sugar coated way. We should all be so lucky to have our loved ones be as self sufficient and plucky as Eve's mother, Mabel. It makes you think, though, about life ahead and what can happen to your loved ones. Although this was a heart warming romance, I liked this side storyline that was interwoven well with the main plotline of William as a dragon who Mabel befriends. There are a lot of food descriptions in this book too - my mouth was watering at all the pies and bread and other bakery items described - Mabel like to bake (and I'm dieting!)

Overall, this was a good story, the sex scenes were steamy between Eve and Kenzie, although the actual build up of their love for each other was on the light side, one of those all of a sudden "I love him!" moments without enough emotions to go along with it to back up why she loves him. I'm eager to read the next book in this series. I suspect we'll find out what happens between William and Maggie or whatever other animals come down the pike to Midnight Bay for rescuing. A heart warming, realistic, yet paranormal/fantasy contemporary - I recommend this!

4/5

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Tempting the Highlander by Janet Chapman

Book Description:
She has the power to tempt him beyond all reason....

Catherine Daniels arrives in Pine Creek, Maine, at just the right time for Robbie MacBain. She is on the run from her ex-husband, and Robbie is a sexy, single foster parent who needs a housekeeper while he travels back in time to medieval Scotland. Unbeknownst to Catherine, Robbie's looking for a book of spells to save the future of his family...and little did he expect to find a burning passion in Catherine's arms. Can Robbie seal his family's fate while enticing Catherine to follow him and her own heart wherever love will take them?

Have you ever read a book that you absolutely loved and you're so caught up with the characters and setting that you just don't want the book to end? And then, even better - it's part of a series, and the next book is already written and sitting in your TBR pile and you can keep on reading about these wonderful people and places? But, before long as you begin reading it, you realize this next book isn't nearly as good as the previous one, and it's kind of a let down? Well, that's what happened to me today with Tempting the Highlander. I loved Wedding the Highlander, which I finished yesterday. With no hesitation, I decided to put off reading a TBR Challenge book for a day, so I could read the next in this Pine Creek series by Janet Chapman.

I should have waited. I should have known it wouldn't live up to the euphoria left over from the previous book. It wasn't bad, mind you, but it was an entirely different sort of story.

This was the story of Robbie, the son of Michael MacBain, the sexy Scottish highlander hero from the last book that I fell for. Robbie was an adorable 8 year old boy in the last book, and now he's grown up and is about 30 years old. (There's never any year mentioned in this book, so I'm not sure if we're supposed to think it's the future, like around 2028, it just never comes up.) Robbie is the guardian of his family in a magical way and literally. He's a bachelor, living in his mother's old farm house and is foster father to four unruly teenage boys and in desperate need of a housekeeper. By chance, Catherine Daniels and her two children come into his life and he hires her. The boys and Robbie take to her immediately and she fits right in with her two little kids, Nathan and Nora. She's a godsend to him, and at the same time, he's just what she needs since she's fleeing from her abusive ex-husband who just got out of prison for beating her up.

Pretty serious themes going on here for a romance, wouldn't you say? It's a compelling story, but came up short in the romance department. Catherine is emotionally and physically scarred from her ex-husband and nervous and apprehensive about starting up any relationships, yet she is attracted to Robbie. But, she has to face her demons and get over her ex before she can really find happiness again, physically, with a man. Still, if there was anyone she could find to help her, it's Robbie MacBain. As usual in these books, providence and destiny is a strong theme. These two people are meant for one another. Robbie is the perfect modern day man. (Except for the fact he has 6 toes on each foot like his father!) A towering, handsome, well built warrior with the heart of a lion and a slight Scottish accent (from his father), he's great at fighting and taking care of others. That's what he does in addition to his logging business. Plus, he has this beautiful farm house on a lake with a barn and chickens and woods! All he needs is a wife! He and Catherine fall into an easy relationship that soon turns to flirtation and then eventually some toe-curling kisses. But, that's about as far as it goes until the end of the book!

Meanwhile, Robbie has an important and challenging task that he must do for Father Daar (the wizard priest from the previous books.) He has to travel back in time to Scotland in the thirteenth century to find this book of spells to save his uncles and father! This is a new twist in the books, no one has actually gone back in time before in them. So, we get to see Robbie put all his warrior training into use, and on one of his trips, Catherine, inadvertently goes back with him. She's freaked out at first, but becomes used to 13th century living. Robbie's uncle Ian goes back with him too, and it's a moving situation as he is reunited with his family.

I found this book had some fun little scenes and humorous moments, I liked it how Catherine liked to run in short shorts and all the logging trucks would honk at her, and there was a priceless scene when she's shopping for personal incidentals for Robbie and the boys! I liked Cat (as Robbie calls her) well enough too, and she turned out to be a resourceful and courageous woman at the end when she finally faces her demons and her ex. But, still I didn't really warm up to her and there didn't seem to be a lot of chemistry between her and Robbie. I think it was mostly because she was in this housekeeper role most of the time in the book or worrying about her ex-husband finding them. It wasn't a very romance-y book.

I liked it well enough, but it didn't have me wishing for more. It was a happy ending, though predicatable which left it kind of flat. I think the story was so focused on Robbie's duty as a guardian and Catherine's duties as a mother and getting her life back that it didn't leave a lot of room for romance and relationship building as lovers. But, don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but as I said before, just different from the last book, and I didn't get the same sort of emotional punch in this one as I did with the first in the series either. To each his own, give me more sizzle and less serious overtones. I prefer something lighter when I'm reading a romance.

3.5/5

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Wedding the Highlander by Janet Chapman

Book Description:
A runaway beauty finds love in the brawny arms of a handsome stranger.

Talented surgeon Libby Hart is fleeing to Pine Creek, Maine, when her car spins out of control and crashes into a pond. She is rescued by Michael MacBain, a medieval highlander trapped in the modern world by a wizard's spell. Wounded in love once before by a modern woman, Michael wants nothing to do with Libby, but he can't resist the intense desire she stirs within him. Can this proud warrior pledge his heart to a woman whose secret threatens to change their lives forever?

I luuuuuurved this book!

It's been a while since I read the second book in this series, Loving the Highlander, and I admit, I had been a bit disapppointed with it, after loving the first in the series, Charming the Highlander. Well, this book (3rd in the series) more than made up for it! This is Michael's story. I wasn't crazy about him in the first book, he came across as an adversary of the MacKeage's but by the end of it you empathized with him and this book really made me fall for him!

Michael MacBain, a swoonworthy 800+ year old Scottish warrior sent forward in time to present day is living in Maine with his 8 year old son, Robbie. Raising his son on his own, with the help of fellow dislocated Scottish warriors, the MacKeage's, Michael vows he'll never fall in love again, after losing Robbie's mother eight years earlier in a tragic automobile accident.

But, he didn't count on meeting Libby Hart who comes to Maine, escaping her life as a top notch surgeon in California. Libby has just had the shock of her life. She can magically heal people, simply by holding them and making them well. Freaked out by what she doesn't understand, she decides to flee to Maine and live a simple life to get her head together. Yet, she's not a hand wringer or worry wart. She rents Robbie's mother's old house, thus Michael MacBain becomes her landlord - and what a landlord to have! I think I'd melt into a puddle right on the spot.

Michael is brimming with testosterone. Tall, dark and handsome with the confidence of an ancient Scottish warrior, Michael knows what he wants - and he wants Libby! I just loved how they meet (she plows into a few of his prized Christmas Tree farm trees and he has to rescue her from her rental car in Pine Lake). Their courtship doesn't have the usual hemming and hawing and all of a sudden one day, "Hey, I love you!" pattern. They both are attracted to each other almost from the start and agree right off the bat to have an affair. She's not looking for a husband, and he's not looking for a wife. But, that's not exactly how things go. Life if much more complicated than that. I loved every minute of seeing how these two get along, and sighed and laughed and giggled throughout the book - wishing I had a highlander of my own too! What is it about these highlander men I love? *sigh*

Libby is a likeable heroine. A brilliant doctor, she has to deal with leaving her old career in a shambles and begin a new life. I liked how her doctoring common sense comes out, she worries about helmets and the appropriateness of giving an eight year old a knife for a Christmas present! She has no idea who she's dealing with in these odd Scottish highlanders in the back woods of Maine! She's a do-er. She doesn't hesitate or think forever about something. When she makes up her mind to do something, she does it. She's not a whiner or complainer. If she wants to fix up her house and buy things to make it homey - she goes out and does it. I was glad she didn't throw a hissy fit at Michael when he mistakenly decorated her place while she was sleeping. It was a cute scene when she saw what he had done and she handled it with aplomb.

One of my favorite scenes is when Michael and Dr. Kessler, one of Libby's associates from California, meet. Neither of them like one another, and I loved it how they curtly call each other by their last names only, circling one another like dogs checking out the competition! Michael easily puts the doctor in his place and sends him packing back to LA - good riddance!

The side characters are great in this book. Robbie, Michael's son, is a total cutie and old beyond his years, big for his age too. Winsome, endearing and resourceful, he's motherless, but, like his father, he knows what he wants and he's certain Libby is the one for his single father to settle down with. He has a snowy pet owl, who may or may not be his dead mother, Mary, reincarnated. Libby's mother, Katherine, comes to visit and eventually stay, and I loved her reaction to Ian MacKeage, another great big transplanted Scottish warrior (a bit on the older side.) The two of them hit it off.

That's one of the things I like about these books, the side characters' storylines are interesting too, not just fodder to fill up the pages. The MacKeages's from Charming the Highlander are throughout this book, but not too much, the story is really centered on the relationship between Libby and Michael. There is great chemistry between them, the sex scenes are tasteful, just right, not over the top, realistic and satisfying. Though, my one pet peeve was, why in the world did the author make their first time in a truck, when there are 3 other bedrooms in the house! Libby felt uncomfortable going to bed with him in the same bed that used to be Mary's (Robbie's mother and Michael's old lover). I understand that, but why not just use another bedroom instead of the back of her truck in the garage? A minor point, but it bugged me - LOL! Once Libby's mother moves in, it really cramped their style, I laughed at the idea that there could be "no sex" while Mom's living in the house! A good way to keep the sexual tension going in the storyline.

I highly recommend this book. It has the appeal of a Scottish highlander romance, with the modern conveniences of a contemporary. A win win combination with an exciting (albeit, predictably angsty) ending. A real keeper!

4.5/5

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Loving the Highlander by Janet Chapman

From Book Description:
A tempestuous passion begins with a battle of wills...
When Sadie Quill comes upon an unbelievably gorgeous man lying naked beside a lake, she can't resist taking his photo -- and is quickly trapped in a passionate confrontation with the fierce stranger. Discovering the identity of this irresistible warrior will complicate Sadie's search for a legendary gold mine. For he is Morgan MacKeage, a medieval highlander in modern-day Maine, a man with the fury of the untamed wilderness pounding in his veins -- and the power to unlock Sadie's fragile heart.

This is the 2nd in the Highlander Series by this author. The premise is a group of Highlanders from the 13th century are accidentally brought forward in time to present time. They amazingly learn to adapt, sell their ancient swords and jewels and buy a huge tract of land on a mountain in the backwoods of Maine. All the books center on a different one, or the son or daughter of one. The last book, Charming the Highlander was pretty good about the leader (laird) of the clan and how he meets his modern wife, and kind of touching. This one was about the laird's brother, Morgan, and how he meets his match, Sadie.

The beginning of the book was kind of funny, especially how Sadie and Morgan meet. He has the body of a god and she sees him swimming nude and takes a picture of him in the woods while he's sleeping. He hears her and chases after her (nude) and scares her to death. Then they meet again on a blind date and it's pretty funny.

Sadie is carrying around a heavy burden on her shoulders. She is terribly scarred on parts of her body from burns that occured eight years previously from a fire that killed her sister, and ultimately her father. She's shy with men, and obviously does not want to show her scars to anyone. Morgan, highly attracted to her (all 6 feet 1 inches of her!) could care less about her scars but he realizes she has to overcome them and be willing to show them to him when she's ready.

There's a whole sideline in which she's looking for this lost gold and he's trying to prevent her from finding out about this magic waterfall and gorge on his land. It's a bit convoluted, but makes the plot move forward with the usual bad guys chasing after them and trying to kill them for the gold.

Not a bad book, but not as good as the first either, which had more emotion in it. This book also left up in the air the whole relationship with her mother and Morgan's cousin, Callum. We find out her 43 year old mother (who had Sadie when she was 16 conceived in the back of a Mercedes - hence Sadie's name - Mercedes) is pregnant! Maybe that will be another book!

3/5

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