BOOK REVIEW- Caelen's Wife : Book One - A Murmur of Providence (The Clan McDunnah Series 1) by Suzan Tisdale

AMAZON 3 STARS

 This is a novella, one of three books in the Caelen's Wife/Clan McDunnah Series.

Rumor has it the water on Clan McPherson lands is magical….

Clan McPherson has known peace amongst their neighboring clans for more than one hundred years. That peace is threatened when Fiona McPherson is made chief after the death of her husband.
Known more for her fighting skills than her beauty, Fiona refuses the multiple proposals of marriage that begin to seemingly arise from nowhere. She may be the chief of her clan, but she’s still a woman. It isn’t Fiona they want, but her land and she’s willing to fight to the death to keep it.

Rumor has it Caelen McDunnah has lost his mind…

Caelen McDunnah, the chief of Clan McDunnah, has no desire to remarry. He’s perfectly content to still mourn the loss of his first wife and babe, even if it has been sixteen years. Until he meets the beautiful and feisty Fiona McPherson.
Known to start a fight out of sheer boredom or madness — no one is ever truly sure which — Caelen suddenly finds himself in the middle of battles he has no desire to fight, but fight them he will if it means he can have Fiona McPherson as his own.

There is always a wee bit of truth in every rumor.

I liked the main characters a lot and Fiona was especially unique.  She found herself in a unique position as the chief of her clan but she is fiercely protective of them all.  Very few men understood her even her own brothers who loved her as their little sister as well as their clan leader.  Fiona's best friend and fellow warrior was Bridgette; they were close to each other almost like sisters.  Now Bridgette was someone who understood Fiona, uncomfortably so at times.  It caused sisterly teasing between the two mainly from Bridgette.  
I liked how honorably Caelen was and thought his suffering from his first marriage was well drawn.  It was also somewhat similar to Fiona's state of being unloved in her marriage.
The hidden enemy is sure busy causing problem after problem but in this book it is suspected who it is but not exposed yet.  Nor was the reason exposed yet either.  Although this adventure ends on a hopeful note, it leads into Book 2 "Whisper of Fate".  3 And then the conclusion comes in Book 3.  Not sure that I will continue the story.  I might have if it had ended in Book 2 but that is the reason I said I liked it but with reservations on a Amazon review.  

BOOK REVIEW- Recruited (The Rayna Tan Action Thriller Series Book 1) by Wesley Robert Lowe

 

 

 

Meet Rayna Tan ~Smart, Sexy... Lethal

When four US and Canadian forward air controllers were taken hostage by an Islamic terrorist organization during a blistering seesaw battle in Iraq, CANUS-ETF (Canada United States Expeditionary Targeting Force) knew they had to act fast. A hundred million dollars was demanded and everyone knew there was no way the ransom would be paid.

The best chance for rescue was to deploy a small team of elite combat rescuers. American Navy Seal Captain Jonathan Rogers was chosen to head the mission. His Canadian counterpart was twenty-six-year-old Rayna Tan, the first woman to ever lead a Special Forces operation in the Middle East. She had proven herself as a warrior leader but this mission had exceptional potential perils.

Full of relentless action, razor-sharp story lines, and powerful characters, Recruited – and the entire series, will leave you breathless and longing for more.   AMAZON 4 STARS

This book delivered on the promise of being "full of relentless action, razor-sharp story lines and powerful characters."  It didn't take me long to be all in to the story.  It might be a book that is with a lot less pages but it was a very full story even so.  
The only thing that threw me off a time or two was when the time line bounced around a bit (back and forth) I still liked the story anyway. I wouldn't mind reading a few more things from this author.
 And how about the cover for the book?  What a great choice is what I say!

BOOK REVIEW- Mountain Bodyguard (Harlequin Intrigue Book 1651) by Cassie Miles

Caring for six children was supposed to be the toughest part
of Lexie DeMille's new job.     

































 Caring for six children was supposed to be the toughest part of Lexie DeMille's new job.
Then their massive Aspen residence was attacked and it was clear someone had a very personal vendetta to settle. A job that required TST Security and its best bodyguard, Mason Steele. His focus should only have been on securing the remote mountain hideaway. But unraveling Lexie's secrets became critical to the case and to his own private agenda. Under a veneer of domesticity was a marine brat with more survival skills than your average nanny. Something about her had driven her assailant into a violent rage. And that same thing blurred the parameters of Mason's detail—and would test his every survival instinct.  AMAZON  3.5 stars

I was somewhat disappointed with this book.  It started out strong and Lexie was a strong character, with multi-talents.   There was action in the book along with secrets and the thrill of the mysteries.  But..it felt like it kind of stalled a bit over half-way through the book.  It did pick up later which I did like but I kind of guessed the "who" and "where" before the author exposed the information.  
I also liked Mason but felt that he was kind of not that deeply drawn.  Sure we got to see that he is attracted to Lexie, and we got to see that he is skilled and a little bit of his family background.  But I felt like there was more about Lexie than there was about him.  And that makes it kind of hard to be drawn into "their" story.

BOOK REVIEW- Trust Fund :A Survival of the Richest Prologue by Skye Warren

My step brother was supposed to be my enemy.

































 My stepbrother was supposed to be my enemy.
Instead he protects me with fierce determination. My story begins with a fall but it doesn't end there. Because my fortune is about to change...   AMAZON 3.5 STARS

From a New York Times bestselling author comes a new world where the battle for love and money brings down the greatest men. 

I should have known better.  The book title did say "Prologue".  I must have missed that.  Translate that to just the beginning, intro or cliffhanger. And as I look ahead to the next book, it doesn't look like the story ends there either.   So even though I liked the main characters, I don't think I am going to go there.  
Now to the actual content.  Like I said I did like both Harper and Christopher and the story did have some unusual elements to it.  The way that Harper dealt with life was unique and her conversations were often pretty funny.  The emotions were there as was the twist and conflict at the end.  It had a lot of potential and I wished that the story had completed in one book.  But hey, that is the author's choice whether I agree with it or not.   I might have gone for the next book but changed my mind when I saw that it didn't end with the next book.  So I am sorry to say that my choice is to not continue. 

BOOK REVIEW- It Started One Christmas by Susan Mallery

One crisp December night, Keira


















One crisp December night, Keira  Carlesso takes in yet another stray—this time, a man. Dalton is a brilliant scientist with no home for the holidays. As Christmas works its magic, two strangers become friends, then best friends, then something much, much more…AMAZON 3 STARS

It was a short, cute read with good main characters that spanned a few years time.  Keira is definitely a unique character all on her own. Dalton also made me smile a time or two with his "brilliant" mind and his weakness for beautiful women.  Keira is cute, charming and outspoken but she isn't really in the beautiful, glamorous category.
I also liked the way the story ended with a bit of a surprise on how things work out.

BOOK REVIEW- The Girl Who Wouldn't Stay Dead (Harlequin Intrigue Book 1816) by Cassie Miles

    After more than one attempt is made on her life








an old friend steps in as her protector...


























Emily Benton-Riggs would be dead if her best friend hadn’t shown up in time. Someone doesn’t want her to inherit her ex-husband’s Aspen estate, and now attorney Connor Gallagher won’t let the widowed art dealer out of his sight. Emily has always had powerful feelings for Connor. As they give in to the desire flaring between them, she suddenly has the best reason of all to fight for her life.
AMAZON  5 STARS

What a great story..I loved every minute of it.  It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.  It had really enjoyable main characters, PLENTY of action and surprises and more than enough bad guys or girls to fill in the suspect list.  Of course there were also some pretty good "good guys and gals" as well.  There is also a touch of romance as well. 
Emily had quite the difficult life but she had managed to make some successes in it too.  She had made solid friends and could number Conner as one of them.   Of course although he had honored hs best friend's marriage to Emily he still has loved her from a far for quite some time.  Emily's ex, Jamison was someone that Conner had begun to suspect wasn't quite on the level in some of his business dealings.  And when Conner began to ask questions, Jamison changed lawyers.  It doesn't take too long after Jamison's death to find out he had a lot of stuff going on.  
Emily had been faithful throughout her marriage but did have a moment or two of attraction to Conner while still married.   Neither one of them acted on it but did become friends.  And that friendship does strengthen as they both try to figure out who is trying to kill Emily and why.  Conner proves himself on her side time and again, even though a time or two he does make a minor mistake or two. Emily has had to be self sufficient/independent and will not put up with being out of the loop when it comes to knowing what's going on. 
I really appreciated the cast of characters list at the beginning of the book.  There is a dramatic end to the story with several additional twists.  Like I said, what a great story!

BOOK REVIEW- Hot WInter Nights A Heartbreaker Bay Novel #6 by Jill Shalvis

      


































Who needs mistletoe?
Most people wouldn’t think of a bad Santa case as the perfect Christmas gift. Then again, Molly Malone, office manager at Hunt Investigations, isn’t most people, and she could really use a distraction from the fantasies she’s been having since spending the night with her very secret crush, Lucas Knight. Nothing happened, not that Lucas knows that—but Molly just wants to enjoy being a little naughty for once . . .
Whiskey and pain meds for almost-healed bullet wounds don’t mix. Lucas needs to remember that next time he’s shot on the job, which may be sooner rather than later if Molly’s brother, Joe, finds out about them. Lucas can’t believe he’s drawing a blank on his (supposedly) passionate tryst with Molly, who’s the hottest, smartest, strongest woman he’s ever known. Strong enough to kick his butt if she discovers he’s been assigned to babysit her on her first case. And hot enough to melt his cold heart this Christmas.   AMAZON  4 STARS


This book had really good main characters who kept my interest.  Molly all by herself was quite the mixture of courage, spunk, sass and also at times soft-hearted.  Not that she would let many people see her as vulnerable.  I liked that she wasn't the cookie cutter sassy heroine, she was also battling physical problems that she worked through.  Those problems caused her a lot of continual pain but she did everything she could to work her way through anyway. I felt like that was well written when we get to see how Molly had to deal with things in creative ways to get through her normal days.  
Her brother Joe worked for Hunt Investigations as well but more in the covert areas of the business.  He also is overprotective of his sister, in some of the ways that frustrate her..a lot.  She's not the fragile flower that many people seem to try to treat her as.  She's so much more and has a hard time getting the "men" in her life to see it.
Lucas is way over his head the minute he wakes up in bed with Molly with not memory of how or what happened.  Molly "tortures" him in not telling him the truth for quite a while.  I liked how he began to see how brilliant and capable she is as well as sexy as all get out.  He's in for quite a few surprises about her.  
There are several good secondary people in the story, like Archer, her boss to name at least one.
Danger does come into play because Molly has researched her way into a real case.  It's a real one that people are getting cheated by but as the story continues, we get to see that there is way more going on than expected.
There is a big surprise waiting for the reader towards the end of the book.  And a good ending with a Epilogue that makes things even better.