The Admiral's Bride
Suzanne Brockmann
249 pages
ISBN: 0-373-07962-1
Silhouette Intimate Moments #962

Also posted at Epinions.

I've reviewed Suzanne Brockmann's books before, so it should come as no surprise that I'm doing it again. I haven't read all of her Navy SEAL books, but I've read a few, and for the most part, I think they're pretty good.

I absolutely adored The Admiral's Bride.

Jake Robinson finally gets is own book, or rather, a happy ending. Jake is an Admiral in the Navy, now no longer a SEAL, but he was at one time. The first time *I* met him was in It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and I really liked him then. He's even better with his own chance to shine.

The book begins with a flashback to Vietnam, and a dozen men who have been left behind by choice, their commander deciding they were too wounded to get out of the jungle safely. An airstrike has been called in, and these men know without a doubt that they're going to die, one way or another.

Until Jake Robinson, who's nickname but not rank is 'Admiral', and his team save the day. Seven SEALs manage to convince those men, and the VC, that there's an American force tearing up the jungle and ready for the fight. It's more than enough to provide cover for the chopper that flies the doomed twelve to safety, and Jake, who's developed a reputation for this sort of thing, has saved another dozen of his Boys.

In the present, we meet Zoe Lange, the daughter of one of those dozen men Jake saved. Gorgeous, brilliant, and determined to boot, she's an expert on chemical warfare and she's been called in to join a top secret mission. Six cannisters of a nerve agent called Triple X have been stolen by a militant organization called the CRO. The man heading the operation to get it back is none other than Jake Robinson.

Perfect for Zoe, who's always seen Jake as a hero, and who's harbored a long-time crush on him. Not so perfect for Jake, whose wife died of cancer three years ago, but who can't deny an attraction to the pretty scientist assigned to the team. It's even worse when it becomes clear that the only way to find the Triple X is to infiltrate the compound, and the only way for both of them to do that is going in as a different sort of team. Man and wife.

Some May-December romances really don't work. They're unbelievable, they're hard to swallow, and sometimes they're just make me downright uncomfortable. Not so with Jake and Zoe. Their attraction is undeniable, the circumstance works to pitch them together and to batter down Jake's reservations, and the ending left me thrilled for both of them.

If a May-December romance isn't what you're looking for, you'll want to look somewhere else. If you're willing to give it a try, however, look no further. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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Always Dakota
Debbie Macomber
378 pages
ISBN: 1-55166-800-9
Mira Books

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_55027863172. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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About That Man
Sherryl Woods
401 pages
ISBN: 1-55166-815-7
Mira Books

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_60305084036. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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Another Woman's Baby
Joanna Wayne
251 pages
ISBN: 0-373-22639-X
Harlequin Intrigue #639

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_60783038084. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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Clay
Jennifer Blake
370 pages
ISBN: 1-55166-819-X
Mira Books

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_60746206852. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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Hot as Ice
Merline Lovelace
251 pages
ISBN: 0-373-27199-9
Silhouette Intimate Moments #1129

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_54612364932. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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Halfway to Heaven
Susan Wiggs
399 pages
ISBN: 1-55166-837-8
Mira Books

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_53446348420. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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Infinity
Maggie Shayne
342 pages
ISBN: 0-515-12610-1
Jove Books

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_56268394116. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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Licensed To Marry
Charlotte Douglas
242 pages
ISBN: 0-373-22638-1
Harlequin Intrigue #638

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_58603900548. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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The Last Lover
Laura Van Wormer
378 pages
ISBN: 1-55166-836-X
Mira Books

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_56836853380. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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The Mail-Order Brides
Bronwyn Williams
298 pages
ISBN: 0-373-29189-2
Harlequin Historicals #589

Mail-order brides. They're a concept that a lot of people talk about, and everyone seems to have a different take on. Good or bad, nearly everyone has an opinion. I do too. I'm sure you're shocked.

To be honest, the mail-order bride story hook is one that I've contemplated using myself. Just how do two people who have never met face to face manage to make a marriage work? Or do they? Ms. Williams has taken this one step further by having the man sending out notices for a mail-order bride be playing the role of matchmaker as well. He's not looking for a bride for himself. He's trying to get his working men married off.

Grey St. Bride is, of course, as handsome as sin. He's a son of the St. Brides, a well-to-do family who owns several islands off the Outer Banks of North Carolina. His newest 'bride', or the woman who answers his letters and actually shows up, is a young lady in a pink travel-stained dress by the name of Adora, or Dora, Sutton.

It's quite an image, Dora in her pink dress and kidskin slippers trying to haul her own luggage over the broken-shell roadway, while Grey stands on the porch of his house, overseeing the whole approach with mounting skepticism. There's a clash between the two immediately when Grey informs Dora that she just won't do and sends her packing, to be put on the ship that brought her before it leaves again.

But if that were what happened, it wouldn't be a very interesting story, would it?

There is, unfortunately, a little too much of 'that damned man' 'that damned woman' in this book to make it a keeper for me. There's a little too much forced conflict and forbidden resolution. That doesn't mean that it's a terrible read, however. Far from it! Ms. Williams' characters are adorable, no pun intended, from Dora and Grey, to Mattie the redhead who learns to wear her hair in a 'puppy-door' (pompadour) to Mouse the intimidating but gentle housekeeper and Lula, the stiff but good-hearted actress.

The mail-order bride hook worked this time. Next time? Well, you never know.

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Night and Day
Anne Stuart and Gayle Wilson
248 pages
ISBN: 0-373-22637-3
Harlequin Intrigue #637

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_56471817860. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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Once A Father
Marie Ferrarella
245 pages
ISBN: 0-373-27202-2
Silhouette Intimate Moments #1132

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_59458424452. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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The Princess and the Mercenary
Marilyn Pappano
251 pages
ISBN: 0-373-27200-6
Silhouette Intimate Moments #1130

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_57278959236. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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The Prisoner Bride
Susan Spencer Paul
297 pages
ISBN: 0-373-29187-6
Harlequin Historicals #587

I love it when a book takes me by surprise. I honestly do. I enjoy thinking that I know where a story is going to go, or what sorts of characters I'm going to find, only to be surprised, and pleasantly surprised at that.

Such is the case with The Prisoner Bride. When I began reading the book, I was put off by the typed-out dialect, and admittedly, if that sort of thing turns you off and/or ruins a book for you, this book will no doubt annoy you. It did, in some places, make the dialogue seem a bit stilted, or forced. The thing is, the characters and the story overrode any annoyance that would have ruined it for me, which is, as I say, surprising, in a good way.

Then again, maybe I'm a sucker for magical stories. Our heroine is Glenys Seymour, the daughter of a well-known family, now responsible for her eccentric and elderly uncles and aunts, who might as well be sorcerors, though Glenys tries to keep that as quiet as possible. Her brother, a much-admired knight of the realm, Daman Seymour, refuses to believe in magic at all. Glenys, though she denies it, has reluctantly begun to give in.

Our hero is the dashing and charming rogue and scoundrel Kieran FitzAllen, a bastard as the 'fitz' in front of his name proclaims. A bastard recognized by both sides of his family, but a man who chooses to live a thief's life nonetheless. Kieran has quite the reputation, which is what leads Sir Anton Legasse, a sniveling, spineless man, to approach him to kidnap Glenys in the first place. Anton says that this is because they are lovers, being kept apart. Kieran, not believing the story, still agrees, to take revenge on Daman for a wrong done to his sister Elizabet.

And thus begins the adventure. It's actually a very complicated story, but it's handled so well that it's easy to follow, from all sides. And the characters are all exceptionally well-drawn, from Dina, the helpless maid, to Daman, the blustering knight, to Glenys and Kieran themselves.

I expected to be bored with the book. I wasn't. I think that that says quite a lot.

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The River of Dancing Gods
Jack L. Chalker
263 pages
ISBN: 0-345-30892-1
DelRey Books

So I've finally read a Chalker book. I've visited his webpage. I've looked through his biography, and I've honestly never done it before. Of course, there are lots of fantasy and science fiction 'standards' that I haven't read, but that's beside the point.

The people I know who have read Chalker call him 'mysogynistic' and 'overly sexual'. I think I can see where they're coming from, but I don't think that I saw things the same way. Maybe because I was expecting it. I don't know.

At any rate, The River of Dancing Gods is an introduction to this particular world of Mr. Chalker's creation. A world that hosts all of the mythological beasts that we've created here. A parallel sort of world that can be affected by things that happen in our world but that doesn't really affect ours in return.

The hero and heroine, Joe and Marge, are a trucker and a woman looking for a better life, who are 'taken' from our world to this parallel world, in order to help a great wizard, Throckmorton P. Ruddygore -- or at least that's what they're calling him at present -- win an important battle.

It's an interesting premise. It's also interesting to see how Mr. Chalker works with ordinary, everyday human beings in a fantasy setting. There's nothing like having Joe, now a barbarian, dealing with flying cherubs, while he wanders around the wilderness naked, talking like the trucker that he is.

The book has a 1984 copyright. As such, it feels a bit dated. These aren't *our* contemporaries anymore. Still, they're honestly human. The story itself is sort of tongue-in-cheek, as it'd have to be. Not a bad read, all told. There are another three or four in the series. I probably won't seek them out, but I don't know that I'd run screaming if I picked one up again.

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The Sleeping Beauty
Jacqueline Navin
299 pages
ISBN: 0-373-29178-7
Harlequin Historical #578

The Sleeping Beauty of Northumberland. She is elegant. She is graceful. She has fallen into disrepair, and it will take the touch of a prince to wake her up again. And that's just the house!

And that's the truth. The title of Ms. Navin's book, The Sleeping Beauty, not only refers to the heroine, Helena Rathford, but also to the sprawling if neglected home her house has become. It is no longer one of the centers of social activity in the north of England. Its mistress is no longer one of the most sought after women.

But Adam Mannion, a commoner travelling north to find both house and woman on a bet, certainly wants something out of both of them. In debt and desperately seeking a way out, has a rather unorthodox introduction to the lady of the estate. After slamming the door on his foot and ordering him away, this blunt and impertinent 'servant' turns out to be just the woman he's looking for. A rather stilted meeting with her father George results in a marriage contract being agreed upon practically on the spot, and Adam thinks he's in the free and clear.

Of course things aren't that simple. There is a past to be overcome. There are conspiracies to make certain that there is no ever after. And through it all, there is a budding romance between Helena and Adam that cannot be denied.

I can honestly say that the book wasn't a chore to read. I can also honestly say that it wasn't a page turner. It's rare that I find a book that is simply average or satisfactory. It's usually either love or hate. But The Sleeping Beauty was neither. None of the characters were fully-developed, I felt. They had two dimensions, but not three, and the usual characters were applied: the charming and helpful groom, the wicked maidservant, the conniving family member, out to destroy the hero and heroine and make good for himself. All in all, it was good. Just good.

Make of that what you will.

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The Scarletti Curse
Christine Feehan
390 pages
ISBN: 0-505-52421-X
Dorchester Publishing

Christine Feehan and I have met before, in the pages of one of her books. The last time we met, it didn't end well. Ms. Feehan is known for writing very *very* alpha males in her Carpathian (read: vampire) series. All of those books begin with 'Dark'. Dark Gold, Dark Fire, Dark Challenge.

Happily, this time we got along much better.

The Scarletti Curse was one of the introductory books in Dorchester's new Candleglow line, a line devoted to reviving the Gothic romance, with it's imposing houses and castles, and brooding, dangerous heros.

Set sometime in the past in Italy (exactly when is a matter of some debate) the story centers around Nicoletta, a healer in a local vilaggio with some beyond-the-ordinary powers, including her healing touch and the ability to sense impending danger. The hero is Don Giovanni Scarletti, the ruler of the Palazzo della Morte, or the Palace of Death, so named because all of the women who have lived there have come to untimely ends.

Of course, Don Giovanni wants to marry Nicoletta, without whom he cannot live. Of course there are plots and scares and spooky gargoyles watching every move of everyone in the house. There's a bit too much 'who is behind all of this? who is stalking me' inner monologue going on with Nicoletta, but as far as solving the mystery? Well, I thought I'd figured it out, and I was wrong. Giovanni *is* very alpha, but Nicoletta's never really cowed by him, and I think that made all the difference in this book.

Not a book to read if you like your sex scenes tame, but much better than the Dark* series. IMO. You'll just have to read it to agree or disagree.

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The Defiant Hero
Suzanne Brockmann 390 pages
ISBN: 0-8041-1953-8
Ivy Books

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_57875074692. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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The Warrior
Kathleen Nance
395 pages
ISBN: 0-505-52417-1
Lovespell Books

When I read a book that immediately follows a book I didn't enjoy, I always wonder if I'm being biased by devouring it, and thinking it was a worthy read. Maybe I'm just being relieved. I'm not exactly sure, but I'm glad for the relief, if that's what it is.

Then again, I'm certain that any book that has mythology as a backdrop, as The Warrior does, is bound to hold my attention for at least a little while. Yes, I admit it, I'm a mythology freak.

In Ms. Nance's book, we're introduced to Armond Marceaux, an ex-police officer on the New Orleans force, now an FBI agent. He is a man devoted to his career, a man who absolutely cannot let injustice stand. He's a man who has a special knack, a gift, for feeling guilt, for knowing that a wrong has been done, and for tracking down the guilty until justice is served.

Which makes sense, when one considers that he's a descendent of Ares, the god of war -- and justice, he'd have us all know.

Callie Gabriel -- likewise the descendent of a mythological figure; Callisto this time -- is a successful chef and restaauranteur. She's part of a family of very independent, very talented women, who tend to thrive without men in their lives. She's also Armond's old flame. When the two come together after a separation, sparks fly, the heat's turned up, and when Armond leaves again, he's left a piece of himself behind: Callie's pregnant.

Which would be conflict enough between these two, but just to throw in a little more spice: When Callie meets up with Armond again, to tell him the happy news, she finds him a different man. He's bruised, and unrestrained, not the fiercely organized man she remembers. Why? Armond has been used as a walking experiment by an agency enemy, and had his memory wiped out.

But when he touches Callie, his memory returns in painful flashes. She's his ticket back, and they have a chance to start over.

This is the second book in this series by Ms. Nance. The premise behind it is that Zeus and Hera, having been banished from their homeland with the other gods ages ago, are trying to match up the descendents of mortals they wronged, so that they can go home. There's also an appearance by Dionysus, masquerading as wine conoisseur Dion Backus. The secondary stuff is interesting and occasionally entertaining, but it's Armond and Callie who make the book worthwhile.

So there you have it. A rambling review which ends like this: It's a good read. It's a fun premise. It's better than watching paint dry.

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The Wolf of Haskell Hall
Colleen Shannon
379 pages
ISBN: 0-505-52412-0
LoveSpell Books

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_59226951300. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

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The You I Never Knew
Susan Wiggs
514 pages
ISBN: 0-446-60872-6
Warner Books

You can read this review at http://www.epinions.com/content_66326269572. Check out my profile page at http://www.epinions.com/user-spalmero?show=View_Profile.

For the first time in a long time, I am inspired to write a book review. Probably because I enjoyed the book I've just finished so much that I want other people to know about it.

The You I Never Knew is another book by Susan Wiggs. Looking back through my reviews, you will probably note that I tend to like Ms. Wiggs stuff. Some more than others, but I've pretty much enjoyed everything I've read of hers, and that amounts to quite a bit.

This book is her first foray into the mainstream world. In the romance writing world, there are category books (Harlequin and Silhouette), there are romance books, and there are mainstream books. In a mainstream book, the story doesn't have to focus entirely on the hero and heroine. The romance can be secondary. Things don't have to go perfectly.

They're stories told about people who could really *be* you or I.

Michelle Turner is an ad agency artist. She's good at her job. She is in line to make partner at the agency, and she has a good career. She was an artist once, painting because she felt inspired, but she's tucked that part of herself away, and focused on work. She has a nice house. She has a comfortable boyfriend in the form of Brad, the pharmacist, who lives like a doctor even if he doesn't have the degree. And she has a son, Cody, who is slowly but surely driving her insane.

Cody is sixteen and has mysteriously, overnight, turned into a rebel, refusing to do as she asks, being vague and all the fun things that teenagers do. He has a new girlfriend, Claudia, whom Michelle is afraid is leading him down the wrong path. He's smoking. He hates Brad. Michelle is very nearly at wits' end.

When she gets notice from a lawyer that her father, Gavin Slade, former movie star, current ranch owner and the man who's barely been her father, the man she hasn't spoken to for seventeen years, has set up a college fund for Cody. He's dying of kidney failure.

Michelle picks up her life and moves it to Montana, to donate a kidney to the father she doesn't really know. It might seem like an abrupt decision, but it *works*. For anyone who has ever been estranged, for however long, from a parent, it's easy to see disaster as the chance to get something good back. To make things right. This is exactly where Michelle comes from.

She's not counting on her old boyfriend, Sam McPhee, to be in town. Sam is Cody's father, though he doesn't know it. Sam disappeared the night that Michelle was going to tell him she was pregnant, and she's never forgiven him for that. She's not prepared for the no-account rodeo kid to be a doctor and a good man.

The things you think you know.

Michelle has to deal with an old flame. She has to deal with her sick father. With her rebellious son, and with the memories that 'going home' brings with it. It was easy for me to identify with her, I think. Not that we're in or have been in the same boat, but because she had real, *human* issues to deal with, and the decisions that she made didn't always turn out the way she wanted them to.

Is this book true to it's romance roots, and still a feel-good book? Yes. In truth, it's a classic cowboy-and-baby book, but the baby's grown up, and the cowboy actually cares. It's not saccharin, and it's not cliched.

Try it. I think you'll like it.

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