BOOK REVIEW: Thrill Ride by Julie Ann Walker

April 11, 2013August 27, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

Julie Ann Walker

Julie Ann Walker is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Black Knights, Inc. series. This is book four in the romantic suspense, intense, sexy series. The books do not have to be read in order, however, it would help in knowing a little bit about the other characters and the history of the Black Knights.

This book certainly lives up to its title. It is filled with action, suspense, love, loyalty, friendship and honor. The action is fast, the sex is hot, there are unexpected surprises, there’s a bit of humor, a lot of emotion, and you are kept on the edge of your seat throughout.

The story centers around ex-navy SEAL, sexy Cajun, Rock Babineaux and Black Knight operative, Vanessa Cordero. Rock has been off the radar for quite some time until word gets back to the Black Knights that the CIA has issued an order to immediately terminate him for crimes the Black Knights don’t believe he committed. This begins the race to see if the Black Knights can find Rock before the CIA and clear his name. Vanessa has been secretly in love with Rock and is determined to save him. Mixed in with the story of the crimes and the hunt, is also the back story of Rock’s and Vanessa’s pasts. Add to that are the wonderfully entertaining secondary characters. Although all are tough, intense individuals, they are portrayed with humor and real human emotion that makes the story very believable.

Ms Walker’s writing is edgy, entertaining and hot! Suspense and intrigue levels are high. The chemistry between Rock and Vanessa sizzles. This book is truly a thrilling read!

If you’d like to read the first three books in the series, they are:

Hell on Wheels

In Rides Trouble

Rev It Up

BOOK REVIEW: Free Fall by Catherine Mann

March 31, 2013May 1, 2015 / Linda / Leave a comment

This book is my all time favorite book by this author. It is part of the Elite Forces series. It works well as a stand alone book.

Pararescueman Jose Cuervo James is 100% committed to his job and leaves no room for anything else. He is also a recovering alcoholic who can’t seem to come to terms with his past. Stella Carson is an undercover Interpol agent hoping for the “white picket fence” some day. She became an agent in hopes of finding out what really happened to her missionary mother who died in Africa. They are brought together on a high-risk rescue deep in the African jungle.

The author focuses on the mission of rescuing Stella and her fellow hostages and preventing an attack on the US Embassy and First Lady of the United States. Stella and Jose’s romance develops slowly as we learn about each of their pasts with all their flaws and imperfections.

The author writes an intriguing, captivating story with very likable characters. The story is fast-paced and filled with edge of your seat suspense with a few surprises thrown in. You feel like you are in the middle of all the action. There are subplots that keep the story moving and your interest piqued. It’s a book you just can’t put down!

Today’s Romance Novels

March 26, 2013March 21, 2013 / Linda / 1 Comment

Today’s romance novels are not the bodice ripping, sex saturated, moaning and groaning, air head woman vs. chest beating man, empty stories of the 70’s and 80’s. Today’s romances have evolved to complex plots, with smart, savvy heroines and sensitive, flawed heroes. The old romance books had the domineering man “rescuing” the passive woman. Today you’ll find strong, independent women who sometimes do the “rescuing”. While most of today’s books have the “happily ever after ending”, some stories end up “happy for now”, or “satisfied with my live as is”. Most romances today don’t center around just the two main characters. You learn about their families and friends, the town they live in, the world around them. Today’s romance reader is smart, educated, thoughtful, and complex. Today’s romances run the gambit from historical England, to the wild American West, to the military, to small town life. They can be inspirational, suspenseful, other worldly and a whole host of subgenres – so many that everyone will be able to find the right fit for their reading pleasure. It is a bit deceiving to label a book “romance”, when it fits quite nicely as a “literary” novel. Below is a list of just a few of the romance subgenres.

Medieval
Historical (England, Scotland)
American Historical
Western (Contemporary)
Western (Historical)
Contemporary (Serious)
Contemporary (Humorous)
Suspense
Thriller
Military
Paranormal(Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters)
Paranormal(Ghosts, witches)
Futuristic/Fantasy
Regency Romances
Victorian Romances
Inspirational(Historical)
Inspirational(Contemporary)
Erotic
Chick Lit
Romantic Mysteries

The Library has an excellent selection of mass market romance paperbacks located on the main level near the front windows.

Which is your favorite genre?

Look Who’s Writing Romance!

March 19, 2013May 1, 2015 / Linda / Leave a comment

Harlan Coben’s new book, Six Years, is being touted as his first “romantic thriller”. During his appearance this morning on the Today Show, he admitted he was a die hard romantic at heart. He’s been married to the love of his life since he was 20 years old. Also during the interview, Mr. Coben announced that the actor Hugh Jackman will be playing the role of Jake Fisher, the lead male character of the book.

The publisher’s description reads: ” Six years have past since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.

But six years haven’t come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for…but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she’s been married to Todd for almost two decades, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life—a time he has never gotten over—is turned completely inside out.

As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can’t be found, or don’t remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake’s search for the woman who broke his heart, who lied to him, soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on a carefully constructed fiction.

Harlan Coben once again delivers a shocking page-turner that deftly explores the power of past love, and the secrets and lies that such love can hide.”

Sounds like a winner!

BOOK REVIEW – Killing Time by Cindy Gerard

February 27, 2013May 1, 2015 / Linda / Leave a comment

Once again New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cindy Gerard delivers a story that keeps her readers on the edge of their seats. It’s filled with red-hot, non-stop action told so vividly you think you are right in the middle of the action. ‘Killing Time’ is the first book in her new series called One Eyed Jacks.

Mike Brown is a Navy veteran who was dishonorably discharged 8 years earlier for a mission in Afghanistan that went horribly wrong. He spends his time languishing in Lima, Peru riddled with guilt, grief, rage , and self-destruction. The eighth anniversary of the day that mission went sour finds Mike in a small cantina getting drunk. A beautiful woman is at the cantina, dancing seductively and seeming only to have eyes for Mike. He decides this is about to become his lucky day not knowing the lady has other ideas.

Eva Salina is an attorney for the CIA. A classified file gets anonymously delivered to her outlining the details of a secret mission that went wrong 8 years ago – one in which her husband was killed. She assumes whoever gave her the file wants her to investigate the incident. After hitting one dead end after another in the States, she ends up in Peru to track down one of the three survivors of the mission.

What follows is fast paced action, luscious scenery, battles, treachery, mystery, intrigue, blood, sweat and tears, twists and turns and surprises that take you from Peru to Washington, D.C., to Quebec, to the mountains of Idaho. The characters are tough, raw, and dangerous. But what makes you fall in love with them is their vulnerability, their insecurities, their faults, their determination, their sense of right and wrong. This is a book you want to allow plenty of time to read because you are not going to want to put it down.

NOTE: To our Male Readers – This book is located in our Romance section because the publisher categorizes it Romantic Suspense. Most Romantic Suspense novels have very, very little romance in them, but plenty of intrigue and action. Take a chance and look through our Romance section. I guarantee you’ll find a whole wealth of titles to choose from that read more suspense than romance. Other authors you might enjoy are: Susanne Brockmann, Nina Bruhns, M LBuchman, Lori Foster, Catherine Mann, Stephanie Tyler.