Review of Jill Shalvis's Time Out

Title: Time Out

Author: Jill Shalvis

Publisher: Harlequin Blaze

Format: Mass Market Paperback & eBook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: February 19, 2012

Rating: 4 out of 5

As I’ve mentioned before, if a book has Jill Shalvis’s name on it, it’s pretty much an auto-buy for me! Time Out is her latest category romance published by Harlequin Blaze, and it’s also a reunion romance of sorts, making this a win-win for me. Time Out is just under 200 pages, so it’s a short and sweet book that’s lots of fun.

Rainey Saunders is a community youth center coordinator in a town ravaged by wild fires. She’s scrambling to find coaches to help keep the town’s teens busy, but because so many houses were destroyed, many of the parents are struggling to make ends meet, making it difficult to scrounge up volunteers. When NHL coach and hometown boy made good Mark Diego shows up with several of his players to offer their services, it’s the perfect solution for Rainey and Mark. Two of Mark’s players got into a knock-down, drag out fight, and they’re assigned community service to help improve the league’s image, and since Mark’s brother runs the community center, it’s an easy way for Mark to spend time with his family while keeping an eye on his players.

Rainey’s had a thing for Mark for years, although she’s tried hard not to show it, since she managed to humiliate herself thoroughly when the two were teens. Assigning Mark to coach the teenage girls’s softball team seems like the perfect revenge and a great way to keep Mark busy and out of her hair. Mark has different ideas, though. He’s always been attracted to Rainey, and his summer at home seems like a great time to act on that attraction. He’s not into anything long term, though, and Rainey knows it. When the summer’s up and hockey seasons starts again, can these two find a way to be together?

What I love about Ms. Shalvis’s romances is that her characters always come across as real people. Rainey is the girl next door, and she’s a lot of fun, and, while Mark may be a superstar NHL coach, he’s still just the boy next door at heart. The sparks between the two of them are undeniable, even though both make desperate attempts to deny it. The secondary characters are hilarious, especially the two hockey players forced to perform community service in what they consider to be a Podunk town. However, it’s clear that they get as much out of their time there as the kids the players are coaching, which is nice.

My only criticism of the novel is that the ending is very, very abrupt. In fact, I kept trying to turn the page, thinking something was wrong with my Kindle, because I didn’t realize that was the end! It resolved both the romance between Rainey and Mark and a secondary plot line quickly and in a way that struck me as a bit too convenient. However, I suspect that the format and length of the category romance genre have much to do with this particular ending.

That said, this is definitely a keeper! The romance is sizzling, the characters are engaging, and the reading so easy that the pages just fly by. Time Out is a fun, quick escape that I highly recommend.

Review of Rachel Johns' One Perfect Night

Happy Friday the 13^th, everyone! It has been a loooong week, since the semester just began, but I’m really looking forward to a great spring semester. I’ve got almost all repeat students in my classes, and they are simply delightful, so this is going to be a fun spring. Now that the craziness of writing syllabi and getting started with school is over, I’m hoping that I can crank out my reviews a little more regularly than over the holidays. Here’s hoping, right?

Title: One Perfect Night

Author: Rachel Johns

Publisher: Carina Press

Format: ebook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: December 19, 2011

Rating: 4 out of 5

This was a delightful short novel by an author I’d never read before. I’ve really enjoyed reading the Australian authors published by Carina Press, and Rachel Johns was no exception. In fact, I was a bit surprised that this book was published by Carina Press, rather than being published in print as a category romance by one of the Harlequin lines (Carina Press is owned by Harlequin). One Perfect Night has several of the hallmark tropes that you see in a category romance: boss-employee romance, hero devastated by wife’s death and refusing to love again, plus a traumatic event that spurs hero to realize his love for the heroine. And while the set-up and resolution of the romance in One Perfect Night sound somewhat clichéd, the unique setting and likeable characters make this a fun, light-hearted romance well worth reading.

Peppa Grant works for Lyrique Recordings, an audiobook company, and when the company’s family Christmas party is about to tank because the Santa has been delayed, Peppa steps in as the entertainer for the kids in a rented fairy costume. She’s a bit stressed, because she just sideswiped the boss’s very expensive sports car but hasn’t had time to tell him about it. Lyrique’s CEO, Cameron McCormac, is already in a bit of a foul mood, because he’s spending time around all the families at the party, forcing him to remember his frustrated plans to start a family four years ago. The widower is also dreading his family’s Christmas party after the work function, but the children’s entertainer in her short faerie skirt is exactly the distraction he needs.

When Peppa tells Cormac that she bumped his car and needs to exchange insurance information, he seizes the opportunity to have her pretend to be his date to his family’s party, not realizing that Peppa’s one of his employees. Her presence at the family party will prevent any pesky questions about his dating life and forestall any attempts to set him up with other women. Of course, Peppa’s a smashing success with his family, which creates more complications down the road, especially since Cormac’s determined to get Peppa in bed but only wants a fling. Peppa wants nothing more than to settle down and start a family. With two such disparate interests, can their affair ever turn into anything more?

The novel is only about 100 pages long, but it packs a lot into such a short book. Both the hero and the heroine have heartbreaking pasts, yet the book doesn’t get bogged down in all the angst, which is a relief. Peppa’s ex is a real stinker, yet she’s still hopeful for the future, even though she feels as though she’s been put through the ringer. She’s very likeable, and while you can see that an affair with Cormac can only lead to heartbreak in her future, you’ll be rooting for everything to work out between them.

Cormac, or “McSexy” as the women in the office call him, also has a painful past, which makes him a brooding, troubled hero – no doubt that adds to his appeal! His wife’s death 4 years ago still haunts him, but it’s a pleasure to see Peppa bringing fun back into his life. He manages to be a bit bone-headed a few times, but everything all works out for the best.

All in all, this was a fun debut novel with a lot of promise. I’m looking forward to reading more of Ms. Johns’ books, especially since the Australian setting plays such a prominent role in the book. I’d love to see her books in print, as I think One Perfect Night would make an excellent category romance.

Guilty Pleasure Reading, or, Yet Another Way My Kindle Saves Me From Embarassment

I’ve mentioned previously that I’m usually not a big fan of Category Romances. So many of them seem to rely heavily on the alphahole hero and doormat heroine, plus there’s always some sort of over the top situation involved, such as amnesia, secret babies, or mistresses. I have to admit, though, that I LOVE the titles. They crack me up! I honestly believe that Harlequin has a title generator somewhere, and they toss in the words “Greek, Sicilian, Italian, Sheikh, mistress, baby, amnesia, Secretary, Boss, Wife, Doctor,” see what comes out, and smack it on the book as a title. My current favorite has to be The Sheikh Surgeon’s Proposal, although The Tycoon’s Pregnant Mistress is a close second.  But with that first title you get two goodies in one – an exotic hero AND a doctor! Hellooooo, money!!! Not very PC, but who cares? At least you don’t have toddler beauty princesses getting screamed at by their psycho mothers! And after seeing that on TV, category romances seem really, really classy.

Seriously, when it comes to pure escapism, you just can’t beat a category romance. They’re short, usually less than 200 pages, and they’re definitely better for your brain than reality TV! Ok, I may be exaggerating somewhat, but reading is definitely more active for your brain cells than sitting and staring at the tube. Plus, if you have an e-reader, smart phone, or computer, you can download these suckers and no one will have to know that you’re not really reading War and Peace. Unless you’re at my house, where I’ve written the entire text of War and Peace in the dust on my shelves. I’m kidding, of course. I don’t have THAT much dust in my house. I only have enough dust to write the text of The Little Prince, not some weighty Russian tome. Sheesh!

But there are several category romances I’ve read recently that have truly been outstanding. They’re well written, with enjoyable heroes and heroines, and I freely admit that I will be reading more of these excellent authors. Check out some of my favorites!

Janice Kay Johnson’s Beauty & the Beasts I wrote a guest review of this Harlequin Presents Treasury a few months ago on DearAuthor.com, and it is my favorite bar none. It was written in the nineties, but other than a brief reference to a pay phone in school (like THOSE exist anymore!), it could have been written yesterday. Vet Eric Bergstrom woos former child actress Madeline Hunter by helping out with the local cat shelter she volunteers at. There are no outlandish plots in this book – just two reasonable adults falling in love, which is delightful. And the “beasts” mentioned in the title refer to both the cats and Bergstrom’s pain-in-the-butt tween son, which made me laugh. Loved this book, and it encouraged me to read other category romances.

Kelly Hunter’s Wife for a Week This book has to be the funniest category romance I’ve read. Hallie Bennett is working at a shoe store to earn money for tuition, when in walks Nick Cooper with his mother. Nick needs someone to pose as his wife for week, and at his mother’s instigation he offers Hallie an obscene amount of money to pose as his wife on his trip to Hong Kong. I mean, seriously, don’t we ALL need a fake wife for a week? I could use one, especially if she dusts. While not into dusting, Hallie does agree to Nick’s plan, as long as any displays of affection are limited to public spheres. Of course, this wouldn’t be a Harlequin Presents if there weren’t some smexy times! The first night when Hallie builds a “Great Wall of China” out of pillows on the bed and tells Nick she’s the Emperor’s finest troops and he’s the Mongol Horde will have you howling with laughter. This book was a hoot, and both characters were charmers. I absolutely loved it!

Kate Hewitt’s The Man Who Could Never Love This is an angst-filled romance, but the heroine actually has a backbone, and you’ll root for her to win the hero’s heart. The hero, Vittorio Ralfino, is an Italian count. Now, I see Italian counts every day at the Walmart, so I wasn’t as impressed with this as you might think. Just so you know. Anyway, he coldly decides that for business purposes and to ensure an heir, he will marry neighbor Anamaria Viale. What makes this romance so much fun is how much trouble she causes for him. He arrogantly assumes that since she’s plain, in her thirties, and unmarried, she’ll fall willingly into his arms, but that is most certainly not the case. Watching the snooty vintner fall in love with the woman he marries purely for convenience’s sake is a lot of fun.

Kim Lawrence’s Beauty and the Greek I really enjoy Ms. Lawrence’s style – she takes longer to develop the story, so at times the resolution of her novels feels a bit rushed, but I like the extra time pushing the hero and heroine together in this romance. Theo Kyriakis’s brother Andreas is engaged to a gold digger from whom Theo barely managed to escape a few years prior. When Theo realizes that Andreas’ mousy secretary Beth is in love with his brother, he convinces her to undergo a drastic makeover to snare her boss’s attention and distract him from his fiancée. It works, but Beth’s such a stunner that Theo’s the one ensnared. Like the other books I’ve mentioned, the major selling point of this book is the heroine Beth. She doesn’t shy away from telling Theo what she really thinks, and it’s great fun to see the sparks fly. Plus, any fantasy with a trip to a Greek island equals winning, right?

No list of category romances would be complete without a novel by the inimitable Sarah Morgan, and my favorite of hers has to be the recently released A Night of Scandal. This is the first book in the Notorious Wolfes series, and Ms. Morgan manages to set up the background of the family drama while penning a captivating romance. Nathaniel Wolfe is a Hollywood actor about to make his stage debut in Shakespeare’s Richard III when he spots someone from his past in the audience. He freezes, then makes a break for it. Katie Fields, the costume mistress, helps him retreat, but as soon as they get to her extremely modest apartment, he realizes that they’ll never be able to fight off the paparazzi from there. So the two escape to a private island, where Katie’s warm heart wins him over. Be prepared for more angst and a stubborn hero, but the end makes it all worth it. Now, you’re probably thinking, “again with the islands?” Still, when it’s 10 degrees outside, nothing beats imagining a warm, tropical paradise and a good-looking Hollywood actor who prefers a woman with real curves. Except maybe an electric blanket. That one’s tough to beat.

Review of Ann Christopher's The Surgeon's Secret Baby

Title: The Surgeon’s Secret Baby

Author: Ann Christopher

Publisher: Kimani Romance

Formats: Mass Market Paperback & Ebook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: August 23, 2011

Rating: 4 out of 5

This category romance was a delightful find! I’ve written elsewhere that category romances are not my favorite genre, mostly because the heroes seem to be jerks and the heroines doormats, but Ann Christopher’s The Surgeon’s Secret Baby was a pleasant surprise, because it could have so easily followed that formula but did not. The romance was sexy and the characters so very likeable that I will soon be seeking out more of Ms. Christopher’s books.

The novel begins with FBI analyst Lia Taylor following Hopewell General Hospital’s chief of staff around the facility. She was caught hacking into the hospital’s sperm bank database, but instead of facing prosecution, she’ll be shoring up the hospital’s computer security system. During the tour, she overhears a doctor telling off an intern and lets him know her low opinion of bullies. Naturally this means that the Doctor Bradshaw she’s looking for later turns out to be said bully. Never fails, right? And the situation becomes all the more awkward when she informs Thomas Bradshaw that he’s the father of her son, eight year old Jalen. Thomas believes Lia is nuts, until she shows him a picture of her son and tells him that she and her now-deceased husband had used a sperm bank and Thomas is in fact the biological father of her son. Lia isn’t looking for a handout, however. Jalen has polycystic kidney disease, and after a bout with E.Coli two years before, he’s desperately in need of a kidney transplant. Lia’s hoping that Thomas will prove to be a match and be willing to donate a kidney to save her son’s life. The resulting sparks that fly between the doctor and the Special Agent are a complete shock to the single mother and doctor, leaving Lia wondering how the doctor will deal with the shocking news that he has a son who is dying and if the two should act on their smoldering attraction.

There was so much to like about this book! Children in romances can often be little more than props, but Jalen was a hoot and extremely believable. I like that he’s a real character instead of a plot device that brings the two protagonists together. His toys are all over his room, and when Lia makes the faux pas of calling his pajamas “jammies,” big boy Jalen corrects her IMMEDIATELY, which made me laugh. His reaction to his birthday present also struck me as true to life, since his parents put a lot of time and effort into choosing his present, only to get a lukewarm reaction to a gift they thought would thrill him, a response I’m sure all parents can relate to. They can also relate to Lia’s terror over the thought of losing her son so young. While hacking into a hospital’s database seems extreme, I suspect most parents will understand her willingness to do whatever she can to save her son’s life.

Lia and Thomas’ romance is also a huge selling point, as it’s fun and sexy. Lia feels a natural reluctance to enter into a relationship while her son’s health is so precarious, especially since Thomas wants to be part of Jalen’s life, complicating any future relationship between the two. I particularly liked that the two acknowledged their attraction for one another but allowed the romance to develop gradually, which is difficult to accomplish in category romance, since the books are relatively short. And the scene in Thomas’ office when they “play doctor” was smoldering.

I even find the “big misunderstanding” towards the end of the book to be not only believable but perhaps even inevitable. Given Jalen’s health and how stressed and exhausted Lia is throughout the book, I think her reaction to Jalen’s visit to the emergency room and Thomas’ choices completely natural. What makes this stand out for me, though, is that the two protagonists are both mature adults who react in a reasonable manner to very trying circumstances. I like that while they have a fight, they manage to work things out and don’t turn it into a huge drama.

I do have two small complaints about the novel, however. The first is that Lia seems to be completely isolated in the book. We see Thomas interact with several male friends and colleagues (which is pretty darn funny, by the way), and his father, a retired admiral, is an important character in the book as well. But we don’t see any of Lia’s friends or family, which strikes me as odd, because it’s never addressed. Is she an orphan or estranged from her parents and her deceased husband’s parents? Has she had to deal with Jalen’s illness all on her own while working a highly stressful job in the FBI? The absence of her friends and family is all the more notable because of how involved Thomas’ father is in the book, and while I think we’re supposed to consider her a strong, single mother, I’m not sure how having a support system would have changed that.  

My second complaint is more a matter of pure curiosity, as I don’t think it detracts too much from the novel – I just have to wonder why Thomas donated to a sperm bank to begin with! This is never dealt with, and I kept wondering about it throughout the book. I can certainly understand his shock at being confronted with a son 9 years after the fact but no mention is made of why he donated in the first place. Again, I don’t think it detracts from the plot, but it did drive me a bit crazy while reading.

Overall this was one of the more engaging category romances I’ve read in a while. I love reading contemporary romances with reasonable, mature adults, and this is definitely a charmer. If you’re in the mood for a short, satisfying read with appealing characters and smooth writing, I highly recommend The Surgeon’s Secret Baby.

Books You Hide From Your Mother

I have several upcoming reviews, but I’m feeling a little lightheaded from all the teaching and blogging this week, so I thought I’d talk a bit about guilty pleasure reading since that is, after all, the reason I started this blog. Let’s just say that one of the reasons I love my Kindle is that I can read anything, yes, ANYTHING, in the presence of my mother and not have to explain the smexy cover. I live a looooong way from the parental units, so I don’t have to worry about unannounced visits, but there are some books I would have to hide behind the books of literary criticism so they won’t think I’m reading smut or, my favorite term, “romantic schlock.” (Although I think the blog has given away the “romantic schlock” bit. Oops.)

I don’t have to worry about this when friends come to visit, because I keep all the impressive tomes from graduate school downstairs. Complete works of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Gabriel García Márquez? Downstairs, front and center. Yes, dear visitors, I am well read! And my reading is multi-cultural! All my trashy paperbacks are safely hidden upstairs in my office, and I keep the door shut when people visit. Although that’s not necessarily to keep my reading tastes secret but rather to hide the mounds of lesson plans and old tests that have never been filed in the great circular file in the sky. I also tend to pull out the impressive cookbooks in the kitchen, although any savvy gourmand would notice that my food processor is shoved into the back and covered in dust.

The one book I absolutely hide from the parents is not really a romance, or even fiction, although it can lead to some smexy times! It’s Sadie Allison’s Ride ‘Em Cowgirl! Sex Position Secrets to Better Bucking. Yes, it’s a sex guide (hides face). But it has really funny pictures! Hee hee hee…

So, are there any books you hide from the parents or visitors to the house? Let me know - Confession is good for the soul!

Review of Maggie Shayne’s The Husband She Couldn’t Remember

I mentioned on Monday that Harlequin is re-releasing books from the 1990s as part of their Treasury series, and while I don’t usually read category romance, I’ve been impressed with the quality of the writing in these books. When I saw that Maggie Shayne’s The Husband She Couldn’t Remember was available for review, I requested it, because I’ve read and enjoyed a few of her paranormal romances in the Wings in the Night series. The Husband She Couldn’t Remember is a contemporary romance with a bit of suspense in it, and while at times it’s a bit far-fetched, I consider that to be par for the course with category romance and thought that I could accept it as part of the genre. This novel pretty much reads like the plot of a soap opera, and if you enjoy that, you’ll definitely like The Husband She Couldn’t Remember. Unfortunately that’s not really my cup of tea, so while I liked the characters and felt that the pacing of the suspense was well done, I probably won’t be re-reading this book.  Unlike the other two Harlequin Treasury re-releases I’ve read, this e-book had several recurring typos and editing errors, but I think you can see past that fairly easily, even if it is annoying.

The novel begins with Ben Brand dreaming about his dead wife, Penny. Penny died two years ago in a fiery car crash that left only a crispy corpse and heartbreaking memories. What makes her death all the more tragic is that Penny had been suffering from a debilitating disease (Hillman-Waite Syndrome) that had no cure, and everyone wonders if the crash was an accident or if Penny committed suicide.  While Ben’s in El Paso, he bumps into a woman who looks exactly like Penny, but before he can question her, she runs away. Ben’s convinced that Penny is still alive and requests an exhumation of the body they buried, but before they begin to dig up the casket, the woman approaches him. It turns out that she is Penny, but she has a bad case of amnesia, and she doesn’t remember anything about her former life. She woke up from a coma in a clinic in England, and when the staff started acting suspiciously, she took off with only an address written on a scrap of paper. As Penny’s memories of her life with Ben gradually return, it becomes all the more important to discover what actually happened two years ago. Will what happened two years ago threaten her newly rekindled relationship with Ben? And why did she have to escape from the clinic that apparently cured her incurable disease?

Despite the outlandish nature of the plot, I did enjoy the characters and the romance between the hero and heroine. Both Ben and Penny are likeable characters, and the suspense behind her disappearance and sudden reappearance will keep you turning the pages. This book is the fourth in a series about the Brand family, and we meet characters from previous installments of the series, but the book can easily be read on its own.  The family definitely supports one another and welcomes Penny back with open arms, and I liked the interaction between the brothers and their spouses. Also, Penny and Ben were childhood sweethearts, and you get to learn about their sweet romance through flashbacks as Penny starts to recall her past.

I’m not usually a fan of amnesia plots, because they just strike me as too ridiculous. Unless a character’s suffered from a serious head injury, I have a hard time accepting them, and amnesia seems to be a frequent plot device in category romance. However, Ms. Shayne provided an interesting reason for Penny’s memory loss that I was able to accept, albeit grudgingly.

I enjoyed the book until we learn the truth concerning Penny’s disappearance two years ago, which pushed the plot too far into outlandish territory for my tastes. It completely changed the way I viewed Penny’s character and not in a good way. Ben has a very similar reaction to learning the truth, but eventually forgives Penny, which I found to be a plausible response to man mourning his lost love, so kudos to the author there. However, the villain is way over the top crazy, and I was unable to accept that this complete loon had somehow found the cure for a progressive disease that had been incurable.

Generally speaking, this book reinforced my prejudices against category romance, which is a shame, because I’ve read several recently that are quite good. There are definitely aspects of the novel that I enjoyed, namely the romance between the h/h and the pacing of the suspense aspects of the plot, but the outlandish nature of the book was just too much for this reader.

I received this book for review from the Publisher through NetGalley.