WELL MET by Jen DeLuca

September 3, 2019

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From the publisher:

All’s faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author Jen DeLuca.

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

I have never been to a Renaissance Fair (Faire?), even though there is an annual one in a park fifteen minutes from my house. Both my kids have been many times, both as school field trips and on their own. The closest I’ve ever gotten to one of these is dinner at Medieval Times outside of Disneyworld in Orlando. It was fun but that was about my limit for jousting and eating without utensils.

Many years ago, when online meant AOL and chatrooms, I had a friend (Hi Glen!) who worked at these fairs, travelling around the country, sleeping in tents, and so forth. I had a lot of respect for him but still never went. Maybe if he had made it to Florida I would have gone. Nonetheless, when my work daughter (Hi Caitlin!) recommended this, I figured it must be good – she has impeccable taste. And it was!

All this rambling has a point: even if you, like me, are not a Renaissance Fair type person, if you’ve never donned a fair maiden dress or you don’t know (as I didn’t) that “well met” is a Renaissance Fair greeting or you never watched grown men joust and toss logs and such, you may also enjoy this book. Renaissance Fair knowledge is not a requirement and lack thereof is not an impediment. In other words, this is a fun read!

To start with, Emily has no experience either, but she is sucked into performing when she finds out it is a requirement for her niece to participate. Plus men in kilts – who could say no to hanging out around that? Beyond the fair setting, this is a good contemporary romance with the meet-cute of our hero and heroine butting heads and hating each other on sight. Then things progress from there with lots of obstacles, back story, and fun along the way.

This is a very entertaining read, sweet and laugh out loud funny at times while alternately tugging at the heart strings. Well Met is very well done.

9/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WELL MET by Jen DeLuca. Berkley (September 3, 2019). ISBN 978-1984805386. 336p.

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THE EXTINCTION AGENDA Michael Laurence

September 2, 2019

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Michael Laurence starts out with the beginnings of an extremely interesting novel set on the U.S. – Mexican border and involving the constant effort of the Border Patrol to keep out illegal aliens. He then moves forward and presents his readers with a much larger and more engrossing plot.

James Mason and his strike force are met as they launch a raid against what are perceived as smugglers, but encounter evidence of an adversary aiming to destroy humanity for their own evil intentions. During the raid, many of Mason’s strike force are killed as well as his partner who was his mentor during his early years with his bureau.

Returning to his division, James becomes possessed by what he is sure that he found, and in spite of his superior’s opposition to the idea, launches his own investigation into what he has seen and determined in the building raided on the border. He is positive that what is planned is far and away over and above a case of smuggling in material into the U.S. Proving that he is correct in his assumptions, his wife, who is an investigator for the Internal Revenue Service, is killed in an explosion while investigating a potential suspect in what is probably a warning to leave the investigation.

With the help of two of his friends, Mason finds that what he has uncovered is a conspiracy that has been hatched more than a hundred years earlier, about the period of the first World War. The investigation, what is uncovered, and the events involved in solving the mystery are handled in a fashion geared to keeping the reader glued to the book and wondering what is really involved.

The ending is a logical one stemming from the events depicted and also leaves enough room for more books about James Mason and the two friends that helped him in this one. Based on the way Laurence handles this novel, they should also be all-nighters and sought after by his readers.

9/19 Paul Lane

THE EXTINCTION AGENDA Michael Laurence. St. Martin’s Press (September 3, 2019). ISBN 978-1250158482. 400p.

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PERFECT STRANGER by Jake Cross

August 31, 2019

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Rose and Chris have been happily married for 20 years. They have a beautiful daughter, Julia, and both like the path they are on and whom they are on it with.

Suddenly their lives are shaken up when a beautiful young girl shows up on their doorstep and tells Chris that she is his daughter. Before Chris married Rose he had a short affair with another woman. They went their separate ways and Chris forgot about that episode in his life until Katie appeared shaking everything up. She knows all about the affair, requests that to remove all doubts about Chris being her father, he take a DNA test coupled with a similar test of Katie’s. And her mother has passed away prompting her action and need to find a way to live.

Katie indicates that she is staying in a temporary residence pending the outcome of the tests, but Rose extends an invitation to her stating that the family should get used to her in the meanwhile. Katie does so and suddenly strange things start to happen: someone crashes into a neighbor’s fence, an unexplained fire starts in the kitchen, and a family friend disappears on the way to visit them. Mysteriously, Chris refuses to explain where he was when the friend went missing.

The plot evolves from one to many instances. The police get involved and it is a certainty that the reader will experience some sleepless time when unable to put the book down. A well done mystery with an ending a capstone to a well done novel.

8/19 Paul Lane

PERFECT STRANGER by Jake Cross. Bookouture (August 20, 2019). ISBN 978-1786814432. 338p.

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THE PASSENGERS by John Marrs

August 30, 2019

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John Marrs takes us into a time just a few years from now. The English government has passed a law prohibiting personal driving of autos. It is a time that self driving cars are being manufactured and promising to do away with the current carnage on the roads. The computers running these cars are programmed to avoid accidents and allow their passengers to safely relax, just program in their destination and enjoy a comfortable and very peaceful trip.

But the author introduces a scenario that could occur and makes for a fascinating read with a situation that should be impossible in a world of accident free auto travel. Eight passengers taking trips in driverless cars are suddenly locked in and told by someone controlling their autos that their destinations have been changed and they will die at the end of the trip. They cannot get out of the vehicles nor can attempts to stop the situation work.

Due to the world wide usage and interest in the new mode of safe driving, plus the speed of current communication, people in countries outside of the U.K. also become spectators of the plight of the eight.
The person or persons in control of the captured autos has placed cameras all over the vehicles allowing viewing of the reactions of those trapped in them by the entire world.

They have introduced the situation of allowing all watching the runaway vehicles to vote on selection of one of those trapped to be saved. Marrs adroitly paints a picture of the voting, and the manner in which the entire matter becomes a contest and almost does away with the idea that seven people will die while only one is allowed to live.

The strength of the book is certainly in the portraits of the reactions to a matter of life and death and how it is handled around the world and most certainly by those trapped in the doomed cars. The actuality of autos driven by computers is currently well within the realm of probability in the near future. The likelihood of outside forces getting control of the vehicles is hopefully very slight, but again the author does an excellent job in setting up the possible reactions of all concerned. Certainly the novel gives some thought for the reader about one set of circumstances and of course, makes for an excellent read.

8/19 Paul Lane

THE PASSENGERS by John Marrs. Berkley (August 27, 2019). ISBN 978-1984806970. 352p.

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THE DUCHESS IN HIS BED by Lorraine Heath

August 29, 2019

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A Sin for All Seasons, Book 4

From the publisher:

For a duchess with practical desires, falling in love is an inconceivable part of her plan…

As owner of the Elysium Club which caters to women’s fantasies, Aiden Trewlove is accustomed to introducing adventurous ladies to sin and vice. But he is uncharacteristically intrigued by the mysterious beauty who visits his club one night, yearning to indulge in the forbidden—with him. Drawn to her indomitable spirit, he breaks his rule of never becoming personally involved with his clientele and is determined to fully awaken her desires.

A recent widow, Selena Sheffield, Duchess of Lushing, has never known passion, not until Aiden’s slow, sensual seduction leads her on a journey of discovery and incredible pleasure. But her reasons for visiting the notorious club are not all that they seem.

As Selena’s motives become complicated by love, she finds herself with a most unexpected choice: forge ahead with a secret plan that could secure her future—or follow her heart which could prove ruinous.

This is one of my favorite series, and book number four is a terrific addition.

The Duchess of Lushing is quite calculating, which normally turns me off. But Heath does such a good job of explaining why she has to be that way that I was all in. I have to say that for the first time in a very long time, I actually wondered how this couple was going to get to their happily ever after. The obstacles just seemed insurmountable, and I can’t even remember the last time I felt that way about a romance. So kudos to Heath, well done!

Aiden Trewlove is the protagonist here, and I remembered him and his businesses from the previous books. And considering how many books I read, that is really saying something. The Trewlove brothers have been well introduced in earlier books in the series, so I think this is one series that is best read in order.

Like most of Heath’s books, there is a lot of steamy sex on these pages, so if that is not your thing, feel free to move along. On the other hand, I loved this book and read it in one go. I was so involved with these characters and this story, especially as I couldn’t see a way out for them. But a happily ever after is a romance requirement, and the denouement was worth all the worry. An another excellent read from one of my favorite authors.

8/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE DUCHESS IN HIS BED by Lorraine Heath. Avon (August 20, 2019). ISBN 978-0062676061. 400p.

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ELLIE AND THE HARP MAKER by Hazel Prior

August 28, 2019

A rich, heartwarming and charming debut novel that reminds us that sometimes you find love in the most unexpected places.

Dan Hollis lives a happy, solitary life carving exquisite Celtic harps in his barn in the countryside of the English moors. Here he can be himself, away from social situations that he doesn’t always get right or completely understand.

On the anniversary of her beloved father’s death, Ellie Jacobs takes a walk in the woods and comes across Dan’s barn. She is enchanted by his collection. Dan gives her a harp made of cherrywood to match her cherry socks. He stores it for her, ready for whenever she’d like to take lessons.

Ellie begins visiting Dan almost daily and quickly learns that he isn’t like other people. He makes her sandwiches precisely cut into triangles and repeatedly counts the (seventeen) steps of the wooden staircase to the upstairs practice room. Ellie soon realizes Dan isn’t just different; in many ways, his world is better, and he gives her a fresh perspective on her own life.

I am loving this trend of romances with a main protagonist “on the spectrum,” as they say, and even though it is never explicitly stated, it doesn’t have to be. Dan is a character with enough quirks to make him endearing, along with a big heart and unflinching honesty. You can’t help but root for him. He talks about his girlfriend, Roe Deer, a lot, and has some pictures of the stunning woman in his barn. Dan lives in the harp barn, up those seventeen steps from where he builds beautiful and unique Celtic harps.

When Ellie stumbles across the harp barn, she is enthralled. She recalls learning to play the harp was on her list of things to do before she turns 40, none of which she has done. When Dan gifts her the cherrywood harp, it feels like kismet. Until Ellie’s husband sees it and makes her return it. Clive is a bit controlling, and while Ellie tries to convince herself that she is happy in her marriage, the more time she secretly spends in the harp barn with Dan, the more cracks in her marriage begin to appear and spread.

This is a charming story, full of pathos and drama and love. I am an Anglophile in my reading, so I loved the Britishness of this story and especially the uniqueness of these English characters. The difference in our cultures is apparent here, and I loved that. I wished so hard for a happy ending for both Dan and Ellie that I couldn’t put the thing down.

Don’t miss it. I loved this book!

8/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ELLIE AND THE HARP MAKER by Hazel Prior. Berkley (August 6, 2019). ISBN 978-1984803788. 336p.

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BUTTERFLY IN FROST by Sylvia Day

August 27, 2019

BLOG TOUR!

From the publisher:

From #1 New York Times bestselling phenomenon Sylvia Day comes a hotly anticipated and passionate new love story.

Once, I would never have imagined myself here. But I’m settled now. In a place I love, in a home I renovated, spending time with new friends I adore, and working a job that fulfills me. I am reconciling the past and laying the groundwork for the future.

Then Garrett Frost moves in next door.

He’s obstinate and too bold, a raging force of nature that disrupts the careful order of my life. I recognize the ghosts that haunt him, the torment driving him. Garrett would be risky in any form, but wounded, he’s far more dangerous. I fear I’m too fragile for the storm raging inside him, too delicate to withstand the pain that buffets him. But he’s too determined…and too tempting.

And sometimes hope soars above even the iciest desolation.

Emotional and heartrending, Butterfly in Frost marks a brilliant return by global sensation Sylvia Day, the #1 international multimillion bestselling author of the Crossfire saga.

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Garrett is almost stalker-like in his pursuit of the damaged Teagan, but she doesn’t seem to mind, which I found a bit confusing. Actually, I found the basic plot of this book confusing, which I suspect was the point. This is romantic suspense with an unreliable narrator (or two,) only I didn’t know it until the big twist near the end.

This is a very different book for Day, and while it is a quick read, it lacks the depth it needs to make these characters come to life. If you like unreliable narrators, or romantic suspense, this may be the book for you. Die hard fans will love it, but I’m not sure about everyone else.

8/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BUTTERFLY IN FROST by Sylvia Day. Montlake Romance (August 27, 2019). ISBN: 978-1542016735. 203p.

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About Sylvia Day:
Sylvia Day is the No.1 New York Times, No.1 USA Today & No.1 international bestselling author of over twenty award-winning novels translated into 41 languages. With tens of millions of copies of her books in print, she is a No.1 bestseller in 28 countries. Sylvia served as the 22nd President of Romance Writers of America and presently serves on the Authors Guild’s Board of Directors.Sylvia’s work has been covered in Time, Variety, People, The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Associated Press, USA Today, and Entertainment Weekly.

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TIN BADGES by Lorenzo Carcaterra

August 26, 2019

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Carcaterra has been absent from the literary scene for a while due to personal reasons, but fortunately for his readers, has returned with a good story, solid writing and unforgettable characters; in other words, as good as ever.

Tin Badges is the designation given to retired detectives that have been asked to return to temporary duty to work on a case that for one reason or another is out of the reach of the active police.

“Tank” Rizzo has been retired, along with his partner Pearl, after an arrest went wrong and both were severely injured, Pearl reduced to becoming a paralyzed man confined to a wheel chair.

As the novel opens, Tank and his ex-partner have been handed a case involving a gangster kingpin named Gonzo. Tank assembles a group of the people that he normally assembles to help on the case. These include an ex-gangster who is the father of the woman that Tank has been involved with and who manages the restaurant that Tank frequents.

As Tank’s group begins to operate to bring down Gonzo, he is hit with the horrible news that his brother and sister-in-law have been killed in an auto accident. Tank is the only relative that Chris, his brother’s son, has, and he is brought kicking and squirming to live with him. While his nephew is getting settled in, he manages to enter the world of Tank’s team and it is found that he is a computer genius whose talents prove useful in the move against Gonzo.

Similarly to Carcaterra’s previous novels, once the reader is grabbed very quickly this book is impossible to put down until finished. What their operation entails in their move against Gonzo is the main part of the book. Most important though, is the description of the team assembled, how they work together, and what their particular skills are. I trust that I am correct in making the judgement that this book is just the first of succeeding novels about Tank and his group and the unorthodox ways they handle cases. It is also a safe assumption that these novels, and other non related ones, will be well done and capture the author’s readers quickly and keep them glued to the book until the end.

8/19 Paul Lane

TIN BADGES by Lorenzo Carcaterra. Ballantine Books (August 27, 2019). ISBN 978-0345483928. 304p.

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THE WALLFLOWER WAGER by Tessa Dare

August 25, 2019

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Girl Meets Duke, Book 3

From the publisher:

They call him the Duke of Ruin.
To an undaunted wallflower, he’s just the beast next door.

Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society–and now he wants to get even.

Loyal and passionate, Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn’t take into her home and her heart.

When her imposing–and attractive–new neighbor demands she clear out the rescued animals, Penny sets him a challenge. She will part with her precious charges, if he can find them loving homes.

Done, Gabriel says. How hard can it be to find homes for a few kittens?
And a two-legged dog.
And a foul-mouthed parrot.
And a goat, an otter, a hedgehog . . .

Easier said than done, for a cold-blooded bastard who wouldn’t know a loving home from a workhouse. Soon he’s covered in cat hair, knee-deep in adorable, and bewitched by a shyly pretty spinster who defies his every attempt to resist. Now she’s set her mind and heart on saving him.

Not if he ruins her first.

Just when I thought I would have to give up on historical romances with 21st century problems, Tessa Dare proves it can be done. Thank goodness! The #MeToo movement has hit Regency England and Dare does it proud.

This book is a perfect example of the Regency genre, it has it all. Love: of course. Humor: lots of it. (A parrot that learned to speak in a whorehouse; need I say more?) Sex: just enough to keep things interesting. Plus chemistry galore, an unusual plot line, terrific secondary characters, and more. The characters come to life on the page, their backstories are believable, and of course, they get their happily ever after.

Another terrific entry into a wonderful series. I loved this book!

8/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE WALLFLOWER WAGER by Tessa Dare. Avon (August 13, 2019). ISBN 978-0062672162. 368p.

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THE WAREHOUSE by Rob Hart

August 24, 2019

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Rob Hart has written a novel about a possible future in the business world. He sets up a scenario where today’s shifts in commerce become magnified and then frightening.

The type of change in the way we do business has evolved over the last several centuries. It began with what has been termed the Industrial Revolution, in which the small shop employing a few people making products on a scale geared to lower sales turned into giant companies employing thousands turning out thousands of these same products. Costs are lower and so are the prices. The problem is the stultifying work involved doing the same thing hour after hour from one day to the next.

The Warehouse is a well done glimpse into a world where one gigantic company, known as the Cloud, supplies most of the wants of its myriad customers with almost anything they may require. Hart envisions the Cloud as employing hundreds of thousands in a work environment that includes those hired living within the area controlled by the company. They work there, they live there, they eat there, and spend all their time on its premises.

Paxton is a man that had started his own business, but failed when the product he was trying to sell could not obtain a patent. He managed to get a job with the Cloud and feels very grateful for it.

Zinnia, a pretty young lady, also gets a job but she is there being paid by an outside group to do damage to the company by finding it’s secrets. She is fit for this job because she has done it in other situations with success.

Paxton and Zinnia do meet, with him falling in love with her. On the other hand, Zinnia thinks of Paxton as a means of ferreting out information due to his fast rise at the Cloud.

Taken by themselves, the problems and worries of the two make for a very fascinating story and are well worth the read. But, of course there is more involved. The Cloud is a company that has become larger and more powerful than many countries and is a law unto itself. The prediction by the author certainly is a good guess in a novel that is an 1984 look alike. The fact is that with the advent of selling on the internet as a way of operating, costs of doing business for formerly huge stores are too high to really compete with an operation that does not need to have a place geared to walk in trade.

The Warehouse, in addition to the story of Paxton and Zinnia and their meeting, is also thought provoking since the premise of a huge company becoming more powerful than their government is very visible in today’s business area. A very well done look at what could be our near future fate.

8/19 Paul Lane

THE WAREHOUSE by Rob Hart. Crown (August 20, 2019). ISBN 978-1984823793. 368p.