Lt. Greer Burns runs a tough training program at the police academy, earning him the nickname “Lieutenant Hard-Ass” and no one would argue it. His younger brother is in his class, as are his roommates, including the very beautiful Danika Silva.
When Danika messes up, Greer puts her on probabtion, which involves him keeping tight reins on her life, both in and out of the academy. She has to check in with him regularly, ride along with him when he tells her to, and that is causing a problem. The heat between them is undeniable, but his work ethics won’t let him make a move and they are both getting very frustrated – until they take it to the next level.
I’m really enjoying this series and they don’t need to be read in order (but it doesn’t hurt.) I couldn’t help but be pulled into the world that these characters inhabit, and got emotionally involved with them. Plus there is a lot of very hot sex. So maybe this is romance bordering on erotica? I’m not sure where that line is anymore, but I do know that this is a hot, fun read.
4/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™
DISTURBING HIS PEACE by Tessa Bailey. Avon (April 24, 2018). ISBN 978-0062467126. 368p.
Romance authors reflect on how the genre empowers, represents, and includes. Featuring Chanel Cleeton, Kate Bateman, Shayla Black, Tamsen Parker, Sarina Bowen, and Milly Taiden.
Comments Off on How the Romance Genre Empowers Women | Ramblings | Permalink Posted by Stacy Alesi
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, A Daring Arrangement, and this one was just as good. This is historical but unlike the Regencies I usually read, this one is set during the Gilded Age in New York City, and the cover is refreshingly modern. I’m pretty sure my husband has that shirt…
Lady Eva Hyde is sailing from England to America when she meets Phillip, a gorgeous man on board the ship. Due to inclement weather, they are the last two standing on the final night at sea and enjoy dinner together along with quite a bit of champagne, followed by a rather clandestine meeting in his room. Eva has never felt the kind of attraction she has for this man, and he is rather swept away as well. Much to his chagrin, Eva disappears before he awakens and he cannot find her nor anyone with the name she gave him on board.
Eva is in New York to work. Her father is a world famous architect who has succumbed to an Alzheimer’s type disease. Eva has studied with him for most of her life, and when this job came in – to design the finest hotel in New York City, she leapt at it. Her father had made many bad investments, leaving them penniless and she was desperate to earn some money. But women are not welcome on a construction site as she well knows, so she is going to pass herself off as a representative of her father, who she claims has fallen ill but should be in NY in a matter of weeks. Plus there is the problem of Eva’s romantic past – her father had arranged a marriage for her three times, but one after another of her fiances met an untimely death, earning her the nickname “Lady Unlucky.” She had nothing to do with their deaths but still…
To her horror, the man who is building the hotel is, of course, Phillip. The attraction is still there, stronger than ever, but the work must come first and that is not going to be easy. I loved the whole feminist angle of this story almost as much as the romance, especially when I read the author’s note that explained the impetus for the book came when she found out that a woman architect, Julia Morgan, had designed Hearst Castle in the early part of the twentieth century.
The passion felt real, the odds of this couple getting together were almost insurmountable, and the characters rang true. The tidbits about the history of New York were just an added bonus. This was a terrific one night read for me, I really loved it.
4/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™
A SCANDALOUS DEAL by Joanna Shupe. Avon (April 24, 2018). ISBN 978-0062678911. 384p.
I finally found a terrific romance in my quest to find a Scottish romance that I could enjoy despite it not being written by Diana Gabaldon, It’s only available as an ebook or audiobook though.
Declan Sinclair is a Highlander who has always had strong dreams about his future, and believes his dreams never lie. He has been dreaming about a blonde woman that he is convinced is his future wife. He is at a tavern with his friends when he sees a woman who looks just like his dream woman. She is at a table with a man, but Declan can’t help staring at her and she apparently can’t help staring back at him.
Eventually he learns that the man is her brother and a bit of a snob. When they end up in a card game, Declan takes all his money until he finally bets his sister – and Declan wins. He is uncomfortable with the idea of winning his bride, but also determined to marry her.
Caya is beautiful, and the reason she is even in Scotland is because her brother sold her to an Irish fisherman to pay off his debts. She is supposed to marry this fisherman, so when her brother tells her instead she is to marry the Highlander, she is happy to switch. At least he is good looking and she is attracted to him, trading one arranged marriage for another is not a big deal apparently.
Except when the fisherman appears looking for his wife, all sorts of trouble ensues. Then when Declan brings his bride home, his uncle, the laird, absolutely forbids him to marry a woman he won in a card game. Lots of obstacles get in the way but true love always finds its happily ever after.
This was a sweet read despite some violence, a minimum of sex but a really nice love story.
4/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
BETTING THE SCOT by Jennifer Trethewey. Entangled: Amara (April 23, 2018). ASIN B07C9Y4JNW.
A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream—the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy
Oprah’s Book Club selection • New York Times Bestseller • Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award • Longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award • An ALA Notable Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
NPR • The New York Times Book Review • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Chicago Public Library • BookPage • Refinery29 • Kirkus Reviews
Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future.
However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades.
When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.
Praise for Behold the Dreamers “A debut novel by a young woman from Cameroon that illuminates the immigrant experience in America with the tenderhearted wisdom so lacking in our political discourse . . . Mbue is a bright and captivating storyteller.”—The Washington Post
“A capacious, big-hearted novel.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Behold the Dreamers’ heart . . . belongs to the struggles and small triumphs of the Jongas, which Mbue traces in clean, quick-moving paragraphs.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Mbue’s writing is warm and captivating.”—People (book of the week)
“[Mbue’s] book isn’t the first work of fiction to grapple with the global financial crisis of 2007–2008, but it’s surely one of the best. . . . It’s a novel that depicts a country both blessed and doomed, on top of the world, but always at risk of losing its balance. It is, in other words, quintessentially American.”—NPR
“This story is one that needs to be told.”—Bust
“Behold theDreamers challenges us all to consider what it takes to make us genuinely content, and how long is too long to live with our dreams deferred.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
“[A] beautiful, empathetic novel.”—The Boston Globe
“A witty, compassionate, swiftly paced novel that takes on race, immigration, family and the dangers of capitalist excess.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Mbue [is] a deft, often lyrical observer. . . . [Her] meticulous storytelling announces a writer in command of her gifts.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
I confess that I never read the Pulitzer Prize winning A Visit from the Goon Squad by Egan. Its desription as a novel of interlocking stories just didn’t appeal so I came to this book with an open mind. It has won numerous awards and accolades, including the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, was a New York Times and Washington Post Notable book and it made many of the best books lists in 2017. So I had high expectations, and it mostly met them.
Manhattan Beach is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, and this book is a historical look at the area. Anna Kerrigan is a young girl when her father takes to a business meeting at the home of Dexter Styles, who lives in a large house on the beach. Anna is mesmerized by the sand and sea, and Styles enjoys her pleasure in it.
Anna’s father had been ruined in the Great Depression, and the family lives in a small apartment. Anna enjoys spending time with her father, but he stops taking her to business meetings and then disappears a short time later, leaving her with her mother and sister. Her sister suffers from some sort of paralysis and brain damage, but Anna and her mother lovingly take care of her.
Years later, Anna gets a job at the Brooklyn Naval Yard during the war, when women are allowed to hold the jobs that only men once held. She sees men diving in the water off the yard and wants to learn to do that, but that is one line women cannot cross. Nonetheless, her boss gets her an interview but the man in charge is more interested in humiliating Anna than hiring her. Much to his surprise, she passes the tests for divers but he still doesn’t want her. She persists, and eventually becomes the first woman diver, repairing ships to help win the war.
Anna’s personal life is a bit of a mess. She lives with a friend’s family, and rarely dates. But one night she goes to a nightclub and finds out that Dexter Styles is the owner. He becomes intrigued with her and their relationship turns the story on its head.
This is a fascinating look at the roles of women during the Depression and the war, and the lives of sailors, politicians, and gangsters and how their lives intertwine. Anna is a terrific character and moves the story along. A very interesting and enjoyable read, especially for book groups.
4/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
MANHATTAN BEACH by Jennifer Egan. Scribner; First Edition edition (October 3, 2017). ISBN 978-1476716732. 448p.
Malliet presents the 7th book written featuring Max Tudor, the Vicar of his church in the village of Nether Monkslip, situated in a charming rural section of England. Max is quite happy in his chosen role after a career with British Intelligence as an agent for MI5. He is married to a lovely lady, has a young son and is very content with his role in life.
Unfortunately, Max seems to attract murder like a fly to honey and has proven quite a help to DCI Cotton of the local police in solving these cases.
Just returning from a trip with Cotton to help with a case in another town, Max wants nothing more than to relax and concentrate on a sermon he plans to give about the ancient Israeli King David and his lust for Bathsheba. David had committed the sin of sending Bathsheba’s husband to die during a war so that she could be his wife.
Just getting involved in the sermon, the town is confronted with the apparent murder and attempted suicide pact of the wife of the local manor lord. Max is plunged into helping to solve the crime and away we go. It is probably not appropriate to use the term “charming” about a case of murder, but Malliet’s prose brings this adjective to mind. There are no grisly murder scenes depicted, merely statements that these occurred. Life in Nether Monkslip is modern; computers are used, e-books are read and the people are affected when bad things happen.
The novel is a fun read, certainly not deep nor devious, quite satisfying and certainly sure to whet the reader’s appetite for more of these books.
4/18 Paul Lane
IN PRIOR’S WOOD by G. M. Malliet. Minotaur Books (April 17, 2018). ISBN 978-1250092809. 304p.
The fourth, and announced as the final book featuring Jack McColl and his love Caitlin Hanley during the period just before, during and after World War I. Book three left Jack in prison in England serving a trumped up sentence and Caitlin leaving Jack in order to stay in post revolutionary Russia to help work on details of the Communist Revolution.
The opening of this novel has Jack offered a pardon if he will go to Russia to spy on members of the newly formed MI5, apparently plotting high level assassination plans. Jack goes and Caitlin is, of course, in Russia. The strength of the book is in Downing’s thoroughly researched details of the world just after the war to end all wars ends. Russia is depicted in the turmoil of a myriad of battles during her revolution between the many factions emerging to try and take power. Lenin has become the head of state and the Russian government’s ability to help it’s people is virtually nil. Scenes of mass starvation, mass murder and a country devoid of any semblance of law and order are painted in plain prose.
Entering into the mix are the supposed planned assassinations of Gandhi and the British Prince of Wales in India by Russian groups. Also Caitlin has married in the period between the books and that is the proverbial sticky wicket between Jack and her getting together again.
Downing has Jack completely disappointed in England for sending so many young men to die needlessly in World War I and undoubtedly this reflects the author’s opinion. The first three books adequately described the carnage engendered by the battles of men using modern weapons against a foe entrenched just a few yards away. The book and the series ends with a climax that reflects Downing’s opinion and is the only possible logical ending. A complete series about a period now more than a century ago. It is certain that Downing will entertain his readers again, and I trust very shortly.
4/18 Paul Lane
THE DARK CLOUDS SHINING by David Downing. Soho Crime (April 10, 2018). ISBN 978-1616956066. 384p.
Zac Miller is a long term employee of the CIA who is currently based in London. He is not a field operative, has never “run” someone that is bringing in important intelligence work for the US. His work is devoted to the necessary administrative tasks that are indispensable for the agency to function but never bring in the glory attached to spy work.
The novel opens with Zac on a trip to Paris to meet with a young lady that he already has met and would like to get to know better. Nothing is further from his thoughts than possibly taking on a secret mission and acting as a spy. Suddenly his world changes; a phone call from his boss advises that a man destined for a mission to Iran has taken ill and cannot go. Reluctantly Zac is assigned to go in the other agent’s place, in spite of the trepidation felt by his supervisor.
The plane he boards, destined for the far east, experiences engine trouble, cannot continue on its planned flight, and is forced to land at an airport in Iran. That is where Zac’s troubles start. He takes pictures of the area on his phone’s camera acting as a normal tourist would and is arrested and detained by the Iranian secret police. The why of this is part of the tale spun here.
Where Zac goes, how he does it, are fascinating views of a world in conflict in the Middle East. The research done in describing the action Zac becomes involved in is painstaking and succeeds in delivering a view of a zone that has been in conflict for many years. The statement “an all nighter” is apt but really doesn’t describe what a reader will find happening to him or her once the book is opened. I felt quite satisfied in arriving at an ending logical for this novel, but allowing enough questions to remain to logically expect another novel to follow this one shortly – can’t wait!
4/18 Paul Lane
WARNING LIGHT by David Ricciardi. Berkley (April 17, 2018). ISBN 978-0399585739. 336p.
I picked up this book thinking it was a Julia Quinn book! I haven’t read Ella Quinn before and starting this series with book 4 was probably not the best idea but I didn’t realize that until I was already emeshed.
The Worthingtons are a large, somewhat confusing family unless you’ve read the previous books in the series (I assume.) But I muddled through and by the end, I still wasn’t clear on all the relationships but the main story was fine, so I’ll just stick with that.
Lady Charlotte Carpenter was kidnapped, apparently a common occurence in her family and in Regency England, who knew. But Lady Charlotte isn’t your typical British heroine, prone to vapors and hissy fits. She is a level headed young woman who has been trained in the art of lock picking, in how to use a gun and a knife, something else I wasn’t aware of as life skills taught young women at the time. But I digress.
Lady Charlotte is taken to an inn, where she is held prisoner. She is rescued by Constantine, Marquis of Kenilworth, who sneaks her out in the dead of night. But when he gets lost in trying to take her home, they are seen together and he knows her reputation will be ruined. So he announces their engagement, despite the fact they don’t know each other. But Lady Charlotte isn’t so sure she wants to marry the dashing Marquis. She has seen him at the theater in the company of courtesans, and she strongly disapproves.
Kenilworth works hard to woo her, realizing she is the right woman for him and she fights him every step of the way – until she gives in. This is a Regency romance so it is witty and the sex is not too explicit. The kidnapping angle was interesting and the romance was fun, but I would strongly recommend reading these books in order.
4/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™
THE MARQUIS AND I by Ella Quinn. Zebra (February 27, 2018). ISBN 978-1420145168. 400p.
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