I enjoy Jill Shalvis’ books, and I was pleased to discover that a few of her older titles have been re-released as part of Harlequin’s Digital Backlist programme. Aftershock was originally published as a Harlequin Temptation in 2001.

Blurb: If it hadn’t been for the earthquake, Amber Riggs would never have made love to a perfect stranger. And no doubt about it, fire inspector Dax McCall was perfect! Who else could have taught her the meaning of passion at a time like that?

Still, when Amber ran into him a year later she wasn’t sure how he’d react. She hadn’t meant to keep the news from Dax…. But he’d been out of town, and she’d been sort of relieved. After all, how do you tell the perfect man he has a perfect baby girl with a woman he doesn’t know from Eve?

My Thoughts: This book started out very well but the second half wasn’t as interesting as the first. Nevertheless, it was a cute read. Amber and Dax are very different, and they probably wouldn’t have gotten together had it not been for the unusual circumstances in which they met. This is a definite opposites attract story. It also makes me grateful that I don’t live in an earthquake zone! My Grade: B-

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I purchased Karen Foley’s Hot-Blooded purely on the basis of the blurb. It’s a September Blaze release, but it’s already available for purchase at the eHarlequin site.

Blurb: First Sergeant Chase McCormick isn’t a chauvinist. But he does believe that women have no place in combat zones. Why? Because his men forget their training! They fall all over themselves trying to protect the women around them. As far as Chase is concerned, females belong in the bedroom, the home, the office. But not anywhere near Chase McCormick when he’s on duty.

Too bad nobody mentioned that to gorgeous Elena de la Vega. She’s been sent to Chase’s remote outpost in northern Afghanistan.

After they’d shared a sizzling one-night stand!

Elena can handle herself. It’s Chase who needs a directive on how to deal with his own wildly undisciplined sexual attraction to the woman! Because her presence is making short work of his hardened soldier training…and putting more than their hearts at risk.

My Thoughts: I started this book despising Elena. She signs up for a stint in Iraq to prove to her cheating ex-boyfriend that she can be adventurous and take risks. She envisions a position at a nice base with a swimming pool and luxury facilities. However, her assignment is changed at the last minute, and she ends up in a rudimentary military camp in Afghanistan. Elena is horrified, especially when she discovers that Chase is also assigned to the same camp.

Despite Elena’s TSTL moments, there’s a lot to like in this book. I found the setting in a military camp interesting, and I liked Chase. He’s torn between his sense of duty and his attraction to Elena. As indicated above, Elena has a few dumb moments in which she almost gets people killed, but she manages to redeem herself by the end of the story. My Grade: B-

Since my BeBook arrived, I’ve been devouring Harlequin ebooks. As I’m still struggling to keep up with my review back log – even more so now that I’ve committed myself to the Book in 3 Months Challenge – I felt another mini review post was called for.

This collection of mini reviews is a mixed bag. First up is Trish Milburn’s Her Very Own Family. It was my first Harlequin American Romance. While I didn’t love it, it was an enjoyable read with sympathetic characters and a heroine with a particularly interesting past. For those readers who avoid Harlequins featuring children, this book is a kid-free zone.

Less successful was Jo Leigh’s Blaze title, Ms Match. I’ve heard many positive comments about this story, but it just didn’t work for me. The premise of the plain heroine and the playboy hero is one which I enjoy if it’s done well. However, I wasn’t convinced that the hero in this book was truly less shallow at the end than he had been at the beginning.

I liked Cara Colter’s Harlequin Romance, Winning a Groom in 10 Dates, better than Ms Match, but it was still only a C+ read for me. It’s a cute story involving a heroine who’s had a crush on the hero since they were teenagers. In typical Harlequin fashion, the title is misleading.

The final mini review is of Mia’s Scandal by Michelle Reid. It’s the first book in Mills & Boon’s new Balfour Legacy series featuring the eight daughters of the billionaire, Oscar Balfour. The books are set to be released individually over eight consecutive months starting in July 2010. However, they can already be purchased as an ebook bundle on the M&B site.

HER VERY OWN FAMILY (2009) BY TRISH MILBURN

Blurb: Audrey York isn’t letting the scandal in her past stop her from making a fresh start in Willow Glen, Tennessee. And now, with the help of a kindhearted neighbor, she’s getting the chance to build her dream café. Then she meets her neighbor’s sonsexy, single carpenter Brady Wittwho makes it clear he doesn’t trust her one bit.

Someone has to protect Brady’s father from women out to hook a lonely widower. Only, the beautiful blond restaurateur doesn’t fit the profile. In fact, she isn’t like any woman Brady knows.

Just when Brady’s starting to believe in her, Audrey’s past comes barreling back. Can she trust Brady with the truth? Or will she lose the family she’s found at last when he discovers who she isand what she’s running from?

My Thoughts: I liked this book. Audrey’s Big Secret is original and her fraught relationship with her mother adds a touch of poignancy to what is otherwise a very cute story. Brady annoyed me at one point in the book, but he did manage to redeem himself. B

MS MATCH (2008) BY JO LEIGH

Blurb: Waking up in a hotel room next to a nearly naked Gwen Christopher is a shocker for Paul Bennet.

Hmm, one too many the night before? After all, he’s rich, successful and looks more like one of his movie-star clients than their PR rep. Paul can have any woman he wants. Any woman–except Gwen’s smokin’-hot sister. Taking plain-Jane Gwen out as a favor was supposed to be his ticket in.

And okay, sure, Gwen’s fun and smart and interesting–and absolutely amazing in bed. But she’d never fit in with his parties-and-paparazzi lifestyle. This is a total mismatch.

So why’s he so ready to dive back into bed with Gwen first chance he can?

My Thoughts: Gwen was a likeable heroine but I so wanted her to end up with a hero less shallow than Paul. In order to believe in the HEA, it’s necessary to find Paul’s transformation credible, and I did not. He goes from a guy who only dates supermodels and schmoozes with Hollywood A-listers to a man who suddenly likes hanging out in sports bars with regular folk. That’s in between lusting after Gwen’s beautiful sister. Hmm… C

WINNING A GROOM IN 10 DATES (2010) BY CARA COLTER

Blurb: As a teenager, geeky Sophie adored gorgeous Brandon. He protected her from the bullies, but was too tough for the sweet small-town girl to crack. Then he left for the army….

Now the rebel’s back—just in time to rescue Sophie from attending her ex-fiancé’s engagement party alone. He’ll be her stand-in boyfriend and convince everyone they’re wildly in love!

My Thoughts: While this is a sweet romance kept me turning the pages, I found both the hero and the heroine annoyingly perfect. My favourite aspects of the story were  Brandon’s difficult relationship with his father, and also the romance between his father and Sophie’s grandmother. C+

MIA’S SCANDAL (2010) BY MICHELLE REID

The Premise: This is the first title in M&B’s new eight-book Balfour Legacy series. When his family is rocked by a series of scandals, wealthy Oscar Balfour decides to force his pampered daughters to stand on their own feet for a year. He picks tasks for each of them which will best test their individual personalities.

Mia Bianchi-Balfour is the newest addition to the Balfour clan, but even she is not exempt from being forced to prove her worth on her own. Mia is Oscar’s illegitimate daughter. She recently arrived from Italy to confront him and found the Balfour household in turmoil.

For her “test”, Oscar sends her to work with his protégé, the handsome, moody Nikos Theakis. Mia and Nikos take an instant dislike to one another, but naturally this is only because they are in denial of their mutual attraction.

My Thoughts: I quite like the premise of Balfour Legacy series and I’m curious to read some of the other sisters’ books. However, Mia’s youth bothered me (she’s 21), and I think Nikos took advantage of her. I realise this is a typical Harlequin Presents/M&B Modern Romance set-up, but I found it difficult to believe in their HEA. However, if you’re in the mood for some glitz and glamour this summer, the Balfour Legacy looks set to deliver. C+

The very first romance novels I ever read were the equivalent of today’s Mills & Boon Modern Romance/Harlequin Presents. They generally featured moody millionaires and their simpering secretaries. I even attempted to co-write one with a friend when I was 15. Trust me, that is one manuscript which should never see the light of day!

It had been ages since I last read a M&B Modern/Harlequin Presents, but I was sufficiently intrigued by Super Wendy’s recent review of Kimberly Lang’s The Secret Mistress Arrangement to buy a digital copy from the M&B website. It’s part of the M&B Modern Heat line which is supposed to be spicier than the regular Modern Romances. Despite the silly title, the book is very good.

The success of The Secret Mistress Arrangement encouraged me to look for reviews of more Modern Heat titles. I struck gold in the archives of The Good, The Bad, and The Unread. Lynne Connolly’s review of Bought: Damsel in Distress by debut author, Lucy King, caught my eye and I bought a digital copy. The premise of the book is genuinely original and it made for an entertaining read.

Here are my mini reviews of both books:

THE SECRET MISTRESS ARRANGEMENT BY KIMBERLY LANG

Blurb: Time is money to dropdeadgorgeous tycoon Matt Jacobs. But when he meets beautiful Ella Mackenzie at his best friend’s wedding, he decides to break his rule and make the most of his week off work by spending it in bed with her!

Strong willed Ella doesn’t do sleepovers but Matt’s incredible lovemaking has got her hooked! So when their secret week between the sheets comes to an end, Ella finds herself accepting the sort of indecent proposal she never thought she’d consider….

My Thoughts: The blurb is rather silly, and the title is misleading. For a start, Matt is a lawyer. Does that qualify as a tycoon? Ella is his girlfriend, not his mistress. Anyway, if I had written the blurb, it would read something like this:

“Matt Jacobs is a successful lawyer in Atlanta. When he returns home to Chicago to attend his best friend’s wedding, he’s surprised by his instant attraction to the uptight maid of honour.

Ella Mackenzie was not intending to have a fling – least of all with sexy Matt Jacobs. Nonetheless, she finds herself agreeing to spend her last week in Chicago with him – in bed. Will their affair blossom into something more?”

Not as eye-catching as the original but certainly more accurate!

Ella and Matt are both real people and I found it far easier to relate to them than I did the tycoons and secretaries of old-style Harlequin Presents books. There are no TSTL moments, and Matt doesn’t attempt to control Ella with his wealth. In fact, had the book been slightly longer, it would have qualified as a Blaze.

I definitely plan to read more books by Kimberly Lang. B+

BOUGHT: DAMSEL IN DISTRESS BY LUCY KING

Blurb: As the official blurb contains a plot spoiler, here’s my summary of the story’s premise.

A baggage handlers’ strike has provided Emily Marchmont with the perfect excuse for not attending her ex-fiancé’s wedding in France. Her older sister, Anna, insists she needs closure and should attend. Emily is horrified when Anna presents her with a fait accompli: she’s auctioned her off online as a Damsel in Distress. The winning bidder has agreed to fly Emily from London to France on his private jet. Initially, Emily refuses to go along with the crazy scheme, but Anna manipulates her by revealing that the money is to go to a charity for research into maternal mortality, a cause dear to their hearts as their own mother died having Emily.

When Luke Harrison arrives to escort Emily to the airport, she’s literally struck dumb. He’s incredibly handsome and does his best to put her at ease in what is a rather awkward situation. Luke has no idea what possessed him to act on impulse and place a bid to escort Emily to France. He needs to go to Monte Carlo for work in any case, but he’s loath to admit that the picture of Emily in her skimpy green bikini stirred feelings in him which had been dormant since his wife died three years previously. When Emily impulsively asks him to be her plus one to the wedding, Luke finds himself agreeing. Needless to say, sparks fly, and it doesn’t take long before they embark upon a passionate affair.

My Thoughts: The online auction set-up sounds ridiculous but the author makes it work. I loved Lucy King’s writing style. She’s amusing and makes her characters come to life. Both Emily and Luke have baggage and I appreciated the fact that it doesn’t all disappear by the end of the book.

Luke is a more typical M&B Modern hero than Matt in The Secret Mistress Arrangement. He’s a wealthy fund manager with all the trappings that this entails. In a previous life, he might have been arrogant and domineering, but his wife’s death knocked it out of him. He’s spent the past three years immersing himself in his work so that he doesn’t have to deal with his grief.

Emily’s issues are less serious than Luke’s, but she also has some things to deal with before she can commit to him. Her fun-loving personality is the perfect foil for Luke’s serious demeanour.

Despite a few too many stops and starts to their relationship, I thoroughly enjoyed Bought:Damsel in Distress, and I plan to read more books by Lucy King. A-

A shopping tip for anyone interested in these titles: they are available in EPUB format on the Mills & Boon site, but only in PDF format on the eHarlequin site. It’s well worth checking both sites for special offers. I found a couple of interesting books in M&B’s £0.99 Clearance Sale, for example, and eHarlequin have different special offers each month. Even if the M&B site doesn’t specifically say that their ebooks are EPUBs, all the ones I’ve bought so far are. I get the impression that M&B started using EPUB as their standard ebook format earlier than eHarlequin.

Have you read any Mills & Boon Modern Heat romances? Which authors/books would you recommend?

After the success of Match Made in Court by Janice Kay Johnson, I dug the two other Harlequin SuperRomances I own out of my TBR pile. Proving that my positive reaction to Match Made in Court was not a fluke, I enjoyed both Sarah Mayberry’s Her Best Friend and Karina Bliss’ What the Librarian Did.

I found a great post by Wendy the Super Librarian at The Good, The Bad and The Unread in which she explains why she likes Harlequin SuperRomances.

SuperRomance is one of the longest category lines that Harlequin offers, which means readers not only get a strong, central love story, but there can also be secondary characters and sub plots thrown into the mix. SuperRomance has a little bit more meat on the bone, and are often emotionally charged stories featuring conflict central to the lives of every day women. The characters are what I call “normies.” Normal, real, authentic characters. I often say that the characters in a SuperRomance are people you could see at the grocery store, your son’s little league game, or walking down the street.

If you’re tired of contemporary romances in which there are suspense subplots, paranormal elements, and more sex scenes than emotional development, the SuperRomance line might be for you.

Here are mini-reviews of What the Librarian Did and Her Best Friend:

WHAT THE LIBRARIAN DID (2010) BY KARINA BLISS

The Premise: Rachel Robinson is a prim, 34-year-old librarian with a fetish for vintage clothing. She strives to keep her life respectable, and only dates boring, sensible men whom she knows she can never lose her heart over. Rachel has been hiding from her past for the past seventeen years, but some secrets are not meant to be kept.

Devin Freedman is a rock star whose life has fallen apart. Battling drug and alcohol addictions, Devin’s doctors tell him the only way for him to recover is to turn his back on his wild lifestyle and enabler “friends”. Devin quits the band and moves back to his native New Zealand where he enrols in the university in which Rachel works.

On the surface, it appears that Devin and Rachel have nothing in common, but they soon realise that appearances can be deceiving. When Rachel’s past returns to confront her, Devin is the only person she can turn to for support.

My Thoughts: Despite the rave reviews I’ve seen on many blogs, this was my least favourite of the three Harlequin SuperRomances I read back-to-back. I liked Devin but found myself becoming frustrated with Rachel on several occasions. The chemistry between them worked, but they had too many fights for my liking. It seemed as though they were constantly arguing and making up which got tiring after a while. I also felt Devin’s addiction issues were glossed over.

On the positive side, I thought a couple of the secondary characters were very well done, especially Mark and Trixie. The writing was strong and I enjoyed the New Zealand setting. Although I didn’t love this book, it was a solid contemporary romance. B-

HER BEST FRIEND (2010) BY SARAH MAYBERRY

The Premise: Amy Parker has two great passions: the Grand Picture Theatre and Quinn Whitfield. Amy has dreamed for years of restoring the old cinema her grandfather built and has finally saved up enough money to make her dream a reality. When an unscrupulous property developer persuades the local council to sell to him instead of Amy, she needs a lawyer she can trust. Luckily for Amy, her good friend, Lisa, is a lawyer. Unluckily for Amy, Lisa just happens to be married to her secret crush and best friend, Quinn. When Quinn answers the phone instead of Lisa, he insists on helping Amy out himself.

When Quinn arrives in Daylesford, Amy is stunned to discover that he and Lisa are getting a divorce. For sixteen years, Amy has kept her love for Quinn a secret because he was with Lisa. Now that they have split up, Amy realises there is no impediment to her and Quinn getting together…except for the small fact that Lisa is also her friend.

Her emotions in turmoil, Amy is forced to confront her feelings about Quinn while fighting for her professional future and the Grand Picture House.

My Thoughts: Sarah Mayberry is my favourite Harlequin Blaze author, but I hadn’t yet read one of her SuperRomances. I was reluctant to do so as she is one of the very few authors who can make sex scenes an integral part of the developing story. As SuperRomances are far tamer in that respect, I wondered if I would feel as enthusiastic about this story as I was about her Blazes.

I needn’t have worried. While the sex scenes in Her Best Friend are less explicit than I’ve come to expect from a Sarah Mayberry book, she more than made up for it with sizzling chemistry and angst. The book packs quite an emotional punch. Amy is reluctant to take her relationship with Quinn to the next level because she knows she will hurt Lisa, and she’s convinced Quinn doesn’t love her as much as he did Lisa. Quinn does love Amy, but doesn’t gloss over the fact that he has not spent the past sixteen years pining for her as she has for him. He was very happy with Lisa for many years, and would have stayed married to her had she not betrayed him. However, the emotional development in this story was very well done, and I was convinced at the end that Quinn and Amy would be happy together. I definitely want to read more of Sarah Mayberry’s SuperRomances. B

Have you ever read a Harlequin SuperRomance? Which is your favourite Harlequin/Silhouette/M&B line?

Genre: Harlequin SuperRomance

POV: 3rd Person (both hero and heroine’s POVs)

Sensuality: Warm

Violence: Yes, but occurs off page

My Grade: B+

Although I have a couple of Harlequin SuperRomances on my TBR shelf, Match Made in Court by Janice Kay Johnson is the first one I’ve actually read. If this book is anything to go by, I may have misjudged this line. I’d dismissed the SuperRomances as being all about kids and babies. There is a child in Match Made in Court, but she’s not the usual precocious (read: obnoxious), cutsie romance kid. When I read the blurb, I knew I had to buy this book!

Linnea Sorenson has always lived in her older brother’s shadow. Their mother blatantly favours Finn, and Linnea is seen as less intelligent, less attractive, and generally less worthy. Finn is a successful lawyer with all the trappings of luxury. Married to Tess, an equally successful interior designer, the only less-than-perfect aspect to Finn’s life is his six-year-old daughter, Hanna, who is a shy and thoughtful child, and far more reminiscent of her Aunt Linnea’s character than her father would like.

In contrast to Finn, Linnea lives in a small but comfortable home. She works in a library and runs a petsitting business on the side. Linnea is concerned that her niece is not getting the support and stability that she needs from her wealthy-but-absent parents, and regularly has Hanna over to stay with her. This arrangement becomes more permanent when tragedy strikes.

When Finn is arrested on suspicion of having murdered Tess during an argument, Linnea is left in charge of Hanna. Although Linnea loves her brother, she’s well acquainted with his ferocious temper, and is less convinced of his innocence than their parents are. Due to their father’s poor health, she is considered the best person to look after Hanna while Finn awaits trial.

Tess’ brother, Matt Laughlin, is not pleased by this arrangement. Matt is a civil engineer working in Kuwait. When he learns of his sister’s murder, he takes an extended vacation and returns to Seattle to apply for custody of his niece. Matt has always despised his arrogant brother-in-law but even he is shocked that Finn would go so far as to kill Tess. However, the evidence is damning, and Matt is determined to take Hanna to live with him. Matt knows Linnea vaguely but was left with the impression of a meek, mousy woman and not the sort of person he wants to raise his niece.

Linnea, however, soon shows Matt she’s a mouse with claws. Both Linnea and Matt are dismayed when they are granted joint custody of Hanna until Finn’s trial is over. Forced to cooperate with one another, they realise they might have misjudged each other. Matt is not the moody man Linnea remembers, and Linnea is quiet but no pushover – especially not when Hanna’s welfare is at stake. A reluctant bond forms between Linnea and Matt which soon grows to attraction, and, despite the odds, love.

I loved the premise of Match Made in Court and the subtle characterization made this a compelling read. I’m not usually fond of meek heroines, but Linnea’s character was very well done. She does develop over the course of the story but she remains essentially the same person she was at the beginning: quiet, introverted, but prepared to stand up for herself when she feels strongly about something. Matt’s impatience and anger at the start of the book made it harder to warm to him. However, he quickly realises he’s misjudged Linnea and recognises the positive influence she has on his niece’s life.

I don’t want to spoil the outcome of the trial but I will say that I liked the author’s portrayal of Finn. He is deeply flawed and not a nice person, but the reader is shown a few redeeming points in his character. Similarly, Linnea’s fraught relationship with her parents was nicely dealt with. While progress was made over the course of the story, all their problems were not magically resolved by the end.

The weak point in this book was a pacing issue towards the middle. I felt the second half of the book lacked the momentum of the first part. Thankfully, it picked up again in the last few chapters.

For readers who want a sweet contemporary romance which focuses on the developing relationship between the hero and heroine and doesn’t get bogged down in secondary characters, subplots, and sex, I can highly recommend this book. I’ve ordered a couple more books by Janice Kay Johnson and I’m looking forward to reading them.

Other Reviews of Match Made in Court:

All About Romance – Grade A-

Genre: Contemporary Romance (Harlequin Blaze)

POV: 3rd Person from both hero & heroine’s perspectives

Sensuality: Hot

Violence: N/A

My Grade: A-

Sarah Mayberry is my favourite Harlequin Blaze author. I’ve read her entire backlist and enjoyed all of them and loved a few. Her Secret Fling is now rivalling my favourite of her books, Anything for You, for first place in my affections.

Poppy Birmingham is a former Olympic swimmer who was forced into early retirement due to an injury. For the past twenty-five years, Poppy has lived for swimming and now needs to find a new outlet to channel her natural drive and ambition. When the sports editor of Australia’s most prestigious newspaper offers her a job as celebrity sports columnist, Poppy jumps at the chance. Although she has no journalistic experience, Poppy sees the opportunity as one which will allow her to carve out a new niche for herself, rather than pursuing the usual post-athletic careers such as TV sports commentator, swimming coach, or product endorser. Poppy is also excited by the prospect of working alongside her idol, Jake Stevens, an award-winning sports journalist and author of one of the most successful Australian novels ever written.

Jake Stevens is deeply resentful of his editor’s decision to hire Poppy Birmingham as the new member of the paper’s sports department. Jake feels that Poppy has no credentials to justify her obtaining such a coveted position over experienced journalists. Jake is also battling his own demons, not least of which is crippling writer’s block which is preventing him from writing the much-anticipated follow-up to his phenomenally successful debut novel.

Poppy is hurt and shocked by Jake’s hostile manner. Determining to keep her distance from him, she concentrates on doing the best job she can, despite her lack of formal training. When Poppy finds herself stranded due to a plane strike, she and Jake end up sharing a car ride home. Confined in such a small space for a significant length of time, they find there’s more to the other than they’d first assumed. They end up having a hot one-night stand, which turns into a passionate affair. But can sexual chemistry develop into love?

Once again, Sarah Mayberry delivers a winnner. Her characters seem so real they all but leap off the page. I loved the way Poppy is the emotionally stronger of the two. She doesn’t let the premature end of her swimming career get her down but instead looks for a new channel for her energies. She might not be as intellectually inclined as her academic family but she’s certainly not lacking in smarts. She takes her new career as a journalist very seriously and is determined to become the best writer that she can be. Her social life has suffered through her years as a professional athlete when she had little to no time to devote to a relationship. Now that she’s no longer committed to the pool, Poppy is ready to find a nice guy and settle down. That the nice guy might turn out to be grumpy Jake Stevens comes as a complete surprise.

Jake is quite dislikeable at the start of the book but he gradually begins to face his demons and work through them. He’s reluctantly impressed by Poppy’s diligence, and while she might not be the best journalist ever, she works hard to improve her style. Jake is overwhelmed by his attraction to Poppy, especially as it goes far beyond the purely physical. Jake is still scarred from a broken marriage and it takes him a while to learn to love again.

Sarah Mayberry’s writing style is witty and engaging. She excels at conveying an authentic sense of place, providing a convincing background against which her story plays out. Her attention to detail seems effortless. She manages to create believable secondary characters in just a couple of descriptive sentences. While grapic, the sex scenes fit the story and the people in it.

If you enjoy sexy contemporary romances featuring interesting characters, I can highly recommend Her Secret Fling.

Other Reviews of Her Secret Fling:

Jane at Dear Author – B-

Impressions of a Reader – A

All About Romance - C+

Book Binge – 4.25 out of 5

Leslie’s Psyche – A

Stacy’s Place on Earth – 4.5 stars out of 5 stars

Genre: Contemporary Romance (Harlequin Presents)

POV: 3rd Person (we only see heroine’s POV)

Sensuality: Warm

Violence: N/A

My Grade: C-

This review was written for Keishon’s monthly TBR Challenge. I got the book free as part of Harlequin’s 60 Year Anniversary promotion. It’s been on my iPod ever since and I thought I should finally read it.

The Price of Passion is a quick read but one which I found dissatisfying. I’ve read and enjoyed a couple of Susan Napier’s books in the past. She’s one of the very few Harlequin Presents authors whose books I generally like. This one, however, didn’t work for me. I read it while I had a fever, so this may have influenced my impression of the book, but the plot devices used are ones I usually object to in romances. There are a couple of spoilers in my review, so those of you who don’t like spoilers shouldn’t read any further.

The premise of the story is typical Harlequin Presents fodder: Kate Crawford has been having an on-off affair with author, Drake Daniels, for the past two years. Drake has always called the shots in their relationship and made it quite clear that marriage and family are not on the agenda.

When Kate discovers she’s pregnant, she decides to take an extended holiday from work and track Drake down in his writer’s hideout to see if he would make good father material. Her sleuthing brings her to a small seaside town where she rents the house directly next door to Drake. Kate is devastated to discover that Drake is ensconsed in his writer’s bolt with a ravishing redhead. She decides not to tell him about the pregnancy until she can be sure of his affections.

The rest of the story can be summarized as follows: Drake is snarly and moody and keeps Kate at a distance for most of the book. Kate discovers she isn’t actually pregnant, but then she is because she and Drake have had unprotected sex in the meantime. Drake suffered a childhood trauma which has made him afraid to commit to a woman and start a family. Somehow, they resolve their differences and live Happily Ever After.

As you can tell from my review so far, I had a few issues with the plot contrivances used in this story. While Kate is not described as a great intellectual, we are given to believe that she’s not unintelligent. Why, then, did she not go to a doctor to get her pregnancy confirmed before she went haring after Drake? Given the amount of time she intended to spend on holiday, surely she would have been well past the first recommended antenatal check-up? Why did it take her so long to figure out she really was pregnant after she and Drake had unprotected sex? How could anyone find Drake’s obnoxious behaviour endearing? Up until the last few pages, Kate and Drake’s relationship consisted of outright lies, lies by omission, and keeping one another at arm’s length. I honestly can’t see how this bodes well for a HEA.

As I’ve enjoyed some of Susan Napier’s books in the past, I’m not willing to give up on her on the basis of one dud. For readers who want to give her a go, I wouldn’t recommend starting with this one. I remember liking Public Scandal, Private Mistress quite a bit, for example.

Other Reviews of Price of Passion:

Janet/Robin at Dear Author – B+

Casee at Book Binge – 3.5 out of 5

Holly at Book Binge – 4.25 out of 5

Although I read very little erotic romance, I’ve become a fan of Harlequin Blaze. The Blaze line is probably quite tame in comparison to many erotic romances on the market, but they are just spicy enough for my taste. There are a couple of very talented authors writing for this line and Kathleen O’Reilly is one of them. I enjoyed last year’s O’Sullivan Brothers trilogy and Hot Under Pressure lived up to my high expectations.

Boutique owner Ashley Taylor hates flying. Her next destination is L.A., but she doesn’t seem to be leaving Chicago O’Hare airport any time soon. Seated near The Toddler From Hell, Ashley is resigned for an equally hellacious flight. Until her sexy seat companion shows up…

David McLean also travels a lot for his job as a Wall Street financial analyst. A veteran of a particularly bitter divorce, David is in no mood for a serious relationship. Sex, however, is another matter. When he’s seated next to a very pretty woman on the flight to L.A., he has no intention of seducing her. Fate, however, intervenes. When the flight is cancelled due to technical problems, David and Ashley are offered the perfect opportunity to have an impromtu one-night stand at the airport hotel.

As neither David nor Ashley is the one-night stand type, and they’re having no luck in the post-divorce dating scene, they decide to meet up on a subsequent business trip. This being a romance, naturally their affair grows to love. Unfortunately, they have several obstacles to overcome before they can achieve their Happy Ever After.

Overall, I liked this romance. The first third is brilliant. While the rest of the book doesn’t quite live up to the promise of the first few chapters, I enjoyed the development of Ashley and David’s relationship. I was not fond of the use of internal dialogue with Ashley’s sister but I tried to block that out. Another criticism I have is that Ashley’s decision to commit to David drags on a little too long. I appreciated the author’s efforts to make Ashley and David’s complicated family dynamics as realistic as possible, especially the fact that not all of their problems are miraculously solved by the end of the book.

This is a fun, sexy read and fans of less explicit erotic romance will enjoy it. Grade: B

Lori Borrill’s Unleashed is a reasonably entertaining quick read, despite the improbable premise.

When Jessica Beane picks up cop Rick Marshall in a bar, she intends for him to be a one-night-stand to kick-start her way into dating after her messy divorce. What she doesn’t foresee is Wade, her evil ex,  showing up, robbing her apartment and stealing Rick’s car.

Rick is furious when he wakes up to discover Jessie gone and his car missing. He is especially concerned because the car contains a vital piece of evidence in a murder case he’s working on. When he finally tracks Jessie down,  they come to the reluctant conclusion that the only way to trace her missing jewellery and his stolen car is to join forces in the search for the slimey Wade.

Unleashed started out very well but lost momentum in the second half of the book. I actually found the storyline more entertaining than the characters, which is unusual for me. Rick alternates between being grumpy and being horny, which got dull fast. I found it very hard to respect him after he was dumb enough to leave crucial evidence out in his car. I can’t believe a decent cop would be so careless. Jessie was irritating right from the start. She allows her ex to threaten her while a police officer is sleeping in the next room –  and doesn’t bother to wake said police officer! This put her into Too Stupid To Live territory as far as I’m concerned.

If you’re a fan of the Harlequin Blaze line and can overlook the  silly hero and heroine, Unleashed might be for you. As I’m a reader who prefers character-driven stories, I found Unleashed wanting in that regard. Grade: C+