So Tough to Tame by Victoria Dahl

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥

Very hot book. Like, super hot. I don't like to do spoilers, and I'm hardly a prude, but I have to say that there is one particular sex scene that is even more raunchy than normal in contemporary romance. It's the thing that nice girls never do ;) It was so interesting that I read my first such scene here in 2013 when its probably been going on since the time of the Greeks and the Kama Sutra. I wonder if this is the beginning of some new trend...Well kudos to Ms. Dahl for pushing the envelope in such a matter of fact way.

I thought this was generally a good read. I didn't love it as much as the others of Ms. Dahl's contemporaries (but to be fair, those were phenomenal) because I thought there wasn't enough real mental connection between the H and h. I mean, yes they had known each other since childhood, and yes they are attracted to one another, and yes they are both nice, kind people, but I didn't feel the reason they were the One for one another. 

Here's the 2-minute summary - 
He: A nice and easygoing cowboy who likes his simple life with horses and people and doesn't really need the complication of a life with too much ambition.

She: A woman who has come home to rebuild her life after a terrible scandal that ruined her professional and personal reputation. She was a security specialist in Las Vegas who got tied up in some bad business (not of her own doing) and spent all her savings trying to defend herself against the accusations. She was acquitted of professional wrongdoing but people keep bringing it back up and she knows she can't afford anything going wrong.

Conflict: They had been friends as kids. In fact, she had tutored him when they had been younger, and knows that he has a learning disability that slowed him down in school work - but not with the girls in high school. She rolls back into town and sees at once that his flirting days are far from behind him and decides, what the heck, she never had a chance with him when they were kids, but she certainly has one with him now. She's more confident and worldly and just goes for it. He's into it, but also harbors the life long insecurity of feeling dumb and inferior. Especially when it comes to her - she of all people, knows exactly how "dumb" he is. The conflict is mainly him working through his inferiority issues so he feels like he is "worthy" of someone like her.

Neanderthal Seeks Human; A Smart Romance by Penny Reid

Skeptic scale: ♥♥


This was a BAD book, you guys. Like incredibly, monumentally, horrifically silly. I feel sad for myself that I read it. I feel sad for the genre that it has been thus maltreated. That chick-lit has taken a step backwards into the dark days of the themes of the 80s. That we took all that was kitchy and hilarious about 50 Shades of Grey and turned it into this horrid, pepto-bismol hued travesty. Oof.


The issue: I guess my main problem with this book is that I found the heroine to be ridiculous. She was clueless, oblivious and very dumb, frankly. She's always having to be taken care of by others (her ex, her bff, the hero), and can't really seem to figure things out on her own. She is supposed to be quirky and cute with all the spouting off about random facts about legal codes and mathematics, but she just reminded me of a really ditsy version of Rain Man. The hero was also ridiculous, but I guess if you like the whole Alpha/Dom type, then he's just a cliched version of that hero archetype. 

Why was I so upset? I was offended by all this because we should have MOVED ON from these types of heroines by now. These helpless, silly victims who are smart but only in a vague, totally useless way. We have so many wonderful examples of how we can do this plot in a more elegant way that doesn't belittle the female character to the point that she is a weak, pathetic entity. I feel like an opportunity was wasted here - and that frustrated me.

The plot

Allow me to provide a blow-by-blow synopsis of the salient plot points and while it may seem that I am I'm cherry picking only the most ludicrous ones, I assure you I am not. As you will soon see for yourselves, ALL the plot points are ludicrous. 

Girl whose life is falling apart in slow, painful motion meets boy: We open on the pot. As in the porcelain throne. The crapper. The john. There is a rather funny description of our heroine, who I shall hereafter refer to as "h", losing her shit. Pun intended. She's just been fired, you see. Also, she's found out that her boyfriend of many years has been unfaithful. And that she's going to be homeless pretty soon because she obviously can't live with her faithless jerk of an ex-bf now. 

So far so good, right? Fun set up. Snappy writing. Girl is both charmingly frazzled and clearly needs some good luck in her life. As purveyors of chick lit, we know that there couldn't be a more ripe situation for Mr. Oh So Right to stride in than when the chick's life is falling to pieces about her ears. 

And true to form, the hero (hereafter, referred to as "H") appears not 6 pages into the slowly unfolding train wreck of the h's life. He comes not so much as a conquering hero, but in the person of a uniformed security guard to escort her off the premises. Not a lot of dialogue except for her slightly hysterical ramblings (we rapidly learn that she has some kind of un-diagnosed Asperger's symptoms and a history of reality-avoidance that springs from her difficult childhood). The H remains impassive and stoic but we know he's obviously struck by this blubbering ingenue. Think Bridget Jones but with more talking. We also suspect that there is something more to the man than his apparent profession as a security guard. Not because of any particular clue except that we know that in Romancelandia no one falls in love with a security guard. I'm not being an elitist dick. It just would never happen.

Girl and boy continue to meet while laboring under series of misunderstandings: After a vaguely flirtatious elevator ride as he is escorting her out of the building, she finds herself in a limo being chauffeured home by an affable stereotype, Vince. She's briefly visited by the uneasy question of WHY SHE'S IN A LIMO IF SHE'S JUST BEEN FIRED, but pushes that out of the way to concentrate on ruminating on how embarrassed she was that the H had seen her in her worst moment.

The next time H & h's paths cross is random. She is at a bar with her bff. He happens to be at the same bar. He seems to be a bouncer of some sort. He appears to enjoy her smexy get up (smoldering gaze, lingering glances) but advises her to leave the bar since its not the type of place for nice girls like her. Her friend, a doctor is called away urgently but the h returns to the bar with the intention of seeing the mysterious dude again. 

We learn what happens next in flashback, but here's where things start getting a little eyebrow raising in terms of logic and rational behavior. Apparently, the h returns and is spotted by some dastardly men who roofie her drink. She blacks out and is saved (of course) by he H. She wakes up in a compromising-seeming position in a strange bed learns what happens from the H who is right out of a shower looking manly and delicious. He assures her that "nothing happened" with those guys or him (except for her getting ROOFIED). Then they go for brunch. Hmmm... seems about right. Get roofied at night, seem to be utterly underwhelmed by the news that you almost got horribly violated and go for brunch the next morning with the security guard you've been secretly ogling.

While at brunch, he learns that she's got a photographic memory and is amazing with numbers and can spout off random facts at will. He says he can get her a job at his firm in the accounting department and hands her his card telling her to call. Here's where the series of misunderstandings begins. He repeatedly says its HIS company, so even a blind and deaf mole could read the subtext and surmise that he means he OWNS the company and it is HIS. She is so charmingly oblivious that she basically thinks he means "his" in the general way that means "company where he works". Ok. Ha ha. What fun it'll be when she finds out in 2 seconds when she asks him the specific question about this company. Not. In fact. This dummy doesn't figure this out for more than half the book. 

She obviously gets the job and now that they work closely with one another, they embark on a more serious flirtation that eventually leads to sex. The H now turns into some kind of watered-down Christian Grey character (penthouse, fancy car, grim outward persona/inner turmoil, insistence on her being "kept" - provides her with a job, her own security detail, buys her a cell phone, insists she move into a fancy apartment that he provides. There's even a lame recreation of the Christian Grey/Anna Steele emailing thing, but this time in the form of even lamer text messages. Oh and I forgot to mention how his lawyers draw up a contract that is meant to "protect" her job even in case of the dissolution of their relationship. Different from the Christian Grey contract, true, but still idiotic.) The eye rolling was almost uncontrollable. 

The passion between H & h continues to grow in a weird and disturbing way and to create even more "urgency" the writer also introduces a plot by the h's criminally inclined sister, a couple of rough thugs and a fight scene that involves the h's knitting circle.

Anyway, the writing remained engaging and snappy till the end. Despite the incredibly silliness of the plot, I did find myself smiling several times throughout the book at the entertaining language.

Her Favorite Rival by Sarah Mayberry

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥♥
I need to stop this OBSESSION already with Ms. Mayberry's books. Having one of her books on my kindle is like when I have cheesecake in the fridge. I simply CANNOT resist it, have no self control and I just HAVE to have it NOW. This is what has happened with Sarah Mayberry books. I have 3 more before I will have read EVERY SINGLE one of her super romances and then I anticipate some fierce and awful withdrawal sweats.

Let me just say (again) how very impressed I am at how beautifully this lady writes conflict. I mean we're talking proper Conflict with a capital C. Not the piddly kind - ooh she's totally into him, and he just can't commit - Mayberry conflicts are juicy, serious, intense and incredibly relate-able.

Other stuff that I totally loved:
1) The chick was kick ass, serious, awesome, cautious but when she really wanted something - she just went for it.
2) Ms. Mayberry "showed rather than told" how the H was a natural caretaker. I know authors love to say how the hero has a superhero complex, how he has a desperate need to "protect and serve", and often authors literally give the hero a profession where he protects and serves all day long. In this story, the H's every action shows how he takes care of others.  Made me feel mushy and vanilla-pudding-y inside. I wanted to weep with relief when he finally found someone to take care of him. 

"Her Favorite Rival" is a companion story to Her Favorite Temptation that featured Leah and Will. Leah's sister Audrey is the h in this story.

Here's the 2-minute synopsis:
He: Zach is a young, up-and-comer at the company. He is hard working and determined to rise above his rather horrendous childhood circumstances. He's a nice, charming guy who's wholly focused on his five-year-plan that certainly doesn't leave a whole lot of room for romancing the co-worker to whom he is so attracted.

She: Audrey grew up knowing she was second-best in her parent's eyes. She made a stupid mistake at 16 and has spent the next 17 years "atoning" for it. She keeps her head down, works hard and never complains. She's ambitious and wants the best for herself in her career and is willing to put in the time and effort to get it.

Conflict: SO MANY CONFLICTS!!! But good, meaty ones where you feel a sense of real satisfaction as Ms. Mayberry helps unravel them by the end. Not that they ever completely go away, but the characters learn the "tools" to cope with their conflicts.

One source of tension is obviously the fact that they work together and work romances are mostly a terrible idea. They both love their jobs and are intensely ambitious and don't want to do anything to jeopardize their careers for a random fling.

The other conflicts are personal demons that they both have to let go of before really jumping into something with the other. 

Her Favorite Temptation by Sarah Mayberry

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥♥

Confession: I think I am addicted to Sarah Mayberry. 

I can't stop reading her books! I finish one and barely give myself a second to catch my breath before I'm ready to attack the next one. This is reminding me of the Rachel Gibson binge of 2006. INSANITY.

Her Favorite Temptation was typical Mayberry genius. Two extremely lovable and awesome characters are facing significant personal challenges but who do it gracefully and become even MORE awesome in the process. 

And as usual I loved, loved, loved her Epilogue because it closed the loop on the way both h & H approached their personal demons and why they were so right for one another. I am constantly amazed by the way Ms. Mayberry manages to show friendship, caring and love AND show how each character is a "whole" person in themselves. They each have personal challenges, personal interests and ambitions and each is a fully realized person who manages to find a great fit with the other. I am really not a fan of characters who are shown as nothing more than almost-marrieds. Like they have no direction, interests, hobbies, passions etc except the other person. Ms. Mayberry NEVER does that to her characters. Kristan Higgins does an awesome job of writing characters that have a whole personality too and I went through a whole KH addiction phase too, I recall...

Oh man. I am just dreading the day I finish all her books. 

He: A musician who's one half of a popular band. He's in "hiding" from the world and his family because he's been given some terrible new about his health that leaves him feeling scared and unstable and he feels like he needs to withdraw from everything just to process his own feelings. He really likes her but is scared to really do anything about it because his own life hangs in such precarious balance.

She: A sweet, goofy doctor who lives next door to the H. She thinks he's a hot dish but doesn't recognize him for the rock star that he is. She has always been a good girl, always sucked up to her parents and worked hard in school and then work. But she's feeling stifled in both her job and her life. Then she meets this sweet, charming, smokin' dude who lives next door who encourages her to be brave. 

Conflict: *Spoiler ahead* After he undergoes the operation on his tumor, he realized he may have lost the use of his right hand - understandably a horribly difficult and traumatic event for anyone and even more so for someone who makes his living as a musician. He knows the next few months of rehabilitation are going to be intense and even though he loves her, he feels like he just can't put the h through that kind of situation - not when he feels so "unmanned" by his situation. The h meanwhile loves him but feels like she can't demand his attention and focus when he's going through such a difficult transition in his life. So they both hover about each other, in love, but uncertain whether they should really just go for it. 

The Last Goodbye by Sarah Mayberry

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥♥

He: One of two brothers who grew up in an abusive home, and had a truly terrifying father. Now all grown up and far away from his unhappy home, Tyler, the younger of the two siblings, gets a call that his father is dying. He goes home to sort things out and to finally confront his awful father but finds that that things between them are still unsettling and painful.

She: Ally is an advice columnist who has lived her life like a gypsy. Her mother was never able to stick to one place, and she also feels like she's inherited the "nomad" gene. For a few weeks at least, she's been living next door to Tyler's father and so she meets Tyler right in the middle of what is a really crappy time for the guy.

Conflict: Tyler is traumatized by his horrendous father and painful childhood and isn't really the type of guy who feels like he can be casual about his relationships. Ally, on the other hand has only ever had casual relationships. She moves around a lot and can't seem to stay in one place for too long. They're super attracted to one another but it just seems like they both have a lot of healing to do before really getting into anything serious with anyone else.

Loved:
1) Man, oh man. I am stupefied that in the space of 85,000 words, Ms. Mayberry managed to make be feel so twisted up inside by this horrible ogre of a father, AND feel like there was hope after all for Tyler AND feel like he and Ally should leap headfirst into a relationship with one another. 

I mean, if a friend of mine came to me and said, hey, this guy I'm dating has this sick, twisted family who's left him traumatized and having nightmares, should I keep seeing him? I would be like, heeeelllllls no, sister! Get out of there NOW. 

But THIS book happened. And I felt SO much sympathy for this poor man, and SO happy that they did find each other! How did that even happen...

2) There was no nicely tied up conclusion to the abusive family bit of the story. Sometimes sh!t happens and it just sucks and that's all there is to it. Nothing can really make it go away, but there is still hope for that cycle of violence to be broken and set right for the future. Sigh. 

3) I believe I have mentioned this, but I'll do it again. I. Love. Ms. Mayberry's. Epilogues. This lady knows what to do with an Epilogue. She gives us a little MORE story. Just a sweet treat at the end that makes me gush and feel all mopey and hopeful. She never does the same old, same old dribble about couples staring moonily at each other and rocking a fat little giggling baby in their arms. I mean puhleese. I LOVE SARAH MAYBERRY'S EPILOGUES. 

Things that made me go huh?:
1) Why did this dude never seek counselling? Surely professional help (beyond the admirable, and heartfelt efforts of the agony aunt heroine) was called for for such a situation as this? I'm not saying that therapy would have solved all his problems, but honestly, the thought never crossed his mind the 100th time he wakes up from night sweats from having bad dreams of his childhood? Seemed odd to me.

Skeptic's last word: Wonderful. Amazing. I was so blown away by the way this lady manages to tell a hundred stories in the space of a HQN super romance. I mean... yeah. That's it.

Kiss the Girl by Susan Sey

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥

The cover of this book really threw me for a loop. It suggests that the story would be one of those cutesy rom coms featuring a strong silent hero, a chattery but adorable heroine, a strict father figure with a heart of gold, a gay best friend and an eternally single and hilariously bitter bff. 

And I was wrong because despite what the cutie-patootie cover suggests, this story is the total opposite of that.

He: Heart surgeon who volunteers his time with the poor and downtrodden of D.C.'s rougher neighborhoods. Along with his best friend Mary Jane, he helps run a clinic to help the poor get access to healthcare.

She: A famous trust fund-rich do-gooder from a family of famous do-gooders who has spent her whole life in the poorest parts of the world trying to bring attention to the plight of the people there. Her mother is described as an Angelina Jolie-type of character with an almost brutal beauty and the ability to turn everyone who beholds her into a whimpering fool. Our heroine on the other hand is more of a Princess Di sort with a sweetness and charm that ingratiates her to anyone she meets. Her life has  been charmed in terms of wealth and public adoration, but she's a lonely girl at the heart of it. Plus she has a nasty and dysfunctional family.

Conflict: The hero's mother is a senator and he always resented the fact that she was never there for him and his father. He is determined never to marry someone who was so much in the public eye that it would preclude any sort of true private life. So when H meets h, although there is some attraction, he feels like her intensely public profile means that he can never really get into a relationship with her.

Liked:
1) Interesting premise and probably not too far off the mark as far as how the media affects people's private lives. 

2) The story wasn't as "soft" as your typical chick-lit novel. There were some rather serious issues being dealt with here - poverty in America, the abominable state of the healthcare system, the responsibility of the rich to lend the poor some of their luck, how the media both manipulates and is manipulated by people in the spotlight - among others.

3) The writing was snappy and many times funny, and the characters were really nicely drawn. They were all complicated and tricky and not at all the regular characters who usually pop up in chick-lit.

What was sort of meh:
1) I thought the hero was an ass. The big stick up his heinie was that his mommy was too busy for him (um hello, she was a senator, his dad could have moved his saggy butt to where his mom worked instead of insisting she leave her job and ambitions to come work on his farm). 

As a result of this feeling of abandonment, his whole problem with the heroine is that she's "too famous" to be a suitable wife and partner. Why? As a thinking adult, could he not open his eyes and see that being famous and busy isn't the real issue - the issue is what that person does with their fame and work. And once he gets to know her and realizes that she ISN'T a spoiled brat, then what is his issue with her? 

I really just didn't get why he let his dislike for the fact that he felt like his mom didn't bake him cookies when he was little color his whole entire perspective on Every Famous Female in the World.

2) There is a scene where he forces her to eat meat even though she says she's a vegetarian because he doesn't believe she's a vegetarian for "the right reasons". Say what now!!?? Who the heck is HE to tell her what the "right" reasons are. 

Her reasons were actually pretty sound - she thinks the meat industry is extremely energy intensive and thought she would do her little part in cutting back on the waste. That isn't the worst reasoning I've ever heard. But he insists that she eat a burger. Turns out she likes it and he feels all vindicated and smug. Well... the fact that burgers are DELICIOUS is not really in dispute here - it's just that even though they are delicious a person has a right to choose not to eat them if they feel like they are doing something to cut back a little on the general excess. 

Whatever. 

3) He asks his best friend to marry him even though he doesn't really love her that way two SECONDS after he finishes making out with the girl that he does like that way.

Skeptic's last word: Ok - it occurs to me that everything I dislike about this book has to do with the hero. So I guess that's that then. If you don't mind douche-y, bitter, antagonistic heroes then this is the book for you! I do like Ms. Sey as a writer though so I will try something else of hers to get the taste of this silliness out of my mouth.

Hot For Him by Sarah Mayberry

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥♥

This is a cute little hate-becomes-love themed story about a couple of rival TV producers who manage competing daytime soaps. He's her nemesis because they're fierce competitors but otherwise we see that they would actually be great together - they're both fantastic at their jobs, both love what they do, they're both from large Greek families and have a similar sense of humor. Plus they're both attracted to each other, in a way that only people in Romancelandia can be - you know that intense groinal aching and swelling that seems to grip people in romance novels? Actually it makes it sound like they have Chlamydia when I say it like that... but you know what I mean, right? They're hot and heaving for it.

Anyway, the conflict is that he's attracted to her wants to go for it. In fact, he is ready to start a family and really wants to continue in the footsteps of his own happy My Big Fat Greek-style family. She, on the other hand grew up facing the dark side of what can sometimes happen in large, enmeshed families. She never wants to have kids because she's convinced she needs to break the cycle.

What I liked:
1) I liked how aggressive the heroine is. Not aggressive as in rude and bitchy - just aggressive in her attitudes towards sex, her relationships and her job - just going for it when she wants something. Fierce and awesome.

2) Ms. Mayberry painted the hero as totally alpha but not really in the King of His Job way. He likes his job and is good at it, but he's perfectly happy admitting that his job is just work and what really matters to him is family. I feel like in most romances, the hero comes to that conclusion right at the end after being "convinced" of this by his love for the heroine. In this case, the dude manages to come up with it all by himself. 

3) The complications didn't all get solved after she finds her Big Love. My eyes always hurt from all the eye-rolling I do whenever I see writers just tie everything up with a pink ribbon at the end of the story. Give me some messiness, dang-it!

4) The Epilogue. I LOVE Sarah Mayberry's epilogues. She's so creative and awesome about them I wonder why EVERYONE doesn't just do epilogues like hers. I am so sick of the happily married couple + mini me (or bun in the oven) scene where everyone is laughing and its all gooey romantic looks and sunshine and no actual furthering of the plot at all. In Sarah Mayberry's books, the Epilogue actually finishes the story, helps further her characters and let's you create a whole vision of how you think the rest of the character's lives will go. 

What I didn't like so much:
1) There was this somewhat contrived event that occurred that throws the H & h together - I see why the author wrote it that way - how else to get producers of rival tv shows together? But it was a bit over the top to me.

2) The way they conflict was resolved meant that one of the characters moved all the way over to where the other character was - instead of more of a case of BOTH characters being willing to change and then maybe one actually having to change their position. I guess it's ok for one person to change their opinion in a couple - that happens all the time in real life. But it's so much nicer when BOTH change a little bit.

Here Comes the Groom by Karina Bliss

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥

I've been on a Australasia binge lately! A lot of Karina Bliss and Sarah Mayberry. Fun stuff. 

So... I liked this one okay. 

There was something about the friends-to-lovers thing that didn't really strike me as believable in this one. I know friends-to-lovers is a popular theme for many romance readers, but I don't really like them because I feel like it gives more ammunition to the side of the world that believes that girls and boys can't be friends - something I absolutely do not accept and do not believe at all.

In this case, H & h have been friends since childhood and there has been no hint of a romantic interest between the two of them that whole time. Well, except for this one tiny kiss they share when she's drunk and lonely. 

Then he comes back from a traumatic experience while fighting in Afghanistan and announces he wants to marry her.

He: Ex-soldier, insists that 'everything is fine' but we sense that he's going through some terrible stress. And even though he's always been a good friend to her, he's kept himself apart. 

She: She's a strong, independent, competent lady. She's always been capable of taking care of her own affairs and has never played the damsel in distress with him - something that he has said he truly appreciates. But then when she goes through this terrible stressful situation, she feels like she shouldn't really burden him with her crap, especially since he's clearly been affected by the war and she doesn't want to add to that.

Conflict: This is the part that felt a bit "off kilter" to me. I see why the would be a good match, but how come they never saw it all those years they were friends. And then, I wasn't quite sure how they each SUDDENLY knew this was the right decision? I guess in life, people don't necessarily have a seminal moment that explains everything they do, but surely they had hints? 

Anyway so the story conflict is that when she does realize she loves him, she wants them to marry for the right reasons, not because they are both too scared of life. 

There is some weird stuff right at the end where he goes through this whole "Grand Gesture" that is supposed to prove that they are meant to be together - that they are both facing their fears and taking real risks to be with one another. But honestly, I really didn't get it. The main trouble for me was that the gesture didn't really seem to be tied to their actual fears - except maybe in a distantly symbolic way.

Skeptic's last word: So. All in all, a decent read, but I thought the "falling in love" stuff was really rather abrupt and there was none of the regular tension built up between them that would convince me that they really wanted each other. I came away feeling like they were both kind of just "settling" for their best friend. Not a terrible way to begin a relationship, of course, just not really the way you'd hope.

What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥♥

Vintage-clad librarian gets it on with jaded, alpha-hole, ex-rocker dude. I thought I would totally hate it. But I totally, TOTALLY loved it. 

He: Earring wearing, ex-rocker and basically a stuck up jerk for most of his famous life. He had been a substance abuser and a womanizer and a wearer of purple boots. He's in New Zealand, in retirement and to escape from his rollicking LA life of dissipation.

She: A goody two shoes librarian who's got a big secret. Ohhh. I WISH I could tell you the secret. But I CAN'T because it's such a good one and I want everyone to read this book.

Conflict: They do NOT get along well. She thinks he's stuck up and he thinks she's lame. They're both right, of course. But then they spend some time together and it's sparky and hot, and super fun.

What I loved:
1) SO funny. The characters play off each other wonderfully. And it's not the cheesy way you'd expect with all the jokes at her expense (school-marmish, dowdily dressed librarian?) with him coming across as a rakish tease. The insults fly both ways and it's awesome.

And honestly even though the H is described as arrogant, he is actually hilarious about it. Supremely confident but aware of his shortcomings the way we wish all our men would be.

2) There are some intense themes (feelings of abandonment, self-discovery, family struggles) but it's all dealt with a light hand and great humor so you don't feel mopey and sad the whole time.

3) I love that the h's focus wasn't ALL about the H. She had this other secret thing she's dealing with and for more than half the book she's pretty focused on that. She recognizes the attraction between them but that doesn't overshadow her own stuff. I really don't like it when authors describe how the heroine is going through this whole life changing thing and then all of a sudden the hero swoops in and all she does is stress over HIM. 

My favorite line: 

"I'll just get my cardigan"

Cardigan? He may not be a hell-raiser anymore but Devin valued his reputation. "Haven't you got anything sexy?"

"Yes," said Rachel. "My mind."  

You said it, sister.

All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥♥

Famous last words: It's just sex, we're not serious or anything.

Why do people even say stuff like that? If I've learned anything from romance novels (and believe me, I've learned PLENTY) saying dumb sh!t like that is like waving a baby mouse in front of a irate cobra. Pretty obvious how that story ends.

Anyway, obvious-sauce aside, I really enjoyed this story. To think I almost gave up on this series! After 3-hearting Yours to Keep, I almost threw in the towel with the Kowalski brothers because it was getting rather same-y same-y. But I guess all I needed was a break because this story, as "standard" as it was, was pretty darn fun.

He: Mitch, the town's favorite bad-boy panty-charmer rides back into town after a long absence and seems to immediately inflame the female population of the small town like a match on dry kindling. The ladies of the town chatter unceasingly about his many feats of sexual prowess so we quickly learn that the man is kind of a big deal bedroom-wise.

She: The owner of the main diner in town who is taking a break from men. She has some history and doesn't want to be the kind of woman her mom turned into - the kind of twists herself into uncomfortable shapes to please a man. Not bedroom-wise, but life-wise.

Conflict: He's just in town for a quick stint to help his brother out, she doesn't want to get into anything to wreck the careful peace she's put together for herself so they agree to just be casual. Yeaaaaah. Then one of them decides that maybe they could have something serious. But then they get their heart broken because the other one hasn't gotten there (yet). I won't say who moved faster in this case because that would be giving it away. But I'll give you a hint. 99.9% of the time it's the chick who moves too fast. And this book wasn't really that original. So...

I don't know why I'm being so mean to this book! I really liked it! It was funny, hot and even managed to be realistic in parts. It was just so regular that I actually amazed myself by not getting annoyed by all the cliches.

Skeptic's last word: At the end of the day the question I ask myself whenever I read a romance was answered: why the heck do these guys like each other? Ms. Stacey showed us clearly why these two characters liked and then loved each other and why we the readers should find them lovable, and ultimately that was all that mattered.

The Return of Rafe McKade by Nora Roberts

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥

I was literally JUST talking about the change in the alpha hero landscape from the Old School variety to this 2.0 modified alpha version. I had this whole argument for the new, more sensitive, nice-guy version and then I re-read this book! I am feeling all nostalgic for the Old School types again...sigh.

Anyway - quick run down of the salient plot points.

He: One of 4 bad-boy brothers in a small town who blazed out of town years ago because he was restless and felt like he needed to get out (or punch something, which he incidentally does, a LOT). Now he's back - still too hot to handle, but also successful and wealthy and too pretty for his own good. 

He takes one look at her and like a roaming African boy wildebeest who sees the glistening hindquarters of his perfect girl wildebeest, he goes - her, I'll take her. And it's on.

She: A recent import to the small town so she didn't know his bad boy self when he was growing up and gets to see it all fresh for the first time when he comes rolling back to his hometown after his self-imposed exile. Lucky ducky. She's running an antique store and he hires her to furnish the property he's restoring now that he's back in town. She's determined not to become her mother (traditional, husband-serving, personality-less) so she's not keen to have him overwhelm her better judgement and tries to keep aloof.

Conflict: He blows hot and strong and it's all a bit much for her so she tells him to dial it back a bit. He obviously does the opposite (because dude, he's a MAN) and pretty soon they're humping like bunnies in the old haunted property he's trying to restore. He spends a lot of time announcing his wicked intentions to her. And warning everyone else to back off of HIS woman. She does an admirable job of keeping him er, civilized, but his manliness and need to protect her finally overwhelms her better sense and she gracefully succumbs. Good old fashioned romance, in other words.

Skeptic's last word: I mean... this is an OLD book (1995s, I think) - but still manages to be a hoot to read. The is PLENTY of sillysauce in the book (he seems to prefer resolving conflict like a hormonal 16 year old - bar fights and gorilla chest-thumping - and channels all sexual frustration into some black, black moods.) But somehow, I didn't mind at all. Nora Roberts entertained and charmed and it was all just a sweet, sometimes hot experience. 

It made me miss the Old School alphas of yore. "Yore" being 1995 apparently. Good times.

The Other Side of Us by Sarah Mayberry

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥♥


Loved this! This was my first Sarah Mayberry and I am SOLD. I have just picked up another few of hers and shall begin work on the backlist post haste!

This story was set in Australia. I recommend you read everything in an 'Strailian accent to maximize on your enjoyment.

He: N ice, sweet, ex-rock star/current music producer who's come to a little seaside town to lick his wounds after a particularly sucky divorce from his wife of 6 years. His divorce is still warm from the oven, having happened only a few months before, so he's not exactly in a place to be starting up with anyone else. 

She: A high powered tv producer who is recovering from a horrendous car accident. She is having a tough time physically with her recovery but worse than that is that her spirits are also in tatters when she realizes there is the chance that she may not be able to get back to the job into which she had poured prior to her accident.

Conflict: The H moves into the cottage next door to hers and things don't begin well for the two of them. She's depressed and anxious about her future prospects and behaves like a cow whenever he tries to extend any neighborly goodwill. But then, as they spend more time interacting, they discover an attraction between them. 

The trouble is that as much as they like each other, they are each in such a complicated situation personally (he is still sort of sore with all the issues surrounding his divorce, she is still trying to figure out how she wants to spend the rest of her life without her work) that the timing just feels all wrong.

What I liked:
1) H & h each have a dog. The pooches are much less slow than their owners about developing their doggy affection for one another. This could have been SO corny, but Ms. Mayberry dealt with these side characters with the respect due to their species. Awesome.

2) The Epilogue. OMG. Wait, before I oversell this I should say that I usually roll my eyes and feel annoyed at epilogues (mainly because they are ALL THE SAME - H&h still behaving like passionate honeymooners, baby/mini-me-in-the-making, perfect life, perfect friends, perfect perfect perfect (blech)). This one was still perfect, but it actually helped tie the story together and was a way of actually progressing the characters themselves and not just a way to show how the characters had achieved some sort of baby-house-perfection milestone.

3) The conflict was entirely believable and there were no unnecessary "misunderstandings". Everything was just laid out on the table and both characters behaved like sensible adults instead of loony, oversexed adolescents. I think I really like "the timing is off" books. It just feels like one of those conflicts I can really understand and find believable. I mean, we all have had those types of situations or know others who have. And I just find myself really getting drawn in because I can so easily see that happening in real life.

4) The writing was really fun! Witty and fast paced, and totally readable. I wanted to pick another one of Ms. Mayberry's up AS SOON as I finished with this one!

What I wondered about:
1) The h apparently did have family but I was a bit confused about why she was convalescing all by herself. Where were all her friends and family? No phone calls? No visits? I guess she was trying to grit her teeth and be independent and to power through all by herself. But it was still strange. I always get weirded out when a person is described as being so all alone. Does she even LIKE people? 

In the end, not a big deal because she likes him and he likes her and that's that.

Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr

Skeptic scale: ♥♥♥

Here's how it went down - H & h meet under less than auspicious circumstances, then for 20% of the book they don't appear on the same page together. Then they meet again and decide they like each other. Then they meet some more and REALLY like each other. Then there's this whole drama with his ex-wife that goes on until the last 10 pages and then H & h live happily ever after. The end.

He: Aiden is a retired ex-navy doctor who is hanging out in the small town of Virgin River while he tries to figure out what he wants to do next in his life. He's a nice guy who's just happy tooling around in the garden and hanging in the great outdoors.

She: Erin is a somewhat uptight lady who's come to "relax" in the isolated town - her first vacation in 25 years. She's an extremely hardworking lawyer who's been responsible for her younger siblings from a really young age. Now that her brother and sister are out of the house and don't really need her anymore, she's suffering a bit of empty nest syndrome.

Conflict: The romance between the Erin and Aiden is actually fairly uncomplicated but there is this whole other story of Aiden's ex-wife who creates a bunch of drama that interferes with the two of them and lends to some of the tension between Erin and Aiden.

What I liked:
1) Robyn Carr writes really NICE people. Her heroes are decent, upstanding, no-games-playing lads, and her ladies are mature and sensible so you never feel like hitting your head against the wall because of some totally stoopid thing either the H or h does. 

What was only "meh":
1) SO slow. So so so slow. I just couldn't keep my mind on the story because it just moved along like molasses in January.

2) Just too much going on at once. This is a weird thing for me to say given my point above about the SLOWNESS with which the story moved. 

Because the main romantic story of Aiden and Erin didn't really have any built-in conflict (except for the psycho stalker ex-wife) it seemed like the author sort of just piled in a bunch of side stories and entanglements that made the whole thing seem a bit too busy and scattered.

For example, one character was dealing with the inability to have more children and she and her husband were trying to work through her difficulty fully coping with that stress. Then there was the H's mother who was in a new relationship and was rediscovering herself and her interests. Then there was some story about a man with Down's syndrome and how he forms a special bond with a lady with some other disabilities. 

Carr deals with each of these relationships really sympathetically and sweetly, but honestly, I didn't see how any of it contributed to the MAIN story, which is why I was reading the book in the first place. Personal preference, I guess, but it felt like a lot of sound and fury.

Skeptic's last word: It was a sweet story, I guess. Just way too slow and I think I prefer Robyn Carr's other stories.