SHATTERED by Karen Robards

SHATTERED by Karen Robards

March 2010 by Penguin Group (USA) in Hardcover

400 pages - ISBN-13: 9780399156274

Wow barely describes this thriller

Lisa Grant is a lawyer that right now is down on her luck but fighting to get back on top of her legal game. Her high profile job in Boston went bust with the economy and she finds herself back at home with her ailing mother working in the local District Attorney’s office. Not just any DA’s office but the one where her childhood heartthrob is now the boss and the one giving her the orders. Great luck for her.

But Lisa is a fighter and even when he banishes her to the basement to work cold cases she find a gem in the pile of lost but not forgotten cases. This one stands out because one of the victims could have been her twin sister and the mother most assuredly has similarities to Lisa that cannot be dismissed. But when she begins to look into this case too many things happen that no one can say coincidence. Her house is set on fire, she sees that she is being followed then knocked unconscious and that is just the beginning. Dealing with her mother’s slow health decline is more than enough to cause her stress but now dealing with these thoughts stirring in the back of her head that perhaps her father may be part of the reason this mysterious family went missing and the fact that she looks so much like them. He has been mostly out of her life since she was a small child and regarded her as a blip on his radar but too many things are adding up wrong for her to overlook that everywhere she digs into this case he keeps popping up.

But always around and in her personal space is Scott Buchanan making sure she is not veering too far from the path he feels is right. He has desired her since he worked on her family’s property so many years ago that even thinking about her was trouble. Now they are both adults and trying to hold back all the passion he feels for her is about to have him blow a gasket. He has tried for too many years to forget her but now that she is sitting right outside his office and causing trouble of another kind all over again he will have to take some kind of action. He knows better but his heart is leading his better judgment right now.

Once they get together all heck breaks loose and the attacks against Lisa intensify making her even more determined to get to the bottom of what really happened to that family. She has to keep her head clear of complications but Scott is one problem she knows how to handle and always has wanted to have in her life. Once they begin their relationship the fireworks go off brighter than on any Fourth of July celebration.

Pay close attention to this book because it moves as fast as possible with more twists than you think can be thrown into 400 pages. It also has one of the most romantic scenes ever written in my opinion. There may be more descriptive words involved in other books but the first night with Scott and Lisa at her hotel room is one for the record books of pure unbridled passion being set loose by use of the least amount of words with the most impact.

Mary Gramlich is The Reading Reviewer located at www.marygramlich.com

LOVE IN MID AIR by Kim Wright

LOVE IN MID AIR by Kim Wright

March 2010 by Grand Central Publishing in Hardcover format with 312 pages

A thought provoking read on every level!

Marriage like life always provides as much stability as it does rocky, unstable travels. You have to decide at some point is it worth getting in the car or even starting the engine anymore. Do you want what you have or is something out there calling your name begging for you to make a change. What do you really want if what you have is not fulfilling even your basic need to exist? The main question you ask yourself is where do I fit into this life and when exactly does it start to become about me and my dreams and not everyone around me.

These are exactly the questions that Elyse Bearden is asking herself and at the same time she is challenging herself to see if she should stay in the marriage she does not want and is she brave enough to venture out alone. But not quite alone it seems after she meets a man by coincidence on a flight that makes her start to want more than what she presently has. Elyse has a stable marriage with Phil who is not a man with vices just a man she no longer loves and truly wonders if she ever did. Was he always this complacent, this set in his ways, refusing to fight for their marriage? Not sure if it is the new man with the affair looming that has her stirred up or just that she is not fulfilled any longer Elyse ventures into dangerous waters by starting a relationship with this man she met on a plane and trying to see if there is another life available for her.

Phil is trying to keep what he has so she agrees to counseling but nothing works and the further into the affair she goes the more she withdraws from the marriage. Elyse has a daughter to think about and she truly does not want to hurt Phil but there may be too many broken pieces that can’t be fixed ever.

This book brings out the basic question I will guarantee you every woman as she faces 40 asks herself – is this all there is for me in life? You start to question who you are, why you are living in this house with a man you are not sure you love anymore and if there is more just being a wife and mother. It is not about finding another man in your life to replace the one you have but more about finding the you again that was lost for so long in the life you are living. Sometimes you can ride it out and you are able to find a place for everything to stay as it is and you become not the passenger anymore but the one that drives the vehicle but that is not always true and does not always work out. Elyse takes this ride and knows with a clear head that some things and friends will not go with her when she stops but in the end she will be okay because she discovered the most important person in life who needed to be cared for and that was Elyse.

Ms. Wright has touched on so much in this book and written it with such clarity that every woman will at some point in the book feel that they have told her a secret she has now revealed in this book. Despite the path Elyse took to find herself it was worth the trouble to get there and you feel every pain of that decision making process. This first book is the start of many great ones to come I just feel it in my bones.

Mary Gramlich is The Reading Reviewer at www.marygramlich.com

NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE by Sarah MacLean

NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE by Sarah MacLean

March 30, 2010 by HarperCollins Publishers in Mass Market Paperback w/432 pages

One Main Rule for enjoyment – Read this book!

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell is a dreamer, romantic and woman who sees herself as simple and much too uninteresting to ever find a love match. At 28 years of age she had long been put on the shelf to sit with the spinsters when the dancing to begins. Gabriel St. John, The Marques of Ralston is a notorious rake and die hard realist who along with his twin brother Nicholas as a child survived the desertion of their mother and his father’s grief at losing her. But watch out because Callie and Ralston are set on a course of interaction from which the Ton may never recover.

Callie decides enough with spinsterhood it is time to live life to the fullest and experience some outright fun. So she sets upon devising a list of the 9 most outrageous and daring things that she can do to get the most out of life. Everything will change for her and about her yet that is just what she is looking for - a surprise. Callie understands that the most enjoyment is had by the gentlemen so certain items on her list are going to transform her into something she never could have imagined herself to be, a man. But if you are going to live life on the edge anything is possible. The first item on her list requires her to be every ounce the woman she is to obtain a kiss from the one man she has always loved and longed for, Ralston. She knows this is the last person she should desire let alone love but one cannot control the ways of the heart or the direction of your passion and all paths lead to Ralston. Ralston is more than willing to help her with this adventure but in exchange for Callie’s help in getting his recently discovered sister ready to meet London’s proper society and he definitely thinks this arrangement should be sealed with a kiss!

After taking that first step toward perdition by kissing Ralston the rest of the items on Callie’s list seem tame and she becomes more resilient to keep knocking items off one after another. But every time she is embarking on some adventure there is Ralston either by coincidence or intent helping her out by both being in the way and offering too much of his person for assistance. If she were suspicious she would think he was following her to see what she was going to do next. Callie is helping his sister and doing her best to keep things casual with Ralston but that is easier said than done when the man of her dreams and desires is standing right there tempting you every moment especially when keeps finding herself kissing him.

There is some faux competition for Callie’s attention but Ralston slow, one small step at a time starts to realize that love is not a doomed affair but a wondrous adventure. So who accomplished more of their personal goals the woman with a list or the man without one?

This book is a great addition to the historical romance genre because it shows what an empowered woman can and will do when reaching for her dreams. Callie is naïve and shy but once she gets past her inhibitions and starts pursuing her goals you feel her personality jump for the pages and leap toward freedom. Ralston is such a great character in that he was a wounded child and guarded adult that when his shield comes down and love flows in you can visually see the change in him the writing is that well developed.

Mary Gramlich is The Reading Reviewer located at www.marygramlich.com

Dark Deceptions by Dee Davis

DARK DECEPTIONS (Book #1 in the A-Tac Series) by Dee Davis

April 2010 published by Grand Central Publishing in Mass Market Paperback

Great action, great characters, great read!

There is a price to be paid for everything in life. We accept this; usually do not like it but little can be done but deal with it. For former CIA operative Annie Gallagher the price she paid was to have her son way too high for any woman or mother but no amount is too great to keep her son safe.

Annie has been retired from the spy game for over 8 years but is suddenly thrust back in when her son is kidnapped and the kidnapper wants her former sharp shooting skills to be used to murder a diplomat. Annie has no idea who this mysterious voice on the phone holding her son is but she has no choice and puts the plan into action. Annie never expects to run into her former partner Nash Brennon the one man she was partnered with during her CIA days, performed missions with, loved and lost. Nash is now part of the elite American Tactical Intelligence Command (A-Tac) group where he has been since he and Annie unceremoniously parted ways many years ago. He thought she deserted him to die alone on their last mission while in fact the truth is nothing like the story he believes but will he listen when she tries to tell him she saved him she did not desert him.

But Nash does not believe Annie to be a traitor and even though he is not fully read into the story of what she is up to once A-Tac catches up with her nothing will keep Nash for being fully reunited with Annie. Time, pain and memories may be good and bad for them but the passion and lust they felt from day one is still there.

However the mission has to come first and that is rescuing her son and now Annie is part of the team that is about to set the wheels in motion to make that happen. No one knows who the mysterious person on the phone making demands is but the most elite team in the country will figure that out, get Adam back and sort out the details of what is really going on between Annie and Nash physically, emotionally and professionally.

Everything turns on a dime when the rescue is a success but the assassination is still accomplished and everyone thinks that Annie really is a traitor. But it may turn out that the past is coming back to haunt them and the man they both trusted with their lives could be the real problem as none of his stories suddenly add up and the part he played in keeping them apart starts to unravel. For Annie and Nash the price they paid cost them everything and now they need to see if they can recover from the years of damage done to their hearts and souls once all the facts are revealed.

These characters, both the primary and secondary are amazing, colorful and believable which is key to a great story. Dee Davis sets the story up fast, keeps the flow of information understandable and never lets you believe for one minute that this is not something happening somewhere on this planet. A good story teller knows the readers and how to write to please and Ms. Davis has done all that and more with this book.

Mary Gramlich is The Reading Reviewer located at www.marygramlich.com