I'm still alive

Ah the joy of taking care of a five year old recovering from a tonsillectomy. Between her recovery and me actually having to work when I go to work, I am waaaay behind on my reviews.

I have been reading, though, and have several reviews in the works. So bear with me, if you can. *g*

Up Close and Dangerous by Linda Howard

Book description:

A mysterious plane crash . . . a dangerous trek through the Idaho wilderness . . . a smoldering attraction . . . and a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Bailey Wingate’s scheming adult stepchildren are surprised when their father’s will leaves Bailey in control of their fortune, and war ensues.

A year later, while flying from Seattle to Denver in a small plane, Bailey nearly dies herself when the engine sputters–and then fails.

Cam Justice, her sexy Texan pilot, manages to crash-land the aircraft. Stranded in the wilderness, and struggling to douse her feelings for the ruggedly handsome man by her side, Bailey begins to wonder whether this was a mere accident. Who tampered with their plane? Who’s trying to reunite Bailey and her husband in the afterlife? Cut off from the world, and with little hope of rescue, Bailey must trust her life–and heart–to Cam, as they battle the harsh elements to find a way out of the unforgiving wilds and back to civilization . . . where a killer may be waiting to finish the job.

I'm still on the fence about this one. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I've come to expect from Linda Howard. Obviously I need to lower my expectations. I just can't help it. Every year for the past five years, I get my hopes up when she releases a new book. Almost every year since then I want to either burn the book while I cry over its' ashes or throw it against the wall. I'm happy to report that this year I did neither. So that's a good sign. I guess.

Bailey Wingate has gotten used to being labeled as a gold-digger. Personal Assistant-turned-wife of millionaire Jim Wingate didn't endear her to very many people. What only a few people do know is that it was Jim's idea to get married. A purely business arranagement, Jim came to Bailey offering her a chance at financial security if she would agree to be the trustee and executor of the money left to his children in a trust. Yeah, btw, his children are adults that are sleazebags. His son, Seth, absolutely hates Bailey. Haaaaates her. See, Bailey is actually younger than him and it really chaps his ass that he has to get his montly allowance from her. Seth's sister and the other child, Tamzin (WTF kind of name is that?) is even worse. Gawd, she was barely even in the book and she grated on my nerves.

So Bailey was all ready to go on vacation with her brother and his wife. She was somewhat chagrined when she got to the airfield and found Captain Cam Justice waiting to take her to Denver. See, Cam doesn't like Bailey and he's never tried to hide that. He's with the majority of people who thinks she's a gold-digging whore that took advantage of a sick old man for money. Not to mention he think she's a cold ass bee-yotch. When he has to lug her three huge suitcases into the plane, it reinforces his beliefs that she is exactly what he thinks she is. Little did he know that those three suitcases would save his judgemental ass.

When the plane goes down, you can virtually feel the terror in the air. Howard does a magnificant job of putting the reader right there with Bailey and Cam. After they "land" in the cold mountains of Idaho (I swear, I did not know this), Bailey drags an unconcious Cam out of the cockpit. She then starts dragging stuff out of her suitcases. Bailey is an overpacker. Which is this case was a definite good thing. Because she was going rafting and camping for vacation, she had things that would make the difference between life and death for her and Cam. The whole time she was trying to ger herself and Cam warm, I could literally feel the cold. People, it is freezing in Idaho. Seriously, I could almost feel the cold and it was making me cold while reading it. Bailey basically saved both their asses while Cam was out cold.

Then, in the way only Howard heroes can, Cam abruptly decides that he's not letting Bailey go. His logic for this is that the time they spent together (4 days x 24 hours) equals roughly 15 dates. Does he keep this information to himself? Of course not. He tells her that he knows exactly what she's doing with the Ice Queen persona. But pushing him away is not going to work. No siree.

When Cam examines the wreckage, he finds that the plane was deliberately tampered with. Both Cam and Bailey are convinced that Seth Wingate is the person behind the crash. Bailey, not willing to take any more chances with her life, decides to hand over her authority of the trust. Cam just wants to kick his ass for almost killing Bailey.

After hiking away from the crash site, they are rescued. That was a little anti-climatic. After all these days of survival in the woods, they light a signal fire and hear a helicopter within minutes. Hmph. Before they do get rescued, Cam insists that Bailey marry him and move in with him. But he's very thoughtful because he'll let her do that in whichever order she wants. Very thoughtful, isn't he?

Overall, this book wasn't bad. It was a good story. The characters were good. It was just good. Not great, but good. Bailey was a kick ass heroine. I liked her from the very beginning. Cam is more like a Howard hero than her past few heroes. I just can't put my finger on exactly what's missing.

Oh and I'm not going to give away the ending. I was too surprised by who did it, but then, I always am.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Publishing: Deciding on release dates

I'm going to deviate from the norm for a minute.

Who makes the decision on when to release a book? Does Random House have a department that specializes in release dates? Does Mira run an employment ad stating: "Wanted: Release Date Specialist. Must be literate. Must have high school diploma or equivalent. No experience necessary."? Obviously there is some sort of reasoning or business purpose behind choosing release dates. Yet to me as a reader, it seems like there is no rhyme or reason.

Nalini Singh released Slave to Sensation in October of '06. Visions of Heat was released in March '07 and Caressed by Ice will be released in September of '07. J.R. Ward is the same; a new release every six months. For an author writing an ongoing series, I think that release dates are key to success.

Take Gennita Low for example. Her first book, Into Danger, was released March of '03. Her second book, Facing Fear, was released Feb of '04. These two books were followed by a trilogy which was released about every six months. There was a year and a half between the third book in the trilogy and her new release, Virtually His. That was in part because she went from Avon to Mira. Virtually His kicked off a new trilogy based on several recurring characters, but the same hero and heroine. This was released in May of '07. At the time of the release, the second book (Virtually Hers), had a release date of August of '07. Shortly after the release of Virtually His, the release date of Virtually Hers changed to December of '07. To her readers this was a disappointment, but it wasn't awful. Those of us that waited a year and a half between books could handle 6 months. Then, a few weeks ago we were told that the release date changed to December of 2008.

W.T.F.???????

Judith McNaught publishes a book every 2-3 years. Julie Garwood seems to publish a book every 1-2 years. I'm sure that their publishers are secure in the fact that their books will sell regardless of the time between releases. What about authors like Gennita Low? She's fucking good. Facing Fear was one of those books that stayed with me for days after reading it. Her SEAL trilogy had the perfect balance of romance and suspense. Her heroes were alphas, but not assholes. Her heroines weren't TSTL. She was chugging along, gathering a rather large fan base. Then there was the year and a half when she changed publishers. She did get her readers prepared for that long before it happened. So we knew. Then this. December of 2008. Are you fucking kidding me?

Even putting readers wants and needs aside, it does not seem like a good business decision. How many people will pass Gennita's next book up because they don't remember the 1st? Or don't remember her? I won't, but I'm a diehard fan. Won't sales be better if you have less time between release dates?

Her Best Friend's Lover by Shiloh Walker

Book description:

Dale loves women, and they love him. His love life is a revolving door. No one special, no one stays, except Lauren, his best friend. She's a sweet beautiful, talented woman. His rock, the steadying influence in his life. So why is he starting to see her differently, where are these lustful thoughts coming from? Guys don't sleep with their best friends.

Lauren has loved Dale for five years, from the moment she saw him. She loves his smile, his walk, his deep, sexy voice. But he isn't in love with her. She's his pal, his confidant. Until one hot, steamy night.

This is probably the most tame Ellora's Cave cover that I've seen. Still doesn't mean I like it, but it's a definite improvement over some covers.

Lauren Spencer luuuuuurves Dale Stoner. A lot. She hasn't done anything about it, nor does she intend to. See, Dale's what you call a man-whore. Lauren is a virgin (of course). Lauren being the smart virgin she is, knows better to get involved with Dale. That all changes on a dark and stormy night. Okay, not really. Dale sees finding someone for Ice Queen Lauren as his mission in life. After Dale set her up w/ someone that almost rapes her, Lauren decides she's had enough. Enough of being in love with her best friend. Enough of wanting something she'll never have. Enough of seeing Dale w/ other women. She's had ENOUGH! Which is kinda rough since they're next door neighbors.

After a few weeks of giving Dale the cold shoulder and being miserable, Lauren decides that she has to accept Dale for who he is. If that means having a man-whore as a best friend, so be it. She would rather have his friendship than nothing at all. Like a good friend, she whips up a nice batch of his favorite cookies and heads over to grovel apologize. What she doesn't know is that Dale just got some really depressing news and is drunk as a skunk. Trying to help him get in bed probably wasn't her wisest decision. Which is why she soon finds herself up against the wall getting screwed silly. At first she's shocked. Then she gets into it. That changes when Dale calls her another woman's name and passes out. Total cliché , right? Somehow it worked. Walker got just the amount of hurt and anger across the page.

What happened next is really going to shock you, so brace yourself. Lauren finds out a few weeks later that she's pregnant. She's overjoyed. Too bad Dale doesn't remember the hot sex against the wall. And she's too scared to tell him. Especially when Dale starts to show interest that he's never shown before. Pretty soon Lauren is in so deep that she has no idea how she'll tell Dale that the baby he's taken such an interest in is actually his.

I really enjoyed this book. Lots of hot sex didn't take away from the love story. And this is a love story. There was no suspense at all. What you have is a woman that was abandoned her whole life by people she loved. First her dad, then her mom. After that it was various foster homes. By the time Dale came along, her emotions were locked down tight. She doesn't do confrontation well, which Dale sees as lack of emotion rather than her protecting herself. Of course you have the various misunderstandings. Then as you would expect, it really hits the fan when Dale finds out about the baby. Especially since it didn't come from Lauren.

There was kind of a lame part where Dale kept dreaming about his "dream" woman who was Lauren, but he doesn't know it's Lauren. When Lauren realizeses that he's dreaming about another woman, she gets pissed not knowing that it's her he's dreaming about even though he doesn't know it's her. Make sense? Yup. Clear as mud.

I just liked the whole book, even the misunderstandings. Try it.

4 out of 5 stars.

On Target by Catherine Mann

Book description:

On his way to deliver divorce papers to his soon-to-be ex, a terrorist attack put U.S. Air Force Sergeant Shane 'Vegas' O'Riley back into soldier mode. His wife and her two adopted children were in danger. He didn't give a damn if she wanted him out of their lives—they were under his full-time protection now.

Being back with her husband had Sherry in upheaval. She still wanted Shane. Yet she was afraid obligation was the only reason he was sticking close. With a terrorist targeting their lives, Shane was all she had to hold on to. Danger lurked close to home. But it was a marriage that had to survive the ultimate battle.

This is the 3rd book in Mann's Special Forces series. It's not as good as the first two books.

Shane O'Riley is hawtness. He's also a true patriot. A major league baseball player, Shane was making the big bucks when 9/11 happened. He immediately quit and joined the Air Force. When he met Sherry during leave, they were married within two months. They fell in lurve. To Shane, the fact that Sherry had two young daughters was just a bonus. Instant family. Too bad that he expected her to just be content waiting stateside for him while he was on assignment. Yeah, she didn't like that.

Sherry grew up being taken from country to country by her humanitarian parents. When they did return to the US of A, she never fit in. Culture in the poverty ridden countries she was raised in was far from the culture in the States. So what does she do when she's a parent? She takes her two adopted daughters from country to country where she helps villages and teaches children. Oh, but she makes sure her girls know who Dora the Explorer are and what a DVD player is. So that makes it okay.

Shane is on his way to meet Sherry w/ the divorce papers when his team is ordered to intercept a terrorist boat. They all almost die, but make it to the base. I still haven't figured out how Shane arranged to have his whole crew go to the same island that Sherry was on. I must have missed that part.

Of course Shane and Sherry are fighting this burning lust they have for each other. They're both trying to be adults and not jump right into the sack. They know it wouldn't be good for their girls to give them false hope. Smart parenting right there. Too bad they didn't stick to the plan.

After two kidnap attempts on their oldest daughter and their youngest daughter getting sick with an illness that is unexplained, Sherry is on edge. Nothing like a little hot sex to take the edge off. Of course that makes things much harder on both of them b/c they start questioning their marriage again and if they can make it work and all that crap. The thing is, they've gone through two trial separations (which how hard is that when they're never together?) and been in a marriage counseling. So they both think that they've reached the end of their marriage rope.

So to wrap it up, the terrorists that were operating on the island were working on a chemical weapon. Shane and Sherry's daughters (Cara and Mally) went exploring and were exposed to the chemical. Mally got sick when they got back, but Cara didn't. In fact, according to the terrorists (and you can always trust them), Cara should have died. So they want her b/c they can figure out an antidote to give their own men.

Problems: Sherry. What a whiny little bitch. Seriously. This book was intended to show what military marriages go through. I'm not a military wife, but I'm a military sister. If you marry a man that is already enlisted you have to expect that they're going to be gone. I mean, come ON. Instead of remaining in the country and waiting for Shane to come home, Sherry takes the girls and jets off to God knows where following in the vicious cycle that she was in as a child. It was annoying. On top of that, she continually admitted to herself that Shane wasn't the only one at fault with the failure of their marriage. But does she admit that to Shane? No. It was childish and stupid.

Shane was really hot, though. So he made up for some of it. So did the secondary characters. The 1st too books are really good and I highly recommend them (if you can find them).

3 out of 5 stars.

Simon Says by Lori Foster

Book description:

Sexy ex-fighter Simon Evans has the perfect life—until he catches his girlfriend cheating. To work off his rage, he goes back into the ring full-force. But a gutsy and gorgeous P.I. is about to send him reeling with a secret about his family—and one about her heart.

I've had this edit window open since 10:40am yesterday morning. These morons actually expect me to work or something. WTF?

I love Lori Foster's books. She is light without being fluffy. She is intense without being dark. Her books make for a good combination of fun and passion.

Simon Evans was vaguely introduced in Causing Havoc. He is a trainer for fighters that are in the UFC. Foster called it the SBC, but every time I read that I thought about the SBC Ballpark in San Francisco. Or SBC which was formerly AT&T in Northern CA. So UFC it is in this review.

Being the nice guy he is, Simon decides to surprise his live-in girlfriend of five years with a new mattress. Yes, folks, a mattress. When a book opens up like this, you just know that the shit is going to hit the fan. I mean, what kind of guy would want to "surprise" his girlfriend with a mattress? Yeah, that's what I thought. You'll be shocked to find out that Simon finds pictures of his girlfriend doing some other guy. He doesn't know who the guy is, but he definitely recognizes his gf. So he enlists the help of his friends to get all his shit out. He's surprised that he's not more upset. Five years is five years, after all. It's more of a prick to his pride. To salvage said pride, he decides that he's going to go back to fighting in the UFC rather than training.

Dakota Dream is not a porn star. So get that out of your head right now. I'm not sure exactly what she does for a living, but in her spare time she helps find missing people. When she was 17, Dakota ran away from home to marry Marvin Dream. Obviously she didn't know that at 17, mothers are always right and Dakota's mom didn't like Marvin at all. They parted on very bad terms. Marvin ended up being abusive, but Dakota stuck around b/c she didn't want to go crawling back to her mom. A few days after Marvin almost killed her, Dakota sucked it up and went home...only to find out her mom had an accident and was in a coma. Her stepfather, Barnaby Jailer (we'll get to that name in a moment) kindly let her stay even though they never had the best of relationships.

Okay, seriously people. Barnaby Jailer? Dakota Dream? These names seem to be a cross between a Disney character and a porn star. Every time I read the name Barnaby Jailer, I vomited a little in my mouth.

So BJ tells Dakota that she owes him for letting her come back home. Not only that, but the asshole has three letters that Dakota's mom wrote her before she went into the coma. Dakota wants those letters. Bad. She only has to do one thing. Find BJ's son and bring him home. You've already guessed who is son is, I'm assuming? Simon Evans.

Dakota finds Simon and befriends him. Simon is fascinated by Dakota b/c she knows a lot about the UFC, but she's not a groupie. He wants her. Bad. Then he finds out why she wants him. The problem here is that Simon has never been interested in finding the man that deserted him and his mom. His stepfather is his father in every way that is important. So he tells Dakota to get lost. Oh but he doesn't know how determined Dakota is to get those three letters.

Eventually Dakota gives up on getting the letters. She decides that she wants nothing more to do w/ 'ol BJ. She just wants Simon. It's too bad that nothing is ever easy for Dakota. See, Simon's ex wants him back and she'll play dirty to get him. Not only that, but someone is trying to hurt Dakota and she's sure it's her ex-husband. She's right and Marvin is one messed up f'er. Dakota is the only woman who ever stood up to him and he wants her back. Very dysfunctional.

When Simon and Dakota eventually get their HEA, you will really feel that they deserve it. Oh, just make sure you read Causing Havoc first. There are recurring characters that you'll appreciate much more if you read them in order.

4 out of 5 stars

Tempting by Susan Mallery

From the back cover:

After three romantic flame-outs in a year and a restaurant career going nowhere, Dani Buchanan needs a fresh start. She goes looking for her biological father, but never expects to find a senator running for president.

As his long-lost 'love child,' Dani could seriously derail the election— something his handsome campaign manager Alex Canfield isn't going to let happen. Dani isn't about to let Alex run her life, no matter how tempting she finds him—and Alex isn't going to allow Dani to melt his cynicism, no matter how close he has to get.

The last thing either of them wants is love, especially with scandals brewing and family trouble on the way. But Dani and Alex are forced to trust each other, and when trust turns to passion, the potential for disaster is only a tabloid scandal away.

Tempting is the final installment in the Buchanan series. Over the course of three books we have watched Dani get fucked over by people that she called family. First, her fantabulous husband, Hugh. A real winner, that one. After getting injured while playing football, Hugh was paralyzed from the waist down. Dani was dating him at the time and she still married him. Gotta give the girl props. I have to admit, I wouldn't have stuck around. What can I say? I'm shallow. Just admit it, you wouldn't have either. So even after all the moral, emotional, and financial support she gave him, he fucks her over. She even read up on how to make their sex life good. How does he show his appreciation? By screwing his T.A. Stand up guy, that one.

So that's a hard knock. But it doesn't stop there for Dani. She jumps back into the dating pool with a super hot guy, who seems great. She falls far him, sleeps with him, starts to lurve him. Then she meets his wife and toddler. Niiiiice. Oh wait, there's more. In the 3rd book, she starts seeing this guy she meets at a coffee shop. While she doesn't feel sparks, she does like the guy. She decides to give him a chance and finds out on their first date that he's a former priest. Ha. Dani runs. She then decides to give up men. Good girl. I sure would have.

Don't forget that in the 1st or 2nd book, Dani found out that she's not really a Buchanan. Seems her mom had an affair and she was the result. After years and years of trying to get her grandmother's approval, Dani receives the ultimate blow when Gloria gleefully tells her that she's not a Buchanan. At the beginning of Tempting, Dani has decided that she wants to find her real father. Though she still has her brothers, she feels that she needs somewhere to belong.

Unfortunately not only is her father a United States Senator, he's also a Presidential candidate. Ummm-hmmm. Alex Canfield is not only his advisor, he's also his adopted son. Obviously Alex thinks that Dani is in it for money or fame or something along those lines. He just figures that the timing is just too convenient, regardless of what Dani says.

Alex and Dani have a major love/hate relationship going on. Dani has seriously sworn off men. She wants nothing to do with them. Alex is very attracted to her, but he can already see the headlines if he does decide to get involved with her. Not to mention that he doesn't want to hurt his mother, the woman who saved him when he was 8 years old.

Talk about a saint. Alex's mother, Katherine Canfield is amazing. I loved her character in this book. She adopted eight special needs children. Eight. Now I know this is fiction, but I'm sure there are people out there that have done the same. That just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Understandably, Katherine has a hard time with Dani's appearance in their lives, but as a political figure's wife, she knows what's expected of her.

I think this is one of the best books of the four. The fact that Mark Canfield is not exactly paternal made Dani realize that blood doesn't make family. Seeing Dani and Gloria reconcile really closed the series well. Gloria was a raving bitch to Dani in the previous books. Seeing her make amends with Dani really made the book that much better. Mallery did a really great job closing out the Buchanan series. I think readers will be satisfied with the ending.

4 out of 5 stars.