Luck of the Devil

Patricia Elmer
Entangled Publishing

Life can be hard when you are the youngest child, especially if you are the youngest child of Satan!
All Faith Bettincourt wants is a peaceful week of vacation from her job as a pediatric nurse. What she gets instead is an apartment full of her family. Her brother Tolliver, the demon of gluttony, her sister Hope who with her husband is ousted from a Satanic cult, her mother Roisin who is beyond clueless and her room mate Lisa-an incompetent succubus turned by Tolliver. Faith just wants to quietly continue crushing on her neighbor  and tenant Matt.
What follows is a series of events that put together the Alpha, the Omega and the rest of the family-even cousin J puts in an appearance-as they try to puzzle out who is stalking Faith.

This was a slow read to get into, but once all the details were in place it became a quick and enjoyable read. It wasn't as funny as I hoped it would be, I did chuckle a few times-but no outright laughing until tears flowed.
All in all this wasn't a bad debut novel and I look forward to other books by this author.

The "What If" Guy

Brooke Moss
Entangled Publishing

What if...walking into a room gave you a second chance with the love of your life?
What if...one minute could change everything?
What if...the best thing to happen to you was in the last place you expected?

Autumn Cole ran from Fairfield, Washington fresh out of high school and straight for the bright lights and college life of Seattle.  But things don't happen as she planned and one decision causes her to cut ties with the man she loves.
As life unfolds, Autumn's path leads her back to Fairfield  Walking her son into his new 6th grade classroom she discovers  the last thing she expects-Henry Tobler-the love of her life.
What unfolds a the story of growing up, gaining acceptance, forgiveness and the healing power of love and friendship.

The Ranger

Ace Atkins
Putnam

Quinn has gone home for his uncle, the sheriff's, funeral. What he finds is that people are saying his uncle committed suicide, that his land may be owned to a corrupt town wind-bag, and the town couldn't find straight with a ruler and a level. There is so much crooked in this little Mississippi town that it's a wonder they can agree what day of the week it is.
For the most part I liked this book. I knew there was going to be action, but I didn't have a lot of patience for the story set-up. Once the first few chapters were out of the way I couldn't wait to see the end result. I feel that Atkins left an opening at the end of the story for a sequel-I'm curious as to what the conflict in that would be.

Only Yours

Susan Mallery
HQN

The Assignment: Have Montana Hendrix convince Dr. Simon Bradley to stay on in Fool's Gold, California. 

The Problem: Their first meeting wasn't anything to write home about!

The Result: A heartening story of love and its power to change, encourage, and over-come...


Fool's Gold, California is the type of town that is what people wax poetic about when they draw up memories of their hometown.  The members of the community are interesting, in some cases eccentric, and down-right comfortable.  It's a place that makes you want to pull up stakes and settle there!

The Baby's Bodyguard

Stephanie Newton
Love Inspired-Suspense

A human trafficking ring, illegal adoptions, kidnapped children...can it be stopped?

Will Ethan ever recover from the loss of his wife and child?

Will the discovery of a toddler alone and adrift at sea help to heal him?

Would social worker Kelsey Rogers help him see that love could give him peace?

This story smack of intrigue and twists and keeps you guessing not only to what will happen but how, when, and why!

I like Newton's writing style and voice.  The story flows smoothly and effortlessly and sweeps you up into the events.  The story has to be great if I am still up reading it and not realizing it is 3 am! 

The Creed Legacy

Linda Lael Miller
HQN

I admit it. I'm nosey! It might not be a shock to some. The thing is, I'm not just nosey about real people, I'm incredibly nosey about fictional ones.
I love the Creed's and McKettrick's and have followed their stories since the first book about them was published. The latest installment features Brody Creed and Carolyn Simmons. These two are a match made in heaven, but to reach their happy ending they need to deal with a Pullman car of baggage.
Miller is an excellent writer who brings out the emotions of her characters and makes you care about them. She has and will continue to have a loyal reader in me.

The Ideal Man

Julie Garwood

Penguin Group (USA)

I have loved Julie Garwood's historical romances. I tried to read one of her contemporary romances a few years ago but just couldn't get into it. It's one of the few books I haven't finished. That is so not the case with Ideal Man. I loved this book!  I couldn't put it down! The writing was smooth, the dialogue was fast paced and the story-while involved-didn't drag. I like that Garwood writes female characters who have strength and fortitude while still being feminine. Dr. Ellie Sullivan is a great character; intelligent, hard-working, and relatable. FBI Agent Max Daniels was definitely, as the title suggests, the ideal man for her.

I enjoyed meeting the Sullivan family in the story-the everything at a deal dad, the  guilt-wielding mom, the wretched sister and her twin the sweet one. 

The primary and secondary story lines worked well and made the story stronger. My only ho-hum was the inserted love story of the sweet sister-it was happily resolved, but seemed sort of an afterthought. 

Overall-I'd recommend The Ideal Man. It's a quick read perfect for a summer day of relaxing.

The Taming of the Rake

Kasey Michaels
HQN Books

I just finished this book. It'd been awhile since I had read a historical romance-funny they are what I cut my proverbial reading teeth on. I truly liked the characters that Michaels' created. They had quick dialogue, they were realistically written and worked well together.  And there was sarcasm: "We definitely can't leave them to their own, nonexistent devices. Why, they might take it into their heads to stand outside in a rainstorm with their mouths open, and drown." When you meet Jonathan and Emily you will completely understand! Oliver and Chelsea were perfect foils for each other-yes, i know its a romance and they are supposed to be, but I loved that she was so adventurous and made him look at life through different glasses. There is something to be said about extremely intelligent and "girl power" women characters in a time period where many of the men expected women to be simpering idiots. I can't wait for the next book in the series to see where life has brought them and what Michaels has in store for Oliver's brothers, Puck and Black Jack.

The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

I just finished reading this, well to be honest listening to it, and I really, really liked it.  There is something about a book that blends fiction with real events effortlessly enough to make it feel like you are watching or a part of what is going on.  (And y'all know I don't like non-fiction)...

The characters were honest-no, I don't mean they told the truth; they were themselves and that is what made me like them-well except for Yeh-Yeh-but he wasn't supposed to be getting the reader's love.

My students have recently finished studying World War II and I wish I had read this before we finished, I would have allowed them to read it for extra credit.  We don't spend a lot of time talking about the internment camps-and it was something that the kids thought was interesting-so for next year, I'm keeping the title in mind for that extra opportunity.

I was waiting and waiting for the end of the book-I wanted to know...I always want to know if and how things work out for the characters.  I wasn't disappointed it lived up to it's title.