Author – Lori Wilde

Third time’s the charm

Rachel Henderson is fed up with romance especially after being dumped at the altar, not once but twice! She blames it on her hometown of Valentine Texas and is determined to punish the town for putting the idea of romance in her head from when she was a young girl. On top of being left at the altar, she finds out that her parents are divorcing on her wedding day. Definitely not one of her better days.

Rachel is angry and drives the 400 miles from Houston to Valentine to seek her revenge on Valentine Texas. She decides that the way to do this is paint over the billboard entering town with black paint. Unfortunately the town’s mayor catches her in the act and has her arrested by non other than the hunky Sherriff Brody Carlton. It urns out that Brody was Rachel’s first love until he moved away at the age of 12.

Rachel is stuck in Valentine until she finishes her community service. This gives her time to start Romanceaholics Anonymous (a 12 step program for those addicted to romance), plot revenge against the fiancé that dumped her at the altar and get to know Brody as a friend. After all, she is done with romance and only wants either friendship or hot sex. But what does Brody want? Does he just want her as a friend or will he want more? And who knew that Romanceaholics Anonymous would become so popular? Rachel has to set up chapters in nearby towns to handle the interest that her YouTube video garnered.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it is the first one by Lori Wilde that I have read but it won’t be the last. ‘Addicted to Love’ is a romance book but there are several underlying stories that keep it from being pure fluff. There is the story of her parents, Michael and Selina, who still truly love each other but Selina can’t get past an indiscretion from 30 years ago. There is also Mayor Wentworth and Giada Vito. She is originally from Italy but has been a citizen for 15 years and has decided that Mayor Wentworth needs a reality check in regards to the town and his position as mayor, which is why she decides to run against him. But what is this spark that they feel when they are around each other? And of course there is the story of Rachel and Brody, her addiction to romance and can she learn to the separate the two or does she really need to?

Lori Wilde began writing at the age of 8 and hasn’t stopped yet. She has written many books including ‘Charmed and Dangerous’, ‘My Secret Life’ and ‘Lethal Exposure’. She also writes under the pen name Laura Anthony.

Reviewed for RebeccasReads.com 3/09

Author – Maggie Sefton
Published – 2005
This may be the only book in this series since the author seems to be focusing on a knitting cozy series. My husband is a real estate broker so I was interested to see how this book would compare to what I see him do on a daily basis.

Kate Doyle is a relatively new real estate agent (they call her a broker but that may be a Colorado term because it doesn’t mean the same thing in Texas) after getting a divorce 3 years prior and needing a new career. One of her friends is getting a divorce (and it doesn’t look like it will be pretty) and she is helping them sell the house. She comes back for some sigatures from the husband and finds him dead in his home office. Not what she was expecting. The most logical suspect is the wife, Amanda, but that is Kate’s friend and she knows that Amanda couldn’t kill her husband. So she sets off to figure out who did it and why.

Let’s just say that I didn’t figure it out until the end when the clues were all put together.

Overall it was a decent book and I could see the interpersonal relationships developing, but I probably wouldn’t look for a 2nd book by this author. But maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Author – Lisa Landolt
Publisher – Avon A, a division of Harper Collins
Published – 2008

This is the first novel for attorney Lisa Landolt, and what a splash she made with this work of fiction.

Sandra Greene is 21 and works in a pizza parlor in Dallas. She doesn’t have many friend, no boyfriend and she just isn’t sure where her life is going. Then she attends the wedding for her friend Annette and meets the women of the Hunt Club. The Hunt Club appears to be a matchmaking club but on a higher scale than others, their motto is that no one is unobtainable.

So Sandra jumps in and becomes a part of the club and is lucky to have her name be drawn as the next single woman that will be helped make a match. Sandra sets her sights on Mike Warren, an actor from a television show that she watched all of the time growing up. All seems to be going well, they are put into a situation where they can meet and get to know each other and it turns out they have more in common than she would have ever guessed.

All goes well until she is flying back from Hawaii and is stopped at security by the FBI wanting to know about the Hunt Club and did she know that they were killing people?

From here the book becomes even more fast paced and there are some surprise twists that even I didn’t expect…they made it hard to put the book down until I finished the last few chapters.

All in all this was a very enjoyable book and it is a little bit chick lit with some suspense thrown in to keep you on the edge of your seat!

(of course it doesn’t hurt that I know the author from college but I would still write this review because the book was really good!)

Author – Melanie Dobson
Publisher – Kregel Publications
May 2008

Sometimes life is about more than what you can see
4 out of 5 stars

‘The Black Cloister’ is Melanie Dobson’s third novel with her fourth due out in 2009. She is married and lives in Oregon with her family.

This novel is about one woman’s search to understand her past and why her mother conceivably abandoned her. Elise Friedman is that woman and when she put these questions to her adopted father, Steve, he refused to answer why her mother died, where she came from and what she left behind. Does Steve have good reason for not telling Elise the whole story or is he putting her in harm’s way?

Because Elise can’t learn the truth, she decides to seek it out in Germany where her mother was from before immigrating to America. She enlists the help of her mother’s friend, and US Ambassador, Addison Wade. They meet for lunch with Elise hoping to find out some answers but all she finds is more questions and no answers. Addison is afraid of what will happen should Elise continue on and pursue this line of questioning. But is she afraid for Elise or herself? What is this secret?

So Elise continues on in her quest for the truth and meets Carson, a seemingly nice guy that wants to help her especially since she speaks very little German. She manages to get herself in trouble – what book wouldn’t be complete without this occurrence? What is The Chosen that she has learned about from the various townspeople? Will the group give her the answers she seeks?

I wasn’t sure what to expect since it is labeled Christian Suspense. What I found was a very engaging story about a cult in Germany and how one woman escaped and 15 years later her daughter – that she saved from the cult as well – ends back up there to better understand her mother. I felt the frustration that Elise felt when she would run up against roadblocks and couldn’t get the answers she sought. I was mad at Elise for putting herself in situations that she had to know was bad and might not escape alive. But in the end, I was pleased with how the story ends and that while cults are not a good thing for anyone, it is possible to escape them. I was also glad to see Addison Wade realize that sometimes a job isn’t the most important thing in life, a lesson we could all take something from, that life doesn’t stop just because of what you think is important. That sometimes helping others gives you a better sense of accomplishment and is more fulfilling.

If you like suspense novels you will like this book, it will keep you on the edge of your seats wondering what will happen next and how the story will play itself out.

Reviewed for RebeccasReads.com (2/09)

Author – David Morrell
Publisher – Vanguard Press, The Perseus Books Group
November 2008

And a child shall lead them
5 out of 5 stars

David Morrell is an award winning author for his novel First Blood in which the character Rambo was created. He has written other best selling novels such as Extreme Denial, Brotherhood of the Rose and Desperate Measures. He currently resides in Santa Fe with his wife.

‘The Spy Who Came for Christmas’ starts off with Pyotyr (aka Paul) running for his life in downtown Santa Fe being chased by his “partners” in the Russian mafia for a package that he took from the job they just started. The package turns out to be a child that is the son of a charismatic Palestinian, Ahmed Hassan, who preaches peace in the Middle East and is destined to change the future. Needless to say, Pyotyr’s boss is not happy that he took this child because those that want him have paid a pretty penny and they want him now and will not accept failure by those they contracted for the job.

The book starts off in the middle of the story and then goes back and forth to fill in the story until near the end where they only go forward. By doing this they really grab the reader’s attention because you wonder why this man is running through Santa Fe and you wonder what he is carrying and why.

As Pyotyr is running along the streets of Santa Fe, he has to find a safe place for him and the child. He stumbles across a residential community and finds a home that is occupied by a woman, Meredith, and her son, Cole, that are planning to leave her husband, Ted, because he is an alcoholic and a drunk. Cole is very protective of his mother and when he sees Pyotyr he thinks it is his father returning and is determined to not let Ted hurt his mother again. However, Cole realizes that this is not his father and manages to bring Pyotyr and the child into the house. This sets them up for potential danger should Pyotyr’s partners find him. Pyotyr manages to secure the house with the help of Meredith and Cole and while they wait to see what happen, he begins to tell the story of Jesus’ birth in the bible and the role of the Magi to Cole.

I truly enjoyed this book and the author’s spin on the story of Jesus’ birth and the possible role that the Magi had in helping keep Jesus alive and away from King Herod. It was interesting to see how the author took a story that we all know but in a different direction, that the Magi were spies (like the main character, Pyotyr) and perhaps their destiny was to keep the child alive.

This book is a fairly quick read and it kept me on the edge of my seat wondering if good or evil would prevail. The ending was a little bit of a surprise but it was a very good ending and I can’t see it turning out any other way now that I have finished the book. It is a combination of a spy novel crossed with a Christmas story and while it seems an unlikely combination, it works for this novel.

Reviewed by Leslie Storey for RebeccasReads (1/09)

Written by Lani Diane Rich
Published 11/08 by Forever, Hachette Book Group USA
ISBN: 978-0446618250

You don’t have to be in the big city to find love
4 out of 5 stars

Lani Diane Rich is a best-selling author, with titles such as: Crazy in Love, The Comeback Kiss, Maybe Baby, Ex and the Single Girl, and Time Off for Good Behavior. She resides in New York with her family.

“Wish You Were Here” starts off with Freya Daly traveling from Boston to Deer Creek Idaho in an attempt to purchase a run down camp for her father and his business. The owner is Nate Broday, who is a chef and father of a 12 year old daughter, Piper. He inherited the camp when his father died and all he knows is that he isn’t supposed to sell the camp until he finds a purple tackle box. He doesn’t know what is in it or why it is so important, but he feels he must honor his father’s wishes.

What Nate doesn’t know is that while Freya may appear to be a hardened business woman, she is so much more than that. He especially discovers this when her cabin is on fire and when she is being held hostage by his crazy Uncle Malcolm who would think nothing of shooting her to further his own agenda.

As most romance type novels go, this does end with the boy getting the girl but only after she leaves him in Idaho to go home and a few other mishaps along the way.

I had never read anything by Lani Diane Rich and wasn’t sure what to expect. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and considered it lighter reading than say a mystery or thriller novel. The characters seemed more real than other books with real problems and lives that I could understand and relate to even though my life may not be exactly the same. I could also relate to Freya’s life as a corporate executive and how that can impact your personal life. I liked the interaction with her father especially when she found out that she was passed over for a promotion within the family business.

I think most anyone would enjoy this book and if they can’t relate to the story line at least understand it and appreciate the situations that the characters are in at this junction of their life.

Reviewed by Leslie Storey for RebeccasReads (1/09)

Written by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
Published March 11th 2007 by W Publishing Group
ISBN 978-0849919107
Book Description: A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery.
An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel.
A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream.
A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it.

It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana and an East Texas honky-tonk and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda, an upscale New York gallery, a downtown dumpster and a Texas ranch.

Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, this true story also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love.

Review:
I wasn’t sure what to expect before I started reading this book. It is primarily set in Fort Worth Texas, close to where I live, so the landmarks were very familiar which is always a nice touch. Once I started reading the book, it took me a bit to get used to the chapters alternating between the two authors, Ron and Denver. There was a good introduction as to who these guys were and how they grew up and what they experienced from life.

The chapters aren’t long, some are only one page, which made the chapters fly by and very easy to read. There is some mention of religion and the author finding his way back from a life filled with a focus on possessions and money to one that included helping others.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. It is a great true story of how if you just reach out a little and trust that you can forge a great friendship. It also teaches you that live is a lot more than just possessions or money.

Lies will come back to bite you
3 out of 5 stars

“Live a Little” is the third book by Lisa Green. Her previous books include “Is That a Moose in Your Pocket?” and “Paging Aphrodite”.

Raquel Rose is a wife and mother of two teenagers when a routine visit to the doctor turns into a terminal cancer diagnosis. Raquel goes through a range of emotions when she is given the news and her family is shocked as well. They don’t want to believe it and life is not quite the same.

Then a month later the doctor tells her it has all been a mistake and she is not the Raquel Rose that has breast cancer. After riding the emotional roller coaster she is back on it again but this time knowing that she is fine and how does she tell everyone that it was all a mistake? She tries to give her family the good news over a nice dinner, but they don’t believe her. She is flabbergasted and doesn’t know what to do to convince them that she really is ok.

So she doesn’t. After all, she is getting the royal treatment from the family that took her for granted…or so she thought. Raquel goes along with the deception and while living a lie manages to find her true self in the process and that she isn’t just a housewife and mother, that she is inspirational and a true artist.

I had the full range of emotions regarding this book, I went from hating it in the first 30 pages (so much I wasn’t sure I was going to finish the book) to thinking that the character deserved what she got to admiration for admitting the truth in the end.

While I know that this is a work of fiction, I am a breast cancer survivor and know what women go through when diagnosed which is probably why I hated parts of the book, primarily Raquel’s deception. While it is a fictional character, Raquel had people feeling sorry for her when there was nothing wrong. She took advantage of the situation just for a little fame. Then when Raquel’s friends and family found out that she really didn’t have cancer, I felt like she deserved what came her way. In the end, she made amends and I felt like the story tied up nicely and it all happened for a reason and perhaps she realized that you don’t have to tell lies to get attention, after all it will come back and haunt you.

Reviewed for RebeccasReads (11/08)

Publisher – iUniverse Inc

The Power of Love – 4 out of 5 stars

The author, Dr. Paul Greenbaum, is a chiropractor and acupuncturist and is in the process of writing several other books about healing.

This is a true story based on a specific time in Dr. Greenbaum’s life beginning in 1985. He had recently lost his dog, Big Pal, and was visiting a friend to go camping, when this friend showed him puppies that lived next door that were not being cared for, or at least not very well. His friend encouraged him to take one so it would have a better life. Paul resisted, but something told him to go ahead and take the female puppy, Vicious, home with him. Vicious was misnamed; she wasn’t vicious at all, in fact she was very scared of everything around her, as Paul quickly realized on the car ride home.

Eventually the puppy was renamed Dobie and what followed for the next 13 years was nothing short of a miracle for Paul. Dobie overcame her fears and phobias and Paul learned what it meant to truly love someone. While he helped to heal Dobie, Dobie returned the favor and helped Paul heal and learn how to truly love.

This isn’t a long book; it’s only 127 pages, but what is in those pages had an impact on this reader. I have always loved dogs, and know that there is something to be said for the unconditional love that a dog shows for its owners. This is one of my favorite quotes from this book and I think that it sums up what the author is trying to convey:

“Love is more powerful than death. In fact, love transcends death. When the sacred chord is struck that opens two hearts to pure love, it matters not if they’re together for the full cycle of a lifetime or for just an instant. It is something that exists for eternity.”

If you love dogs or have a special connection to any animal, I recommend this book. You will appreciate your pet even more and perhaps create the same type of bond that Paul had with Dobie.

Reviewed for RebeccasReads (6/08)

Publisher – Poisoned Pen Press

Politicians are like piñatas, sometimes you have to beat them up to get what you want.

4 out of 5 stars

Greasing the Piñata is the third in the Cape Weather series by author Tim Maleeny.

The players:
Cape Weathers – former reporter turned PI
Sally – an Asian orphan that was raised and trained by the Hong Kong Triads and is a deadly force.
Rebecca Lowry – the Senator’s daughter that is searching for her missing brother and father
Chief Inspector Oscar Garcia – Mexican policeman, or is he?
Luis Cordon and Antonio Salinas – heads of opposing drug cartels in Mexico

In this installment, PI Cape Weathers is hired by a former Senator’s daughter, Rebecca Lowry, to find her brother and father. Her father disappeared a few days after her brother went missing. The news isn’t good, both her father and brother were found dead (and missing body parts) in Mexico and under suspicious circumstances.

What follows next is a web of lies and deceit by politicians, heads of drug cartels and even the Mexican police inspector. What is their plan? What are they trying to cover up?

While not having read the first two books of this series I wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep up with the characters or understand their background. The author did a great job of filling in the background on the characters so that you were drawn into their lives within the story and could only wonder what more there was that hasn’t been revealed. Cape Weathers has a dry sense of humor that almost gets him killed several times, but he manages to sidestep that danger just in the nick of time. Sally is definitely a deadly force not to be reckoned with if you wanted to stay alive. The heads of the drug cartels have their own agenda and wouldn’t mind taking over the other’s territory.

This is an intriguing political thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what could possibly happen next and who was behind the deaths of the Senator and his son? Would they be brought to justice? And if so, what sort of justice? Of course the twist near the end of the story was not expected and that just brought up more questions for this reader.

This is definitely a must read for those that enjoy a story that has so many twists and turns that you feel like you are on a rollercoaster and aren’t sure what is around the next corner.

Reviewed for RebeccasReads (9/08)