Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh

We saw Danny and Catie meet as teens in Cherish Hard. They are siblings to the characters in that book but are now in their mid-20s. Yes, they are still squabbling like nobody's business but they are comfortable in their relationship and they still look out for each other. Which is evident in the opening scene as Catie sees Danny across the floor at a dance club and realizes he doesn't look right. In fact, he looks as though he's been drugged. She's able, with the help of his friend Viliame, to get him to the hospital. Unfortunately, rumors are now flying about them being a couple. See, Danny is a super famous rugby dude and Catie is famous in her own right for competing in the Paralympics and apparently people have been 'shipping them for quite a while.

Lots of deep discussions in this book about expectations, limb loss, parental relationships, and more. Singh is such a delightful writer though that all of these are handled with a deft touch while going from friends to lovers in a fake relationship is a joy to read.

Hard Play#4

Four and a half stars

This book comes out May 3, 2022

Follows Love Hard

ARC kindly provided by TKA Distribution and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread as ebook from Libby March 2024

Orchid by Jayne Castle

Rafe Stonebraker is a strat-talent. He should have been the one to take over his grandfather's corporation but he got out when he was young, knowing that he could not work for his grandfather. But now that his grandfather is about to retire, the only person in line to be CEO is his vengeful cousin who wants to take the company down. Rafe is ready to step back into the picture but the board is fairly conservative and, in a society that prizes marriage, he's going to need at least a fiancée for the board to consider him. Since his marriage counselor seems hesitant, Rafe decides to find a bride himself by hiring out local prism agencies to help him in his work as a private investigator.

Orchid Adams is a romance writer by day and a prism for hire by night. She is a special kind of prism, a rare ice prism. There are few in existence and, awhile ago, three were used by a local lab to see if their particular prisms could help focus for crazy people and maybe make them sane again. That didn't work. But now Orchid's old life is crossing over with Rafe's current investigation.

I like Zinnia and Nick's romance a little bit better but this story is the best in the trilogy.

Three stars

This book came out May 1, 1998

Follows Zinnia

Audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Breaking the Rules by Suzanne Brockmann

I was so excited to see who the lady's man Izzy Zanella would end up with because he is such an awesome character but... I was a little disappointed. I know that Brockmann plays with relationships, but having a character so young (Eden's only nineteen) is a little disconcerting. 

Izzy has had rough times with Eden's brother Danny who is a member of Seal Team Sixteen. The man thinks that Izzy seduced his sister, got her pregnant, and then left her. The truth is, Izzy helped Eden through a hard time, fell deeply in love with her, and has been trying to get back in touch with her ever since. Eden doesn't want to be with Izzy. Not because she doesn't love him, but because she's always been told she's worthless, even by Danny.

Danny is hurt in action at the beginning of this story. Izzy uses his own blood to save Danny's life and almost dies in the process. That doesn't make them besties by any means. 

Eden is in Las Vegas trying to rescue their brother Ben from her mother and the latest boyfriend. See, 

Ben is gay and the parents are trying to send him to one of those extreme Christian camps that supposedly "straightens" kids out.

So, Danny comes back to the States with his girlfriend Jenn (whose name Eden uses when she becomes a stripper.) They think that they can get custody of Ben. Of course, Eden and Izzy, having been married for a year (did I mention that?), are really going to look better if they have to go into court. 

There's also a girl who has escaped from sexual slavery. Ben sort of befriends her but she seems to only be in as a plot device so that Jenn and Eden can be in danger later.

Brockmann uses multiple plotlines in most of her books so that wasn't really annoying, but... I really missed the regular run of characters. Only Danny, Izzy, Jenn, and Eden were from previous series. I think I may have also had high expectations because Izzy has been so involved in other books in the series. Will re-read to see if it gets better. (It did, I think because I knew what to expect)

Three stars

This book came out March 22, 2011

Follows Hot Pursuit

Followed by Headed for Trouble

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Hot Pursuit by Suzanne Brockmann

Not my favorite of the Troubleshooter series but interesting in that there are no real happy endings here except that the two kidnapped women are rescued in the end.

Troubleshooters are summoned to the East Coast to help protect a woman, running for Senate, who has been receiving death threats. There is also included a cop with an attitude and Danny Gillman hooking up with "the ugly friend." I do like that Brockmann has unconventional romances and in this book she concentrates on a type of woman who isn't usually the heroine in romance novels. A little overweight, she's not at all beautiful and Gillman picks her because she'll be easy to get into bed and she won't be upset when he leaves, because she'll be expecting it. Not a sympathetic character, is Gillman, but true to life. I liked Jenny and, while Danny isn't a very nice person, we do get to see some of why he is the way he is.

Four stars

This book came out July 29, 2009

Follows Dark of Night

Followed by Breaking the Rules

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann

I'm really on a roll with the Brockmann books and forget how much I enjoy them until I read them again. I don't know why, but the story of Tracey and Decker is compelling. I think it's because both characters have been revealed in depth in previous books. Not sure if this would be quite as good a book if you hadn't read the other 13, especially since the sub-stories are all connected to previous books as well. It's really interesting that Brockmann sets up Dave Malkoff as a James Bond type character. It's pivotal to the plot of him hooking up with Sophia. I'm glad that she's finally happy though it is interesting that Brockmann didn't have her hook up with the man that she was lusting after for so long. But that is beautifully explained and the other hookups all make sense. I also have to say that I enjoy the little commentaries that Brockmann includes about her own writing, including a comment about a previous book when Tracey has a somewhat critical thought about a friend hooking up with a guy the friend had only known for a few days.

Four and a half stars

This book came out January 7th, 2009

Follows Into the Fire

Followed by Hot Pursuit

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Into the Fire by Suzanne Brockmann

When Vinh Murphy's wife was killed in book six of the Troubleshooters series, I didn't think we'd ever see him again. But his story is actually very good. It wraps up the story line started about the Freedom

Network. See, everyone thinks that Vinh has executed the leader of the Freedom Network to avenge his wife's death. Even his best friend Hannah isn't sure about him. She's a retired cop who left the force when she was shot and an infection caused her to become deaf. The two of them work together to figure out what really happened while falling in love.

The subplot of this book is that of Izzy Zanella and Eden Gillman. Izzy has been prominent in several of the earlier books and it's in this book that he meets the woman who might be his match. Although, that's hard to tell since Brockmann likes to mix things up and even characters that seem to be in love through many books don't always end up together. We'll see how the rest of the series shapes up. Anyway, Eden is gorgeous, the sister of one of Izzy's SEALmates (Danny Gilman who hates Izzy's guts) and nineteen. She shows up early in the book, running away from home, a troubled teen. Then, six months later, she returns, pregnant. Danny thinks that Izzy is the father, and though that's an impossibility, Izzy marries the girl so she has insurance and a place to live. He's uber-attracted to her, it might even be love. But, though the book ends with Hannah and Vinh going on to happily-ever-after, the fate of Eden and Izzy remains in doubt.

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 22, 2008

Follows All through the Night

Followed by Dark of Night

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

All Through the Night by Suzanne Brockmann

Suzanne Brockmann is one of my favorite authors simply because she write with a one-two punch and started writing gay romance before just about any other "mainstream" author. Her books might be fairly traditional but her characters are always outside the box. In this book, the main story revolves around Robin Chadwick and Jules Cassidy, a gay couple whose wedding is the central story. We've seen their story grow from when they met and were immediately attracted, through them being pulled apart by age and distance, then having Robin work through his addiction to alcohol and both of them coming out and how it affected their careers. While this would still happen today, a lot of this would have been even harder almost a decade ago when only one state was acknowledging that gay marriage = marriage. 

We get to see all of the characters from the series as well as meeting one new couple. The subplot of Jules and Robin's assistant falling in love with a reporter who accidentally got Robin smeared in the press.

Short, but very cute.

Four and a half stars

This book came out October 30, 2007

Follows Force of Nature

Followed by Into the Fire

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own