Local Hero by Nora Roberts

It had been a LONG time since I had read this book but I vaguely remember it. It was originally a Harlequin novel in the 80s but held up surprisingly well. I liked the characters of both Mitch and Hester; they were fully-formed humans but were able to grow more with each other. Also a fully-formed human? Hester's son, Radley. He wasn't just a plot moppet but actually contributed to the story in substantive ways.
Hester has been a single mom for almost a decade after her husband disappeared one day. But her son doesn't seem to mind it much. He's the reason she's taken a new job in downtown New York, moving her son across town. He's nervous at first but, upon discovering that comic book artist Mitch Dempsey lives in their building, Radley becomes ecstatic. 
Mitch is intrigued by the woman but falls in love with both her and the kid. For Hester, it takes a little bit longer to trust but she is upfront about all of her feelings and Mitch is persistent without being an asshole.

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 1st, 1988

Borrowed as an ebook from Libby 

Opinions are my own

When All the Girls Have Gone by Jayne Ann Krentz

 The book opens, not unlike many of Krentz's contemporaries, with a murder. We see it through the eyes of the killer. And it seems rather obvious who the killer is as the book goes on, but this is a Krentz novel.
To that end, we do get a hero and heroine. Max Cutler is a former profiler. A case went horribly wrong, stirring up ghosts from his past, and he decided (or the decision was made) for him to leave D.C. He ended up in Seattle, working as a private investigator. His current case involves a dead woman who the police believe to have died from an overdose. Her cousin isn't so sure. He things it's murder. 
Normally Charlotte Sawyer considers herself fairly boring. She works in a nursing home as an the activities coordinator. It's true that her former fiance left her at the altar, but she's working to get over that.  Charlotte step-sister, Jocelyn, says that she is too trusting, and Charlotte agrees. But it doesn't follow that she is also stupid. 
Max and Charlotte's paths cross when Charlotte, watching Jocelyn's house while she's on a tech-free month-long retreat, is the one who picks up the package sent to Jocelyn from the dead woman.  A packages that sends her on an adventure. 
Regular Krentz readers will definitely enjoy the book. It's very much in the rhythm of her recent contemporaries. The love story was a bit fast and furious and the multiple "epilogues" were a bit tedious but overall a fast and fun read. I do hope we get to hear about Max's brothers, Cabot and Jack and find out whether the guru Zane really did die.

Three and a half stars
Followed by Promise Not to Tell
This book came out November 29th, 2016
Audiobook from Cloud Library

Opinions are my own

In the Eye of the Storm / Catering to the CEO by Samantha Chase

In the Eye of the Storm
It's 2 a.m. and Holly Abrams is on her way to pick up her overly demanding boss, Stephen Ballinger. First he demands 12-14 hour days, then he steals her weekend mornings, now this? Holly lets loose, giving Stephen a piece of her mind. He's shocked that she feels that way; he thought that they had a great working relationship. This makes Holly even madder. Then downed trees make it impossible for her to get back to her house and she has to stay with Stephen at his giant mansion. Somehow, seeing Holly wet, in sweatpants, and without makeup makes Stephen wake up to how truly beautiful she really is.
I would hope that if this book were written today, the Big Misunderstanding would be greatly changed. As it was, it made me very aware that this was a re-issue.

Three stars

Catering to the CEO
Adam Lawrence didn't become a millionaire CEO by letting people walk all over him. Cassie Jacobs, caterer, doesn't seem to care. She has a contract that says that he can't make changes two weeks before his event, so when he tries to do so 11 days in advance, she walks out. That would be the end except that they see each other again that night when they discover that her dad is dating his mom. It is seeing Cassie outside of work that makes Adam really discover that she's a beautiful woman underneath. Too bad I can't say the same about him. Adam is a real alphahole. Like, think late 80s alphahole only concerned with his problems and only wanting Cassie when he can't have her. I actively disliked him and wouldn't have finished this had it been a full book.

Two stars.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz

This story follows "When All the Girls Have Gone," when the story of a cult leader who locked eight children in a barn and then set it on fire, leaving them to die. Virginia Troy and Cabot Sutter were both in that barn and neither believes that Quinton Zane is dead. The last painting of one of Virginia's clients certainly seems to point that way. When she receives a picture of that painting, Virginia goes to the only man who might believe her, Anson Salinas, the man who rescued her that night. He refers her to his adoptive son, Cabot Sutter. They recognize each other almost immediately.
But someone wants the illusion that Zane is dead to stay intact. They don't want Cabot looking into it. Virginia seems to be immune, maybe because someone believes she has the key to the fortune Zane lost right before he disappeared.
There was a lot going at the end of this book. There was just one twist too many. Honestly, the story could have ended about two twists sooner and earned another rating star. Also, there is a very nice part where Virginia panics and Cabot treats her very kindly. Very forward thinking in terms of sex interactions. So why no condoms? A guy who's that sensitive to his partner would be sensitive in other ways.  I was also disappointed that we didn't get to see more of the story of the two falling in love.

Cutler, Sutter, & Salinas #2
Three stars

Follows When All the Girls Have Gone

Followed by Untouchable
This book comes out January 2, 2017

Reread as ebook from Libby February 2024

Forever Mine by Erin Nicholas

Maya Goodwin rushes into life headfirst. No matter what she does, she does it with all her heart. It has gotten her in trouble including one where she got trapped inside a burning car. It was that incident that sent her to desk duty. Now she runs a center teaching martial arts through the lens of superheros. It's that center that sends Dr. Alex Nolan to Zoe.
Alex has only just discovered that he fathered a child almost ten years ago during a drunken one-night stand. He might never have found out except that Charli (his daughter) is a hemophiliac and that happens to be Alex's specialty. So he's trying to find a way to connect and wants to do it through her favorite, very geeky, TV show.
This is a lovely story where both characters show some growth and we get to seem them help each other. For the most part, they were adult about the whole thing and while there was a misunderstanding at the end, it didn't seem like a Big Misunderstanding. I didn't love everything about their relationship but Nicholas creates a nice story of two people coming together and I can't wait to hear more about costume designer, Sophie. Possibly with Maya's sparring partner Ben but I would also be okay with him getting his own book. A tough guy sidelined from his favorite activities? I hope that there is more to that story than just as a plot point for an Alex breakthrough.

Four stars
This book comes out March 28

Seduce Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Hayley Thompson has been the good girl for her whole life up to and including working as her father's secretary. In the church where he was the pastor. Everyone knows who she is. Everyone knows what to expect of her. So when she decides to answer an ad to be the assistant to a man she doesn't know, life changes drastically.
Jonathan Bear owns a successful company but doesn't feel like he is successful. Instead, he feels like the town bad boy (although we never really see that in this book, maybe it was better built up in previous books in the series?). When Hayley Thompson replies to his ad, he doesn't think she'll stick. But when she does, he becomes attracted to her. And though he tries to stay away, he just can't.
This book, even at over 200 pages, felt really fast. The relationship never really had time to develop. I did enjoy the fact that this story was for Hayley and Jonathan without too many "pop-ins" from previous people in the series.

Three stars
This book came out March 7

This Is Our Song by Samantha Chase

Riley Shaughnessy is a big time rock star. He recently stepped back from his band to prove that he could handle a solo career. But... he's recently hit a brick wall on his song writing. His label is about to dump him but agree that he can have another chance as long as he participates in a month-long interview that will put him back in the public's eye. And not for being known as the least-talented of his band mates.
Savannah Daly is the reporter picked to do the interview. She's peeved because that means she's going to be bumped from a Cold Play article that she's been researching for the past month. Her first meeting with Riley is an accidental one when he quite literally bumps into her at a restaurant. Then she saves him from a rabid group of fans. When he finds out who she is, he assumes that their meeting wasn't accidental. And this is a continuing theme in their relationship. He assumes that she's all about the job, cools off and acts like a jerk, and then eventually figures out that he's being a jerk. And that was sort of boring. To see Riley make the same mistake over and over again and having Savannah apologize because he's hurt....
I think most regular Chase readers will not be disappointed but I was hoping for a little better from Riley.

Three stars
This book comes out December 6
Follows Always My Girl
Followed by Sky Full of Stars

Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts

Ohmigosh. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was really worried about this book. The first book in the series was a pale replica of earlier Roberts trilogies and Annika quite frankly annoyed the hell out of me. To read a whole book about her? Well, there was more story than characterization in this book so the story of Annika and Sawyer falling more in love was there, but there was also a lot of movement in the overarching story of finding the three stars.
Annika is a mermaid who just got land legs in the last story. Because she revealed that she's a mermaid, she only has those legs for another three months. Just enough time for her to fall in love with the time/space traveler, Sawyer King.
Sawyer is cautious with Annika. Though he is wildly attracted to her, he knows that she is innocent in the ways of humans (even if she does have a penchant for taking her clothes off). And to work through all of this sex stuff while fighting an evil goddess who is now recruiting humans? It's a balancing act that they're all going to have to work at.
I mentioned that the first book in the series as a replica of other Roberts trilogies, the three stars, the character named 'King' who could be a king, and the idea of an evil queen. So, this still feels like a retread but with little new bits thrown in. And, while Annika wasn't as annoying as I thought she would be, she was still annoying. This was better than the first book though and I'm very much looking forward to the third book in this series.

This book comes out June 14
Three and a half stars

Hot in Hellcat Canyon by Julie Anne Long

Was it fate that had megastar John Tennessee (JT) McCord's truck dying in Hellcat Canyon? It sure seems like it when he lays eyes on the waitress at the Misty Cat. He's attracted to to her and that attraction sky rockets when she starts casually dropping words like "enigmatic."
Some might say that Britt Langley's decision to stay in Hellcat Canyon is hiding out. But she feels safe where she is. And the fact that JT isn't going to be in town long? That goes right on to the "pro" side of her decision of whether or not to sleep with him.
A very cute story and I'm desperately hoping that JT's frenemy Franco Francone gets his own HEA. The Big Misunderstanding dragged on a bit at the end and I wish there had been better condom use but this book generally has me walking away with warm fuzzies.
Four stars
This book comes out May 31
Followed by Wild at Whiskey Creek 

Love Walks In by Samantha Chase

For me, Samantha Chase can be uneven. Some of her stories I really enjoy, others I can barely finish. The book before this one, Made for You, I didn't enjoy so much. This one, I liked.
When we meet Hugh Shaughnessy, he's a rebellious teenager whose biggest act coincides with the night his mother dies. That completely changes him and he swings to the other extreme, becoming very rigid.
When we meet him again as an adult, he's the owner of twelve resorts and in a panic because his events planner (the same person for all twelve) has just left. No two weeks notice. Just gone. And Hugh does NOT deal well with change. He is definitely not amused to find pink luggage not attached to a person on the resort's immaculate lawn. Nor is he later amused to see a woman with a proclivity for tiny underwear.
Aubrey is a Runaway Bride who has just had the luck to meet the man who is about to make Hugh a LOT of money. The man, an eccentric, immediately decides he loves Aubrey and he demands that she be the new point person for the events he is having at Hugh's resorts. An immediate reason for Aubrey and Hugh to spend more time together without being gross because he's not really her boss.
I wish we had seen Hugh open up to Aubrey about his OCD (though we didn't really see any evidence of actual OCD except with the dinners, mostly he just talks about having it). It was almost like love magically cured him of all his issues with the past. So, either his issues were overstated or we have a magic hoo-ha situation here.
There were issues, as I've noted, but the pacing was nice, I liked both Aubrey and Hugh and this was a sold "OK" book for me.

This book comes out April 5, 2016
Three stars

Followed by Always My Girl