Laura Freeman's Blog, page 10
June 24, 2022
Christmas at Hope Ranch
Christmas at Hope Ranch by Loretta Rogers 2020 western romance
Sheriff Wade Grey picks up model Addison James from the airport. She has a broken arm and a large gash on her forehead which most likely will end her modeling career. She is returning home to Aunt Nell’s Hope Ranch depressed over finding her ex-fiance having sex with her matron of honor on her wedding day and then falling when a runway collapsed. She is at a low point in her life, but others in the story have problems as well.
Nell is taking care of twins, Julie and Joey, whose grandmother died. Their mother, who enlisted in the army when they were toddlers, is in parts unknown. Wade is trying to find her. Wade has problems of his own regarding his childhood sweetheart Gracie who broke his heart. Her story is saved for later in the book.
Nell has gotten into debt and may lose Hope Ranch where she has taken in hundreds of orphaned children, including Addison. No one wants to plan the annual holiday festival.
Even though everyone has had a hard time in their lives, the story is optimistic, especially as Christmas approaches, and readers will feel the spirit of the holidays as miracles begin to happen.
More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com
#holiday #romance #western #LorettaRogers
June 21, 2022
It’s a Wonderful Undead Life
It’s a Wonderful Undead Life by R. E. Mullins 2012 Supernatural romance
Even if you don’t usually read vampire stories, you’ll enjoy this one. Cailey is the nil or non-vampire who is an innocent pawn in a vampire coup with the Toltec vampires trying to overtake the Nosferatu vampires. Mullins uses her work as a phlebotomist to share medical terminology accurately as Cailey and her best friend Morgan, are employed in a hospital lab working, you guessed it, as phlebotomists. This job comes in handy when she needs blood for emergency feedings.
The evil Vincent nearly kills Cailey, which is a half-life in vampire terms, but makes her drink Gabe’s blood, a good vampire of the Blautsauger family. If you say Blautsauger is does sound like bloodsucker. That will give you a taste (ha ha) of the humor in this story. And yes, the title is a reference to “It’s a Wonderful Life” with a bridge, falling in the river, and the symbolism of a new life.
Gabe is in love with Cailey from the beginning of turning her into a vampire, but she lost her mother a few years ago and divorced her cheating husband, whom she helped through medical school, so trusting others is not a high priority, and she wants her independence. This sets up the battle between the characters as Gabe resists teaching her how to suck blood from humans. Her first tries are hilarious.
Mullins uses Cailey’s initiation into being a vampire to share the history of vampires and the rules they live under. Gabe also has two sisters and a brother who provide plenty of interaction in the tight-knit family. Future books will likely feature them. And a romance is hinted at between younger brother, Rabe, and Cailey’s best friend, Morgan.
In addition to Gabe and Cailey’s relationship woes, Vincent’s boss Senor Osvaldo is plotting to overthrow the Nosferatu vampires and kidnaps Cailey to lure Gabe to the Root Beer factory. Yeah, that was cute, too, but explains how a school field trip gave Cailey inside information on the factory. A huge battle follows with a surprise visitor. And of course, the couple must sort out their differences, declare their love, and find their happy ending.
If you want to learn about vampires, read this book. If you want to laugh and enjoy a great read, ditto.
More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com
#supernatural #romance #vampires #REMullins
June 16, 2022
Practising for Christmas
Practising for Christmas by Rachael Richey – Romance 2018
Richey lives in Cornwall, England and writes accordingly with settings in England and words and phrases Americans aren’t used to, but it’s the real deal and will add words like Wellies, snogging, gobsmacked, and skives to your vocabulary along with a few strange spellings.
Olivia has invited two other couples to her aunt’s cottage for Christmas only she found her boyfriend, Chris, snogging another woman at a party just days earlier and broke up with him. While walking on the beach, she discovers a man who slipped on the rocks and hit his head. She takes him home to the cottage. He just found his girlfriend, Naomi, in bed with his best friend at his house not far away. That gives them a common experience.
They tell each other about themselves, joke about him being a serial killer, and he sleeps on the couch to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion. When the others arrive, Sarah is catty and claims she didn’t think Chris was real since Olivia never has a boyfriend for long. Adam claims to be Chris so her friends don’t feel sorry for her.
Olivia and Adam get along well together and appear to be the perfect pair as they practise being in love. As they develop feelings, are they real or pretend? Then problems arise as her best friend Jess wants to know the truth and Naomi shows up looking for Adam.
Richey develops the characters and uses humor to move the story along. She adds plenty of action toward the end.
More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com
#romance #England #RachaelRichey
June 13, 2022
A Highland Moon Enchantment
A Highland Moon Enchantment by Mary Morgan, highlander supernatural romance 2017
Morgan knows how to combine historical and supernatural with ease. She also adds time travel for many of her characters.
Although this is a spinoff of The Order of the Dragon Knights series, it can be read independently. Desmond O’Quinlan is fighting his brother-in-law, Alistair McKay over a past wrong done to his sister, Fiona, who escaped danger by traveling through time. Determined to make them become friends, Fiona send them off alone to a castle to work out their differences.
Ailsa McDuff is traveling with her father, Bran, the leader of a small island near Scotland, a mysterious man named Muir, and a druid named Tam. They are attacked by King John’s men, but Desmond and Alistair come to the rescue. Ailsa and Desmond have never been in love but sparks fly.
Morgan knows how to write romance and begins their courtship with Desmond mentioning kissing her, igniting her curiosity and desire. Knowing they both will return to their homes after the holiday, neither wants to risk their hearts. Family members help push them together, and a traitor threatens to tear them apart.
Many writers and readers prefer a series because the characters can be introduced in an early book and then have their own story in a sequel. Much of the background is established in the earlier work and can be revealed bit by bit to a new reader while someone who has read the earlier story can pick out the information they remember.
More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman. wordpress.com
#historical #highlander #romance #supernatural #MaryMorgan
June 10, 2022
A Regency Christmas Anthology
A Regency Christmas Anthology by Susan Payne 2020
Payne gives us three Regency stories with enough complexity in the novellas to make every chapter interesting. Her characters have the reader urging them to fall in love.
In the first story Penny considers herself a spinster and helps teach orphans to read to better their lives while her younger brother Christopher pretends to be a gentleman above his rank and ends up owing a large gambling debt to Lord Daniel Leighton. The story could go in many different directions, but Payne keeps the story centered on Penny and Daniel. He falls in love with her when she gives her scarf and gloves to an orphan girl, but he suspects Christopher of taking advantage of his niece, Julia, to better his station.
Payne begins the story with Christopher as a brash, self-centered young man but develops him into someone unexpected. Character growth is important, and Payne moves the story along by the reaction of the other characters to his change.
In the second story Winston Wright, Earl of Williamsburg, is 39 and looking for a young bride among the debutantes. In walks Emily and something about her seems familiar. Then her mother, Malinda, enters and a stab of memory makes him curious about her. She was in love with him in her first season, but he was vain and too busy having fun to fall in love with her. Now he thinks she is too old to produce an heir for him.
Payne gives us a foolish hero who must learn from his bad behaviors and hurtful words. He is the character that grows and changes in the story.
In the third story Michie is a baker for Gunter’s Tea Shop placing eclairs on a tray at Lord Daniel Healey’s townhouse. He falls in love with her confections and with her, but they are of different social status, and Michie has a secret.
Secrets are a good device to keep a reader turning the pages. Payne reveals the secret toward the end and uses the remaining pages to sort out a solution to the problem.
More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com
#Romance #Regency #SusanPayne
June 6, 2022
Christmas in Kissinger
Christmas in Kissinger by Misty Simon (Kissinger Kisses #4) 2016
Simon gives us three novellas with three couples in the setting of Kissinger, PA. Stories can be tied together with family, a setting, or a building. This one also uses the Barton Inn to tie the characters together.
In the first story, Jocelyn Moreland teaches dance and Dexter wants his friends to perform a dance at his wedding to Zoe. One of them is Sam Locke, who was briefly married to Jocelyn 11 years ago. They meet at the dance lesson in a similar fashion as their first meeting when he was in the military and she danced on a bar.
Second chance stories are popular because the characters have already met, they have chemistry and history, and a problem that keeps them apart until it is resolved. Both Sam and Jocelyn have a group of friends they rely on for advice and support. A character needs a best friend to talk to and listen to as the relationship takes its ups and downs.
The second story is about Adele Dame, who is the manager at Barton Inn. She’s been a spectator in other’s lives, but her friends are pushing her to date. Logan is working on an addition at the inn but thinks Adele is too serious a relationship for his bachelor ways, and she has friends with too many of his friends. What if it doesn’t work out?
Simon shows what Adele and Logan have in common and describes the reactions they have to each other that shows their feelings without any sexual scenes. This is a nice change from too many stories with detailed erotica scenes. She does have fun using the garter and bouquet ritual from a wedding to push the main characters to acknowledge their feelings.
The final story is about Paige Barton, a wedding consultant, whose boyfriend walked out when she told him she was pregnant. The baby, Ian, is three months old and Morgan wants back in their lives. This is another spin on a secret baby or second chance story. They have to talk about what went wrong and resolve their problems before they can move on.
More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com
#romance #MistySimon
June 3, 2022
Blue Lake Christmas
Blue Lake Christmas, Blue Lake series by Cynthia Harrison – mystery, 2016
This cozy mystery has new reporter Holly Fass starting a new job in small-town Blue Lake by Lake Huron, Ohio. Editor Rachel is retiring and when her boyfriend has a heart attack, she leaves Holly to write stories on her own, including updates on the murder of Jordan, who died during a meal of a divorce club meeting.
The obvious suspect is the host, Will Hudson, who made a sex tape of one of the members of the club. Holly has two men in her life, Bob, who was in love with Lily with a backstory tied to many in the community, and Sam, the officer investigating the murder.
Harrison keeps us guessing who the bad guy is and withholds a piece of information to keep the attention off one of the suspects. She uses Holly’s job as a writer to interview suspects in the crime. The job is a good choice for an amateur sleuth. It also helps that she wants to write true crime stories, and this could be a new project to launch that career.
Often in a cozy mystery, the amateur sleuth doesn’t have a strong motive for figuring out the crime. If it is a stand-alone story, the investigator can be the suspect or have a close tie to the suspect and want to prove their innocence. In a series, the investigator needs a strong reason to keep sticking her nose into crimes.
This is a holiday story but can be read any day of the year.
More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com
#mystery #cozy #CynthiaHarrison
May 30, 2022
Christmas Past
Christmas Past by Roni Adams 2010 Romance
Christmas Past is a second chance story which is a popular way to reunite two people who already have an established relationship, problems, and need to resolve issues from the past before they can move forward.
Mark Grayson is a successful businessman who has everything he ever dreamed of except someone to love. His wife, Bailee, walked out on him ten years ago after a short marriage because he spent so much time working for a better life, and she felt neglected.
Bailee has worked for a non-profit all these years and no man she has met measures up to Mark except for a new man, Daniel, she met on an online dating site. They plan to meet New Year’s Eve at a ski resort where Bailee is staying in a cabin owned by her best friend, Karen.
Mark shows up at the same cabin, invited by his best friend, Sam, who is married to Karen. It’s a great cute-meet-again scene and writers should strive for that “oh no!” moment in a story.
The old sparks fly between the couple, but sex was never their problem, and they have to figure out if there is enough true love to make their relationship work. Love stories tend to focus on attraction, sex, and feeling in love, but writers need a little more of the practical in a story. What did this couple have in common that would make the second time work? Make sure you give your romantic story a reason for two people to be together beyond the bedroom. This story resolves some of the issues not resolved in the steamy scenes.
It has a “You’ve Got Mail” vibe to it and fans of romcoms will enjoy this story.
#romance #RoniAdams
More book reviews are available at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com
May 26, 2022
www.Cupid
http://www.Cupid by Annette Miller 2016, A Candy Hearts Romance
Allison is the boss in the Department of Romance and Proposals in a company run by Cupid. Preston Kyle was her college sweetheart but now works for her. Instead of following the strict rules of Cupid to the letter to help two people fall in love, he often improvises, and on his latest assignment his invisability coat catches fire and his image is caught on a television screen at a wrestling match. This incident leads to his arrest and embarrassment for the magic world. Allison is caught in the middle with Cupid angry at her and Preston resigning.
Although Preston breaks rules to help others, Allison has to learn that a little rule breaking is forgivable. It’s always nice if characters learn something during the course of the story. Especially in a romance in which the reader expects them to fall in love. What other changes to the characters or conflicts can they overcome to make the story more interesting?
Writers of the supernatural or fantasy need to create a world that is different from what is familiar to most readers. Miller does this smoothly without any info dumps. It helps that most people are familiar with Cupid and know something is different about this company and its employees. She reveals the magic worlds and its rules through actual cases and situations. In one short section, she reveals some of the rules through a character. It also helps that the magic world looks and performs like a normal business corporation. Use what a reader is familiar with and introduce what is new and different in the writer’s created world.
#romance #paranormal #Cupid #Valentine
More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com
May 24, 2022
Charm Me
Charm Me by Tena Stetler, A Candy Hearts Romance
Charm Me is a paranormal romance with both the hero and heroine having magical powers. This adds a layer of problems to the romance and increases the tension in the story.
Summer Rylie is a yoga instructor who signs up for a gun class at the Gun Club owned by Devlin Sawyer. They have instant chemistry, and their romance moves along at a quick pace in this novella. He was a Navy Seal and she recently bought the yoga property but those are their human problems.
Stetler reveals their magical powers and the reasons they are now in Colorado. They also discover a new magic between them. Stetler shares information about guns and skiing in the story, which educates the reader and adds authenticity to the story. Sometimes a setting or plot is too familiar. You don’t have to add exotic settings if you add unusual information that readers may appreciate.
Short stories can often be a complex outline for a longer version of the story. If you’ve only written novels, think about a shorter story to focus the plot and characters before expanding a story to its full length. That sounds a little erotic like this story. : )
#romance #magical #paranormal
More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com
