Laura Freeman's Blog, page 11

Forever in the Moment

Forever in the Moment by Charlotte O’Shay

Samantha “Sam” works for her father as junior lawyer and her fiance Ben works for her mother who is an accountant. Her life is boring and predictable until Ben decides to marry his former love, Krystal, two weeks before he was going to marry Sam.

O’Shay presents the problem up front and throws the reader into the turbulent life of our heroine so we share her pain. The story is written in first person with a couple of chapters from the hero’s point of view.

Sam decides to go on the honeymoon trip alone in Vermont and wear her new clothes. She plans to try new things, including learning to ski, and rethink her life.

Facing a crisis or change in life gives a heroine or hero momentum to do something out of their comfort zone. Sam doesn’t want to jump into a new relationship, but when her car breaks down, Jed finds her walking in a blizzard and takes her to Deerbourne Inn. Their attraction is instant, but he thinks she’s married because she’s registered under her ex-fiance’s name. She is only planning to stay a week from Christmas to New Year’s Eve so why fall in love?

O’Shay uses the time element well and throws in additional problems that could ruin their happiness. Jed also has a past incident that sheds light on his behavior. The author gives us a deep and thorough background for the characters to make their interaction and decisions believable and enjoyable.

#romance #holiday #CharlotteOShay

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Oh La La

Oh La La by Doreen Alsen, A Candy Hearts Romance novella

Accountant and math instructor Veronica Cooke is taken to a strip club by her friends, Gina, Andi, and Ainslie, all who are happily married and want Veronica to have fun. The Cowboy dancer makes eye contact with her and sparks fly, but she doesn’t believe she’ll ever meet him again.

This is a common way to introduce two characters. They meet, part, and never think they’ll meet again. The reader knows otherwise.

Simon West dances as a stripper in his spare time. He also teaches dance at the same college where Veronica teaches math. He has plans to choreograph a ballet and is waiting for his big break to fulfill his dream. Clumsy Veronica runs him down in the hall when he takes a shortcut to class. He hates numbers and thinks accountants are boring.

Giving romantic characters opposite traits helps to create tension in the relationship. How will they overcome their differences? She apologizes for running him over, and they go for coffee. Her mother calls about fixing her up for the Ballet Guild ball, and she asks Simon to take her instead. He offers to teach her to dance. Just as they are moving the romance along, her parents forbid her to see Simon because he’s a stripper and her father is running for governor.

This new problem adds more tension to the relationship. Each problem should build with a solution and a new problem. Even though a romance has a happily ever after ending, the reader should wonder how they get there. Keep them guessing.

#romance #DoreenAlsen

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Christmas at the Corral

Christmas at the Corral by Debra St. John, western romance novella

Van Rawlings is home to spend the Christmas holidays with family only his brother Zack and his wife Jessica can’t return because of a snowstorm. While at the bar, he overhears a woman next to him talking to Zack and complaining about him not making it back to town. He thinks she is his mistress and confronts her.

Maggie Pearson tries to ignore Van but she accepts a dance with him and when he confronts her about Zach, she sets him straight. Zack was hired to cook dinner for a charity event at the Corral, the bar they are at currently. She has to throw together the celebration for donors and enlists his help.

Van is a successful divorce lawyer but jaded about marriage, revealed by jumping to the conclusion Zack would cheat on his wife with Maggie. She loves Christmas, the town, an old house in the square, and helping others. He needs to return to his job in Dallas. Will any romance take off?

Even though this is a novella, St. John takes the time for the characters to learn about each other and what they value. It isn’t a hop in bed story but scenes are steamy. It’s a novella to keep you warm on a cold night.

#romance #western #DebraSt.John

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Red Snowflakes

Red Snowflakes by Kristal Dawn Harris

Vampire Dimitri Kovac has given up waiting for his blood mate to appear after 200 years. Then Dena Williams, a crime scene photographer gets lost in a storm Dimitri creates and ends up nearly dead on his doorstep.

Can Dimitri convince Dena to become his blood mate and embrace the world of a vampire? Or will Dimitri fall in love with her and cease to exist so she can have a mortal life?

When an author writes a supernatural story, do research on the rules for that supernatural being. Harris explains away some of the myths with humor like Dimitri telling Dena he prefers a bed to a coffin to sleep in. Humor makes the story more lighthearted than the dark idea of someone maintaining immortality by sucking the blood from another.

She adds details to the life of a vampire by showing different powers he possesses like shapeshifting, creating clothing, and controlling the weather. With supernatural stories, the author isn’t limited to what was written before, but shouldn’t change too much that is accepted unless an explanation is provided. A supernatural story allows the writer to create a unique world and characters.

Harris also uses good description to put the reader in the story and create mood. She creates tension as well as humor throughout her story.

#romance #KristalDawnHarris #supernatural

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One Kiss

One Kiss by Misty Simon, A Candy Hearts Romance

Misty is a fellow author at The Wild Rose Press and this is a novella in a holiday series for Valentine’s Day. Short stories like this are a good way for new authors to begin careers in writing or learn to focus because characters are limited and the plot has to be concise.

In this story happy newlyweds Melanie and Dillan Allenson hosts a Valentine’s Day party for singles in their small town. Reluctant participants include her best friend Lore, whose fiance died in the war. She finally attended a New Year’s Party and kissed a stranger. Not able to forget him, she meets Caleb at the party.

This story connects with readers because everyone has gone to a party and stumbled through the awkward introductions and matchmaking that goes on. The pressure to hook up can make anyone uncomfortable. Caleb and Lore plan to leave early but once they recognize the other from New Year’s Eve, they stay and the sparks fly.

Writers can use familiar settings and situations to draw a reader in but add humor or surprises to keep the interest high.

#romance #Valentines #MistySimon

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Another Waltz

Another Waltz by Kathy Otten

This holiday novella can be read any time of the year. The many layers provide an enchanting but complex story as Maddy Winthrop, who has a limp, and is treated like a servant in her brother, Payton’s rich home, learns to stand up for herself with the encouragement of James Sullivan.

James paid Payton money to invest while he served in the Civil War and lived in Texas. He has come to collect his money, but Payton has him beaten instead. James thinks Maddy has betrayed him, and Maddy believes James lied to her about who he was and that he loved her.

Otten creates the historic story by adding just enough historic facts, settings, and mannerisms with the added struggle of the rich with the poor Irish servants. The characters behave as expected not only for the time period but according to their personalities.

Otten is a fellow author at The Wild Rose Press, and we did a presentation at the Stow Library years ago. I highly recommend her writing.

#historical #romance #KathyOtten

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A Warrior for Christmas

A Warrior for Christmas by Beth Trissel 2012 romance

The story takes place in 1764 in Philadelphia. Randolph Whitfield has claimed his nephew, Corwin, from the Shawnees who have raised him for eight years after his parents were killed. Randolph has named Corwin his heir, but he longs to return to his adopted Shawnee family.

Corwin meets Randolph’s ward, Dimity Scott who lost her hearing from scarlet fever and her parents to smallpox. They are attracted to each other, the goal of Randolph, but Dimity worries Corwin will leave to follow his heart into the wilderness. She plans a Christmas celebration and teaches him to dance only to have a rival make his interest in Dimity plain.

The story has both internal and external conflict, which keeps tension in the story, and the reader guessing what man Dimity will choose. Although this is a short novella, it could be expanded into a longer novel. Writers can learn how to write a plot and main characters in a short story and focus those elements for a longer story.

#Colonial #Historical #romance

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The Gift

The Gift by Donna Dalton

Set in 1870 Kentucky this is a short novella (28 pages) but enjoyable as widow Eva Baird tries to build a new life. Her cold-hearted mother-in-law has taken her daughter, Lizzie, from her after her husband died and has forced her employer, store owner Nelson Simpson, to fire her. After her family died, Eva worked at a whorehouse to keep from starving. Her husband saved her from that life, and she strives to be respectable and a lady to win custody of Lizzie.

Lyle Haggard is a former bank robber who spent the last four years in prison. He is in the store buying a gift for his mother when he meets Eva. They have instant chemistry but guard their past. She uses a gun to help Lyle when his former partners accuse him of having the bank money. They plan to escape to Chicago together but what about Lizzie?

Short stories can work as an outline for a longer story, and I see this as having the potential for a longer novel. The characters are interesting and with additional challenges, it could be expanded. For a quick read, it was enjoyable with a desire for more.

#Historical #romance #DonnaDalton

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Serial

Serial by Casey Hill 2011 Thriller mystery

This is the first book in the CSI Reilly Steel Thriller series and I had already read two later books in the series. I enjoyed seeing how Reilly’s career began and recommend this story which answered many of the questions of why she moved to Dublin and her family past.

Reilly is a forensic investigator who has moved to Dublin to be close to her alcoholic father. While her superior is on vacation, she trains her young staff and investigates a series of odd murders dubbed the Taboo murders because the victims do something they never would do such as incest, homosexuality, cannibalism, and mercy killing.

She works with Detectives Chris Delaney and Pete Kennedy on the cases and wins them over. She also asks her tutor from the FBI, Daniel Forrest, an expert profiler, to help.

Hill allows the reader to tag along on the investigation, uncovering clues and analyzing them with the investigators. She also throws in plenty of surprises and makes the case more personal as it progresses.

In addition, pressure is put on to solve the case and her supervisor is called back from vacation to help or interfere. All the clues presented earlier in the story fit together like a puzzle and are resolved in a satisfactory manner by the last page. Danger increases until the final confrontation with the killer. For anyone writing a mystery novel, this is a good book to use as a guide on how to do it.

#mystery #police #Dublin #forensic #CaseyHill

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Saving Shadow

Saving Shadow by Laura Beers 2017 Regency Romance

Saving Shadow is a combination of Regency romance and spy thriller because our heroine, Lady Elizabeth Beckett or Eliza, is also a spy for the Crown. Her Uncle Charles is the spymaster and values her ability to memorize documents and break codes. She begins working with her brother Jonathon, also a spy, and makes a name for her exploits as Shadow.

After four years of field work, Eliza is burnt out, especially after her last kill. She won’t talk to Jonathan or her butler Larson, a retired agent, but she meets Benedict, Earl of Sinclair, at a ball. Shadow saved his life and he went to school with Jonathan. He is tied deeper into the story because his stepbrother, Aaron Ward, is the villain. He abducts women and sells them to brothels. Shadow has stopped him several times and rescued 57 women. They are trying to build a case against him, but they have not found anything incriminating yet.

Benedict and Eliza become partners when Jonathon is assigned to another case. The romance takes off as the two share their troubled past. His beloved brother was murdered by Aaron but made it appear like an accident. She confides in him about her nightmares from killing and her fear of being controlled by a husband like her poor sister. She is the “hero” of her own story and partners with the man she loves, who helps her emotionally handle the darkness that comes from fighting evil men.

Many regencies treat the heroine like a fragile female once the hero enters the story, and he vows to protect her, but Beers maintains Eliza’s identity as a woman able to defend herself and take a beating when necessary. You cheer her on in spite of the bruises she has to take.

#LauraBeers #Regency #Romance #Spy

More book reviews are available at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com