Star of His Heart

by Brenda Jackson

Harlequin/Kimani Press

ISBN: 978-1-4268-6461-2

Rachel Wellesley has worked hard to be considered an exceptional makeup artist and wardrobe consutant in Hollywood.  Despite being a member of a famous family, she has fought for her independence and furiously guards her privacy, making a point of staying out of the media limelight.  When the hunky, upcoming actor Ethan Chambers lands a part in Paging the Doctor, a soap that Rachel is working on, she knows she’s in trouble. She is no more immune to Ethan’s charms than the other women on the set. 

Ethan finds the petite and lovely Rachel appealing but he isn’t on the set to make new conquests. This is his big break and he is going to use the opportunity to prove himself.  He could have stayed in his family’s business in Napa Valley but his dream is to become an accomplished actor.

            Rachel and Ethan are attached to each other but both resist their feelings because they don’t want to damage their careers.  There is a no fraternizing rule on the set so Ethan and Rachel agree to just be friends. Rachael knows that Ethan is also off limits because he attracts media attention and she wants nothing to do with that.

            When Ethan can’t return to his home because of the paparazzi, he calls Rachel and asks if he can stay the night in her condo. Against her better judgment she agrees. Ethan admits to wanting more than friendship, and Rachel says she does also. After a night of passionate lovemaking, Ethan knows there is no going back, he is crazy about Rachel. She agrees to a relationship but no one, especially the media, must know about their affair. Ethan goes along with her demands, but doesn’t like it. He wants everyone to know Rachel is his woman. They spend weeks sneaking around and acting as if there is nothing between them while they are on the set. When their relationship is found out, Ethan wants to tell the world that he loves her. Rachel refuses to have anything to do with the media, breaking it off with Ethan.

Will Ethan convince Rachel he is worth stepping into the limelight for?  

This book is a great reminder that actors and actresses are real people that desire love, life and privacy like anyone else. I’ve not read a book recently that takes place in Hollywood and this one was refreshing. Nice story.

White Heat

by Brenda Novak

MIRA Books

ISBN-10: 0778327957

White Heat kicks off a new romantic suspense series by Brenda Novak featuring the operatives of Department 6, a private security company that specializes in dangerous, high-risk assignments.  This book features Rachel Jessop and Nate Ferrentino, two people who are less than thrilled to be on their way to Paradise, a ghost town in the Arizona desert.  They’ve been on eggshells around each other since the awkward and unhappy morning after their one and only night together several months earlier and now they’ll be going undercover as husband and wife to infiltrate a religious cult that appears to have taken a turn into dangerous territory.  A woman has escaped from the cult’s compound, claiming that the members of the Church of the Covenant attempted to stone her to death and now a local teenage girl is missing and her mother is certain her disappearance is at the hands of the church. 

Ethan Wycliff is one scary dude.  The charismatic founder of the Church of the Covenant is well-spoken and handsome, drawing and binding people to him with ease.  Unfortunately, his charm hides a much darker side that includes drugs, countless depravities and even murder.  This is the man Nate and Rachel must bring down and he proves more than a worthy adversary.  Novak has created a villain that is the worst kind of cult leader and I admit, he brought more than a few chills to my spine, especially when his plans for Rachel are brought to light.  I think what makes him so scary is his realism.  This is a man that could live next door, be my child’s college roommate, be the murderer about whom people say, “He was such a nice man.”

White Heat is a gripping, edge-of-the-seat story with intriguing characters and truly evil villains.  The desert setting is perfect, giving the reader the same feeling of dread and isolation that Rachel feels when she purposely puts herself at the mercy of Wycliff, cutting herself off from Nate and outside help.  The love story builds slowly and realistically, gaining in intensity and culminating in a classic life and death race against time.

This is a book that I had a hard time putting down. In fact, it kept me awake late into the night until I finally turned the final page. The story grabbed me from the beginning and still has me thinking about it long after the final page was turned.  Brenda Novak really is a master of her craft.

I can’t wait to read more Department 6 books. Luckily, I won’t have to wait long! The next book, Body Heat will be released August 31st, to be followed by Killer Heat on September 28th.

PJ Ausdenmore

Scandal: His Majesty’s Love-Child

By Annie West

Harlequin Presents

ISBN: 9780373129287

Bad boy, Prince Tahir Al’Ramiz was banned from his family and the country of Qusay years earlier. Now, his older brother says Tahir needs to come home, his father has died. Despite a brutal childhood, Tahir still loves his mother and brothers. Flying his helicopter across the desert, he is hit by an unexpected sand storm and crashes. Tahir stumbles into an oasis and Annalisa Hanson’s campsite.

                Born and raised in Qusay, Annalisa feels safe in the oasis until the dark, handsome Tahir arrives.  Daughter of a Dutch doctor, she nurses the wounded Tahir, saving his life. During days of being together, Tahir and Annalisa find themselves more and more attracted to each other. After a night of passionate love, Tahir realizes he isn’t the type of man Annalisa needs. He pushes her away but promises to take care of her if she is pregnant.

                A camel train returns for Annalisa, but she remains behind while Tahir leaves. At the capital, he finds that he is the new king. A few weeks later Annalisa arrives at the palace to tell Tahir she is going to have a baby.  Tahir feels obligated to take her as his wife but what Annalisa really wants is his love.

Does Annalisa convince Tahir, who has known little tenderness in his life, that she cares for him and that he is capable of loving her in return?

                You will have to read and find out.  A dark, royal sheik is hard to beat in a hero. I liked this book. It doesn’t disappoint.

First Comes Twins

by Helen Brenna

Harlequin Superromance

ISBN: 13-9780373715824

Photojournalist, Noah Bennett, left Mirabelle Island fifteen years earlier. Now, he is forced to return in order to recover from an injury he received while being in-bedded with the Army in the Middle East.  Years before he had left his father, brother and the girl he thought was the love of his life.  Not long after he’d gone, Noah learned that Sophie Rousseau had married his older brother. She hadn’t waited on him.  Hurt, Noah stayed away and learned a few years later that Sophie and his brother had twins.  Noah had no plans to ever return to Mirabelle Island.

                A widow for two years, Sophie isn’t happy to see Noah.  She once loved him, he was everything to her and he’d left her. She wants him gone again, but still feels the old pull he had on her. Sophie has always loved Noah but she refuses to let him hurt her again. He hates the island and would never stay. She will never leave; the island is a part of her.

                As Noah’s health improves with Sophie’s care, they grow closer. Noah meets and learns to love her two children.  Noah wonders if Sophie and her two children are the readymade family that could bring him home for good. Sophie wants Noah to stay on the island, but he knows he can’t stay forever. Will the two old lovers find a way to make their complicated relationship work?

                I enjoyed this book. It was full of conflict, a sign of an excellent writer. Still, it didn’t answer a question I had. You’ll have to read it to find out what that question was.

No Holding Back

by Isabel Sharpe

Harlequin  Blaze

ISBN: 13:978-0-373-79448-5

Reporter Hannah O’Reilly wants the big story bad enough that she’ll follow any lead that comes her way.  When she is told that the elusive Jack Brattle lives just down the road from the home where she is attending a New Year’s Party, she decides to take her chances and go to his house.

At the mansion, she meets Derek Johnson a friend of Jack Brattle’s that is staying there.  Because of horrible weather, Hannah is forced to remain at the house overnight.  Hannah is willingly seduced by the sexy, handsome Derek. After a heated night in bed, Derek admits to being the reporter at the competing newspaper that Hannah has been sparring with over the last year. He has set this meeting up. 

                Hannah is angry at being tricked but is persuaded by Derek to give them a chance to get to know each other better. Hannah agrees, and they spend the next day getting to know each other better in and out of bed. They fall in love. 

                Derek reveals that he is really Jack Brattle and if Hannah still wants the interview he will agree to it.  Hannah is mad at being manipulated again. She can’t trust him. Hannah leaves never intending to see Derek/Jack again.  Will the love they found during those hot twenty four hours bring them together again?

This book is appropriately title, nothing is held back.  The cover is red, and the book is hot on the inside, and you may need to wait until it snows to read it. You won’t need a fire.

Maid For The Millionaire

by Susan Meier 

Publisher:  Harlequin Romance

ISBN:  13:978-0-373-17669-4

Genre: Romance

• Liz Harper’s to-do list as boss of Happy Maids:
• Drive to new client’s palatial Miami beach house, armed with housekeeping kit
• Try to stay upright when discovering he is none other than Cain Nestor—reclusive millionaire and infuriatingly distant ex-husband…
• Keep tight-lipped about the secret that made you walk out on your marriage
• Let him see the new you—successful business owner.  Don’t let on that he’s making your heart beat twice as fast as normal!
• Above all, remember to be professional—you’re not here for romance!

Susan Meier is the author of 40 books for Harlequin and Silhouette and one of Guideposts’ Grace Chapel Inn series books.  In Maid for the Millionaire, Ms. Meier kept the action going throughout the book.  It’s a romance.  It’s the way romance should be.  Next month she publishes another book, Maid for the Single Dad.

A Lesson in Love

Gina Leuci

L&L Dream-Spell

ISBN: 978-1-60318-236-2

Maddie Carlisle has broken her engagement. Now is the time to start her life over. She’s going back to school, has a new place to live and found a new job. She just needs to find a new man. While in a bar talking about her new plans, her friends encourage her to have a one night stand, at least. She meets just the guy. They talk, laugh and leave the bar together, but he sees her safely to the subway instead of taking her to his hotel.

                Bryan Weston is just as shocked as Maddie to find her in his college English class. History is repeating itself and not kindly. Being accused of having an affair with a student could be happening again.  Except this time, it could be true. He wants Maddie badly, but he will resist her in order to keep his job, at least until after finals.

                Maddie can’t believe the sexy, handsome and funny man she met in the bar is her teacher. She tries to change classes but ends up staying in his class. When strange things start to happen, Maddie doesn’t understand who is doing them. Bryan helps her after class when she doesn’t feel well and takes her home. When her car is damaged he is there to support her. No matter how hard they try, they keep being pulled together.

                It turns out that Maddie’s ex is stalking her.  He threats to tell the school board about her relationship with Bryan and to harm his young daughter.  Maddie breaks up with him to keep Bryan and his daughter safe.  When Maddie is kidnapped by the ex, Bryon rushes to save her not knowing if she will return his love.

                I’ve not read a “it could be me” romance in a long time. This one was refreshing. This is Gina’s début novel and I look forward to reading more of her work.