Book Binge

Rowena's review for Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts.

Hero: Gulliver Curry
Heroine: Rowan Tripp

Little else in life is as dangerous as fire jumping. Flying past towering pillars of smoke, parachuting down to the edge of an all-consuming blaze, shoveling and sawing for hours upon hours, days at a time, all to hold the line and push back against the raw power of Mother Nature.

But there’s also little else as thrilling — at least to Rowan Tripp. The Missoula smoke jumpers are one of the most exclusive firefighting squads in the nation, and the job is in Rowan’s blood: her father is a legend in the field. She’s been fighting fires since her eighteenth birthday. At this point, returning to the wilds of Montana for the season feels like coming home — even with reminders of the partner she lost last season still lingering in the air.

Fortunately, this year’s rookie crop is among the strongest ever — and Gulliver Curry’s one of the best. He’s also a walking contradiction, a hotshot firefighter with a big vocabulary and a winter job at a kids’ arcade. He came to Missoula to follow in the footsteps of Lucas “Iron Man” Tripp, yet he’s instantly more fascinated by his hero’s daughter. Rowan, as a rule, doesn’t hook up with other smoke jumpers, but Gull is convinced he can change her mind. And damn if he doesn’t make a good case to be an exception to the rule.

Everything is thrown off balance, though, when a dark presence lashes out against Rowan, looking to blame someone for last year’s tragedy. Rowan knows she can’t complicate things with Gull — any distractions in the air or on the ground could be lethal. But if she doesn’t find someone she can lean on when the heat gets intense, her life may go down in flames.

It took me a while to read this book. It started off pretty great but as the book wore on, I found myself wanting to move on to the next book already. That bummed me out because I love Nora Roberts. She always has the ability to make any occupation under the sun seem so hot dang interesting. I've never thought about fire jumpers but holy goodness, are they intense or what? I couldn't imagine myself jumping out of planes into the thick of roaring fires to try to contain them. I couldn't imagine having a loved one be part of this occupation either, those long nights when they're out on a fire and waiting to hear back from them to make sure they're alright.

This book tells the story of how Rowan Tripp and Gulliver Curry fell in love. Rowan is a seasoned fire jumper and Gulliver is a rookie fire jumper. Gulliver likes what he sees whenever Rowan is around and his flirty attitude and general hotness is totally wearing Ro down. There's a crazy person out to get the fire jumpers and all fingers seem to be pointed at Dolly, the ex-girlfriend of a fire jumper that died a year or so ago. She blames the fire jumper crew, especially Ro (who was Jimmy's partner) and she's done a bang up job of telling them (Ro) exactly how she feels about them (her).

Nora Roberts writes a lot of fantabulous books and while I did start off enjoying the heck out of this book, overall this story dragged for me. There's a lot of unnecessary information going on in this book. Lots of things going on as well and while it usually works for me, the secondary romance between Ro's father and one of his customers didn't really get me excited to continue reading the story.

The romance between Ro and Gully showed such promise in the beginning but teetered off somewhere in the middle. Ro's trust issues and all the craziness that comes with all of the drama at work (Dolly destroying Ro's room, the destruction of the room, etc...) should have made this book more interesting but for some reason, it just wasn't. The book isn't bad, it's just not in your face exciting either. The characters, the story, the setting, it's all painted with such pretty words but that's about it. The book has great imagery when it comes to the actual fires and what goes down at the fire house but other than that, things were just okay.

I enjoyed getting to know everyone in the story but I can't honestly say that these characters will stay with me the way that other books by Nora Roberts has.

This book is available from Putnam. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Linda Lael Miller just keeps on creating these tantalizing cowboy/rancher/alpha-male heroes that make us all drool and each of whom are unique and incredibly interesting. That the Creeds are a large family is no longer in doubt, but this trilogy of novels is highlighting a branch of the family that involve twins Brody and Connor Creed along with their cousin Steven who was raised with them after his parents' divorce. Steven is now living in Arizona with his new bride and his 5-year-old adopted son. He makes an appearance in this novel as well. Connor Creed is a man who is ripe and ready for some change in his life, but he is thrown by the re-appearance of his twin who declares that he is settling down in Lonesome Bend and re-assuming his responsibilities on their mutually owned ranch property, responsibilities he has left to Connor to carry for years. Down deep, Brody is needed and Connor aches to see the rift between him and his brother healed. On the other hand, he can't seem to get past the betrayal that ripped them apart years earlier. Now both are in their early 30's and Connor, for one, is ready to find a life-companion and settle down. He is well and truly weary of being alone.

Tricia McCall has returned to Lonesome Bend to visit her grandmother and to sell the various properties bequeathed to her by her dad. She is not a stranger to Lonesome Bend, although she is not as familiar with the residents because she was a sometimes-resident, living there in the summers during her court-ordered visits with her father. She has always planned to return to Seattle after these properties sell and open an art gallery in partnership with her significant other--a man who seems to occupy less and less of her thoughts while Connor seems to be taking up more and more of her thinking space. Tricia freely admits she is drawn to the handsome and rugged rancher, but she is a city girl, a committed resident of Seattle. Well . . . isn't she? Her grandmother isn't so sure, and as Tricia spends time in Lonesome Bend, she is beginning to wonder as well.

This is a novel that bears the unmistakable mark of Miller's writing style and her love for this genre. She has a way of balancing the narrative and interaction of the characters with each other and that ever-present introspection that we all appreciate as a literary way of giving the reader a sense of who each character is, but which can and does so often overwhelm the dialogue. Such is not the case here. This novel embraces love and loss, disappointment and betrayal, family loyalty and worries for the future, the joys of being a part of a settled and caring community, and what it means to be in a committed love relationship, one which may be responsible for both characters having to change their understanding of themselves and each other.

This is a fine addition to Miller's writing portfolio and a very good addition to anyone's romance fiction library. I give it a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J's Book Place.

This book is available from HQN Books. You can buy it here in e-format.

It's a day for remembering those that have served and died in the military to help keep us protected and safe on the homefront. There isn't a day that goes by that we aren't thankful for the service that these brave soldiers give to our country day in and day out.

Thank you to the soldiers who died serving our country and thank you to the soldiers that serve our country now.

We hope that each of you reading our blog has a wonderful and blessed holiday weekend and we'll see you guys tomorrow!

Hugs,
Rowena, Casee & Holly

So I read on Leslie's Psyche that Nora Roberts has a new trilogy coming out about three brothers and their crazy mother rebuilding an Inn. Oh man, it sounds like something I would totally enjoy and now that the Bridal Quartet is finished, I'm really looking forward to this new trilogy.

Bring on the hottie Montgomery brothers! The first book comes out on November 1, 2011 in trade and it's called The Next Always.

Check out the deets:

The historic hotel in BoonsBoro, Maryland, has endured war and peace, changing hands, even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major facelift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect of the family, Beckett's social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got his eye on: the girl he's been waiting to kiss since he was fifteen...

Ooh, the cover looks good, it sounds really cute and it's right up my alley of a good time read so I've marked my calendar already! Make sure to mark yours too!

This book is available from Berkley Trade. You can pre-order it here.

Rowena's review of Mistress Rules by Christine D'Abo.

When Faris steps into his friend and mentor’s inner sanctum, he doesn’t expect to find Stella—a leather-clad Dominatrix. He can only watch as Ulric, the most powerful man in the sector, drops to his knees and throws himself at Stella’s mercy. Faris must decide whether to walk out the door, leaving his friend behind, or to put himself into the hands of a woman who demands nothing less than his absolute surrender. Ulric knows Faris holds himself responsible for the devastating attack on the colony outpost. If Faris doesn’t learn how to forgive himself, the young man will be on the road to emotional disaster.

His only hope is to convince Stella to bring Faris into their lives as another submissive. Ulric must now put his feelings for Stella on the line while holding tight to the man he desperately wants beneath him.

I've never been one that was interested in the whole BDSM scene and I can't say that I'm at all interested in it now but I did find it very interesting to read about in this story. My eyes kept getting bigger and bigger the more I read on in this story because I couldn't for the life of me put myself into Stella's shoes and do what she does with Ulric...and then Faris.

The story centers around Ulric, Stella and Faris. Faris holds himself responsible for an attack that was made on their colony and Ulric wants to help his friend get over it all by bringing him into the inner sanctums of his home. To the outside world, Ulric is this big, strong man who takes orders from no one. He's sure of himself and he's capable of keeping everyone safe but when he sheds that coat and enters Stella's domain, his every move caters to Stella. He is her slave and she is his master.

Stella is sure in her role as Ulrics master, she knows what is expected of her and she knows how to take care of Ulric and she genuinely cares for him. There are roles that are played and Stella is strict in playing them and with the introduction of Faris into their little game, it throws the whole dynamic and Stella, off. The story centers around this. She has to go back and re-do the work she's done on Ulric and then she needs to train Faris.

The story was short but I was very much intrigued by what was going on. I think it was mostly due to the fact that I was interested in seeing this kind of world come to life. I have no idea if this is the norm in a BDSM relationship but it was interesting to see anyway. It was a pretty good read and though it was a short read, it was still pretty good and hecka steamy.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

This book is available from Ellora's Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

Holly: I'm going to the beach tomorrow. I can't even begin to tell you how freaking excited I am. I haven't been to the beach in well over a year. I'm looking forward to doing nothing but lazing in the sand and reading.

I've been on a Lauren Dane binge the last week or so. I read 11 of her books. 11. Cripes. I finally went back and caught up on all the series of her I hadn't read yet. I read all of the Cascadia Wolves series, the de la Vega Cats, the first book in the Witches Knot series and a couple of short standalones. I have to say, for the most part I enjoyed them all. Though I do think I was just in the mood. I'm not sure I could have read them all at once like that otherwise.

I'm going to start Kissing Comfort by Jo Goodman today. I really love Goodman, but I'm struggling to get into this one because it's a Western and I'm in a contemporary mood. I'm sure if I just keep on with it I'll end up loving it. I just have to force myself to finish.

Rowena: I've been reading a bit more than usual this month, I must be catching up from all the reading I didn't do in March and April. I'll be busy this weekend doing family stuff but I'm going to be getting some reading in as well. I just finished reading A Soldier on her Doorstep by Saraya Lane and Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I didn't enjoy A Soldier on her Doorstep as much as I thought I was going to (I really love soldier heroes) but I did enjoy Blood Red Road. Right now I' reading Graveminder by Melissa Marr (so far, so good) and I'm finishing up The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder.

What are you reading?

Rowena's review of Too Wicked to Love (Brides of Nevarton Chase, Book 2) by Debra Mullins.

Hero: John St. Giles
Heroine: Genevieve Wallington-Willis

Too wicked to love . . . but too tempting to resist!

Having already been deceived by a heartless fiancÉ, Genevieve Wallington-Willis knows better than to trust any man—which is why her attraction to John Ready is so very disturbing. Though devilishly handsome, he is far too mysterious—and a humble coachman, no less! But one inadvertent kiss and Genevieve is lost.

John dares not reveal his true identity to anyone or it's the gallows for certain! He must concentrate on clearing his name—and prevent the fiend who sullied it, the notorious Raventhorpe, from working his evil on another innocent victim. But being this close to the clever, courageous, and exquisite Miss Wallington-Willis is driving him to distraction. And surrendering to his desire—not to mention to love—may prove the most dangerous risk of all.

This book is the second book in the Brides of Nevarton Chase series and for the most part, I enjoyed it. This book follows Samuel Breedlove's best friend John Ready find his happily ever after. John's got a mysterious past and is determined to do his duty assigned to him by his friend, Samuel Breedlove and then return to America so that he can live out the rest of his life in peace. It's not the life he always dreamed he would have because he won't be living in his beloved homeland of England but the rotten Raventhorpe has made it impossible for him to come home so he spends his life in hiding.

When we first meet Genny, the heroine, I wanted to punch her in her freaking face. She is the most annoying girl. She's jumps to conclusions, she assumes and she, well she just annoyed me. I'm glad that I continued reading because over the course of the book, she did get better. While John had his secrets, Lady Genny had her own secrets as well.

Mullins does a great job of drawing the romance between John and Genny out. When I first started the book and John was so wanting to jump Genny's bones, I kept thinking that she must have been real pretty to look at because her personality was crap. She always assumes the worst in John even though he saves her from being accosted in the library, she assumes that he's trying to bag himself a rich heiress wife when she jealously catches him and Annabelle going off on their own. Those weren't the only times when she assumed the worst in John and John had done nothing to deserve her assumptions. The first book is about Genny's older sister who gets disowned by her family and Genny is angry at her for leaving, in this book we get the inside scoop on why she was so mad at Cilla. The more you read the book, the more you realize just why Genny is the way that she is.

She hasn't had an easy time of it where men are concerned and as the book continues, she gets better and better that by the end of the book, you almost forget what a shit she was in the beginning of the book and start to like her.

John was framed for the murder of his wife and he hasn't found the proof that will set him free so he lives in the shadows, trying to stay out of the limelight so that he doesn't get sent to the gallows. John is one of those solid heroes that you just want to hold close to your heart and make him all better, any way that you can. He's one of those stand up heroes that you come to adore. I enjoyed getting to know him and I enjoyed reading his story.

There were times when I wanted to beat him over the head with a club because of the decisions he made but overall, he was a great addition to this story. His martyr act at times got to be a bit much, especially since his plans were to give up the hunt and move to America to live out the rest of his life. The way that he was so hellbent on protecting Genny from himself got to be a bit much but in the end, the book ends the way it's supposed to end and the overall journey was a good one.

If you enjoyed the first book then I'm sure you'll enjoy this one too. The ending is pure cheese but still, it's an enjoyable read that fans of Debra Mullins will enjoy as well as fans of the historical genre.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Lord Cameron Mackenzie is intrigued when he finds the pretty widow, Ainsley Douglas, hiding in the window seat of his bedchamber. Cam remembers Ainsley Douglas all right—six years ago, he’d caught her in this very bedchamber, during a house party in the Mackenzies’ Scottish manor. Enchanted by her ingenuous excuses, he decided to seduce her, but stopped shy when she’d made a rather touching appeal about her “good husband who didn’t deserve to be heartbroken.”

Later, Cameron learned that her visit to his bedchamber was part of some female intrigue against him, the kind his late wife used to practice. Ainsley protested her innocence, but Cameron’s anger made him never want to see her again. Now she’s back, at another house party—and Cameron finds the gray-eyed minx in his bedchamber, again. Her excuses are just as ingenuous, but this time Cameron is determined to teach her a lesson.

They have unfinished business, Cameron tells her. He asks her how many of her many buttons she’ll let him unclasp, promising that before the house party is over, she’ll be asking him to undo them all.

Ainsley’s dismay is real. She’s on a mission to prevent embarrassment to Queen Victoria, and time is running out. Though the needs he’d stirred long ago during her unhappy marriage rise again, she knows it would be foolish to fall for love-them-and-leave-them Cameron Mackenzie.

But he asks her a question that challenges her beliefs about love and happiness, and she finds herself risking all to be with the black sheep of the Mackenzie family.

For some reason this book has caught my attention. I haven't read any of the other books in this series and I don't even know if I want to but I do know I want to read this one. Lord Cameron sounds like the very devil and I want to meet him. I'm on this historical kick and I can't seem to get enough of them so this one is definitely going on my TBR list.

Has anyone read the other books? Do I need to read those books first before reading this one or can I read just this one? This book comes out on August 2, 2011 so mark your calendars, it looks like a good one!

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Tracy’s review of Kiss of Snow (Psy-Changeling series #10) by Nalini Singh.

Since the moment of her defection from the PsyNet and into the SnowDancer wolf pack, Sienna Lauren has had one weakness. Hawke. Alpha and dangerous, he compels her to madness.

Hawke is used to walking alone, having lost the woman who would've been his mate long ago. But Sienna fascinates the primal heart of him, even as he tells himself she is far too young to handle the wild fury of the wolf.

Then Sienna changes the rules and suddenly, there is no more distance, only the most intimate of battles between two people who were never meant to meet. Yet as they strip away each other's secrets in a storm of raw emotion, they must also ready themselves for a far more vicious fight…

A deadly enemy is out to destroy SnowDancer, striking at everything they hold dear, but it is Sienna's darkest secret that may yet savage the pack that is her home…and the alpha who is its heartbeat…

Sienna and Hawke have been dancing around each other in previous books – mostly because of two things: Hawke’s hesitance about going after a woman who can never be his bonded mate and Sienna’s age. Sienna wants there to be a deep and meaningful relationship with Hawke but she’s not prepared at first to deal with Hawke who is the uber-alpha male. But Hawke is an alpha male similar to Singh’s alpha’s and that is that he has a tender, gentle side and knows when it’s needed.

I think I liked this book so very much because Hawke truly knew exactly what Sienna needed – or didn’t need for that matter and he wasn’t afraid, once he decided to go for it with her, to go slowly. Sienna is young and inexperienced and she’s a Psy who still has protective mental barriers. Things aren’t like they would be if Hawke was going for a fellow wolf shifter. But despite having to go slowly when it came to the sexual side of their relationship that didn’t stop two very stubborn people from having their issues and arguments. I loved, loved, loved the fact that Sienna was never shy about standing up to Hawke and would just tell him what she thought about certain things. It just showed us that even though Sienna was young in years it didn’t stop her from being an old soul who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go after it.

So Sienna and Hawke begin their courtship dance but it doesn’t stop life from happening. The Psy start making decisions to end the SnowDancer pack altogether and the pack isn’t going to take it. The story has great political intrigue and strategies that were quite compelling. I love that Nalini Singh blends the darker side of her world with her romances so very well. I never once felt that I was getting more of one than the other and they were both fleshed out so nicely.

Then there was the issue with Sienna and her Psy designation. She’s a Cardinal X – and the only one, as far as anyone knows, that’s been born. No one truly has any idea what she is capable of, how her powers will manifest and if she can control them. The uncertainty of the whole situation really kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the book.

Along with Sienna and Hawke’s romance we also got to visit in with the DarkRiver pack members and there was a secondary romance with Walker (Sienna’s uncle) and Lara the SnowDancer healer. We got a nice dose of interaction with many shifters both cats and wolves and that was lovely.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. I’ve loved Hawke’s character since he was first introduced and I wanted nothing more than to see the man happy in his love relationship. Singh gave us that in this book and so much more. Just a great read.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Series:


You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place.

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

For the next little while, Julia Quinn is going to be one busy bee and that makes sense since the release of Just Like Heaven (review to come) is right around the corner.

Here's some JQ information we thought it'd be cool to share with you guys:

From press release:

What: VIRTUAL LAUNCH EVENT w/ Elizabeth Boyle.
When: June 3, 2011
Where: Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.
Beaverton, Oregon

Julia Quinn (JUST LIKE HEAVEN) and Elizabeth Boyle (LORD LANGLEY IS BACK IN TOWN) will be reading and signing in-store, as well as taking questions from virtual attendees across the country!

Visit this link for more details and to pre-order your signed edition: www.avonromancelive.com.

If you're close by and interested, Julia Quinn will be at the following tour stops:

Joint signings with both Elizabeth Boyle and Rachel Gibson? If you're around the area, you should definitely think about stopping by because dude, it's Julia Quinn, Elizabeth Boyle and Rachel Gibson. If they were anywhere near Los Angeles, I'd be there in a heart beat!

Huge thanks for the heads up from the Avon team!

Have fun and if you go to any one of these events, email us and let us know how it went!

-Rowena, Casee & Holly

Holly's review of Should've Been a Cowboy (Sons of Chance, Book 4) by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Party organizer Tyler O'Connelli is on the fast track to her dream career. She's so close she can almost taste it. But when she returns to her family and sees her one-night stand, Alex Keller, all done up in his cowboy gear, her self-control is stretched to the breaking point….
They're worlds apart. She's a busy career girl, and Alex is a cowboy. But while getting together might not bode well for anything long-term, it more than makes up for it in sheer hot chemistry! Problem is, this is one wrangler she might want to get tied down—and tied up—to…indefinitely!

I was anxious for this story after finishing the previous in the series. I'm glad VLT decided to write it. My review contains mild plot spoilers. Read on at your own risk.

Alex and Tyler shared a passionate night together at the wedding of his sister, who was marrying into the same family Tyler's sister had. As an activities director on a cruise ship, Tyler doesn't have much opportunity for relations with the opposite sex. She figures she'll see Alex again after their night - they are related through marriage, after all - but she isn't worried about it. Having a one off isn't that big a deal to either of them, especially since Alex is recovering from a divorce.

10 months go by before they're reunited and both are surprised to find that they haven't been able to forget the other. If circumstances were different, they might even consider trying to build a relationship. As it stands, Tyler is up for a major promotion and getting ready to set sail on a world cruise. She isn't interested in settling down on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming.

Although the longer she spends with Alex and the rest of the Chance family, the more she questions her desire to continue being a world traveler. But is Alex willing to commit if she sticks around? And is she willing to stick around if he's not?

I have to take this story in two parts. 1) the romance. I think the romance worked very well. The connection between Alex and Tyler is well established going into the story, so the small page count doesn't hurt it. Their decision to keep it light was obviously doomed to failure - both had their emotions engaged early on. I felt the connection between them and enjoyed it.

The second part of this was less easy to like. Tyler's focus on her career really played a large part in the story. It was the main conflict that kept them apart and the whole reason they resisted entering into a deeper relationship. And yet Tyler decides, rather unexpectedly, that she'd like to settle down after all and perhaps become the marketing director for the town. A position that doesn't even exist. There was no talk of Alex taking a position on the cruise ship - something he was qualified for with a communications and DJ background - or of them working on something long distance so that Tyler wouldn't have to give up her career.

That in and of itself wouldn't have been such a big deal, but once she mentions her plan to Alex and he vetoes it (because he thinks she deserves more) that's it..she gives it up. It was obvious her only reason for staying was because of Alex. I can understand him being a consideration, but to give up a life long dream and a career, I felt she needed to do it for a better reason than a man.

While I enjoyed the romance, the fact that all the give was done on Tyler's part really brought the story down for me.

3 out of 5

The series:


This book is available from Harlequin Blaze. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Judith's review of Hope(less)by C. O. B.

Life should be simple. At least that’s what KJ believes as he begins his senior year of high school. Until, he meets Lorraine. They fall in love and after a tragic accident, they run. With two bus tickets not enough to escape their agony, the two teenagers are found by strangers who become their guardians in Philadelphia. Eventually finding a place to live in New York, they drift further apart through the passing years. Losing their family once again, KJ and Lorraine must find their way back home before losing each other — all that keeps them alive.

Once in awhile I am called upon to review a book that is just really difficult to read and hard to understand. That is not to say that I don't enjoy the challenge. Because I read so many books I get really weary of books that are predictable and whose plots and characters could easily have been cut and pasted from other stories. That is certainly not the case here. And I hope I don't discourage anyone from reading this book. But I stick with my original statement that this is not an easy book to read.

The opening prologue-type chapter is still a mystery to me. Perhaps when I re-read this book--and I do plan to re-read this book in the hopes that more of its action and characters make sense for me--I will come to some kind of understanding why children had a gun and were shooting a person they obviously despised. How that fit into the greater story is still not know to me.

In any event, the characters of this story are just two--Lorraine and KJ. They met and fell in love during their senior year in high school and both were aspiring musicians with great talent and some fairly hefty aspirations. Even though they became emotionally involved, musically they were still competitors and that kept them working hard to best one another. Yet in the midst of the flush of their teen love and the upcoming graduation, a terrible accident occurred at Lorraine's home involving a terrible misunderstanding by her father, a man who had slowly but surely become unhinged because of his wife's terrible death due to a gang rape. He had become an alcoholic and in the midst of his drunken haze, he accidentally severed Lorraine's hand from her arm, attacked KJ, and in trying to save KJ, Lorraine sank the cleaver into her father's body, killing him. Believing her life had be changed for the worse, Lorraine left the hospital where she was recovering and not wanting to be without her, KJ left with her. Pooling their limited resources they set out for an unknown destination, and ended up living on the streets for years together.

There is the sense of a Greek tragedy about this story--it just didn't ever seem to get any better. KJ and Lorraine stayed together and managed to survive together, but there were no demonstrations of their love. All their energy went toward just finding a place to sleep, staying warm in winter, and eating. Yet through all those years Lorraine held on to her trumpet, and KJ lugged his sax case everywhere. They didn't use drugs although Lorraine's arm never really healed as it should have and they had to find medical care through free clinics. It was only after many years that she began to realize that finally they had begun growing apart and if she really loved KJ, she needed to set him on a different path and that involved getting him back playing his sax. This she did and with the money from his first gig, she sent him away.

This story is, at its core, a tale of hope wrapped in a blanket of hopelessness. It is about survival--but at the cost that KJ and Lorraine almost lost themselves as well as any sense of place in the world. Yet in some strange and wonderful way, their love survived. And their music, while it lay buried for years, was always there, and ultimately KJ had to admit that his love affair with his music had only become secondary when he fell in love with Lorraine. That they played for and to each other become more and more evident, even when they finally split up.

This is not a HEA book but there is a very positive ending to the story. It almost felt as if it was not really an ending but a beginning for each of them, still knowing that somewhere they were playing their music and they were loving each other. The writing style lends itself to that sense that there is always something deeper going on, but it is not a style that is really easy to read. And I still haven't figured out the significance of those prologue-type introductions to each section. It is a disharmonious story that pushes and pulls and jars the expectations of the reader. One is constantly surprised at what happens and where the action of the story will point. One the one hand I was ill at ease because parts of the book remained a mystery to me. On the other hand I was deeply moved by the experience of these two gifted people. Undelying all the human elements of the story was that sense of Fate or Faith--a Providential plan of some sort. Lorraine believed that while KJ never really worked that out.

This is a challenge novel but worth the effort. It is not going to be a book that will lend itself to snuggly afghans and hearth and wingback chairs. It will be a book some will read with the determination to get the story and to ferret out its deeper meanings. It is an emotional and intellectual exercise that must be undertaken not by the faint of heart, but by a reader who wants a literary prime rib rather than a marshmallow.

I give this novel a rating of 3.75 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J's Book Place

This book is available from Grey Line Press. You can buy it here or here in e-format.