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Shattering Dawn

If you’re a fan of romantic suspense, treat yourself to Shattering Dawn, an expert offering by one of the best authors in the business.
If you’re a fan of romantic suspense, treat yourself to Shattering Dawn, an expert offering by one of the best authors in the business.
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Southern gothic

Review by Anita Lock

A woman’s mysterious new job leads to unimaginable challenges, especially when she’s faced with an infamous yet very irresistible man.

Julie Hughes’ first day as a nurse for the de Vincent household does not fare well when she recognizes Lucian, the youngest of the three male siblings, as the guy she hooked up with the night before. It only gets worse when she learns that the family manor is haunted. A spine-chilling scenario sends Lucian to her rescue and provides an opportunity for them to make amends and start anew. The two find themselves falling in love, but whether or not their relationship will survive a flurry of disturbing events remains to be seen.

The first novel of the de Vincent series, Moonlight Sins dances between four genres—thriller, mystery, paranormal and romance—with aplomb. Jennifer L. Armentrout’s prose drips with romantic tension, and well-crafted erotic scenes spark within a narrative shrouded in mystery and replete with unsettling preternatural elements.

Armentrout’s dialogue is engaging throughout—fun and flirty between her main pair, and guarded and sarcastic between the more evasive and mysterious de Vincent family members. In a book full of cliffhangers, unexpected scenarios and red herrings, Armentrout’s realistic interactions between characters ground the story.

While Moonlight Sins closes on a solid note, there are many unanswered questions, which means readers have plenty to look forward to in subsequent installments.

A woman’s mysterious new job leads to unimaginable challenges, especially when she’s faced with an infamous yet very irresistible man.

RomanceHistorical Romance

The prodigal son returns

Review by Susan Andersen

A Devil in Scotland is the satisfying conclusion to Suzanne Enoch’s No Ordinary Hero series. Once upon a time in 19th-century Scotland, in a drunken rage, Callum MacCreath destroyed his relationships with his brother, Ian, and his best friend, Rebecca. Upon discovering they were about to become engaged, Callum demanded she marry him instead and ranted about the dangers of the partnership Ian was about to enter with Rebecca’s father. Rebecca firmly refused him, and his beloved brother ordered Callum to leave and never come back.

Callum spent the past 10 years growing up and building a business in America. But when he learns that his brother has drowned under mysterious circumstances, he ends his exile. Callum realizes now that Ian was justified in banishing him, but he also knows he wasn’t wrong about everything he spewed the last time he saw his brother. He returns to Scotland with a heart bent on revenge. And if those old feelings for Becca are still there, well, he’ll work around them.

Marrying Ian was the smart and practical thing to do, but in Becca’s weaker moments, she still remembers the feelings she once harbored for his younger brother. She has just begun to emerge from mourning not only Ian’s death but also her father’s. Then Callum, whom she believed to have died during the past decade, appears on her doorstep to take his rightful place as the new Lord Geiry. He’s steadier—and stronger—than the wild and reckless boy she remembers. Yet he still inspires the same sneaky fire in her heart that he did as an 18-year-old. But can he give up his thirst for revenge?

Enoch always displays a deft touch with family relationships, and A Devil in Scotland is no exception. The details of how Rebecca’s properties and inheritance are handled are particularly insightful. Enoch’s characters leap from the page, especially Callum, who evolves from a man willing to die for justice to a true hero who seeks a solution that won’t leave mayhem in his wake.

Callum and Rebecca grab the reader’s heart in this rich, sexy and nuanced tale of love and intrigue.

A Devil in Scotland is the satisfying conclusion to Suzanne Enoch’s No Ordinary Hero series. Once upon a time in 19th-century Scotland, in a drunken rage, Callum MacCreath destroyed his relationships with his brother, Ian, and his best friend, Rebecca. Upon discovering they were about to become engaged, Callum demanded she marry him instead and ranted about the dangers of the partnership Ian was about to enter with Rebecca’s father. Rebecca firmly refused him, and his beloved brother ordered Callum to leave and never come back.

RomanceYA FictionYA

A tender, unique story of connection

Review by Lori K. Joyce

Mix medieval romance with present-day Texas teens, and you have a recipe for a romance that sparkles with acceptance and a keen insight into what defines a person in a relationship.

Lily, who’s been diagnosed with ADHD, gets in trouble for breaking a sliding wall between classrooms. Abelard, a boy on the autism spectrum, was on the other side of the wall and also gets in trouble. As they await their punishments, Lily impulsively kisses Abelard. Simultaneously horrified and pleased, the teens awkwardly navigate that event.

Before long, shy Abelard texts Lily, but they aren’t ordinary texts. He confidently uses sentences taken from The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, the actual medieval love letters written between the two legendary figures. Lily’s father taught her to read using those letters, and Lily soon recognizes the source of Abelard’s words. She is smitten.

Because Abelard is sensitive to being touched, the teens learn how to pilot these unchartered waters of kissing and other physical manifestations of love. To further complicate the budding relationship, Lily is determined to live on the West Coast with her father for the summer, and maybe permanently, while Abelard has a chance to attend a faraway, prestigious school for autistic youth.

Laura Creedle’s The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily gives discerning insights into a romance that isn’t textbook perfect, and will challenge readers to look at love anew, especially when supplemented by the medieval tale of love that still stands the test of time.

Mix medieval romance with present-day Texas teens, and you have a recipe for a romance that sparkles with acceptance and a keen insight into what defines a person in a relationship.

RomanceParanormal Romance

Love in the midst of a supernatural war

Review by Lois Dyer

J.R. Ward returns to her beloved Black Dagger Brotherhood with Blood Fury, the third book in the spinoff Black Dagger Legacy series. This riveting novel features two powerful parallel storylines. The first involves Novo, a survivor of painful family betrayal, and Peyton, an aristocratic vampire whose own personal history is strewn with bad choices. As Black Dagger Brotherhood trainees, Novo and Peyton share classes, workouts, hand-to-hand combat practice and dangerous, sometimes bloody field exercises. Despite Novo’s hard-edged persona and snarky comments, Peyton can’t deny he’s drawn to her. Novo shares his attraction, but she locks down her emotions due to her belief that he is in love with someone else. All that changes, however, when the dangerous nature of their work forces both to confront their feelings. Faced with the very real possibility of losing Novo forever, Peyton must make hard choices about himself and the world he lives in. Given both Novo’s and Peyton’s dysfunctional childhoods, however, the road to happy ever after is not a simple one.

Interwoven with Novo and Peyton’s journey is that of Saxton, legal counsel to the King, and Ruhn, a commoner of unparalleled honor. Saxton and Ruhn have wildly different backgrounds and life experiences, but when they are assigned to work on the same project, they realize fate has brought them together. Both are wary of falling in love due to past hurts and they’re cautious about the feelings that swamp them. Just as a future together looks bright, their dangerous assignment turns life-threatening. If Saxton loses Ruhn, he’ll lose much more than a lover. He’ll lose the other half of himself. Will the fate that brought them together now cruelly tear them apart?

Fans of the Brotherhood series have long anticipated the pairing of these two couples, and the novel doesn’t disappoint. The brilliantly developed world of the Brotherhood, nail-biting action and lots of steamy sexual tension make Blood Fury a stellar read.

 

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington.

J.R. Ward returns to her beloved Black Dagger Brotherhood with Blood Fury, the third book in the spinoff Black Dagger Legacy series.

RomanceHistorical Romance

A match made through misadventure

Review by Anita Lock

Love strikes amid the unexpected in Earl Interrupted, the second novel of Amanda Forester’s Daring Marriages duology.

The Earl of Darington and Emma St. James meet through a most unusual set of circumstances: He is kidnapped by mysterious ruffians and Emma risks her life to save his, forcing the two strangers to go on the run together. Dare, who goes by Captain Robert Ashton among privateers and pirates, wonders if these bizarre circumstances have anything to do with his recent windfall at sea. To complicate matters, Dare finds that he is falling hopelessly in love with the beautiful, strong-willed and innocent Emma, who claims to be engaged to a stranger in America. Dare endeavors to win her regardless, until he learns the truth behind his father’s death, the details of which could prevent him from marrying altogether.

Plenty of emotional and sexual tension is woven into this riveting tale of destiny. Earl Interrupted focuses on Dare’s perspective on love and life (as opposed to its companion read, If the Earl Only Knew, which presents the romantic tale of Kate, Dare’s twin sister). Dare may be of noble blood, but his life is riddled with hardship—something that he and Emma have in common. Earl Interrupted is replete with a continual string of twists, turns and lighthearted yet steamy sexual moments.

Love strikes amid the unexpected in Earl Interrupted, the second novel of Amanda Forester’s Daring Marriages duology.

RomanceContemporary Romance

A romantic high school reunion

Review by Susan Andersen

Miranda Gabriel is back in Blue Moon Harbor, the town she fled after dropping out of high school. It’s the last place she ever expected to return to, but she has a 2-year-old daughter who deserves better than what Miranda has been able to give her so far. So Miranda returns to the tiny town and to her brother, Aaron, the only person she unequivocally knows she can count on. Once back in Blue Moon Harbor, Miranda discovers she’s inheriting Aaron’s new fiancée’s family right along with him. Miranda and Aaron were given short shrift in the functional family department, so she doesn’t have the first idea how to interact with her new family-in-law. She doesn’t plan to stick around very long, anyhow. She just needs to get back on her feet, then she’s returning to Vancouver where she belongs.

Local veterinarian Luke Chandler is a lifelong resident of Blue Moon Harbor. He married his high school sweetheart, and they planned to grow old together. But the day their twin boys were born, he lost the love of his life, and he’s been raising his sons on his own these past four years. Then one day, he walks into the local toy store and runs into the no-longer-Goth, grown-up version of the girl who fascinated him back in high school. Luke decides on the spot that maybe the time is finally right for him to get to know another woman. Miranda is a harder sell, but Luke perseveres until she agrees to meet him for a cup of coffee. And little by little thereafter, Miranda is drawn deeper into his orbit.

Susan Fox pens a page-turner of second chances and self-discovery in the second book of her Blue Moon Harbor series. Too many books hinge on a problem that one good conversation would resolve, but Miranda and Luke are excellent communicators who actually discuss the problems separating them, even as their individual issues threaten to keep them from getting their hearts’ desires. Their gratifying struggle will keep you turning the pages of Come Home with Me far into the early hours of the morning to learn how they ultimately score their happily ever after.

Susan Fox pens a page-turner of second chances and self-discovery in the second book of her Blue Moon Harbor series.

RomanceHistorical Romance

The warrior and his ward

Review by Amanda Diehl

A Scottish hero gets more than he bargained for when he promises to take care of his friend’s daughter in Amy Jarecki’s return to the Lords of the Highlands series.

Handsome, broad-shouldered Captain Reid MacKenzie is no stranger to adventure. It’s during a fearsome battle on the high seas that he gives his solemn vow to protect and see to the safety of Nicholas Kinnet’s daughter, Audrey. Reid expects Audrey to be a child, a girl that he can easily ship off to some boarding school until she’s of marriageable age. Much to his surprise, Audrey is already of marriageable age. She’s hopelessly shy, but beneath her wallflower exterior is a spitfire of the highest order.

When a strange man shows up on Audrey’s doorstep, giving her news of her father’s death and announcing that she’s now his ward, she thinks the man has gone mad. To make matters worse, he insists that she be married off immediately. However, as Reid’s claim to guardianship proves true, a battle of wills ignites between the two of them. Audrey wants nothing to do with marriage, unless it’s on her own terms. Reid sees marriage as a way of ensuring Audrey’s welfare while getting her out of his hair.

The Highland Guardian is a true gem when it comes to compelling, dynamic characters. Reid’s sense of duty and responsibility is ingrained into everything he does, despite his often brusque manner. Meanwhile, Audrey is the star of the show, possessing a hidden intelligence and finding strength in the face of uncertainty and danger.

Though Reid and Audrey aren’t quite enemies, there is a crackling tension between the two. Audrey isn’t used to having her life upended by some bossy Highlander, however handsome he may be. And as a captain, Reid’s direction isn’t often questioned. He sets upon finding suitors for Audrey, insisting on taking her to various events and balls, despite Audrey’s hatred of being put on display. She’s also a dreadfully terrible dancer.

When Wagner Tupps stakes a claim for Audrey’s hand in marriage, Reid senses that something isn’t quite right. He refuses, igniting Wagner’s thirst for revenge on Reid, Audrey and the reputation of her late father.

Jarecki takes on a heavy responsibility in capturing the turmoil the Jacobites faced by setting The Highland Guardian in the 18th century, but she does an extraordinary job. The book’s sense of place is easily its own character, and the era’s cultural upheaval adds an additional element of foreboding to Reid and Audrey’s romance.

With clever, enchanting writing, elements of life-or-death danger and a romance that takes both Reid and Audrey completely by surprise, The Highland Guardian is an historical romance so on point it’ll leave readers awestruck.

A Scottish hero gets more than he bargained for when he promises to take care of his friend’s daughter in Amy Jarecki’s return to the Lords of the Highlands series.

RomanceYA FictionYA

A romantic travel misadventure

Review by Sarah Welch

Teens Ammy and Noah meet on an Amtrak train headed to upstate New York. Ammy is reluctantly on her way to her father’s second wedding, and Noah is attempting to make a grand gesture and win back his ex-girlfriend. When their train breaks down in the middle of a snowstorm, the pair decides to make a bold move: leave the train and make their way through the snowstorm together.

As their simple one-mile journey to the bus station turns into a 24-hour adventure, the two start to become friends (and discover a mutual attraction)—until morning comes and a new discovery leads to disaster.

Author Leah Konen (The Romantics) has created two charming protagonists that young readers will find highly relatable. Although the pair have opposing viewpoints on the realities of love and relationships—Noah with his blind optimism and Ammy with her equally blinding cynicism—sparks quickly fly in this sweet story. However, trouble soon comes when Noah desperately tries to cling to his stale romance and Ammy attempts to close the door to her budding feelings.

Ammy and Noah’s journey from the broken-down train is outlandish, but that’s the point—both kids are taking an uncharacteristic risk. Love and Other Train Wrecks is equal parts inspiring, heartbreaking and fun to read as Ammy and Noah tackle obstacle after obstacle in dogged determination to get where they’re going. Maybe all they really need on this journey is each other.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Teens Ammy and Noah meet on an Amtrak train headed to upstate New York. Ammy is reluctantly on her way to her father’s second wedding, and Noah is attempting to make a grand gesture and win back his ex-girlfriend. When their train breaks down in the middle of a snowstorm, the pair decides to make a bold move: leave the train and make their way through the snowstorm together.

RomanceYA FictionYA

Is young love worthwhile?

Review by Annie Metcalf

When Claudia accidentally overhears the breakup fight involving her high school’s hottest couple—Paige and Iris—she’s mortified and terrified. Iris, who discovers Claudia “spying,” tells her to keep her mouth shut or else. Iris is known for being cold and mean, so getting on her bad side is an unfortunate way to start senior year. To make matters worse, when Claudia and Iris are paired on a class project and do poorly, they must audition for the school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for extra credit.

Cautious by nature, Claudia has held herself apart from her private school classmates for the past three years, preferring the company of her childhood best friend, Zoe. Iris has been dumped by most of her girlfriends, who obviously favored kind and enthusiastic Paige. But working together brings Claudia and Iris closer, and also brings Claudia into the orbit of the ridiculously charming Gideon Prewitt. With the help of her old friends, new friends and Gideon, will Claudia be able to learn that starting something new—even if it might end someday—is worth it?

Emma Mills’ Foolish Hearts boasts a strikingly large array of named characters, but this constellation of interconnected classmates, friends and family members is what makes Claudia’s universe so realistic. Mills skillfully portrays the tentative joy found in sharing a passion with a new friend, as well as the profound comfort of routines with old friends and family. With the themes of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream woven subtly throughout, Foolish Hearts is a detailed, convincing high school story about opening your heart to all kinds of love, and how to fight to preserve it.

With the themes of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream woven subtly throughout, Foolish Hearts is a detailed, convincing high-school story about opening your heart to love of all kinds, and how to fight to preserve that love.

RomanceContemporary Romance

Bruised but not broken

Review by Anita Lock

Roxanne Snopek embraces the complications of trauma and recovery in Sunset Bay Sanctuary, the first novel of her new series set in the beautiful beaches of Oregon.

Haylee Hansen trains therapy dogs at her aunt’s Sanctuary Ranch, a halfway house that provides tough love and support to foster kids, troubled adults and anyone else in need of a fresh start. Through a strange set of circumstances, including an unsettling blast from her past, Haylee meets Aidan McCall, the town’s new ER doctor, who later contacts her about getting a therapy dog to help with his PTSD. It’s difficult for Haylee to get Aiden to divulge his traumatic past, and Haylee is equally reluctant to share her tragic history. She’s learned to steel her emotions and has determined to keep her life simple, without romantic attachments. But Aiden sweeps her off her feet, and both must decide whether to face their demons or give up a chance at a lasting, profound connection.

Snopek beautifully incorporates her leads’ individual backstories within the central romance, alternating between Haylee and Aiden’s perspectives as they begin the delicate process of sharing their pasts and allowing the other to know them fully. And although Haylee and Aiden are front and center, Snopek also draws the reader’s attention to supporting characters and their struggles—building a community of fascinating people, all with their own burdens and journeys. Replete with surprising twists, Sunset Bay Sanctuary closes on a cliffhanger sure to entice readers to look forward to the next installment of this warmhearted series.

Roxanne Snopek embraces the complications of trauma and recovery in Sunset Bay Sanctuary, the first novel in her new series set in the beautiful beaches of Oregon.

RomanceRomantic SuspenseContemporary Romance

Undercover Attraction

Review by Amanda Diehl

Charlotte Finch has lost her career and, along with it, her belief in her brothers in blue. She was branded as a dirty cop, her reputation on the force was completely demolished, and her former comrades left her bloodied in an alley. Now she’s out for revenge, but she never expected it to come in the form of man she only knows as her enemy: Aiden O’Malley.

As head of the O’Malley mafia family, Aiden has the arduous task of protecting his family from destruction, or criminal prosecution. He sees potential in teaming up Charlie, especially since they’re after the same man. Charlie isn’t sure she can stomach working with a mob boss. To make matters worse, Aiden’s plan hinges on Charlie playing the part of his fiancée while they hunt down rival crime lord Dimitri Romanov. But Charlie’s quest for vengeance soon outweighs any reservations she may have with posing as Aiden’s wife-to-be.

The O’Malleys books combine a lot of elements in an incredibly smooth and satisfying way. There are the complicated relationships between mischievous, dangerous siblings, characteristic of a family saga. The criminal empire setting adds plenty of tension and suspense, realistically thrusting Aiden and Charlie into the heart of danger. The two former enemies, forced to work together, results in an addicting, forbidden romance. Aiden and Charlie really don’t want to like each other, but they can’t help it. And though they may start out as enemies, they slowly begin to find out they have more in common than they previously thought.

Readers who love anti-heroes and heroines will absolutely enjoy Katee Robert’s world of organized crime and ambiguity, where characters will protect the ones they love at all costs. Aiden and Charlie’s chemistry is red hot and their physical attraction is immediate. However, the internal emotions they both experience are what really deepen their connection. Can a mob boss find a future with a woman who once served the law? Can a woman, who once believed in right triumphing over wrong, ever commit herself to a criminal?

Undercover Attraction is a fabulous, deliciously intense continuation of the O’Malley family saga as the series hurtles toward its upcoming conclusion, The Bastard’s Bargain. This contemporary romance is a winner for readers who enjoy complex family dynamics mixed in with heaps of passion, action and redemption.

Charlotte Finch was branded as a dirty cop, her reputation on the force was completely demolished, and her former comrades left her bloodied in an alley. Now she’s out for revenge, but she never expected it to come in the form of man she only knows as her enemy: crime lord Aiden O’Malley.

RomanceContemporary Romance

Table for two

Review by Susan Andersen

To anyone who asks, Mick Branson is back in the small Wyoming town of Mustang Creek to surprise his friend Slater Carson with a Christmas Day presentation of Slater’s latest documentary. But he also wants to see Raine McCall. There is no denying they are far from each other’s usual type. Yet Mick hasn’t been able to put her out of his mind since the last time he was in town.

Raine is content with her life. She’s self-employed, has a daughter she adores and is good friends with her kid’s father, as well of a decent portion of the rest of Mustang Creek’s admittedly small population. The last thing she needs is a hotshot movie exec to show her all the things she’s supposedly been missing. But Mick isn’t like that. He seems to fit in with her group of friends, her daughter likes him, and he has never made her feel less than the glamorous Hollywood women she is pretty sure he’s accustomed to. And god knows they have chemistry to spare. So when he requests a meeting to discuss a possible job offer for her, she agrees to see him. She even invites him to share a Christmas Eve dinner with her.

A Snow Country Christmas is heaven-sent for Linda Lael Miller’s multitude of fans and is sure to make a fan of those who have not yet had the pleasure of reading her books. Miller fills her stories with rich settings and characters so well-rounded, they cause a reader to feel as if they could be your neighbor, your best friend or the man of your dreams brought down to earth. You might want to add A Snow Country Christmas to Santa’s list, because this is a perfect stocking stuffer of a book!

 

Susan Andersen is a New York Times bestselling author of 25 romance and romantic-suspense novels.

A Snow Country Christmas is heaven sent for Linda Lael Miller’s multitude of fans and is sure to make a fan of those who have not yet had the pleasure of reading her books. Miller fills her stories with rich settings and characters so well-rounded, they cause a reader to feel as if they could be your neighbor, your best friend or the man of your dreams brought down to earth. You might want to add A Snow Country Christmas to Santa’s list, my friends, because this is a perfect stocking stuffer of a book!

RomanceYA FictionYA

A tender, surprising story of young love in France

Review by Diane Colson

Pronouns are confusing for Martin. So when the narrative of Hilary Reyl’s debut, Kids Like Us, begins in the second person, the reader immediately experiences some of the same disorientation that plagues Martin daily. As a teen with autism, Martin is deeply connected with his inner world. He’s currently attending a summer school while his mother directs a movie in the French countryside. Martin speaks French fluently—in part because his father is French, and also because Martin is obsessed with Marcel Proust’s novel In Search of Lost Time. This fixation leads Martin to imbue his life in France with an exhilarating level of meaning. At school, Martin believes that he has met his own Gilberte, and gradually Martin develops a genuine relationship with the girl despite her neurotypical limitations.

Martin’s voice is original and completely immersive. Living in France intensifies his affinity for Proust, as everything—the madeleines, the hawthorn bushes, the French language itself—is laden with importance. It is here, far removed from the routine of his life back in Los Angeles, that he makes tremendous strides in recognizing the distinction between his internal absorption and the independent emotional experiences of the people around him. Reyl makes it clear that Martin’s motivation for change is his own quest for broader emotional understanding rather than a need to “fix” his autism.

Kids Like Us is a beautiful and insightful debut novel that’s reminiscent of the work of Francisco X. Stork.

 

Diane Colson is the Library Director at City College in Gainesville, Florida.

Pronouns are confusing for Martin. So when the narrative of Hilary Reyl’s debut, Kids Like Us, begins in the second person, the reader immediately experiences some of the same disorientation that plagues Martin daily.

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