Showing posts with label triangle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label triangle. Show all posts

Monday, March 10, 2008

Fall TO Grace

Hot Wheels and High Heels
Jane Graves
2007
ISBN 0446617865
Contemporary
****



Coming home to find strangers living there and all her things gone to Good Will does not inspire "good will" in Darcy McDaniel. Her husband has vanished, taking with him hundreds of thousands of embezzled dollars, leaving her high and dry, and ending her career as a trophy wife. With few skills and less experience, Darcy finds herself moving back home with her parents and the best job she can get is working for the man who repossessed her Mercedes, John Stark. Though the two butt heads from the moment they meet and have completely opposite tastes; she lives for Neiman's, Starbucks and all the finer things, while John is content with Wal-Mart, whatever coffee is on sale, and the simple life, there is a sizzle between them that neither can ignore. Darcy is also finding it hard to completely be immune to the charms (read pocketbook) of the millionaire who is offering her a ticket back to the good life, if she'll settle for being a mistress. This is the biggest test Darcy has ever faced as is forced to cram life lessons harder than she ever anticipated.



I must admit, I opened this book not expecting to like it and closed it cheering because it was wonderful. Darcy and John's chemistry is dynamic and sheer fun. Watching her adapt to a less than princess like existence is painful, yet humorous. Though none of the characters is perfect, as Stark points out, imperfect people are the most interesting. The pseudo-villain was not even perfectly rotten, and in the end, I found myself hoping he gets a story in which he gets to be the hero and redeemed.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Mermaid Overboard

Swimming Without a Net
Mary Janice Davidson
Jove
11-2-07
ISBN 0515143812
Paranormal
***1/2



After taking a year off from romance, Fred Bimm, the mermaid, is confronted with the need to deal with her People of the Sea half of her ancestry when she is summoned to a major meeting at the command of her would be fiance, Prince Artur. When she and her best friend, Jonas, arrive, she also discovers her other potential suitor, Thomas, has been invited. Though he's strictly a land dweller, Artur is compeled by fairness to make sure he has equal access. Now, Fred just needs to learn merfolk etiquette and protocol while navigating the stormy seas of love and politics while her people debate joining the biped world. She also has to somehow keep her boss, who has arrived to continue her romance with Jonas, from learning she's a mermaid. What fun!



Fred may be having a bad day, but readers will be delighted with the results of this latest comic romp, or would that be swim? Although many of the story elements will be familiar to fans of Ms. Davidson's body of work, it is a comfortable read, perfect for a mental escape in a high pressure season. Fred's unique circumstances give a new spin on the conventions we love in these stories. If you need a laugh, then you won't go wrong buying this book, or anything else by MJD.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A Fever You Want to Catch

Blood Fever
Karen Marie Moning
Ballantine
ISBN 038533916X
Paranormal
4 1/2*



Mac continues her quest to find Objects of Power for Jericho Barrons, her enigmatic boss/partner/mentor in her education as a Sidhe Seer. Their main goal remain the powerful book that holds the key to controlling both Fey and human worlds, and Mac still wants justice for her late sister, but there are other considerations. New and old enemies confront her, Barron's is as much a thorn in her side as he is a help, and there is V'lane, the Death by Sex Fey who is determined to have her. Mac will be challenged in ways she has never imagined and forced to change in ways she would have never expected.



This new world's development remains a fascinating, intriguing source of wonder for lucky readers. Mac and Barrons are a fantastic pairing, though they do not lay down their swords long enough to realize it. Even though I normally prefer more romance, there is a subtle tension and enough interesting action that the lack is not a deficiency. Indeed, it would be out of place. I cannot wait until the next one.