Tag: Harlequin HQN

Review: Big Sky Summer by Linda Lael Miller

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Big Sky Summer by Linda Lael MillerFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback, large print
Genre: Western romance
Series: Parable, Montana #4
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: June 1, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

With his father’s rodeo legacy to continue and a prosperous spread to run, Walker Parrish has no time to dwell on wrecked relationships. But country-western sweetheart Casey Elder is out of the spotlight and back in Parable, Montana. And Walker can’t ignore that his “act now, think later” passion for Casey has had consequences. Two teenage consequences!

Keeping her children’s paternity under wraps has always been part of Casey’s plan to give them normal, uncomplicated lives. Now the best way to hold her family together seems to be to let Walker be a part of it—as her husband of convenience. Or will some secrets—like Casey’s desire to be the rancher’s wife in every way—unravel, with unforeseen results?

My Review:

Big Sky Mountain by Linda Lael MillerThe second book in the Parable, Montana series began with a busted wedding. Hutch Carmody stopped his wedding to Brylee Parrish when the poor girl was halfway down the aisle, because he finally got up the gumption to tell her that the marriage would be a terrible mistake. Considering that Hutch marries his high-school sweetheart by the end of Big Sky Mountain (see my review here) he was right.

Brylee’s protective big brother Walker Parrish spends most of Big Sky Mountain and Big Sky River (reviewed here) mad at Hutch whenever they meet. Parable is a small town and Brylee was humiliated. Her heart wasn’t actually broken, not really, but her pride and her dignity absolutely took a huge hit.

Big Sky River by Linda Lael MillerBig Sky Summer starts with another wedding. Tara and Boone, the hero and heroine from Big Sky River, tie the knot with all of their children participating.

Brylee still hasn’t healed enough to attend a wedding, but Walker is in the audience to watch his friend Boone get hitched. And to watch his own unacknowledged children.

Because there’s the story. In contrast with all of his friends, the men we’ve met in the previous books in the series, Walker is now the only one who appears to be without a family. But he’s finally come to the conclusion that it’s time to claim his.

One of the queens of country and western music, Casey Jones, came to live in Parable a few months ago, bringing her two teenaged children, Clare and Shane, with her. Casey has always claimed that both kids were test-tube babies, but Walker knows the truth. Both children are his, and he wants to be more in their lives than just a beloved uncle.

It’s time for him to finally be their father. If he’s lucky, he may have a shot at being their mother’s husband, that is if there is anything left of their lives after the media bloodsuckers get through with them.

Escape Rating B+: The Parable, Montana series is rapidly turning me into a western romance fan. This is the first western romance series I’ve ever read, but it won’t be my last.

The stories are all character-driven, and the romances are mostly slow-building, slow-burning. But the sexual tension of the chase is sweet and hot. In Big Sky Summer, Casey and Walker have reasons why they’ve stayed apart, and telling their children the truth represents a big hurdle for their family.

My favorite character in the whole series is Opal Dennison. She’s superwoman! She’s been everyone’s nanny, everyone’s cook, helped everyone out of every kind of trouble, is everyone’s organizer of everything, probably knows where all the bodies are buried, and is the town’s unofficial matchmaker. She gets her own wedding at the end of the book to the local minister who is described as looking like Morgan Freeman and sounding like James Earl Jones. Go Opal!

Big Sky Wedding by Linda Lael MillerThe next book (Big Sky Wedding) is Brylee’s book, and it’s about damn time. I can’t wait to see how she gets swept off her feet.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Big Sky River by Linda Lael Miller

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Big Sky River by Linda Lael MillerFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, large print, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Contemporary romance
Series: Parable, Montana #3
Length: 318 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: December 18, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Sheriff Boone Taylor has his job, friends, a run-down but decent ranch, two faithful dogs and a good horse. He doesn’t want romance—the widowed Montanan has loved and lost enough for a lifetime. But when a city woman buys the spread next door, Boone’s peace and quiet are in serious jeopardy.

With a marriage and a career painfully behind her, Tara Kendall is determined to start over in Parable. Reinventing herself and living a girlhood dream is worth the hard work. Sure, she might need help from her handsome, wary neighbor. But life along Big Sky River is full of surprises…like falling for a cowboy-lawman who just might start to believe in second chances.

My Review:

Who said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression?

The first impression that Tara Kendall and Boone Taylor made on each other seemed to be mutually terrible; she thought he was a redneck hick (if that wasn’t redundant) living in a rundown double-wide trailer spoiling her view of the Montana scenery.

He thought she was too much of a city-slicker to have half a chance of surviving as a chicken rancher on the outskirts of tiny Parable, Montana.

They drove each other way too crazy to be neutral about each other, especially considering that Tara bought Boone’s sister’s half of their parents’ land–the half that contained the house he grew up in.

It took a couple of years for them to come to an uneasy peace, and for either of them to acknowledge that those sparks hid something a lot hotter than mutual loathing. Loathing doesn’t burn nearly that bright.

Their children finally brought them together. Boone is forced to bring his sons home from his sister’s, four years after losing his young wife to cancer. Four years to realize that he not only had to live, but that he wanted to live.

Tara’s step-daughters were sent to visit for the summer. She came to Parable after a messy divorce. She might never have loved their father. He certainly never loved anyone more than he loved himself. But she loved his daughters as if they were her own.

Can these two wounded souls find their way together?

Escape Rating B+: Big Sky River, like the rest of the Parable, Montana series (Big Sky Country and Big Sky Mountain) is a romance that simmers slowly before it comes to a boil. If you haven’t read the previous books in the series, you have plenty of opportunity to fall in love with the “big sky” country along the way.

The good thing about Tara and Boone’s romance is that if you have read the whole series, you’ve seen the entire thing develop from their first meeting. We know how just badly it went. There’s always been a sense that where there’s this much smoke, there might eventually be fire, but this book is the first time that Boone has healed enough from the devastating loss of his wife to even think of getting involved with someone else.

There isn’t as much involvement with the town of Parable and the people there, but there is just enough to let readers catch up with old friends. Boone and Tara do live pretty far out of town.

This story is about the two of them finally finding some common ground, and about them becoming a family. The major theme besides the romance is Boone healing the rift between himself and his sons. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has been trying to get him to see the light on that score since the beginning of the series.

This is a heartwarming western/small-town romance that I finished with a smile on my face. I want to start Big Sky Summer immediately to smile that smile again.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Bare It All by Lori Foster

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Bare It All by Lori FosterFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Romantic suspense
Series: Love Undercover, #2
Length: 476 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: April 30, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

As the person responsible for taking down a brutal human trafficker, Alice Appleton fears retaliation at every turn. No one knows about her past, which is exactly how she prefers it…until the sexy cop next door comes knocking.

Detective Reese Bareden thinks he knows what makes women tick, but his ever-elusive neighbor keeps him guessing like no other. Is his goal to unmask Alice’s secrets? Or protect her from a dangerous new threat? One thing is certain: their chemistry is a time bomb waiting to explode. And with no one to trust but each other, Reese and Alice are soon drawn into a deadly maze of corruption, intrigue and desire—and into the line of fire….

My Review:

The way to a man’s heart may be through his stomach, but the way to a woman’s heart is through a dog…at least if the dog is as adorable as the former stray Cash seems to be.

Cash snuffles his way into Alice Appleton’s guarded heart with his doggy grin and open-hearted need for affection and discipline, allowing his owner Reese Bareden to slip in along with him. Alice didn’t stand a chance.

Run the Risk by Lori FosterAlice makes her first appearance in Run the Risk, lending her calm manner and her Glock to the takedown of the bad guys stalking Rowdy and Pepper Yates and staking out Reese’s apartment. Up until then, she’s been Reese’s intriguing pet-sitter for the young and rambunctious Cash.

But her focused demeanor in the midst of utter chaos sets off all Reese’s cop senses. He’s always been interested in Alice as a beautiful woman, but now he knows that she’s hiding some serious secrets, and he can’t help but want to know more. Something about the shy woman with the heart of a lioness brings out his protective streak.

While the cleanup crew washes “death” out of his apartment, Reese uses Alice’s care for Cash as an excuse to stay in her apartment. They all need someone to be with after the shootout. But the close proximity leads to explosive chemistry that neither of them can resist.

And as Reese begins to peel back the layers that have made Alice into the determined, and determinedly protective, woman that she it, Reese Bareden discovers that he wants, no he needs to discover not just what made her that way, but whether they can bare both their bodies and their souls to each other.

If they can get past the need to keep so damn many secrets.

Escape Rating B+: The group dynamic in this story is tremendously fun! We see Logan and Pepper, the couple from the first story (Run the Risk, reviewed here) still working out their relationship. And we see Pepper’s protective brother Rowdy trying to find a new way to live now that he doesn’t have to spend 24/7 guarding Pepper.

Rowdy’s spent several years skirting the edge of the law, so he’s having a hard time adjusting to the idea that his soon-to-be brother-in-law is a cop. Best of all, the first “job” that Rowdy takes on is protecting Alice. They immediately bond as quasi-siblings, and it drives Reese nuts. The banter between Rowdy and Alice was hilarious, and listening in on Alice egging Reese on was great!

The suspense element in Bare It All was terrific. Not just about Alice’s past, but also Alice’s steps into becoming a vigilante, and getting it all to tie into the crooked cops in Reese and Logan’s squad and Rowdy’s new business. The danger to Alice, and to the whole crew, really ratcheted up the tension!

getting rowdyI can’t wait for Getting Rowdy to see where the danger leads this crew next!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.