Intimate Enemies by Joan Swan

A new month brings me to a fresh New Year's Resolution Book. For April I once again selected an author from my Twitter feed. I also once again selected an author that doesn't fill my newsfeed with spammy "by my book" tweets. 

Cassie Christo and Rio's book



Intimate Enemies (Covert Affairs book 1)

By Joan Swan

Book Blurb:She is on a quest for answers; answers that could just get her killed.

Six months after the mysterious yacht explosion that killed Cassie Christo’s mother and stepbrother, authorities still have no answers to the cause. Searching for closure, Cassie returns to her childhood home on the Pacific Coast of Baja, Mexico, where she launches her own investigation into the accident. She never expected to find an adversary in the man who had once touched her heart with kindness in her darkest moment.
Rio’s been fantasizing about reconnecting with Cassie for months. But not here and sure as hell not now. As an undercover agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he’s working the biggest sting operation in all of northern Mexico, and he definitely doesn’t have time for the wild attraction he feels for Cassie.

Not only is his cover on the line, so is his heart. Because as the end of a yearlong operation draws closer, Rio knows if he tells Cassie the truth about who and what he is, it won’t only jeopardize his mission, it may result in him losing her forever. And if he doesn’t, his lies and deception could get them both killed.

Intimate Enemies got to me right away. Within the first chapter the female protagonist, Cassie is driving a lonely and dusty highway in Mexico and as the reader you are immediately plugged into her thoughts. She encountered a terrible van accident that involved badly injured women and two scary armed thugs. She quickly determined that she had stumbled onto a dangerous human smuggling ring but her hippocratic oath overides her gut instinct and she moved forward to provid care to the injured women. This entire chapter was gripping and suspenseful. The writing was top notch. The carnage, the setting and the feel of the entire situation was riveting. Even though the scene was already suspenseful enough, the author Joan Swan kept escalating the angst and had Cassie use her phone to video tape the scene for possible future evidence. I was petrified that Cassie was going to get caught. What a beginning!

The first chapter had me committed to the book and the rest of the story held my interest right up to the climatic ending.

Cassie, a young doctor was in the midst of grieving for her mother and step-brother. Suspicion heavily surrounded their deaths and her villainous step-father was at the center of that suspicion. It made me want justice for Cassie.  Cassie’s character came off as a real human being with a real story. I believed all the struggles and road blocks she experienced. Cassie’s actions throughout the story were written similarly to what a non-fiction woman would have done. She wasn't a super tough lady threatening to kick butt. She wasn't a super sleuth with super powers. She was a woman trying to investigate and gather enough evidence to use against her criminal step-father by whatever means was available to her. Granted she had a best friend who was a lawyer and her friend’s husband was an undercover cop but Cassie did a lot of the daring leg work herself.

Rio, the mouthwatering undercover cop was also building a heavy case again the evil step-father. Working as the villain’s right hand man, Rio was constantly battling Cassie’s interference while trying to protect her. I felt all the frustration Rio experienced. I was routing for Cassie to get the information that she needed and then at the same time, I was cursing her for constantly messing up Rio’s undercover work. Rio was an interesting character trying to play so many roles. What I liked was that although he was pulled in so many directions, I was never lost. The author’s direction was crystal clear. Rio’s mounting attraction to Cassie was real. It was genuine. It also worked in favour of the overlaying criminal plans that her step-father had dangerously laid out for her. There was so much conflict and emotion.

The pace for a suspense romance was perfect. I didn't feel the middle of the story dragged at all and I felt the entire plot landed well at the end. For only being .98 on Amazon, I'd say one heck of a deal! I'd like to add that I never really had the urge to ever vacation in Mexico and after Intimate Enemies, I'm still in no rush. The corruption always scared me and it further petrified me in Intimate Enemies. 

Teasers: Mexico, donut tease, midnight visit, gangs

Nate by Beth Williamson

I reviewed my Twitter feed for a "New to Me" author for the month of March and I selected Beth Williamson. I selected Beth Williamson because she has nice Twitter presence (and by that I mean she doesn't bombard the feed with constant "buy my book" tweets). I love historical romances as well as cowboy books so I figured my decision was quite easy. Plus I already own a story of hers on my Kindle so that was a bonus. 

Nate Marchand and Elisa Taggert's book




Nate (Devil's on Horseback book 1)

By Beth Williamson

Book Blurb:Nate Marchand grew up as the only son of the town drunk. As a Confederate soldier, he found that order in the chaos was the only thing that kept him sane. Numbers, information, keeping everything in its proper place became second nature. The chaos of the war and its aftermath sent him into a rigid state that he couldn't seem to overcome.

He and his friends, nicknamed Devils on Horseback, leave behind the aftermath of war to start fresh in the west. Their new business venture flounders and desperation drives them to take whatever work they can. The Devils are hired to remove the Taggert family from land claimed by Samuel O'Shea, the largest landowner in Grayton, Texas.

When he meets Elisa Taggert, his entire world shifts beneath him. Attracted, bewildered, and off-kilter, Nate ignores his conscience in favor of his wallet. The simple task of removing a woman, a boy, and an old man, along with a small herd of cattle, resembles a Medieval siege.

I wanted to love this book, Nate. I really did. Nate just came across as a unmemorable story for me that lacked incentive for me to continue with reading the rest of the series. I liked it well enough but just not enough to read on. 

I didn't connect with the heroine, Elisa at all. For me, the strength of a book usually rests on the heroine's shoulders. At every turn Elisa was an immature perplexing woman that changed moods and story direction with each page. Even though her family was wronged in the most atrocious manner, I couldn't pull any character growth from her. One moment she was cunning, brave and highly protective of her family and then in the next moment she was an inexperienced virginal cowgirl seducing the educated former soldier, Nate. She lost her virginity to him up against a tree and then she rides away as if nothing happened. The next day, she shoots and injures his best friend. Elisa was like a B rated action movie all on her own. I haven't a clue how or why Elisa and Nate fell in love.

Another component to Elisa that I found off-putting was that she was described as dirty and wearing thread bare pants. For a rancher girl I totally get that. But when it came to intimate scenes, I wish there was a mention of how clean she was at that particular time or some blurb indicating that she'd had a bath or washed her hair. I kept picturing a mess of a woman and I just wanted to hose her down or something.    


What I did like about the book was the scheme and the creative twist the book had to offer. It was interesting how the story unfolded and how the story-centered real estate deal disentangled. I enjoyed the friendship between the Devils on Horseback men and their camaraderie is worth more than a mention. They are as loyal as they come and their alliance with one another is embedded in a deep history. The group of men have been through a lot of life changing events together. The risks they are willing to take for one another was highly admirable. 

Teasers: brotherly love, honey poop covered trap, tied up cowboy, cattle massacre

New to Me Author - Darynda Jones, Audio Review First Grave on the Right

Keeping up with my New Years Resolution, my "New to Me" author for February is Darynda Jones. 

Charley Davidson

First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson book 1)

by Darynda Jones

Book Blurb:Part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper Charley sees dead people. That's right, she sees dead people. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light". But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice.

Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life... and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

I had won the audio book, First Grave on the Right via a blog hop from an awesome audio book reviewer site, Hot Listens and I was saving it for a long car ride or a flight to listen to it. Turns out that while walking fast on a treadmill, the bouncing up and down was making it hard to read a book so I thought that this workout time would be perfect for audio books. Problem was, I got so sucked into First Grave on the Right that I couldn't wait in between workouts just to hear it. So as much as I wanted to savour the audio book, I couldn't. Guess I'll just have to find a more boring book to listen to while working out. *grins*

I am so hooked. I want to ignore the stack of already purchased books and go straight to a store and immediately buy the rest of this series.  The premise of the story is unique and the main character, Charley is as witty and alluring as they come. Chick lit at its best. I found myself laughing out loud and wanting the narrator to talk faster so could absorb the story at record pace. I thoroughly enjoyed First Grave on the Right. 

Charley is P.I. but that seems to just be her cover. With secret intel being shared to her from the recently deceased, she works with her detective uncle to help solve their murders. Charley is a Grim Reaper but it is not the cliched Grim we are all familiar with. You see, Charley's Grim plays for the good guy and she helps souls crossed into the light. She's had her gift her entire life and she can even remember the day she was born. 

First Grave on the Right had it all. Mystery, suspense, awesome characters, intriguing plot and oh yes, there was a bit of romance. I say a bit because I can tell you that the readers are just given a bare taste of what is to come in that regard. His name is Reyes and I say fasten your seat belts ladies because we are going on a wild ride. 

Teasers: Danger Will Robinson, dreams that will make you want to go to bed early every night, Angel sidekick, Dutch

A New To Me Author - Highland Destiny by Laura Hunsaker

This year I made a New Year's Resolution to read a "new to me" author at least once a month. So today is the first author in my resolution series. 

Mackenzie Steward and Connor MacRae




Highland Destiny (Magic of the Highlands #1)

by Laura Hunsaker

Book Blurb:
Mackenzie Stewart’s in Scotland for a much-needed vacation. During the castle tour, Mackenzie becomes completely enamored with a painting of one of the previous lairds. Two gentlemen come up behind her and, begging her pardon, they kidnap her, dragging her through time.

The men are sorcerers attempting to end a feud that has plagued their lands for years. Their patron has begun to dabble in the black arts, and between his irrational thirst for power, and his dark secret, the sorcerers are frightened. They believe Mackenzie can break the Stewart curse. They try to convince her to play along with their crazy scheme: marriage to the evil John Campbell.

Before Mackenzie can protest, her carriage is halted and the door thrown open. For a split-second she is arrested by the same beautiful piercing blue eyes that belonged in an oil painting.

Mackenzie then finds herself the victim of a second kidnapping!

Her new captor, however, does nothing but tempt her body and her temper. Believing her to in fact be the betrothed of his mortal enemy the Campbell, Connor originally sets out to capture his enemy’s betrothed. He never thought he would be so attracted to her that he’d want to keep her.

It is kind of interesting that I use the above picture of Castle Eilean Donan as the header for historical romances on all of my blog reviews (of that genre) because that is exactly the location of Highland Destiny. Castle Eilean Donan is the setting for the story. Cool!

As I had mentioned at the top of the blog post, I made a new year's resolution to read a "new to me" author at least once a month. I chose Highland Destiny for two reasons. One, hello sexy highlander! And two because I follow Laura Hunsaker on Twitter. I was drawn to her because she does not clutter up my Twitter feed with "buy my book" tweets and it was her personality on Twitter that had spoke to me. So there you go. Proof you don't have to force feed "buy my book" posts to grab the attention of readers. I purchased Highland Destiny on my own and I did not get a copy from the author. 

I have to preface that I am in love with Scotland and I have read a lot about the beautiful country. I've done a lot of research as well.  Highland Destiny is not a historically accurate book. So once I got my head around the fact that even though I was reading about Scotland 1792, its not factually Scotland 1792. If you are able to move past that hurdle you should be fine.

The premise of Highland Destiny was a sure winner. My interest was peaked when I read that the story was going to be about a modern day woman being whisked back in time to help save some Scottish clans from a long ago curse. I really liked how the story formed and that Mackenzie was enamored by a painting of Castle Eilean Donan's former handsome laird, Connor MacRae. I may have had a fantasy a time or two very similar as to how this story played out. 

As Mackenzie is thrust back in time by two sorcerers I was a bit disappointed with lack of luster with the actual travel event. One minute she is in modern times then as she passes through a hidden tunnel she is just magically back in time. 

I enjoyed the tactic in which Mackenzie and Connor meet. It was amusing that there were fireworks right away. Mackenzie quickly softened and trusted Connor enough, even after having been kidnapped twice in the same day, to comfortably fall asleep snuggled against him while riding on a horse. 

I didn't like how the point of view was constantly changing back and forth. A chapter would play out with details about how Mackenzie was feeling and her reactions to situations and then after a pause-break the entire scene was retold but now from Connor's point of view. This style of writing is way up there with my least favourite way to read a book. It felt very repetitive and I honestly prefer not to know everything that the other person is thinking in that exact same situation. I'd rather have the mystery of not knowing what the other person's thoughts are. 

My favourite scene is when Connor and Mackenzie return back to his castle and she is trying to change into clothes from the eighteenth century. She has no idea how stays go on or what to layer on next. I loved how Connor had to help her get into the clothes. Usually we read about highlanders taking off the ladies clothes not helping put them back on. That was fun. 

I am one of these romance readers that love the heroines just as much (if not even more) than the heroes. I adore books that portray the female lead as smart and making good decisions. I groan when I read a story where the plot is furthered along and conflicts arise because of bad decisions made by the heroine. My tolerance for Mackenzie was admittedly borderline. She was brave, sweet, kind and all of that wonderful stuff that makes for great heroines but I didn't care for how she made her choices towards the villain's plot-line of the story. Mackenzie would be committed in her decision, follow through with her actions and then numerous times I'd read, "This is all my fault" or "What did I do?" I would have wanted to reach into my Kindle and throttle her if it wasn't for the blatantly obvious set up. 

I don't like to share spoilers but I did really enjoy the ending. The story nicely wrapped up. It left me longing to visit Castle Eilean Donan to check behind tapestries and visit the ruins of Castle Urquhart (which were actually already in ruins by 1792).  

Teasers: iPod with bagpipe music, waaaaay to early to suspect that she was pregnant, shot by arrow, magical dagger