Reviews by Dr. J

Another riveting Tymber Dalton tale that involves a woman who is stranded and rescued by a state trouper and whose ability to communicate with a little boy who has been murdered leads her into harms way. Since this is a romance it is no surprise that she ends up sharing a bed with the two lovers who rescue her and give her shelter. They also end up having to protect her as she becomes more and more important to them now and for the future. A wonderful love story, but it has those wonderful suspenseful and mysterious aspects that make it a story within a story and one that will keep readers riveted from beginning to end. You don't want to miss this one!!

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Another episode in the continuing saga of a relationship that is developing with a group of wolf shifters--brothers and cousins--and a human scientist who is in Alaska to study wolf packs in nature and who these shifters know is their mate. None of these episodes are stand alone stories, and in my opinion, as good as they are, are just way too short and too expensive for what is forthcoming. Had I not started this series, I would not continue buying these succeeding episodes because I just don't think they are a good value. However, that being said, the stories themselves are beautifully written and the developing relationships are fascinating. There is also an underlying mystery of murders that are being committed with an eye to implicating the shifter community. They are really delightful stories, but their brief format and cost-per-word takes away some of the joy for me.

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A second novel in a series about the second generation of government agents who are undercover to ferret out fraud and greed as individuals and groups are "stealing" boys that have come West on the Orphan Train, an effort made in the post Civil War years to find families for children who have been separated from their families by war or whose parents have died and left them homeless. The history of this endeavor demonstrates that the best of intentions can't possibly insure the best for all the children involved, and so it was with these orphans. Now the daughter of celebrated Civil War spies has taken an assignment to travel to pioneer Kansas as a school teacher in the company of twin brothers (who also have their issues) and who is a woman who doesn't have a fig of an idea of what this pioneer life will demand of her. Yet in the midst of their adventures these three are forced to learn about their new life as well as themselves--fighting the growing attraction between them while still seeking to find the boys that are disappearing. This is a marvelous historical romance that is rooted in some of the most turbulent years of America's history and a time when the country was still reeling from the tragedies of the Civil War. Even twenty years later, people's lives were still being deeply affected. Lovers of historical romance that is set in the Old West will LOVE this book and the preceding novel--Kentucky Woman. Ms Carlton has "hit one out of the park" with this novel!!

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Tymber Dalton is really one wonderful writer, regardless if she is writing contemporary menage romance, BDSM romances, or sci-fi novels. As a reader that really isn't into the sci-fi, I read this book simply because I am totally a Tymber Dalton fan, and was so pleasantly surprised. Wrapped in a completely alternative universe that she has fashioned as context for this love relationship, the author has brought three hurting men together with a capable and loving woman who has agreed to live with and be companion/bedmate for five years. Obviously there will be difficulties and a crisis without which no good novel can exist. Yet the flow of the story and the intensity of the love these four people share made this such a good book and one that I enjoyed in spite of my usual dislike of sci-fi novels. Perhaps it is that sense that the love relationship was first and foremost, and all the fantasy ingredients were there to give the story a "container" in which to be held, a context that shaped the story, to be sure, but which did not overwhelm the romance. As always, Dalton's stories are erotic and steamy, but here all their encounters are respectful, loving, deeply caring, and for the reader it is a romance novel that produce those deep sighs of satisfaction when it is all finished. Not a book that romance and fantasy lovers should miss!!

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Second in a series about a brother and sister who both come from a family that has essentially buried the fact that their grandmother was wolfen. Yet Michael has other issues--life-long worry about and care for his sister who has now found her HEA, needing to connect with Maddie as adult siblings, and not offering to design and build her dream home. Problem: her husband is the Alpha of the Wind River pack and breaking the news that his sister is now fully wolfen. Not only that, a young new addition to the pack, a young woman who has recently moved to be with her uncle, knows that Michael is her mate. Ms Martine tells stories so beautifully and even in the fantasy/paranormal world she has created, the characters are so real, the emotions expressed in a way that the reader can feel them, too, and developing the story and the relationships so that there just aren't any literary dead spots. The author has demonstrated a comprehensive grasp of the use of language and the challenges of writing a good story. Lovers of paranormal romance would do well to read this book and will find it well worth the time and effort. And let's face it: a really good story makes time fly, and readers will find this a very satisfying way to spend some quality reading time.

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There are a lot of great historical romances set in the Old West but there are few that are as well written and researched as this book and the following novels in the series that tell the stories of women who boarded the Bride Train that became a part of the post Civil War period and which took women to men in the West for arranged marriages. As in this woman's case, it was often an opportunity to run away from an abusive fiance or a marriage that was to a man three times the woman's age, or perhaps it was just to have a husband. With the carnage of the Civil War, men were at a premium, especially back East. Only in this lady's case, she literally jumped " . . . out of the frying pan into the fire." Upon arrival at her destination, her situation was quite different than what she expected and because of a ruckus in which she was involved, fighting to protect her virtue, she lands in the jail. The sheriff doesn't want her to marry the town bully, and against his better judgment, matches her up with a local rancher who was a bit of a non-conformist. The story really gets interesting from here on. Needless to say, both the heroine and the reader are in for some interesting developments. Just a really good read, very erotic with multiple partners--brothers and others--and yet all in the context of some genuine respect and caring. This author has done it again . . . given the readers a very satisfying read.

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The second novel involving the fetish club "Reckless Abandon" and the scene of a charity "auction" that pairs unclaimed submissives with prospective Doms. Richard and Alan are literally "blown away" when Molly, younger sister of their best friend, appears on the auction block. Richard has had difficulty facing his feelings and Alan has long desired Molly, so they begin their exploration of the possibilities that she is the one who will "complete" their family. Ms Ashbury has a wonderful way with words, draws clear and compelling word pictures, has written a highly erotic love story that is built on respect, kindness, a sense of recognizing their mutual needs and desiring that all of them receive that will complete them as people. Everyone who is a genuine romance lover will like this book and find in it the ingredients that make reading a wonderful experience. Just a fantastic read!

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Morgan Ashbury really has a way with words!! And this story, set in the context of a budding BDSM triad, is extremely erotic some suspense woven in. Add in the fact that Jordan owns "Reckless Abandon," a local high-end BDSM dungeon and whose love Marcus has changed his life. Yet they both feel that they need a woman--a very special woman--to "complete" their family. Both have been aware of Chastity's presence--she rents the other penthouse apartment in their building--and when she shows up at the club, Jordan lets no "grass grow under his feet" in approaching her and giving her the opportunity to act out some of her fantasies with him and Marcus. It is a novel of romance, highly erotic, some suspense about the ex-fiance, a lot of beautiful caring that fills some huge holes in Chastity's life, and the love that comes from respect and friendship--the kind that really does last forever. A beautiful story and one that all genuine romance lovers will enjoy.

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An erotic menage romance that brings an applicant for housekeeper/cook to a Montana ranch where two brothers are not only needing the services for which they advertised, but they are also seeking a woman who will be their perfect "third." Needing a job desperately, a lovely and energetic lady shows up at their door, having driven from New Orleans where her supposed "fiancee" had snookered her with lies of a future together when, in truth, he was already married. The brothers are enthralled by her right from the first and decline to check her references. Their relationship changes gradually from employers/employee to lovers and the three believed that their future was secure. Slowly they rebuilt her trust, only to see it evaporate in a flash when she finds out about some actions and decisions the brothers have made that convince her that they really don't trust or believe her. Ms Monroe has a proven track record as a very good writer of erotic romance and readers will find lots to like here, especially if you like hot loving, cowboys with those gorgeous muscles and their tight jeans and those cowboy hats they wear low on their foreheads. Yum!

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The latest novel in "The Heroes of Silver Springs" series and probably one of the best novels I have read in recent years. It is what I would call "The Complete Novel" as it contains romance, suspense, mystery, undercover operations, community, family loyalty, acceptance of love relationships in several different configurations and orientations, characters that represent people from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life. It celebrates the heroism of firefighters and law enforcement personnel at all levels, deals honestly with the social destruction of drugs and their sale, can stand alone and yet is so expertly constructed that it is flawlessly connected to all the series' novels that came before. What more can I say? A serious reader of romance fiction shouldn't miss this one.

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This is NOT your "sweetness and light" kind of romance. In fact, from the very first, the heroine's life is in danger because of actions taken by her doctor-father while she was going to school in Boston. No one will tell her about this "curse" that is endangering her--telling her involves the "teller" in the curse--and people she has known since her earliest childhood now have turned against her. Her fiancee has been consistently unfaithful during her four years back East, and two of the Reeves brothers, the family that has sworn revenge on her family, use every trick in the book. Threats, cutting off her access to goods and services in the town, preventing her from working, even assaulting her in the cemetery as she is visiting her mother's grave. Lastly, they begin to seduce her in order to ruin her reputation so that she will have not alternative but to leave town. But, of course, this is a romance and so the reader has to know that there will be some conflict in all these main characters when they must deal with their attraction to one another. There are some interesting developments throughout the story that I wasn't expecting and a couple of late-appearing characters that change the complexion of the tale. The story is aptly named because in addition to the suspicious minds in the story, the reader is suspicious of the motives of the brothers as they seduce Felicia--are they responding to her beauty and innocence, or they simply indulging themselves while they work toward their ultimate goal of ruining her? I guess we all become suspicious before it is all over. Good story, very good writing, and a story that will hold the reader's interest from the first page onward.

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There is probably no state of affairs more difficult to abide than knowing that one's family fears you, that the people who love you best put you away in some medical facility and it is not until a judge declares you able to make your own decisions that there comes that sense of finally having your life back under control. So it is with Maddie Bowers, a woman who has been afflicted--in the eyes of her family--with telekinesis and who has been kept in a clinic for years under a drug protocol. Wanting so hard to prove herself independent and finally getting out on her own, she moves to the mountain home willed her by her grandfather. Unbeknownst to her, she has already become the potential mate--at least, in the mind of the local Alpha--and future Alpha-Femm of that wolfen pack. Memories from her past, a hidden journal, and a not-to-be-forgotten meeting with a wolf, keep Maddie bonded to reality, but there is evil afoot from several sources and her life gets worse before it gets better. Once again Ms Martine has written a compelling novel that certainly holds its own over against paranormals of some very well-known authors. Here we have Maddie's sense of spreading her wings, finding space to come to terms with who she is and how she will live with her "gift," and learning about herself and how that knowledge can affect her future. There is a sense of community that surrounds both Maddie and Remus--the caring of Remus' brothers, the loyalty of Remus' pack, and as manipulated and fearful as it may be, the deep caring and love of Maddie's brother. It is a joy to watch Maddie come into her own, although the path she treads is littered with difficulties and challenges. Just a truly fine novel and one that will provide a superior reading experience for lovers of romance fiction and paranormal romance.

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Another rockem sockem paranormal romance from the pen of an author that just knows how to tell the story about two huge, gorgeous, gregarious and go-after-what-they-want Alpha males, law enforcement officers, and characters that will delight with their no-holds-barred pursuit of their human mate--a woman who has no interest in being manhandled or whose life is settled and she likes it that way. As always, Jenny Penn creates a world where shifters are the norm and where it is not unusual to see the Alpha of the pack doing his "thing." What is unusual is seeing his human mate putting up a creative tussle through the claiming. Such fun, marvelous story telling and the kind of paranormal romance that keeps us coming back for more from this amazing writer.

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A compelling novel that deals with the long-term effects of spousal abuse, the fear and lack of trust that seem to become a part of that person's very cell structure, and the power of love and caring to overcome that sense of losing control over one's life. Add in the fact that the heroine is a 43 year old woman, and you have the complications of believing that not only has your spouse robbed you of happiness and a sense of personal safety, but now one's chances of finding a new path that may include love and security become almost nil--at least in the mind of this older woman. Bring on the guys, and we meet twin brothers who are almost struck dumb by their attraction to this really beautiful lady--a woman who is beautiful inwardly as well as externally. Add in a greedy attorney, a young woman who can't seem to take no for an answer, and you have a novel that is riveting in its subject matter, delightful to read because it is so well written, and characters that are so well defined that they literally jump off the page. What, I ask, is there not to like about this novel? Ms Martine has demonstrated considerable skill and talent as she has applied her knowledge to the writing task, and it is a joy to read a story well told and a book so well written.

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Those who have read the first three novels in this series have already met the hero and heroine of this tale. And going in, the "battle" between them is already joined. Readers have been wondering how these two are going to resolve their issues, problems that seem insurmountable so that one wonders if they can ever find a way to be together. Tonay Ramagos is a gifted writer and I enjoyed every one of her books. This one is not exception and this is a marvelous series, one that I highly recommend. All the stories are stand alone books, but I recommend going back and starting with the first. All the subsequent stories will make more sense and, I think, will be much more enjoyable.

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This is another fascinating tale concocted by a really great story teller. The premise of the book rests on the fact that the heroine welcomed these two brothers, men who she thought were at her apartment door for an entirely different reason than why they came. They were, in a word, her enemies--at least they were opposing her as she was trying to interfere with their re-development projects in order to save historic structures they wanted to tear down. The three of them, under false pretenses, became involved as lovers and when the truth became known as to their true identities, the perverbial "spit hit the fan." As in all Jenny Penn stories there is an adversarial component and things get rough between the lovers. There was a point where I wasn't sure they were going to be able to work it out. But like all good writers, Ms Penn managed a resolution that was as surprising as it was satisfying. A really great read!

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I was soooo looking forward to this sequel to The Devil's Pact and was really excited when it became available. But I didn't like it nearly as well. Perhaps because it seemed more disjointed than the initial book, bringing in some characters that I just wasn't convinced fit together, and I was mildly disappointed in the "open marriage" of the three main characters. I wasn't ever really sure why it was necessary to take the action to France when their stories started out in the American West. I may go back and re-read to see if I can make more sense of the story, but at this point it was a disappointment. That being said, I cannot fault Ms Cruise's writing expertise and her skill with the literary part of the task. I had the feeling that the story just got away from her, but then that may say more about me than about the author.

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All is not well in Wilde, Nevada, the site of a mine that appears to be having a rash of accidents for the first time in many years. The government oversight agency now sends in its investigator, a somewhat naive young woman who becomes the object of desire for a family of brothers, descended from the town's founders, who have themselves been raised in a polyamorous family and who all gradually become convinced that this is the woman they were destined to share and set up a home for the future. But the oldest brother is heavily into BDSM and he has determined not to share a wife with his brothers. This is the first of a series of novellas (which will not be stand alone pieces) that will advance the story, each novella dealing with one of the brother's relationship with this submissive young lady. All the while the investigation goes forward but there are enemies, not only of the mine and its owners but also against any relationship she may form with multiple partners. This is a very entertaining beginning of this series. I have the feeling that this experience will turn out to be a significant journey of discovery for this young lady as well as for all these brothers.

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A very entertaining story that is the fourth in the Club Esoteria series from this author. Two gay lovers also have been watching over the woman who has been leasing the guest house from, and when they find out that she has been injured in a BDSM scene they declare that they are assuming responsibility over her. After all they have had their eye on her as the newest addition to their "family." This is another example of fine story telling from Ms McKenzie and continues the strands that have been woven throughout all the stories in this series. This novella is full of friendship and hot loving, genuine caring between all the lovers, and the kind of loving dynamic that is a part of all long-term love relationships, no matter the configuration. There is some nasty stuff going on and it has the potential to do great damage to these three. Readers will find this novella compelling and a very nice way to spend some quality reading time.

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An Alpha wolf who is the sheriff, a new administrative assistant who is working undercover to solve an old murder, and that old thing known as the mating thing--all of those are in this fun and erotic novel that continues to build the reputation of Jenny Penn as a romance writer readers don't want to ignore. Claire is the object of the Alpha's attention--well, it would be more accurate to style it as current obsession--and she's a human so the unmated females in his pack aren't too happy about this. But she has a wonky connection with a demon and she is pretending someone she isn't. Yet she is slowly but surely succumbing to the attraction, and she is not above using her budding relationship with her new beau to do some additional investigating. Add in a ghost who accompanies her and who only she can see, you have a delightful paranormal read and a story that does Jenny Penn proud. As in all Penn writings, there is just a bit of a human or seemingly weak and dependent on their men who manage to tweak the big bad male or at least have him running in circles. Somehow the power of that attraction makes a man do some fairly silly or maybe even weird things in order to win the lady. This is a really fun and entertaining novel and was a great read. This was also one of the books that sealed my delight in Penn's writing.

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She was conned by a lover with promises of a golden future, but abandoned without resources or support system, millions of miles away from friends and family, with the only future that of a prostitute on a planet where there are few women. Put up for auction as a sex slave, Mikayla is "bought" by a man who has no intention to use her sexually and who brings her home to give her shelter and protection from those who would hurt her. All but one of the brothers were completely enthralled with her beauty, sweet and enthusiastic spirit, and her open heart as she becomes friends with them (one brother is still on planet Earth). This is the first in a series of novellas about Mikayla's relationship with these brothers, all of whom want to be her husbands in a universe where polyamorous unions are the norms. None of the subsequent novellas is a stand alone book--all are dependent on previous novellas and are actually episodes in a continuing story. As well-written as these stories are, they are way, way too short and way, way too much money for the quantity received. I have started this series and will see it through. But I will not be buying such series in the future. Not really a good buy. That being said, Ms Blake is an accomplished writer and has done very well in this series. All these men sound like such nice guys, and the author has managed to keep them unique and identifiable.

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If you have not read the work of Morgan Ashbury, you just simply can't start with a better story. A woman who has been literally set aside by a self-centered ex and children who appear to be more interested in living without having to exercise personal responsibility for their futures, and a mother who just simply has never liked her, now meets a man who was a teen when she first saw him swimming in the nude and who has now come to her home with the express purpose of "claiming" her as a lover. Lily is repressed and oppressed by the significant people who have systematically cowed her with criticism of her personally, educationally, and every other way possible. Now her young lover has begun his own campaign to reacquaint Lily with her worth as a person, her beauty as a woman, her abilities as a thinking person, an individual who really is qualified to plan and implement her own future, and who is powerful in her own right. It is a delightful and heart-warming novel that every woman will rejoice in reading, with a hero who is one of those guys that any woman would be delighted to have as a significant man in her life. Just a splendid read and one that is already on my favorites list and one I will be re-reading in the near future.

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Almost immediately, the reader encounters the sense that two of the threesome in this story are hurting, needing their "third" and wondering if their future will ever be complete as they has once hoped. Two brothers, one who has remained on the family ranch and the other who has been gone for several years after a tragic accidental shooting, are in love with the same woman. But the longer they wait, the less hope they have that Luke will return. As always these two authors give us a story that is rich in erotic loving, built within the context of a story that is full of pathos and emotion, with family and community involved, and a sense that the reader is experiencing the Old West, not just as a spectator but as a participant. One of the first books I read from the pen of Tonya Ramagos and Bonnie Parker, and one that got me started loving their writing efforts, both together and individually. I highly recommend this historical romance.

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As a continuation of Jenny Penn's "shifter" series of stories, "Chasing Lacie" is another fine addition. Populated with shifter males who are determined to capture and ensnare their mate, Lacie is not really sure that these are the men she wants to have as her mates for the rest of her life, and possibly not at all. As has been the case in a number of her stories, Ms Penn has built a story that is adversarial in nature, at least initially. But it is just a fun story as the reader follows the antics, strategies, planning and plotting of two very turned-on shifters as they try to outwit a really smart female who certainly gives them a run for their money. As always, there is not a dull moment in the chase and readers who really like paranormal romance will find lots to like here.

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How the Kelly brothers loved her!! And when she left just a few days after her 18th birthday--just when Nate, Brett, and Matt were expecting their life-long dream of claiming Jade Douglas, their hearts were broken and the future looked bleak for them all. Nate remained on the Kelly ranch, Brett left, too, hoping to find solutions to his own issues, and Matt left for the military and the Middle East. Now, 14 years later, Jade has returned, with a whole load of secrets and all kinds of walls she has erected between her and these three men who love her still. This is a full length novel that fully examines the life that the Kelly Brothers hope to have with Jade, the efforts they make to re-ignite the sparks between them, and the difficulties they all encounter, especially in trying to build a foundation of honesty between them while Jade continues to withhold herself. This author has written a really complete novel that is not your typical boy-meets-girl kind of story. There are moments of great joy where the reader expects some movement toward resolution between these four, and then immediately those hopes are dashed by another set of problems. Yet, one has to love the faithful perseverance of these three men who know Jade is the woman they want and they are willing to do whatever it takes to bring her "home." Just a fantastic read!!

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