Stolen Promise-Lisa Marie Wilkinson

Stolen Promise

Lisa Marie Wilkinson

Medallion, Mar 2010, $7.95

ISBN 9781605420691

In 1806 England, Jade flees from the Lowara gypsy camp as she rejects a forced commonly bartered marriage to abusive Dimitri.  She does not get very far away when she meets half-breed American gypsy Evan Dark.  He rejects her pleas to either take her to safety or ignore her; instead Evan takes her back to the Lowara encampment.

However, her family forces the two to marry Roma style as he should not have been with her without a chaperon.  Evan proclaims their nuptials as bogus.  He returns to the States planning to marry his American fiancée Gloriana Clayton, but brings Jade and her battered (by Dimitri) sister Liberina with him as indentured servants.  On his South Carolina plantation Rosefield, Gloriana realizes Evan is falling in love with Jade so she plans to insure he goes through with his marriage to her; doing whatever it takes to get rid of the gypsy.

This is an intriguing historical due to the refreshing concept of a Roma romance crossing the ocean to South Carolina where Evan is local aristocracy in spite of his grandfather’s blood.  The story line is driven by the romantic triangle, but that is no contest as Jade is a moral individual trying to do right by her sister while Glory is an avaricious unethical person willing to do anything to further her position in society their respective.  Although having Glory with no redeeming quality is a detractor, Lisa Marie Wilkinson provides readers with an entertaining early nineteenth century romance.

Harriet Klausner

Knock Me For A Loop-Heidi Betts

Knock Me For A Loop

Heidi Betts

St. Martin’s, Feb 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780312946739

Talk show host Grace Fisher goes to the hotel to visit her fiancé hockey star Zack Hoolihan only to find him with a naked woman.  Outraged, Grace penalizes him with a life suspension when she publicly ends their relationship.

Already mentally down after losing Grace and playing poorly, Zack injures his knee and his placed on the injured reserve list.  He feels like a loser knowing his beloved distrusts and loathes him though he never cheated on her and his professional hockey career is over.  However he has renewed hope when his Grace visits him.

The third magic yarn romance (see Loves Me, Loves Me Knot and Tangled Up In Love) continues the misadventures in love between Zack and Grace.  Ironically readers know Zack is innocent as we know he has no idea how she got into his room while on the road but mentally (and physically) hurt by his beloved’s distrust of him.  Grace’s outrage of his betrayal of her could fuel a major city for years.  This tale is well written and entertaining though why Zack tries to win back his love instead of moving on as she cross checked him with a high stick and refused to listen to him.  Still fans will appreciate this fine contemporary sports romance wondering whether Grace can believe Zack is faithful to her.

Harriet Klausner

Five-Star Fleecing-Maura Stone

Five-Star Fleecing

Maura Stone

A WinS Publication, Dec 2009, $25.00

www.maurastone.com

ISBN: 9781449932299

In 1995 after losing her legal position at a firm doing questionable practices, Linda Lane obtains a job as assistant resident manager at the Manhattan luxurious Supreme Superior Hotel.  Her boss Herr Ganiff explains the rules of working at a five-star hotel and assigns her to work up a plan on how to keep their high rollers happy while also bringing in some middle income.

However, Linda observes all sorts of questionable practices at the hotel owned in absentia by a Japanese trio.  In fact, she sees theft, poor handling of guests and a management team that takes care of itself exclusively.  As she tries to ignore what she observes, Linda thinks of her father who told her to never back down from an ethics scenario as she did as a lawyer.

This is a superb scathing satire of the hospitality business at a time when Wall St. is in the news with Too Big To Fail bonuses to many of those who failed.  The cast is eccentric and over the top of the Empire State Building with me-me attitudes that stun idealistic newcomer Linda Lane who cannot understand the philosophy that the guest must not get in the way of bonuses.  Maura Stone provides a well written tale of avarice, American style of capitalism.

Harriet Klausner

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand-Helen Simonson

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

Helen Simonson

Random House, $25.00, Mar 2 2010

ISBN: 9781400068937

In Edgecombe St. Mary, sexagenarian English Widower Major Ernest Pettigrew grieves the death of his younger brother, Bertie.  As a memento of growing up together, Ernest wants Bertie’s antique Churchill shotgun, which is part of a set in which he owns the other piece.  However, his sibling’s wife Marjorie refuses to give it to him.  Meanwhile Ernest’s son Roger salivates over selling the Churchill collection.

Ernest is attracted to Pakistani shopkeeper Widow Jasmina Ali who he buys his tea from and enjoys discussing literature especially Kipling with her.  He wants to court the single mom though Roger interferes as does the village socialites; each has their own reason while her nephew Abdul Wahid demands she give him the shop as women should not be storekeepers by themselves.  However the major plans to ask the shopkeeper to accompany him to the dance at the club unaware of the volatile theme.

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is a great contemporary English village romance with a very modern day theme of two subcultures clashing when a person from each group falls in love with someone from the other side, a Romeo and Juliet taboo.  The story line is character driven by the strong lead couple who has feelings that is unacceptable by their families and friends.  Jocular and poignant, Helen Simonson writes a relevant tale of forbidden love even for middle aged military veterans who risks his place in the village by taking a last stand for what he wants.

Harriet Klausner

Postcards from a Dead Girl-Kirk Farber

Postcards from a Dead Girl

Kirk Farber

Harper, Feb 16 2010, $13.99

ISBN: 9780061834479

His former girlfriend Zoe began sending Sid Higgins postcards from all over Europe.  However, the cards are all over a year old and Zoe seems to have fallen off the face of the planet.  He decides to travel to Europe to make sure zany Zoe is okay though he doubts he will locate her.

Sid easily arranges his getaway as a perk working for a New Jersey travel agency.  Before crossing the pond, he opens his soul to his boss, his neighbor, the mail carrier, his sister the physician and his best listener Zero the dog.

This is an amusing often poignant tale that takes the audience deep inside of Sid although he can be irritating to the point fans will emulate his sister by shouting at him to get a life and move past a relationship that has been dead for a couple of years.  Zero makes the story line fun with his precious reactions to his owner’s tales of woe is me when all he wants is chow.  Although Sid’s obsession can be wearisome at times, Postcards from a Dead Girl is a profound character study.

Harriet Klausner

Defeat The Darkness-Alexis Morgan

Defeat The Darkness

Alexis Morgan

Pocket, Feb 23 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9781416563457

Devlin Bane is concerned with the instability between Earth and Kalitia especially around volcanoes in the northwest.  He asks limping Paladin warrior Hunter Fitzsimon who recently left St. Louis for Washington to investigate especially near Justice Point, where he suspects avaricious folks on both sides of the barrier will destroy anything or anyone for money.

Hunter rents an apartment from tea shop owner Tate Justice.  She is curious about her hunk upstairs while he fears his desire for her.  Tate follows him into the nearby woods to learn the secrets he strenuously conceals from her.  He kisses her senseless, but leaves himself wanting more though he fears he will have to choose between love and his mission; she now knows his secret involves keeping earth safe though she is not sure from what.

This is a terrific Paladin romantic urban fantasy as the hero may have come back from the dead but suffers from PTSD while the heroine will learn the meaning of the full verse from Alice in Wonderland: “curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction it brought him back”.  Filled with action, anguish and love, fans will enjoy Defeat the Darkness with its dual meaning title.

Harriet Klausner

Velvet Haven: The Immortals of Annwyn-Sophia Renwick

Velvet Haven: The Immortals of Annwyn

Sophia Renwick

NAL, Mar 2010, $15.00

ISBN: 9780451229182

Annwyn is the Otherworld and mortals are unaware of its existence.  The realm is home to all types of supernaturals with the link between that of the humans and that of the paranormal being Velvet Haven, a night club owned by half-breed Rhys MacDonald, whose father abdicated as king of the Sidhe to marry a mortal.  Rhys’ shapeshifting cousin Bran, angrily sits on the throne, while suffering from the Legacy Curse that requires him exclusively to mate with the species he loathes humans.

When the ninth murder of a Sidhe occurs and the first female victim, Bran knows he must delay his search for his missing brother, Carden, who vanished into the Wasteland centuries ago.  Instead he must focus on stopping the serial killer at a time when his visions show him dead, a victim of a warrior.  Since evil initiated on the other side, Bran goes to Velvet Haven seeking a woman to replenish his energy and clues to the deadly predator; unaware that a connected killer is also on the mortal plane.  At his cousin’s club he meets mortal nurse Mairi MacAuley whose essence arouses him as never before.  She rejects him as she assumes he is a player, but he persists unaware that their attraction could be the cause of his death

With much more going on than described above especially with her friend Rowan and the fallen Suriel for instance, Book One of the Annwyn Chronicles is a tremendous romantic fantasy with religious overtones that will stun readers.  The story line is fast-paced from the moment Mairi and Rowen enter the velvet Haven and never stops for even a heart beat.  The cast is strong especially the support cast who make the Otherworld seem genuine.  Sophia Renwick provides fans with a twisting tale of salvation from even death.

Harriet Klausner

Something Out There- Richard Bausch

Something Out There

Richard Bausch

Knopf, Feb 9 2010, $25.95

ISBN: 9780307266279

These eleven superb short stories take seemingly inconsequential events that occur on a larger stage like snow storms and floods to argue what is sacred about a relationship.  Using a sort of butterfly effect Richard Bausch leaves his audience pondering whether it is better to not love than lose freedom as relationships require ceding something and fail to last anyway as constant compromise or accession becomes the norm.  All the entries are well written although some have appeared in other publications.  Especially superb are “Reverend Thornhill’s Wife” who has a great caring spouse but remains so unhappy she takes an Internet stranger to their bed; “Byron the Lyron” who only loves his dying octogenarian mother as does his former boyfriend; and “Blood” as a younger brother obsesses over his sister-in-law.  Metaphoric symbolism abound as nature is meant to be loose and wild not fundamentally churched as in “Sixty-five Million Years” while power outages is the norm for those trying to maintain a relationship as told in “Son and Heir” and the title tale.  readers will appreciate the profound look at the evanescent “One Hour in the History of Love” as Mr. Bausch makes a strong case that to err is human; to relate is divinely impossible.

Harriet Klausner

The Secret of the Glass-Donna Russo

The Secret of the Glass

Donna Russo

Kensington, Mar 2010, $15.00

ISBN 9780758226921

In Venice the renowned Murano glassmakers feel the pressure of laws that insist they must remain inside the city and limit females.  Zeno Fiolario is one of the best artisans, but his equally talented oldest daughter Sophia must hide her skill serendipitously taught to her by her father or both will be severely punished.  When Zeno becomes ill, Sophia as the oldest of his daughters accepts marriage to middle-aged Pasquale da Fuligna, who covets owning the Fiolarios’ glass factory.

Pasquale brings his fiancée to the Doge’s palace, where she meets Galileo.  The scientist, in trouble with the Church, commissions her in secret to construct a secret lens for him.  Encouraged by her beloved impoverished courier, she creates a glass device to enable long distance sight.  However, her association with Galileo places her and her family and beloved in trouble with the papacy.

This is a superb historical fiction tale that brings to life the age of Galileo in Venice through the eyes of an illegal Murano glassmaker.  Ironically, like Galileo who is in heretic trouble with the Church; Sophia violates the gender restriction law.  She learns skill is irrelevant.  Readers will relish this strong seventeenth century story as The Secret of the Glass is due to the maker.

Harriet Klausner

The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage That Forever Changed The Fate Of England

The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage That Forever Changed The Fate Of England

Susan Higginbotham

Sourcebooks, Mar 1 2010, $14.99

ISBN: 9781402237669

King Edward IV marries Elizabeth Woodville in secret.  Elizabeth’s family, including her six year old sister Kate, is escorted to the royal court.  Over time with maturity Kate overcomes her amazement of the regal world to marry the Duke of Buckingham, Harry Stafford.

However, both her biological and marital families are caught in the War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York.  While King Edward IV fights to remain on the throne, Harry has to choose between loyalty to his brother-in-law and his best friend Richard, Duke of Gloucester who covets the crown.

This is an entertaining biographical fiction that enables the audience to observe the late fifteenth century royal power struggles through the observations of the beleaguered queen’s younger sister and her spouse.  They, especially Harry, are yanked between extended family loyalty and his friend.  Fans of English historical fiction anchored by facts will enjoy the exciting saga of The Stolen Crown.

Harriet Klausner