Street Game-Christine Feehan

Street Game

Christine Feehan

Jove, Dec 29 2009, $7.99

ISBN: 9780515147605

A San Francisco street punk, Mack McKinley found a home and a purpose when he became a GhostWalker.  He would do anything for his teammates.  His only negative is when his beloved Jaimie Fielding abruptly left the GhostWalkers two years ago taking his heart with her.

Jamie quit when she could not get her beloved Mack to see the sinister side to the GhostWalker program.  She vowed to go alone and find the proof to expose those in charge.  However, her efforts have come to the attention of those same people who want the status quo, which means using the GhostWalkers against one of their former associates.  Mack and his team following a weapons shipment from Beirut end up in her San Francisco home with him literally on top of her; as she points out someone wanted them back together, but she does not trust their matchmaker.  When she tries again like she did two years ago to explain the other side of the leadership, he listens though he still doubts her theory but more important to him he vows to keep his Jamie safe although it rocks his world to do so.

This is an enjoyable urban romantic suspense thriller as the telepathic GhostWalkers are betrayed from within and thereby struggle to survive.  The story line is action-packed, but clearly fueled by the volatile relationship between Mack and Jaimie who may have a second chance at love if they live long enough.  Christine Feehan provides a superb entry in her thrilling saga.

Harriet Klausner

Shattered-Joan Johnston

Shattered

Joan Johnston

Mira, Dec 29 2009, $7.99

ISBN: 9780778328292

 

In Austin, almost a decade has passed since Kate Grayhawk Pendleton caught her husband J.D. cheating; stunned she left and met Wyatt Shaw in a hotel bar.  They made love and she left only to give birth to twins Lucky and Chance who are Wyatt’s offspring.  Now the mother of the late J.D. Ann Wade is running for president and needs to know what skeletons could derail her chances of winning the Republican nomination as the kids are not her biological grandchildren.

 

Son of a mobster, Wyatt has learned the kids are his.  He wants them and Kate in his life.  At the same time Texas Ranger Jack McKinley, who broke Kate’s heart in high school, wants Kate back in his life while also trying to destroy Wyatt Shaw’ who he assumes will take over his dad’s D’Amato crime syndicate.  Jack’s wife Holly will do almost anything to keep her spouse whom she loves, but her son’s needs come before her heart.

 

This is an exciting Bitter Creek romantic suspense that fans of the saga will enjoy as the entangled relationships between the lead foursome is fascinating and made more complicated by children and parents.  The story line is filled with action although too many subplots make it difficult to follow especially for a newbie.  Still romantic suspense readers will enjoy the tale with an engaging mystery and plenty of suspense while wondering who will end up with whom.

 

Harriet Klausner

Fallen Rogue-Amy Rench

Fallen Rogue

Amy Rench

Leisure, Dec 2009, $6.99

ISBN: 9780505528124

 

In Hood River, Oregon remote field botanist Bobby Kane tells his visiting sister Harper, an Olympics caliber swimmer, to run with a box he had hidden.  Those chasing after him soon shoot him.  Inside the box she retrieved are a computer flash drive and a syringe filled with a liquid.  The killers who murdered her sibling come after Harper as they want the box.  As she flees the scene, she accidentally injects herself with whatever was in the needle.  Instantly she changes as a blinding light kills those trying to murder her.

 

Government agent Rome Lucian is sent to retrieve Harper.  He succeeds, but becomes upset when she becomes a guinea pig experiment.  He abets her escape, but criminals and feds chase after them; with each team interchangeable as his death is acceptable and her capture essential in the name of research.  All she wants is to avenge her sibling’s murder except for her attraction to Rome

 

Fallen Rogue starts off faster than the speed of light and accelerates from there as the story line never slows down until the final confrontation.  Harper is conflicted between a need to murder those who killed her brother and chase after her, and knowing the cost will be her soul and the corollary belief that she will never see her beloved Rome again.  Adding to her dilemma is she knows she will die as those who used the serum have before her have done.  She makes the tale with her personal choices that will have readers wondering to kill or not to kill that is the question.

 

Harriet Klausner

 

Spy Games-Gina Robinson

Spy Games

Gina Robinson

Zebra, Dec 2009, $5.99

ISBN: 9781420104738

 

Though frightened of her former boyfriend Ket, thirty-two years old Reilly Peterson refuses to allow him to dictate how she lives.  Being a former athlete and model, she is in good shape so she decides she needs to learn how to defend her self rather quickly.  In Seattle she attends the Urban Ops Division’s three-day training at Fantasy Spy Camp.

 

At camp Reilly meets math Professor Van Keller; he acts anything but like her image of an academic.  When a corpse is found, Reilly fears Ket is nearby.  Meanwhile as she learns hand to hand combat and weapons usage, Van vows to keep her safe although she wonders how a Pythagoras Equation expert will protect her from killer Ket.

 

Like its predecessor Spy Candy, the fun Spy Games is an enjoyable lighthearted romantic suspense starring a brave lead female, a math teacher who proves the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and a villain over the top of the Space Needle.  Readers will enjoy going to Fantasy Spy Camp rooting for Reilly to kick Kt’s butt.

 

Harriet Klausner

 

 

Hidden Fire-Jo Davis

Hidden Fire

Jo Davis

Signet, Dec 2009, $6.99

ISBN: 9780451228659

 

Station Five firefighter Julian Salvatore knows he is in love with beautiful attorney Grace McKenna, but she ignores his efforts to start dating even as he knows he is being a pest.  He just refuses to accept negatives from her.

 

However, Julian becomes concerned for Grace’s safety when he learns she represents the person who molested him as a child.  He voices his fears to her but she blows away his trepidations.  However, she reconsiders his warning when he is injured in a hit and run that seemed deliberate at a time someone is abducting and killing people.  As he heals, they team up to investigate who the culprit is as they each believe the driver is the deadly kidnapper.

 

The latest Firefighters of Station Five (see Under Fire) is a fast-paced romantic suspense thriller starring a hero with issues forged by his childhood molestation that comes back to haunt him as the client of his beloved and the lawyer he loves who has her own issues with doubt re commitment.  Julian’s issues with his cronies especially his Captain make him seem genuine as does Grace’s indecisiveness even as she overdoes the changing of her mind to the point of irritatingly sending the reader yelling at her to stay the course.  Although the villain is a caricature over the top of the station house, fans will enjoy the latest escapades of the Station Five firefighters.

 

Harriet Klausner

Hard To Hold-Stephanie Tyler

Hard To Hold

Stephanie Tyler

Dell, Nov 24 2009, $7.99

ISBN: 9780440244349

 

In the Congo, Navy SEAL Lieutenant Jake Hansen arrives to rescue Doctors Without Borders plastic surgeon Dr. Isabelle Markham from a ruthless mercenary Rage who kidnapped and raped her and left her for dead.  Jake finds her barely alive without a stitch of clothing.  He gets her out of Africa but a connection from the moment they met is evident.

 

When Rafe escapes captivity, Admiral Callahan assigns Jake to keep Izzy safe.  He has mixed feelings about the assignment because he told her some things about himself he told no one.  However, he would die to keep her safe, but feels bad that he has been ordered to conceal the truth about Rafe who is believed to be stalking Isabelle. When she learns the truth she leaves, but Rafe has been patient.

 

This is an exhilarating romantic military suspense thriller with the emphasis on the love story line over the dark SEAL operations.  The lead couple makes the tale fun as each fall in love with the other but share in common relationship issues to overcome.  The support cast that includes his SEAL mates (stars of future tales) and the man who took two of Naval officers into his home when they were teens (; the third is his son) add depth to the suspense and even more so the romance.  Fans of SEAL romances in which the thrills of the coupling supersede that of the enemy actions will want to read this enjoyable tale.

 

Harriet Klausner

Our Little Secret-Starr Ambrose

Our Little Secret

Starr Ambrose

Pocket, Nov 24 2009, $7.99

ISBN: 9781439102237

 

Twins Lauren and Meg Sutherland are total opposites as the former is reliable and the latter is impulsive.  However, even Lauren, used to her sibling’s reckless behavior, is stunned when her sister marries US Senator Creighton, a man twice her age.

 

Lauren plans to persuade her sibling and the politician to annul their marriage.  However, she becomes concerned when the newlyweds vanish without a trace.  The senator’s son Drew joins Lauren in a search for their missing relatives after mistakenly accusing her of being a gold-digger.  To her shock, Lauren is attracted to Drew, which is out of character for her as she is engaged to an ultra conservative who is compatible to her.  At the same time an unknown adversary stalks them and the newlyweds are planning to prevent by any means possible the bungling amateurs from unraveling a Washington run by blackmail of illicit trysts.

 

Our Little Secret is an enjoyable amateur sleuth romantic suspense in which the lead couple in their search for their relatives find themselves in a murkier deadly situation as a predator watches their every move.  The story line is a fast-paced frenzied frolic with the emphasis on the romance although Starr Ambrose takes a jab at a DC fueled by money interests.  Fans will appreciate this entertaining gambit as Drew and Lauren wonder how love can prove so dangerous.

 

Harriet Klausner

With Extreme Pleasure-Alison Kent

With Extreme Pleasure

Alison Kent

Kensington Brava, Dec 2009, $14.00

ISBN: 9780758217585

 

Makeup artist Cady Kowalski has been on the run for years ever since her brother was murdered, but her past has caught up with her.  Battered and bruised she climbs into the hummer of former model and ex convict Kingdom Trahan, who looks forward to leaving the Big Apple for his home in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana.  King reluctantly agrees to take Cady out of New York.

 

They stop at her apartment so she can take some stuff with her, but her roommate tries to kill her.  With King’s help and that of a Fed she eludes those trying to kill her. However, it is a long drive as King slowly learns the truth re Cady and what happened eight years ago when her brother died.

 

Cousin to Simon Baptiste of SG-5 (see No Limit), King is a terrific hero who cannot help but aid Cady though he keeps thinking of the unwanted paparazzi that constantly stalk his newly married cuz due to the man’s famous bride.  The story line is a fast-paced and exciting, but over the top of the Bayou and lacking in the hero’s criminal back story.  Still fans will be hooked the moment Cady climbs into King’s hummer as this action packed thriller lives up to its title.

 

Harriet Klausner

 

Cold River-Carla Neggers

Cold River

Carla Neggers

Mira, Nov 24 2009, $7.99

ISBN: 9780778326557

 

Eight months ago, Drew Cameron was murdered on Cameron Mountain in Vermont. Those who killed him also died; that is everyone except the person who hired the professional hit men.  Drew’s sons Sean and his brothers (see Cold Purist for Elijah’s tale) believe Hannah Shay, owner of Her Three Sisters Café in nearby Black Falls, Vermont, is the key to their finding out who the culprit really was.

 

However, Sean approaches Hannah asking for her assistance, but she refuses as she is afraid her friend Bowie O’Rourke is in the middle of the blood flowing down Cameron Mountain.  However, someone with less ethics when it comes to homicide awaits the right moment to learn what Hannah knows before killing her.  Sean vows to keep the obstinate Hannah safe as he believes she is in the crosshairs and besides he has loved her since high school.

 

The latest Black Falls “Cold” thriller is a strong romantic suspense that turns pristine Green Mountain state into a dark grim landscape.  Drew and Hannah are a delightful pairing as he knows somehow she is the center of danger, but she rejects his offers of protection out of loyalty.   Fans will relish Carla Neggers’ tense action-packed thriller that never slows down throughout the exhilarating story line.

 

Harriet Klausner

Shadows From the Past-Lindsay McKenna

Shadows From the Past

Lindsay McKenna

Harlequin HQN, Dec 1 2009, $7.99

ISBN: 9780373774074

 

Following the death of her mom in a Los Angeles earthquake, the baby Kamaria found alive in apartment rubble was adopted by Morgan and Laura Trayhern, who raised her as theirs with love in Montana.  Everything was terrific, but the photojournalist always wanted to know more about her roots especially her patriarchal side.  She has one clue as to who her biological father might be; three men in a photo with Morgan insisting Rudd Mason, owner of the Elkhorn Ranch in Wyoming, is her sire.

 

Kam learns Rudd is advertising for a caregiver to help his octogenarian mother, Iris.  She applies and is hired.  She easily becomes friends with the rancher and his mom, but his wife, Allison, and her younger half-siblings Zach and Regan loathe her.  Worse she is attracted to ranch hand Wes Sheridan even as someone wants to insure the family estate remains as is and murder is a viable option.

 

This is an exciting ranch romantic suspense starring a likeable heroine.  The story line is fast-paced from the moment Kam decides to uncover the identity of her biological dad with the help of her wonderful adopted father.  Although the villain is too easily discarded, fans will enjoy the last Trayhern next generation tale (see Dangerous Prey and heart of the Storm) and hopefully persuade Lindsay McKenna to provide a futuristic follow up involving Zach and Regan.

 

Harriet Klausner