Spotlight: Banished Threads by Kaylin McFarren

by Carol1 Comment
Excerpt: A lone figure stood in the estuary lookout nestled in the trees above the North Sea on the Holderness Coast, waiting with restless anticipation as Gwen Gallagher approached the cliff's edge. A quick adjustment to the night-vision binoculars allowed the watcher a closer view of the twenty-eight-year-old secretary as she savored the last autumn sunset she would ever see. The crisp, cool air picked up speed, leaving her long black hair sailing like a ghostly pirate's flag behind her. It lifted the hem of her black skirt slightly, exposing her white shapely legs and black suede booties to the wintry elements. Her pale blue eyes swept across the landscape, appraising the beauty surrounding them. She raised her chin toward the darkening sky and smiled, obviously believing the note she had received, inviting her here, had come from her married lover. As Gwen moved even closer to the edge, the watcher inhaled a deep breath. All that remained between this ludicrous woman...
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Spotlight on Courting Danger by Kimberly Dean

by Carol2 Comments
Excerpt: ‘Hello? Is anyone here?’ A low voice rumbled down the hallway, and her chest tightened. It was a man, but she didn’t recognise the voice. For a moment, she considered remaining quiet, but she licked her lips and made herself step forward. She was overreacting. If she wasn’t, there was an emergency call button hidden under the lip of her desktop. Security could be here in less than a minute if she needed them. She returned to the lobby and scanned the area. Her gaze came to a screeching halt when it landed on the man who was already looking in her direction. Oh. Wow. Her wariness didn’t decrease, but a different kind of awareness flooded her. ‘Hello?’ she said huskily. Somehow he’d known she was there, yet he seemed taken aback. His weight slowly rocked back from the balls of his feet, and his eyes narrowed. They were blue eyes. Startling blue. ‘Good evening.’ She wasn’t overreacting. The guy had danger written all over him,...
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Gingerbread Kisses by Beate Boeker

by Carol2 Comments
  Michelle's Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge doesn't start until November 23, but I'm already in the mood for Christmas stories. Gingerbread Kisses is a novella in the Sweet Christmas Kisses 2 collection. Carol is baking cookies for her sister's wedding in a beautiful hotel in Italy. She practically raised her sister and is feeling a little lost at the thought that she will be losing her. Of course, the fact that the sister is over-demanding and subjects Carol, and everyone else, to her whims, makes the idea of marrying her off a little easier. Whoever heard of skinny gingerbread men? Tom is the manager of the hotel and best friend of the groom.  It's a sweet romance. Tom has bit of a temper, but is really a nice, thoughtful guy. I like Carol, too, she's pretty and curvy and nice, but when she has to confront people she can. It made me smile. Granted the romance was quick but it's a novella, that's expected. The...
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Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton

by Carol4 Comments
Wicked Charms is silly and funny and cute. It's an adventure story/ treasure hunt, but it's all over the top. Lizzie is pretty sane, but she is surrounded by oddballs, like a young man who tends to talk like a pirate and her friend who tries out spells with varying degrees of success. We've got a very rich man who wants to become a demon incarnate - if he can quit barking. Diesel is sexy and a bit dangerous, a typical character for this kind of story, but his monkey pal is rude and a riot. There are a couple of moments of true danger for Lizzie, but she keeps her head, and - surprise- Diesel rescues her. I know the whole thing is goofy, but it made me smile, just like candy. It's a short read too, so I don't want to give too much away. There's not a lot of meat to the story, but that's the style. I actually...
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The Visitant by Megan Chance

by Carol5 Comments
I don't usually read ghost stories, but this seemed like a perfect fit for RIP X and I do love Venice as a setting. To me, The Visitant had three parts: the setting, the ghost story, and the romance. The story is set in Venice but most of it takes place in the Basilio palazzo. It's the perfect setting: a crumbling old mansion, too cold and grey, in a city that, while romantic, is also decaying. The servants are hostile to Elena and the aunt is just flat out odd. There is a lot of time establishing the atmosphere. Elena is hoping to see Venice but seems trapped in this house. the setting is probably my favorite part of the story. The ghost story was not scary enough to keep me up at night, but progressed well. The ghost was clearly angry, and, unlike Elena, the reader knows it's a ghost from the beginning - the title tells us. It doesn't take...
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Intimations of Austen by Jane Greensmith

by Carol4 Comments
Maybe it's been too long since I read most of Jane Austen's novels. I don't remember all of the characters and few of the details, so I think I may have not been the best audience for this book. Out of the collection only two really struck me. The first, "Rainbow Around The Moon," a sequel to Persuasion was a short, touching tale about Captain Wentworth and his daughter. I don't think you necessarily needed to read the original to appreciate it. The other was "All I Do," the last story and longer than the others. In this tale of Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth is not married to Darcy.  The characters are a bit fuller than in the others and I guess I remember the original story better than the others. It was enjoyable, seeing the "what might have been" and how in the end Darcy and Elizabeth still get happiness. The others were neither here nor there for me. They weren't bad, they just...
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