Ice Series by Anne Stuart

I recently found the excuse to get back into Anne Stuart's Ice Series after reading the first book a few years ago and have found that the books that have followed are a bit of a mix bag for me.

Cold as Ice (A): Genevieve Spenser is getting ready to spend the next few weeks in Costa Rica on a humanitarian expedition but her boss asks her to get a few signatures on some legal documents from their client Harry Van Dorn. Harry, though, is not your regular client, he is a bit of a psycho with a plan for seven worldwide acts of destruction that will yield him a decent profit.

Peter Jensen is an undercover operative of the 'committee' and is in place as Van Horn's personal assistant. He is waiting for just the right moment to end Harry's plans for good but when the prim lawyer comes on board the yacht his plans are shot to hell. The stuck up Genevieve cannot seem to get the hint he keeps sending her to get off the darn boat so Peter is resigned to kill her as collateral damage, but the woman just gets under his skin and even his years as a ruthless assassin cannot bring him to kill the woman that has broken through his ice laden soul.

Although the romance was rushed in this one, the heroine's personality was quirky enough to make it believable. Genny pretended to be a stuck up b*tch because it was the only way to move ahead as a lawyer but she loved coming home and letting her hair down while Jensen was constantly pretend as well, to the point that he almost lost himself completely.

I also like the action on this one, with yacht's blowing up and deserted islands and finally a race through California. I would have said this one was more an action book vs a true romance, but it worked for me.

Ice Blue (C- ): We met Taka O'Brian in Cold as Ice as the operative the can be many faces and that rescues Genny from Van Horn at great personal expense. It's Taka's turn to work on a project close to his heart when he has to recover an antique Japanese urn that a religious cult leader has deemed necessary in a plot to destroy the world.

Summer Hawthorne is a museum curator and owner of said urn. The cult leader was promised the urn by her mother and since it has an emotional connection to Summer, she has setup an elaborate hoax to avoid handing it over to the Shirosama. It is not until the Shirosama tries to kidnap her that she realizes the extent he will go in order to get his hands on the urn.

Taka is out to recover the same urn and is willing to do anything to stop the Shirosama from getting his hand on the artifact as well as the information that Summer doesn't know she has. But when the time comes to kill Summer he balks and everything goes downhill.

The difference between this operative (who I really liked in the other book) and Peter is that Genevieve made the whole I've fallen for you and now cannot kill you believable. There was NO reason why Summer should have fallen for Taka. He showed no emotion and really did nothing that could explain to me why she was hot for him and why she eventually fell for him. The reader knew Taka and could see his struggles but Summer should have had no clue. For some reason Stuart failed to show me how these two fell in love and it took away from the book.

I still enjoyed the action and being a Japanese culture junky, the chases around Japan moved this book from a D to a C-.

Because this last book was such a disappointment I think I need to stop reading this series for awhile so that I will not prejudice myself to book 4 which is the story of Madame Lambert or book 5 which is the story of Summer's sister Jilly and Taka's cousin Reno which were excellently portrayed in Ice Blue.

Format: Audiobook/eBook

Shards of Honor by Lois McMasters Bujold

This month the AOM for my yahoo reading group pushed the edges of Romance and made me step into a realm I don’t typically read. There is a big difference between the sci-fi aspects of a book like Justin Davis’ Sky Pirate and Lois McMasters Bujold’s Vorkosigan series. One is focused on the romance and the other has the romance squeezed into the story.

Shards of Honor is not well known outside of the Sci-fi genre just because the books that followed quite overshadowed this one. It is better known as the first part of the omnibus that is Cordelia’s Honor. This installment tells the story of how the parents of Miles Vorkosigan (the hero of the series) met and fell in love.

Cordelia Naismith is commanding a scientific expedition from Beta Colony on a newly discovered planet when her team is attacked by Barrayarans. She finds herself captured by Aral Vorkosigan, better known as the Butcher of Komarr. She later discovers that the attack was mostly for his sake and that there is a plot to get rid of the honorable warrior.

Aral has molded himself from the environment he has lived in and has sharpened his teeth on the political intrigue that has surrounded his planet. He is a strategist and has no patient for those he perceives as weak. In Cordelia his assumptions are put to the test and his beliefs challenged when he discovers her strength and moral values, something unexpected among her race.

These two have been stranded on this new planet and without being able to trust anyone, they must rely on each other to get out of the dangerous situation they find themselves in. This trust serves as a foundation to the relationship they develop and need to survive, not just the trek to safety but the ensuing political plotting on both ends of their race (but mostly on Barrayar).

For such a short book it did hold quite a bang and a lot of things were squeezed into its pages. I think I need to re-read the book because even though I got the gist of it, I think I missed a bit. So many things kept going on and the time line of events kept jumping forward that it was hard to grasp how much time had elapsed between one event and the other. And yet the book was very satisfying, very engaging and opens you up to want to find out what else is going to happen.

Grade: B-
Format: Audiobook

Awakening Beauty by Amy Fetzer

Another AOM selection, this one for the month of September. This was a short series romance that really impressed me.

Lane Douglas appears to be a dowdy bookkeeper but there are secrets she works hard to hide. She has done a great job until Tyler McKay crashes into her parked car and he sees more than he should.

Tyler has been burnt before; he was just about to marry a woman who wanted him only for his money. Luckily he discovered the truth before it was too late but he has developed trust issues (obviously) and has been swinging from girl to girl until he discovers Lane. Lane actually wants nothing to do with him. She avoids him like the plague and this just makes her someone he wants to know more about.

With the help of his family and friends he coerces Lane into taking part of the small town’s celebrations. He gets enough time with Lane to prove to her that he is the good guy he appears to be. Still he knows she hides something.

Lane knows about getting burnt. She gave her heart to the wrong man, a journalist who was not really looking for money but fame. Her man destroyed the career she loved and exposed her family to an investigation into possible mafia ties. The press had a field day until she disappeared. Now she fears being discovered but her attraction to Tyler is enough to have her risk stepping out from the shadows.

What I really liked about the book was Fetzer’s writing. The story is old and recycled many times over but Fetzer makes it seem fresh. Laney is smart but also afraid of getting hurt. Tyler is charming and a bit of an idiot at the end but his character jumps off the pages.
I always pick up these short stories with hesitation just because you can always go bad with so few pages to work with but I will say Fetzer did a great job showing us how these two learn to trust again and how that lead to love.

I have several more of her titles in my TBR pile. I won’t hesitate in pulling them out when I want a quick read.

Grade: B
Format: eBook

The Smoke Thief by Shana Abe

Pick this one up as my AOM selection in July. I read it back then but had not gotten around to posting about this title. I had heard many great things about this series and when Abe was selected as AOM I had my excuse to pick up the title.

There is a thief running around London. A thief rumored to have the ability to disappear into thin air. London police are beside themselves with no clue to go on.
Christoff, the Marquess of Langford has more than a clue. Leader of the Dra'kons he recognizes the thief as a 'runner' who has fled Darkfirth. Dra'kon laws forbid dragons to step out of Darkfirth and as their leader it’s his duty to bring the thief back and he has the best bait out there, the Langford Diamond. A diamond so full of mystical lore that the Dra'kon in the thief would not be able to resist steal.

Clarissa Rue escaped Darkfirth once and has no intentions of returning. A society more antiquated than London itself, Rue can only see her future decided for her if her secret is discovered. With the Dra'kon heritage dying with every new generation born, females with the purest blood are considered Alphas and are destined to marry the pure blood males. Although Rue's blood is very much mixed, she is the first female in generations to have the ability to withstand the Turn. There are no female dragons flying the skies and if discovered she would be forced to take her place as Alpha female among her kind and marry Christoff. She would never be free again.

When the diamond arrives Rue knows it’s a trap but feels confident that as a woman she would never be discovered. She doesn’t want to steal the diamond but she does want to see Kit, who she has always loved but was found unworthy as a mixed blood to even lick his boots.

She is discovered by Kit himself, who yearns the freedom runners search for but is forced by his responsibilities to his position and his people to stay behind. When he realizes that Rue is his true Alpha he knows he must have her. When he discovers that she is Clarissa, the young girl he watched as a child, his determination doubles. She brings life to his existence and her fierce spirit sings to him. Now he needs to prove to her that he loves her for her self and not for the fact that she can Turn.

These two learn to trust each other and love each other as they pursue another runner who has in fact stolen the Langford Diamond in a bid to negotiate for his freedom.

It had been a while since I read a book that mixed Fantasy and romance so well. The world Abe built balances the romance very well. I did find Rue a bit on the annoying side at times and Kit was very arrogant as well but the romance was great and the scenes where they took dragon form were wonderful. I think the book could use less prose to tell the story but all in all I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment.

Grade: B-

Only with a Highlander by Janet Chapman

I've read all of Chapman's Highlander series with exception of the last two and I guess Robbie's story was so forgettable I really put this one on the back burner for a while even though I had it in the TBR pile. When my Yahoo reading group selected Chapman as AOM in June it gave me the perfect excuse to pull it out.

Winter MacKeage is the prophesied 7th Daughter of Grey and Grace. She was the reason why Father Daar pulled Grey and his brothers (these were an accident) into the future. He was destined to meet Grace and have seven daughters on the winter solstice, the last one would inherit Daar's druid powers and save mankind.
Winter has no idea she has a destiny to fulfill because Grey and Grace want to give her choices. She can renounce her calling and live a normal life but by doing so, she will cause the end of the world as we know it (not much of a choice if you ask me). Winter is a successful artist in Pine Creek and owns her own gallery where she meet the man that will alter her destiny.

Matt Gregor walks into Winter's gallery and sees in her art more than most. He has just bought Bear Mountain and wants to build his home there. He also wants a bit of the magic Winter puts in her art and commissions her to find the best site to build his home.

Winter is a bit skeptical of the offer but there is a mystery and an allure to Matt that she cannot resist. She is drawn to him in a way that defies all reason.

From the get go you get a vibe about Matt. You know he is more than what he says he is but he is also a contradiction. He is a successful business man and he pays attention to his business, (it's not just a front) which is what I would expect if he was the 'bad' guy. He also runs away from Winter whenever he feels he can't control his baser needs, again not typical of the 'bad' guy that comes to steal the heroine's magic. So, although I knew who he was from early on, I really could not discern his intentions.

The book unfortunately suffered from a flat line syndrome that gave me an entertaining read but held no surprises. The only really blip in that line was when Winter finally discovers who and what she is and the turns around and discovers who and what Matt is. Even the 'end of the world' scenario was a anti climactic because you knew where salvation was coming from.
Chapman did well in hiding Matt's intentions but she needed to keep a bit of everything else locked up and close to her chest so that there would be more suspense. Still the book was entertaining and I really enjoyed revisiting the clan.

While reading the book I discovered that it not only met my need for the AOM reading but all was a good fit for my Book A Month Challenge.
In June the theme was Knowledge and Winter had to go through a transference of knowledge where all Father Daar's powers and knowledge of nature passes to the heir of the druid powers. Also there is alot of discovery that takes place when Winter finds out where her destiny lies. Matt also discovers his own heart with Winter.

Grade: C+

McClairen's Isle: The Passionate One by Connie Brockway

Picked this one up from my TBR pile as part of the Author of the Month selection from my reading group. It is the first in the McClairen's Isle trilogy and is the story of Ash Merrick, the eldest son of the Earl of Carr who mercilessly killed off his wife's clan after the Jacobite rebellion in 45. Ash was raised to despise his father who murdered his mother. He was alienated by his mother's relations so he never found love or tenderness from anyone.

Ash had spent several years as a political prisoner in a French prison before his father ransomed him out to serve as his lackey. Carr left his younger son, the one that most resembled his mother, to rot in prison, refusing to pay that ransom. Ash is determined to raise enough money to liberate his little brother and so he saves all the money he earns in gambling and serving his father in hopes that it will be sooner than later that he can save his brother.

Ash takes on the task to go and fetch Rhiannon Russell who is by all accords his father's ward.
Rhiannon has lived a quiet life after having witnessed her family being slaughter by the English and then being refused shelter by the ward she was suppose to belong to. She had been taken in by the Frasier's who raised her and treated her as one of their own. Ash shows up and is intrigued by the young lady but not as much as the ability this lass has to throw a wrench into his father's plan.

It seems that Rhiannon is to be wed in a mere two weeks which would ruin whatever plans his father has for her, since Ash believes that his father in intent on marrying the chit. He agrees to stay for the wedding and then bring the 'happy' tidings to his father, but it seems that the attraction between them will damn him in his resolve and the fact that there is someone trying to kill Rhiannon.

The book was an easy read, since Brockway does a great job at building characters that are full of life and, those with dark undercurrent are palpably wounded. The sadness in Ash kept me rooting for a happy ending which in turn made this a page turner. Carr was evil and Fia, Ash's younger sister, was not a character I much sympathized with. I did see the effort that Brockway made to show Fia as a damaged girl whose personality had been formed by her father's influence, but I could not really feel much for her. On the other hand Ash's character was so well defined that you could feel his suffering emanating from his wasted body. I am looking forward to Raine's story which I can only guess will feature a much more scarred man since he had to deal with his father's hatred as well as his imprisonment.

Grade: B