All That I Desire-Francis Ray

All That I Desire

Francis Ray

St. Martin's, Oct 29 2013, $7.99

ISBN: 9781250023827



Navarone Resorts and Spas Events Coordinator Skylar Dupree always got what she wanted materially. However, for the two years that she has worked for Blade Navarone she has not got what she craves most in the world: the love of security chief Rio Sanchez. No longer willing to wait for him and out of character for her normal behavior, Skylar decides to use a frontal assault find out whether her love is returned or unrequited.



Since he first met Skylar two years ago, stoic Rio has been attracted to her. However, he refuses to act on his desire because he knows things he did make him unworthy of wonderful Skylar though he remains wary of matchmaking matriarch Ruth Grayson in case she focuses on him. When someone threatens his beloved Skylar, raging Rio acts like a man in love protecting his endangered woman.



The tenth Grayson Friends tale (see All That I Need and All I Ever Wanted) is a delightful conclusion to a wonderful saga. Though the suspense feels unnecessary due to a strong romance, readers will enjoy this entry. With the death in July of Francis Ray, subgenre fans have lost one of the consistent greats whose Grayson pantheon is a fabulous legacy.



Harriet Klausner

Expecting a Bolton Baby-Sarah M. Anderson

Expecting a Bolton Baby

Sarah M. Anderson

Harlequin Desire, Nov 5 2013, $5.25

ISBN: 9780373732807



Crazy Horse Choppers owners Bobby Bolton and his brothers (see Bringing Home The Bachelor and Straddling The Line) have become wealthy and famous due to their reality TV show The Bolton Biker Boys on FreeFall TV. Bobby and fashion designer Stella had a one night stand in a limo that was his greatest night ever until she mentioned her surname as Caine. Her father David owns FreeFall TV and can easily ruin Bobby and his siblings by destroying their business deal to build the Crazy Horse Resort near Sturgis and canceling the show.



While he still dreams of that fabulous night and not just for the out of world sex, Stella informs Bobby that she is carrying his child. Bobby insists they marry, but Stella says no. While he panics as to what her father might do to his South Dakota dream and the show, she wants him only if he loves her like she does him.



The latest Bolton Brothers romance is a fun contemporary due to a delightfully unconventional cast (think of the Duck Dynasty crew). Readers will enjoy Bobby’s monumental screw-up as he must overcome the impression he left Stella with that the deal and the show come before love and the baby.



Harriet Klausner

The Perfect Match-Kristan Higgins

The Perfect Match

Kristan Higgins

Harlequin HQN, Oct 29 2013, $7.99

ISBN 9780373778195



Thirty-five years old Honor Holland runs her family-owned Blue Heron Vineyard in upstate New York. She works diligently but also enjoys her heated moments with her beloved Brogan Cain. When her doctor counsels her that her eggs are at the age of beginning to decline, she decides to ask Brogan to marry her before her biological clock shuts down. Mr. Perfect says no as he seems them as friends with benefits; three weeks later he and her BFF Dana are engaged leading to a catfight in a bar.



British Professor Tom Barlow wants to remain in the states so that he can be near his “stepson” Charlie. When Tom and Honor meet for the first time, neither is impressed. However, he needs a green card and she wants a baby; so they agree to a marriage of convenience. Both soon want a real marriage as love changes their relationship dynamics.



The second Blue Heron madcap romance (see The Best Man) is an engaging contemporary. The two leads initially come across as unlikable especially Honor who like a “fungus” slowly grows on the reader as her hurts seem genuine (so does Tom’s anguish). Subgenre fans will enjoy this tale of two normally reasonable people behaving irrational.



Harriet Klausner

Hooperman-John M. Daniel

Hooperman

John M. Daniel

Oak Tree, Nov 1 2013, $14.95

www.oaktreebooks.com

ISBN 9781610090612



In 1972 stutterer Hooperman Johnson works as a shipping clerk at Maxwell’s Books in Palo Alto, California. Hoop enjoys being with the books though his actual assignment is to learn how major theft of the merchandise was occurring.



The undercover Hoop knows that the amount of pilfering is way beyond simple shoplifting so he surmises an employee must be involved. He observes the petty fights between the workers and begins dating suspect Lucinda Baylor; though he rationalizes that romancing her makes for a smart cover.



More a character study of eccentricity than a whodunit, Hooperman is a wonderful cozy that uses flashbacks to enable the audience to better understand what makes the bookstore cop tick while Hoop’s stuttering is superbly handled to include his embarrassment and harassment. Homage to a throwback to an era when the Indies mattered as social meeting places (and Amazon was a river), readers will appreciate this engaging nostalgic look back to life in a bookstore.



Harriet Klausner

After I’m Gone-Laura Lippmann

After I’m Gone

Laura Lippmann

Morrow, Feb 11 2014, $26.99

ISBN: 9780062083395



On July 4, 1976, Felix Brewer kisses his wife Bambi like he did the first time when they met at a high school dance in 1959. They are to meet later, but instead abetted by his mistress former stripper at one of his clubs Juliet Romero Saxony, Felix flees the country. He left to avoid a prison sentence for his illegal activities that kept him, his wife, their three daughters (Rachael, Linda and Michelle) and his mistress living luxurious lifestyles. Julie takes Felix to a private plane but instead of joining him in flight he leaves her behind.



On July 3, 1986, Julie disappears with those who knew of her relationship with still missing Felix assuming she finally joined her lover wherever he hid. In 2001 in Baltimore’s Leakin Park, Julie’s body is found. Over a decade later, retired police detective widower Sandy Sanchez, who works cold cases, investigates the murder of Julie and the related vanishing of Felix.



While Tess Monaghan takes a deserved respite (except for a last second appearance), Laura Lippmann writes a strong mystery that hooks the reader with a need to know what happened to Felix while learning how his vanishing act impacted the five females he loved and cherished. Character-driven, the gripping storyline rotates between past and present, as Felix wonders if he really escaped incarceration.



Harriet Klausner

Fabrick-Andrew Post

Fabrick

Andrew Post

Medallion, Nov 1 2013, $9.99

ISBN 9781605425016



In Geyser, teenager Clyde felt safe and secure while working for Mr. Wilkshire at the latter’s chateau. That ends during tea when a vicious assault leaves his master dead. Before dying Wilkshire tells terrorized Clyde to “run”, which he obeys by hiding in the basement for weeks. He remains frightened, but also feels remorse for deserting his only friend, lost without his mentor and needing revenge by killing the killer, but Clyde has no idea how.



After the animal-looking Flam the scavenging Mouflon arrives at the chateau, a confused Clyde leaves his hiding place. As the pair departs from Clyde’s haven, he wanders in a constant state of bewilderment while meeting Nevele the royal “Stitcher” and Rohm the sentient frisk mice group. As they trek the feral streets of Geyser, two revelations occur. First that Clyde is a Fabrick who has the ability to lessen the guilty conscience of a confessor at the cost of reducing proportionately the individual’s good fortune quotient. Second they find the streets filled with blood and gore as war rips the city.



This is an entertaining exciting science fiction thriller that on the surface will remind readers of Dorothy’s early trek in Oz as Clyde picks up as comrades strange sentient beings. The fearsome squad is fully developed as individuals from diverse species; while the beleaguered city enhances the journey. Although too many subplots slow down the pacing of the action-packed twisting storyline, fans, especially older tweeners and younger teens, will enjoy Clyde’s coming out escapades.



Harriet Klausner

Storm Demon-Gregory Lamberson

Storm Demon

Gregory Lamberson

Medallion Press, Oct 31 2013, $14.95

ISBN: 9781605427461



Following the completion of his mission to rescue his best friend Edgar Hopkins the “raven” from a witch doctor in New Orleans, Miami, and Pavot Island (see Tortured Spirits), ex-police officer turned private detective Jake Helman feels good being back in the Manhattan jungle. Besides saving his BFF, Jake looks forward to a relationship with Edgar’s NYPD homicide detective partner Maria Vasquez who teamed up with him on the paranormal “rumble in the jungle” (not the Ali-Foreman fight).



While he was traipsing the tropics, psychic healer Laurel Doniger vanished. Jake investigates Laurel’s disappearance by looking into the missing psychic’s past. Although the sleuth works the supernatural beat, which means meeting and frequently confronting strange creatures, even Jake is taken aback when his inquiry leads to Lilith the first succubus now known as Storm Demon planning to destroy New York City.



The fifth case in the Jake Helman Files (see Cosmic Forces, Desperate Souls and Personal Demons) is an exhilarating urban fantasy noir. Jake is terrific as he holds the fun story line focused while following clues that lead to an angry avenging malevolent who is the oldest female on the planet having been there when Adam and Eve fell from grace. Gregory Lamberson deftly blends humor and horror elements inside of a strong save the concrete jungle investigative thriller; summed up by the hero’s wry observation about needing flood insurance.



Harriet Klausner