Queen of the Waves-Janice Thompson

Queen of the Waves


Janice Thompson

Summerside, Oct 1 2012, $12.99

ISBN: 9781609366865



In 1912, her affluent father wants his spoiled daughter Jacqueline Abington to marry a kind peer. Instead she decides to elope with the family gardener. However, the get away with her scheme, she needs someone to take her place on maiden voyage of the Titanic.



Realizing she has an opportunity to start fresh away from her abusive father in America, Tessa Bowen agrees to masquerade as Jacqueline in luxury on the great ship. On board, she meets New Yorker insurance businessman Nathan Patterson. They are attracted to one another and she wants to tell him the truth, but fears that will leave her with nothing as he probably would reject her as not his equal. Then that deadly night occurs.



This is a thrilling Edwardian Era romance that deftly uses the Titanic as a fantastic backdrop. The lead couple is a powerful pairing while the super support cast brings to life the pre-voyage in England and the fatal trip. Readers will enjoy the 1% and 47% falling in love while tragedy strikes.



Harriet Klausner

Secrets of a Wedding Night- Valerie Bowman

Secrets of a Wedding Night


Valerie Bowman

St. Martin's, Sep 25 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9781250008954



In 1816 twenty-two years old Widow Countess Lily Andrews is broke and very anti marriage especially to rakes though she is in demand by many of the Ton. When she reads an announcement that Devon Morgan, a Marquis, is going to wed an innocent, she becomes outraged and writes an anonymous incendiary article “Secrets of a Wedding Night”; his fiancée Miss Templeton calls off their engagement.



Irate, Devon visits Lily for what she did to him. She remembers being in love with him five years ago, but he dumped her unceremoniously. He accuses her of being the author and demands she write a retraction. Refusing she says he needs to marry for money because he is a chip off the old paternal block as a gambling wastrel. Devon says she will write a retraction because he plans to seduce her into doing so. Neither is prepared for their feelings to remain strong, but when her teenage sister runs to Gretna Green, Devon accompanies the woman he loves as they follow Annie.



This is a fabulous Regency romance starring two likeable protagonists engaged in a delightful gender war established by what each believes the other did five years ago. Although the misunderstanding premise has been the Genesis” of romances before, sub-genre fans will relish this exciting second chance at love historical.



Harriet Klausner

Realms of Gold: Ritual to Romance-Terry Stanfill

Realms of Gold: Ritual to Romance


Terry Stanfill

Story Merchant, Jul 1 2012, $14.99

www.storymerchant.com/books.html

ISBN: 9780615657547



In 1953, archaeologist Rene Joffroy leads a dig near Vix, Burgundy. He believes the fields below Mont Lassois contain an ancient burial site. The excavation finds an incredibly preserved krater and a tomb of a two and a half millennia woman surrounded by treasure. Joffroy and others wonder who she was and why foreign items like an urn were buried in France.



In 2007 Venice, American magazine writer Bianca Evans Caldwell and Italian archaeologist Giovanni de Serlo meet at the wedding of family members Alegrea Bona Dea and Jonathan Evans. They enjoy discussing their love of the past with the mystery of Vix enthralling both of them. She returns to New York while he goes back to a dig Puglia, Italy. However, she begins having dreams about Zatoria; a woman whom Bianca thinks is long dead. She returns to Italy and with Giovanni’s help, begins to follow the trail of the enigmatic Vix Krater.



This is an exciting thriller that grips readers from the moment the heroine dreams of Zatoria and never slows down until the protagonists make a startling connection between the Vix corpse and ancient British mythos. Part of the fun is Terry Stanfill offering a viable solution to the five century BC real Vix Krater is the insight into archaeology without slowing down the wonderful storyline. Although the relationship between the author and the archeologist at times seems forced, this is a super thriller.



Harriet Klausner

Valley of Dust-Karoleen Vry Brucks

Valley of Dust


Karoleen Vry Brucks

Xlibris Corporation, Aug 7 2012, $19.99

www.xlibris.com

ISBN: 9781477125342



In Spruce Pine, North Carolina, as she attends the Penland School of Crafts and tends bar at night to eat, twentyish Selene Holmberg knows she has always been different even from her sisters while growing up in Raleigh. She was and remains the outsider.



A stranger assaults her with intention to rape Selene. Instead a silver haired individual comes out of the shadows, kills the predator, and vanishes back into shadows. Years ago, Lucian recognized Selene’s aura when she was a little girl; as a rare live born Strigoli from human parents like him and his brother Anton. He also believes Selene is his destiny after a millennium with no one. However, Anton, who was to keep her safe, and Selene meet and are attracted to one another.



Valley of Dust is an enjoyable vampire romance in which the Strigoli culture comes across fully developed to insure the undead species seems genuine although Selene the loner adjusts to quickly to fitting in with her world turned upside down. The key triangle is deftly established, as readers anticipate a sibling confrontation with the heroine being the prize.



Harriet Klausner

Incarnation-Emma Cornwall

Incarnation


Emma Cornwall

Gallery, Sep 18 2012, $15.00

ISBN: 9781439190357



In 1897 Lucy Weston attends a performance of Aida at London’s Royal Opera House. Her next conscious thought is being inside a narrow wooden box as she feels she was buried alive but not in a designed coffin. She needs blood while recovering from her ordeal inside her family’s vacant house.



As her memory returns with what the stranger did to her that night when her father snoozed while she watches Verdi, she finds a book Dracula by Bram Stoker that allegedly tells her tale. Irate as the author’s account is fiction, Lucy travels to London to confront her biographer and the stranger. She never expected to team up with the man who vilified her in his novel.



This is an engaging rendition of the classic Dracula using metafiction in making Bram Stoker a key character. The exciting storyline brings alive (ironically through an Undead) Victorian England, but never quite decides which genre between steampunk, horror or a hybrid of the two; I would have preferred classic horror. Well written this is an entertaining thriller as Lucy returns to London.



Harriet Klausner

Seduction's Shift-A.C. Arthur

Seduction's Shift


A.C. Arthur

St. Martin's, Sep 25 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780312549114



In America, Shifter Faction leaders hide their hybrid nature from the humans they are sworn to protect. However, the various tribal chiefs are very concerned over Rogue shifters led by Topetenia Jaguar-Shifter Sabar Tavares.



In the Brazilian Rainforest, Sabar and his evil horde abduct Ary the healer from a small villager; he has plans to use her knowledge of herbs and plants to increase his illegal drug trafficking revenue as a step to his becoming dictator of all stateside shifters. Litigator Nick Delgado learns that his mate, who he last saw sixteen years ago, was kidnapped by the psychopathic Sabar. He vows to release his inner beast in order to rescue his beloved Ary or die trying.



The second Shadow Shifters romantic urban (albeit rainforest) fantasy (see Temptation Rising) is an exciting thriller as readers will feel the Arthurian paranormal world is genuine. Fast-paced with a courageous heroine struggling to regain and retain her independence, fans will enjoy this taut tale as we anticipate the confrontation between the two cats.



Harriet Klausner

Beyond the Storm-Carolyn Zane

Beyond the Storm


Carolyn Zane

Abingdon, Oct 1 2012, 12.99

ISBN 9781426745973



The EF5 tornado rips Walterville before heading to the heart of the Midwest, Rawston. Several people die as much as the small town is devastated. Those who survived feel fortunate but fear for the uncertainty of their respective future.



Twentyish Doo Drop-In Hair Salon owner Abigail Durham finds a piece of a wedding dress. She begins a quest to find other items from the rubble that were part of other people’s lives. She is attracted to contractor Justin Girard, but feels emotional raw with what happened to her and her neighbors. Meanwhile octogenarian quilt shop owner Selma Tully encourages making a memorial quilt honoring the townsfolk by using swatches from especially those who died.



Paying homage to the victims of the devastating 2011 Joplin and the 2007 Greensburg tornados, Carolyn Zane opens up the Quilts of Love with a strong character driven drama. Although there is stereotyping, the deep look at the aftermath on the survivors is insightful as Abigail wonders if the Lord abdicated as she ponders where in the hell was and is God?



Harriet Klausner