Plaid Tidings-Mia Marlowe

Plaid Tidings

Mia Marlowe

Zebra, Oct 1 2013, $7.99

ISBN: 9781420129731



In December 1821 on board the Agatha May off the coast of Scotland, Lord Alexander Mallory plays poque with Lord MacMarin who tries to distract him by reminding him of his late mother who was buried in unconsecrated grounds when he was four. Controlling his ire, Mallory wins Bonniebroch estate in their card game.



Alex is elated as the first step in his plan to mingle among the local clans so that he can capture rebel Scots may work as he has a reason to be there now as Lord Bonniebroch. However, he soon learns that as the lord he is legally bound to marry Lucinda MacOwen and that the estate is cursed. Bewildered Alex also finds out that Lu sees a ghost. As they fall in love, Alex, as the only one who can, tries to break the curse before Twelfth Night ends his revised plan.



This enjoyable Scottish Regency paranormal romance is a fun historical. As Robert Burns said: “the best laid plans of mice and (Mallory) often go astray” when love haunts the hero. Sub-genre fans will appreciate this amusing satirical story.



Harriet Klausner

Season For Scandal-Theresa Romain

Season For Scandal

Theresa Romain

Zebra, Oct 1 2013, $6.99

ISBN: 9781420132434



In 1819 London, using her abacus like mind, Jane Tindall counts the cards as she plays vingt-et-un with Lord Sheringbrook. When she knows she has the perfect hand to win the 10,000 pounds she needs, she bets a lot only he produces the winning fifth ace. She congratulates him on his creative play but vows to herself to take this cheat down by destroying his reputation.



Handsome affluent Baron Edmund Ware stuns plain Jane and those at Sheringbrook when he announces she is his betrothed. She accepts as this will keep her from ruin, but she wants a real marriage while he insists on a relationship of convenience. When Ware’s long time enemy plots to destroy him by scandalously stealing his betrothed; neither the baron nor his adversary expected the wallflower to take charge.



The third Holiday Pleasures Regency romance (see Season for Temptation and Season for Surrender) is a fun frolic as Edmund, his foe and her cheater soon realize they don’t know Jane. Fans will enjoy the leads’ changing relationship as Jane teaches her mate that as the Four Aces sang: “true love's a many splendored thing” (by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster).



Harriet Klausner

Spider Woman’s Daughter-Anne Hillerman

Spider Woman’s Daughter

Anne Hillerman

Harper, Oct 1 2013, $25.99

ISBN 9780062270481



Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito enjoys breakfast with her peers and retirees. As Manuelito talks on her cell to her husband Police Sergeant Jim Chee, she watches in horror as someone from inside a vehicle shoots retired Police Lieutenant Jim Leaphorn. He is rushed to the hospital where he remains in a coma.



Captain Howard Largo selects Chee to lead the investigation. Because she witnessed the shooting, Largo and Chee warn Manuelito to stay away from the case. Chee knows Leaphorn’s worked with the American Indian Resource Center so visits the place only to learn that the victim’s anthropologist friend Louisa Bourebonette recently vanished. Unable to remain on the bench, Manieloto bulldogs her way onto the inquiry even as fear grows the culprit will kill again.



Revising her late father’s super NNPD series, Anne Hillerman provides readers with a strong police procedural that captures the vivid locale and the cast’s essence just like her dad created them and enhances that with an engaging look at tribal history. Although the final anticipated encounter seems weak, readers will welcome back Bernie, Chee, Leaphorn and the rest.



Harriet Klausner

Cowboy Justice-Melissa Cutler

Cowboy Justice

Melissa Cutler

Zebra, Oct 1 2013, $6.99

ISBN: 9781420130065



In Catcher’s Creek, New Mexico, rancher Rachel Sorrentino sees four men painting on a rock on her spread; she takes photos before firing two warning shots. They fire back killing her beloved horse. Irate, she calls Quay County Sheriff Vaughn Cooper to let him know about the assault. Vaughn races to her farm while thinking of their heated tryst sixteen months ago. He arrives to a war zone with Rachel shot in the arm, Jimmy de Luca in the leg, and Wallace Meyer, Jr. the son of the powerful Tucumcari police chief in the back; the other two men fled with their AR 15s.



Vaughn worries that Meyer Sr. will go after Rachel to protect Jr. Sr. demands Vaughn provide him information or else he will arrest the sheriff’s kleptomaniac sister Gwen. Undersheriff Stratis demands Vaughn recuse himself from the case while explaining that Rachel fired 38 times which means she reloaded and therefore were premeditated instead of a crime of passion. Vaughn agrees with Stratis and his BFF Reed to stay out of the inquiry, but cannot allow harm to happen to his beloved



The latest Catcher Creek romance (see The Trouble With Cowboys) is an exciting second chance tale. The lead couple is in love, but both have stratospheric doubts due to their heated affair occurring when Rachel was most vulnerable. The support cast adds depth to the storyline especially the sheriff’s dad, Gwen and Sr. Although the lead couple acts like dogs in heat with their inability to control their sexual urges at moments when discretion needs to supersede desire, fans will enjoy this wonderful contemporary.



Harriet Klausner

Laird of Ballanclaire-Jackie Ivie

Laird of Ballanclaire

Jackie Ivie

Zebra, Oct 1 2013, $6.99

ISBN: 9781420124019



In 1771 heir to Ballanclaire, Kameron Ballan hates his title, loathes his engagement and despises his father. When he causes a ruckus, his disgusted dad decides enough. Using his title, the Laird arranges for his son to join a Scottish unit heading to the colonies to stop the rabble rousing rebels.



In the colonies, Kameron gets into a brawl with patriots at a tavern; he lies on the ground severely injured. Constant Ridgely finds the Redcoat and though loyal to the independence movement, she saves his life. As he recovers, Kameron and Constant fall in love. However, they are beloved enemies as she believes her father was part of the group that battered him and besides both are betrothed to others; however all that does not matter when they are forced to marry.



This engaging Revolutionary War romance never decides between an extended epic with long separations and a star-crossed love. The setting captures the war years in the revolting colonies and sub-genre readers will root for the beleaguered feisty heroine. Although the climax seems improbable yet welcomed, fans will relish the journey.



Harriet Klausner

Her Wyoming Hero-Rebecca Winters

Her Wyoming Hero

Rebecca Winters

Harlequin American, Oct 1 2013, $5.50

ISBN: 9780373754755



At Walter Reed, three marines suffering from survivor guilt and respiratory problems caused by their Afghan deployment agree to convert the Wyoming spread owned by one of them Lundgren into a dude ranch for the families of fallen comrades. When the trio completes the renovation, they begin to invite surviving family members of deceased brothers and sisters in arms (see Home To Wyoming and The Wyoming Cowboy).



In Bar Harbor, Maine, military widow Kit Wentworth receives an invitation for her and her son Andrew to spend a week at no charge at a dude ranch near the Tetons. Financially she is well off though she lives with her stifling martinet in-laws especially Charles. Kit also knows the three wounded warriors need to honor fallen comrades like her late husband Winston so she accepts over the anger of Charles who has controlled her and Andy for several years. One of the marines Ross Livingston serves as escort to the visitors. Understanding Kit’s lifestyle as he comes from a similar upper crust background, Ross falls in love with mother and son, and them with him. Meanwhile, Andy’s paternal grandparents pressure her to come home.



The third Daddy Dude Ranch romance is an engaging tale that enables readers to once again understand the mental and physical health of returning soldiers and surviving family members. The “former” upper class lead couple and the child seem real; while even more authentic is Charles the bully.



Harriet Klausner

Bastion-Mercedes Lackey

Bastion

Mercedes Lackey

Daw, Oct 1 2013, $25.95

ISBN: 9780756409449



Having been rescued from kidnappers, bone weary Mags the orphaned Herald trainee returns to the Collegium filled with concerns about whether his staying there will bring harm. Still in spite of his depression, Mags feels at home when he sees Haven and stops at the nearby Harvest Fair. Mag’s Companion Dallen escorts him to the Collegium where he is interrogated before they allow him to relax. He knows he is no longer a member of the South team as Kirball adequately replaced him and is told that he is suspended from classes. Instead he works with herbs and weapons training of other students alongside Amily.



King's Own Herald Nikolas and Dean of the Heralds Caelen send Mags, accompanied by Valdemar Herald Jakyr, on a mission. Soon afterward, his friends Healer Trainee Bear, his wife Bard Trainee Lena and Dean of the Bardic Lita, followed by Mags’ beloved Amily, leave the Collegium too. They rendezvous with Mags and Jakyr at Waystation before heading to the caves of Bastion to fake the trainee’s death in order to fool the assassins and to seek clues about his missing parents who were once held there.



The latest Valdemar Collegium Chronicles fantasy (see Redoubt) is an enjoyable entry though much of the pre-trek adventure comes across as anecdotal preparation and Mags’ seemingly PTSD. The storyline accelerates once the band of merry travelers meets up at Waystation while the quest cleverly contains gloom and joy simultaneously.



Harriet Klausner