Innocent Blood: The Order of the Sanguines Series-James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell

Innocent Blood: The Order of the Sanguines Series James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell Morrow, Dec 10 2013, $27.99 ISBN 9780061991066 After an earthquake left hundreds dead in Masada and opened a long buried tomb, archaeologist Dr. Erin Granger, U.S. Army Sergeant Jordan Stone and Father Ruhn Korza explored the new find when inhuman beings attacked them. Surviving the assault, Father Korza persuaded his teammates answers can be found in the mystical missing tome allegedly scribed by Christ in his blood. This Blood Gospel claims Armageddon can be prevented if the Knight of Christ, the Warrior of Man, and the Woman of Learning unite and find the First Angel. Father Korza proves to be the Knight of Christ; Sergeant Stone is the Warrior of Man; and Dr. Erin Granger probably is the Woman of Learning. Following a nasty attack on Granger near Stanford by the strigoi vampires, Father Korza vanishes in Rome. His two allies rush to Italy searching for him in the Vatican. They soon feel out of their element again as the brave pair, helped by the saved Sanguinists, battle the fallen strigoi. The second Order of the Sanguines Christian horror thriller (see The Blood Gospel) once again grips the audience beginning with the California attack and never slows down as the plot goes deeper into the paradox of faith and redemption. Fast-paced, series fans will relish this exciting entry although the American heroes continue their globetrotting confrontations with the strigoi, but seem to have fallen to the middle book curse as they fail to grow from all the blood they recently have experienced. Harriet Klausner

A Valley Ridge Christmas-Holly Jacobs

A Valley Ridge Christmas Holly Jacobs Harlequin SuperRomance, Dec 3 2013, $5.75 ISBN: 9780373718948 In Valley Ridge, New York, Maeve Buchanan is elated with so many wedding bells (see You Are Invited… and April Showers) but the town librarian also feels a tad jealous that she has not found her one and only. Caring Maeve invites the Holder family (Boyd, pregnant Josie and their son Carl) living in a frozen trailer with no propane to stay in her warm home. As cold snowy November weather freezes his butt, Floridian Aaron Holder wishes he said no to his Uncle Jerry’s “Family is Family” request to oversee his Valley Ridge Farm and House Supplies store. Lake Erie is a tad colder than Aaron’s Orlando and Arizona where Jerry enjoys the sun. Maeve comes to the store to fill the tank where she meets Jerry and finds him obnoxious. However when Aaron goes out of his way to help the Holder family and others, she revises her opinion of him. As they fall in love, she is Lake Erie and he is Orlando. The latest Valley Ridge romance is a wonderful romance made fresh by the witty banter between fiery Red and the frozen Floridian, and the wintry locale; as no one does the Lake Erie region better than terrific tour guide Holly Jacobs does. The support cast, especially the family in need of a holiday miracle, enhances this cheerful Christmas contemporary. Harriet Klausner

A Texas Child-Linda Warren

A Texas Child Linda Warren Harlequin SuperRomance, Dec 3 2013, $5.75 ISBN: 9780373718917 Seven years have passed since Myra Delgado betrayed her then lover Levi Coyote, but though she has become a Houston Assistant District Attorney her life remains filled with guilt and regrets. Swallowing her pride and using GPS, Myra heads to his grandfather’s ranch in Willow Creek where she waits for him to come home after spending time with his girlfriend. Myra plans to beg Levi, as Texas’ top private investigator, to help their distraught friend Stu. Ignoring his no, Myra explains that Stu’s daughter Natalie lies in a coma after a beating from her former lover Marco Mortez who also took their nine month old son Daniel with him. The vicious brute most likely went either to Mexico where he may have cartel connections or Brownsville where his parents live. Levi has no problem refusing Myra, but not the baby. As the pair follows the trail into Mexico, both realize they remain in love with each other. This strong second chance at love is a tense romantic suspense that hooks the audience the moment Myra comes to Willow Creek (see A Texas Hero and A Texas Family) and never slows down until the final confrontation. Action-packed, the rescue mission takes the lead as the couple’s re-evolving relationship rightfully mostly supports saving the infant. Harriet Klausner

The Vaporizer-Lee Driver

The Vaporizer Lee Driver Full Moon Publishing, Mar 1 2013, $26.00 http://fullmoonpub.com/ ISBN: 9780988868304 Shapeshifting Sara Morningsky wakes up with a headache in pitch blackness with someone touching her while breathing into her hair. Moments later her private investigator partner Chase Dagger awakens to a sensual touch, a satin pillow and sheet inside a contained rather small for two enclosure. Neither knows how they ended up in a coffin. Chase believes his former employer BettaTec found him in Cedar Point, Indiana and went to great lengths including drugging them to warn him to cooperate or they will bury Sara for real; though he also believes they remain ignorant about her ability to turn into a hawk and wolf since they did not take her. As the sleuths begin inquiries into what happened to them and why, the medical examiner’s autopsies of three gang members show they did not coincidentally die of natural causes as improbable as it first seemed; instead someone removed their brains. The cops know “Who ya gonna call” (Ghostbusters by Ray Parker, Jr.) to investigate the Eerie in Indiana; as Chase has a reputation for successful resolution of the weird. The latest Chase Dagger Mystery thriller (see Fatal Storm, Chasing Ghosts and The Good Die Twice) once gain deftly blends mystery and fantasy into a fabulous investigative thriller beginning with a great claustrophobic opening scene. Sara continues to mature while Chase knows he would willingly die for the young woman he mentors and loves as an adult equal. Action-packed from start to finish, fans will want to join the lead couple working together on a personal case and on the gangbangers’ murders. Harriet Klausner

Second Chance With Her Soldier-Barbara Hannay

Second Chance With Her Soldier Barbara Hannay Harlequin Romance, Dec 3 2013, $5.99 ISBN: 9780373742684 In Tarin Kot, Afghanistan Australian Commando Corporal Joe Madden delays opening his wife Ellie’s Crunch Time email that he assumes demand he sign their divorce papers ending their troubled marriage. It was his idea, but both know signing the document will not allow either to move on passed their stormy relationship. In Karinya Station in Far North Queensland, Ellie wonders why Joe never responded to her email that explains she changed her mind about donating their “sproglets” embryos as she decided on one last try for pregnancy though agreed to continue with the divorce. Three years later in Sydney, Joe is home but never told his wife his deployment ended as has his military career. He struggles with a lack of purpose and detachment from civilian society. When she calls having seen him on the news, he asks about two years old Jacko but Ellie guts him by inviting him to stay with them. He insists that is a bad idea. Still Joe knows he no longer can avoid coming home to see his family in order to end his marriage. In Karinya Station, the torrent leaves Joe trapped with his wife and son for Christmas. This dynamic contemporary looks deep into military marriages and the mind of a combat solder adjusting to civilian that star Aussies but could be any nationality. The storyline goes the expected second chance course (duh – it is a romance), but the fascinating relationship between the disturbed vet and his concerned wife and their precocious toddler make for an insightful family drama. Harriet Klausner

Dangerous Seduction-Zoe Archer

Dangerous Seduction Zoe Archer St. Martin's, Nov 26 2013, $7.99 ISBN: 9781250015600 In 1886, Nemesis, Unlimited headquarters in London receives a pleading letter asking for help as the anonymous writer claims the workers at the Wheat Prosperity Copper Mine in Trewyn, Cornwall are treated as abused slaves and their families left in horrid conditions. NU operative Simon Addison-Shawe decides to go undercover as a machinist employed by Wheat Prosperity in order to ascertain working conditions. The locals especially those in the mines and their families distrust the stranger. He meets passionate defender of the workers Alyce Carr, who though attracted to Simon, refuses to have anything to do with the newcomer while he wants her too. However Simon restrains his desire because he realizes he needs her help if he is to accomplish his mission. To prove he is on her side, Simon trusts Alyce with the potentially lethal information that he is from Nemesis. As they team up on the mining operation, they fall in love but he is an aristocrat and she is working class. The latest Nemesis Unlimited Victorian romantic suspense (see Sweet Revenge) is a powerful Dickensian thriller in which the dangerous working conditions and the impoverished company town are front and center while the romantic subplot plays an important second fiddle. Each of the lead couple is dedicated, diligent and brutally honest; as both accept the mission supersedes their class taboo attraction. Harriet Klausner

The Devil Wears Kilts-Suzanne Enoch

The Devil Wears Kilts Suzanne Enoch St. Martin's, Nov 26 2013, $7.99 ISBN: 9781250041609 In Glengask, Scotland, a servant tells Marquis Ranulf MacLawry that the laird’s eighteen year old sister Rowena fled to London. Rowena left home because she wants her Season that he as her guardian denied her; his reason being he wants her safe from the dandies and already selected her mate. Ranulf informs his two other siblings to stay home to reduce the potential of scandal while he chases after his runaway sister. Following clues, Ranulf invades the home of Lady Charlotte Hanover demanding she turn over his sister to him. Charlotte ignores his Highlander blustery insisting she has given her vow to provide a safe house for Rowena. Admiring the host’s grit, to his chagrin, Ranulf agrees to escort Rowena to the galas. Worse in his mind is his attraction to Charlotte; who shares his feelings but wants nothing to do with this berserker brute. She quickly changes her mind when she sees how caring her beloved is to his sister and to her. The first Scandalous Highlanders Regency romance is a delightful amusing ethnic-gender war starring two engaging polar opposites supported by characters from their families and the Scandalous Brides series. Fast-paced, readers will appreciate this jocular ballroom as the English flower could have authored The Handbook to Handling His Lordship. Harriet Klausner