Holding Out For Special

 

K.T. RAINE

Stats for my copy: Kindle Edition, 9/15/21.

How acquired: Via BookSirens for review.

First line: Emory Dockins navigated the busy onramp onto Interstate 270 outside of Baltimore, her eyes blurred with tears.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This was an absolute delight. When you pick a random book from an author you’ve never heard of, you never know for sure what you’ll get. Sometimes you get a dud, and sometimes you get a gem.

It’s billed as a “Clean and sweet contemporary romance with a dollop of suspense”. It is sweet, and it is clean, with just some kissing between the hero and heroine, but there is also some heat and palpable chemistry. I love a law enforcement hero, and I think this is the first romance I’ve read where the hero was a Secret Service agent. Emory and Vince both have some baggage, and I wouldn’t have been surprised to get a lot of angst, but it was light in that department. What we do get a lot of is amusing banter. I smiled a lot, and I laughed out loud, and then suddenly I was crying, real tears running down my face. And I was only at the 50% mark!

The narrative alternates between Emory’s and Vince’s POV, and I loved both of them. Emory is a teacher, and I really liked how Vince was very respectful of her profession, describing her as “An underpaid, self-sacrificing teacher…”. When she asks how does he know she’s underpaid, he responds “All teachers are underpaid in my book”.

There’s also a cute little girl named Macy, whose mother, a politician, has been receiving threats. Vince’s current assignment is protection detail for the child, and the relationship that he develops with her was just adorable.

This is a breezy, fun and heartwarming story, with well written characters, including the child and her dog, that I probably would’ve finished in just a couple of days if I didn’t have a freakin job to go to. From what I read about the author, this is her first adult book, with her previous books being for young readers, but she has more coming, and now that she’s on my radar I’m eager for more from her!

Synopsis from Goodreads: After 32 years of no luck in the true love department, sweet, unassuming school teacher, Emory Dockins, has pretty much given up on ever finding the right guy. Never in a million years does she expect to catch the eye of the intimidating, but swoon-worthy Secret Service agent, Vince Murano, who comes to question her about death threats against an aunt she never knew existed. Yep, life's funny like that. And maybe Emory shouldn't give up on her happy ever after just yet.

Hot Chocolate on a Cold Day

 

ROZ DENNY FOX

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin Signature Sagas, 2006.

How acquired: Bought.

(For Goodreads synopsis, scroll down.)

My thoughts: We first met Megan Benton (or at least, I did) in ANYTHING YOU CAN DO…, which was an absolutely delightful book. Megan was a teenager, and the hero and heroine of that book were her mother Emily, and her now stepfather, Camp. That book was followed up with THE BOSS NEXT DOOR, which starred Camp’s sister, Sherry, and which I just loved. So when I finally found a copy of this book, I was eager to revisit the characters.

Megan is an adult now, and working for the Coast Guard in Michigan. Her brother Mark has graduated from college, and Emily and Camp are expecting him to take a job in the child psychology field in their tight knit community. But he’s decided he wants to try his hand at photography and he’s come to Michigan to stay with Megan and take some pictures around the island where she lives.

I loved Emily and Camp in their book, but it was a little disconcerting to now see them heaping expectations on Mark and belittling his love of photography and his desire to pursue that. And then Megan and Mark’s grandmother, Mona, also comes to visit. Megan is not happy about that at first, as Mona and Emily have never gotten along. In fact, the whole point of Emily taking Mark and Megan on the wagon train trip in the first book was because she felt her deceased husband’s parents were interfering in their lives too much and constantly trying to buy the kids. She hoped to spend some time with them and try to ground them in reality, and when I read the book I agreed that they needed it. They started out as spoiled, coddled kids who looked down their noses at their mother and couldn’t stop talking about their grandparents’ money. Since then, Megan has come to realize her mother was right, and she’s pretty much cut off ties with Mona, but Mark has stayed close to her, and Mona provided Mark the money to launch his photography efforts.

Megan quickly comes to realize that Mona has changed, and now that she’s no longer under her late husband’s thumb, she’s sold her huge house, is planning a trip around the country, and has become a softer, nicer person, who has some regrets about the past. Unfortunately, every time Megan tries to tell Emily and Camp that, or talks about Mona at all, they get angry and yell at her on the phone, and it just really gave me bad vibes.

Ok, so getting past that. Sterling moves into the apartment below Megan’s, with his four year old son, Tyler, and his late wife’s younger sister and brother, who he is guardian of. They are sullen and angry about Sterling moving them away from New York. Sterling’s wife was a police officer, and he recoils from Megan initially because of her job, putting her life on the line. It didn’t make him very likable to begin with, but he grew on me quickly, and I knew he’d get past it eventually. And of course it provided some conflict for them to overcome, which I always like.

Megan is constantly making hot chocolate, and it inspired me to do the same, so I bought some Hershey’s Cocoa and followed the recipe printed on the label, and oh my god, it was soooo good. And my three year old granddaughter loved it also, although her mama added milk to hers because she thought it was too sweet. But back to the book.

There were some tense scenes towards the end, a couple of scary rescues at sea, and of course Sterling, and then Megan, realizing they love each other and a great happy ending. Although I never did warm back up to Emily and Camp. I definitely recommend reading the first two books, and I also recommend reading TROUBLE AT LONE SPUR, which is my favorite of Ms. Fox’s books, followed closely by ROMANTIC NOTIONS, which was my introduction to the author.

Synopsis from Goodreads: After a family tragedy, Captain Sterling Dodge and his kids move into the apartment below Coast Guard Lieutenant Meagan Benton. Soon they all learn to love and care again--together.

Lights Out (The SNAP Agency, Book 1)

 

NATALIE WALTERS

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Revell, 2021.

How acquired: Revell Reads

(For Goodreads synopsis, scroll down.)

My thoughts: I’ve only read two of Natalie Walter’s books, the first and second book in her Harbored Secrets series, and loved both of them, so I was excited to get this first book in her new The SNAP Agency series. Unfortunately, I struggled to connect with it. The author’s writing is wonderful, as always, and I loved the scenes where it was just Brynn and Jack interacting, or when they were apart and being angsty about each other. But the international terrorist/cyber terrorist plot just did not appeal to me, and I had trouble staying interested in it. The characters are all richly drawn, and the action is non-stop. I’m not sure if I’ll want to read the next book, but I do still want to read the rest of the Harbored Secrets series, and whatever I can find from the author’s backlist.

Synopsis from Goodreads: CIA analyst Brynn Taylor developed a new program to combat terrorism, and she invited members of foreign intelligence agencies to America to foster cooperation between countries. Now one of them, Egyptian spy Remon Riad, is missing.

Jack Hudson has been working for the Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency (SNAP) for almost nine years and takes the lead in hunting down the missing spy. But he isn't at all pleased to find out Brynn is involved. It's hard to trust a woman who's already betrayed you.

Every lead they follow draws them dangerously deeper into an international plot. Kidnapping, murder, explosions, poisoning--the terrorists will do anything to accomplish their goal of causing a digital blackout that will blind a strategic US military communications center and throw the world into chaos.

Can Brynn surrender control to a man who doesn't trust her? And can Jack ever get over what she did to him? The fate of the world--and their hearts--hangs in the balance.