Streets of Laredo

LARRY MCMURTRY

Synopsis from Goodreads: In the long-awaited sequel to LONESOME DOVE, Larry McMurtry spins an exhilarating tale of legend and heroism. Captain Woodrow Call, Augustus McCrae's old partner, is now a bounty hunter hired to track down a brutal, young Mexican bandit. Riding with Call are an Eastern city slicker, a witless deputy, and one of the last members of the Hat Creek outfit, Pea Eye Parker, now married to Lorena -- once Gus McCrae's sweetheart. Their long chase leads them across the last wild stretches of the West into a hellhole known as Crow Town, and finally, into the vast, relentless plains of the Texas frontier.

Stats for my copy: Hardback, published by Simon & Schuster,1993; bought.

First line: “Most train robbers ain't smart, which is a lucky thing for the railroads,” Call said.

My thoughts: LONESOME DOVE is one of my all time favorite books. It took me awhile to get into it, but once I did I was mesmerized until the last page, and was still thinking about the book and missing the characters weeks later.

STREETS OF LAREDO also took me a bit to really get into, and while I enjoyed it, I wasn't completely mesmerized until about the last quarter of the book. Gus McCrae of course was a very big part of Lonesome Dove, and of Woodrow Call's life, and traveling along with Call without Gus took some adjusting to. Gus and Call complemented each other so well in the first book, and without Gus Call seems even more morose.

A large span of time has passed since the first book ended. Lorena is now married to Pea Eye and they have several kids, ranging from an infant to a fifteen year old. They've settled on their own ranch in Texas, and Lorena is also the local schoolteacher. It was good to find out that Lorena had found a future with a man she loves and a family she cherishes. Call, on the other hand, is just an old man who seems to have nothing much beyond his memories. He still has a legendary reputation, has been hired by the railroad to track down and kill Joey Garza, a young Mexican boy who's built up quite a reputation of his own as a train robber and cold blooded murderer. When Call telegraphs Pea Eye to join him on the hunt, Pea is unhappy about it, but his loyalty to the Captain won't let him refuse. Pea is very happy in his life with Lorena now, and he hates leaving the farm more with every summons from Call.

There are plenty of new characters - Brookshire is an accountant sent by the railroad to accompany Call and keep up with expenses. Having been born and raised in the East, traveling throughout Texas and Mexico with Call is a serious culture shock for him. It starts out as an adventure, with Call looking down on him somewhat, but Brookshire manages to hold his own, earning the Captain's respect and friendship. Deputy Plunkert is eager and excited when Call rides through his town and asks him to joint the hunt, leaving behind a young pregnant wife. Neither Brookshire or Plunkert have any idea of the heartache this trip will cost each of them. And then there's Maria, Joey Garza's mother, and her two young children. Maria has had the hardest life of any of them, and she's desperate to protect Joey from Call, even though Joey hates her and steals from her.

The narrative weaves back and forth between Call and his men hunting down Garza, Lorena setting out to find Pea and take him back home, and Maria, hoping every time she sees Joey that he'll have gone back to being her loving son. As in the first book, the narrative flows from one character's point of view to another, and even minor characters are vividly drawn. The violence is sometimes a little overwhelming, and overall it's rather depressing, as so many characters seem to be filled with regrets or doubts, and live such hard, miserable lives. If you go into this story with a romanticized view of the old west, that will quickly be knocked right out of your head.

While Streets is a sequel, it pretty much reads as a standalone. It's not quite as outstanding as Lonesome Dove was, but a close second. 

My Secret Admirer

ANNE STUART, VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON, and MARISA CARROLL

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Dangerous Lover by Anne Stuart
Emma O'Bannion has been entertaining herself with romantic daydreams about the mysterious, gorgeous Frenchman who's moved into her New York apartment building. On a whim, she decides to act on her instincts for once, and ends up in water so hot that her heart may never beat normally again!

Once Upon a Mattress by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Amelia Townsend's Bedroom Fantasies store is a tremendous hit, but being the boss has definite drawbacks. Though she feels a bit awkward indicating any personal interest in her deliveryman, Will Murdoch, the guy makes her salivate every time he muscles a mattress onto the truck. And now he's asked for her advice on waging a secret admirer campaign for another woman!

Special Deliveries by Marisa Carroll
Nine-year-old Dani Jensen and her little sister think Christy, their new neighbor, and their dad would be a really good match, and Dani has figured out a perfect plan to get them together. Unfortunately, the anonymous cards the girls have been sending prompt Christy to go to the Authorities, and the path that was supposed to lead to romance for Del Jensen points to the police station instead!

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by Harlequin Enterprises, Limited, 1999; received from a BookCrossing member.

My thoughts: I wanted to read this book mainly for Vicki Lewis Thompson. I'd only read Anne Stuart once, and that was a joint effort, Dogs and Goddesses, with Jennifer Crusie and Lani Diane Rich (and despite my love for all things Crusie I didn't much care for it). Marisa Carroll I'd never heard of. The underlying theme of each of the three stories is, of course, secret admirers.

In the first story, "Dangerous Lover", by Stuart, Emma is an attorney who has, not one but two boyfriends, either of whom would make a perfectly decent husband if she could pick one of them. We never meet them, but are told that they know she is dating both of them and don't care. Because Emma apparently is bored and has no excitement in her life, which is a sad state of affairs for a women dangling two guys on her string, she's developed a lust crush on the mysterious Frenchman who's moved in upstairs. So with Valentine's Day coming up, she decides to send him candy and flowers and little notes anonymously. Just for fun, as one does. Luc, said mysterioso, however, is actually a retired spy, and he figures out pretty quickly that Emma is behind the anonymous gifts, and he is convinced that her agenda is to kill him. So he kidnaps and drugs her and takes her out into the country to interrogate her in privacy. This story of course has a happy ending, but I didn't even care. The plot was just too silly and over the top for me, and to say the relationship developed too quickly would be an understatement.

Thompson's story, "Once Upon a Mattress", was better, though not as better as I anticipated. Amelia owns a furniture store that sells, or leases rather, fantasy. Themed bedroom groupings, giving the customer over the top love nests in their own homes. She is described at one point as being “thirtyish”. Will is one of her college student employees, a deliveryman. I got the impression that he is older than the average college student, having served in the military before school, but his age is never revealed. Amelia and Will lust after each other, but she's the boss and he's an employee, so neither thinks the other could ever possibly be interested. When one of the sales girls breaks up with her boyfriend, Will is convinced by his fellow deliveryman to pursue her, and hatches a plan to send her flowers and candy and notes, anonymously, and then reveal his identity at a restaurant on Valentine's Day. Will tells Amelia the plan and enlists her help, which drives her insane with jealousy, but being a mature sensible woman she pushes it down and helps Will by planting the deliveries for the other girl to find. I think my biggest problem with this story was thinking about this “thirtyish” woman and this college kid, and I really wished I knew how old Will was. Older woman/younger man stories just do not appeal to me at all.

Marisa Carroll's story, "Special Deliveries", was my favorite. Christy has taken a leave of absence from her nursing job in Atlanta to come home and run her aunt's business for her while her aunt is out of the country for a month. Of course her path quickly crosses with Dani and Kara Jensen, the daughters of her high school boyfriend. Christy and Del dated for six weeks when she was seventeen, and then his ex-girlfriend announced she was pregnant with his child, and Del married her in order to do right by the child. Christy left town for college and never looked back. Now Del is raising his two girls alone, and after seeing pictures of the two of them gazing at each other lovingly in Del's high school yearbook, nine-year-old Dani decides they need to be together. So with Valentine's Day coming up, she begins leaving anonymous valentines in Christy's mailbox, planning to sign her dad's name on the last card inviting her to dinner. To disguise her handwriting, she prints her messages on a computer and tapes them to the back of the cards, which are those jokey kinds kids give each other, with sharks and such on them. And which to Christy look menacing and suspicious, and make her think someone is stalking her. Carroll's story was sweet and engaging, with a more believable (and sensible) happy ending.

I haven't really read anything before, that I remember, featuring a secret admirer storyline, and frankly I don't really care to. I think I would feel like Christy in that situation - like it could be some crazy stalker, and that just isn't romantic. So between that, the horrible first story, and my personal aversion to older woman/younger man stories, I wasn't crazy about this book. However, the last story made it all worthwhile. 

Talk Nerdy To Me (Nerds, Book 5)

VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON

Synopsis from back of book: Fashion model Eve Dupree is fed up with being labeled “the pretty one” while her sister's called a genius. Eve's got loads of brilliant ideas, not least of which is the invention she's building in her garage. But when she turns to the nerd next door to help get it off the ground, she finds herself on dangerous ground.

Charlie Shepherd has discovered that there's more to Eve than meets the eye. But it's not just her body he likes – it's those sexy brains of hers. Romance is a complication he doesn't need right now. The problem is, she has something he needs and he can't seem to resist her.

Keeping her creation under wraps is harder than Eve expected – as is denying her attraction to Charlie. But when a saboteur starts sniffing around her project, she questions everyone around her, even her nerd in shining armor. Can opposites attract, or will they light a fire they can't control?

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by St. Martin's Press, 2006; purchased new.

First line: The explosion caught Charlie by surprise.

My thoughts: Is it just me, or are these Nerds books becoming less and less about characters who actually are real nerds, and more and more about sex?

The synopsis above sums it up pretty well, so I'm not going into a description of the plot. Suffice it to say, Eve and Charlie meet, then lust after each other. Eve is new in town and thrilled to have found a place in a cozy homey little middle American town, away from the bright lights/big city of her usual life. Charlie has lived in said town his whole life and can't wait to get away. Thus, they both realize the other person is unattainable as a permanent mate, so they try to hold back, leading to much brooding and internalizing.

Eve supposedly has genius level smarts, though she didn't graduate from high school. Which is OK – I think I'm fairly intelligent myself and I also did not graduate from high school, so nothing wrong with that. When Charlie tells her his phone number, she doesn't need to write it down, because she can just remember it right off the bat. Yet when she visited her sister one time, she set off the alarm at her sister's house several times over a weekend because she couldn't get the code right. And those codes are usually only four digits.

I liked Charlie, very much. He's a good guy, who is protective of his mother and aunt, and rides a motorcycle while wearing leather chaps. Eve was OK. She's sweet enough, a little naive despite being a runway model and having been raised in elite society, and of course she's beautiful with her perfect 36B figure. The supporting characters were all definitely characters, with the neighbor who claimed to have been abducted by aliens and taught all sorts of alien love techniques being the most out there. The whole book just seemed a little silly and over the top.

And yet, I still really enjoyed it. It was a fun read, with some hot scenes and lots of humor. I just hope that at least continues in the rest of the series. 

It All Depends On Love (Harlequin Presents No. 1363)

ROBERTA LEIGH

Synopsis from back of book: Tessa had worked hard to get to the responsible position she held. The last thing she'd consider would be giving up surgery for the joys of love and marriage.

Patrick was an obsessive workaholic who'd built an empire and now saw the acquisition of children as a natural step to ensure the succession. And he wanted a full-time mother for his family.

“It would serve you right if you fell madly in love with a successful career woman,” Tessa said.

“I'd prefer to be a bachelor forever in that case,” Patrick replied.

Their battle of the wills was inevitable – but would one of them emerge the winner...?

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 1991; from my personal collection of books – I have no idea where or how I acquired it.

My thoughts: The plot was a little silly and far fetched. Tessa is 27 and a surgeon who spends all her time working, to the point of near exhaustion. Her boss forces her to take a three month vacation, so she goes home to her godfather's, where she was raised after her parents died. He is away himself, but the home is currently occupied by his housekeeper and a dog named Henry. On her first day home, she discovers a hole in the wall between her home and the neighbor's, where Henry has been slipping through to make himself a nuisance next door. While examining the hole in hopes of repairing it, Patrick, the new owner of the neighboring home, happens along, and assumes she is there in answer to an ad he's run for a household staff member. He is condescending and arrogant, and wanting to take him down a peg or two, Tessa goes along with his assumption, taking on the persona of an 18 year old drop out, letting him think she is house-sitting next door. When they part company, she thinks how funny it will be when he learns who she really is. But to her surprise, she is later offered the position.

You would think at this point she would decline the employment offer, but no, she decides to accept, and continue with the joke. Naturally they are attracted to each other, with Tessa constantly being insulted by Patrick treating her as a silly teenager (though of course she is masquerading as one), and Patrick fighting the attraction and appearing to feel disgusted with himself every time he breaks down and kisses her, since he of course believes she is a flighty teenager considerably younger than he is. I kept feeling a sense of foreboding and thinking no good could come of this little game.

What saved the story for me was Tessa's personality. She's smart and sassy and funny. Since her job is just a lark to her, she isn't under the normal constraints a household staffer should be and has no problem smarting off or talking back to her boss, Patrick, or his snooty assistant who is also her boss. Until her enforced vacation she had immersed herself in work after a bad breakup, and hasn't really been interested in another relationship, but now she finds herself wanting Patrick. Meanwhile, Patrick tells anyone who will listen his views on marriage – someday he'll marry, but he will expect his wife to put him first and not have a career of her own.

As Tessa gets deeper and deeper into her lies and more involved in Patrick's household, she does begin having qualms about her charade, and she keeps deciding she's going to come clean and reveal her true identity, hoping in the process to wipe a smirk off Patrick's face and show him how wrong he is to judge people. But then she decides for one reason or other the time isn't right, and of course once she realizes she's fallen for him, she wants him to fall for her before he finds out she is a dreaded career woman.

A quick, fun and enjoyable read, despite the silly plot (and slightly creepy cover). 

Gone With The Nerd (Nerds, Book 4)

VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON

Synopsis from back of book: Movie star Zoe Tarleton has everything but respect. Now she's determined to get it by snagging the coveted role of a plain-Jane chemist. All she needs is for her decidedly uncool attorney, Flynn Granger, to teach her the award-winning subtleties of being a nerd.

California's “Bigfoot Country” is the ideal secret hideaway for coaching. That means rehearsing the steamy scenes too. Who'd have guessed that Zoe and Flynn's performances would be so convincing? Unfortunately, something is turning their hot love story into a hair-raising thriller.

The killer bees, the poisoned food, and the toppled tree are no accidents. Someone's out to get them. Does Flynn have a love-struck woman in his life? Does Zoe have an insanely jealous fan? Or is Bigfoot real – and more resourceful than anyone imagined? It's just Zoe's luck. She's finally found the man of her dreams and the role of a lifetime – and both of them could be her last.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by St. Martin's Press, 2005; Christmas present from my mom.

First line: Two blocks from the restaurant, Zoe Tarleton knew she was screwed.

My thoughts: Zoe is a fun heroine, a movie star who's been relegated to glamour girl roles and who longs to be taken seriously. She's auditioning for the role of a nerdy scientist, and decides she needs to immerse herself in the world of nerdism. Enter Flynn, her contract lawyer. He wears glasses, he drives an older car (she has to ask him how to lock the doors because the car does not have power locks), he's in a long distance relationship with another lawyer, and his PDA is never out his reach. When Zoe asks him to go to a remote cabin in the woods under the assumed names (from the movie script) of Tony and Vera (in order for her to avoid being recognized by anyone) and teach her everything she needs to know about being a nerd, he is resistant, but finally gives in and agrees, on one condition – he has to tell his girlfriend where he'll be and why.

Part of the nerd training sessions involve reading lines of hokey dialogue from the movie script, with Flynn coaching Zoe on how a nerd would talk or act or respond to situations, such as telling her the character of Vera would not leave the top two buttons of her blouse undone, or she would not sound so sure of herself, etc. I thought the movie dialogue was a little over the top, and that Zoe was wrong in thinking this was a serious movie that would get her serious attention. I kept anticipating that in the end the movie would be a bomb or be canceled before it got off the ground, or something along those lines. But no, it actually was a serious movie.

Of course all kinds of wacky times ensue, some between the two of them, some involving the local townspeople. Flynn quickly gets into the spirit of things and embraces his nerd persona, and Zoe quickly realizes she wants to embrace Flynn. They dance around each other, and the build up to their relationship was played out slowly (though not too slowly since it is a single weekend) and satisfyingly.

I went into this one a little leery compared to the other Nerd books, as the backdrop of the Bigfoot storyline did not appeal to me at all, but I was satisfied with the way that played out.

As usual with a Vicki Lewis Thompson book, there is plenty of humor to go along with the heat. One of my favorite passages:

As long as Flynn kept his tie on, he wouldn't turn into Tony. Besides, most sexual encounters began when a guy loosened his tie. A loose tie led to everything becoming loose. Flynn wanted to stay tight.

Unfortunately when I made a note of that passage I forgot to write down the page number and I'm too lazy to flip through the book and look for it now.

Very enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to continuing with the series. 

The Sheikh's Impatient Virgin (Harlequin Presents No. 2901)

KIM LAWRENCE

Synopsis from back of book: Set up against her will as a potential Arabian queen for the notorious Sheikh Karim, unworldly Eva has a plan to deter the desert king. She will convince him she's a modern, sexually experienced woman - and definitely not marriage material - even though she is really still a virgin.

However, the next thing she knows, Eva's become a bride! And her new husband is having a startling effect on her...She finds herself increasingly impatient; could it be that shy Eva is curious about what lies ahead in the sheikh's marriage bed?

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 2009; purchased at a library sale.

My thoughts: Royalty is not one of my favorite tropes, much less sheikhs, so I went into this book with low expectations. Putting aside the sheikh factor, I still would not have loved it. Every scene seemed to be so drawn out, an exchange between the two characters that probably would have lasted five minutes would take that many pages to get through. A character would say something, and then one of them would be thinking thinking thinking and in my mind I pictured the other character just frozen in place waiting for the first character's internal monologue to end. And at one point, the heroine puts a small dog in the pocket of her coat and then forgets about him for pages and pages, while she walks and then gets in a car and argues with the hero and gets out of the car and I just can't imagine a dog lying quietly in a pocket for all that time and I worried that she would accidentally sit on it.

Nerd Gone Wild (Nerds, Book 3)

VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON 

Synopsis from back of book: Inheriting a fortune means less to Ally Jarrett than fulfilling her real dream: to take off for the wilds of Alaska and photograph animals. Unfortunately she;'s also inherited her grandmother's personal assistant – an overprotective nerd who couldn't survive a snowball fight.

As a PI and bodyguard, Mitchell Carruthers is the perfect man to protect his late employer's granddaughter. However, keeping his geek-masquerade – and the secret behind his real mission – isn’t easy when the freeze between Ally and Mitchell begins to melt.

Yet all's not well in the sub-zero paradise. Ally's bad seed uncle is staking a claim on the family inheritance with a dangerous masquerade of his own. With Ally's life in danger, it's time for her right-and nerd to expose the real man undercover, and prove himself to the vulnerable body he's been hired to guard.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by St. Martin's Press, 2005; purchased new.

First line: “Here in Porcupine, some folks have sex just to keep warm.”

My thoughts: Ally is an heiress who's grandmother has recently passed away, leaving her a fortune. But Ally has no desire to be involved in the running of her grandmother's estate or affairs, or being a society woman. Instead she packs up and flies to Alaska, camera in tow, to photograph wildlife. Her uncle Kurt, who lives in Alaska, has arranged for a famous photographer to meet her there and provide some one on one mentoring.

She's dismayed when Mitchell, her grandmother's nerdy personal assistant shows up, under the flimsy excuse of coming across some paperwork that needs her signature. She thinks he's really followed her because he has a crush on her. She doesn't know that he's actually a private investigator/bodyguard, hiding behind a nerd persona, but she does slowly become aware of the hot bod he's hiding under his nerdy clothes.

Mitchell isn't a true nerd, though he has nerd roots from his high school days, which helps him carry off the persona. And of course he is attracted to Ally, but he really did follow her because he promised her grandmother he would protect her. Ally doesn't know the true story behind why her uncle Kurt was banished from the family home and why her grandmother would never even allow his name to be spoken in her presence. But grandma did confide in Mitchell, and Mitchell is determined to keep Kurt from trying to get his hands on any of Ally's inheritance.

There are lots of wacky supporting characters – in fact, every supporting character seems to be wackier than the last. There's plenty of humor, and there's a pretty hot strip poker game. I didn't love this one as much as Book 2 in the Nerds series, THE NERD WHO LOVED ME, but it was a lot of fun. 

Small Island

ANDREA LEVY

Synopsis from Goodreads: Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken, her resolve intact. Her husband, Gilbert Joseph, returns from the war expecting to be received as a hero, but finds his status as a black man in Britain to be second class. His white landlady, Queenie, raised as a farmer's daughter, befriends Gilbert, and later Hortense, with innocence and courage, until the unexpected arrival of her husband, Bernard, who returns from combat with issues of his own to resolve.

Told in these four voices, SMALL ISLAND is a courageous novel of tender emotion and sparkling wit, of crossings taken and passages lost, of shattering compassion and of reckless optimism in the face of insurmountable barriers---in short, an encapsulation of the immigrant's life.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, published by Picador, 2005; received through Book Mooch.

First line: I thought I'd been to Africa.

My thoughts: Written in first person POV, with the narration alternating between the four main characters, the author did a wonderful job of giving each character a distinctive voice and personality, drawing us into his or her story completely.

Gilbert joins the West Indian RAF, eager to defend the Mother Country, which he loves without reservation. He gets a brief trip to America, which he is eager to see. He's impressed with the vast abundance of food available to the military there, but puzzled by how he and his fellow Jamaican citizens are treated differently, better, than the black people in America. Once in his beloved Mother Country, he is astounded to realize that its residents know nothing about Jamaica.

“You British?” one of them finally asked.

“Yes”, I said.

“I hope I don't cause offence if I tell you that to my eye you don't look British. You must be rare as a sunbeam in a cave.”

“I am from Jamaica.”

“Jamaica, England?”

Had no one outside the Caribbean ever heard of Jamaica? (pg 129)

After the war is over, Gilbert and Hortense marry in Jamaica, and he travels back to England to look for work and find a place to live, sending for Hortense to join him six months later. She arrives expecting to be immersed in culture and class, and live in a nice house with a fancy doorbell. She is not expecting a single dirty room in an old house with a nosy white landlady who goes to market dressed in what appear to be her bedclothes. Hortense was a teacher in Jamaica, and expects to teach in England as well, but those hopes are quickly dashed. She and Gilbert didn't marry Gilbert for love, but for the chance to immigrate. The sections of story narrated by Gilbert and Hortense were my favorite. They are both fascinating and appealing characters, motivated by a desire for a better life in a country they've been brought up to love and respect, but which looks down on them because of the color of their skin.

Except for people like Queenie. When the war ended, her husband did not return, and she began renting out rooms in their home to support herself. Despite the disapproval and disdain of her neighbors, she gladly rents rooms to not only Gilbert and Hortense, but to another Jamaican immigrant as well. Queenie's and Bernard's sections of narration were still engrossing, but I didn't feel quite as embedded or invested in their lives as with Gilbert and Hortense.

The author's writing is very evocative, with just the right amount of humor and lightness thrown in among the serious topics.

“Madam,” I began, but she was gone, rattling through the crowd like a laxative. (pg 157)

Racism is the prevalent theme, treated with both dignity and matter of factness, a way of life that each character reacted to differently. Bernard is the least visible character, and the least likable, though in the end he shows unexpected compassion and strength. When the end of the book came, I was left wanting more, having questions that still needed answers. A secret was revealed, which provided a link between two characters that was not resolved to my satisfaction. But that's a part of life, right?

A beautifully written and thought provoking look at a country and it's people torn apart by and then putting themselves back together after a war. Read it. 

The Bridge

D. KEITH MANO

Synopsis from inside jacket cover: The year is 2035. For over forty years the Ecologists have had their way and the killing by man of any living thing has been outlawed. Insects, fish, plants, and animals abound, in fact run rampant, revered by all but a few such as Dominick Priest. Priest still believes in the primacy of man.
In this adventure story of the future, D. Keith Mano demonstrates once again his concern as a novelist with the situation about to arise, the problem as yet unforeseen, the solution not yet quite arrived at.
THE BRIDGE tells the story of Dominick Priest's adventures, in a world that may come to be.

Stats for my copy: Hardback, published by Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1973. Given to me by my mom when she cleared out some books from her personal library.

First line: At the crest he could hear the first ee-thud, ee-thud of the mortars.

My thoughts: This is a weird book. Weird, weird,weird. I didn't love it, yet I was disappointed when I reached the last page.

The story is set in New York in 2035, and all killing has been completely outlawed, whether it be man, beast, or microorganism. Much of the country has been taken over by wildlife, with buildings falling down, decaying, crumbling apart. Humans live on a man made liquid diet called E-diet. Acts of aggression have also been outlawed. People can't even argue with each other without being arrested. Raised voices? No. No voices at all. Humans communicate with a type of sign language, using their fingers to tap out messages against another person's arm.

“Tumors had been declared an autonomous life form, no less valid than the life form of their hosts. In any case, the doctors could do little. Drugs, x-rays, surgery were illegal: they destroyed unconscionably high numbers of bacteria.” pg 51

Dominick Priest was arrested for playing chess by himself – a competitive game. But he is unexpectedly released, along with all his fellow prisoners, under a government mandate for all humans to eliminate themselves for the good of the planet. Everyone is given a suicide pill, and are expected to use it within a certain period of time. Priest sets out on an odyssey to find and reunite with his wife. In his travels, he meets up with an actual priest, who teaches him a bit about ancient (to him) Christianity.

The prologue and epilogue are both set even farther in the future, where Dominick Priest is the current population's spin on Jesus Christ. When I said earlier I was disappointed to reach the last page, it's because we leave Priest at the end of his travels, with only a brief glimpse into how he attains his later exalted status. An abrupt end to his story that wasn't the end of his story, and I wanted to stay with him for awhile. 

Family Fortune (Harlequin Superromance #850; The Lyon Legacy #3)

ROZ DENNY FOX

Synopsis from Goodreads: The Lyon family matriarch has disappeared. And now her money's disappearing, too - bit by bit. Margaret Lyon's grandniece, Crystal Jardin, who looks after the family finances as well as those of the business, is growing more concerned every day.

The Lyons wait anxiously during this time of crises, hoping for word of Margaret. Then, as if Crystal's life wasn't complicated enough, she meets Caleb Tanner - and she falls for him. Hard. Even though Caleb's everything she doesn't want. He's too handsome. Too confident. And far too relentless. Can she afford to take a chance on her feelings?

Margaret's not there to give her advice, but Crystal knows what she would have said: Follow your heart.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by Harlequin Enterprises Limited; 1999; purchased at a library sale.

First line: Another three thousand dollars withdrawn from Margaret Lyon's private bank account!

My thoughts: I was drawn into this pretty quick, and really liked the character of Crystal. But, her all-out disdain for kids playing any kind of organized sport got on my nerves a little bit. She believes that kids should not play soccer, football or basketball because of the dangers of being injured and disabled for life. Exhibit 1 – Skip, a foster child in the hospital who was injured in a football game and may never walk again. Crystal plays with a jazz band on weekends, and also volunteers time at the children's ward of the local hospital, playing for the kids, and she has a soft spot for poor little Skip. Not only is he a foster child, but thanks to his need for a wheelchair, he may not be able to return to the foster family he lived with and his social worker, who happens to be Crystal's foster cousin, will have to locate a new placement for him. Coincidentally, (Exhibit 2) the several other boys in the same ward with Skip are all hospitalized due to sports related injuries. When Crystal got on her soapbox about how terrible these sports are, I wanted to shake her and say chill out, girl! Even though my daughter was injured in a soccer game and her ankle still occasionally bothers her several years later. But shit happens.

Caleb is also a patient in the hospital, with a sports related injury – he's a professional football player. And his injury may have ended his career, though he's having a very hard time facing that reality. Caleb took me a little longer to like. I'm not a fan of football, so his career certainly did not impress me. Actually I'm not a sports fan at all, though I loved watching my kid play soccer. But, you know, that's my kid and she was the best goalie around. Caleb is definitely a player, and I did think “gag me” right along with Crystal at the way he peppered his conversations with “darlin'” and “sweetheart”, etc. etc.

This is the third book in a series, “The Lyon Legacy”, and normally I’m very anal about reading series books in order, but with category romances I don't usually bother with that as much, especially when it's a multi author series, as this one is. But there are so many members of the Lyon family, working together at the broadcasting company they own, and many living together in the family mansion, that I was often confused about who was who, especially Andre and Alain, which is probably just because their names are similar. Yes, they are. Well, they both start with the letter A. And I'm old and get confused easily. The book has a family tree at the front, and I consulted it more than once. So I do think I would have benefited from reading the first two books before reading this one.

I warmed up to Caleb right along with Crystal, especially as we learned more about how he fought the state to keep his three younger sisters out of the foster care system after their parents died. The main storyline is about the Lyon broadcasting company wanting Caleb to come on board as their new sportscaster, and Crystal, who handles the company’s finances, finding herself being pushed into also handling this jock. And while she learns that he's certainly more than just an athlete in a sport she abhors, she doesn't ever really seem to change her opinion about sports in general. A little growth there would have been nice.

There is also a subplot about the family matriarch, Margaret, being missing, and money being mysteriously withdrawn from her bank account several times (which Crystal knows about as, again, she's in charge of the finances). A private detective is eventually brought in to try and track Margaret down, and I seriously had a hard time understanding why the family would not notify the police and file a missing person's report. It's not like they didn't care, they were all terribly worried about her, but hesitated to admit she might actually be a real missing person and not just off alone grieving for her recently deceased husband.

The Skip storyline was resolved nicely, even though one day Caleb was dead set against Crystal wanting to be his foster parent (and if that's a spoiler I apologize, but you should have seen it coming), and the next day he's suddenly on board with it. He had an epiphany apparently, but it was off page, and I would have liked it to have been explored more.

Overall I quite enjoyed the book. There's a lot of plot crammed into it's 299 pages and the action moved along nicely with the story never dragging. Plus, for some reason I just really like the cover picture, especially the girl laughing. But, I was disappointed when I turned the last page, and Margaret was still missing. Which means if I want to know what happened to her, I have to read the next book.

The rest of the series:

  

The Lyon Legacy (#1), by Peg Sutherland, Roz Denny Fox, and Ruth Jean Dale

Family Secrets (#2), by Ruth Jean Dale

Family Reunion (#4), by Peg Sutherland

Dragon's Eye

JAMES A. HETLEY

Synopsis from Goodreads: Stonefort, Maine. It seems like forever that the Morgans have hidden their magical heritage. And for just as long, a witch has served as caretaker of the Haskell House, where no woman has ever been harmed. But when a drug lord and frighteningly powerful sorcerer covets the Morgan family's alliance with the magical being known as the Dragon, a youth will have to master the power of the Dragon - and, despite the historical tensions between the two families, he'll need the help of the Haskell witch to do it. The time has come to mend some fences - or see the town destroyed.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, published by The Berkley Publishing Group, 2005; purchased at a library sale.

First line: Few things in Stonefort are exactly what they seem.

My thoughts: All through this book I could not decide if I liked it or not. But I guess I didn't not like it enough to quit reading. I can't even write a real review, my thoughts about it are just too much of a confused jumble. I had to really concentrate to keep up with the plot. 

Sanctuary

GARY D. SVEE

Synopsis from NetGalley: Winner of the 1990 Spur Award for Best Western Novel: An unlikely hero arrives in a hard town—can the wandering preacher bring justice to Sanctuary?

A hungry Indian boy waits by the train tracks, hopping back and forth to keep warm, praying that someone passing through the forgotten town of Sanctuary will throw him a scrap of food. A preacher gets off the train, thin and tan, and tells the boy to follow him. The preacher gives the child money and a meal, then sends him on his way. This is the first life Mordecai will save in Sanctuary. It will not be the last.

A hardscrabble town far from civilization, Sanctuary is lorded over by a hypocritical reverend and a cruel rancher. They see no threat in the preacher, but they underestimate him. A religious man hardened by life on the frontier, Mordecai is not afraid to thrash a sinner with his belt. He will remake this town in God’s image, or leave Sanctuary to burn.

Stats for my copy: E-book, published by Open Road Integrated Media, 4/7/14; downloaded from NetGalley.

First line: The train was late, but Judd Medicine Elk didn't know that, nor did he care.

My thoughts: When I was much younger, I went through a phase where I read a lot of Westerns, particularly Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey. But in the last few years the only westerns I've read have been mostly the Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross, and Lonesome Dove. I loved Lonesome Dove, and after that wonderful experience I began collecting westerns when I came across them at library sales and such. So when I received an email from Open Road Media, inviting me to review SANCTUARY via NetGalley, I took the plunge and joined NetGalley (something I'd been avoiding doing, for the simple reason that I prefer an actual book in my hands versus a digital book).

A mysterious preacher arrives in the little town of Sanctuary, and one by one begins intervening in the lives of various residents, helping them, and helping them help themselves. A young Indian boy living in poverty with his grandmother at the dump. A former doctor who now cleans a bar for a living and spends the rest of his time drunk. The preacher wades in and stirs things up. Despite all the action that occurs, the pace is slow and meandering. Sparse. The author has a nice turn of phrase and at times his descriptions are quite evocative. A couple of my favorites:

“His eyes were hard and cold as January ice, and that image was strengthened by the white hair that sprayed from beneath the old man's hat like wisps of snow drifting ahead of Montana winds.”

“When he spoke, his voice seemed broken, the words poking through his trepidation like bits of ice floating down a river.”

There are lots of characters, but no character is delved into too deeply. They mostly live poor, hardscrabble lives, and occasionally we are given a flashback about a particular character. But we don't get to know any of them very well or get very deeply into their heads. For me, that was a downside, as I love good character development. If characters are really well written and drawn out, the plot can be non-existent and I'm still happy.

Maybe westerns just aren't my style after all. Or maybe it was the preacher's similarity to Jesus. I'm not a religious person at all, despite the fact that I read and enjoy tons of Love Inspired books. The correlations of the story to that of Jesus may be better appreciated by readers more familiar with and invested in religion than I am. Unfortunately my attention sometimes wavered and the book just didn't speak to me.