Hooked by Betina Krahn is a 90-page story that hooks the reader from page one. The book is part of Harlequin’s More than Words Outreach where famous authors write about real life issues. Betina Krahn recognizes the work of Donna Fischer, the Arizona program coordinator for Casting for Recovery, a national non-profit organization that runs fly-fishing for cancer patients. All that said it is still a romance. Something Krahn does very well.

Stephanie Steele moved to Atlanta to be closer to her family and expand her business. At least, that is what she tells herself. Maybe it is more about her boyfriend, make that former boyfriend, Finn Hartley, and his mellow take one day at a time attitude. The man doesn't share Stephanie’s ambition; she doesn't see how they could merge lives when their outlook differ so much, but that is before the big C hits. Now she has no clue how she can proceed from here.

Finn Hartley is mystified by Stephanie's leaving him and moving across the country. His decision to just deal with it means not dealing with it. At first, keeping him sane is the job of caring for his beloved sister who battles cancer, though it only defeats her in the end Then there are his two daughters with their continuous demands, and his ex-wife who often jump-starts their demand-cycle. It all keeps him busy, but it doesn't make him feel useful. He begins volunteering for Casting for the Cause hoping to make a small part of his life count.

Stephanie spots Finn when she travels back for a wedding. Even though her heart yearns for him, she is unwilling to allow Finn to romance her because she is not the woman he knew before. Finn realizes she is holding something back, and is determined to not let her get away a second time. He is determined to get her hooked.

Hooked really does do that. Hooks and reels you in. I started it at eleven at night and did not put it down until I finished it.

Make sure you have plenty of tissues on hand. It works on so many levels. You may also learn a little bit about fly-fishing too.

Your ex-what ever, is dead. You are not really that sorry as the person was not at all who you thought they were, plus, they tried to kill you. So, good they are dead, right? Then on the suburban like street of San Francisco, the woman who held your heart and loins in her merciless claws, appears alive and living a surfer girl's life. Only the woman you knew would never stoop so low as this, not even for a case worth the planet's weight in gold. And yet, she might also be an Devil's answer to a hell of a prayer.
Dead Double takes you by the hair risking exposure on your arms or neck and scuffs you through chapter after chapter on getting "the product" , and yes it has a name, but I don't do spoilers as a rule, so you will have to read it to find out what it is.

Plus there is the old arch-enemy/rival who always threatens to upend it all.

Classic spy, old fashion ideas, but with some fresh twist of locals, cultures, and characters to bring in a fresh breeze. So strap yourself in, you are going to have a ride.

Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson, author of East of the Sun, takes readers back to WW II, bringing love, danger, adventure, and history to life. More literary-written than most genre books now found, with more tell than show in places than many prefer, the details of exotic places and involved characters became a page-turning journey into history and the culture of the Middle East during a past war, rather a modern one.

Main characters, Saba Tarcan and Dom Benson, find their love life interrupted by war and different career paths: hers as a singer and his as a fighter pilot.

In a time when women were not expected to work, in fact usually did not, Saba leaves her life in Wales and a father who refuses to allow her to sing in public to follow a dream. She begins as part of a company that entertains soldiers during the desert war in North Africa. Since she has a Turkish background, the British Secret Service recruits her to partake in a covert mission. Mystery and suspense and intrigue involved with love and romance creates an unusual scenario, creating turmoil in Saba’s life and heart. One section in the novel sums up her life:

“As their plane roared through the night toward Istanbul, Saba had the nightmarish feeling of slippage, of things happening too fast and out of sequence.”

Although Jasmine Nights is not my normal choice in reading, I have to admit Julia Gregson grabbed by attention and kept it.

In the last millennium back in ye olden days when I was in high school, I got my hands on the list of books we were supposed to read during the summer. I had a cherry end-table with a washable white formica desktop on top of it; and on this, I wrote (in pencil) the title and author of each book I read that summer. My goal was to cover the top with titles, but that goal was secondary to the actual reading, which unleashed in me an appetite for the words of great authors. I consumed every book on the list, not only the ones for my grade, but for all the grades; and then I went back to the list because there was still summer left. I had not really delved into contemporary authors at that time, so I did the next best thing. I got the bibliographies of each author on the list, and I read the authors in their entirety (or at least in as much depth as the local library would provide.) What a well rounded picture of skill and style such a study would bring-- But it wasn't a study for me. It was just like wandering in a mall, or taking a walk in a park: stepping into a room colored and shaped by an author's voice, tone, words, life, expression and choice of tale--or into a garden perfumed by the fragrances, colored by shades, pricked by thorns, nestled in mulch, shade and light. So there are times now that I do the same thing. When I find a voice I like, I look for more. And that is how I came by Picture Perfect. I read and liked Wishcraft, and when I found that Picture Perfect was an earlier book she had written, and I deliberately requested it.

So here's the premise of the book. Rae Madison is a photographer employed by an investigator to take incriminating photos of spouses in flagrante delicto. Ironically, as the book opens, her first assignment is to track her own boyfriend, whom she had not known was married, and who happens to be cheating on his wife and Rae with a third woman. He is obviously not her hero. But on the rebound, she turns to her friend Colby Williams.

Colby Williams is a friend who wants to be more than a friend.

The story here is about Colby and Rae's developing friendship. That's not all there is to it: Colby has a history, and a mother who is instrumental in finding artistic talent; and Rae's photography is not just her bread and butter; it is also her art.

I don't like to give away too much plot (and there isn't that much plot here to begin with.) It's all about the characters and their relationship. The characters are developed and likable, and parts of the story were funny. While there was too much coincidence and not that much drama, I was able to see the growth of the talent which later came up with Wishcraft which was crafted better with more interesting twists. This story kept its feet on the ground in the real world, (no "wishcraft magic".) I did have to force myself to finish the parties, and paling around, the day to day, and fevers and miscommunication. Even though I liked the characters, they lost me about halfway through and finishing was a job.

Maybe I just prefer romances which only have the point of view of one character. It does take away from suspense (not that there is much of it) when you see into the heads of both characters which everyone—both the readers and the other characters in the book—knows are just wandering around until they figure out they're supposed to be together. I don't want to take away from Lanie Kincaid's abilities. She has clearly come a long way. If I had read this one first, I'd never have looked any farther. So here's the analysis: if you like the basic Harlequin style book that is all about the characters getting together with a little sex thrown in, you'll enjoy this book.

I hate to date myself, but I am one of those baby boomers who grew up under the spell of Bewitched. There is just no denying the wholesome, charming, young newlywed appeal of Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York's Bewitched, chiefly on the sheer personal appeal of Montgomery, and some indefinable quality brought to the screen by Dick York (and never matched by Dick Sargent). In spite of the fantasy premise, a real sense of the times came through, which may be why Bewitched became a classic. Maybe that's why I'm always open to reading a certain type of witchcraft book—the kind that integrates "real" non-evil witches in a contemporary setting.

Wishcraft by Lanie Kincaid is just such a novel. Our heroine is Delilah Goodman (note the "good" in her name.) She is just a modern girl, who happens to be a witch, born into a family of witches. This is not television's "Bewitched" culture, but successfully establishes a credible real world that meshes with today, from the dating-bar scene, to the contemporary style of the family's Wiccan supply store as a gathering place for contemporary version of witches. How can you not relate to a fictional witch-chef who watches the food network and who, much to the dismay of her brother, buys stuff from infomercials? We meet our witch as she is looking for a guy to pick up, in the process of getting cosmic advice from an olive. Her scheme is to love 'em and lose 'em with a forgetting spell, and it has worked until now. Such a sad thing she is, carrying around a load of painful baggage. The men she finds function somewhere between anesthetics and therapy. The problem is that she finds Mr. Perfect, Brandon, and has a perfect one night stand; the only complication is that he won't forget.

Delilah is a pastry chef, and after she leaves Brandon bewildered on a sidewalk, he is haunted and tempted by his memory of her, leading to a little clumsy magicking of his own. It turns out that magic only works where it follows nature, and Brandon's nature has fixated on Lanie, even without his awareness or intent.

What follows is a thoroughly readable and engaging tale. Delilah has her share of baggage that darkens things up, twists the plot a bit, and keeps the story from becoming too sweet. At the risk of sounding like a breakfast cereal, I found the story to be magically delicious; and while reading it, I just had to make a pumpkin-spiced gingerbread cake with cream cheese icing, and even had my kindle read Wishcraft aloud to me as I mixed the batter. It was not exactly one of Delilah's enchanted recipes, but maybe my gingerbread-scented kitchen added a little smell-a-vision aspect to the story as poor Brandon wandered the streets with his inexplicable cravings. I trust that readers captivated by magical reality mixed with sweet romance will find this little story as beguiling as I do.

I am fairly sure the cover had my pupils widely appreciative as I took in the beautiful hunk of a man on the cover. I am a very married woman, but I am also, well a very straight woman who can appreciate a guy who takes care of himself and well, I was fanning myself. I gulped nervously about reading this, wondering if I was going to end up going to confession after reading this story. Yes, I am Catholic, not by upbringing, that was Baptist which is just as guilt ridden. Nonetheless, the idea of a time traveling romantic hero who saves an uppity head strong female (which all of us women tend to identify with for some insane reason, smile), has a strong appeal to me. Then, there is the cover. Whew...

Now going back five hundred years and mucking around in our time and being able to go back in his time and not have a ripple of effect would be enough to get us Geeks (Yes there are such things as Nerdy Catholic Geeks) panties in a bunch and scrabbling about the laws of probability for a month on that alone (and many Pizza and Sushi joints in happy profits to boot). Putting that aside as this book does and assuming by that time all the techie issues have been worked out, the science in this story is really more for the stage dressing than for the moral and affect it has on humanity. So if you read Science Fiction mostly for the Science, this won’t take you far.

What this book has to offer is an action packed flight from the bad guys, figuring out who, why, and how. Then there is also the below the belly button throbbing story about two unlikely people who meet up try to protect their lives from a very bad situation. The bad guy has the gall and the ego to go around time lines and replace priceless artifacts with near prefect fakes, and kills people for no real reason than because it amuses him. In other words, sick. This book is not going for a deep moral vein, it's more like what you go to the movies for with a date and popcorn and soda. It's what can get your own romantic juices going between the sheets as you try to find the hero back in your own lover again. It worked for me, and he did not have to come five hundred years back to find me either, but its sweet to think he would have.
Reviewed By: Nancy Louise
© October 2011

Mary Trimble, an award-winning freelance writer, draws upon her personal experiences to bring reality to her stories. She has been a purser and ship's diver aboard the M.S. Explorer, spent two years in the Peace Corps in West Africa, made a 13,000-mile South Pacific trip sailing aboard her own Bristol 40, Impunity with her husband and family. Her experiences with ranching serve her well and the patient research she did for Tenderfoot, her latest novel, pays off. Her other novels include Rosemount and McClellan's Bluff.

Tenderfoot combines a bit of whimsical fluff with new beginnings as Corrie, a divorcée, decides she's had enough of city life. As travel writer, she has decided to write about ranch life and moves to the ranch country of Washington State. As with any romance, Corrie soon meets handsome widower, J McClure. That's when issues rear up. First, she has a terrible sense of direction and runs smack into a herd of cattle being moved from one field to another. Little did she know that the man on the horse would be her landlord and so much more. She wants to learn all about ranching so she can write but the ranch owner brings her face to face with her need for companionship. She has to admit J is one handsome man. His fourteen year old daughter makes no bones about the fact she feels one female around is enough. Throw in J's pushy mother, his personal desires, the widower hardware store owner, a gallimaufry of new friends, add the infamous Mount St. Helen's eruption and you have a mix that makes a good story. You'll soon discover there is more than whimsical fluff as Trimble brings her characters to life.

Trimble is most adept at blending factual ranching information with her storyline. Refreshing is an apt word to describe Tenderfoot. It's not loaded with descriptive sex, foul language, and lacks the ever present inappropriate sprinkling of the "F" word so dominate in much of today's fiction.

It isn't often I read books written by a duo of authors, so when Just the Way You Are found its way to my desk I was fascinated. K.M. Daughters is the pen name of two sisters, Pat Casiello and Kathie Clare, who honor their family by using a pen name formed of their parents' names.

As the story opens we go back in time to meet Noelle Walker on the fateful day when her life will change forever due to a fire. This opening scene set the tone for a well written story filled with detail and life. Unfortunately, the rest of the story fell short of this mark.

Fast forward a few years and we now find Noelle embarking on a pilgrimage to find divine assistance to help her put her scarred appearance behind her. Instead she meets Dr. Shane Thompson, a maxillofacial surgeon who just happens to be going her way. (Can you guess what happens? Probably.)

It appears to be love at first sight, or at least mild interest, and Noelle can't believe her good fortune. She wonders if perhaps her life has already been changed even before reaching the Gospa Journeys tour she is attending.

Moved by the presence of Our Lady at various places on her pilgrimage, Noelle's faith deepens as does her affection for Shane. Sadly, a discussion concerning miracles puts their romance at risk and only strong faith will carry them through.

Just the Way You Are is a novella of only 88 pages which means the authors have a very short opportunity to make you love the characters and get involved in the story. In my opinion, K.M. Daughters needed more pages on this one to make it work.

It saddens me that two interesting and likeable characters like Noelle and Shane were short changed in this story. They could have been so much more than they were allowed to be. Too much time was devoted to the story of the Gospa Journeys details which caused the scenes with the main characters to be rushed and shallow.

The other thing that may bother some readers about K.M Daughters Just the Way You Are is that it is predictable from nearly the first moment. Just to be fair, a predictable story is not always a bad read – especially if you are left wondering how the author is going to pull it all together. You won't get that here though since the story is cookie cutter clean and you've read it before.

I only hope the next time K.M. Daughters come up with an interesting couple like Noelle and Shane that they will give us more time to get to know them and love them.

Reviewed By Shawn Marie Mann
© July 2011

Widow's Walk is psychologist Kenneth Weene's debut novel. Widow's Walk is correct. Not The Widow's Walk of Old New England, or London Town, nor does it reference the Widow's Lock, the shape of hair on a man's head. It is the walk of widow, Mary Flanagan— a walk from the drudgery of working in an uncle's store, to a loveless marriage where it was her responsibility to do her 'duty', the walk of a heavy heart because of the disastrous marriage of her only daughter, Kathleen, and the war tragedy that left her son Sean, a quadriplegic.

Widow's Walk is the walk of a woman whose Catholic faith has left her with much to learn about the real world, about sacrificing herself to care for her son who can't even wipe his own ass, to learning to be an independent and strong-willed woman who refused to crumble when her world is radically changed by chance while she is on a walk. Love finally arrives but dare she accept it?

No man has ever treated her the way Arnie does. How can she be a good Catholic and date a divorced man? How can she love him when he's a Jew? What can she say to her children? What can she say to her church? More importantly, what can she say to herself?

Kenneth Weene takes the reader through the personal tribulations of his characters and lets them find answers with understanding, with a knowledge of human behavior, and with the compassion that his years as a practicing psychologist can bring. But it doesn't end there. Weene is also a minister and his lesson comes through loud and clear. And it may not be what you think. Don't jump to conclusions on this one. It may surprise you and just maybe, it may cause a tear or two.

Widow's Walk is a love story from beginning to end—in many respects, more tragic than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette.

Award-winning novelist Jacquie Rogers has surpassed her Down Home Ever Lovin' Mules Blues with a delightful new western romance. She brings her unique humor to create comedic relief in Much Ado About Marshals , currently available as an eBook. The paper version will be available next month.

The story, set in the late 1800's in Idaho Territory, is well splintered with historical bits and pieces as the heroine Daisy Gardner, a twenty-two year old spinster, resists marriage to a rancher, and being stuck in the hinterland forever. What does Ms Gardner want in life? She wants to be a detective— a female detective just like Honey Beaulieu, the lead character in her favorite pulp novel series.

The small Idaho town, Oreana has hired its first town marshal, Sidney Adler. However, because of a gunshot wound in the leg, Sidney's arrival is delayed. The guy doesn't realize that Daisy Gardner plans to plant herself in his life as his wife and in that way continue her life's desire to be a detective.

Her plans are complicated by a bank robber who also suffers a gunshot wound in the leg. Unwittingly, she mistakes him as Sidney Adler, the town's new marshal. Things just get western wild after this.

Rogers' love of western history shines as she brings her characters to life upon the author's stage. Much Ado About Marshals is entertainment.

I love a good adaptation story - Shakespeare in modern times or the hero's journey in a galaxy far, far away, for example. When I saw the mystery-romance Drowning Rapunzel by Annette Gisby, I figured it was an interesting take on the story we all grew up hearing.

Beth Gregory takes a job as a live-in secretary for the artist Josh Warrington. She's hoping for a new start; she wants to forget her past. And for a while, this long-haired beauty does. However, a murder at Josh's estate outside of London, Holly Lodge, resurrects the paranormal powers Beth thought she'd been able to run away from.

The prologue creeped me out. It was exciting to open a book and get that spine tingling feeling right away. Ms. Gisby has a talent for writing creepy scenes and there weren't nearly enough of them for me.

Because this book is a mystery-romance, a romance is expected. Unfortunately, it felt as though there were two stories fighting throughout the piece: the romance and the mystery. One was constantly being truncated in favor of the other. Or I just felt that way because I was more engaged in the mystery and wanted to hurry to those scenes. The romance was predictable and felt forced. I didn't feel the spark or chemistry between the two lovers. It was like they fell in love because they had to in order to continue on with the story.

While we're on the subject of relationships, the other two marriages in the book, both less than ideal, end happily enough in rather contrived ways. It felt like loose ends were being neatly trimmed or ignored, once again, so we could move on with the story.

Some of the descriptions in Drowning Rapunzel may be typical of romances, but they made me groan just the same. I've always been bothered by the amount of giggling that grown women do in romances. And please don't "penetrate my mouth". It's not sexy. It's gross and sounds painful.

Many details in the book took me out of the moment, one of the first being the introduction of the computer. First, our heroine has just fainted and the hero seems more interested in trying to assemble the computer that he's just bought but knows nothing about. The description of the computer would make any computer-savvy reader cringe...and in 2009, I would assume that audience to be fairly large, especially for an ebook. A scanner and digital camera wouldn't be crazy add-ons, especially for an artist. And after all the time dedicated to the description of the computer, software and printer, the computer was barely used.

As someone who has worked with an artist and gallery owner, and who has worked in advertising, the idea that a person with no design experience can just whip up a promotional postcard and print it on their home printer, is cringe worthy.

At the beginning, the book warned of "substantial sexually explicit scenes." I certainly wish that had been the case. The heroine, however, decides to wait until marriage to have sex and, even then, the reader sees nothing. Passionate kisses and a reference to an erection are all the reader gets.

As far as the adaptation I was looking for, it was the thrust behind the mystery. Perhaps that's why the murder mystery plot line caught and held my attention. Unfortunately, the writing and the romance scenes took me out of the story so often that it was distracting. Drowning Rapunzel by Annette Gisby might be an okay beach read for a quick diversion, but it's not a story to get lost in.

Reviewed by Cam
© August 2009

How can a people atone for an act against the Gods? A capricious, unruly set of Gods; pleasing one results in offending another. In the second book in The Asphodel Cycles, redemption seems less a gift than something to be earned. The earning itself, given the nature of the Gods concerned, is an impossibility.

The Gift of Redemption, the second book in The Asphodel Cycles, continues the high fantasy story of Tamsen Ka'antiro de Asphodel, heroine of the series. At the conclusion of Book One The Reckoning of Asphodel, Tamsen has successfully regained and rebuilt her father's lands that were destroyed by her half-uncle when he killed Tamsen's parents. As Countess of Asphodel, Tamsen has taken her place in the kingdom of Ansienne, and pursued and killed the assassin of King Lufaux. Despite, or rather because of these successes, the book ends somberly. The conclusion of Book One sets the dominant theme of Book Two The Gift of Redemption: that preserving both Human and Elven peoples has a heavy cost that Tamsen and those she loves must pay.

The Gift of Redemption opens with Tamsen at Asphodel. She has had a miscarriage and lost much of her sorceress power in a duel with her half-uncle Gabril de Spesialle. She has nightmares, which she suspects are sent by de Spesialle. In the dreams, her husband, the Elf Warrior Brial, is destroyed by de Spesialle and she is too weak to protect him.

Tamsen successfully plays her role in Court intrigue - both Elven and Human. She takes part in battles and wins wars. She discovers this is not enough. Humans and Elven conflict, the conflict between competing humans, is the result of conflict among the gods themselves.

She discovers she is a pawn in a game played between the Virgin Huntress goddess of the forest and protector of Elves, and Dis, god of the underworld. She is one in a line of Human Champions for the gods in their game. The game plan does not appear to include a 'happy ever after' ending for any of the Champions.

Tamsen is sent a series of tasks; she is given only enough information to stumble towards the next test. There are allies and enemies who reveal themselves in the state of play. There are rules, but she does not know them. What she is aware of is the consequences of failure - destruction of the Elves.

Ms. Summers is very good at characterization, creating minor as well as major characters that are distinctive. Characters from Book One continue to surround Tamsen but the characters themselves change as a result of events, particularly that of Brial, Tamsen's husband and Tamsen herself.

The Gift of Redemption is well written but lacks the playful use of language that was a notable feature of The Reckoning of Asphodel. There is less humor. The world is considerably more grim than young Tamsen thought in Book One and the language Tamsen uses in Book Two reflects that.

There is humor and there are lyrical passages, usually involving the deepening relationships of Tamsen and the characters important to her. She increasingly doubts her power and ability, but gains understanding and trust in her friends and husband. Tamsen finds love both a source of strength and a weakness as the book progresses.

There are trilogies, such as Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen, that are essentially three books that can be read independently. This is not one of them. The reader is given enough information to understand the plot of Book Two The Gift of Redemption independently of Book One but the complexity of the series, The Asphodel Cycle is lost. This is essentially one extremely long book broken into four long volumes - this volume includes 592 pages.

The Asphodel Cycle should appeal to fans of Tokien: high fantasy, noble characters, a world-changing quest. Like Tepper and Lackey, Ms. Summers presents a strong, likable and imperfect heroine with a good cast of supporting characters. If you like High Fantasy combined with romance, you should enjoy the series. I strongly recommend it, and am looking forward to the concluding volumes.

Reviewed by Wenonah Lyon
© August 2009

Need a cure for boredom? The Rx is: take six very rich, good looking women, mix in the fact that they are top chick vigilantes: A group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, because in general, the legal authorities are inadequate. In this case, the community is big, like, "earth-sized" big. The whole green earth., mix in Sin City (aka Las Vegas) and some sex, and you have Final Justice by Fern Michaels.

I have never read Fern Michaels until now. I have seen her name for years in supermarket book rows, pharmacy reading racks and the like. I just never really thought about picking up a romantic thriller. I tend to lean towards more bookish fantasy thrillers with aliens. The title, however, caught my eye. I will say first off, I wish I'd read the first eleven books before reading this one. The reason is that there is so much history between the characters that I got lost between some of the interplay that someone with more familiarity with the characters would have been able to follow more easily. As it was I felt very much like I was in a glass cube trying to figure out the who and why of what was going on.

From Chapter Six on, there was more of the current story and the book was able to start standing on its own. Then there were gaps in the story in what went down. Imagine seeing a movie like Ocean's Eleven, (original or remake) and take out some of the key technical scenes, or bypass the planning and keep it all internal, never showing the reader what's really going on. You still have a thrilling movie, but one falling on the flat side of satisfaction. Lots of flash, and smoke, but no real fire.

That is not to say Final Justice is not good. It has good points. Very clear on who is male and who is female by their points of view. (But do men really look that often to see if a woman is wearing panties when they have short skirts?). Women in this were about fashion or at least wanting to be fashionable. Men were about power, fantasies, and about getting laid. None of the characters are of any real depth. So you need not make an emotional commitment to follow their inner pain and death of the ego. Instead, they are interesting enough that you would not mind spending a few hours with them, a great ride of imagination, and boredom banished to the far recesses of your mind: a.k.a. harmless froth and frills.

Reviewed By: Nancy Louise
© December 2008

What can I say? I am a sucker for women in strong roles, because then I can pretend it is me having all that fun. Nothing is more romantic and seductive than a woman appearing to be all of 'the weaker' sex only to find she can kick-box you into China's next week.

In Mechanical Rose there is much of machinery written here including the mechanics of sex. Two misfit characters are thrown into a conflict of values. The heroine, Rose, must persuade this absent minded, though brilliant inventor, to cease his creation, or kill him. She's done it before, many times, and as painless as possible. That's the plan until she starts to fall in love with him. Once that happens, her carefully crafted world of lies starts to fall like so many beer-soaked playing cards.

Rose also has a corset that has more weapons hidden in it than a Samurai warrior could dream of. She lives in a society of Victorian dress, turn of the century mechanics, and a world on the brink of ecological disaster from over population and industrial pollution never cleared. Imagine a world where World War I and II never happened. This could be the result. Secret societies abound and this woman is a part of it. She is also a professional assassin when needed.

Mechanical Rosedeals with what happens with a highly brilliant spy and devoted member of a secret society that keeps things in the balance, meets a brilliant inventor who is also a man of high principals whose invention intended to help farmers in drought, will be turned into a weapon. Two people with clashing ideals meet, and sparks fly. The resulting explosion of passion and the destruction of what they held to be their beliefs will challenge their inner core and bring about their own destruction, or their own power from within.

There is a lot of romp, rolls in the hay, etc. in this short novel. (spoiler alert) including one where they know the enemy is after them, he is supposedly coming in the morning. So they set out for a leisurely romantic 'night before the war' making love. When all I can think about is, Run, you FOOLS! I would think the love scene would have been better some place else, not when they know someone is coming to kill and destroy them. Still, there are some really good reads in this book.

If you enjoy the charm of an English Tea Party, Victorian gracious ways, added to the Industrial Age gone mad, you have the basis of this book. Plus as I mentioned above, there is the corset that any sleuth warrior would envy, and many other inventions created with both beauty and function in mind. If you enjoy Victorian times, dress and mores, you will enjoy this book. Mechanical Rose reads like James Bond meets Victorian Female Spy. No sports car chases, but something better, and yes, it is mechanical.

Warning: graphic heterosexual scenes.
 
Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© September 2008

She's gorgeous! She's incredibly sexy with the perfect body. She's totally obedient, willing to do whatever a man wants, no matter what. So what more could any man ask for? Well, how about one little thing, like maybe a sex drive? Alpha, a marvelous sex-goddess of a robot, one created in the exact image of a famous and beautiful actress, is missing that one vital component. She's built for making love, is a love machine, but she has no idea what that means or how to do it. Now, what to do? What a conundrum!  Love's Reflection by Carol North poses this intriguing and fun question, and so many others, as well.

Dr. Cort Hirsch is pleased with his new robot, the vivacious, the beautiful Alpha. Alpha is fashioned in the exact image of Zoe Parker, famous actress and bombshell. Alpha is anatomically correct down to the last exquisite female detail, except for one thing -- Cort deliberately avoids giving her any sex drive at all, any concept of such a thing. He plans Alpha to be a slave, an obedient automaton to do his every bidding. This is to be his revenge for being rejected by the living version of Alpha, one Zoe Parker.

But even so, Alpha can think. Alpha can learn. Alpha is no dummy. In many ways, she is even superior to the real Zoe, who is a self-absorbed egomaniac of the first order! Much to Cort's surprise, Alpha learns in ways that Cort never thought of her being capable of doing, never dreaming such was possible. Alpha, it seems, is full of surprises. But Zoe Parker discovers some look-alike is out and about town, seemingly masquerading as her and doing a heck of a job at it, too. Now the real trouble begins.

Carol North has done a wonderful job with Love's Reflection. Despite the plethora of robot-as-people novels and movies that now abound in the science fiction and romance genres, Carol North has managed something new, something fresh. Not since the 1964 television series, My Living Doll, starring Julie Newmar and Bob Cummings, has there been anything so innovative, so lively, and so much fun. Watching the robot, Alpha, learn to become a real woman is a real treat. Love's Reflection gives us the same joy in this regard as a young Julie Newmar did in My Living Doll, and that's no mean feat.

In Love's Reflection, Carol North even takes us a step further than just an enjoyable read. Ms. North poses thoughtful questions on what it is that makes us human, what really constitutes humanity. We travel along with Alpha as she learns the world about her. And, we see how humans react. We see them change, and in some cases grow from their interaction with Alpha. Carol North not only provides us with marvelous entertainment in Love's Reflection, she makes us reflect deeply about the meaning of things, like life, love, and compassion.

If you want a fun read (yes -- I know I use the word "fun" a lot here, but what can I say -- it's a fun book), then I advise you to buy Ms. Carol North's, Love's Reflection. I found it to be a very enjoyable and absorbing read. I finished Love's Reflection in just one day, because I couldn't bring myself to put it down. I wanted to know what happened next that much.

Carol North has a winner with Love's Reflection. If Ms. North can maintain this high level of writing with her future novels, we have a wonderful new author in our midst. I look forward to reading more by her. Mind you, I'd quickly exchange all that for just one robot like Alpha…
 
Reviewed By Rob Shelsky
© October 2008