Series: At Cain's Command (Book 1)
After dedicating his life to his family's
company, Dalton Cain won't let his father just give away a fortune.
He'll save his legacy. And he knows just the woman to help. But getting
Laney Fortino to trust him again isn't going to be easy. She still
considers him a coldhearted jerk.
Years ago, he'd told himself he'd
left Laney for her own good. But seeing her again, feeling the
undeniable attraction between them, he vows to rekindle what he'd once
thrown away. And this time, family won't stand in the way.
Good book. Dalton has put the company before everything else in his life. His father is dying and has just received a letter telling him he has an illegitimate daughter. But the letter is anonymous and gives no other information. So dear old dad tells his sons that they must find the girl themselves. The one who does, gets the company and if no one does the company will be turned over to the state and sold. Dalton refuses to let that happen and thinks his parents' old housekeeper may have some ideas. He used to be friends with her granddaughter Laney, until he dumped her when they were in high school. She wants nothing to do with him, but decides to help anyway. As they work together the attraction they feel grows stronger. But Laney is hiding something and fears what will happen when he finds out. Dalton and Laney were pretty good characters. Dalton was very company focused at first, just wanting to find the girl and save his job with the company. He did feel his old attraction to Laney and intended to get her into his bed, even though he had no intention of ever getting married again. He had picked his first wife on the basis of particular qualities, not on love. The more time he spent with Laney, the more he felt that there was more to life than what he had been doing. While he still wanted to find the girl, Laney also made him think about other options for his life. I liked Laney a lot. She was pretty down to earth with a normal life. She was caring for her grandmother, who has Alzheimer's. She also was trying to figure out where a large sum of money in her grandmother's account had come from. She was afraid her grandmother had stolen it from the Cains and didn't know what to do. She was attracted to Dalton, but still furious at the way he had treated her when they were in high school. She didn't trust him not to treat her the same way when he was done needing her help. I liked the way she was so determined to help him with his search. She should have told him about the money right away, but I could understand why she didn't. I loved the conclusion of this book and the way that Dalton dealt with the search. I have to say that I really hated Dalton's parents.
Series: Wedding Veil Wishes (Book 2)
Legend claims this antique Irish wedding veil can grant your heart's deepest desire. But be careful what you wish for...
Wedding videographer Tish Gallagher is at the end of her rope. Her
business is about to go bust. She's just spent her last buck on
nonreturnable (but oh so fabulous) shoes. And her most sustainable
relationship is with a pint of Haagen Dazs. So she makes a wish on the
lucky wedding veil to get out of debt...and sees the man she never
stopped loving, her ex-husband, secret service agent Shane Tremont.
Sure, their chemistry was off-the-charts sizzling hot, but their clashes
were legendary, and no amount of longing will change that.
When her dream job of recording the first daughter's wedding appears out
of the blue, Tish knows it's her only shot to get out of the red. Just
one teensy glitch: Shane is the groom. From the moment they see each
other, she knows nothing's changed--the same old black magic is still
between them, as irresistible and potent as ever. But he's promised to
another and Tish has been burned before. Will she always be...ONCE
SMITTEN, TWICE SHY?
Good book. Tish is trying to figure out how to save her business. She needs to work a good wedding to get herself out of debt. After making a wish on the magic wedding veil, she gets asked to film the wedding of the president's daughter. She is thrilled and heads out to meet the bride and groom. The bride is sweet and innocent and will film like a dream. So will the groom, who is rugged and hot - and her ex-husband. She has never stopped loving him, but can't forgive him for his withdrawal when she needed him most. Shane can't believe he is going to have to deal with Tish, who always tied him in knots, but who also betrayed his trust. As they are constantly thrown together by his fiancee, their attraction becomes harder to resist. They also realize that they are not the same people that they had been during their marriage, but it's too late to do anything about it. When Tish is attacked, Shane knows there is something going on that he is missing and needs to find out. The mystery is solved in the end, and they get their happy ending. I liked Tish, though he refusal to face her pain is irritating. That is what caused her to lose herself in her shopping addiction and created some of the problems between her and Shane. Shane's refusal to show his emotions and live up to his father's unrealistic expectations also added to their issues. If they had just been able to talk to each other, things would have worked out better. But they both needed the space to grow and face their demons. The president's daughter was a bit of an airhead, and very naive. It was her throwing Shane and Tish together that helped them, but ended up showing her that she and Shane were not meant to be together. I was glad to see that she did have the maturity to end things. Overall a fun book.
Series: Lone Star Legacy (Book 2)
Her Birthright, His Billions
The illegitimate
daughter of a late Texas billionaire, Sophia Rivers stands to inherit a
fortune. But the stubborn woman doesn't want a penny of it. As financial
advisor to the wealthy Delaney family, Garrett Cantrell has to convince
Sophia to accept her inheritance. If she doesn't, her half brothers
will lose their billions. So he introduces himself as a local
businessman and starts softening her up, talking to her about family,
loyalty and love. But the proud beauty has no idea who he really is. And
the truth may cost him his heart.
Very good book. Sophia wants nothing to do with her father's money or her half brothers. She has refused to have any contact with them. So they ask their friend Garrett to meet with her and convince her, without telling her who he is. He met her at her art gallery and was immediately attracted to her. As he spent the next few days getting to know her, he felt more and more guilty about deceiving her. After a weekend together when they gave in to their attraction, he tells her the truth. Sophia is hurt and furious and wants nothing more to do with him. After she has a chance to cool down and think about the things he said to her, she starts to see things differently. I loved the conclusion and the way her brothers made her feel so welcome. I liked Garrett very much and thought that his reluctance to lie to Sophia was great. I was very happy to see that he didn't let it go on too long. It was a bit frustrating to see him not want to commit to a true relationship with Sophia until it was almost too late. I liked Sophia also. Her stubbornness regarding her inheritance and meeting her brothers was something that did not do her any good, even though it was somewhat understandable. She had been terribly hurt by her father's attitude and thought her brothers would be just like him. I was glad to see that the things Garrett told her made a difference to her attitude. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
Series: Project Justice (Book 6)
Work undercover, catch the bad guy, become a
full-time Project Justice investigator. Simple enough plan, until
Jillian Baxter recognizes the man she's investigating. Her new "boss" is
none other than Conner Blake—her childhood crush. Luckily, he has no
idea who she is, since Jillian is no longer Jillybean, the short, overweight teenager he publicly humiliated.
Despite
their past, Jillian knows Conner isn't a murderer. Nor is he that same
cruel boy. In fact, there's much to admire about the man he is. Still,
this is an ongoing case and whatever is happening between them will have
to wait. As she gets closer to finding the killer, she must decide if
she can trust Conner with the truth. And that could be her toughest
decision yet.
Excellent book. I love the Project Justice series. In this book, Jillian has been given her first job as an investigator. She is to play the part of an administrative assistant to a lumber company executive. She is horrified to discover it is the guy she had a crush on in high school. During a science fair project she was humiliated and she has never forgiven him. Jillian had some problems with letting go of her
past with Conner, but did eventually realize that she couldn't hang on
to her anger. He didn't recognize her at first, since she has grown into a beautiful woman. As they work together she begins to see that he has outgrown that obnoxious teenage boy and has become an honorable man. She also realizes she has never really gotten over her crush and it has begun to grow into something more serious. Conner was immediately attracted to Jillian, but didn't believe she could do the job. He had had a succession of assistants and none of them had lasted. He thought Jillian was an empty-headed bit of fluff and figured she wouldn't last more than a couple days. When she was able to quickly bring order to his chaos, he began to realize he had misjudged her. When her reason for being there came out, he was furious, but thanks to the people at Project Justice found that he needed her to help clear his boss. Even after being told to work together, he still had a problem trusting her abilities. I loved the way she was able to get information and process it. She was able to figure out the murderer, but when she told Conner he didn't believe her. His disbelief nearly got her killed, and he finally realized just what she meant to him. This was one of my favorite books of the series.
Series: Project Justice (Book 5)
Guilt. Innocence. Psychologist and body-language
expert Claudia Ellison can sense them both, which is why she's so good
at her job. Unfortunately, even the innocent are convicted and this time
Claudia's partially to blame. To help free a wrongfully imprisoned
woman, she teams up with Project Justice investigator Billy Cantu, the
one man she can't read.
They must track down the truth before someone gets hurt. And to do that,
they need to trust each other. Only, the ex-undercover cop has secrets
he wants to keep, and to Claudia, not knowing everything is not an
option. But some things aren't meant to be shared. Because once they are
revealed, they can never be taken back.
Good book. Claudia feels guilty because some of her testimony sent an innocent woman to prison. She goes to Billy for help on the case. Billy doesn't believe in the science of body language, but he does admit that she gets results. In his former work as an undercover cop, Billy got very good at hiding his emotions and reactions. Thanks to her past as a foster child, Claudia got very good at reading body language and expressions, and doesn't really feel safe unless she completely understands the person she's with. She knows Billy is hiding something and really wants him to trust her with it. As they work together to solve the mystery they learn more about each other. They also learn that they work together very well, which helps their trust issues. Both Claudia and Billy learned a lot about themselves. Claudia finally accepts that she can get close to and trust people without having to know all their secrets. Billy learns that he can tell Claudia about his past without driving her away. Overall, I enjoyed the book, though I have to say that Claudia's ability was a little creepy to me. I understand its usefulness, but using it outside her profession seemed to be pushing unethical to me.
When it comes to Rachel Lansing, C.O.O. Maxwell Case makes an exception
to his take-no-prisoners approach. He'll hold this beauty hostage as his
assistant and settle old scores from their brief affair five years ago.
The pleasure will be all his.
Rachel smells blackmail. But with her ex-husband extorting big money
from her, she needs Max as a client to keep her employment agency alive.
So she hunkers down as his secretary. Soon their reignited passion
burns away the clouds of mystery surrounding her past. Will their
intimacy survive her secrets this time?
Good book. This story dealt with Max, who held on to feelings of betrayal without delving into those betrayals and the reasons behind them. It also dealt with Rachel, who took her independence and protectiveness to a level that kept her from asking for or accepting help from anyone. When Rachel went to Max's company to set up a temporary employee to replace Max's assistant, he decided only she would do. This would give him a chance to get her out of his system from their brief affair five years earlier. Rachel had no choice but to take the job, as she was being threatened by her ex-husband. She refused to tell Max about it, even though they gave in to their passions once again. Max found himself thinking about a future with her, even though he still didn't think he could trust her. Rachel refused to think of a future while she still had the problems with her ex hanging over her. I was glad to see how they finally worked things out.
