Page Turners

April

Book Review: Sneak and Rescue
by Shirl Henke
Reviewed by Kris Anderson writing as Dee S. Knight

Samantha Ballenger, private investigator and retriever of lost people, has a new case. When Seventeen year old Farley Winchester steals his dad’s vintage Jaguar and goes missing, Upton Winchester, IV, dispassionately enlists Sam to find him and bring him home to Miami. Farley believes he’s a secret agent for the Confederation of Planets, an illusion fostered by his delinquent friend, Elvis P. Scruggs. Elvis? Yes, Elvis, who’s one surprise after another. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Sam is shocked to receive unexpected information related to the case from her husband, reporter Matt Granger. Who would have guessed that Matt knows everything about the Confederation, including secret handshakes? He tells her that if Farley’s a true fan of the show Space Quest (a clever takeoff of Star Trek), he’ll be in St. Louis at the big Space Quest Con. Sam obligingly takes off from Miami for St. Louis. But right from the beginning, even on the way to meet Winchester, she encounters worrisome little distractions—like bullets and sideswipes and alligators. Jeez, people trying to kill her. And Farley, and anyone else in the general vicinity.

This is the second Sam Ballenger and Matt Granger book. Matt and Sam are married, but she’s a very independent private investigator who was raised without a pot to… Well, you know what I mean. The proverbial silver spoon filled Matt’s mouth when he came into the world, but he’s also pretty darn independent, choosing to break from expectations and make his own way rather than be dictated to. His refusal to accept his rightful share of the family fortune and Sam’s innate frugality are continuing bones of contention between the two. They have other disagreements—mainly about the risks Sam takes in her rescue/retrieval services—but their love and respect is clear.

I liked Sam’s thriftiness. She hates paying someone to help watch Farley at the convention and bunks with a friend and two demon children rather than spring for a room. And while I appreciated Matt’s willingness to give his wife freedom to be herself, I liked even more that he doesn’t hesitate to cross into her world when he thinks she might take that step too far into danger.

This is the first Bombshell I’ve read. The pace is very fast and I enjoyed seeing how Shirl used sentence structure and wording to impart action and then to slow the speed. Her dialogue is sharp and witty. Details are abundant, but without wordiness. I’ll be looking for the preceding book, Finders Keepers, where Sam and Matt meet and fall in love.

Book Review: Small Town Girl
by Patricia Rice
Reviewed by Wendy Drew

Flint Clinton lived life in the fast lane. Music was his mistress and as a composer and guitarist for a popular country band he enjoyed traveling on the road and reaping the benefits of his fame and fortune. Various lawsuits, including his recently deceased ex-wife’s divorce, have depleted his funds and after a debilitating accident that leaves his hand damaged Flint vows to start a new life for himself along with his two teenage sons in his hometown of Northfork, North Carolina. With the advance he received from his latest work, composing new music for an up and coming singer, he has just enough money to buy the run down Stardust café. Maybe all he needs is to find a comfortable woman, one who doesn’t have stars in her eyes, to settle down and help provide a stable home for him and his boys.

Joella Sanderson has had it with two-timing, two-bit musicians. As a waitress in the local café she dreams of the day when she’ll makes it big and she can kiss the small town of Northfork good-bye. A horrible case of stage fright leaves her unable to sing on stage, but her gift of writing fun and catchy lyrics will be her ticket to the big-time--until she finds out that her low-down lying ex has copyrighted them as his own.

This is a classic example of what a romance should be. The first page alone is worth the price of the book with its effortless demonstration of how to show and not tell. Right away we learn that the hero is the scarred beast who sees his once glorious gift as a curse, that he is a good man who wants to change for the better, yet the music, which he sees as the root of his downfall, still calls to him. He is flawed, but human. Add a dash of intrigue and a hint of sins long past and you have page one of a fabulous novel. This is the first Patricia Rice book I’ve read. It certainly won’t be the last.

Book Review: Legally Tender
By Michele Dunaway
Harlequin American Romance, January 2006
Reviewed by Angela Keck and Pam Trader

Christina had the kind of life most women would envy, married to a professional athlete and living in a house that resembled a palace. From the outside everything looked picture perfect but the reality had been very different. To make matters worse, she wasn’t going to find support to leave her husband from her traditional, Hispanic family who believed divorce was unthinkable and that a real woman could keep her man from straying. The last thing Christina wants to do is move back home to Texas so instead she agrees to the divorce terms stipulating she must stay in the mid-west and joins a small-town law firm, determined to put her degree to use after eight years away from legal life.

Bruce knows he has one of the sharpest legal minds in the mid-west and making senior partner at the firm his family has been a part of for generations is inevitable, still being passed over for a woman who hasn't practiced law in eight years doesn't sit well with him. Finding out that the woman is his mental equal and is beautiful enough to turn his own brain to mush doesn't help. Despite his best intentions to consider Christina hands off, his heart has other plans.

LEGALLY TENDER is a story that has everything from cultural diversity to a strong woman and a hero to sweep her off her feet. Michele Dunaway takes her unique story, adds interesting characters and leaves readers wanting more.

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