TBR Day: REVIEW: Sex, Straight Up by Kathleen O'Reilly

SETTING: Contemporary - NYC
TYPE: Category Romance (Harlequin Blaze #388)
COPYRIGHT: April 2008
SERIES: Book #2 in "Those Sexy O'Sullivans" miniseries

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
This is my first book by this author and I was so pleased with it, I'm sure it won't be my last. I picked this up because of a glowing review over at DearAuthor. I don't read many of the new categories much anymore because most of them are pretty light on plot with very little sex. Harlequin Blaze are supposed to be sizzling hot and they generally are but most of them have silly or unbelievable plots (like virgin sex therapists - please, give me a break).

This series is about three brothers who own a bar in NYC. SSU is Daniel's story, the oldest brother, who is an accountant. Now if you are one of those (like me) that think that a book with an accountant for a hero would be boring, you'd be wrong. Daniel is an incredibly sexy, but tortured hero. Not angsty, but more sad and his story broke my heart. Six years ago his wife was killed on September 11th. They had both worked at an accounting firm in the twin towers and he had stopped that morning to get that special latte she liked at her favorite coffee shop. He was still inside the coffee shop when he heard the first boom. Now he stills suffers from survivors guilt and can't get over the pain of her loss.

His brothers pressure him into attending a weekend party at the beach in the Hamptons. But he doesn't want to be there so rather than participate in the partying, he sits on the beach instead. Next door in her grandfather's beach house, Catherine Montefiore observes a lonely but sexy man sitting on her beach motionless for hours and gets the urges to draw him so she pulls out her sketchpad and sits on the deck to draw. Catherine loves to sketch but she's not an artist. Her real job is assistant appraiser at Montefiore Auction House which is owned by her grandfather. Eventually they introduce themselves. Later that weekend they spend an incredibly hot evening together but it ends badly when Catherine catches him putting his wedding ring back on and doesn't realize he is widowed. Daniel and Catherine eventually meet again when a serious problem arises at the auction house involving commissions which could destroy their business. So Daniel's firm is called in to perform an audit.

Daniel and Catherine are wonderful 3-dimensional characters and the plot was handled very realistically. So many Blazes have silly plots but I found this one was refreshingly believable and heart wrenching. There were many sizzling sex scenes but they were integral to the plot and not just tacked on to up the heat level. Their relationship and growing love for each over develops slowly which was very believable. When Daniel is finally able to remove his old wedding ring we know that he is finally healing. Catherine is a special character and is no doormat. In the end she comes to believe in herself when she helps Daniel solve the mystery about the commissions. The dialog and plot move along very smoothly and I found it very easy to read but deeply emotional as well.

Book #1 (Shaken and Stirred) and Book #3 (Nightcap) maybe worth looking into.

GRADE: B+

TBR Day: Lots of old categories

I made a concerted effort this month to pare down my TBR. While standing in front of the shelves that contain my TBR, I noticed that there were way too many old categories that I had picked up over the years and just never got around to reading so I decided to start with those. My intent was to read at least 2 chapters of each book and if it didn't keep my interest, toss it away into the "post on PBS" pile. If I liked it (or it wasn't too horrible), then I figured I could finish it in no more than 2 days. Great plan, huh? Anyway, I read 11 categories and not one DNF in the bunch.

So here are mini-reviews of the best of them:

Call Me by Alison Kent (1996)
This book was a real surprise. It's a short (only 216 pages) Harlequin Temptation that had been languishing in my TBR for over 4 years. It was funny, had great sexual tension and the plot was tight and characters are well written. I loved the hero (a Texas rancher - yeah, I'm into cowboys lately) and his teenager brother is a hoot too. The heroine is quite uptight at first and is still hurting from the divorce from her cheating husband. But she warms up rather quickly and things got cooking. The sexy banter and spicy love scenes were worth the price of the book alone.
My grade: A


A Wedding to Remember by Emma Darcy (1994)
This was a troubled marriage story which is one of my guilty pleasures if done right. The H/H are divorced and the heroine, Joanna, is considering remarrying but she is unsure. She decides to visit her ex, Rory, at his office to see if it's well and truly over and get on with her life. Rory is stunned to see her and after talking her into a goodbye kiss, is blown away and impulsively he scoops her up in his arms and 'kidnaps' her for a weekend of pleasure. OK, I know, not realistic. at. all. But I went with it and I'm glad I did. They have some misunderstandings to work out and Joanna learns to believe in Rory rather than vindictive gossip (although I was a bit irritated with her for not believing in him in the first place).
My grade: B+


The Return of Eden McCall by Judith Duncan (1995)
JD is one of my favorite category writers and I have several of her books in my keepers. This book is #3 in the series (Wide Open Spaces) and all of them have been wonderful. TRoEM is no exception. Eden returns to her hometown to take care of her dad who has had a heart attack. She runs into her former boyfriend (and lover), Brodie, who is angry and hurt that she left town. I love how the POV switches to Brodie in several chapters and we really get inside his head. This is a highly emotional and well written book and Brodie is a wonderful hero. Duncan is a talented author who should be writing full length romances but unfortunately she hasn't published anything since 2002. What a shame she dropped out of sight.
My grade: B+


Cattleman's Promise by Marilyn Pappano (1999)
This is book #1 in the Heartbreak Canyon series. I read book #3 a few years ago and liked it so much that I bought the rest of the series, but I'm just finally getting around to reading them. Olivia's husband has just died saving her the trouble of divorcing the rotten scoundrel. She now has the care of her twin 5-year-old daughters and not a penny to her name since the ex gambled it all away. Except she finds the deed to a ranch in Heartbreak, Oklahoma. When she travels to Heartbreak on her last dime she finds out her husband had been swindled since Guthrie owns the ranch. Guthrie is a good, decent, and kind man so he offers to let her stay in a cabin on his property. In exchange she will cook and clean his house. I loved Guthrie. I loved Olivia. And I loved the twins, Elly and Emma. Wonderful plot and characters are so real. I hate cutesy or bratty kids, but Emma (good twin) and Elly ('bad' twin) were absolutely perfect. I found myself laughing at their antics and fell in love with them.
My grade: B+


Reading now: Horseman's Bride by Marilyn Pappano (1999)
This book follows Cattleman's Promise. Very dark, slightly depressing book that I almost gave up on. Features a tortured hero (Easy) with horrendous physical disabilities caused by a serious car accident. Top that with his feelings of loneliness and tremendous guilt caused when he ran off 12 years ago with his best friend's (Guthrie from Cattleman's Promise) fiance (Shay) a few days before their wedding. To make matters worse he abandoned Shay 6 years ago because of his feelings of guilt and worthlessness over his treatment of Guthrie, expecting she would go back to him. Shay went back to Heartbreak, Oklahoma where all three of them grew up together but she never got over Easy. Now Easy is back in Heartbreak, angry and depressed and a tad full of self pity. But Shay won't let him give into it and with Shay's help comes out of it little by little. I'm a few pages from the end and can hardly put it down (late for work this morning trying to squeeze in a few more pages). Update: Just finished it and it had a great last chapter and epilogue.
My grade: B

TBR Day: Review: Reap the Wind by Iris Johansen

COPYRIGHT: 1991
SETTING: Contemporary
TYPE: Romantic Suspense
PAGES: 532
SERIES: 3rd book in the Wind Dancer Trilogy
REASON FOR READING:
Keishon recommended this book a while back and since the premise sounded very original and intriguing, I tracked down a copy on PBS. Keishon mentioned that Johansen revised this book in 2002 to appeal more to her suspense fans and I'm betting she took out the hot sex scenes and the romance. That's just so wrong. So if you're interested in tracking down this book DO NOT GET THE REVISED VERSION. Get this one (cover shown here).

SUMMARY:[back blurb]

A DESPERATE RACE AGAINST DEATH
Alex. Brilliant Alex Karazov always regarded his wild talent as merely a tool in the high-tech chessboard of wold events...until murder galvanized him into a global cat-and-mouse game that could cost him not only his life but the woman he loves.

A FIRESTORM OF PASSION
Caitlin. Exquisite Caitlin Vasaro created a perfume whose scent enchants and whose fame may endure through the centuries...but her desire for Alex Karazov may rob her of both her dream and her life.

THE SIZZLING PRICE OF FAME
Chelsea Benedict had fought her way from the depths of poverty and scandal to the heights of international film stardom. Now she must fight the biggest battle of her life, to save the man she loves - from herself.

A LOVE FOR ALL TIME
Jonathan Andreas possesses power, fame, and one of the most valuable treasures on the face of the earth. He is willing to risk everything on the greatest gamble a man can dare...or to lose his life in the balance.

For centuries it was spoken of in whispers, a legendary masterpiece of unspeakable power...and immeasurable beauty. But once the winds had swept the stars from the night sky; who would own the Wind Dancer?

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
Caitlin Vasaro owns and manages a flower farm that has been in her family for generations. Due to many problems they are on the verge of bankruptcy and they can't pay their mortgage or make payroll. One day Alex Karazov a wealthy businessman (and ex-KGB/CIA) visits and offers to invest a huge chuck of cash so they can pay off their mortgage and allow Caitlin to market the perfume she has created and calls "Vasaro". Of course there are strings attached but Caitlin accepts the deal.

The reader is aware from the prologue that there is something not quite right about Alex. He is manipulating Caitlin so he can get his hands on "The Wind Dancer" an antique statue of Pegasus that is supposed to have magical properties. I really didn't like him at first because I thought he was a manipulating people user. And I thought Caitlin was way too stupid for falling for the "too good to be true" offer. But eventually Caitlin reveals that she is fully aware that Alex was using her, she just didn't care because she was so desperate to get her perfume to market. As part of the marketing campaign Alex wants to use the Wind Dancer which is in the possession of Caitlin's cousin, Jonathan Andreas.

What follows is a roller coaster ride of an non-stop action packed adventure across Europe. Oh, and Alex and Caitlin fall in love. Wow, and the sex scenes were pretty spicy. I especially loved the first sex scene which followed several chapters of some scorching sexual tension culminating in a fantastic scene in a lavender field. I could almost smell the lavender while I was reading that part. Another scene I liked is when Caitlin is anticipating that Alex is going to dump her so she dumps him first. I don't think that was really his plan but he was acting kind of like a jerk and really needed a smackdown. And Caitlin doesn't take him back right away...she makes him suffer for a while. She eventually takes him back after some good groveling. I liked that *evil grin*.

The only part I didn't care for was the secondary romance between Caitlin's cousin, Jonathan (a presidential candidate) and Chelsea (an famous actress). It wasn't bad really, just unnecessary to the plot and a tad bit unrealistic given we are in presidential campaign season. I wanted more of Alex and Caitlin. But I will say that Jonathan and Chelsea were well written characters along with Alex and Caitlin. And for a book with over 500 pages, this one flew by fast.

GRADE: B+



OTHER BOOKS READ FROM MY TBR:

The Medusa Project (Silhouette Bombshell) by Cindy Dees (B+)
Surprisingly excellent read about a team of women who go through Special Forces training. Non-stop action and seemed very realistic with a romance subplot. My only complaint... I was expecting at least one sex scene... but no, no sex here.

The Warlord by Elizabeth Elliott (C)
After hearing all the glowing praise about EE I was a bit disappointed because hero was a complete ALPHA-JERK! I liked the heroine though.