AJ’s Review

Beneath Bone Lake by Colleen Thompson

Author Colleen Thompson puts the mother in all of us in the worst possible situation: a missing child. Ruby Monroe comes back from being a bus driver in Iraq to find her life completely turned upside down. Her daughter and the sister she left in charge are missing. Her bank account is empty, her house blows up the day she gets home, and the police might have a part in it. Talk about your crappy day!

The suspense is intense as Ruby combines her forces with her sexy hands-off neighbor and they swim through the growing body count. The ending will keep you up at night as the complex plot is tied together.

I think it’s amazing that women can write lovely romances surrounded by grisly murders! Perhaps it is our split personalities allowing us such diversity. I had the pleasure of meeting Colleen Thompson at the Romance Writers of America conference in D.C. where she gave me her book. To Colleen,

Past Reviews by AJ

Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan (Midnight Ink, 2008) here.

Melanie's Review

Good Grief by Lolly Winston

I laughed my ass off at Lolly Winston’s debut novel, Good Grief, about a wife who loses her husband to cancer after three years of marriage. There, I said it. And believe me, I know how it sounds. But if laughing out loud was wrong, I don’t want to be right!

In lesser hands, main character Sophie Stanton would have been a caricature, but Winston deftly blends the humor with the humanity. Much of the comic relief is provided by the juxtaposition of Sophie’s world-changing loss with the mundane, every-day tasks of her life: holding down a job, maintaining a home, shopping for groceries.  The chapter about Sophie’s job as PR rep for a scrotal patch alone is worth the price of the book.

With help, Sophie begins the halting journey back to normal, discovering along the way a new idea of what constitutes family and a different benchmark for career success.

All in all, one of the funniest, most delightful books I’ve read in a while. I thoroughly admired a main character whose stages of grief included denial, anger, depression, and Oreos. 

Past Reviews by Melanie

The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox here.

She Flew the Coop by Michael Lee West here.

Sloan's Review

Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward

In another all but obvious way my to be read list shows that I, Melanie and AJ read different stuff.  Melanie read a funny, laugh-out-loud story, AJ read suspense, and I read Lover Avenged a sizzling, dark romance.  This is book seven in the Black Dagger Brotherhood novels by J.R. Ward.   

I believe Rehvenge is the one person who has the most to lose and the most to gain out of all the stories and he is not of the Brotherhood.  He hides a devastating secret not only from his family, but also from two different races, to protect the ones he loves.

In this story, one compassionate nurse with problems of her own breaches his defenses and makes him long for a life he’s sure he can never have.  Ehlena’s goodness brings him light.  Their journey is filled with pain, anger, uncertainty, noble actions, and love. 

J.R. Ward’s novels are among the best I’ve ever read (IMHO).  The undead heroes are to die for and the heroines are strong in their own right.  The sex scenes are incredible as well with a mixture of passion, desire and kinky.  (Where’s my fan!)

I give this one a 10 on the McBride Moxy Meter.

Past Reviews by Sloan

Unleashing the Storm by Sydney Croft here.

Stay the Night by Lynn Viehl here.