Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas

Danielle from Alpha Reader kindly suggested this book when I asked for Contemporary recommendations. I had mixed feelings about this book in the beginning -I didn't realize it would span so many years, but I liked it. Thanks Danielle!

I don't know how to review this book without spoilers, so let me just say: Spoilers Ahead! I'll try to only do a few small ones.

Sugar Daddy starts out with 14-year-old Liberty Jones and her mother moving into a trailer park in Welcome, Texas. (Her father died when Liberty was very young) There she meets Hardy Cates when she is almost attacked by pit bulls. He's an older boy but she is immediately attracted to him. Over the next few months, she doesn't see him much. She goes to school, hangs out with friends, and as she gets a bit older she gets contacts, plucks her eyebrows, and cuts her hair. The boys start to notice her, but she only wants Hardy to notice her. He tells her he's too bad for her.

While this is going on, her mother is working to support them and ends up pregnant. Baby Carrington becomes the center of Liberty's life. Judging from the events in the book, it sounds like her mom might have had post-partum depression, and Liberty took over. Her grades were falling and she was exhausted from getting up at night to care for the baby. On one particularly bad night, Hardy comes to help. That night, her mother tells her she doesn't want her seeing Hardy anymore and Hardy agrees.

Soon after that her mother dies in a car crash and Liberty is left alone to care for Carrington. She's never had a job and only has a high school diploma. She gets custody of her sister, and enrolls in beauty school. There she lands a job in a fancy Houston salon. She moves to Houston to be closer to work and so Carrington can go to a good school. At the salon, an exceedingly rich client, Churchill Travis, comes in for a haircut and they end up talking. He starts to ask for her whenever he comes in, and they begin to meet away from work. It's a totally platonic relationship, although other people think they're sleeping together. Her relationship with Churchill becomes a father/daughter type of relationship and they talk about everything. He ends up asking her to be his personal assistant, and Liberty and Carrington move into his mansion.

During this time, Liberty has done a bit of dating but no one can make her feel like she did when Hardy was around. She figures she's doomed be miserble and alone.

Churchill has three sons and a daughter. The oldest son, Gage, went into the family business and is in the mansion a lot. He thinks Liberty is sleeping with his father and resents her for it. He's rude and Liberty doesn't like him. Gradually their relationship takes a turn and they start dating. Then she runs into Hardy, who is now rich and successful. Liberty is conflicted because she has feelings for Gage and their romance is new, but can't forget how she felt about Hardy. While she's sorting out her feelings, she also learns some disturbing news about Carrington's father.

I enjoyed this story, but I was frustrated the build up to her adult life took so long. I will concede that it was important to the story and we needed it to understand Liberty's choices as an adult. I felt bad for Liberty - she had some tough breaks, and when her mother died I wanted to cry for her. I liked her secondary characters, especially Churchill, and Gage too, once she got to know him. I was mad at Hardy at the end of the book, and except for that I liked the ending.

All in all, it was a good read. I will definitely read the other books in this series. Thanks Danielle!

Too Good to be True by Kristan Higgins

Awhile back I asked for contemporary recommendations. I got some great recommendations - this book was one of them, sort of. Christine recommended "anything by Kristan Higgins" and when I went to the bookstore this was the only title of hers they had. All I can say is...Wow!

This book was bittersweet but full of laugh out loud moments. I think the best way to tell you about this book is to give you a run-down of the main characters:

Grace Emerson - Cute, young history teacher, likes to perform at Civil War reinactments, teaches Dancing to the Oldies at the local old folks' home, spends time reading to the elderly who don't get visitors. Loves Project Runway. Is dating Wyatt Dunn, a pediatric surgeon she made up so her family wouldn't feel sorry for her because her sister is engaged to her ex-fiance.

Wyatt Dunn - Imaginary pediatric surgeon who rescues cats in his spare time; currently dating Grace Emerson.

Callahan O'Shea- Ex-con, moved into the house next door to Grace. When he couldn't find the keys to his house the night he went in, he went over to her house to ask to use the phone and she mistook him for a burgeler, slamming him in the head with a hockey stick. Seems to be a pretty decent guy, prison record notwithstanding. Grace and Callahan exchange some pretty fun dialogue about his past.

Julian - Grace's best friend; he's gay. Together they commiserate about the difficulties of finding a good man. Occasionally helps her fend off her overbearing family and watches Project Runway with Grace.

Natalie Emerson - Grace's younger sister. Grace and Natalie have always been close, more so since Natalie almost died while she was in college. Fell in love at first sight with Andrew, Grace's then-fiance but tried to ignore her feelings for Andrew. Has lots of guilt about it.

Andrew Carson - Grace's ex-fiance, currently engaged to Natalie.

Margaret Emerson (forget her married name)- Grace's older sister. Dry, biting wit. Is a lawyer, married to Stuart who teaches at the same school as Grace. Margaret is looking for some excitement in her marriage but doesn't think Stuart is up to it.

Meme- Grace's grandmother. Seriously mean old biddy. Delivers some pretty good lines. She has a scene with Callahan that had me laughing so hard people turned around to see what I was laughing at!

Angus McFangus - the cutest dog in a story ever! He was adorable!

I really liked this book. I felt like I was there with the characters and was disappointed when I got to the last page and there was no more book to read. There were several laugh-out-loud moments in this book, I will definitely be searching out more of Ms. Higgins' books. Thanks Christine!

Meeting Charlaine Harris

Although we didn't get to go to the True Blood Ball, I was able to meet Charlaine Harris on Halloween!!! The signing was for 1pm, so we got there around 10:30. They assigned you a number when you bought your books; we were numbers 3, 4, 5, and 6!! I came with my sister-in-law, my future sister-in-law, and my 16-year-old son (AKA Book Mule). I brought the Book Mule for two reasons: 1. She would sign 2 books/person, and 2. He's read the books and I thought it would be fun for him to meet the author (he's dabbling in writing).

Here we are waiting in line. Note the matching Fangtasia t-shirts (no, we're not book nerds!) Book Mule took the picture: SIL, future SIL, and me:


See how close we were?!? The lady leaning against the wall is BFF Paula. She seemed surprised we knew who she was. (Maybe we are book nerds? Nah.)



Here's future SIL - she's the one who convinced me to give True Blood a second try after Episode 1 didn't really grab me. (That's Book Mule standing in the background):


Here's SIL Hannah, who I frequently mention on this site and she is my Mistress of All Things Web. We spend a good portion of our free time arguing over who Eric belongs to (hint: Eric is mine.):



And here's me, all giddy with happiness at meeting Charlaine:



Ms. Harris was so sweet and gracious. She answered questions and chatted while she signed. I thanked her for sharing her stories and she said she was blessed to be able to do what she loved doing. She also said that after Dead in the Family she's contracted for 3 more Sookie books (through 2014), Pam is her favorite character in the books, and she thought Nelson Ellis should have gotten an award at the Emmys.

Heart of the Wolf, Destiny of the Wolf, and To Tempt the Wolf by Terry Spear

I had seen Ms. Spear's To Tempt the Wolf all over the blogosphere recently. I thought it looked intersting, and added it to my TBR. Then, while perusing the aisles at Borders, they had Heart of the Wolf free if you bought two other romance books. Perfect!

Heart of the Wolf was the shortest of the three. It was an entertaining story of Bella, a red wolf, who ran away from the grey wolf pack that adopted her as a child to avoid being forcibly taken by the Alpha, Volan. She successfully lives alone for decades, until she accidentally gets caught in wolf form and taken to a zoo to breed with a real red wolf! Her childhood crush from her pack, Devlyn, comes to rescue her and take her back to Volan. But Devlyn wants her just as bad as she wants him. Add to that the problem of a local wolf killing humans, and the local pack realizing she's been living in their area, unmated. Good story, lots of action and romance. My only complaint was that they seemed to take a lot of naps. I kid you not, Bella and Devlyn probably napped at least a dozen times in this book!

Destiny of the Wolf is the story of Lelandi, a female red wolf who is searching for the killer of her sister, Larissa. Larissa was mated to a brutal red wolf and beaten repeatedly, then ran away. Lelandi heads into Darrien's grey wolf pack to investigate. Darrien is still grieving the loss of his wife, Larissa; he thinks she died from suicide, not murder. When the pack sees Lelandi, things start to happen almost immediately: she gets shot at and almost strangled and other wolves in the pack are killed. This story had girl-fights, Alpha posturing, deception, murder, blackmail, and suspense galore; I was suspicious of everyone! I liked Larissa and Darrien, and there were some surprises at the end that left me happy.

The latest book, To Tempt the Wolf, did not disappoint. Tessa is a human nature photographer who specializes in photographs of wolves. Her brother has just gone to prison for a crime he says he didn't commit. Hunter is a pack Alpha who has just fled his area with his siter due to forest fires and relocated at his uncles home. The rest of his pack did not follow, but went to Portland instead to "get a taste of city life". He comes home from an errand and his sister is gone and he can smell three male wolves. He sets out after them, and next thing the reader knows, his naked body is discovered on the icy beach by Tessa. Garret cannot remember anything other than his first name. Garret is attracted to Tessa, although she's a human, there's something different about her. When they get to her house, they realize someone broke in while she was out, Garret can tell it's a wolf, and the wolf rolled around in her bed. This book had a couple of mysteries going on at the same time: Trying to free Tessa's brother, figuring out what happened to Garret's sister, trying to track down Tessa's stalker, and what to do about Garet's wayward pack. It was fast-paced and enjoyable. Ms. Spear introduced some character that were unlikeable at first but soon became an enjoyable part of the story, and reintroduced some peripheral characters from previous books (although you can read this as a stand-alone).

I liked this series and it looks like she's got at least three more books planned - yay!

The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy by Sara Angelini

I saw the blurb for this book and knew I had to have it. I love Jane Austen spinoffs. I'm sure there are Austen purists googling my address now with pitchforks and torches in hand, but I can't help it - I'm a sucker for a spinoff! I guess it's just that I love her works so much I don't want them to be done...or something like that. This book did not disappoint. It's hard to review because there was a lot going on - this storyline just keeps moving (in a good way!).

Elizabeth Bennett is an attorney who is working in San Francisco. Darcy is a judge presiding over some of her cases. Elizabeth is young and fun. Her sister Jane is a surgical resident, working in the hospital where Charles Bingley is a surgeon. Elizabeth's friend Charlotte is also an attorney, and her best friend Lou is gay. (Lou had some great scenes in this book.)

When the book opens, Darcy notices the new attorney but thinks she's there to pay a ticket or something, he's surprised to see her in court. Darcy has a reputation as a curmodgeonly judge - the attorneys know they'd better have their stuff in order if they're going before him. Although he's not old, he acts older than he is to maintain the respect of the attorneys that appear before him - he's actually the youngest judge in San Francisco. After work at a local lawyer hangout, Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Lou overhear Darcy talking about Elizabeth, saying "She's alright but not pretty enough to tempt me." Elizabeth is annoyed but says she doesn't care because it's Darcy.

Jane and Bingley start dating, and it becomes serious quickly. Elizabeth has a few terse run-ins with Darcy, and they both annoy each other. She hasn't forgotten his insult at the bar. Then Jane and Bingley become engaged, and they travel to England for a vacation, and convince Elizabeth to come; they'll be staying at a friend's place and Elizabeth can attend a legal conference while she's there. Both she and Darcy are surprised when she arrives on his doorstep! She didn't know he was the "friend" who owned the house, and Darcy didn't get the message that Jane and Bingley were bringing a guest. They agree to get along for the two weeks they'll all be together, and even agree to attend the conference together.

They spend a bit of time in each other's company and end up together. They agree that since they're not in the US, they don't fall under the proprietary rules, and become involved intimately; possibly falling in love. The scenes over the two weeks they were in England were wonderful, watching them get to know each other and explore their feelings.

Then it's time to come back to the US and things are immediately put back into a formal relationship. Both parties are miserable, but can't see how they could make it work without jeapordizing one or both of their careers.

I really enjoyed this book. At first, I thought a couple of times, "Elizabeth wouldn't do that", but then I realized, Elizabeth probably wouldn't do that in the 18th century, but she might in THIS century! The characters were fun - her mother was spot-on, and I loved Lou, he was a great best friend. I loved the strip tease near the end of the book - very, very creative!

This story was sweet and funny and I'm putting it on my keeper shelf for when I need a "pick up my spirits" read.

Disclaimer: I won this book from Pop Culture Nerd.

Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong

Frostbitten is Kelley Armstrong's latest book in her Women of the Otherworld series. In Frostbitten, we get to see Elena and Clay again (yay - they are my favorites!). We met some new characters that I wonder if we'll see in further books, and got brief glimpses of previous characters from some of ther other books.

There's a lot going on here - The book begins with Elena tracking down a mutt (non-pack werewolf) trying to save his life. The problem is the mutt thinks Elena and Clay are trying to kill him for crimes he didn't commit. The chase ends up in Alaska, where some murders are suspiciously werewolfy (is that a word?). Elena and Clay have to track down these mutts, find former pack mates (one of whom has a surprise) and deal with an issue from Elena's past that comes front and center and could affect her ability to stay alive.

I really enjoyed this book. Elena and Clay make a good team, but Elena is plenty capable of kicking ass all by herself. Her ability to see the whole picture and figure out a plan for survival is one of the things I like about her character. Her love for her family and her pack is another and those two things were in abundance throughout this book.

Highland Rebel by Judith James

I thought this was going to be an epic highland love story. It was but it wasn't. My overall reaction to this book is conflicted; I liked it but it made me frustrated.

Catherine is a highland woman who's father was laird and she was supposed to take his place but due to some family "issues" her cousin is laird but she owns the land and fortunes. Her family wants to marry her off to strengthen political ties but she doesn't want to be married; she wants control of her own destiny.

Jamie is an Englishman who was abandoned as a child and is currently working to get into and stay in the good graces of the new King of England. He's always looked out for himself and won't allow himself to get close to anyone.

When the story opens, Catherine's just been taken captive by a group of Englishmen who'd mistaken her for a young man fighting in a skirmish near her home. When it's discovered she's a woman, they immediately change their plans for her. When Jamie sees what the soldiers he's traveling with plan to do to Catherine, he marries her to save her, planning to get an annullment as soon as possible so they can go on about their separate lives.

The problem with Jamie's plan is that Catherine ends up escaping later that night and goes back to her home and kinsmen. When she tells them she's married, they're upset that they can't marry her to the laird they'd arrainged for her. Once he realizes she's gone, Jamie follows her, ends up captured and beaten by her relatives, and Catherine secretly nurses him back to health then sends him back home to England. She doesn't want her family to know he's her husband or they'll kill him so they can marry her off again. Approximately a year passes when Catherine shows up on Jamie's doorstep proposing a deal. She needs to prove to her kinsmen that there really is a husband, and Jamie needs money. She'll pay him a third of her fortune if he'll give her an annullment, but upon learning of his current situation she agrees to act as husband and wife for a year to bolster his reputation with the King and his court.

The story was interesting, but frustrating. They would be civil with each other, then get a bit closer and do things together like take rides in the park and go to shows. Then their relationship would frost over again due to lack of communication, or sometimes for no apparent reason. Several times one would attempt to seduce the other, only the timing was wrong. I enjoyed their outings when Catherine was dressed as a man, but those scenes were few and far between. I felt like this book would almost bring them together, but they kept missing each other due to either other people or events or politics. There were a lot of misunderstandings between the two main characters.

It was a nice story, and I liked the characters and wished for a HEA for both of them all through the book. It was also a frustrating read - I spent alot of time mentally slapping one or the other and saying "don't be so stubborn!". I know this is a very mixed review, but as I said before, this book really brought out mixed reactions from me. Would I recommend it? Sure. Will I read it again? No.