Rachel Gibson can be a very good time. We enjoyed this one. (Here’s our review.)

Daisy’s Back in Town is a book that is built around a couple of romance novel clichés. Let’s get those out of the way. This is a secret baby book, and it does involve a return to a small town. Daisy Monroe left Lovett, Texas fifteen years ago when she was eighteen and pregnant. The father of her baby, Jackson Parrish, had just lost both of his parents in an automobile accident, and as a result, their relationship was under a lot of strain. Daisy, unsure of what to do, panicked and turned to her best friend Steven (who was unfortunately Jack’s best friend as well). Steven asked her to marry him, knowing about the baby, and they both immediately got the heck out of Dodge.

It is at this point that the story also sidesteps a romance cliché. Daisy had a very happy marriage with Steven, and he treated her son Nathan like his own. But several years before the story begins, Steven is diagnosed with brain cancer and eventually dies. Before his demise, he requests that Daisy go back to Lovett and tell Jack about his son. They both feel terrible that they have kept this secret for so long, and Steven wants to make things right. So Daisy goes home to see the man who always drove her crazy with lust and frustration, the boy who took her virginity and her heart, the man who is now wealthy and eligible and still completely hot. This is the guy to whom she has to confess the worst thing she has ever done. And she has no hope that he will forgive her.

This is a secret baby book, and the heroine is returning to her small hometown in Texas. This might bother some readers who don’t enjoy those themes. They did not bother me. As you might expect, Daisy’s return causes some fireworks to go off. Jack doesn’t exactly welcome her with open arms; he’s still feeling her betrayal like it was yesterday. Still, their interchanges spark with sexual tension and occasional tenderness. And there are a number of playful moments.

Gibson’s style of writing is quick and humorous and filled with pop culture references that serve as both joke fodder and concrete description. She does very well with showing her characters’ feelings, instead of taking the easier lay-all-the-emotions-out-in-dull-prose method. She is just about the only author I let pass with the mental lusting, and that’s because her characters aren’t just thinking in slot-tab directions, they are noticing critical things about each other in the midst of all the desire. The story has a secondary plot here involving Daisy’s sister Lily. Lily is in the middle of a breakdown because her husband just left her and her small son. Her sub-plot gave the story additional depth as it allowed Daisy to witness firsthand the emotional devastation of this kind of betrayal (and, therefore, put herself into Jack’s shoes more easily). It was a nice piece of story mirroring.

It’s on sale here for 1.99.

I enjoyed this HR by Julia London. You can read our review here.

Fifteen years ago, eight-year-old Lily Boudine, the ward of the Earl and Countess of Ashwood, testified in the trial of local wood carver Joseph Scott, after seeing him ride away from the estate in the middle of the night that the Ashwood jewels were stolen. Because of her testimony, he was convicted and hanged. Now his son, Tobin Scott, is back in the small village of Hadley Green to seek revenge against Lily, now Countess of Ashwood. After being thrust into poverty because of his father’s ignominious death, Tobin has made his fortune and purchased a Danish title to become a member of the elite class that shunned him as a child. His plan now: To ruin Ashwood and destroy Lily for her role in his father’s death and the family’s subsequent tragedies.

Lily was eight, and there were many, many things happening at the time that had flown over her head, and she has always resented her role – her unwilling role, as the old earl had threatened to pin the crime on her governess or maid and see them hanged, instead – in the scandalous trial. Now Tobin, who had been her childhood playmate, is driving Ashwood into the ground by sabotaging business deals, wooing tenants away, and other tricks intended to destroy Lily. When he proposes a compromise — he will leave Ashwood alone, if he can ruin her — she decides to try to beat him at his own game, by making him fall in love with her.

 

It’s on sale at Amazon for 1.99 here.

We gave A Wicked Bargain for the Duke a B+. (Here’s our review.)

Megan Frampton’s A Wicked Bargain for the Duke is the third title in her Hazards of Dukes series and features Thaddeus Dutton, the new Duke of Hasford, a man determined to marry the perfect duchess, and Lady Lavinia Capel, who is determined to keep Thaddeus from marrying her sister. With a unique hero and a plot that doesn’t follow a typical historical romance formula, this is one of my favorite reads so far this year.

Thaddeus Dutton, was a military man who inherited a ducal title after his cousin was found to be illegitimate. Thaddeus’ first order of business is writing a list of his goals for the dukedom, including finding a suitable duchess. He writes another list describing this perfect woman and believes he has found her in Lady Jane Capel, even though he finds himself drawn to her sister, Lady Lavinia. Lavinia makes it her mission to help her shy and mild-mannered older sister get through her season without becoming engaged to anyone – duke or not – because she is in love with another man. Due to their mutual attraction, Lavinia has no problem distracting Thaddeus, even if he’d rather she didn’t. After a misunderstanding leaves Lavinia compromised, she and Thaddeus are forced to marry.

Thaddeus is not as experienced in the bedroom as many men of his age and position are. Their wedding night is not everything Lavinia hoped it would be, so she resolves to discuss it with her new husband to see if they can come to a mutual understanding. Together, they begin to learn how to please each other in bed, but, thanks to his emotionally unavailable parents, Thaddeus believes himself to be unable to express emotion and so he still holds a part of himself back from Lavinia, not letting her see who he truly is. She endeavors to break through to his heart and realizes she might have to risk her own to do it.

It’s on sale at Amazon for 1.99 here.

Our reviewer adored What You Wish For. Here’s her DIK review.

What You Wish For is the first book I’ve read by Katherine Center, and it pretty much knocked my socks off. By turns funny, sad, introspective, and joyful, it was like opening a box of chocolates and realizing I actually liked all the different flavors. (Which never happens, there’s always something weird, right?) And like a good box of chocolates, I devoured this book in just one day.

Sam Casey’s idyllic life in Galveston, Texas, gets upended when her principal/friend/surrogate father passes away abruptly. Max Kempner founded and ran the private elementary school where Sam works as a librarian, and he was the heart and soul of both the school and their community. When Max dies, he leaves a large hole both at home and in the school, and while everyone else is still reeling from shock, his hotshot son-in-law Kent (who is Chairman of the school board) seizes the opportunity to make some changes at Kempner Elementary.

To institute these changes, Kent brings in Duncan Carpenter, a ‘rising star’ from Baltimore whom no one else knows. Except Sam starts to wonder… she knew a Duncan Carpenter when she was teaching in California a few years before. But she’s sure it can’t be the same guy – not only would this be too coincidental, but the Duncan she remembers (and who Sam had a major crush on) was a goofy, fun-loving teacher who started traditions like Hat Day and Friday dance parties. Duncan’s character was far closer to Max’s than Kent’s so she can’t imagine that her Duncan Carpenter and the new principal will be one and the same.

As it turns out, he is and he isn’t. While Duncan did work with Sam in California, he’s no longer the man she knew then. Instead of wearing crazy ties and colorful pants, this man shows up in a gray three-piece suit. Instead of shaking hands and introducing himself to his new staff, this man makes a speech about ‘revolutionizing’ their school and then walks away. Instead of praising the beautiful murals around their building, this man announces he will be painting all their walls gray in order to improve visibility. This new Duncan has abandoned his penchant for mischief and play in favor of an obsession with school safety and security. And sadly, with all the school violence in the news in recent years, it’s not hard for the reader to guess why.

It’s on sale at Amazon for 2.99 here.

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