Shades of Gray

Shades of Gray by Carol A. Spradling

Publisher: Carol Spradling

May 2012

ISBN: 978-1-475-08173-2

Pages: 200

Hampton, Virginia August 1752

Katherine “Kat” Bailey has come from England to what she hopes is going to be her future.  She has come to Virginia as a Mail Order Bride and being without money she knows her options are limited.  Kat quickly finds out that the man she has agreed to wed and that is considered to be very honorable in town is not what he claims and pretends to be.  Beaten by her intended Kat runs to the one man that just might be able to save and protect her, Grayson Gregory.  The one man the town people fear.

Grayson Gregory has been accused of murder by the good people of Hampton and since that helps him keep a secret safe he has no interest in letting the truth about himself be known.  That changes when Kat comes into his life by collapsing on his doorstep trying to escape the man that is after her, the man she was supposed to marry. Gray now has to deal with his painful past if he hopes to have a future especially with the attraction that Kat has managed to make him feel, an attraction he never thought he would feel.

Kat is determined to find out the truth about Gray as their attraction grows.  The more Kat learns about Gray the harder she finds it to believe what is said about him.  Gray is going to have to figure out if he is willing to take a chance on the love he has found with Kat and move into the future or if he is going to staying the past and live with the pain that is always there.

This is a well written story that will keep the reader engrossed as they try to figure the secrets in Gray’s past.  This one keeps the reader guess has to the truth and what is really going on.  The reader will be drawn into the character lives and will be hoping Kat and Gray can find happiness that they both deserve.  The characters keep the story moving along at a nice pace and keeps the story interesting. 

I give this one 4 red roses 

Reaper's Justice

Reaper’s Justice: The Shadow Reapers by Sarah McCarty

Publisher: Berkley Sensation

February 2011

ISBN: 978-0-425-23668-0

Pages: 294


Adelaide “Addy” Cameron has been content with her life even though at times she feels she has settled in her life. What she doesn’t expect is how her life is about to change and how those changes are about to bring her dreams to life.

Isaiah Jones is one of several werewolf soldiers that was created to kill on command and that went rogue after the Civil War. The only time he finds any peace is when he is around Addy. With Addy he finds acceptance in the human world that he thought he would never find. The only way he can keep both the man and beast that he is happy is to keep watch and guard Addy even if it is from a distance. All of that changes when Addy is abducted. Now it is up to Isaiah to rescue her.

If Isaiah is going to have any chance at all at saving Addy he is going to have to show her his dark side and also bring her into the shadows of his life. Their union is forbidden by Reaper’s law but they are finding that the passion that is between them is not going to be denied so they are going to have to find a way to have a future together that has suddenly become the most important thing in either of their lives. First Isaiah is going to have to save Addy.

This is very different werewolf story that will keep the reader turning the pages. The back story for the characters is very interesting and adds a great deal to the story. The reader will enjoy watching Addy find her place in the world and in a way that she never thought it would be possible for her to do. This is another well written book by this author. This one is worth reading.

I give this one 4-1/2 red roses

Hearts Aflame

Hearts Aflame by Johanna Lindsey

Publisher: Avon

Reissue: June 2011

ISBN: 978-0-06-210654-4

Pages: 372

Kristen Haardrad may now be the captive of Royce but she is determined to never submit to him. Kristen is determined to find a way home but first she is going to have to deal with the attraction she feels for her handsome captor.

Royce, Thane of Wyndhurst may be the man holding Kristen captive but he is the slave to the desire she has inspired in him. Now Royce has to get Kristen to surrender willing to him because that is the only way he will have her.

Soon it is a battle of wits between Kristen and Royce. Only time will tell if they will be able to find a way to become more than captor and captive. As their attraction for each other grows they will have to decide just what truly matters to them both. They will also have to find and defeat the enemy that Royce has and that has suddenly decided that while Royce is busy with Kristen that will give the enemy a chance to destroy Royce once and for all. Royce has to find a way to protect Kristen from an enemy that has decided she just might prove to be a weakness for Royce.

This is a story that is fun to read as the reader gets to watch the hero and heroine match wits and it will be anyone’s guess who will win. The characters are well developed and time period used for the setting for this one is very interesting and realistic. This is a sweet romance that is sure to please most readers.

I give this one 4 red roses

Only His

Only His by Elizabeth Lowell

Publisher: HarperCollins

Reissue: October 2009

ISBN: 978-0-06-180315-4

Pages: 400


Willow Moran is trying to leave what her life has become since the end of the Civil War. All she has left are her five Arabian horses and the knowledge that her brother is somewhere in the Colorado Rockies. Willow has also determined the best way to get her brother is to depend on a gunfighter to keep her safe until she can get to her brother. What she never expected was the attraction she feels for Caleb Black.

Caleb Black is just like the land he so loves, wild and unpredictable and just as hard as the mountains he loves. Caleb believes in vengeance and taking care of those that are unable to protect themselves. Caleb doesn’t think that a gentle southern bred woman has what it takes to survive in the Rockies until he gets to really know Willow and she shows him just how capable she really is.

Willow knows that even with all the differences between her and Caleb that Caleb is her destiny and she will fight whoever she has to so that she can prove to him that she is right woman to stand beside him. First though Willow is going to have to find the brother she hasn’t seen in too long. Willow and Caleb are also going to have to overcome the perils that are in their path so that they can build the future together they both want.

This is a great western story and brings the west to life for the reader. The story brings to life what the country was going through after the Civil War and how the country moved west to get away from the memories of the war. The hero while coming across as a very hard man made that way by the land shows that underneath he is a good man that will do the right thing even at his own expense. The heroine gives a glimpse into what a lot of the women had to deal with while the war was being fought and how the women found ways to survive and make their lives better after the war. This is a very good story that is worth getting and reading.

I give this one 4-1/2 red roses

California Caress

California Caress by Rebecca Sinclair

Publisher: EPublishing Works

June 2011

ISBN: 978-1-61417-076-1

Pages: 416

Thirsty Gulch, California 1851

Hope Bennett will do whatever she has to so that she can save her brother’s life. Even if that means making a devil’s bargain with a gunfighter. Hope soon finds that the gunfighter wants more than the money she is offering. Hope might have to agree to his deal to save her brother but she is determined to find a way out of the predicament she has found herself in.

Drake Frazier is a gunfighter that has what he needs without accepting the deal Hope is offering so he offers a deal that will save her brother but get him what he wants. His demands might be improper but he is suddenly enjoying life in a way he hasn’t done in a very long time. Drake never expected to meet someone like Hope in a town that is more rough than most of the towns in California during a time of the gold rush.

As Drake and Hope work to find ways to get what they each want they have to deal with the consequences of Drake’s profession. Neither one counted on the attraction they feel for each other never dreaming that there might be a future for them. Though sometimes the best laid plans never work out the way they are supposed to. Suddenly they are finding what they had always had planned for themselves is not looking as bright as they once thought the future should look like. But will they have a future together? Or will Drake’s past stop them from finding the happiness they both want to have together.

This is a story that gives a very different view of the gold rush towns that sprung up in California. It also shows how temporary those towns could be. The time period comes to vivid life for the reader as they read this one. The characters will have the reader turning the pages just to see what is going to happen next in this one. The reader will find this one hard to put down once they start.

I give this one 4 red roses

Someone Like You

Someone Like You by Leigh Greenwood

Publisher: Leisure Books

March 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4285-0609-1

Pages: 283

Rancho los Alamitos, California historical

Maria de la Guerra isn’t sure what to believe about Rafe Jerry. All she is sure of is that what she has been told doesn’t fit with the man she has met. Maria is determined to find out just what the truth is because Rafe is turning into a man that is nothing like what she expected and with an attraction she isn’t sure she really wants she is going to have to figure out what to believe because it isn’t just herself that needs to believe in Rafe, it is also his half brother.

Rafe Jerry never fully recovered from discovering the woman he loved when he was nineteen in bed with another man, a man that was also his father. Then Rafe was kicked off the family ranch he never expected to be back again. Now his father is gone and Rafe is trying to find a way to get out of running the family ranch and raising his young half brother. Life has made Rafe a hard man and one to fear when he is crossed.

Rafe was betrayed during the war and he is determined to track down the man that betrayed Rafe and his friends and left them for dead. Knowing his enemy is in California makes going home a little easier for Rafe but that still doesn’t stop Rafe from trying to find a way out of his father’s will. He wants nothing to do with the ranch or the widow. He most certainly doesn’t want to give into his need for Maria, the first woman that has been able to touch his heart since he has left the family ranch but Rafe is learning that sometimes it doesn’t matter what the will wants it is the heart that wins.

This story has a little bit of everything in it with some mystery and action thrown in. The characters are well written and the reader will find themselves hoping things will work out for Rafe and Maria and that they can find their happy ever after. The story will keep the reader reading it as they see the characters go through a change of heart and find that sometimes the best thing to do is leave the past right where it belongs, in the past. This is part of a series but can be read as a stand alone book too.

I give this one 4 red roses

Only Mine

Only Mine by Elizabeth Lowell

Publisher: Avon

Reissued: October 2009

ISBN: 978-0-38076-339-9

Pages: 400

London & Colorado Rockies 1867

Jessica Charteris tricked Wolfe Lonetree into a marriage in name only so that she wouldn’t have to marry the lord that had been chosen for her. Jessica just never imagined what that life would entail with Wolfe and living on the edge of the Colorado Rockies. Now Jessica is going to have to find her place in her new life with Wolfe and a world that she was never raised to live in.

Wolfe Lonetree is the bastard son of a viscount and a Cheyenne shaman daughter. He has made a life for himself in the wild west that has suited him just fine. While he is willing to save Jessica from a vile lord that she was supposed to marry it is going to be on his terms that their marriage it going to be done. Wolfe now has want his heart has always desired and that is Jessica. Never expecting it to happen he is going to show Jessica what it means to be his wife.

Jessica is learning that while she is getting a marriage she never thought to have she is also learning about a man that can make her breathless and one that will teach her just what it means to belong to the right man and to become his woman. Wolfe may not ever expected Jessica to be his but now that she is he will show her pleasures she never dreamed existed.

This is one story that is truly timeless. The characters are very well written and while it was first published in 1992 the story is written is such a way that it doesn’t get old in the least. This is another great book in the Only series by this author that will have the reader hating to put the book down for any reason. It is enjoyable to read and watch Wolfe and Jessica find their way to happiness and to have what they think they know about each other turned on its head. This is one book that readers will truly enjoy reading.

I give this one 4 red roses