Sun, Sand, Sex - Linda Lael Miller, Shelly Laurenston, Jennifer Apodaca (Kensington - Apr 2013)

LINDA LAEL MILLER
One Last Weekend
College sweethearts Teague and Joanna Darby, once passionately in love, are on the brink of divorce. When a ferry strike leaves them stranded together at their beloved beach cottage, it could be the most awkward weekend ever. Or the perfect chance to fall for each other all over again-one steamy encounter at a time...

Teague and Joanna are about to call it quits on their marriage.  Their friend and attorney tells them to go spend a last weekend together at their beach cottage and actually talk to each other.  It's obvious from the start that they still care about each other, they have just lost the ability to truly communicate.  When bad weather strands them at the cottage their passion for each other comes back to the surface, opening up their hearts also.  Teague had put so much effort into his business that in the last few years it had taken all his time.  Now he's ready to enjoy the fruits of his labors but he makes his changes without talking to Joanna.  She sees them as a way for him to put her aside, that he doesn't love her anymore.  He has stopped talking to her about his dreams for the future.  Meanwhile, Joanna is a successful cookbook author who is also ready to try something different.  But she can't seem to reach her husband to share her dreams.  She's seen so many of their friends split that she's afraid she's seeing those signs in her own marriage and is trying to protect herself.  She's actually pretty insecure about her ability to keep her husband.  I loved the way that they finally started talking to each other after Joanna lost her temper and yelled at Teague.  I loved the phone conversation with their daughter.  There's a great twist at the end that I suspected was going to happen, but it was terrific anyway.

JENNIFER APODACA
You Give Love a Good Name
Lexie Rollins is a wedding planner on the lam. All she did was defend herself (with a staple gun) against a sleazy groom-who knew the Assault and Battery charges would stick? Now Lexie's "vacation" at an exclusive resort has put her at the top of gorgeous bounty hunter Nick Vardolous's list. And Nick always gets his woman-every which way imaginable...

Really enjoyed this story. Lexie has been helping out with her mother's wedding planning business while mom recovers from a heart attack.  She really hates it and can't wait to be done.  Her mom is claiming she's not well yet, and her brother and sister aren't holding up their ends of the business, leaving Lexie to deal with it all.  Lexie had finally had enough.  When she had to defend herself against a groom-to-be, she got arrested on assault charges.  Once out on bond, she starts having to deal with a stalker.  Problem is that no one believes she's in danger, so she packs up and heads to San Diego to get away - forgetting about her court date.  Enter Nick, bounty hunter.  He's determined to bring her back, until he finds out about her stalker.  Now he wants to protect her as much as he wants to get her out of his hair.  There is an intense attraction between the two of them.  They decide to go with the physical but keep their emotions out of it.  The difficulty is that Nick sees the strong but vulnerable woman who's being taken advantage of.  He wants to stay away, having been burned by a relationship where he hadn't been able to protect the woman from a vengeful ex, but he can't do it.  The more time he spends with her the more he wants her.  I really liked the way that he believed her about the stalker and believed in her and her dreams.  I liked Lexie's determination to keep herself safe.  When her family was no help she took matters into her own hands.  I really liked her interactions with Nick and the way she didn't let him steamroller her into doing something she didn't want to do.  I was glad to see her go after her dream of writing while she was away from her family and their dramas.  It was fun to see her go after Nick for what she wanted and deal with her growing feelings.  Loved seeing her "torture" him with her attitude.  I also liked the way she understood his motivation to be a bounty hunter and the way she supported his dreams for his future.  Her confrontation with the stalker at the end was resolved in the perfect way.

SHELLY LAURENSTON
My Kind of Town (The Long Island Coven #1)
Deputy Kyle Treharne of seaside Smithville, North Carolina, hates Yankees-even exotically beautiful ones like Emma Lucchesi. The sexy New Yorker's got trouble written all over her, and she knows more than she's telling about the increasingly strange goings-on in his town. But if the lady's got a few tricks up her sleeve, so does the lawman. And it's high time for every wicked thing to be deliciously revealed..

This story was better than I expected since I'm not really into shifter stories.  Emma had come to Smithville looking for a power source for her coven.  She didn't expect to be attacked by something she couldn't quite identify.  She just knew that it had to be destroyed.  She didn't expect to end up taken to the hospital by a big sexy lawman - and kept there.  There was something odd about the residents of the town, other than the fact that they were all incredibly good looking.  When she's attacked in her hospital room Kyle takes her to his home where the weirdness starts to increase. When the other ladies of the coven come to check on her, their compulsion to come is finally explained.  I liked Emma a lot.  She was a bit freaked out by Kyle and the rest but they don't particularly intimidate her.  I loved seeing her stand up to Kyle.  Some of the conversations between them were hilarious.  Her drunk scene was fun.  As a shifter Kyle knows what it's like to have secrets.  When he rescues Emma there's something about her that tells him she's more than just an accidental tourist.  He's really attracted to her and very possessive around his stepbrother and others.  I loved the interactions between them.  He's protective but also just plain has fun with her.  I really enjoyed the heat between them and how things ended up working out.  I also enjoyed the rivalry between Kyle and his stepbrother.  It was fun to see how their insults sort of confused Emma until she learned the truth about them.

Holiday Op - Lori Avocato, Anne Elizabeth, Tara Nina, DC DeVane, Lia DeAngelo (Highland Press - Nov 2009)

Air Force, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard & Army
Five sweet romantic stories delving into the world ofSpecial Operations from authors who were in the militaryor whose family and friends are part of the militarycommunity. The stories - MISSION MISTLETOE, CHRISTMAS TO THE RESCUE, and THE STOCKING -will bring intrigue, merriment, and joy while TIED WITH A BOW and ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A MARINE will engage your spirit and capture your heart. In HOLIDAY OP, it's a pleasurable duty charged with love.

THE STOCKING by DC DeVane
Marcy Grayson had been in love with Paul Callahan for years.  She'd dreamed of a proposal, a ring, and a happily-ever-after since the day she first met him.  The winter holidays always brought out the romantic in her, and in him, but how could she possibly have guessed that love - and a "Proposal Paul Style" - would involve a dog, a rubber raft, and the Army Rangers.

Fun story.  Starts out with the romantic dinner and Marcy expecting a proposal and instead getting told Paul has joined the army and would like her to care for his dog while he's gone.  She loves him, so she swallows her disappointment and goes on.  They're great friends too, and she teases him that she's going to send him a teddy bear to keep him warm while they're apart.  He's terrified that she will, which would get him all kinds of grief.  I loved her letters to him with the descriptions of the bear.  Absolutely adored what she sent and the consequences.  Have never read anything by this author before - may have to search put something and change that.

TIED WITH A BOW By Anne Elizabeth
According to EOD Specialist Captain Devin Walds, love and bombs have a lot in common.  First, it is vital to know the inner and outer workings of both.  Second, understanding when and how to get the job done is absolutely crucial.  Third, believing it is worth risking your life is mandatory.  For Kathryn Marie Pente, he would do anything.  From the first moment he saw her, he knew she was extraordinary.  It wasn't just her unusual artistic talent or her daring beauty, this was a woman who fought for what was right, and she was worth living...and dying for.

Interesting story with really fast romance.  It starts with Devin disarming a bomb in an office in DC, where he sees pictures  of the worker and her sister, who is an artist.  When Devin is sent to California he meets Kathryn who makes an immediate impression on him, and he on her.  When the terrorist bomber comes after Kathryn she has to stay alive long enough for Devin to ride to the rescue.  

CHRISTMAS TO THE RESCUE By Lia DeAngelo
Petty Officer Annabelle Foster lives her job as a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer stationed in Kodiak, Alaska.  Until she meets the most delicious sugar cookie snowman ever created, and its equally decadent creator, Food Service specialist, Tony Lombardi.  Little does she realize that one snowy mission on a patrol boat decked in lights and holly will lead to one romantic treat after another, and the sweetest rescue of all—her own.

Sweet story.  Annabelle is a rescue swimmer and very much a loner.  Her mom died when she was young and she and her father didn't celebrate the holidays anymore.  Now she concentrates on doing her job.  One of her first duties was to participate in the local holiday boat parade with Coast Guard chef Tony.  She has a real appreciation for good food and a huge sweet tooth.  One taste of his snowman cookies and she was close to hooked.  Tony was drawn to her confidence in her abilities and saw the passionate woman beneath the protective shell.  I loved the way that he was persistent in his pursuit of her.  The description of his dinner and her reaction to it was wonderful.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A MARINE by Tara Nina
Locate, identify, observe, and report that’s what Staff Sergeant Mitch Sinclair’s squad of Force Recon Marines did best. When the objective shifts, it becomes an extraction of a hostage Mitch will never forget and it’s up to him to fulfill her Christmas wish.

The story starts off with a bang as Mitch and his squad are in North Korea to rescue Allie, who has been taken hostage as leverage against her father.  She's scared but holding up well against the threat to her life.  I loved her calm acceptance of Mitch's sudden appearance and readiness to do whatever necessary to escape.  She's the stereotypical academic in that she doesn't have a lot of experience with men, but she sure knows that Mitch does something for her.  She tries to ignore it since she's sure that she is simply a mission to him.  Mitch is stunned by her beauty and impressed by her resilience.  He can't get her off his mind as they work their way through their escape.  He also has trouble controlling the effect she has on his body, but knows he has to think of her as part of the mission not a woman.  I loved seeing his care for her and her fascination with him.  Totally loved the ending.

MISSION MISTLETOE by Lori Avocato
When an Air Force nurse falls out of a helicopter (don't even ask!) she thinks that's the worse that could happen.  That is, until the paratrooper who parachutes into the desert to save her is none other than the cocky-as-hell guy with jet black hair, Newman blue eyes, and teeth she's convinced are Da Vinci porcelain -- because no one was born with such a perfect smile -- she's been calling "Slick." Sure, he's a damn good looker, but he'd been following her around the base for weeks -- and now falls from the sky with a sprig of Mistletoe in his pocket!

Prue is an Air Force nurse who loves her work, but she'd rather keep both feet on the ground.  When it's her turn to be on call she hopes for it to be quiet.  When stress sends her out looking for chocolate she runs into the pararescueman who has been following her around.   Prue is wary around guys because of her experiences with overconfident jocks while she was growing up, and this guy just gets on her nerves.  I loved their encounter with him being so flirtatious and her being tongue tied and klutzy.  Shortly after that she gets called to assist with a medevac of a pregnant woman.  During the flight there is some trouble with winds and she ends up falling out of the helicopter into a cactus patch.  As she's stuck fifteen feet in the air trying to find a way down she hears another helo and out comes "Slick" to save the day.  Because of the winds they're stuck there until the helo can come back.  I loved seeing Prue get to know Kody and realize that he's nothing like the jerks she had known in the past.  I loved seeing her open up with him.  I thought Kody was pretty cute with his sense of humor and his talk of chocolate and mistletoe.