The Love Shack - Christie Ridgway (HQN - Apr 2013)

Series: Crescent Cove CA (Book 3)

Globe-trotting photojournalist Gage Lowell spent carefree childhood summers in Crescent Cove. Now that he desperately needs some R & R, he books a vacation at Beach House No. 9 -- ready to soak up some sun and surprise old friend and property manager Skye Alexander. Their long-distance letters got him through a dangerous time he can't otherwise talk about. But when he arrives, the tightly wound beauty isn't exactly happy to see him.

Skye knows any red-blooded woman would be thrilled to spend time with gorgeous, sexy Gage. But she harbors secrets of her own, including that she might just be a little bit in love with him. And she's convinced the restless wanderer won't stay long enough for her to dare share her past -- or dream of a future together. Luckily for them both, summer at Crescent Cove has a way of making the impossible happen….

Fantastic conclusion to the series.  Gage and Skye had been friends since they were children.  They recently got close again when she started writing to him.  Gage has returned to Crescent Cove for some much needed recovery time.  He is also looking forward to spending some time with Skye, whose letters were a bright spot during some very dark days.  When he gets there she doesn't seem to be that thrilled to see him and seems awfully jumpy too.  Both of them are fighting demons that only the other one seems to be able to vanquish.  There is also an intense physical attraction that seems to have no possible future. 

I really liked both Gage and Skye.  I loved her devotion to Crescent Cove and its past and traditions.  She obviously takes her job very seriously.  In the previous books there are enough scenes with her to show how much time she devotes to it.  We also get to see the beginnings of the mystery of the missing jeweled collar which plays a bigger part in this book.  There are also hints of her relationship with Gage.  At the beginning of the book she is frightened by his sudden appearance as she is not expecting him.  In spite of their closeness via letter, she tries to keep him at arms length in person.  This worries Gage as it is far different than the Skye he knows from her letters.  Skye has tried very hard to keep her secret and protect herself, but Gage soon gets it out of her.  In the process their attraction burns out of control.  I loved the way that even though she was skittish around everyone else she instinctively trusted Gage.  That trust allowed her to accept the attraction they felt and to give in to it.  She still had times she wondered what she was doing because she knew he wasn't going to stay.

Gage is the twin brother of Griffin (Book 1 - Beach House No. 9). He is a photographer who works in war zones and was recently in a very dangerous position.  He has come to Crescent Cove to try to recover before he heads back for a new assignment.  He refuses to talk about it to anyone, insisting that people are imagining things, but Skye especially senses that there is a deep rooted problem.  I loved the way that Gage uses his own sensitivity to help Skye deal with her trauma.  He shows incredible kindness even as he is fighting his own demons.  Once they give in to their passions he makes sure she knows not to expect any commitments as he will be leaving again.  He says it so often that you start to wonder if he's trying to convince her or himself.  I loved the way that Skye finally cornered him and refused to let him get away with shutting her out any longer.  After that it seemed that things were slowly getting better for Gage, but he was still insisting on going back. I really loved the way that they worked together to solve their issues.  I also loved the fact that they started out as friends before they became lovers.

There was also a secondary story between Teague and Polly that was just as good.  Teague was a regular in the first two books and I was very happy to see that he was getting a romance of his own.  He and Polly had also been friends for years.  He is a bit of a party animal but always makes time for his best friend Polly.  Meanwhile Polly is about fed up with him.  She has been in love with him for years, but he just doesn't see it.  I loved the way that she finally got his attention.

The conclusion of the story was great.  I loved the resolution of the necklace mystery (I had guessed the bad guy in book 2).  The epilogue was especially fun.

Bungalow Nights - Christie Ridgway (HQN - Mar 2013)

Series: Crescent Cove CA (Book 2)


Combat medic Vance Smith made a promise to a fallen officer: to treat the man's young daughter to an idyllic vacation at Beach House No. 9. One month, some sun and surf, a "helmet list" of activities to check off and Vance will move on. But the "little girl" he's expecting turns out to be a full-grown woman. With silky hair, big brown eyes and smelling sweetly of the cupcakes she makes for her mobile bakery, Layla Parker is irresistible. And Vance shouldn't lay a finger on her. Honor--and one heck of a scarred heart--says so.

To Layla, Vance is a hero who was injured trying to save her father's life. She intends to spend their month of lazy days and warm nights taking very good care of the gorgeous soldier--inside and out....

Very good book.  Colonel Parker is the one man Vance wasn't able to get off the battlefield alive.  But he made a promise that he would take the man's young daughter on a vacation and do the things he had kept putting off with her.  So Vance set everything up and waited to meet the girl.  He was stunned when he discovered that Layla was actually a full grown and beautiful woman.  He is instantly attracted to her, but considers her to be "hands off."

I really liked both Layla and Vance.  Layla has always kept a tight hold on her emotions.  Her mother left when she was two, so she was raised by her soldier father and his hippie brother.  While she knew she was loved excessive emotions were not something that were shown in her family.  Also, as a military brat, relationships of any kind tended to be brief and fairly superficial because their lives were so transient.  When she met Vance she too was attracted.  She also didn't want to do anything about it because the inevitable end would be too painful.  She considered Vance to be a hero so she was determined to go along with his plans.  Because of her years of burying her emotions she still hasn't really dealt with her father's death.  She also sees Vance's issues with his family and wants to help him get back together with them.  Never having had a family like his she doesn't want to see him lose it forever.  There is a lot of growth in Layla as she learns to open herself up to possibilities.  She still has a tendency to retreat when the feelings get intense, but she also sees the happiness that is possible if she can just reach out and grab it.

Vance's guilty feelings for not saving the colonel are what caused him to agree to spend the month with the colonel's daughter.  When he discovered that she was an adult he was ready to run.  His intense attraction to her was not in his plan and it made him feel even guiltier.  He was also trying to avoid his family who he'd been estranged from for years.  He had been a wild teenager, mostly in reaction to what he saw as his older brother's perfection (loved his nickname for his brother).  This caused his father to refuse to bring him into the family business, claiming that Vance was too irresponsible to do the job.  Then his fiancee dumped him for his brother causing even more tensions.  It was heartbreaking to see just how much Vance wanted to reconnect, but refused to allow himself to admit it. He had some really eye opening moments that helped him come to terms with his family and finally find some peace. That caring transferred to Layla and I loved the way he tried so hard to do the things her father wanted done.  He tried so hard to resist the physical attraction but every time he thought he  had a handle on it something would happen to reinforce it.  He too would retreat when he was trying to resist.  I loved the way that he would find himself telling her things that he never told anyone else and how much it would surprise him.  He spent a long time refusing to admit the strength of his feelings to himself much less to her. 

I loved the way that both Vance and Layla understood each other far more than they understood themselves.  There were some very emotional moments between them and also some very fun ones.  I loved the way that Layla would step in to defuse tension between Vance and his brother - some of those times were really funny.  Vance was also very good at sensing Layla's emotional needs and being there for her. 

I really enjoyed the secondary romance between Baxter and Addy.  He was so uptight and OCD that seeing him deal with her laid back side was pretty funny.  She did a great job of needling him into letting go.  I liked his unwilling possessiveness and how he ended up showing it.  The mystery she was working on was pretty good, but only partly solved.  I really hope we get the rest of it in the next book. 

Beach House No. 9 - Christie Ridgway (HQN - Feb 2013)

Series: Crescent Cove CA (Book 1) 

When book doctor Jane Pearson arrives at Griffin Lowell's beach house, she expects a brooding loner. After all, his agent hired her to help the reclusive war journalist write his stalled memoir. Instead, Jane finds a tanned, ocean-blue-eyed man in a Hawaiian shirt, hosting a beach party and surrounded by beauties. Faster than he can untie a bikini top, Griffin lets Jane know he doesn't want her. But she desperately needs this job and digs her toes in the sand. 


Griffin intends to spend the coming weeks at Beach House No. 9 taking refuge from his painful memories-and from the primly sexy book doctor who wants to bare his soul. But warm nights, moonlit walks and sultry kisses just may unlock both their guarded hearts....

Fantastic book.  There's always a lot of humor and emotion in Christie Ridgway's books and this was no exception. I loved both Jane and Griffin.  Jane has been sent to get Griffin back on track in writing his book about his year with the troops in Afghanistan.  After the trouble she had reaching him by phone or email she wasn't expecting to find him in the middle of a party at his beach house.  She also wasn't expecting the immediate zing of attraction she felt for him - something that was very unwelcome.  She had just ended a job with another author with whom she had developed a relationship and then gotten burned.  She needs this job with Griffin to work out.  Griffin hasn't done any work on his book since he returned home.  The memories of his time there, of the things he saw and the people who were lost, are too painful for him to revisit.  He surrounds himself with people and noise trying to drown them out.  He has also shoved his emotions deep so that he won't feel the pain.  He lets Jane know that he doesn't want her around and does everything he can to drive her away.  I really liked the way that Jane refuses to be dismissed.  She is determined to make this job work and is very creative in her ways to try to prod Griffin into doing what needs to be done.  I loved the way that she got to him with her unpredictability and refusal to be ignored.  Besides her need to make this job work, she is also dealing with some issues stemming from her relationship with her family.  She was raised by her father, an emotionless scientist who was constantly putting her down, calling her silly and emotional.  She decided to take advantage of her attraction to Griffin and enjoy the physical relationship but keep her emotions out of it.

Griffin doesn't want to face his memories by writing his book.  He tries to drive Jane away, but she won't go.  He also discovers that she has invaded his thoughts and he can't get rid of her there either.  She has read all the articles he wrote while he was in Afghanistan and knows that he has the ability to write a fantastic book, but tells him he has to put his emotions into it.  When he finds out why she has to be successful in getting his book done he decides to go ahead and do it.  He also realizes that having her there has made the process more bearable for him.  He is still trying to convince himself that their relationship is just physical, but spends a lot of time doing things for her and to her to try to counter the effects her father and others have had on her.  I loved the way that he was verbally so gruff and rude at times but if you watched his actions you could see the true Griffin that was under the ice.  His final facing of his life and emotions was excellent and he was able to go after what he really wanted.  I also loved all the secondary characters and stories.  His sister Tess and her husband were having problems that had to be faced and I loved how real it felt.  There was also a storyline with Skye and Griffin's twin Garrett that I suspect will be the focus of book three.  The second book with one of Griffin's friend and the daughter of the other soldier looks to be fantastic.  I also hope that we'll see more of the firefighter "Tee-Wee".