Rion

Publisher's Summary. Marisa Rourke is a beautiful, fearless telepath who tames dragonshapers on Earth. Rion is a tall, dark, and sexy space explorer whose home planet is a galaxy away. The attraction between them is undeniable, but Rion is hiding a desperate secret that will change Marisa's life forever.

Marisa's gift is the only way Rion can communicate with his people, enslaved by a powerful enemy. He knows that kidnapping her is wrong, but saving his planet is worth sparking the fiery clairvoyant's fury. Yet hotter-and more explosive-is the psychic bond growing between Marisa and Rion. Could their passion be the key to freeing Rion's people? Only if he and Marisa can discover how to channel their desire . . . before a vicious enemy destroys them all.

Review. by Renee A.J. Rion by Susan Kearney immerses the reader in a future Earth where the population is learning to cope with the side effects of vaccine from the planet Pendragon, which saved humanity for extinction. The vaccine cured humanity’s fertility problem while instilling a genetic shift that requires humans to periodically morph into dragons. Our heroine, Marisa, has abandoned her job as a reporter and become a ‘dragon whisperer’ since she is able to use her telepathic powers to calm the highly sexed and aggressive tendencies of humans when they take to their dragon forms. While Earth begins to cope with its’ new beginning, political leaders shut the portal that allows travel between Earth and other planets. Rion, the son of royalty from the planet Honor, came to the United Nations seeking support for the Honorians’ fight against the Unari Tribes’ who have invaded and enslaved the planet of Honor. With the closure of Earth’s portal, Rion is trapped on Earth unable to communicate with his planet and unable to convince Earth politicians that that the Unari will attack Earth once they have completely subdued Honor. Since the Honorian people are also dragonshapers, Rion kidnaps Marisa in the hopes that she will agree use her telepathic talents to help him rally and organize his people to fight against the superior forces of the Unari Tribes. Thus, begins the anger and attraction between Rion and Marisa, which will grow to passion and compassion as they are forced to protect each other in their travels.

Betrayed by the kidnapping and by Rion’s continuing secretiveness, Marisa fights her attraction for the handsome dragonshaper. Yet she is impressed by the depth of his commitment to his people and stirred by the just war. In addition, to being a dragonshaper Rion has the gift of visions. He is constantly haunted by scenes of the chaos and suffering of the Honorians under the yoke of the Unari. Ultimately Rion and Marisa are able to lead the fight for the Honorian’s freedom, while fulfilling their romantic destiny.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Rion. Although there were a few too many twists and turns in the plot, the characters were well-drawn, the growth of the romance between Rion and Marisa was intriguing, and the rebel fighters were inspiring. Rion is the perfect antidote to a cold January night!




Publisher: Forever; 1 edition (December 1, 2009), 384 pages
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher

A Highlander's Temptation

Publisher's Summary. Darroc MacConacher spends sleepless nights dreaming of a raven-haired beauty who makes him ache with desire. Then his dream comes true: the lady with her lush curves and fair skin appears shipwrecked on his shores. Darroc is immediately drawn to her strength and beauty, and from the moment she lays eyes on this powerful, broad-shouldered warrior, Lady Arabella MacKenzie knows she'll never want another man.

But theirs is a forbidden love. The MacKenzies drove the MacConachers from their lands and destroyed their honor. Now, Darroc can use this sapphire-eyed seductress to shatter his foes. Yet how can he deny the passion that burns between him and Arabella, and ruin the one woman who touches his very soul?

Review. by Renee A.J. Lady Arabella, the beloved and beautiful older daughter of Duncan MacKenzie and Lady Linnet, is ready for adventure. Her younger sister is married and pregnant with her first child, while Lady Arabella awaits a new round of suitors, who (hopefully) won't be chased away by her father's fierce and protective ways. In A Highlander's Temptation, the author aptly describes the desire for an intimate love and blazing passion that motivates Lady Arabella to demand that her father allow her to visit the Seal Isles. Although this is a historical romance, modern readers will be able to identify with the heroine's need to escape from her younger sister’s descriptions of passionate newlywed encounters and overprotective parents. With the grudging permission of her father and the firm support of her mother, Lady Arabella and her guardsmen set off to tour the Seal Isles.

Unfortunately, her ship is attacked by Vikings; she is swept into the violent seas and almost drowns. Luckily for Lady Arabella she washes ashore on the sheltered island, MacConacher’s Isle, the home of Darroc MacConacher and the remnants of the MacConacher Clan. The two are instantly attracted – she with his tall and powerful build and he with her glossy raven curls and eyes of the deepest blue. Yet the course of passion, attraction, and love rarely runs smoothly. As she slowly regains her strength and charms the MacConacher Clan, she learns that the Clan is low in number, their lands taken by the Crown because they supported an upstart seeking to be king and many were slain by her grandfather due to a feud. Darroc fights his feelings for her – knowing that her MacKenzie Clan had driven his family from their lands. Yet the two are able to overcome the feuds of the past and discover the intimacy, passion, and love that seems predestined for them.

With the help of a band of Norsemen, Clan MacConacher defeats the Black Vikings, restoring the fortunes of their clan. Darroc, however, has come to believe that Lady Arabella only wants him because she is under the spell of the magic relic he holds as leader of his clan. His honor forces him to return Lady Arabella to her family, because he believes that her love is only a fiction brought on by the relic. Ignoring her protests – he tells her that he doesn't love her and sends his men to deliver her to her father. As several days pass without her he realizes that “unless he wished to live the rest of his life in darkness, he really had no choice but go after her.” Of course, as any good romance should end – Darroc mans a ship and goes after his heart’s desire - overcoming her father’s gruffness and publicly declaring his love for Lady Arabella.

A Highlander’s Temptation is an old-fashioned historical romance that quietly works to restore one’s faith in the sweetness of true love.


Publisher: Forever, Hachette Book Group (October 1, 2009), 400 pages
Review copy provided courtesy of the Publisher.

A Highlander Christmas

Publisher's Summary. Camry MacKeage has absolutely no intention of telling her parents that she left her job as a NASA physicist for the small-town life of a dog-sitter -- which is why she's spending the holidays alone in coastal Maine with her furry friends Tigger and Max. Unfortunately, her irresistibly handsome rival, scientist Luke Pascal, accidentally spilled the beans. Now he's on a mission from her mother to tempt Camry home for the family's annual winter solstice celebration. But Luke is hiding his own secret, and he'll need a little bit of magic to earn Camry's trust...and a whole lot of mistletoe to seduce his way into her heart.

Review. In A Highlander Christmas by Janet Chapman, heroine Camry MacKeage is in the midst of a mid-life crisis. After a fellow rocket scientist, Lucian Pascal Renoir (“Luke”), reveals a flaw in Camry’s ion propulsion work, she is fired from her job at NASA. Thereafter, she flees to a small town in Maine to dog-sit, tend bar, and hide from life.

When Luke inadvertently breaks the news to Camry’s parents, they send him on a quest to bring Camry home for the annual winter solstice celebration. Sparks quickly fly between Luke and Camry when they first meet in person. The pair rapidly falls in lust-love, but Camry is no ordinary beautiful rocket scientist. Strange occurrences, such as, the disappearance and reappearance of transmitters, cabins, and even people, follow Camry wherever she goes. Believing in the “magic,” as Camry calls these events is a problem for logical minded Luke.

As a reader, unfamiliar with the Highlander series (this is the seventh book in the series), I was able to enjoy the novel. That is, the story stands alone for new readers while at the same time should not disappoint longtime fans. The romance between Camry and Luke is cut from the same cloth as the famous Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey pairings: two strong willed characters who challenge and fulfill each other. The magical elements of the novel provided an interesting twist to the plot. The only minor criticism I have is the frequent references to condoms. While I suspect this was the author’s attempt at public service the references were so numerous that it became a bit distracting.

A Highlander Christmas is an enjoyable seasonal fare for romance lovers!


Publisher: Pocket Star (October 27, 2009), 352 pages
Advance Review Copy Provided Coutesy of the Publisher.

Chosen By Desire

Publisher's Summary. It's down to the wire and Carrie Woods is leaving China without the proof she needs for her thesis: Wei Lin's journal. While on a final tour of the monastery, Carrie finally locates the scrolls and attempts to photograph the documents. Caught in a sticky situation, Carrie takes the scrolls, only to notice a mysterious monk watching her--the same monk that she's seen each time she's taken a tour. Unable to return the scrolls, she travels back to California and isn't too thrilled when she notices the monk at the airport.

Maximillian Prescott first came to the monastery as an orphaned teenager when he inherited the Book of Metal from a distant uncle he hardly knew. After spotting a woman stealing from the monastery, he follows her to get back the documents he knows she's stolen. Max is further intrigued when he finds out that the chatty woman is friends with his archrival, Rhys Llewellyn, and he will stop at nothing to get back everything he's lost.

Review. By Renee A.J. Carrie Woods is a scholar of Chinese history at UC Berkley, who has been told by her overly critical faculty advisor that her doctoral thesis about ancient China under the rule of the Yongle Emperor isn't groundbreaking. So our intrepid heroine takes her strawberry blonde curls, big brown eyes, and rosy cheeks to China where she escapes from her tourist group and pilfers two powerful documents from the archives of a Chinese monastery. Carrie's theft of the journal of the mythical monk Wei Lei and an accompanying scroll called the Book of Water will provide her the means to create a thesis that will have universities clamoring for her services.

Chosen By Desire easily intertwines fantasy and romance as heroes with special powers, rippling muscles, passion embraces, and protective instincts enter Carrie’s previously humdrum life. Carrie’s theft has been quickly noticed by Max, the millionaire son of diplomats who is currently at the monastery serving as a Guardian of the Book of Metal. Max, with his special powers to command metal, is tasked to go after Carrie and recover the journal and the Book of Water before Carrie discovers how to tap into their powers.

I found this story fun and heart-warming, not only because of the simmering romance between Carrie and Max, but also because of how Carrie values her relationships with her Mom and her friends. Carrie’s mother asks her if she’s had sex with Max and explains that Carrie has to confront her issues with intimacy. The scenes where Carrie blushes at her mother’s advice regarding condoms and sex toys, made me laugh. When Carrie’s apartment is destroyed by fire, she turns to her best friend Gabe, who also has also developed a romance with another mysterious Guardian, for help. Carrie’s friends suspect that Max may have something to do with the damage and they give him a hard time until he convinces them that he’s out to protect Carrie.

Chosen By Desire is a great romance because the heroine manages the delicate balance of loving her family, maintaining her friendships, and bringing her new man with magical talents into the fold - all while solving a dangerous mystery!




Publisher: Forever, Hachette Book Group, (October 1, 2009), 368 pages.
Advance Review copy provided courtesy of the Publisher.