Clay Yeager's Redemption by Justine Davis

This one has been in my TBR pile for a while, and it seemed like the perfect book to take on vacation.

Clay Yeager's Redemption by Justine Davis
(1999, Contemporary Series)
Grade: 3.5

Casey Scott has retreated to her hometown in Iowa, after a bad experience in the big bad city. She’s doing well as a caterer, but something seems missing until a dog named Mud steals her rib roast. Mud belongs to a mysterious man named Clay Yeager, who appears to be homeless. But something makes her want to trust him and learn more about his life.

This book started out really well. I was intrigued by the mysterious stranger whose eyes were “dead” but was hanging on for the sake of his dog. He’s hiding a dark secret, as is Casey. This seems just the story for this angst bunny, but somehow as the book continued, I began to get impatient. I put the book down numerous times and skimmed through the last third. I’m not sure if it was just my mood or if I’ve read too many similar stories, but the book just didn’t excite me the way I expected. I was left feeling like this was angst-by-the-numbers. Too bad, because usually I love Justine Davis.

I think this is an example of a book I might have graded differently if I'd read it at a different time, but after 2-3 tries, I just couldn't get into it as much as I'd expected.

A Hasty Marriage by Carla Kelly

This is a short story by Carla Kelly, which was originally published in the Wedding Belles anthology from 2004. It seems to be a precursor to some of her more recent books featuring sea captains.

A Hasty Marriage by Carla Kelly
(2004, Regency)
Grade: 3.5

When Ann Utley, a 32 year old spinster, faces an unwanted marriage proposal, she runs off to her former governess, now the wife of a warehouse owner. It's there that she meets Hiram Titus, an American sea captain who is completely outside her social sphere. But the attraction between them is immediate and mutual. Will Ann throw it all away for love?

As always for Carla Kelly, this was an extremely well written story, with an interesting plot. The author does a great job (surprisingly) at depicting the instant attraction between the hero and heroine as well as pointing out their differences. Unfortunately,the story is marred slightly by a somewhat contrived ending that cuts off a real discussion of what their marriage will mean for both of them- particularly for Ann. I felt like her legitimate concerns were dismissed too quickly by the other characters and then brushed away by the end of the story. Still, the story was interesting and well written, and left me wondering about the history behind it.

I think I missed this anthology when it first came out, so it was nice to read this story, even if it wasn't one of Kelly's best.

Pricks and Pragmatism by J.L. Merrow

I bought this on a recommendation by Dear Author. (Probably the only place I find out about m/m romances.) It's a novella from Samhain, a publisher that has surprised me recently with several good reads.

Pricks and Pragmatism by J.L. Merrow
(2010, Contemporary)
Grade: 4

Luke is accustomed to trading sex for a place to live, especially when the men are wealthy and hot, but when his latest boyfriend kicks him out a few weeks before finals, he ends up with Russell, a nerd who doesn’t quite know how to deal with his new "roommate". Luke is used to men who want his body, but he’s not used to anyone who wants his heart.

Despite the premise and sexual content, this was a surprisingly sweet story. It was only novella length and could have used a few more pages to delve more deeply into the characters (Russell, in particular, is not explored in depth) but overall, it was an entertaining read.

I'd like to see more novellas published in e-book form as individual stories, as long as the price is appropriate. I hate having to buy an anthology when only one of the stories is good. This one was priced at $2.66 which is a little high for a single story but not outrageous.

Ritual Sins by Anne Stuart

This is a somewhat notorious book by Anne Stuart that I've been holding on to for some time.

Ritual Sins by Anne Stuart
(1997, Suspense)
Grade: 4

Rachel Connery arrives in New Mexico to confront Luke Bardell, the leader of The Foundation of Being, which seems to be a cult that attracts the wealthy. Rachel’s mother died of cancer and left 12 million dollars to the Foundation. Although Rachel was estranged from her mother, she is determined to find out more about the group and its charismatic leader.

Although this book didn’t completely work as a romance, it was an interesting read. It’s always entertaining to see how Anne Stuart can turn a completely unlikely and unsympathetic character into a believable hero. Luke begins the book as a character who is confident in his own strength and ability to con people. He’s not particularly sympathetic but he is fascinating. Rachel is equally closed off at the beginning. The relationship between them is based on Luke’s desire to dominate and Rachel’s determination to resist. As the book continues, we find out more about their pasts, but strangely, I never felt that this added to their emotional connection. Stuart kept me interested in Luke even after he does some pretty despicable things (some of the sex scenes border on rape) but she didn’t make me believe that the relationship between Luke and Rachel developed much beyond sexual attraction. The book worked better as a mystery / character study than as a romance, but still, it was interesting and worth reading.

Hopefully Blogger won't mangle this post the way it did the last one! I'm trying to hang onto my old computer since I can't afford to replace all my software at once, and I'm running out of hard disk space on my laptop, but it's getting harder and harder when even a simple thing like posting a blog entry becomes "incompatible" with the old systems.