Midnight Sonata Limit by Dee Tenorio

Evie Parker has barely managed to survive since her husband died several years ago. While she’s raising her eleven year-old son with the help of her mother-in-law, her son really needs a man in his life. When Skylar Remington moved next door to Evie, he listened to beautiful music each night and managed to forget about the heart condition that could kill him if he didn’t learn to relax. Just when Evie thought that Skylar might be the man that her son needs, she learns that he wants to return to his old life as CEO of a major medical company. Now will Evie turn her back on her temporary next-door neighbor or will she choose to risk everything on a man with a broken heart?

Dee is a talented author, who loves to write hot romances with a touch of humor. I’ll never forget the scene in which Evie sees Skylar for the first time and neither will you. Dee also managed to create a nice set of characters with enough quirks to generate three books of steam and humor. So if you loved her first book, I’m certain you’ll love this one too.

Details: Samhain Publishing, September 2006

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Betting Hearts by Dee Tenorio

Cassandra Bishop’s life went down the toilet, when she learned that the man who abandoned her at the altar because he was gay, is now back. And he’s planning to marry a blonde with oversize breasts. So Cass did what every tomboy would do – she broke her ex’s nose and then get stinkin' drunk. What she didn’t expect was to show up on her best friend’s doorstop begging for sex. For the first time, Burke Hallifax looked at Cass not as a best friend and poker buddy, but as a woman who needs comforting. But after some heated words with her ex leads to a bet – either Cass would be the best looking woman at the wedding or he’d forfeit Cass’s prized Z-28 – Burke finds that he has to teach Cass to act and dress like a lady. But teaching Cass leads to problems that neither one anticipated and now Burke must choose how far he’s willing to go to win the bet.

I loved the characters that Dee created. They were both well developed and filled with conflict from the very beginning. She also managed to inject plenty of humor along the way which made it very entertaining. The ending is especially good and I'll have that picture of the wet shoes in my mind for a long time. You needn’t worry about the warning at the end of the book, as I found the level of sex to be no more explicit than most Blazes. I think this is a great first book for Dee and I look forward to reading many more.

Details: Samhain Publishing, June 2006

Bottom line: A great book