No Time To Lose by Carrie Weaver

After losing her job with one of the major auto manufacturers, Jamie Tanner returns home to the family business, building racing engines. Ryan Pearce is frustrated by the engine he leased from Tanner and is ready to find another supplier when Jamie shows up in his garage. But it isn’t long before Jamie finds more than just problems with Ryan’s engine. Now will Jamie became part of Ryan’s team or will she give in to her mom’s pressure to give up all the greasy stuff.

A cute story with a nice NASCAR slant. If you like romance and NASCAR, I think you might like this book.

Details: Harlequin Rush, May 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Sensual

Full Throttle by Wendy Etherington

Lexie Mercer is the car chief on Kane Jackson’s car, while her father is the crew chief. With Lexie’s father always around it’s difficult for Kane to explore his feelings for Lexie, but he when he manages to sneak in a kiss, their lives are changed forever. It gives him the boost he needs to improve his on track performance and help him make the Chase for the Championship, but unfortunately it leaves Lexie with a big problem – her dad. Now can Lexie find the strength to walk away from Kane for good or will their relationship kill their career?

This story was much better than the last NASCAR story I reviewed and probably the best of the Harlequin Rush books I’ve read so far. The details are reasonably accurate and the story is very NASCAR-centric. If you’re a NASCAR fan and curious about the series, this book would be a good place to start.

Details: Harlequin Rush, May 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Sensual

Speed Bumps by Ken Casper

Gabby O’Farrell was a rookie driver on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit. Vaughn Steiner was a former driver who found himself injured and unable to drive and Gabby has lots of potential both on and off the track. Unfortunately, Gabby’s mother has plans for her daughter and they don’t involve her driving a dangerous stock car or spending time with Vaughn. But Gabby is determined to win the championship, but Vaughn won’t settle for anything less than Gabby’s heart.

I was looking forward to reading a NASCAR book written by a guy, but I was seriously bummed by the large number of errors. A couple of errors I could forgive, but this book had so many it totally ruined the story for me. From what I could tell, Ken has never seen a NASCAR race in his life and I’m not even sure he even bothered to read any of Pamela Britton’s books. The book didn’t have a NASCAR feel in the least and I’m surprised NASCAR let it get published.

While some readers might not notice the mistakes, to a real NASCAR fan the mistakes stood out like a cowboy putting a stainless steel saddle on his horse or arming a police officer with a bow and arrow. One example of Ken's many errors has a driver doing wheelies after winning a race instead of the expected burnout and donuts. While the idea of watching a race car drive around with the front wheels off the ground sounds nice, it’s impossible to do with a race car from any NASCAR series. Assuming that Harlequin continues to publish NASCAR books, I suggest they hire someone who understands racing to find and resolve these problems before the book hits the printing press. However even if you ignore the NASCAR errors, the overall plot was still very weak with almost no conflict between the cardboard characters. If you love Ken’s books and don’t know anything about NASCAR then maybe you’ll like this one, but if you’re a NASCAR fan, I’d suggest waiting for Pamela’s next book.

Details: Harlequin Rush, May 2007

Excellence Rating: Okay

Steaminess Factor: Sensual

Dirty Laundry by Tori Carrington

Sofie Metropolis’ career as a private detective is going about as well as can be expected for someone with only a few months experience. Now Sofie faces the most challenging case of her career. One of the local mobsters appears to be behind the disappearance of a local businessman and mobsters don’t appreciate anyone, looking into their business. To make matters worse, Sofie’s mother engages her services to follow her father and find out if he’s having an affair. Will Sofie survive the mob and her father and that hot bounty hunter who always manages to show up in the nick of time or will she end up as a victim of her job?

The second Sofie Metropolis book is just as good as the first with all of the Greek charm and humor I really loved. The story hangs together extremely well and I love the complex plot Lori and Tony wove. If you’re a Stephanie Plum fan, you need to check out this series. It’s a definite winner.

Details: Tor, May 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Sensual

Undercover Daddy by Delores Fossen

Christopher was the most important thing in Elaina McLemore’s life. Her adopted, one-year old son was the only good thing to come from her former marriage. So when her ex died, Elaina changed her name and moved away. After his wife died during childbirth, Luke Buchanan devoted his life to finding his missing son. When he tracks him to Elaina, his immediate reaction is to make her pay, but when armed men show up he soon finds himself assuming the role of protector and sparks start to fly. Now Elaina must decide which man should own her heart, her adopted son or the son’s natural father.

Another good Intrigue, though the plot felt a little unrealistic and contrived. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if she injected a touch of humor into the story. If you’re into Intrigue, I think you’ll like this book.

Details: Intrigue #990, May 2007

Excellence Rating: Pretty Good

Steaminess Factor: Sensual

Hostage Situation by Debra Webb

Renee Vaughn’s first assignment for the Colby Agency is to lay a trap for a reclusive drug lord by getting close to his brother. Unfortunately for Renee, when she walked into Paul's house she found herself in the middle of a double cross by the drug lord. Now if Paul and Renee want to live to see another day, they need to find a way to survive long enough to get reinforcements and take out the drug lord for good.

This is a nice book with a few really good scenes that kept you turning the pages. I liked the element of danger, though I do think the storyline is somewhat predictable. If you love Intrigues, then you’ll love this one too.

Details: Intrigue #989, May 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Sensual

Seventh Key by Evelyn Vaughn

Waking up and realizing she and her baby had been kidnapped, Maggi Sanger-Stuart tried to remain calm while her billionaire husband arranged for her release. Maggi learned that Simon Adriano didn’t want her husband’s money, instead he kept her baby as a hostage and ordered her to retrieve some tiles that once belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, along with some more tiles held by some friends of hers. It wasn’t until she found her friends that she learned about Simon’s sinister plans and the modern Marians. Now can Maggi and the Marians succeed in stopping Simon and rescuing his hostages or will the world face its ultimate destruction?

The final story in the Madonna Key series chronicles the final battle between the Marians and the Adrianos. Unlike the other books, all of the heroines from the previous book were present in this story and all played a significant role in the final outcome. It was very interesting watching the women interact, while each kept their own personality traits intact. A challenging task at best and one that can only be pulled off by a great storyteller. My only complaint is that the story ended too quickly, but we can always hope that another Adriano will arise to challenge the Marians The Madonna Key is the Bombshell line at its best. If you haven’t read the collection, I highly recommend it as stories like this are few and far between.

Details: Bombshell #121, January 2007 (The Madonna Key #7)

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Sensual

Warning: Topics depicted in this book may offend members of some religions
Warning: This book deals with graphic violence and death

Veiled Legacy by Jenna Mills

Nadia Bishop looked at herself in a magazine photograph, but the accompanying article described the life and death of someone else. Realizing that the talented photographer was the twin sister she’d been seeking for years, Nadia decided to use her MI-6 training to find twin’s killer. But soon, Nadia discovered her killer was a member of the Adriano family – the same family as her ex- lover. Now can Nadia avoid the Adriano’s wrath and discover her sister’s hidden secrets before the Adriano’s can or will her ex-lover use their former relationship to seal her doom.

The next to last story sets up the final battle between the Marians and the Adriano family and I’m amazed how well Jenna managed to keep me guessing where the story was headed. I enjoyed the powerful scenes between Nadia and her ex-lover and I think you will also. With the suspense building, I can’t wait to see how the saga concludes.

Details: Bombshell #118, December 2006 (The Madonna Key #6)

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Sensual

Warning: Topics depicted in this book may offend members of some religions
Warning: This book deals with graphic violence and death

Hidden Sanctuary by Sharron McClellan

Tru Palmer gift for finding things hidden in the ground led her to the middle east where her company was looking for oil. There she met an old woman named Efra who was the first person who truly understood Tru’s gift. Efra assumed the role of teacher and Tru began to learn the story of the people now known as Marians. Then a member of the Adriano family attacked Efra and stole the tiles she had sworn to protect. Efra explained that the village was doomed to die in seven days unless the tiles where returned. Knowing that she has no other choice, Tru sets out on an impossible quest to find where the thief had hidden the tiles, retrieve them and return them within next seven days. Will Tru succeed or will an entire village die, including the one person who can explain the true meaning of her gift.

In some respects this story is similar to the previous one, in that a new character is introduced with a personal quest that links them with characters from the previous stories. While this story was very good, I felt that some of the characters from the previous story acted differently than I would have expected. On the other hand, I loved Efra and wished she played a greater role in the story. Like the other stories, this book doesn’t stand completely alone, so you should definitely read the previous novels first. You’ll be glad you did.

Details: Bombshell #114, November 2006 (The Madonna Key #5)
Excellence Rating: Great
Steaminess Factor: Sensual
Warning: Topics depicted in this book may offend members of some religions
Warning: This book deals with graphic violence and death

Shadow Lines by Carol Stephenson

Dr. Eve St. Giles has a gift for healing. Instead of working in a research lab, she uses her gift in the field to help identify strange diseases that are threatening the population at large. So when a deadly flu virus decimates the population of a small Swiss town, Eve is dispatched to the scene. She’s surprised when her ex-boyfriend, Nick Petter, shows up representing the firm that was researching the virus. He explains that the chief scientist on the project disappeared, so they join forces to track down the rogue researcher. Their search uncovers that the scientist has some powerful allies and everywhere he goes death follows, leaving only Eve and Nick stop the scientist before he strikes again.

The middle story in the series focuses on a new character Eve, who also is descended from the Marian priestesses. Many details about the underling Madonna Key story are revealed along with some other changes to the cast. As with the other stories, the authors did a great job to insure that they are consistent from book to book. This book is obviously a must read if you’ve read any of the previous stories in the series.

Details: Bombshell #110, October 2006 (The Madonna Key #4)
Excellence Rating: Great
Steaminess Factor: Sensual
Warning: Topics depicted in this book may offend members of some religions
Warning: This book deals with graphic violence and death

Dark Revelations by Lorna Tedder

While Aubrey de Lune aka Dr. Ginny Moon stole priceless treasures from all over the world for the Adriano family, she secretly searched for an item that was stolen from her years ago - an item that documented her heritage. Though her last assignment nearly killed her a dozen times over, Aubrey knew the price of failure and managed to acquire the latest treasure for Simon Adriano despite the odds. What she didn’t realize was that object she acquired for Simon was the one he who stole from her years ago and now Simon plans to destroy it. Can Aubrey find the strength to recover the item or will Simon destroy her heritage along with her life.

This story starts to fill in the blanks about the Black Madonna cult also known as Marians from previous books, giving a much sharper picture of the battle looming ahead. I really liked Ginny as a character with the different lives she lead, plus I enjoyed learning more about the Adriano family. I think the story was well written and while there was only minimal sex, I loved the tension between the hero and heroine.This book answers a lot of questions about the Madonna Key, but it raises a whole lot more.

Details: Bombshell #106, September 2006 (The Madonna Key #3)
Excellence Rating: Great
Steaminess Factor: Sensual
Warning: Topics depicted in this book may offend members of some religions
Warning: This book deals with graphic violence and death

Blame it on Cupid by Jennifer Greene

Merry Olson understood what it was like to grow up without a mother, so when her friend Charlie Ross died leaving his eleven year old daughter alone, Merry immediately left Minnesota and headed for Virginia. What Merry didn’t expect was that Charlene is having serious trouble adapting to life after her dad’s death. Fortunately Merry was able to turn to her next door neighbor, Jack Mackinnon a divorced hunk with two sons for parenting advice. While Jack finds Merry’s form pleasing to the eye, he finds the way she does most things to be a bit strange. Still, he can’t help but feel sorry for both girls, so with his son’s encouragement, he finds himself becoming more involved in their lives, despite his desire to remain single after his bitter divorce. Now can Merry find a way to balance her need for Jack with her new role as single parent or will she lose them both forever?

This was a cute book with great characters that will bring a smile to your face. I like the collection of problems Jennifer left for Merry to overcome, and new ones seemed to pop up when least expected. The combination of details and confused emotions were very enjoyable and you felt as if everything was up in the air until nearly the last page. This is a much better book then Blame it on Chocolate and I recommend it if you love books involving single parents and children.

Score: Very good

Details: HQN, December 2006