NASCAR Holiday 2 by Pamela Britton, Gina Wilkins, Ken Casper, Abby Gains

This book features four short stories by four authors of the NASCAR themed books. A worthwhile read for any fans of the NASCAR books.

Details: Harper, November 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Driven by Eve Kenin

Interesting story which takes place in a futuristic world filled with danger and suspense. I love the blend of science fiction with romance that the Shomi books offer and I’m looking forward to reading more of those stories.

Details: Shomi, September 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Total Control by Pamela Britton

Pamela Britton + NASCAR = Great story. ‘Nuff said.

Details: HQN, September 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Heiress for Hire by Erin McCarthy

This cute story about the rich girl who’s cut off from her father’s money falling in love with a small town farmer will bring smiles to your face while you read it.

Details: Bantam, July 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

The Cowgirl’s CEO by Pamela Britton

As the end of the barrel-racing season approaches, Carolyn Sheppard stood a good chance of winning the championship. Caro’s sponsor, Ty Harrison couldn’t be more proud, even though it was nearly impossible to tie the feisty cowgirl down to film a commercial for his boot company. But when her horse breaks a leg, Caro finds Ty right beside her offering his support. Smitten with Caro, Ty will do anything to win her affection, including letting her walk away. But will Caro realize how much she loves Ty before it’s too late?

This is another cute book from Pamela. A nice story and good characters make for an enjoyable read and a great way to pass the time until her next HQN NASCAR novel.

Details: Harlequin American #1166, June 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

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

Beware Of Doug by Elaine Fox

Lily Tyler’s protector Doug the dog, hates all men with a passion, except for Lily’s fiancé, but then he’s never around much. On the other hand, Doug has taken an instant dislike for Lily’s new neighbor, Brady Cole. But while Doug hates Brady, Brady could easily fall in love with Lily. Too bad he’s sworn off women for a while. The mere sight of Brady is enough for Lily to forget her fiancé, but Lily isn’t ready to risk her future for a guy she knows is totally wrong for her. Or is she?

This is basically a cute story about a couple that fall in love at first sight, but their current lives won’t allow it. Toss in Doug the dog who’s schemes to keep them apart are sure to bring a few chuckles along the way, means plenty of opportunities for humor. This book also brings back some characters from her previous book, Guys and Dogs. If you’re looking for a lighthearted book with a bit of steam, and you don’t mind a few scenes from the dog’s point of view , then this might be a good book for you.

Details: Avon, March 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Fit To Be Tied by Karen Kendall

Jen’s wedding day started out badly and only got worse. The final straw was learning that her husband-to-be had to get drunk in order to go through the ceremony and now she’s wondering why she agreed to marry Tom in the first place. While Tom sobered up on the plane ride to their honeymoon, Jen decided that maybe the best thing was to ask for a divorce before things could get any worse. After all that’s happened, surely Tom couldn’t say no. Or could he?

Take every nightmare that you could imagine happening at a wedding and this book has it. Well it doesn't have the pregnant girlfriend running down the aisle during “Does anyone know why this couple shouldn’t be wed?”. but it does have everything else However instead of being playful, the story carried a rather serious tone and that just didn’t work for me. The characters were good, the sex was hot and the ending made reading the story worthwhile. But I can’t help but wonder if a little more humor injected in the right places would have made the book great.

Details: Signet Eclipse, March 2007

Excellence Rating: Pretty Good

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

To the Limit by Pamela Britton

Kristen McKenna's life has always revolved around speed. When she was younger, she was a promising open wheel race car and now she’s an aerospace engineer. But when mega-billionaire Matthew Knight, owner of the company she works for, purchases a NASCAR race team, Kristen finds herself with the opportunity to become involved with racing again. Matthew finds himself instantly taken with the young woman, but his dedication to his career has left him ill prepared to romance Kristen. To make matters more complicated, Matthew’s driver, Todd Peters also finds himself attracted to the lovely scientist and unlike his boss, Todd has had plenty of practice seducing women. Kristen is surprised by the attention of the two handsome men and isn’t quite sure what to do about it, especially when she’s forced to choose between them. But will Kirsten risk Mathew’s wrath by dating Todd or will she date Mathew knowing that with him, his business will always come first?

If there’s one thing I can count on, it’s Pamela’s newest NASCAR novel will always capture my attention. I love her attention to detail as she manages to portray the details of a life immersed in NASCAR more accurately than any other author I’ve read. While this story sometimes goes over the top when portraying Mathew and his business, I found the love triangle intriguing. She did a great job of keeping you guessing which man she’ll pick. If you like NASCAR and romantic love triangles, then this is the book for you.

Details: HQN, March 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Romantic

How to Trap A Tycoon by Elizabeth Bevarly

When Dorsey MacGuinness who’s about to receive her doctorate in sociology, wrote a book entitled, How to Trap a Tycoon, she never expected it to reach the top of the best seller lists. Fortunately she’s able to keep her success as an author separate from her graduate studies, where she’s studying the relationship between stuffy men’s clubs and a male dominated society by working behind the bar in such a club serving drinks and listening to the member’s stories. She’s become especially fond of on individual, Adam Darien. Adam really liked the bartender at Drakes and often discussed his problems with her, including the how the recent success of a pop culture book threatened the readers of his men’s magazine. When Dorsey bows to her publisher’s pressure to go on tour, she creates a persona opposite of her normal self in order to protect her identity, but she runs into a big problem now that Adam is stalking her alter ego. Now will Dorsey lose everything if Adam pierces her secret identity or will she end up following her own book’s advice and land herself a tycoon?

If you’re looking for a little fun and a good time, you can never go wrong with an Elizabeth Bevarly book. In addition to the main storyline, Elizabeth created an extremely strong secondary story that was just as good as the main one and both are guaranteed to keep you smiling from the first page. Highly recommended.

Details: Avon, 2000

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Private Confessions by Lori Borrill

Trisha Bains wants her boss, Logan Moore in a bad way. Unfortunately he’s the type that’s more likely to date a blonde bimbo with an over inflated chest and an under inflated mind rather than someone with brains and ambition like herself. But since every other man she meets pales into comparison, Trisha turns to a virtual sex web site to fulfill her fantasies. After suffering through a painful divorce, the last thing Logan wants is a smart girl. But after dating a string of airheads, he turns to the Internet for comfort. While he really likes his star employs Trisha, he’s afraid that starting a relationship with her would end in divorce just like his first wife. What neither Trisha, nor Logan realizes was that their online fantasy lover is really the same person they’re lusting over in real life. Now what happens when the truth is revealed and their fantasies become reality?

While reviewing this string of first books from Temptation/Blaze authors, it seemed fitting to review Lori Borrill’s first Blaze. Even for a Blaze this story is hot and I liked the story twist involving virtual sex over the Internet. This book shows Lori’s potential as a writer and I’m looking forward to her next book.

Details: Blaze, February 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Heat Wave

Private Lessons by Julie Elizabeth Leto

Harley’s lost her mind. She can’t remember anything about her past, not even her last name. All she knows is that she was the entertainment for a bachelor party. The host of the bachelor party, Grant Riordan fell in love with the young lady from the moment he saw her and wondered why someone with such innocent eyes was earning a living by taking her close for horny men. While Harley thought Grant was hot, his actions were much more of a stuffed shirt than the kind of man a stripper would like. When Grant’s boss reminds him that his predecessor was fired for living a loose lifestyle, he’s forced to choose between his job which he so desperately needed or helping the sexy young thing recover her memory.

Unlike the other three books of this set, this is Julie’s second book. But from the quality of the writing, it could have been her tenth . I really liked the way Julie blended the elements of suspense with Harley’s amnesia to create a tale that you just can’t put down. If you haven’t read this story and you love Temptations, here’s another chance to relive the line that Harlequin shouldn’t have killed.

Details: Temptation, February 1999

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Constant Craving by Tori Carrington

Eva Burgess’s dying father’s last wish was to meet her husband. Unfortunately, Eva’s ex-husband was no longer a part of her life, leaving her no other option than to find a substitute. Adam Grayson, a forensic accountant for the FBI was undercover trying to uncover a money laundering scheme when Eva, his boss approached with an intriguing proposition. Posing as her husband might give Adam the information he needs to break the case wide open. Despite her promise to keep her distance from Adam, the last thing Eva expected was to fall in love. Now will Adam find the evidence he needs to put Eva away or will he find a way to make his temporary role as a her husband permanent?

Tori Carrington’s first novel shows how much talent the husband and wife team possess. Their story is definitely a lighthearted read with just enough twists and turns to make you wonder if they’ll find their happily ever after. If you’re a Temptation fan, you absolutely must have this book on your shelf.

Details: Temptation, January 1999

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Night Whispers by Leslie Kelly

When Kelsey Logan moved to Baltimore to work in radio, she needed a place to stay; fortunately Mitch Wymore, had a spare room in his townhouse. Mitch grew up with Kelsey and even though they were neighbors, he thought of Kelsey as the younger sister he never had. That is until she moved into his house. Now Mitch can’t keep his eyes off the lovely young woman he’s afraid that making a move would break their brother sister relationship. Now will they remain brother and sister or will Kelsey find the strength to make the first move.

This is Leslie Kelly’s first novel and it’s easy to see why she sold the very first book she wrote. I loved the subplot where Kelsey hosted a late night radio called Night Whispers, whose primary topic was sex which she tried to hide from Mitch. Add that a stalker created enough mystery to keep me turning pages quickly. I especially liked the fact that Leslie set this story in Baltimore where I spent the first 30 odd years of my life. though for some reason I don’t remember this particular radio show My only problem was the book was over way too quickly and now I have to wait 'till summer for Leslie's next book

Details: Temptation, September 1999

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Nobody Does It Better by Julie Kenner

In order to hide her writing, Paris Sommers adopted the pseudonym of Montgomery Alexander because his name fit the edgy, action novels she created. Then she became Montgomery’s front person and allowed absolutely no one to meet her alter ego. But when her publisher started talking book tours and multi-book deals, knew her days were numbered. Then Devin O’Malley stepped into her life and become Montgomery Alexander for the tour. Devon O’Malley learned how to run a con from this father and while he had retired from the game, he needed some fast money and picking up a gig as the famous author was pure luck. But the number one rule of running a con is not getting emotionally attached and Devon is falling for Paris big time. Now it’s up to Paris to decide if she wants to spend the rest of her life with her fantasy man, Montgomery or with Devon despite his flaws?

This is the first of four Harlequin re-releases featuring some of my favorite Temptation and Blaze authors. I disappointed at first when I realized this wasn’t a spy novel (The Spy Who Loved Me is my all-time-favorite James Bond movie {except for possibly the original Casino Royale, but that’s a whole ‘nuther story }). I loved the way this book puts a reverse spin on my attempts at writing romance novels. Maybe I should adopt the name of a sexy chick, who hopelessly attracts men of all shapes and sizes. And then when that magnificent creature walks into my life, I’ll be spell bound and unable to function. But wait, it already happened (right Jill ). Anyway, this story reminds me of an old television show, Remington Steele, where the heroine is a private detective but can’t get any work because no one believes she can do the job, so she creates a boss shrouded in secrecy, Remington Steele who’s reputation is incredible. (hmmm…Wonder if they re-released this series on DVD yet?) Anyway, if you can’t tell I really loved this book. So if you hadn’t read it the first time around, you’d better get this edition before it’s too late.

Details: Temptation, February 2000

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Hearts Under Caution by Gina Wilkins

Lisa Woodrow needs a safe place to hide while the police capture an escaped criminal she put behind bars. What better place for the prosecutor to stay than the her parents mansion deep in the heart of NASCAR country. The only problem is her father still employees Wade McClellan, crew chief for her father’s best racing team and also her ex-fiancé. Wade is unnerved by Lisa’s return. There was room in his life for only one thing and if he wants to win the championship, the race team must come first. However the more time they spend together, the more Lisa begins to work her way into Wade’s heart. Now can Wade find it in himself to make room for two things in his life, or will he be destined to be alone when his teams captures the championship.

This is a cute story filled with details about someone who lives a life surrounded by NASCAR. I liked the danger element from the escaped criminal, but that not really what this book is all about. Instead, this story focused on two people who’s lives pulled them in one direction, while their love pulled in another. So from this standpoint the story worked well and offers readers a nice story painted on a NASCAR canvas.

Details: Harlequin NASCAR, February 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Romantic

Danger Zone by Debra Webb

When single mom Jenna Williams arrives to pick up her daughter after soccer practice, she finds someone else has picked her daughter up. Soon she receives a call demanding a million dollars for her safe return. When she protested that an ER nurse doesn’t have that kind of money, the mysterious caller hints that someone from her past does. Buck Buchanan, former NASCAR driver and now team owner can easily arrange to get that kind of money, but at first he thought that Jenna was pulling a scam. However when he sees a picture of Jenna’s daughter, he realizes that she wasn’t just Jenna’s daughter, she was his daughter too. Frustrated that he missed watching his daughter grows up, Buck wonders why he ever let his only true love get away. Assuming that they manage to find their daughter, will Jenna allow Buck into their lives or will she continue to shut him out as she has for the last 12 years.

While I enjoyed this story, it wasn’t as much of a NASCAR story as I would have hoped. Not much effort was put into integrating the characters into the racing lifestyle. Still, it was a great suspense story – one what was difficult to put down. If you love watching old flames reunited to solve a mystery, I’m certain you’ll love this story.

Details: Harlequin NASCAR, February 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Romantic

Thunderstruck by Roxanne St. Claire

Shelby Jackson is finding it hard to for her teams to stay competitive in NASCAR, but, Shelby finds herself confused when Mick Churchill tries to buy the other half of her team. On the one hand Mick could attract the new sponsors her team so desperately needs, on the other, sponsors aren’t the only thing he attracts. Despite her growing attraction to him, Shelby worries that selling out will mean the end of her family owned team. But while it’s critical that Mick owns a race team, it’s equally critical that his reasons behind the purchase stay hidden. But just how far is Mick willing to go to convince Shelby to sell?

This cute story pits a former European soccer star against a southern stockcar lady. But while I loved the story, and the characters, I felt that Mick acted more American than British. Still that doesn’t really detract from the story. I think this is a story that all NASCAR fans would enjoy.

Details: Harlequin NASCAR, February 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Romantic