“Jewels of the Sun” by Nora Roberts

“Jewels of the Sun” by Nora Roberts
1999, Jove
ISBN: 0-515-12677-2

I’m on a roll, I suppose. I picked up another book by Nora Roberts to read. This one was, “Jewels of the Sun”. I couldn’t put it down until I was finished with the story.

Love story, coming to know yourself story, humorous, loving and the best sex scenes I’ve seen in awhile. Did I mention very well written? Jude is the main character. She’s a psychologist who was busy going through the angst of coming to know herself. She has a failed marriage behind her, dissatisfaction with her teaching career and parents who didn’t seem to know anything about her. She left. She left Chicago and went to her ancestral home of Ireland.

She had plans to live in a small cottage. Just for a short time. Just to get away from the tension and pain of her life in Chicago. And, it was there her psychic self was awakened; where she saw ghosts and talked to a faerie. And, where she fell in love with Aiden, a gloriously handsome man.

The story has twists and turns. It’s funny. It’s heart-warming. It’s touching. You’ll love it. And, did I mention it has a really nice ending? Best of all it’s the start of a trilogy. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next one in line.

“Tribute” by Nora Roberts

“Tribute” by Nora Roberts
2008, GP Putnam’s Sons
ISBN: 978-0-399-15491-1

“Tribute” by Nora Roberts is a good read. It’s expected if Nora Roberts wrote it. She’s written a gazillion books and you are right away comfortable the minute you open this book up.

“Tribute” is a mystery. Cilla is our heroine. She comes from a family of women involved in show business. She was a child actress, but her television show stopped when she was a teenager. She’d thought of them as her family. Her mother, married five times, mostly pushed her to try harder and through all of the insanity and insecurity of being a child star she weathered it to emerge as a resilient young woman.

That’s when she returned to her grandmother’s farm on the east coast. Her grandmother, Janet Hardy, was a huge screen star. Tragedy had touched Janet’s life when her teenage son had been killed in an automobile accident. Several of his friends had been in the car with him and one of them had become paralyzed. Then, a year later despondent, she had taken her own life leaving Cilla’s mother alone.

The story starts with Cilla assuming ownership of her grandmother’s farm. It has been neglected for years, but Cilla is determined to bring it back to its former glory and to what it was in happier times. She had evolved into a person who flips houses. She buys dilapidated houses, hires crews, contractors and subcontractors to help her and they fix the houses up. Then, she sells them. This one she is going to keep.

Ford, who writes graphic novels and is her new neighbor shows up to see why she’s taken a sledgehammer to the house. You know it’s love at first sight. But Nora Roberts takes her time with it. She shows you who these people are. She shows you what they’re afraid of, she shows you how they fall in love. And, she shows you the terror that can visit when somebody has an agenda and a reason for not wanting the new girl in town.

And, the sex is sizzling. I mean it is absolutely a scorcher. If anybody knew you were reading this stuff on your lunch break your supervisor would be writing you up for something. Sex aside, this is a really good book. I give it a really good two thumbs up.

“No Choice But Seduction” by Johanna Lindsey

“No Choice But Seduction” by Johanna Lindsey
2008, Pocket Books
ISBN: 978-1-4165-3732-8

If you’re a fan of Johanna Lindsey you really don’t need to read any further because I have only glowing remarks to make about, “No Choice But Seduction”. But, you already knew that. If you haven’t ever read an historical romance by Joanna Lindsey be my guest and plow into this one. You likely won’t be putting it down much until you’ve finished reading it.

What’s cool is Johanna writes about the Mallory family in a whole lot of other books, but this, like the others is a stand alone book and you can get right into it without feeling like you’re behind because you haven’t read the other books. So, I liked that right away. Actually, all her books are like that; you just can’t go wrong.

What happens here is the owner of a ship, Boyd Anderson, has finally made the decision to leave his life on the sea behind him and settle down. He’s not going to settle in America though, but where his sister has gone to live in England. She’s married into the Mallory clan as has one of his brothers. So, it just doesn’t seem that there’s all that much family in the United States anymore. He’s also come to another decision and that is he would like to get married. But, to who?

As an American he’s already considered by his British in-laws to be rash and head strong, though he pretty much thinks the same of them. He’s never lived anywhere long enough as an adult to develop a relationship with a woman, so settling down would be a first step.

The cargo his ship is carrying this last trip he makes from New England to London involves paying passengers and one of them, Katey Tyler catches his eye immediately. She is not prissy, she is kind and she is beautiful. When he makes his introduction to her she says she is married and is taking her two children back to their home in England. However, she lied. She prefers to think of it as creative thinking and the only reason she lied to Boyd was to ensure that her independence would not be threatened in any way. She’s recently inherited some money, her mother has passed on and she is alone in the world except for her long time friend and maid, Grace. The two of them are actually escorting two children to their home in England, but the fabrication serves her well.

Time passes and everybody goes about their business until Boyd’s niece is kidnapped. Her father (one of the Mallory’s) is not around and Boyd figures to step into the breech. He goes tearing off to save his niece at the same time Katey and Grace are sleeping in the next room over from the kidnappers and little Judith. It is Judith’s whimpering that wakes Katey and she moves to investigate.

Anyway, this goes on and on and things get really complicated and I don’t want to ruin the story for anybody. You really won’t be able to put it down. Figure it’s your weekend’s reading; you’ll be done by Sunday night.

“The Accidental Demon Slayer” by Angie Fox

“The Accidental Demon Slayer” by Angie Fox
2008, Dorchester Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-505-52769-1

“The Accidental Demon Slayer” by Angie Fox is a delightful read. This is a first book for Angie and I will certainly be looking forward to anything else she has to write.

Lizzie is a pre-school teacher. Her life is orderly and really very boring. Out of the blue she finds an odd, grizzled biker lady who says she is her grandmother. And, incidentally, she’s also a witch. She hasn’t come a minute too soon and Lizzie best get a move on to join her before all Hell breaks loose.

Oops. Too late. Demon in the bathroom. It just keeps rolling. I loved it. Turns out Lizzie is a very powerful demon slayer and without proper training is able to help and to save magical people who come to mean a lot to her and to destroy the bad guys.

Her dog, by the way, is a Jack Russell Terrier who is named Pirate. As Lizzie comes into her own demon slayer powers she is able to hear Pirate talking. Very neat stuff.

And, of course, there is a love interest. Dimitri…how’s that for a very Greek, very handsome Griffin who protects and falls in love with Lizzie. I really enjoyed this book.

“Wicked” by Gregory Maguire

“Wicked” by Gregory Maguire
1995, Regan Books
ISBN: 0-06-098710-3

One of the first books I ever read once I got past my school readers of Dick and Jane was, “Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz”. It was my mother’s when she was a little girl and the copyright is 1908. Frank Baum wrote it in Coronado and many was the time we’d pass by the house he wrote, “The Wizard of Oz” in as we wandered around Coronado when we lived there 25 years ago.

“The Wizard of Oz” with Judy Garland was the first movie I ever watched when I was 6 years old and it aired on our television during the holiday season. It’s been a favorite my entire life and I’m 53 years old now. I couldn’t have been more pleased to happen upon “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire. “The Wizard of Oz” is the fairy tale with a child’s focus. “Wicked" is the story behind the story and has an adult’s focus.

If you are a fan of, "The Wizard of Oz" then you must, you just have to read, "Wicked".

Where in Frank Baum’s Oz the Wicked Witch of the West is truly an ugly and horribly frightening creature, in the story Gregory Maguire tells she is a Munchkin born green. Elphaba, as the witch is known most of her life, doesn’t even think of herself as a witch until well into her adult years. It’s fascinating to see what she thinks of life and in this story what a champion of the down trodden she really is. Why, she’s a revolutionary at heart!

In this story you see who Elphaba’s parents were and what her life was like as she grew up. You see her sister Nessarose who eventually became known as the Witch of the East and you meet Glinda, the Witch of the North. The Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and, of course, the Wizard are all in this story. But, you’ll come to feel this is the “real” story. This is the story that was never told. This makes them all human, makes them all believable and will endear them all to you.

In the picture I took of both books, you see “Wicked” the book I review here and you see a 1908 edition of “Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz” that belonged to my mother.

I loved Gregory Maguire’s book, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West”. And, you know what’s even better? Gregory Maguire has written 2 more. I bought all 3 at the same time and can hardly wait to start in on, “Son Of A Witch” and after that, “A Lion Among Men (The Wicked Years, Book 3)”. Can’t wait.