“Last Kiss” by Luanne Rice

“Last Kiss” by Luanne Rice
2008, Bantam Books
ISBN: 978-0-553-80512-3

Fabulous. Just fabulous. “Last Kiss” by Luanne Rice is about a boy who had died and his girlfriend, Nell, who wants an explanation of why it happened. It was all just so hazy and the reasons being given by the police just didn’t seem right.

The private detective Nell hires happens to be a long lost love of Charlie’s mother, Sheridan.

This is a mystery. It is an exploration of love. “Last Kiss” gives an insightful look into the lives of people who believe in spirit and magic. It’s the dead talking to us. It’s terrific. I give it my Three Hanky Tear Jerker Award.

“Sons of Texas” by Elmer Kelton

“Sons of Texas” by Elmer Kelton
1989, A Forge Book
ISBN: 0-765-31021-X

"Sons of Texas” by Elmer Kelton is a good western yarn. What gets better is that it is the first of 3 books Elmer has written about the Lewis family.

In this first book we’re introduced to the head of the family, Mordecai who is a wanderer. His family, wife and children, live in Tennessee. He makes forays out to find a better place to live. Along the way in this dangerous frontier country he comes upon situations he doesn’t talk about at home. He knows it is dangerous, but the wanderlust in his veins beats hot and uppermost in his mind is to find the best place of all to live.

His sons are growing up. Joseph is content to work the farm, but the next sons, Michael and Andrew are getting the itchy feet their father has, Michael more so than his brother Andrew. Both boys are skilled woodsmen. Michael can shoot with unerring skill and Andrew, a year younger than Michael, is the best tracker around.

Mordecai comes home from Texas and announces he’s going to make another trip. This time to gather up the wild horses that run free. Bringing them back to Tennessee will bring the family a lot of money. He needs men and horses to come with him and finds a group willing to brave the frontier.

Michael is not permitted to join his father in this adventure, but slips away after the group is gone to join them some days later on the trail.

What follows is a terrific adventure. There is danger. The choices the people make in this story are probably similar to the ones you and I would make if we were in the same position. And, the danger doesn’t always come from where you expect it to come from.

I’ve been a fan of Elmer Kelton’s work for some time and am looking forward to reading the other 2 books in this series.

“Heart of the Sea” by Nora Roberts

“Heart of the Sea” by Nora Roberts
2000, A Jove Book
ISBN: 0-515-12855-4

I don’t know what it is about Nora Roberts, but I couldn’t put “Heart of the Sea” down until I was finished. It’s the third in the trilogy of the Gallagher’s of Ardmore.

This is the 3rd sibling to find love, Darcy who is a vibrant and beautiful woman. She’s never found the perfect man though she is sexy and beautiful and many would woo her. She is aloof and will not give her heart until she meets a man who is her match, Trevor Magee. He’s come to Ardmore to build a theater. His ancestors are from Ireland and from Ardmore and he had a yearning to know more of them.

What complicates matters is a faerie prince and the woman he loves. Prince Carrick and the ghost of Lady Gwen. Their story is 300 years old and their legend has lived all that time. They’ve also gotten themselves into a bind because of his pride and her refusal to love him if he could not say the words of love to her. Prince Carrick got angry and cast a spell that Lady Gwen would not find peace until 3 times lovers had spoken the words of love to each other.

In the first two books, “Jewels of the Sun” and “Tears of the Moon” Darcy’s brothers found love. Now, it is time for her.

Terrific book. They don’t have to be read in order, but I read them so and enjoyed them tremendously.

“Tears of the Moon” by Nora Roberts

“Tears of the Moon” by Nora Roberts
2000, Jove Books
ISBN: 0-515-12854-6

It was a feverish pace I set as I read, “Tears of the Moon" by Nora Roberts. This is the second in a trilogy and if you’re interested you can read the review I wrote of the first book, “Jewels of the Sun” here.

Good book. This is a real good book. There are three siblings and each one, evidently, is finding love in each of the books. With the first one it was Aiden and Jude. In this one it is Shawn and Brenna.

Shawn is the dreamer. He hears music everywhere. But, he’s also a Gallagher and together the three of them, Aiden, Shawn and their sister Darcy are running the family’s pub. It’s in Ireland in a sleepy town and they’ve got the folk who live there and the sightseers who visit to come in a drink a pint or two, to listen to the music talented musicians in the area play and to eat the wonderful food Shawn prepares.

Brenna’s been in love with Shawn most of her life, except she doesn’t know it and just as simply, he’s been in love with her. He also is unaware of this fact.

What ties these books together is a legend 300 years old. Prince Carrick, head of the faeries, fell in love with a mortal woman, Gwen. He offered her diamonds from the sun, pearls from the moon and sapphires from the sea if she would stay with him always. She refused for she wanted to hear him say the words, “I love you.” He thought giving her precious gems would be enough. It was not.

Her father was afraid that if she was any more involved with Prince Carrick he would spirit her away to faerie land and he’d never see his daughter again. So, he made the arrangements and Gwen married a mortal man. She had children and grew old and it wasn’t until she was an old widowed woman that Prince Carrick saw she was free again and offered her his love. Too late. She refused him again, though she let it be known that she would have loved him. Too late. So, in a fit of anger Prince Carrick cast a spell and when Gwen passed on she was doomed to haunt the faerie cottage mourning her lost love. He, in turn, was unable to see her. Bad job. Really bad job of it.

Until the Gallagher’s came along. And, to break the spell there would need to be 3 marriages happen of people who could finally say the words of love to each other. Aiden and Jude where the first. Shawn and Brenna are the second. And, once I’m done with this review I’ll be tucking into the third book, “Heart of the Sea” where I figure something will be happening with Darcy.

You don’t have to read these in order. They are all stand alone books, but I think if you can get them to go in the right order the whole story is that much better.

That was the nuts and bolts of the story. You’ll need to read it to laugh at the unbearably funny situations these folks find themselves in, to cringe at the fights, to cry when hearts are breaking and to sit on the edge of your seat during the sex.

“An Ocean Apart” by Robin Pilcher

“An Ocean Apart” by Robin Pilcher
1999, St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 0-312-97184-2

I think “An Ocean Apart” by Robin Pilcher is definitely one of those books you would likely enjoy.

David’s wife Rachel has just died. He is distraught with grief. His 3 children are also trying to cope without their mother. Everybody is in turmoil. Luckily, his parents have given him and the children safe haven. The kids have gone back to their boarding school, but he has taken a time off from his job to try to work through his grief.

His work is with the family’s Scottish whiskey distillery. His father, though retired, has stepped up to the plate to take his son’s place in the company while he moves through his grief.

Unfortunately, there are corporate raiders hovering and nobody realizes until it is almost too late what they are up to. Part of the plan is to get David out of the way and what better way to do that then send him to the States far enough away from Scotland that he won’t be aware of their nefarious takeover plans.

It is while he is in the States that David slowly comes to terms with his grief for Rachel and begins to meet people who don’t know who he is or why he is there. He settles into a quiet life as a gardener and comes to care for the people he is now working for.

This book was so good I didn’t want to put it down until I’d finished it. I will be on the look out for more books by Robin Pilcher, who, by the way is Rosamunde Pilcher’s son. The writing talent definitely runs in the family.

“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.