Yikes! Hot enough for you? It’s sizzling outside for so many, all over the world, but the pages of some of the books I’ve been reading this past month have been on fire themselves!
Scorching example number one: 2021’s BROKEN FALCON by Rachel Grant. Now I consider myself a connoisseur of romance, but somehow or other I’ve not read this amazingly prolific (and hot—did I mention hot?!) author. BROKEN FALCON is the eleventh volume in her “Evidence” series, but I had no problem understanding the set-up, and even though it’s obvious many of the secondary characters have their own stories, it’s easy to catch on. Hero Chase Johnston is trying desperately to carve out a second chance life for himself after experiencing horrific abuse at the hands of a villainous psychiatrist. Heroine Eden O’Keefe is also working to build a new life, and if doing so in a timely manner means earning money at night on the internet, so be it. These two complicated souls seem at first to have little in common besides physical passion, but their shared determination to stop child-trafficking helps them find a soul-deep connection that burns as brightly as their bedroom encounters. I loved Ms. Grant’s storytelling, and I look forward to making my way through her huge selection of titles.
Ali Hazelwood continues her stellar delivery of smart, sexy stories with this summer’s LOVE, THEORETICALLY. Here, too, an earnest young woman turns to her feminine appeal to bring in the bucks, and Elsie makes ends meet by posing as a fake girlfriend for desperate (needing to please Mommy) young men. But Hazelwood’s focus is women in STEM, and this volume’s lovers are deep in the academic rivalry between practical and theoretical physics. Some of the subject matter may be scholarly, but the banter is lively and provocative, particularly after Jack learns Elsie’s been “dating” his younger brother. What is he to do about his growing attraction to the post-doc researcher vying for a position in his university department when on weekends she’s the woman his family welcomes on his brother’s behalf? Ah, what a tangled, sexy web!
The passion in Annabel Monaghan’s SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER comes from tamped down memories of a high school romance and its fiery stolen nights. Sam (Samantha) and Wyatt are now all grown up, and awkward recollections need to be shuttered up and pushed aside. Sam’s engaged to a perfectly suitable professional, so why in the world would she be harboring wistful remembrances of the wild musician she once loved? He broke her heart, took off for parts unknown, and has no right to look at her with burning desire just because they’re both back at their childhood summer homes. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and a second chance at love makes SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER an irresistible treat for softies like me.
And coming soon, a treat from another new-to-me author many of you already know and love: BRYNN AND SEBASTIAN HATE EACH OTHER by Bethany Turner. Once again, I’m shaking my head in wonder: how have I never read this talented author before? Bedroom antics are kept off the page in Ms. Turner’s books, but the heartfelt intensity of her characters is radiant. Brynn and Sebastian seem to come from different worlds: she’s the New York-based star of a network morning show, and he’s a town councilman in the middle of nowhere. She insults his town (where she happens to have grown up) on air, and as penance, is sent there to find a newsworthy story. Neither one wants anything to do with love, of course, so what could possibly cause sparks to fly? He’s not quite the nobody he plays at, for starters, and it turns out she’s not half as cynical as she tries to convey. Their hearts are both granted a second chance to risk it all in this lovely small-town romcom.
Temperatures may soar outside, but our hearts are forever kept warm with the wonderful offerings from so many gifted writers. It’s glorious to pay a second visit to an author we trust, but it’s equally enchanting to discover new talents. Wishing you the joys of old and new in these last bright days of summer.
About Meg Napier
Meg’s friends during her high school years all expected her romance novels to hit the shelves decades ago, but she foolishly allowed “serious pursuits” to get in her way. Now that her beloved children can feed, clothe, and most importantly, support themselves, she’s free to turn her attention to her first passion – putting words to paper that capture your attention and make your heart sing in quiet joy. Her stories tell most frequently of second chances–in life, love, and sometimes even at rediscovering a soul-mate from a previous life.
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