What: 2nds Reading Challenge
When: 1 January – 31 December 2009
Who: J. Kaye (J. Kaye’s Book Blog)
Rules: The challenge is to read a total of 12 books, written by authors that you have only read once before. The books do not have to be part of a series. List can be created/modified any time during the year.
Some are part of series. In the instances where I list only the author, I’ve left it open as to which book I’ll read — based on mood or other challenges.
Books in RED are on more than one list/alternate list
- Hail to the Chef (Julie Hyzy) — 2nd in the White House Chef series {1 Jan 09} (REVIEW)
- Ace is Wild (Penny McCall) {27 Feb 09} (REVIEW)
- Kiss of Fury (Deborah Cooke) — 2nd in the Dragonfire series {20 Apr 09} (REVIEW)
- Dawnkeepers (Jessica Andersen) — 2nd in the Final Prophecy series {15 Jan 09} (REVIEW)
- The Contestant (Stephanie Doyle) {11 Jul 09} (REVIEW)
- Duel of Hearts (Diane Farr) {21 Sep 09} (REVIEW) **pending **
- The Wallflower (Jan Freed) {31 Aug 09} (REVIEW)
- Bedded for Diamonds (Kelly Hunter) {11 Feb 09} (REVIEW)
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I did slightly better at this one. Some of these, I’ve already read a third book written by them.
The Wallflower
Title: The Wallflower
Author: Jan Freed
Copyright: 1999 (Harlequin); 296 pgs.
ISBN: 0-373-70790-8
Series: Harlequin Superromance #790
Sensuality: Warm
Who: Sarah Davidson and Jack Morgan
Where: Houston, Texas
From the back: Sarah Davidson is the lone witness to a brutal murder. After the killer makes an attempt on her life, she’s put under police protection. But one of the cops turns on her, she’s forced to hide in a place no one would ever think to look. Sarah’s solution? Roosevelt High. She’ll masquerade as a high school senior and try to blend in. But no one can ignore the “cool girl from California”. Especially not Jack Morgan, her English teacher. Under ordinary circumstances, he would be the perfect man for her. But he’ll never look at her as a woman unless she reveals her true identity — and if she does that she just might end up dead. What’s a girl to do?
Comments: The best way to describe this book is that it is a cross between Hiding Out and Never Been Kissed. The title refers to Sarah when she originally went through high school. She’d been overweight and shy. Her college roommate, Donna Kaiser, helped her overcome her problems and Sarah is now an image consultant in a public relations firm. Donna is an assistant principle and it is her idea to hide Sarah as a high school senior in her school.
Sarina Davis, as Sarah is now known as, is nothing like the eighteen-year-old, Sarah. Used to speaking her mind and being taking seriously by adults, “Sarina” gets off on the wrong foot with Jack Morgan, her English teacher. He’s strict and Sarah thinks he’s uptight. However, she’s a hit with many of the students, especially the misfits. Sarah decides to befriend and help several of these students as much as she can while waiting for the trial.
One of the students she befriends happens to be Jack’s much younger sister, Kate. Their father died while Jack was still in high school, leaving behind a pregnant wife. Jack stayed with his mother instead of going off to USC — Jack’s dream is to be a screenwriter. He went to night school and became a teacher. Every chance he gets, he works on his screenplays. He likes teaching, but lately, he’s been unhappy with his life. His sister is at a difficult stage (she’s fifteen) and their mother is always critical of Kate, comparing her to Jack, and not being an effective parent. He’s also waiting to hear from his agent about a script he submitted. And if that wasn’t maddening enough, the new female student is having an alarming effect on him.
At first, Sarah isn’t that interested in him. She calls him Moses (he has a set of personal ten commandments on his class room wall) and is critical of his boring clothing and his aftershave. She’s more than happy to let Donna have him; she’s been interested in him for years. However, the more Sarah gets to know him, her feelings begin to change. She’s forced to reveal her true identity to him.
I really enjoyed this book. There wasn’t instant attraction, and I’m glad the author chose that route. Instead, Sarah feels guilty about her growing feelings for Jack, due to Donna’s long-standing interest in him. Jack fights against it first, because of the inappropriateness of the situation, and later because of his potential career change. I also liked that Jack discusses with Sarah whether leaving Texas for Hollywood (without his sister and mother) is the right thing to do, and Sarah — heart hurting — tells him that he’d eventually regret it and come to resent those who mean the most to him.
This is the second book I’ve read by this author. And like the previous one, there are secondary romances going on in the background. Kate gets her very own knight in shining armor, and even Donna isn’t left heartbroken.
Started: 18 August 2009
Finished: 31 August 2009
Rating:
Enjoyed it!
The Contestant
Title: The Contestant
Author: Stephanie Doyle
Copyright: 2008 (Harlequin); 286 pgs.
ISBN: 0-373-51366-6
Series: Silhouette Bombshell #52
Sensuality: Warm
Who: Talia Mooney and Reuben Serrano
Where: South Pacific
Four and a half years after competing in her last Olympics, diver Talia Mooney finds herself participating in a different kind of competition. In an effort to help her treasure-hunting father pay off his debts to some shady people who plan to do bodily harm if they are not repaid, Talia signs up to compete on Ultimate Endurance, a new reality TV series. A group of eight contestants (four men and four women), two cameramen, and the host are dropped off on a tropical island. Through a series of competitions, the contestants will be eliminated, one by one, until there is only one remaining. The prize is a million dollars.
But things do not go smoothly. The competition has barely started when Evan — their host — informs them that, around the same time they left Hawaii, some one murdered an up-and-coming actress and made off with several millions-worth of jewelery. The police believe the murderer fled on one of ships that sailed that same night — including their yacht. Evan reassures the group that the captain searched the ship after receiving the warning and no castaway was found. As far as Evan is concerned, there is no need to worry — the game can continue. This doesn’t reassure anyone. Several members of the show were late additions, including Evan. Regardless, any one of the cast and crew could have done it, knowing they’d be sailing away from civilization for an extended period of time.
To say more about the plot might give it away, so I’ll leave it at that.
As for Talia and Reuben, both are at a crossroads in their lives; both are looking to be something other than what they were before, but for different reasons.
After her last Olympics, Talia went to school to be an accountant. After a lifetime of living on a boat, camping on tropical islands, and spending all her time in a bathing suit, Talia is looking for a normal, serious life. One where she can wear business suits and nice shoes; where she can have an apartment on solid ground and normal furnishings. Talia wants a life that she believes her mother — who died long ago — would have wanted her to have. Though Talia knows her mother loved her father very much, she can’t help believing her mother would have preferred living like a normal person. Yet, since graduating, Talia hasn’t been able to get a job. Nobody who has interviewed her for entry level positions can believe someone like her — her silver medal is listed on her resume — would be content to spend all day behind a desk, in front of a computer, crunching numbers. So far, no one will hire her, based on her background.
Half Irish, half Puerto Rican, Reuben comes from a family of cops. The only reason his maternal grandfather didn’t chase Reuben’s father off, when he starting dating his mother, was the fact that he was a cop (and Catholic). Reuben’s uncles are cops and his three brothers are cops. Being a cop was all he knew how to be. After getting shot though, Reuben had time on his hand to seriously reevaluate his life, and to decide if he truly wanted to return to the force, or if there was a dream he wanted to pursue instead Turns out, there was, but he needed ready money. He learned about the reality show from a fellow Iron Man competitor, and jumped at the chance to sign up.
Reuben is very blunt and a bit of jerk. He calls Talia “sugar” and “sweetheart”, and lets his intention be known. It was lust at first sight for him, but it has developed into something deeper. He’s reached a point where he’s thinking about a long-term commitment and finding away to have Talia in his life. He’s observant enough to know that Talia clamped down her own instant attraction to him and to know, even if she can’t figure it out, that she wouldn’t be happy confined to a cubicle. For her part, Talia initially fights the attraction because Reuben isn’t the safe, serious (boring) type she pictures herself married to; he doesn’t fit into her safe, serious (boring) future plans.
I really liked this book. I even liked Reuben, though he is a bit hard to take in the beginning. He has no problem with Talia taking the lead in situations where she has more expertise. It soften the alpha male tendencies somewhat. The rest of the characters are stereotypes, but that’s to be expected because even on reality shows, that’s what the contestants seen to be anyway. I had a hard time putting the book down. I didn’t guess who the murderer was right off and that kept me turning the pages.
Started: 10 July 2009
Finished: 11 July 2009
Rating:
Liked A Lot
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30 Aug – KMont – I’m not a big fan of these kinds of reality shows, but somehow it sounds like it could make for a good book setup. Glad you enjoyed your category read this month! 
I’ve yet to try one of the mystery/suspense ones.
30 Aug – Me – I’m no fan of them either. *shudder* Thanks for stopping by!
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