Royal Lockdown

Author: Rebecca York
Copyright: 2007 (Harlequin); pgs. 246
Series: Harlequin Intrigue #994; Lights Out
Sensuality: Warm

Who: Princess Ariana LeBron of Beau Pays and Shane Peters
Where: Boston, MA

Eleven years ago, Liam Shea was sent to prison.  He was part of a Special Forces task force, sent in to rescue hostages.  But when he supposedly cut the power too soon, the kidnappers were alerted and several of the hostages were killed before the task force could reach them.  Shea has long claimed he was set up, that he got an “all set” signal from someone else on the team.  But without proof, he’s found guilty.  Now out of prison, Shea is bent on revenge against the men of that task force.  Several of the members are attending a gala, and he sets his plan into motion.

Shane Peters was one of those men.  He’s now a millionaire security expert.  His primary interest in the gala is the Beau Pays sapphire, on display for the event.  He’s especially interested in what type of security it has, since he is looking to be hired by the king.  Then he sees Princess Ariana and is instantly attracted to her.  He manages to get her to dance with him and is therefore with Shane when Shea and his sons take the gala attendees hostage.

Ariana has always been a dutiful princess and is set to marry a minor noble of Beau Pays.  Meeting Shane, being instantly attracted to him, makes her rethink her decisions.  The more she gets to know him, the more certain Ariana is that Shane’s the one she wants to be with.  Ariana is so sure of this, she is more than willing to give into temptation, even while Shane himself is trying to avoid it.  He believes that a relationship between them could never work — he with his side job in the black ops field and her as the future queen.

But before all that can be settled, the pair has to survive the Sheas.  Liam’s primarily interested in Ariana because she is standing in for her father, who was on that ill-fated mission.  The king, being ill, sent her to the gala.  Shane makes it his mission to get her safely out of Boston.

The book moves along pretty quickly.  Ariana gets to show off her skills in self defense and fire arms.  Since this is the first book in a four-book mini-series, the kidnapping and revenge plot is not resolved.

Started: 18 August 2008
Finished: 28 August 2008

Rating:

Enjoyed it!

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

The teaser:

Maybe the only advantage Shane had was surprise. From an inside pocket in his tuxedo jacket, he withdrew a small folding knife.

– from page 49, Harlequin Intrigue # 994: Royal Lockdown (Rebecca York)

Why I picked this book: Last year, when I was participating in the reading challenge on the official Harlequin website, I selected several titles from the Intrigue line. A sampling, to see if I might like this particular imprint. It also fills the “Y” slot for Author in the “A-Z Reading Challenge” hosted by Joy.

Texas Ransom

Author: Amanda Stevens
Copyright: 2008 (Harlequin); pgs. 242
Series: Silhouette Intrigue #1035; Intrigue’s Ultimate Heroes
Sensuality: Subtle

Who: Graham Hollister and Kendall Hollister

Summary: Wealth, power and the perfect life. That’s what Graham Hollister thought he had with his beautiful wife, Kendall. He’d almost lost her in a deadly car crash, but since then he’d reveled in their renewed marriage. Until one Texas night changed everything. A brutal crime cartel came to abduct Kendall. Only the kidnappers didn’t want just ransom — they were out for revenge. But as Graham raced against time and all odds to rescue his wife, everything he thought he once knew about her was now in question. Would the dark, dangerous secrets she harbored destroy them both?

Comments: If you’re the sort of Romance reader that doesn’t like it when the author keeps the main couple apart for nearly the entire book, then this book is not for you. Kendall is kidnapped early on and the couple is reunited during the last few pages. You’ve been warned.

I liked Graham, which is fortunate, since we spend so much time in his head, as he tries to cope with a situation where he is in over his head. Graham is not the aggressive, golden boy of the family — that would be his older brother, Terrence. Graham was the less athletic, studious son. He wears glasses. He suffers from vertigo. Though he owns his own architectural firm, his life is relatively simple and quiet. All that changes when his wife is taken from him.

Graham is anxious to get his wife back, but is afraid that the kidnapper will carry out their threats against his family if he doesn’t follow their instructions to the letter. Graham is able to make contact with the FBI covertly, but he realizes pretty quickly that they are suspicious of him. Things aren’t adding up for them. Over the course of the book, Graham learns that there are many things he doesn’t know about his wife, and those things are making the FBI suspicious of them both. Through it all, nothing shakes he determination to get her back.

As noted above, Kendall is hardly in the book. It’s hard to talk about her, because it would be a spoiler. Suffice to say, she truly loves Graham. She, too, was in way over her head and afraid of losing the man she loves.

Started: 1 July 2008
Finished: 6 July 2008

Rating:

Enjoyed it!

Ash Corbett had been gone for twelve years. And now he was back in Jacob’s Pass, Texas, as brash and as beautiful as ever. But something about him wasn’t right. His family knew it. . . Emma Novick knew it. And what would take DNA typing precious tie to reveal, Emma had only to look in his eyes and sample one kiss to know for sure.

Author: Amanda Stevens
ISBN: 0-373-22954-2 (Harlequin Intrigue)
Finshed: 17 July 2007
Who: Emma Novick

Imposter stories can be tricky in romances, especially if the imposter is either the hero or the heroine — and more so if they have a past. After all, they’re suppose to be soul mates. How could the heroine fall in love with someone who wasn’t the man she loved?

This is my third Intrigue and it is by far my favorite. I was caught up in the story. I questioned whether the author could present the reader with a hero who may not be the real Ash, and still have the reader be sympathetic toward him. Since the rest of Ash Corbett’s family consists of a tyrannical matriarch grandmother and an assortment of equally manipulative and selfish aunts and uncles who threaten Emma and her father with unemployment, I found myself hoping that Ash — regardless of his true identity — would just whisk her and her father away.

As long as there was a believable connection between the supposed Ash and Emma, and she could be happy with the man in front of her instead of the one in her memory, then I could accept their story.

Rating:

Liked A Lot

From earlier this year.

Reluctant Witness
Author: Kathleen Long
ISBN: 0-373-22959-3 (Harlequin Intrigue)
Finished/Tossed: 28 January 2007
Who: Kerri Nelson, sculptor and Wade Sorenson, owns Sorenson Construction

From the back: He’d witnessed a heinous crime and now Kerri Nelson’s young son insisted on testifying. Part of her was proud, but a bigger part wanted to wrap him in her arms and run. Then her nemesis–and one-time crush–Wade Sorenson stepped in and insisted on keeping them both safe. She had had no intention of relying on the man she blamed for shattering her family…until someone came after her little boy. Kerri soon found the safest place was in Wade’s arms–which scared her more than any elusive criminal ever could. And made her realize how much she still had to lose.

Comments: I’ve made it a habit to keep an open mind when reading a mystery. I’m never sure if the author is the type to practice a bit of misdirection. So even when the author seems to be pointing at one suspect, I watch out for hints that there might be another possibility. In this story, it’s Wade’s connection to a mob family that hints at a second suspect: in his youth, his friend was the son of a prominent mob boss. The father took a liking to Wade and treated him like a son.

Because of this connection, Wade is trying to keep his business reputation above reproach. It is so important to him that he convinces Kerri to allow Tom to come forward. It wasn’t his intention to put the boy’s life in danger, of course, but he takes their safety into his own hands and they go into hiding. The problem is, they can’t seem to lose the attacker. This doesn’t improve his relationship with Kerri.

Kerri is frightened for her son’s safety, and very protective of him. When she does something stupid, like take her son out in public, you wonder if she’s lost her common sense. To be fair, she wasn’t aware that their attacker had manage to follow them, or the fact that even with a dye job and hair cut, she would be instantly recognized. Also, she’s trying to maintain a little normalcy for Tom, and taking him to the boardwalk for breakfast and skee-ball seemed harmless to her.

I don’t know how your average 10-year-old would behave in this situation, but Tom handled himself well. I liked the fact that the author chose to make the boy an avid reader who becomes heartbroken when his favorite books are destroyed. Tom adores Wade, who was his father’s best friend. The boy idolizes him and Wade is very patient with him.

Running for your life and trying to protect a child can put a damper on a relationship. It doesn’t help matters that John Nelson died on one of Wade’s constructions sites, and Wade testified to the fact it was John’s own negligence that caused the accident. Kerri believes that Wade betrayed John’s memory by placing the blame on him, even if it was his mistake. They haven’t spoken in three years, and then Wade shows up on her doorstep and insists that Tom come forward. It seems that Wade’s been in love with her a long time, even before John asked her to marry him. He even gave her an amethyst heart that she still carries as a good luck charm (which begs the question, in this day and age, why she didn’t ask Wade out after accepting the necklace?)

All in all, I thought the book was good introduction to the Intrigue line. I prefer historical to contemporary, so any book I finish that doesn’t leave a bad taste is doing something right. The author didn’t convolute the plot, the arsonist/budding hit man wasn’t over-the-top, and the heroine didn’t cross the “too stupid to live” line.

Book was okay, but not a keeper.

Rating:

Just Ok