J A Jance has done it again. Rattlesnake Crossing is an excellent addition to the previous Joanna Brady mysteries. Set in a large county in Arizona shots rings out in the night and JoAnna is off again trying to save the citizens of Cochise County from murder. Fans of the Joanna Brady should also check out JA Jance's other series JP Beaumont of Seattle. I recommend both series to mystery fans.

When I first read the Kirkus review, I delayed reading the book. However, I did finally read it and I couldn't put it down. I think Ms. Jance endows her character with compassion and makes her a real person. Real police investigation is not the exciting stuff that is portrayed in some of the tough guy/gal novels. Joanna Brady is more like a real person with a real life. I enjoyed this book very much and am eagerly awaiting the next one in the series. I personally like a little romance.

While running for the position of Sheriff of Cochise County, Deputy Andy Brady was killed by a drug lord's hired gun. Andy's supporters convince his widow Joanna to run in his place in the upcoming election. Perhaps it was a sympathy vote, but to everyone's amazement, Joanna defeats her more experienced opponents. Months later, the grief has considerably diminished and she has become a very good law enforcement official.

Her latest case begins when Joanna arrives at the home of a licensed gun dealer and finds the man dead. Every weapon in the store is missing. Two more corpses are found. Both are the victims of a sniper with a 50-caliber rifle that is identical to what the deceased gun dealer supposedly kept in his stock. The women were scalped and their bodies were positioned in a special way, leading Joanna and her staff to believe they are contending with a serial killer, who must be stopped before someone else is murdered.

J.A. Jance brings to life the desert communities of the Southwest in such a vivid manner as to make readers feel as if they visiting Cochise County. In RATTLESNAKE CROSSING, the protagonist is a multi-complex character as she varies and balances her roles as mother, sheriff, friend, and potential girlfriend. This adds to that feeling of being on location. The story line is fast-paced and believable, making for a great addition to the Joanna Brady mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

I love to read historical romances among other things. This is the first book I've read by Catherine Anderson and it was a great story. Luke is such a selfish rogue in the beginning that I immediately disliked him because of his selfishness, wanting to hire a paid companion and no less an innocent like Cassie. Then having her father and brother thrown in jail so that he could have what he wanted but this is where the story took off for me. I love Nora Roberts' books because like this one they all have a good plot. I've found another wonderful author in Ms. Anderson.

Very few book move me tears, but Simply Love by Catherine Anderson did the job. Luke Taggart is my perfect idea of a hero and even when he has Cassandra Zerek's father and brother thrown in jail for a trumpt up charge he never lost his humanity. Cassandra is almost too innocent to be true, I had a little trouble someone could be that innocent outside of a cloustered nunnery. But her innocence and Luke's jaded appeal make for a wonderful story.

Luke Taggert is a business man...a business man who's willing to do anything it takes to get what he wants. And right now he wants Cassandra Zerek. She signs a contract, agreeing to his terms, but doesn't understand the ramifications of what she's signing. Due to her misunderstanding the terms of their agreement, Luke doesn't get what he wanted...no, instead he gets much, much more than he bargained for.

Catherine Anderson does a great job redeeming Luke, a hero who was everso unheroic at the beginning of the book, and a man you fell in love with by the end of it. Simply Love was simply a great read!

I didn't think Carrie Brown's second novel could possibly be better than Rose's Garden, her first, but it is. The story of Norris Lamb and Vida Stephen is the most unlikely of love stories -- he's an aging postmaster, and she's the nanny to a mute and retarded boy -- and the novel that presents their strange and miraculous courtship will make you long to go back and read the novel again. It is beautifully written and marvelously detailed. It is often very funny, and the novel's conclusion is one of the most moving and convincing I've ever encountered. Carrie Brown is a literary author who deserves a wide audience. I can't wait for whatever she writes next.

We Norris Lamb's of the earth appreciate the ordinary heroism told in this simple, but profound story. Even those of us who are handsomer than Norris have many of his foibles, although we acknowledge that his human traits are delightfully unique in their arresting hues and combination. We Norris Lamb's of the world are the very men who weep while reading this sweet tale with the loveliest of prose. We number many more than the Vida's of the world could imagine. And we appreciate and love the Vida's of the world. That is why this book must be read. In this story, from the simple and ordinary blossoms a powerful romance that, with rare exception, heretofore only has been portrayed as occurring between men and women with the build of Jeremy Martin (read the novel to understand). "Lamb in Love" reveals the miracle of selfless love transcending selfish, unromantic infatuation and obsession. I truly loved this book. It will be made into a fine movie, I am sure, perhaps starring Colin Firth as Mr. Lamb (that's just my recommendation). Now, I have said and revealed too much, so I must retreat to my post to sort the mail and admire my stamps. And I will await the movie with all the anticipation of a man waiting behind the horse chestnut tree for Vida to appear.

I just finished Lamb in Love and wish that I hadn't! I will miss spending time in the little English village of Hursley getting to know Norris Lamb and Vida and Manford and all the other characters in this charming and poignant novel about hope and courage. Beautifully written with humour and warmth I found myself alternately laughing out loud and welling up with tears. A wonderful and true snapshot of the magic and drama of "ordinary lives" told with compassion and wit. A memorable book - don't miss a trip to Hursley!

It is difficult to believe that this is the same writer who penned All Through the Night. It seems I'll always compare every book Ms. Brockway writes to that wonderful, romantic, and emotional story. However, this is an edited review where I have given The Bridal Season a second and third reading, and a serious look (and much higher rating). As I wrote before, our heroine, Letty Potts, is a wonderful creation.

Ms. Brockway, whom I consider one of the most talented romance writers in the business, is attempting to write "To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis" only romance-romance style. I firmly believe that Ms. Brockway spent a lot of time working this plot, it just snowballs, and there are some unexpected laughs and some wonderfully romantic moments. I love Letty's hat, and this character's thought process. It's honest and not cliched or childish. This is a woman who really falls in love
for all the right reasons.

Sir Elliot (I even had his name wrong earlier) is a nice hero, but one that needed a little more edge, and a little more doubt about Letty. However, this is really Letty's story, and she reigns supreme. I do think this is a much better book than the Scottish trio. It shows Ms. Brockway at her best. But it is not her best work. The plot wraps up a little too neatly and quickly for the rest of the story. And although she does recapture some of the "little romantic things" of As You Desire, her POV style (while clever and probably necessary) creates a great deal of emotional distance for the reader. If I am hard on Ms. Brockway, it is because she is my favorite writer in romance. I would have loved to give this book 5 stars but could not. The first time around I gave it two, probably because I was disappointed in her direction. I think I must have drifted through it not really paying attention.

The Bridal Season is a delightful romance. It is certainly one of the best romance stories out there--it captures the period nicely--it has a good plot--it is funny at times, and Letty Potts is a crazy confection. We cannot stop reading because we have to know how this woman is going to manage the tangled web she has created. A big star for Letty taking the fall instead of the croquet ball!!!! I've already pre-ordered the next in the series. Good Luck Ms. Brockway. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by a demanding reader.

Get ready for a delightful surprise - Connie Brockway's latest book Bridal Season is a COMEDY! An absolutely hilarious, witty story of a young woman con artist, Letty Potts, who tries to fool the local countryside folks into believing that she is Lady Agatha Whyte, a famous Wedding Planner from London. Everyone falls for the act except for the sharp ( but very handsome) local magistrate, Sir Eliot March. He doubts her identity from the moment she steps off the train but quickly becomes enamored by her quick wit, fast repartee-type dialogue and her astonishing smile (complete with dimples!) The barbs that fly between "Lady Agatha" and Eliot's former love, Mrs. Catherine Bunting are extremely entertaining as is the famous croquet match! Here's Brockway writing in a light, frivolous style that's so infectious, it just sucks you in!! Because the reader's having so much fun, we forgive her momentary lapses like calling a young boy a "tweenie" and referring to her job as that "wedding thingie". A bit too modern, but who cares..There's an unexpected, tension-filled denoument and an expected romance-filled happy ending. Don't miss Ms. Brockway's more serious works: All Through the Night and My Dearest Enemy as well as the absolute BEST: the McClairen's Isle Trilogy: The Passionate One, the Reckless One and the Ravishing One. All highly recommended.

I usually don't write book reviews since they are so time consuming, but I had to do this one out of my appreciation for Ms. Brockway's talent. I think she's one of the best romance writers out there- equally capable of both humor and angst. The Bridal Season is a charming, funny read and I loved the music hall comedienne heroine, Letty Potts. I bought the book the day it came out hoping that it would pull me from my romance reading slump. I wasn't disappointed. What I appreciate most about Ms. Brockway's characters is that they are never conform to some romance genre cliche. Letty is a sharp, laughter-loving woman who is somewhat of an opportunist. The very decent and upright Sir Elliot is a perfect foil for her. If you've never read a Brockway book, then this book is a good place to start. If you have, then I think the Bridal Season is as enjoyable as My Dearest Enemy or As You Desire. I eagerly await the next book in the Bridal series.

I love history because you can see man's stregnths and weaknesses and learn from them. This book shows us both civil war and simular present day successes and failures. This is a quick read because it keeps your attention with the historical facts. I went back and re-read it so I could do a more technical read for life application. This is two books in one and well worth getting.

I saw the author being interviewed by Brian Lamb on the Booknotes show the other night. The book sounded quite interesting, so I went out and bought it. The thing I like best about it is that it's not some heavy historical tome about the Civil War. It's a collection of fascinating stories about specific decisions made by commanders, and the leadership lessons those decisions illustrate -- like the need to take risks, changing old rules, not accepting failure, etc. Then the author tells more interesting stories about today's successful high-tech innovators and how their decisions are based on the same leadership lessons. I like the book, and find it useful in making decisions in my own business life, because in telling stories about both the Civil War and today's high-tech marketplace, the book is about the rules and lessons ordinary people followed in making important decisions.

Over the last few years, I have read all kinds of books on sales and mamagement. After reading 3 or 4 books, I realized that the same theme was being discussed in each book. I wanted more. I wanted to learn how to get more with less. How to challenge my sales force to go to the next hill. I began a study of people who I felt had done this. I started reading about civil war generals. I have to admit that I just "happened" on this book. Tom Wheeler has done a phenomenal job in showing how todays leaders can benefit from leaders in our history. This book is in my office and will be picked up from time to time to refresh my self on the lessons that are discussed.

Too much flying! Too little plot. This book just fills in some details missing from other books in the series. Fill. That's it. It was an enjoyable read, but only because I had read (and enjoyed, more or less) the other books in the series.

The Intruders follows Jake Grafton shortly after the end of Flight of the Intruder, to 1973 on a cruise on the U.S.S. Columbia flying A-6E Intruders. In this book Grafton flies with a Marine captain Bombadier/Navigator (BN) named "Flap" Le Beau, who is ex-Marine Recon, and has some very interesting jungle/guerilla warfare skills, as well as an assortment of custom-made slashing and thrownig knives ("What are you, a walking cutlery store?" Jake asks at one point). There is not too much action for the first while, just mainly a series of carrier accidents and mishaps, but there IS some action and plotting toward the last 80 or so pages where Le Beau is truly in his element, along with Grafton. A must-read for all fans of Stephen Coonts and carrier aviation

In this book Coonts concentrates on action on an aircraft carrier with plenty of naval aviation action. Naval Air being the long arm of American Foreign Policy is depicted here in action. Jake Grafton the main character is interesting and at times reflects upon himself to see whether or not to get out of the navy of not, marriage with his sweetheart Callie is on his mind. Flap Le beau his Bombardier/Nav. puts a bit of fun and flare into the story. Although I'm not a pilot but an enthusiast, Coonts puts a lot of emphasis on what the pilots are thinking of while in the cockpit, no matter at night or during the day, as a reader you get to feel what the pilot and his Navigator are really feeling at the time.

THIS STORY WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE about the life for an aviator living on an aircraft carrier, we have enough movies about the grunts on the ground,here is a chance to make a movie about aviators on aircraft carriers as they are America's long arm of Foreign Policy.

This is a fun book for me to read ~~ I think I found it at a library booksale and it was a quick and fun read. It is a mystery/romance novel ~~ the first Robards book I have ever read.

Molly Ballard, working as a groomer at a Kentucky stable while raising her younger brothers and sisters, runs into trouble with the law when she spirits away $5,000 that the FBI had planted in one of the barns. She was planning to use the money to feed her brothers and sisters, but FBI agent Will Lyman thought otherwise. Once he realized that she was speaking the truth, he decided to use Molly as an insider to investigate a race-horsing fixing scheme. Only Lyman got more than he bargained for ~~ not only was he focusing on the race-horsing fixing scheme, there were horse mulitations happening, a unsolved murder case, and a suicide in the peaceful Kentucky countryside. And falling in love with Molly ~~ it all provides entertainment and mystery throughout the book.

I would have given this book a 5 if it weren't for some explicit sex scenes in the book ~~ I am one of the readers who likes to be teased, not told of every sexual act in the story. Must be the midwestern in me. Other than that, this book provides great entertainment for me ~~ a fast read, which is something I need around here in a house full of happenings and it's fun to read as well.

If I run across Robards' other books, I'll be sure to pick them up since I enjoyed this book. She is a new author for me to explore and this book is hard to put down. I don't regret picking this one up at all.

11-7-02

This is my first Robards book and I can't wait to read another! This story was so enchanting that I did not want it to end. Molly is more than a simple small town girl, and a worthwhile love interest for Will. Who wouldn't be drawn to a young woman who has the spunk to take on raising her four siblings on her own? Molly was a strong and well rounded heroine. And Will was a dream to imagine. I give this book the best rating. Do not miss out! Get it now!

I must say that this novel ranks as high as Walking After Midnight. I find myself reading it again and again. I fell in love with Will, the hard-nosed, nothing but business, FBI agent. Though he tries not to become emotionally involved with Molly Ballard, he can't resist her . This is a must read for all KR fans.

This was my first Adler book. And although I am a huge Nora Roberts fan and have been for years, I must say that I truly enjoyed reading this book. Sooner or Later has a lot of story behind the story if that makes sense. Ellie's character is strong and bold. And I really liked Dan, the ex-New York cop. I loved the description and detail Adler gives to everything to make it come to life on each page. The only thing I didn't like about this book was it seems to go back and forth a lot, which is not bad at all but just something I am not used to reading. It was a very fast read. I read this book in two days and I was a little left with wanting more! I would highly recommend this book and River's End by Nora Roberts.

This is the first book that I read written by Elizabeth Adler and I enjoyed it very much. It has mystery, romance and intrigue throughout the novel.

"Sooner or Later" is the first book that I have read by Elizabeth Adler. It is a real page turner. I am looking forward to reading another story by this author.

Review by Jillian Abbott

Nowhere Else On Earth by Josephine Humphreys is an historical novel with equal emphasis on history and fiction.
In terms of history, the book stays close to known facts. But Humphreys doesn't stop there. In inventing a first person memoir, she creates a subjective, indeed, feminine, history. "Mine is only a single and limited testimony, one woman's version. . ."
There is mischief in her narrator, the curious Rhoda Strong. She is game even to examine and question the true nature of history, racial prejudice and scapegoating, all described in such a way as to render today's incidences of ethnic violence comprehensible: ". . . it wasn't an English that sliced him . . . [it was] his own neighbor! . . . We were neighbor against neighbor."
In fictional terms the characters and events are portrayed with grace, subtly, and depth. Gaps in the story are filled by citing period newspapers. Yet there is an irony here as when, after drawing considerably from the press, Rhoda points out the divergence between the life she actually leads and the one portrayed by the media.
But in creating this personal history, Humphreys is again playing with us. What is the line between the personal and the political?
In the Prologue, supposedly written on November 3, 1890, the feisty and wise Rhoda sets out her intentions and hopes for her narrative and outlines her view on the nature of history, stating that nobody will ever be able to render the story of Scuffletown complete and objective, "just as a soldier can never describe a whole battle - only his piece of it . . ."
In choosing the words, "us and our times" to refer to her story, Humphreys is telling us this is a political work, as much about the society that denied the Scuffletown Indians justice, as it is about one particular Indian woman.
Rhoda is a Lowrie by blood and marriage, and "the Lowries are Indians. The whole place is Indian. And that's the answer to who we are."
But is it? Dr. McCabe, a member of the Scottish Confederate overclass, isn't so sure. He studies Rhoda and her people, measures their heads, and invasively probes their origins. By the second half of the book McCabe is sure there is more to the Lowries than anyone suspects.
As the true origin of the Scuffletown Indians dawns on McCabe, the Civil War is almost over. It is a desperate lawless time. To the Scottish Confederates, the source of their defeat, and all that has gone wrong in their lives, is clear. Their demise is not the result of Union soldiers or their own bad ideas; rather, it is the Lowries and Scuffletown who are responsible.
Again Humphreys uses subjective truth to make her point. McTeer, the brutal Deputy Sheriff and a leader of lynch mobs, spells out why the Lowries are guilty, and even how they differ from respectable white folks: "The noble morals is bred out. Your makeup is what they call bestial . . ."
Using simple prose Humphreys evokes the times in hauntingly powerful images. As the Civil War drags towards its end, and as the defensive gang formed by Rhoda's husband, Henry, nearly matches the Confederate whites in brutality, Scuffletown can't even manage to fill its belly. The inhabitants have neither food nor money, which hardly matters because the stores have no food to sell. Desperation pervades: "There was gunfire every night, everywhere, and just about every farmer's watch dog was shot. Some were eaten."
Yet despite the harsh times, Rhoda is a woman with a great capacity for love, and it is her love for Scuffletown and its people that motivates her. After all, for Rhoda, there is, Nowhere Else On Earth.

In 1864 Scuffletown, many mixed-breed descendants of the native Lumbee Indian Tribe laboriously toil at the turpentine business. The group is extremely poor but work hard to help their families survive. Living nearby are wealthy and powerful Scottish plantation owners who still own black slaves. As the Civil War winds down, the residents of Scuffletown struggle with the Home Guard that conscripts their young males into building for the Confederacy. The Union soldiers are as ugly to town residents. The townsfolk want the war to go away so they can move on with their lives.

For defying the Confederacy, local citizen Henry Lowrie and some other men hide in the nearby swamps to escape his fellow Carolinians wrath. Eventually, Henry turns to robbery to survive and ultimately is accused of murder. As Henry makes love with teenager Rhoda Strong, his gentle father is hung as retribution for Henry's actions. He seeks revenge, but finds time to marry his beloved Rhoda before fleeing from the area during Reconstruction.

NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH is an incredible accomplishment that showcases the talent of Josephine Humphreys. Rhoda narrates the story line as she looks back over the years to the havoc caused by the Civil War and the Reconstruction on her indigent people. The characters are fully developed especially the interrelationships in which race rules even amidst the Northern Army. The insightful plot provides a unique look at the Civil War that allows readers to grasp the torment yet valor of a small group under siege from all sides. Ms. Humphreys uses historical facts to bring to life a People during an era when the rights of a small minority are trampled.

Harriet Klausner

Set in the swampy, piney backwoods of North Carolina at the close of the Civil War in 1864, Josephine Humphreys' passionate, beautifully written novel evokes a time of struggle and helplessness in a proud insular community whose members trace their ancestry back to the Indians. Derisively dubbed Scuffletown by its "mack" neighbors (Scottish farmers mostly), known as "the settlement" to its inhabitants, the area subsists on turpentine manufacture, which has come to a halt with the war.

Narrator Rhoda Strong recalls those days of upheaval, tragedy and love from the vantagepoint of her middle years. She was 16, daughter of a stalwart Scuffletown woman and an outsider, a Scot, weaned from drinking by his wife and subject to bouts of depression.

As the story opens, Rhoda's mother, Cee, keeps the family inside their one-room, windowless ("because Cee said we're only inside at night and what good is a window then? Just one more thing to lock up.") cabin in the heat of summer to protect them, especially Rhoda's two brothers, from the Home Guard. The Home Guard is made up of "mack" neighbors, determined to spare their own boys by conscripting Scuffletown youth for forced labor at the Confederate forts and salt works.

It's a lawless time in the backcountry and the sadistic head of the Home Guard rules with impunity. After he kills two boys who escaped from the work gangs, Scuffletown's young men take to the woods, under the leadership of Henry Berry Lowrie, a charismatic, focused young man admired by the whole community, secretly loved by Rhoda.

But Cee is adamantly against the match, though she believes Henry "could turn out to be the best we've got. The best we've ever seen." This naturally confuses Rhoda, but her mother explains: "You want an ordinary man with a little flaw. A hurt, a weakness somewhere. Then you can be a helpmeet, and you'll have a bond. That's a man who'll give you some security, in return for what you give him. But what could you do for a man like Henry? What does he need that only you could provide? Nothing."

Cee also worries that Henry's leadership, a boon when times are good, could tear apart the community if he meets the violence they suffer with violence of his own. But since when does a girl ever take her mother's advice on a husband?

Scuffletown doesn't much care who wins the war. They take in deserting or wounded soldiers from both sides, hoping for peace to let them get back to farming, resurrect the turpentine business and maybe build a school.

But eventually Sherman's March brushes Scuffletown, incidentally disrupting the Home Guard's final murdering rampage. But the rampage's aftermath makes Henry a permanent outlaw with a price on his head, leaving Rhoda waiting.

"The first part of my life was over, and the second had not begun. I was drifting and waiting, and even though I had kept myself busy, inside the carcass of a chicken or rolling dough or running out a line of stitches so tiny I couldn't even see them, I felt deeply idle, stopped cold in the middle of my life." Her life resumes but its momentum is largely out of her hands, as her mother had warned.

This is a novel of human forces grown beyond human control - violence breeding violence, feeding on pride, duplicity and vengeance. Though events are tragic, told in Rhoda's voice, it's not tragedy. Humphreys' characters come alive in Rhoda's telling. Their eccentricities, strengths and best moments, even their foibles and weaknesses, call upon her deep affections. Each is an individual; together they form a vital force.

Humphreys' ("Dreams of Sleep," "Rich in Love") writing is rich, earthy and eloquent, permeated with the rhythms of the Deep South. She delivers a clear, compelling story and Rhoda Strong is a winning, vibrant heroine. A wise and romantic novel.

You can almost here the waves crashing and taste the oceans salty breeze in the love story set along Floridas Gulf Coast. In Connie May Fowlers forth novel, a young widow recounts her husbands life, their passionate affair and the tragedy that stole him from her after two short years. And though the outcome is revealed from the onset, the beauty of Fowler's prose is so compelling that you can't help read on. As much as it is a love story, REMEMBERING BLUE is also a tale of the battle between man and nature. Mostly it,s a book with heart and soul, that readers won't forget anytime soon.

Connie May Fowler has put into words what love is all about. Husband and wife love, mother/child love, love of women for each other, love of family and friends, and love of the part of nature in which we best know ourselves.

The story of Nick and Mattie is actually a simple one and therein lies its wonder. The telling of this tale by Connie May Fowler is art. As a long term resident of the Florida panhandle, I can tell you Ms. Fowler has captured the essence of our very special part of the world. She's masterfully described the wonder and beauty of this very different Florida, and painted as real a picture of "folks from hereabouts" as I've ever read.

Ms. Fowler opens our eyes to sophistication and wisdom that transcends the conventional. She makes us laugh and be joy filled. She has created characters full of life and mystery and she lets us into their dreams and their hearts.

This story has a powerful message about the strength of women, and how important it is for women to love one another, and to love ourselves. And,Remembering Blue presents some terrific male characters - men who cherish their women and their children.

This is an uplifting, inspiring, and magical tale.

Connie May Fowler is one of the foremost story tellers of my generation - I have been so anxiously anticipating her 4th novel. Having had the pleasure of attending a reading by Ms. Fowler, it was easy for me to hear her gentle, lyrical voice creating and sharing a tale made of pure gold. Every word evoked images that created emotion in me and called forth memories of my own. I laughed, sighed and cried through the entire novel. It's a book of awakening and discovery for the heroine Mattie as she tells us about Nick Blue. Ms. Fowler allows the reader to become part of Mattie's journey of self discovery by closing the past and welcoming the future. She evokes strong images of courage and strength and leaves us all recognizing that part of ourselves that is Mattie. This is a book that everyone will love. The love story is woven around wonderful stories about tough shrimpers living on the coast of Florida - it will appeal to men and women alike. Everyone will close the book with a smile on their face. And if you have found this book without reading any of Ms. Fowler's other books I would highly recommend that you read all 3 of them. There is clearly a reason why Oprah made a book out of Before Women Had Wings - she recognizes top notch talent when she sees it.