Scarred Melody by Heather E. Andrews

 

Skyler Dalton’s last album bombed and he needs a comeback. Now.

Elsie Clarke, a gifted, award-winning songwriter, is his only hope for reviving his flagging career. Unfortunately,  due to severe facial scarring Elsie chooses to lead a solitary life away from the world. Her job is to help the heartthrob from her teen years find new songs and forge a comeback. His job is to listen and learn from this musical genius—and maybe as a side benefit, bring Elise back to her place in the world.

Our Review: From page one, the premise for this story showed great promise: A scarred heroine and a damaged hero, coming together to accomplish important personal and professional goals, then end up saving each other is the stuff great romances are made of.

Elsie and Skyler work hard to achieve their goals, fighting every step of the way to overcome personal and professional obstacles. It is clear the author cares about her characters and the art of constructing an intriguing concept.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Scarred Melody earns a 3.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

 

 

Her Wylder Frontier by Sarita Leone

 . . . A broken engagement sends Lily Bloom from her beloved Charleston South Carolina to the town of Wylder in Wyoming Territory, a place where she’ll rebuild her life and reclaim her dignity. Theodore Harvey longs for a wife and family to chase away the loneliness that comes with living on the frontier. His gardens and sturdy home are stunning but there should be footsteps other than his own to bring the place alive.

Can this southern belle find happiness amidst the grit of the wild west?

Her Wylder Frontier, written by Sarita Leone, is a short historical romance out to the Wylder West Series, is a recent release by the Wild Rose Press.

Our Review: There is much to be said for the phrase “character arc”  when it comes to romantic fiction. The reader is initially shown a character and all his/her foibles and strengths, then over the course of the story sees that same character change, mature and grow. A frequent contributor to the Wylder West Series, author Sarita Leone again demonstrates her skill at designing, developing, then ‘arcing’ a character. In the case of Her Wylder Frontier, we are better for her many talents. Well done!

 

On a scale of 1-5, Her Wylder Frontier earns a 5.

 

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

 

 

 

Gone Before by Terry Korth Fischer

                                  A murderer who doesn’t leave a clue.

         Small-town detective, Rory Naysmith, thought he’d seen it all, but a young woman’s brutal murder is especially hard to stomach. Doubly so, when he recognizes the murder’s MO is identical to that of Tobias Snearl, the killer he put behind bars a decade before.

         His frustration grows after a series of senseless accidents plague those dearest to him, and a second woman dies. Searching for answers, Rory races against time, plunging deep into the murder investigations, drawing ever closer to becoming a casualty of the dark, angry deeds himself, until he finds no one is who they pretend to be—and none are beyond evil’s reach.

 Our Review: Often irascible but always dry-witted Rory Naysmith is back to please readers of this popular series. On his toes—so to speak—with the latest murder to hit Winterset, Nebraska, Rory battles bureaucracies both inside and out of this small mid-western town and it’s smaller police department. A reluctant transplant from the big city, with murder, this cop is in his element and the reader knows it from page one.

Gone Before is loaded with a cast of diverse, quirky characters along with a budding love interest for the socially challenged Rory—and it’s so much fun to watch.

 Based on a scale of 1-5, Gone Before deserves a 7.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews        

The Duke's Detour by Kathy L. Wheeler

 A man of structure and a woman of impulse fires long suppressed passions.

Lady Rebecca Thatcher cares nothing for fashion or societal dictates. Her destiny in life is to fight for those less fortunate, be it woman, child, or animal. And when a young boy appears from the trees, clutching her skirts, addressing her as Mama with a vile villain on his heels, it incites every instinct in her to protect. Her priority is to get him where he belongs.

Having married off his youngest sister, the Duke of Ryleigh can finally begin the task of locating a suitable bride of his own. But his well-ordered plans are thrown into chaos by a note from his sister informing him she no longer wishes to be a countess (as if she had a choice) and has vacated to the family’s seat in Dorchester. On Ryleigh’s way south, he encounters a carriage with a broken wheel carrying Lady Rebecca, his sister’s long-ago schoolmate—the one responsible for turning his genteel and compliant sister into a hoyden he hadn’t recognized when he took her out of school seven years before.

Ryleigh’s sense of honor will not allow him to look the other way as he and Rebecca are bound for the same destination. She is just as he remembers—unwieldy and uncaring of what anyone thinks—and now? Unmarried with bastard children. Certainly not duchess material.

Our Review: Immediately hooked from page 1 when Lady Rebecca is assaulted by a thug after ‘rescuing’ a scruffy child, the adventure between Rebecca and Sebastian, Duke of Ryleigh, is non-stop action. Each page is infused with the particulars for the setting, the time period, and social mores. Rebecca is a woman to admire and emulate. The Duke—once that proper,  stony exterior falls aside is—in modern parlance—too cool for school. 

Do Not Miss this one, it’s a beauty from start to finish.

 Based on a scale of 1-5, The Duke’s Detour deserves a 7.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Delicious Heat, Book 3, Bangers Tavern Romances

 ...Come back to Bangers Tavern for a spicy tale of forbidden love that will warm your heart…and other parts…and make you hungry for empanadas…

        Pediatric nurse Anna Khoury and chef Diego Vargas meet at the absolute worse time in their lives. She’s just kicked her cheating scum of a husband out the door, only to discover she’s pregnant. Diego’s running on a very short list of personal and professional successes—to the everlasting dismay of his uber-traditional Hispanic family. The only ones who believe in “Gogo” are his grandmother, his abuelita—and Anna.

Midst mounting obstacles, internal and external, ego-driven ex-husbands and mothers-in-law, these two have their work cut out for them if they want a future.

 Our Review: From the start, picking up a Bangers Tavern romance by Sadira Stone has become a special treat. With each book we learn something new, about Tacoma, the shops along 6^th Avenue, and the…eclectic regulars at this neighborhood tavern. This time it’s ethnic cooking, Hispanic and Lebanese. The flavors jump off the page to soothe and incite the appetite. Then there’s the steam which rises between Gogo and Anna from the moment they meet. This is a book about life, families—the good and the bad—and love which often comes when you least expect it.  

 On a scale of 1-5, Delicious Heat deserves a 7.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

 

 

 

 

The Witch of Rathborne Castle

 …Listen to your heart. Only then will you discover your true path.

 The Witch of Rathborne Castle, an historical fantasy written by Virginia Barlow was a September, 2021 release out of The Wild Rose Press.

           In the middle of a dark, twisted forest in Cumbria England, Lady Jane Lenwood lives at Rathborne Castle, alone and penniless, blaming her misfortunes on the current Duke of Rathborne. But Lady Jane has a secret, voices inside her head that warn her of a dark and dangerous future, and foretells the arrival of an unwanted visitor to her gates.

Gravely wounded, Max Radley is found inside the gates of Rathborne and begs her help. He is intrigued and drawn to the beautiful red-haired woman whom the locals fear is a witch. After spending the winter snowed in, Max must resume his search for a traitor to the Crown but finds he cannot forget Lady Jane.

As treason, enemies, lies and deception surround them, Jane must give up everything to save both their lives and their future.  

 Our Review: for fans of action-packed swashbucklers set in England during the early 1700’s, this is the one for you. Author Barlow weaves multiple sub-plots and secondary characters into the story, keeping the reader turning the pages to learn who is behind the threats to the English monarchy as well as two deserving lovers.

 Based on a scale of 1-5, The Witch of Rathborne Castle deserves a 4.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews