Some Other Way by Margot Johnson

 Maybe what she wants is not what she needs

About the Book: Jayne Jones is not as plain as her mother makes her feel. Her life is full as surrogate aunt to her birth daughter, given up in open adoption five years ago, and as leader of the Adopt-a-Dog service. 

More than anything, Jayne wants to expand the overcrowded dog shelter on a coveted piece of adjacent land.  When Dr. Evan Scott, her high school crush, returns to his hometown to enlarge the local medical clinic on the very same property, he complicates everything. 

Now her formidable opponent, Evan is ready to forget past hurts and embrace a fresh start with the cute girl—now attractive woman—he remembers. But should Jayne bare her heart to the good-looking newcomer? And will her open secret change his mind?

Our Review: This sweet romance, while showing to great advantage the ‘gifts’ gained by living in a small prairie town, also reveals in heart breaking detail the long-term effects of the choice two women made to give their child a better life.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Some Other Way merits a 3.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Love, Legacy and Little Green Aliens, an over 40 beach town romantic comedy

 About the Book:  According to the Anagnos family curse, second son Xander is doomed to failure. After he inherits his Uncle Gus’s business in Trappers Cove, Washington, Xander jumps at the chance to prove his worth—to himself as well as his less than approving family members. Of course, he plans to remake Gus’ schlocky, alien-themed souvenir shop into something trendier and more upmarket. Who wouldn't want that?

          Hannah Leone, reporter for the Trappers Cove Beacon, is hell-bent on protecting Souvenir Planet, the beloved TC icon that draws thousands of tourists to their quirky beach town each year. But the Beacon is struggling to survive, and there’s no way Hannah can let an inconvenient crush on Xander stand between her and the biggest story to hit Trappers Cove in ages.    

          Caught in a battle of wills and sizzling desire, Xander and Hannah discover the bizarre depths of Uncle Gus’s obsession with aliens. When disaster strikes, they’ll need Xander’s skills for innovation and Hannah’s social connections to save Souvenir Planet.

But if these hard-headed foes don’t lay down their arms, the town they love will end up paying a heavy price. 

 Our Review: Once again, author Sadira Stone treats her fans back to the quirky denizens—er, citizens—of Trappers Cove and enjoy several good laughs along the way. Uncle Gus has passed on to that great celestial celebration in the sky when the story opens, but he must have been a pip in his heyday. Proof positive comes in the presence of his two best pals, also fanatics about aliens, Colonel Blowhard and Professor Yappy. With nicknames like that you gotta pick this one up because it’s an absolute hoot. And the romance between two deserving characters ain’t bad either.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Love, Legacy and Little Green Aliens merits a 6.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Let No Clan Put Asunder by Judith Sterling

 “It is no small thing to marry into the Donnachaidh clan, and there was nowhere to hide from it’s past.”

 About the Book: Once again, shy bookworm Gwyneth Camm discovers herself out of place while still inside the Salem, Massachusetts home inherited from her Great Aunt Ethel. Following the prompts left by Ethel, Gwen finds herself sucked into a gothic romance, inhabiting the body of its heroine.

This time, she’s a young, soon-to-be bride in 1970 on her way to Northern Maine, to a clifftop castle that harbors family secrets, Scottish legacies, hidden malice and maybe a vampire. Only by learning the truth will Gwyn return to her own life, where another puzzle still awaits.  

 Our Review: As with Book 1 in the Gothic Gwyn Mysteries [Trip the Light Phantasmic], author Judith Sterling uses her exceptional talent for in-depth historical research to settle the reader into the decade of the post-Vietnam 70’s with its iconic entertainment venues, clothing choices and hairstyle options. The author then flavors a detailed plotline with complicated family dynamics mired in long-held secrets, animosities and resentments. Until the missing groom is found and centuries old curses are crushed, Gwyn won’t be able to return home.

 On a scale of 1-5, Let No Clan Put Asunder deserves a 4.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

 

 

 

 

Soundings in the Dark by Brian Anderson

 About the Book: Minneapolis PI Lyle Dahms is drawn into the investigation of the murder of an old high school buddy. Suspicion has fallen on the dead man’s son, a star athlete and scholar who, virtually overnight, turned into a rebellious skinhead whose hate-filled diatribes spare no one, least of all his privileged, liberal father. Hired by the widow to help protect her son, Dahms soon discovers a host of others with motives to kill his old friend. But before he can close in on the truth, his investigation is hampered by the arrival of the dead man’s former girlfriend, now an embittered hooker. Claiming to know who killed his friend, she refuses to tell Dahms for fear she will be the next victim. When she bolts, she abandons her three-year-old daughter to his care, leaving Dahms—and the series’ cast of quirky returning characters—charged with keeping the little girl safe, finding her mother, and solving the murder before the killer can strike again.

 Our Review: Writing in a style reminiscent of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser PI, author Brian Anderson brings PI Lyle Dahms back for another adventure in this intriguing series. Littered with a cast of unique, quirky characters the pages turn quickly. If sharp, biting humor is your thing, this is the one for you. And this time--the star of the show this time is a 3-year-old every reader will recognize from someone in their own sphere. Ava is bright, charming and intrepid. The scenes between here and Dahms will break your heart.  

 Based on a scale of 1-5, Soundings in the Dark merits a 7.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Dark Justice by Susan Vaughan

 Which is deadlier—the deaths he can’t forget or the danger she can’t remember?

About the Book: US Marshal Jack Thorne joined the DARK antiterrorism task force for one reason—to exact revenge on the smuggler responsible for the tragedy that continues to haunt him. While on vacation in Italy, Sophie Rinaldi overhears her host plotting to sell weapons-grade uranium to terrorists. She flees, but the man attempts to run her down with his car. She ends up in the hospital with the last crucial weeks erased from her mind—and still a target for murder. To determine what she knows, whether as an accomplice or a witness, Jack must keep her safe.

If she regains her memory, what she knows could destroy them both…

 

Our Review: In the concluding novel of the DARK Files series, the author delivers the epitome of tortured heroes to the reader. Dedicated to his job and as well as his crusade for revenge for the child he lost at the hands of a terrorist, Jack keeps his anger and pain buried beneath a hard shell while protecting a woman who could be another innocent victim of the same terrorist—or in on his latest scheme to traumatize the world.

Amnesia, a common trope used by novelists, often runs the same old-same old line—not with Dark Justice. Vaughan shows in minute detail the slow return of Sophie’s memory and how it impacts the outcome of the story. The adventure begins in Venice, offering the reader an in-depth description of the canals and thoroughfares, then takes the reader into the Italian countryside with an off-the-track view of rural life in a country most of us will never visit. As always, author Vaughan writes what she knows, and this one is a real treat.

 

Based on a scale of 1-5, Dark Justice merits a 7.

 

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Authors

Dark Vision by Susan Vaughan

 Undercover…on the run…he’ll risk everything for her.

About the Book: Shrapnel damage to one eye has sidelined DARK Officer Matt Leoni, so he jumps at the chance for an undercover assignment at the US embassy of a small Mediterranean country. He’ll be working with Nadia Parker, a documentary filmmaker who believes he betrayed her on the past mission that sent her father to a federal prison.

When rebels set off an explosion, embassy security believe they are the bombers. Matt pulls Nadia to safety and they flee into the D.C. streets. Unable to rely on DARK, Matt is determined to protect Nadia, clear her name, and find answers.

As the two of them work together, trust grows and leads to passion, but both harbor secrets that could tear them apart. A bold plan to foil the traitor’s assassination plot could place Nadia in the crosshairs, and time is running out.

 

Our Review: As we’ve come to expect from this series, author Vaughan places the reader in and around Washington DC with two disparate characters on the run from any number of bad guys while trying to right several wrongs rooted in the past. Secrets for both Nadia and Matt—as do unforgotten passions and unresolved misunderstandings. This one’s a beauty.

 

Based on a scale of 1-5, Dark Vision merits a 6.

 

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews