Hello, and welcome back! Good thing there's plenty of tea and hot chocolate in the house, because it's so gloomy out, the only thing I'm going out for is to feed the birds before I come in and settle down with more reading material from my February releases.

First up this time is the latest from Anna Jeffrey, The Love of a Lawman (Signet Eclipse). This time in Callister, Idaho, Isabelle Rondeau has come home with her young daughter to her family's home. Her troubled brother is still in the area, and it seems things haven't changed too much since she left. John Bradshaw has also come back and is finishing out someone else's term as sheriff. And he still has a thing for Isabelle. This is another good story from Ms. Jeffrey, with flawed, scarred characters you can't help cheering for. This one is a definite keeper. It's earned four of Cupid's five arrows.

Christine Feehan's latest is out now, Dark Secret (Berkley), another that's available apparently in trade and mass market paperback sizes. Rafael De La Cruz and Colby Jansen have little in common, except their enemy. For fans of her Carpathians, I'm sure seeing this in the bookstore will be a welcome sight. But it hasn't converted me. I'm more interested in seeing the next Drake sister story out in June.

Finally, we have Kathryn Shay's Nothing More to Lose (Berkley), the latest in her firefighters series. Ian Woodward lost a lot on 9/11, and he continues to have difficulty getting past it. Lisel Loring has tried her best to help him, but he's unwilling to let her go too far. Between these two and a secondary couple that play rather prominent roles--almost to the point where you're not sure who's supposed to be the main character--you'll get plenty of angst and drama. Unlike previous stories, though, I just didn't love this one. There's too much going on here for a light read, and even if you're looking for something more involved, this might be a little much. I was disappointed, really. This one gets two and a half arrows.