Hello, and welcome back! We're getting a little thaw here, so I expect by the end of the week all our snow will be gone. Hopefully we'll get a bit more before the season is over, but I'm not holding my breath. The bread machine is going right now, and I'm nearly ready to put on the tea kettle for something warm to go with lunch--before I settle in with some of my new reading material, and I have plenty of that, with even more coming home with me this week from work. Darn.

First up this week is the latest from Sasha Lord,
Across a Wild Sea (Signet Eclipse). Alannah knows nothing of the world, only the small, wild island where she's lived all her life. Xanthier O'Bannon's arrival there disrupts her peaceful life, and when he leaves, forcing her with him to Scotland, he breaks her heart. This pair has a lot to overcome, though most of all, their own foolish pride. This story is by turns sweet and steamy, and, while I enjoyed it, I didn't like it as well as some of her past tales. It's earned three and a half arrows. On the other hand, I look forward to reading Xanthier's daughter's story when it's released.

Next is the new Soulmates story from Shirley Jump,
Kissed By Cat (Silhouette Romance #1757). Catherine Wyndham's got more working against her than most single young women--like spending half her time as a cat. Garrett McAllister's interference in her life has made an even bigger tangle of things, but it makes her start to think the curse she's lived with for two hundred years might just be reversible after all. But only if Garrett can believe in something beyond conventional reality. This is a fun, light read, just the thing for a gloomy winter afternoon, with just a little bit of the paranormal to the telling. It's earned four arrows.

Finally, we have Jacey Ford's
I Spy (Berkley). Aimee Devlin's current job is to ferret out a corporate spy. Finding out that Race Gardner, her number one suspect, is CIA puts a little kink in her investigation, but also gets her case moving a bit faster. This is one busy story with subplots and secondary characters galore, which help the suspense out a lot, but not the romance so much, and, for me, the romance needed some help. If you're looking for something suspense-heavy and lighter on the romance, this is for you. If you're looking for the opposite, then skip this one. It's only earned two and a half arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!