Hello, and welcome back! The June books are beginning to trickle in, and I'm very much looking forward to a few of the scheduled June releases. Baseball is keeping us hopping, though this week it looks as if Mother Nature isn't going to cooperate much, so I'll be able to sit down with another of my new books each evening they're rained out.

First up this week is the second (and, in my house anyway, hotly anticipated) book in Nora Roberts's In the Garden trilogy,
Black Rose (Jove). This time out, Roz Harper has her own go-round with the ghost of Harper House. And she has a worthy partner in her quest, in the person of Dr. Mitchell Carnegie, the man she's hired to help her find out exactly who this ghost is. I hated to see this one end, even though I know I still have the third book to look forward to in the fall. Roz and Mitch are very compelling. As Stella says, 'I want to be Roz when I grow up.' She's a strong woman, determined and not without flaws, but aware of them and able to admit to them. And, as is the case when we're treated to a series by Ms. Roberts, we get to revisit characters we've already met and liked, as well as getting a hint of things to come in the next book. What's not to like? I'm borrowing four and a half of Cupid's five arrows for this one. Now we have to wait until November for Hayley's turn.

Next we have Judith E. French's first foray into the contemporary world,
At Risk (Leisure). Liz Clarke's late arrival at the college where she teaches causes her to miss a murder--the murder of one of her students in her own office. And things only go from bad to worse when her old lover, Jack Rafferty, calls her later. But who can she trust? There are so many suspects here, it'll be hard for you to decide. While I didn't figure out whodunit till late in the game, I did figure out who hadn't done it, which may disappoint some readers. As for me, well, I was disappointed that another historical author has changed horses, especially one whose historicals were so wonderful. I wished I could have loved this one as much as I loved the last historical of hers I read. This one gets three arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!