Hello, and welcome back! Things here are pretty hectic at the moment, with Little League play-offs this week, as well as an unexpected funeral, and the beginning of post-season tournaments...on top of all the normal stuff. I've been rather disappointed this month, with the lack of good romance releases, too, because when I get a moment to sit down and read, there's little for me to choose from, aside from the obvious big-name releases. Very disappointing, indeed.

This time out, I have two new releases to share with you, starting with Bella-fave Lauren Bach's latest, Project Eve (Zebra). Investigator Rachel Anderson's got two cases going on simultaneously that may turn out to be more complicated than she realized: first, a powerful senator has hired her to discover what happened to his step-daughter at college, and second, she's got to work with the men in the CIA she holds responsible for the death of her brother to discover what other sinister things are going on at the same college. And to do that, she's got to work with her former steady Elijah Trent, both undercover. What they uncover is much worse than Rachel expected, but she's in too deeply by then to stop her investigation. As usual, there's plenty of chemistry between the main characters, and lots of intrigue to keep you reading. I admit to being a teeny bit disappointed by the reveal at the end, but I'm such a huge fan of Ms. Bach's and the rest of the story was so good that I can forgive that one little thing. Of Cupid's five arrows, this one's earned four. The only trouble is, now I have a long wait until her next book is released!

The other book I have to share with you this week is the anthology Honk if You Love Real Men: Four Tales of Erotic Romance (St. Martin's Griffin). The regular visitors know how much I love a good erotic romance. Great is even better. Unfortunately, only one story here qualifies as either. Carrie Alexander's "Naughty Girl" has Estrella deciding to be more daring when she has her boss's apartment to herself. Jesse is appealing, but Estrella isn't. This one didn't do much for me. In Pamela Britton's "Wanted: One Hot-Blooded Man", Breanna Miller's plan to resolve her intimacy issues with old flame Trent Walker go awry. I didn't find this one at all erotic, but wanted to take a shower afterward to wash it off me. Too bad, really, because I've enjoyed some of her historical works very much. Susan Donovan's "Have Mercy" has Winifred Mackland shipped off to the country to spice up her latest screenplay, and Vincent Macbeth is just the man to help her with that. This one was fun, and sexy and Mac was more appealing than the other three 'heroes' in this volume put together. Finally, Lora Leigh's "Reno's Choice" has Raven McIntire continuing to push away Reno Chavez despite the longings of her body and heart. I admit to not liking the previous materials by Ms. Leigh that I've read, but I hoped that perhaps this one would be different. I was disappointed in that hope. Her heroes have a tendency to go beyond 'alpha male' to domineering brutes, and, while Reno isn't quite as bad, this one annoyed me, with Raven so wishy-washy and Reno so pushy. Yuck. I'd hoped to add this anthology to my keeper shelf, but with only one good story, there's no point. I'm giving it only two arrows--had it been just Ms. Donovan's story, that rating would be much higher.

Until next time, happy reading!