Match Me if You Can

by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

rated 5 stars

pages

Back Cover:

Annabelle is tired of being the lone failure in a family of overachievers. She's endured dead-end jobs and a broken engagement. Even her hair's a mess! But that's going to change now that she's taken over her late grandmother's matchmaking business. All Annabelle has to do is land the Windy City's hottest bachelor as her client, and she'll be the most sought-after matchmaker in town. Nothing is going to stand in her way -- not the drunk lying comatose under her car, not her family's disapproval, and certainly not the lingering effects of a broken heart. With his money green eyes and calculated charm, Heath Champion is the best sports agent in the country. He's wealthy, driven, and gorgeous, so why does he need a matchmaker, especially a red-haired screw-up like Annabelle Granger? True, she's entertaining, and she does have a certain quirky appeal. But Heath is searching for the ultimate symbol of his success -- the perfect wife. And to make an extraordinary match, he needs an extraordinary matchmaker, right? Thin, rich, utterly fabulous Portia Powers has spent her career making matches for everyone but herself. Her take-no-prisoners attitude has built Power Matches into the top matchmaking agency in Chicago. So what if she has more enemies than friends and she's one breath away from a nervous breakdown? Neither an upstart like Annabelle Granger nor Heath Champion's menacing, but oddly intriguing, bodyguard, will keep her from getting what she wants -- a Power Match for Heath ... the city's very own Jerry Maguire. Soon everyone in Chicago has a stake in the outcome, right down to Annabelle's overprotective book club. When the matchmaker promises she'll do anything to keep her star client happy ... does she mean anything? If Annabelle isn't careful, she just might find herself going heart-to-heart with the toughest negotiator in town -- a man who's beginning to ask himself: Exactly how perfect does perfect have to be?

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. I laughed out loud several times. I love that SEP's heroines however flawed and insecure they might be, also have a sharp wit and a smart mouth. Love That!! My favorite scene was the one where she had a house full of rival football players. Heath "comes to her rescue" and while she is fuming at him and giving him a piece of her mind, the fellas are trying to explain why they keep hanging at her place. They are talking over her and she is smacking them on the backs of their heads. They love it, cuz she doesn't take their crap and acts like their mother.

For some reason I didn't get into the back story romance. Portia and Bodie, for some reason just didn't do it for me!! It felt icky, and too.....domineering! I didn't like that their first time together he took her from behind and on the balcony, and never spoke a word to her or kissed. He walks in and leans her over the rail, then leaves without a word. Too something for me.

I liked that Heath "got" Annabelle's family but I wished that she'd finally seen them the way he did. She felt attacked by them emotionally, and he saw them as almost competing for her attention. She doesn't feel loved and respected by them.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips rocks!!

Tall Tales and Wedding Veils

Tall Tales and Wedding Veils by Jane Graves

Rated 5 stars

Pages 378

Back Cover:

Marry in Haste...Accountant Heather Montgomery is a planner. So never in her wildest dreams did she think she'd run into sexy charmer Tony McCaffrey in Vegas, play lady luck, and celebrate his jackpot with a champagne-soaked night. And she certainly never expected to wake up the next morning married! How could this good girl pick a man whose fridge is empty and whose apartment is a disaster zone, yet still drives her crazy with lust she can't see straight?

Lust at Leisure! Quickly hitched and happily ditched, Tony can't wait to get back to his playboy ways. But when Heather's family is thrilled that their no-nonsense daughter is finally in love, he proposes a plan: stay married for a month to repay his good luck charm, even though she sterilizes his toothbrush and forbids anything between the sheets. But Heather is more than he bargained for---a sharp-witted, passionate woman who just might turn his near miss into wedded bliss!

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this story. I've been giving out a number of 5's lately, but I did really like it. Heather is not a perfect size 2, who's soooo beautiful that she makes men lose their minds at the site of her. Tony, is a good looking guy who hides a good heart. They both have their insecurities and family issues. Even though the premise is a little weak, I don't care. I like that they come to a friendly place and work together. I like that the sex is fun, not just steamy. I mean don't get me wrong, they have plenty of steamy, but most real people are ticklish too. They spend much of their first time together giggling, and that is good to me. Healthy, normal! I mean really, sometimes when your fella lightly caresses your (fill in the blank) is kinda tickles. It does! Especially if your nervous, or something, so I like that these characters had some real responses. Not to mention purple fuzzy handcuffs!

It also helps that I live minutes from Plano, Tx. and it's so cool to read a book set in (almost) my backyard! I knew the highways, roads and malls that she mentions. So groovy! There's even a little sports bar about a mile from my house! They have kids karaoke on tuesday nights.

The Pagan Stone

The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts

Rated 5 stars

Pages 305

Back Cover:

Shared nightmares, visions of blood and fire, and random violence plague the longtime friends and Quinn, Layla, and Cybil, the women bound to them by Fate. None of them can ignore the fact that, this year, the demon has grown stronger ---feeding off the terror it creates. But now the three pieces of the bloodstone have been fused back together. If only they could figure out how to use it.

A gambling man like Gage has no trouble betting on his crew to find a way. And though he and Cybil share the gift of seeing the future, that's all they have in common. Were they to take their flirtation to the next level, it would be on their own terms, not because Fate decreed it. But Gage knows that a woman like Cybil---with her brains and strength and devastating beauty---can only bring him luck. Whether it's good or bad has yet to be determined---and could mean the difference between absolute destruction or an end to the nightmare for Hawkins Hollow.

My Thoughts:

Ok! You all know that I love Nora Roberts and that I love her heroes. Gage, was that tortured alpha male! He made me cry in the first couple of chapters. His mother died when he was very young, and left him with an alcoholic abusive father. Cal's and Fox's moms became surrogates. Gage, not being the type of guy who is comfortable withe the ooey gooey emotional stuff, buys them flowers and tells them how much he loves them. He struggles to express that love and devotion to them, and I cried. Cybil, is the perfect match for him. She's not too needy, and she's strong and sassy! She gives as good as she gets. Tit for Tat!! I love a couple who are like that.

This is the final book in the trilogy and the climax between good and evil. Blood and fire and sacrifice. Someone has to willingly make the ultimate sacrifice and I could feel the raw emotion as the 6 stood together until the very end. That they understood that only through great loss could the ultimate destruction of great evil occur. I felt the resolve as they each came to terms with their grief and pain to ensure the greater good. I cried again. There are twists and turns and I loved how she writes the love and affection that all 6 have for each other.

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

Rated 5 stars ( I just love her!)

Pages 314

Back Cover:

In the small village of Hawkins Hollow, three best friends who share the same birthday sneak off into the woods for a sleepover the evening before turning 10. But a night of pre-pubescent celebration turns into a night of horror as their blood brother oath unleashes a three-hundred year curse. Twenty-one years later, Cal Hawkins and his friends have seen their town plagued by a week of unexplainable evil events two more times - every seven years. With the clock winding down on the third set of seven years, someone else has taken an interest in the town's folklore. Quinn is a well known scholar of local legends, and despite Cal's protests, insists on delving in the mystery. But when the first signs of evil appear months early, it's not only the town Cal tries to protect, but also his heart.

My Thoughts:

Ok, so I just love Nora Roberts. I did Cal and love the opening when they are 10 year old kids. I have a daughter who just turned 11, and would never let them go camping like that. I'm an over protective mother...sue me!! I do think that Cal and Quinn fall pretty darn quick, and that there is a lot of "set up" in this book. I expected that, cuz it's a trilogy, with the final climax in the final book. I can dig that. I also like that it's the sensible one who falls first and fast. It would've been too easy for the hippie lawyer to have done that. Ya know? I give it 5 stars cuz I love it. This trilogy has gotten mostly lukewarm reviews from non-Nora junkies. That's ok. Reading Nora's trilogies is like..."coming home" to me. It's like mac and cheese the perfect comfort food. It makes me feel warm, fuzzy, and ooey gooey on the inside. I can't wait to snuggle down with The Hollow.