Book Review: "Hothouse Orchid" by Stuart Woods

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
"A brand-new page-turning Holly Barker novel from the perennially entertaining New York Times-bestselling author Stuart Woods.

"After Special Agent Holly Barker lets international terrorist Teddy Fay slip through her fingers for a second time, the CIA thinks she might want a long vacation, at least until Teddy is captured and the bad publicity has blown over. So Holly returns to her hometown of Orchid Beach, Florida, where she had been police chief for many years. But a very unpleasant surprise awaits her. Many years earlier, Holly and another female army officer had brought charges against their commanding officer for sexual harassment, attempted rape, and rape. Holly had managed to fight him off, but the other woman, a young lieutenant, had not. The officer in question was acquitted of all charges, and has also left the army-for a job as Orchid Beach's new police chief.

"Will Holly return to the CIA? Or will she challenge her old nemesis for control of the Orchid Beach Police Department?"

If you've read the Holly Barker novels up to this one, then you will definitely want to continue the saga. It wasn't as nail-biting as I had hoped, but I did enjoy reading it.

Book Review: Just Over the Mountain by Robyn Carr

Someone recommended the author Robyn Carr (or maybe it was the "If you like... then try.." list at the library). I only found one of her books at our local library, so I checked it out. Just Over the Mountain is a sweet contemporary romance.

Here's Amazon's description:
"Welcome back to Grace Valley, California, where the best things in life never change . . .
"Here in this peaceful community, folks look out for one another like family, though sometimes a little too well. In a town like this, it's hard to keep a secret -- though Dr. June Hudson has managed to keep one heck of a humdinger . . .

"Though visits from her secret lover, undercover DEA agent Jim Post, are as clandestine as they are passionate, somehow it fits with her demanding schedule as the town's doctor -- a calling that requires an innate ability to exist on caffeine, sticks buns and nerves of steel.

"But how can a secret lover compete with a flesh-and-blood heartthrob from her past? June's old flame has just returned to town after twenty years -- and he's divorced. June is seriously rattled. So when the town's most devoted wife takes buckshot to her husband and some human bones turn up in her aunt Myrna's backyard, she's almost happy for the distraction.

"Sooner or later, love will have its way in Grace Valley. It always does."

It was a sweet book, but I doubt that I will read anymore of Carr anytime soon. There's nothing wrong w/this book; it is just a little boring & predictable. Also, I didn't realize it was the 2nd in a series. It would have been better to read the first one first!

Book Review: Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

If you like romance or a good love story, then Nicholas Sparks always delivers. If you don't think you like this genre, give him a try! This is the 2nd Sparks book that didn't make me cry, but it held my interest throughout. (His first book that I read, A Walk To Remember, really got me at the end! As I read it, I kept thinking, "What is all the fuss about Nicholas Sparks?" At the end, I was hooked.



Here is the book teaser from Amazon.com:
"When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

"But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven."


I enjoyed this novel but am ambivalent about the last few pages. (A friend loaned me her copy of the book. Thanks, Peg!)