Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Rating: 5 ♥ ♥ ♥

Review: Gracie Snow is supposed to escort ex-football star Bobby Tom Denton to the set of the movie that he is very very late to film. Bobby Tom is bound and determined to drag his feet and take his time getting there, but he didn't count on a tenacious wallflower like Gracie. She will do whatever she needs to do to get his gorgeous butt there and save her job. And she will fall in love with her charge along the way....

There are so many things about this book I loved, I just don't know where to start. It's a little odd I loved it so much. What kind of name is Bobby Tom? What is WITH his fashion sense?? Yuck! Why does Gracie need to be plain to start?? And yet, I loved Bobby Tom so much I graciously overlooked his atrocious name and flashy apparel because how could you NOT love him? He's just so outrageous in the most adorable way. And Gracie! Poor dear! You really feel for her. She feels so boring and plain, but with the help of a makeover she starts to feel pretty for the first time ever! This book just had so much heart and emotion and it was just plain old fashioned FUN!! And I just adored the secondary romance between his mom and the town "bad guy". It was almost sweeter than the romance between Bobby Tom and Gracie. But not quite. I could just go on and on, but I'll stop now. Clearly I am keeping this one around!

Stranger in my Arms by Lisa Kleypas

Rating: 5 ♥

Back cover:

"Lady Hawksworth, your husband is not dead."

With those words, Lara's life turned upside down. Hunter, Earl of Hawksworth, had been lost at sea. Or so she'd been told. Their unhappy marriage—with its cold caresses and passionless kisses—was over. But now a powerful, virile man stood before her, telling secrets only a husband could know, and vowing she would once again be his wife in every way. While Lara couldn't deny that this man with smoldering dark eyes resembled Hunter, he was attentive and loving in ways he never was before. Soon she desperately wanted to believe, with every beat of her heart, that this stranger was truly her husband. But had this rake reformed—or was Lara being seduced by a cunning stranger?

Review: I LOOOVED this book. It was not quite like anything I have read before. I thought it was wonderful and romantic and I enjoyed seeing Lara grow her backbone back and learn to love her husband. But not her husband. How confusing. hahaha! I thought Hunter (but not Hunter) was really sweet and endearing. This is one of those books where as you're reading you think 'how sweet', but in the back of your mind you know that in real life it would actually be a little creepy that this guy who is clearly NOT her dead husband comes to take his place. Still, it's not hard to love this story. I do sort of wish we got to know more about the new Hunter, but the author just decided that we should only know him by his new identity. We learn just enough about who he was, but clearly we are meant to look forward and not behind. I do so love a Kleypas novel!

Wind Rider by Connie Mason

Rating: 4 ♥

Review: Hannah, an indentured servant from Ireland, escapes her abusive master running into the wilderness, and gets herself captured by Wind Rider, a white man raised by the Cheyenne. When she saves his life after he is injured, he decides to take her back to his camp. But this is a turbulent time for the indian nation, and the "white eyes" are looking to extinguish them all. Hannah falls in love with Wind Rider (aka Ryder, his birth name) and agrees to marry him, while also trying to convince him that he needs to return to the white world and try to help his Cheyenne people from that side.

I enjoyed this romp. It was a fun 90's style romance, which is really my favorite era for both books and music. It moved along at a good clip and kept my attention.

The Legend by Kathleen Givens

Rating: 4

From the author's site:

It's a time of portents, when a tree split by the fiery crack of lightning foretells the history of a land. And two lovers have been chosen by destiny to make the legend come true. She is Ellen Graham, a highborn lass who swears never to marry except for passion. He is James MacCurrie, the mysterious Highlander with dark blue eyes who rescues her from the point of a sword. But the very fate that has brought them together also contrives to keep them apart. For this is also an age of brother fighting brother, when a warrior's cold will can still the warmth of his own loving heart....

Review: I enjoyed this story and look forward to The Destiny. I expected a little more, but I found it pleasant, if not entirely exciting. The characters were enjoyable and endearing. I felt like the tree prophesy plot line needed to be fleshed out a bit more, but I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys a good Scottish romance!