Love is in the air with the books that were read this week.  Join the WW Ladies as they share their journey with you.

Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl

Read by joysann
Feeling dull and trapped since inheriting the only auto repair shop in a small mountain town from her father, mechanic Lori Love has decided to spice up her life by having a hot meaningless affair during for the summer. Quinn Jennings, the older brother of her best friend Molly, volunteers for the job when faced with the opportunity, and they both leap into Lori’s sexual fantasies with the understanding that the relationship is only temporary. But the summer gets hotter and more intense when the local police chief discovers reason to believe her father’s crippling "accident" was a murder attempt, and someone starts vandalizing Lori’s shop and business into failure.
While there’s a good mystery here to pull the story along, the real action is, of course, with the relationship between Lori and Quinn. And the action Victoria Dahl provides is just fine…sizzling sexy romance and laugh-out-loud funny dialog and narration. Start Me Up follows Talk Me Down, and I’m happy to see there’ll be another story soon.

A Texas Ranger’s Family by Mae Nunn

Read by Denise
 
Erin Gray is a photojournalist that has seen the world through her camera.  She left behind years ago a husband and daughter.  When she suffers life-threatening injury in Iraq, her Texas Ranger husband and daughter take her home to heal.  She doesn’t want to open her heart to them, but Daniel has faith that things will work out and that they will be reunited as a family forever.
 
It was very refreshing to read a romance novel without all the sex in it.  I am thrilled that there are books written that can get my attention, be romantic without all the sex and language to lead up to the romance.  If my Grandmother was still alive, I would feel very comfortable having her read this romance.  Good Job to Mae for such an inspiring Christian romance.

The Sari Shop Widow by Shobhan Bantwal
 
Read by Bev
 
Anjali a young widow and her parents run the shop Silk and Sapphires.  Her father brings it to her attention that they are in financial trouble and he has approached his older brother Jeevan, her uncle to help them out.   Her uncle brings Rishi Shah with him to help reorganize the business so that they can stay open.  Rishi Shah is a Londoner who somehow is very well acquainted with Anjali’s uncle.  Anjali does not think very highly of her uncle, but that changes as part of Uncle Jeevan’s life story unfolds while he is visiting.
 
Rishi Shah sounds like one handsome devil! I thoroughly enjoyed the family interplay in this book.  To be widowed and live with your parents cannot be easy and to work with them daily there has to be some escape.

Vision in White by Nora Roberts
 
Listened to by Linda
 
The first book in a series of four, focuses on four friends who operate a wedding planning business. Mackensie Elliot, a photographer,  is  featured in this book.  Mackensie is most at home behind the camera, but loses her focus upon meeting English teacher Carter Maguire. Sparks fly and love endures.
 
What a wonderful romance. I was impressed with the amount of details involved in the business of wedding planning and am looking forward to reading about the rest of the women in this series. I had the pleasure of hearing this book in a new audio format – self contained in it’s own little MP3 device. Very convenient for those working in an office environment.

Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh
 
Read by Michelle
 
Devraj Santos is devoted to protecting the Forgotten from the Psy Council who is set to destroy anyone not connected to the Psynet.  Ekaterina Haas is left on Dev’s doorstep as a broken telepath after being held captive by Ming LeBon.  Dev and the Resistance believe Ekaterina to be a threat of unknown proportions to their Shadownet and the Forgotten.  Slowly Ekaterina regains her memory and her abilities and begins to align herself emotionally to Dev.  As Dev becomes enamored with Ekaterina he finds himself wanting to love her but knows he may need to kill her in order to protect the Forgotten.
 
I found myself drawn to the supernatural possibilities of a psychic world.  A very deep and intricate novel.  I was left wondering what defense an ordinary human could have when up against telekinetics, teleporters and the like.  It gives me shivers to think about it.

Ain’t Too Proud to Beg by Susan Donovan

Read by Sheila
 
Josie Sheehan, 35, a newspaper obit-writer, has suffered a string of too-short, too-shallow relationships. That’s why she half-heartedly goes along with her three single dog-walking coworkers when they swear off men. But it’s too late. Josie’s already met her perfect man, the gorgeous Rick Rousseau, CEO of a chain of pet stores. Rick falls hard for her too, breaking his self-imposed celibacy, punishment for his bad-boy years that ended in a motorcycle accident seven years earlier. Their love is not all perfect, of course. Rick’s life is in serious danger, due to consequences of the accident, and now, so is Josie’s.
 
This is the first book I’ve read by Susan Donovan (it’s her 7th novel, I think). In the first few pages, I was laughing out loud at what I thought were stray one-liners. I didn’t think she could keep up that level of humor, but she does. In this love story that turns to action suspense, she is hilarious.

Grave Secrets by Charlaine Harris

Read by joysann

On their way back to Dallas to visit with their sisters, Harper and Tolliver are hired by a wealthy family to stop near Texarkana to learn what their patriarch may have experienced in his last moments of life. Harper’s "gift" allows her to find and communicate with dead bodies, sometimes seeing or experiencing what they did. In this case, Harper sees that the rancher’s heart attack was deliberately induced by fear. Now someone is shooting at them, out to silence Harper for what else she might know.

I’ve been recommending the Harper Connelly series to my friends from the first book. It’s a little darker than the Southern Vampire series, more "human", so to speak, and I find it more thought provoking, especially regarding the dysfunctional family life Harper is striving to put behind her. Grave Secrets left me feeling somewhat shocked and breathless, which, I believe, was very much intended. The series remains on my personal recommended reading list.

Surgeon Boss, Surprise Dad by Janice Lynn

Read by Denise
 
Adam Cline was a dedicated surgeon and a confirmed bachelor who figured he would never settle down until beautiful nurse Liz stole his heart.  He learns he can never give her the life she has always dreamed of so he must walk away.  Liz has a secret of her own; she puts aside her broken heart and tells Adam that she is carrying his baby.  She just has to prove to him that their one chance at happiness could come true.
 
I truly was in awe at how I was actually feeling for Liz.  Adam was trying to grasp what was happening to him and should not have pushed Liz aside.  I can see that the old saying "You always hurt the ones you love" is a very suitable saying.  Liz had the determination to stick with him and I was right behind her all the way.

Bottom Line:  Did you remember to put your turkey in the refrigerator to defrost it for tomorrow?