HER MOUNTAIN MAN by Cindi Myers

Publisher: Harlequin Superromance
Date Published: June 2010
ISBN: 978-0373716432
Contemporary, Category Romance
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Lil
Obtained via Publisher


Sierra Winston is a city girl down to her Louboutins. A favor for a friend sends her to the small town of Ouray, Colorado to do an interview that hits far too close to home. Her interviewee is to be none other than Paul Teasdale. He is a well-known climber and one who has had the recent notoriety of finding the body of a previous premiere climber while recreating the climb which had ended in tragedy. Sierra is achingly familiar with that particular calamity; the climber had been her father.

This assignment brings back old memories and old pains to the interviewer, but in bringing forth her questions she also forces her subject to face his own memories and fears. All the while, attraction simmers and each finds that they have something to learn from the other...if they dare.

Ms. Myers delivers a romance with good conflict and appealing main characters. The hero’s drive in his avocation is revealed and explored in a manner that gives genuine insight into his character with no rushing to inform one of “the very important details that have shaped the man”. He is sexy, confident and good-hearted though he is also used to keeping his relationships with women light.

Likewise, Sierra’s challenge in viewing the past from that of an adult and not from that of her frightened and resentful fourteen-year-old self is teased out for the reader to see.

The leisurely build of the story allows readers to immerse themselves in the tale. Mountaineering details and quirks add a lovely authentic feel. One would have liked to see an ending that was less rushed and more balanced between the interest of Sierra and Paul. But when all is said and done, readers will likely find that they too enjoyed spending time with HER MOUNTAIN MAN.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of the book.

THE FATHER FOR HER SON by Cindi Myers

Publisher: Harlequin Super Romance
Publication Date: January 2010
ISBN: 978-0373716128
Contemporary Romance
Paperback
Reviewed by Penny
Obtained via: Publisher




Troy has come back to claim his rightful place as Greg’s father. Only Marlee is not happy at all to see him. She wants to protect her son from the same hardship and embarrassment she felt as the daughter of a father who spent just as much time in jail as he did out. Troy is determined to put his family together and prove to Marlee that his was a one-time mistake and that he is nothing like her father. But can she believe him? Can she take that chance with Troy? Her head tells her one thing and her heart another.


Cindi Myers’s A FATHER FOR HER SON has a good storyline, one that is not unique, but is intriguing. I just was not able to lose myself in it. This book just did not grab my attention for any length of time and I found myself easily distracted and putting it down often. When I picked it up, I would have to turn to the back of the book to read a bit of the blurb to remind myself what the book was about. When I am engrossed in a book, I can always remember what was happening when I left off; let alone what the book was about should I have to lay it down.

I can totally understand Marlee’s protective feeling for her son. And I was a little put off by Troy’s seemingly heavy-handedness at times. Maybe that is just the mother in me. I am sure fathers will feel differently upon reading A FATHER FOR HER SON. She is a tigress when protecting her son. Even a mom who does not have Marlee’s past experiences would be hesitant to let a father who is an ex-con, a man who was in prison when the child was born and never even laid eyes on him, come near her child and suddenly play daddy.

While I did not find this book particularly enjoyable, many other readers probably will. It is well written and the characters were well drawn and believable, including many secondary characters. It just was not my cup of tea. Nothing against Ms Myers and her talent, this one simply just did not pop for me.




THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THIS BOOK. THIS IS AN OBJECTIVE UNBIASED REVIEW

Welcome to Cindi Myers' guest blog

Cindi Myers

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The Right Name

I have a writer friend who will spend weeks finding just the right name for her characters. To her, the name is one of the most important thing about a character. She associates the name with who they are inside.

I've been known to change a major character's name halfway through the book. And once I'm done with a book, I sometimes have trouble remembering the characters' names.

Now, I don't think this means I love my characters any less, only that for me the name is less important. It's a way to refer to a character, but for me the name is not the character. This may have some relation to the fact that in real life I have a very difficult time remembering people's names. I can picture the person and what they are like, but I don't always connect that with the label that is their name.

When I name characters, I try to choose something appropriate for their age and where they live. I like names that are easy to remember and spell and maybe a little unusual but not too far out there.

The hero and hero of my January Superromance, The Father For Her Son, are Marlee and Troy. Marlee is a little unusual, but it's the name of a friend's daughter and I really like it. Troy to me is a strong man's name — short, easy to spell.

My novella "Melting Point" in the January collection Baby, It's Cold Outside! takes place in Iceland and the hero is Icelandic, so I had to give him an Icelandic name. I read a lot of fascinating information on how Icelanders are named and decided to name him. Kristjan Gunnarson. Of the many Icelandic names I considered, this was one of the easiest to spell and pronounce. My heroine is Stacy Bristol. I like the name Stacy and it sounded right for my heroine.

How important are character names to you? Have you ever disliked a book because of the names of the characters?

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THE FATHER FOR HER SON
Harlequin Superromance
January 2010
Life hasn't been easy for single mom Marlee Britton, but she's proud of her ability to look after herself and her son. Then old flame Troy Denton shows up after seven years, wanting to be a father to his son. and to rekindle his relationship with Marlee. While Troy struggles to prove himself trustworthy, Marlee wonders how she can ever give her heart to the man who broke it so long ago.

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MELTING POINT" in BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE
with Jennifer Greene and Merline Lovelace
Harlequin Anthology
January 2010
Kristjan Gunnarson is Iceland's first ever Olympic medalist. Coloradoan Stacy Bristol thinks he'll be the perfect model for her new advertising campaign, but she isn't prepared for the impact handsome Kristjan has on her. As she supervises filming around Iceland, Stacy fights her attraction to Kristjan. Can a down-to-business American and a footloose Icelander find love in the land of ice and fire?

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Bio:
Cindi Myers became one of the most popular people in eighth grade when she and her best friend wrote and illustrated their own historical romance novel. The manuscript was eventually confiscated by her English teacher, who told her she should spend her time learning to properly conjugate a sentence. Since then, Cindi has gone on to write more than three dozen novels, both historical and contemporary. She also teaches writing and is a popular speaker and workshop presenter. She produces a weekly market newsletter at http://www.cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com Visit her website

Contest:

One lucky blogger will receive a signed copy of Father of her son. So stop by and say hello. Please check back on Wednesday if you are the lucky winner. You will have 7 days to contact me.

A SOLDIER COMES HOME by Cindi Myers

Publisher Harlequin
Date published June 2008
ISBN 978-0-373-71498-8
Contemporary series romance
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Ratmammy





Captain Ray Hughes has just come home from a tour of duty in Iraq. But no one is meeting him. Unlike most of the other soldiers who have spouses or other family members waiting for them, his wife had decided before he came home that she wanted a divorce. And, she had left their son behind, a toddler that hardly even remembered him.

Chrissie Evans happened to live next door to Tammy Hughes, the young woman whose husband Ray had gone off to war. Chrissie befriended Tammy, seeing that she was lonely and needed support. The two would occasionally go out to bars, where Tammy would flirt and try to pick up other men. Chrissie soon tired of the outings, but would often end up babysitting Tammy’s young child TJ when she went out on the town alone. Chrissie wanted out of this friendship, but she continued to baby-sit TJ.

By the time Ray had returned from Iraq, TJ was living with his grandparents while Tammy had moved in with the new boyfriend. Ray was obviously bitter about what had happened, but he also blamed his neighbor Chrissie for Tammy's wild ways. He thought that it was Chrissie who had influenced Tammy to hang out in bars. The Tammy he thought he knew was a lot more conservative and would rather stay at home.

Chrissie had initially shown some interest in Ray, despite many years of fearing any involvement with a military man. She had lost her husband years ago in combat and did not want to go through that pain again. She felt safer staying away from any soldier. Both are attracted to the other, but both are wary about starting anything new.

I found A SOLDIER COMES HOME to be a very captivating read. I hadn't read a SuperRomance in a while, so this was a treat. Secondary characters Rita and her husband Paul, who was also about to sign up for the war in Iraq, had a story line that was equally as important as that of Chrissie and Ray’s. Often times too many characters can bog down a story, but Rita and Paul's struggles with issues related to the war kept my interest. The two story lines meshed well, with Rita being Chrissie's best friend, as well as the fact that both stories focused on some aspect of the war.

Another important subplot involved Ray’s young son TJ, and how he dealt with his parents’ separation and divorce. At the same time, Chrissie comes to love the boy and his father, and it almost seems natural that they become a family. But what happens when Tammy returns, asking for full custody of the son she had abandoned?

SuperRomances don’t always deal with serious subjects, and I think this is the only romance in the SuperRomance line of books that I’ve read that has incorporated the Iraq war as the main theme of its story, and Cindi Myers did a good job with it. She showcased the problems and issues that the military have to deal with once they return from war, and how the war affects their loved ones, in a way that will have any reader relate to and empathize. A SOLDIER COMES HOME is recommended and is a good start for those who are new to the SuperRomance line of books.

A SOLDIER COMES HOME by Cindi Myers

Publisher Harlequin SuperRomance
Date published June 2008
ISBN 978-0-373-71498-8
Contemporary Romance/Series
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Angie





Captain Ray Hughes returns from war to find out his wife had abandoned not only him, but his son. She has left their toddler, T.J. with his parents and gone off to live with her boyfriend. Ray misses his wife, but what she has done to his son by leaving tears at his heart. He realizes he made a mistake by pressuring her into being a family, and just wants to make his son happy.

Chrissie Evans befriended the neighbor woman, Tammy and began to babysit her son when she went to night classes. When Tammy moves in with her boyfriend, Chrissie is worried. Tammy’s husband returns to an empty house, and Chrissie takes him dinner only to have her good deed thrown in her face – Ray thinks she led Tammy astray!

Ray and Chrissie both want the same thing, T.J. to be secure and happy no matter what happens between them. They both feel the attraction from the start, but neither wants to be involved in a relationship. Chrissie is determined not to get involved with a soldier who may eventually have to leave her and put his life on the line. Ray is still reeling from his wife’s defection and has to learn to be a single father.

A SOLDIER COMES HOME is a novel filled with tension and emotion. Author Cindi Myers knows how to draw a reader in, and this woman was filled with fear for the leading characters’ hearts. She took a touchy subject with soldiers returning from Iraq every day and gave us a story that feels realistic, and yet will leave readers smiling from a happily ever after ending.

This novel is one of the best novels this reviewer has read this month. The characters are realistic and touched a place in my heart that will always be held by a soldier that went to war. It may have been Desert Storm and my heart may have been young, but as a woman, this is a reminder of the emotions that flow when a loved one is overseas fighting. For this woman, Chrissie’s desire to not get involved with a soldier is one that is easily understood. This may have helped this story take hold in my mind, but Ms. Myers easy flowing words, great characters and drama gave me a book to be cherished.

One of the best aspects of this book is that author Cindy Myers is being featured on eharlequin.com with their daily online read, where a new chapter is currently being released daily. Check it out today and meet up with secondary characters, Rita and Paul in their own story, Finding Home.