HEART OF A HERO by Janet Chapman

Publisher:     Berkley

Published:    March 5, 2013 

ISBN:        978-0515153200

Genre:       Fantasy, Romance

Format:     Print

Obtained via:  Publisher

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

FOUR-1/2 HEARTS

With the Princess Carolina of Atlantis happily married to the man of her dreams…not that of her father, Titus, or brother, Mac, her bodyguard, Nicholas, can now pursue his own dreams.  One of those dreams is to find a woman who loves not only him, but his six cats.  And that woman needs to be special in some not so ordinary ways.  She doesn’t have to be beautiful…but she does have to be brave…and love his cats.

Julia Campbell has long worn the title of “town slut”.  Not because she is all that promiscuous.  No, it’s because her ex-husband who used her to get through college and dumped her spread that nasty rumor about.  Instead she is a hard working young woman who puts her family first and who has no plans to fall in love or marry again. 

Nicholas, however, has other plans for Julia and so begins his courtship. What neither realizes is that that courtship will show not only them, but those around them, just what is the Heart of a Hero.

I’m a huge Janet Chapman fan and have totally been enjoying her Spellbound Falls series.  When we first met Nicholas in COURTING CAROLINA I started to fall a little in love with him.  He’s that strong, silent type of hero that is always there for everyone else and you just know he has a little hurting going on in himself.  You just know all he needs is a woman who gets him and he’ll be just fine.  That’s Nicholas.

In HEART OF A HERO Nicholas gets his own story and you quickly find that the strong, silent man has many more facets to him.  And how can you not fall in love with a guy who loves cats?  Chapman tells such a good story.  Her characters are not only fully fleshed out, she paints very vivid pictures of where they are.  You feel the chill in the fall air in the mountains, know what it’s like to slip on those pine needles and can smell the wonderful scents of a fireside snuggle.

Like I said, I’ve enjoy this series…HEART OF A HERO is the best one yet.

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

 

It’s a Wonderful Wife by Janet Chapman

Publisher:      Berkley       

Published:     August 25, 2015

ISBN:        978-0515155150

Genre:       Contemporary Romance

Format:     Print

Obtained via:  Publisher  

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

THREE HEARTS

 

Jesse is the last of the Sinclair brothers to marry and he has no intention of doing that.  No how, no way.  Oh, he wouldn’t mind the whole family thing and after seeing how happy his brother is with their Maine brides he’s giving it another think.  To that end he’s bought not just a house, but an entire island in Maine and has hired a local architect to build that dream home. When he first headed to Maine and his island he was taken by the quiet woman, Cadi, who sat there during the meetings.  And after he left, she stayed on his mind.  On his way back to his island and to check on the progress of his home, he comes across a truck burning on the side of the road.  After calling for help he continues on to find a woman walking down the road – carrying balloons.  To his delight the woman is the very one who has visited in his dreams the past few months – Cadi Glace.

Cadi Glace has been engaged for the past 3 years.  Not exactly to the man of her dreams, but it made her father happy and kept the townsfolks at bay.  Before she settles down for real she wants to see the world – and maybe find Mr. Right.  Then again, if she could pick her ideal Mr. Right, Jesse Sinclair would be first in line. But first things first—and seeing the world heads that list.

I normally love Janet Chapman’s books and while IT’S A WONDERFUL WIFE was a decent read, it was not one of her best.  The story seemed to drag and at times I got the feeling the author wasn’t much into it either.  More than once I had the sense that the third brother, Jesse, had to have a story, but that Chapman just couldn’t get in gear on it.  There were two intertwined premises to the story and both were good and they tied in decently – the book just didn’t have that special zip I’ve found in most of Chapman’s books. 

I loved the concepts of what would become Jesse’s house.  Very Frank Lloyd Wright-ish in design.  And the tidbits about just what the children would like were great.  Nathanial was a great character – I really liked him and wish there’d been more of him in the story.  I just never warmed up to Cadi or Jesse.

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

 

For The Love Of Magic by Janet Chapman

Publisher: Penguin
Date published: September 2013
ISBN: 9780515153217
Paranormal Romance
Print

Reviewed by Gabrielle  Email: gabrielle@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

Obtained via publisher

Rating: 3.5 Hearts

Titus and Rana are the perfect couple. He loves Rana more than his life and is taken by surprise when Rana announces that she needs her space. As much as Titus loves Rana and wants to protect her he gives in to Rana and lets her grow and become the woman she wants to be. Yet there is more than Rana and her independence on Titus’s mind. A new colony of people has caught not only his eye but those of others in their community.

I am a big fan of this author and her magical stories. Love is always the main stay that gives the characters their magic. The love that Titus and Rana share shines through in everything that they do, watching Titus and Rana deal with everything that is happening makes for a nice read. Rana wants to protect Titus but she soon finds that love is a hard thing to ignore. When push comes to shove the two share secrets that will decide their future. It was nice to see many of the other characters from previous books and see just what they are up to know
.

This book is a fun sweet read. I enjoyed watching Titus deal with everyone’s advice and the relationship he tries to keep fresh with Rana. I cannot wait to see what adventures come in the next book. This story is a great addition to this series and if you have not read the other books in this series you are missing out. I hope that we get to visit this magical world many times again.

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

 

SPELLBOUND FALLS by Janet Chapman

Publisher: Berkley
Date published: February 28, 2012
ISBN 9780515150360
Paranormal romance, Fantasy
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Gina
Obtained by publisher


Olivia Baldwin has spent most of her life trying to be invisible. When invisible isn’t happening she runs or hides rather than confront. Any number of eligible men have considered courting the young woman but given her propensity to take off at a moment’s notice the local available men have stopped giving her a second thought. Passed from foster home to foster home the only stability in her life were Ezra and his late wife, Doris, who run the local store. Looking back over her life the elderly couple seemed to always happen to move to the same neighborhood Olivia found herself in. Olivia, along with her in-laws, run Inglenook, a camp helping parents and children to learn to communicate. The town adores Olivia and pretty near reveres her because her late husband gave his life for his country. Olivia does her best to raise her eight year old daughter, Sophie, on her own with minimal input from the in-laws. With camp a few weeks from opening, against her better judgment, Olivia hired Mark Briar but things with Mark quickly go south. Fortunately for Olivia, Maximilian Oceanus arrives on the scene.

Three months before Maximilian (Mac) discovered he is the father of a six year old boy named Henry. Henry’s mother never told Mac she was pregnant leaving Max to find out after her death. Suddenly thrust into parenthood Mac seeks answers on the best way to connect with Henry by coming to Inglenook. Despite Olivia’s protestations, Mac digs in and becomes the hired help at Inglenook.

Olivia finds herself more and more attracted to uber hottie, Mac, but he is an employee and will soon be one of her campers. Besides, she doesn’t plan on getting involved with anyone again.

Breathtakingly handsome Mac finds himself drawn more and more to Olivia, feeling things he never imagined possible. But he has an inner demon that once released he knows will turn Olivia on him once and for all. Can Olivia and Mac overcome their personal demons to find their way to each other?

I haven’t read Janet Chapman in quite a few years and eagerly turned to SPELLBOUND FALLS to recapture the magic I remembered from her books. Ms. Chapman delivered that and more. SPELLBOUND FALLS starts off as a sweet romance, the kind you would pick up for your teenage daughter to introduce her to romance. Olivia is complex with her own unresolved issues as a mother, widow and vulnerable woman living under the shadow of her in-laws. Mac as well is multi-layered—thrust into fatherhood of a six year old without prior warning coupled with his own family dynamics. In a fun twist on Beauty and the Beast Ms. Chapman pulls Olivia and Mac into a wonderful romance. At first I wasn’t so sure about that aspect but the more I sat with it the more I really, really liked it.

When I first started reading SPELLBOUND FALLS I felt like I started in the middle of the book. Characters’ names are put out there without any reference to where they came from. I wondered if I’d picked up a subsequent book in the series rather than the first. Once I got into the story and started to get a fix on the characters I knew who they were, went back, and read the initial chapters.

There were points, such as Olivia’s ambivalence to her deceased husband that lost me. Yes, it comes together in the end but there were times it felt like she’d written herself into a corner and wasn’t sure how to find her way out of it.

Sophie is eight and Henry is six years old but they didn’t behave like any children of their age I’ve seen or read before. I appreciated that they weren’t the precocious saccharin cute kids I’ve seen in other books; but I also didn’t see any difference between them and the adults.

I loved the albatrosses. They added some great humor to the story. I am looking forward to Peg’s story. Who’s Peg? You’ll have to read SPELLBOUND FALLS to meet her!

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

LADIES PREFER ROGUES by Janet Chapman, Sandra Hill, Veronica Wolff, Trish Jensen

Publisher: Berkley
Date published: February 2010
ISBN: 978-0425233818
Time Travel Romance
Paperback
Obtained via Publisher
Reviewed by Valerie


Man From The Moon by Janet Chapman.

Isobel finds herself kidnapped by four handsome, but very strange men. One if them is injured and they insist that she takes care of him, even though she is not an ordinary doctor but a vet. As she tends Daniel, they grow close. Thing is, these men are from the future and the way there is a one-way trip.
The opening story to this anthology is a great read. Exciting, fast paced and captivating, I enjoyed this very much and I was hoping that the anthology continues in this way. Isobel is a wonderful character, Daniel is a hero who is at first very alpha, but who is quite sure that she is the woman for him. The interaction between them is funny and I loved the way she distracted him for his injections. I smiled real big at the end as he used the very same trick on her!

Tomorrow Is Another Day by Sandra Hill.

Larry Wilson didn’t know his friends and Navy SEAL colleagues had registered him on a dating site until women started contacting him. Fed up with all the attention, he decides to meet the owner to get his name taken down. Sparks fly, then when Margo Baptiste is thrown into the past and meets a man who is very much like Larry, she knows with her matchmaking skills she can help this troubled man.
Things are still going at a great pace here with this story from Sandra Hill, another winner that had me turning the pages and loving every minute of my reading time. In fact, this story even made me shed a tear at the end. The ending will leave your feeling really good. Great characters, good plot and some entertaining secondary characters will have you enthralled.

The Drowning Sea by Veronica Wolff.

Iain McNab loves Cassie, but her father is not happy with the union. When he tries to hang Iain, Iain has to watch her get stabbed. He is rescued and goes to sea, first as a cabin boy, then as a pirate himself. Although he has the opportunity to avenge the death of his true love, Fate has yet to show her hand.
This is a swashbuckling type of story. At first we get to know the two main characters, then we go off on a trip across the seas as we follow Iain on his adventures. I swear you can smell the sea, feel the waves rocking the boat and hear the seagulls. This is another story that will give you some good feelings and hold you captive until the end.

Sixteen Decades by Trish Jensen.

Sheriff Ty Coltraine is surprised when he is looking for a missing person at the Rooster Ranch to find a woman locked in the shed. Thinking, it must be one of Fannie Mae’s girls, he is even more surprised to find a woman who has been beaten, wears strange clothing and insists that he was the one who had accosted her. As her story unfolds and Ty helps her to adjust to a modern world, he finds himself attracted to her and hoping she won’t go back to her own tome.
This is an entertaining story. From the first page on I was held captive. Ty Coltraine is a great hero and Maggie Prescott will entertain you as she navigates her way through a modern world. This talented author has written a story that will make you smile a lot and give you good warm feelings at the end. Trish Jensen is a new-to-me author and I think I need to look at her other titles. This author is one I need to watch.

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