Cooler Than Blood by Robert Lane

BLOOD
Cooler Than Blood by Robert Lane
Publisher: Mason Alley Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full Length (316 pages)
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

Jenny Spencer is missing after a violent encounter on a beach. Her aunt, Susan Blake, ask wisecracking PI Jake Travis to intervene. Susan and Jake had only spent one dinner together and both felt an instant attraction. Jake walked away. He was, and is, committed to Kathleen.

As Jake and his partner, Garrett Demarcus, close the circle on finding Jenny, they discover that Kathleen’s past ties to organized crime and Jenny’s life are strangely entwined. They fight a two-front battle to find Jenny and protect Kathleen.
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But by protecting Kathleen, will Jake become the type of man she could never love? Does he have choice?

Paging Sam Spade…Cooler Than Blood will be your kind of read.

This book is great noir, but with a few funny spins and some interesting turns.

I’m not a huge mystery fan, but this book was definitely worth cracking. As I said, the plot has some interesting twists and turns and should not be missed.

I did have some issues with the book, though. Honestly, I’m all for conflicted characters. I rather liked Jake being conflicted about his feelings for Susan and his girlfriend, Kathleen. It added some great tension. That said, there is a lot of violence in this book and that might be off-putting to some readers. Also, it was a tad hard to get into the minds of the characters. This book is told in first person, for the most part, and I didn’t get the feeling I was with the characters so much as I was watching them from afar. I little more internalization to understand the motivations of the characters would be great.

There is suspense, mystery and intrigue. If those are the kinds of things you like to read, then this might be the book for you.

The Dawn of Mars by Jeff Ferry

DAWN
The Dawn of Mars by Jeff Ferry
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full Length (298 pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Revolution has come to Mars. Max Lupine has been secretly creating a virus to pacify and enslave the populace. However, a mining accident triggers a premature release of the virus and sets off a pandemic that causes the majority of the populace to become mindless killers. Beverly Gibson, lead scientist of the Delta Dig, tries to rally a resistance not only to battle the infected that roam the populated living domes of Mars, but to stop Max Lupine from consolidating his despotic power. Beverly is assisted by Edgar Lourdes who is the only man on the planet with the ability to diagnose and combat the virus. He must discover how the virus was created and how to save the millions of people living on Mars. Recently arrived Thomas Stargell must battle across the Martian landscape to find Beverly’s resistance group and help them break Max Lupine’s control of the communications on Mars. He must attempt to contact Earth and hope they will come to the aid of the beleaguered Martians. When Lupine discovers how to control the infected the stage is set for a final showdown to find out who will control the future of Mars. Beverly’s rebels and Lupine’s forces meet in a climactic planet wide showdown that will cost many their lives and force the people of Mars to become revolutionaries or find themselves under the control of a madman.

It isn’t wise to start a revolution at the same time that a pandemic is spreading. Or is it?

This pill should be swig by men who want to prevent erectile dysfunction or improve their sexual health.Its effect will stay in your system all throughout the day which is unlikely with other brands.A high percentage of consumers claims that Zenerx has improve their overall sexual health. viagra tablets in india It is the cialis cost symptom that the medicine can work to benefit a user. One of the tadalafil shop problems that the males are quite ignorant about the sexual disease. It is found that men taking anti-impotency medicine don’t suffer from hormonal heart stress. cialis tablets 20mg wouroud.com Some of my favorite passages in this book were the ones that described how the Martian cities were laid out. The descriptions of them were so thorough that I genuinely felt as though I’d just finished walking up and down their streets. They were perfect setting for this tale given all of the changes their buildings have seen as one human generation gave way to the next.

It took a while for me to get into the story because so much time was spent introducing the characters and describing what life on Mars was like for average people. While I appreciated all of these details later on, including so many of them in the beginning did slow down the pacing of it. I had to plough through the first fifty pages or so before the plot picked up.

The explanation for the origin of the virus was well done. It fit all of the hints about where it might have come from that were dropped early on, but it still managed to surprise me in a few places. I also enjoyed the time that Mr. Ferry spent telling the audience where it came from and showing why it was so dangerous.

I would have liked to see more time spent on character development. It was hard to keep everyone straight because there were so many of them running around. Their personalities weren’t given an opportunity to develop to the point where I could tell the difference between two people based on how they behaved or spoke. Even knowing a few key facts about the most important characters would have made it much easier for me to remember who was who.

There’s definitely something to be said for intelligent protagonists. One of the things I was able to figure out about the main characters is that most of them were smart. They tended to be fairly cautious in new situations. That isn’t something that happens too often in this genre, so I was pleasantly surprised by how Mr. Ferry wrote those sections.

The Dawn of Mars is a good choice for anyone who likes science fiction that is heavily plot driven.

The Ex-Factor by Laura Greaves

EX
The Ex-Factor by Laura Greaves
Publisher: Destiny (Penguin)
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (285 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Quince

Talented, gorgeous and hopelessly in love, American movie star Mitchell Pyke and Brazilian supermodel Vida Torres were Hollywood’s most talked-about couple. They seemed destined for ‘happily ever after’ – until Vida left Mitchell for his best friend, and Mitchell publicly vowed he would never love again.

Sydney dog trainer Kitty Hayden has never even heard of Mitchell Pyke. Still reeling from the loss of her mother, Kitty is too busy cleaning up the various messes made by her indolent younger sister, Frankie, and trying to find a girlfriend for her terminally single best friend, Adam, to keep up with celebrity gossip.

Therefore the frustrated population demanded the introduction of buy levitra cute-n-tiny.com the remedial action by maintaining required safety level. It dilates the vessels so that they collect more blood and enlarge viagra order shop the penis. If you thinking that takeing few drinks will aid you to feel comfortable, it can really lead lowest prices cialis you to more usage of your energy to sustain the weight of your body. Such penile erections are involuntary and can take place sildenafil tablets 50mg without sexually stimulating thoughts. When her work takes Kitty to Mitchell’s movie set, their worlds spectacularly collide. The chemistry between them is undeniable – and it’s not long before Kitty is turning her life upside down to be with her leading man.

But as Kitty quickly discovers, when someone as famous as Mitchell Pyke tells the world he’ll never love again, the world listens. And the vindictive Vida is never far away. With constant reminders that she’s merely a consolation prize, how can Kitty compete with such a tenacious adversary – especially when she starts to suspect that Mitchell isn’t over Vida after all?

Ever since I saw Notting Hill, I like books, movies, and TV shows featuring romances between a celebrity and a non-celebrity. For that particular reason, I decided to read The Ex-Factor. It turns out The Ex-Factor is not so much a romance novel, but chick lit; which wouldn’t be a problem if the blurb indicated that (it sounded very much like a romance) or if more emphasis had been put on the relationship between hero and heroine.

The Ex-Factor is an interesting story about finding yourself and making the peace with your past. In some parts the story was very predictable, and the romantic part is too superficial for my taste, but taking everything into account i.e. characters, development of the story, writing, I enjoyed reading it.

The story started strong, with a slap on the movie set where hero and heroine met and in no time heroine was moving from Australia to the USA. Wow, talk about fast love. But what I missed from this fast love is how and why they fell in love. I didn’t feel the connection between Mitchell and Kitty. I think that a few more scenes and more dialogue between the two of them and the story would be perfect.

Speaking of Mitchell, he’s somewhere in the back of the story and not fully developed. I couldn’t say that he is the main character. The author did much better characterization of Kitty’s best friend Adam and her sister Frances; they are such great secondary characters. Also Kitty, oh Kitty, she is sweet and strong, and life has thrown her some serious punches. Once she got rid of the ghosts from the past she was able to live and love again. I was so happy that everything turned out just fine for her.

Readers who like chick lit that focuses more on a heroine’s trials and not so much on the romance should give this one a try.

The Colossus by Ranjini Iyer

THE
The Colossus by Ranjini Iyer
Publisher: Astor + Blue Editions
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (246 Pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

A diffident catering company owner, Max Rosen, learns of the existence of a coded research document authored by her late scientist father. This research is linked to health pills that were unearthed from the site of the Indus Valley Civilization in ancient India. The pills were once the mainstay of German pharmaceutical giant Berliner that Max’s grandfather worked for. And these pills were used in horrific Nazi era medical experiments.

When Max learns that the pills and the disturbing secret they hold may be the reason why her father may not have committed suicide as she has always believed, she embarks upon a whirlwind adventure to decode her father’s research and find his killers.
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In a thrilling ride that takes her and Julian McIntosh, a history professor, across the world, she must keep her wits about her or face dire consequences at the hands of Berliner and other unknown forces, who will stop at nothing to keep the research from coming out. Even as she struggles with her feelings for Julian, Max must brace herself for startling discoveries— her father’s research may well reveal a frightening truth connecting Berliner, her grandfather, and perchance, all mankind. And the shocking reality about her father’s death is one she may never be able to face.

Maxine Rosen is still suffering from her father’s alcoholism and suicide. She just doesn’t understand what went so terribly wrong in his life. But when she comes across her father’s coded research and she discovers that some very determined people are after her and her family, she decides that she really needs to find out the truth about both her father and her grandfather.

I like Max. She works as a caterer in a rather sheltered and limited world. All of a sudden she’s traveling, dodging assassins, and trying to solve the mystery of why everyone is after her father’s research. She meets Julian McIntosh, a professor who might be able to help her unravel things, but she isn’t sure why he is so eager to help. The dynamics between Max and Julian are complex and while Max is attracted to him, she doesn’t see at all why he should be attracted to her.

Max is scared, and with good reason, and she waffles between thinking she should just forget the entire thing and being righteously indignant that a big German pharmaceutical company should be able to intimidate her. Are they the ones who killed her father? I liked the way Max develops during the story. She is obviously in a world she’s never even thought about and it would be easy to retreat. She frequently confuses Julian by her actions, but as she gets more and more information she becomes stronger and more determined.

The plot is complex and there is a lot of information about the workings of diseases and various kinds of viruses which I found both fascinating and frighteningly believable. The pacing is fast and there are twists and turns at every corner. I never guessed the solution until it unfolded at the end.

Mystery lovers are sure to enjoy traveling with Max as she and Julian try to discover the truth of what happened in the Indus Valley so many years ago.

Witches’ Waves by Teresa Noelle Roberts

WITCHES
Witches’ Waves by Teresa Noelle Roberts
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal
Length: Full Length (280 pages)
Other: F/M/M, Ménage, Anal Play
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lisianthus

“The ocean is on their side. But the fight is on land and it’s about to get dirty.”

“Duals and Donovans: The Different, Book 4”

Long held captive as the Agency s secret weapon a blind witch with visions Meaghan has come to a line she refuses to cross. Rather than betray the infant child of five bloods to the Agency s scientists, she chooses death. Except when she throws herself into the ocean, she doesn t die. Her repressed water magic comes to life.
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When the sodden, delirious witch drifts into Kyle s arms, his otter dual instincts tell him to get her to the Donovans as fast as possible. Even though one particular surfer-dude Donovan broke his heart.

Declan Donovan continually kicks himself for pushing Kyle away, but his touchy combination of water, earth and lightning magic is too volatile, and Kyle wanted more than Deck was ready to give.

When they come together to help Meaghan control her new magic, it leads the Agency straight to the child of five bloods. They ll have to dive head-first into total trust in their magics, in themselves and in each other to save the child and stop the Agency once and for all.

Meaghan knows she’s dying, but she won’t let an innocent child die if she can save her. I loved reading a story with a blind heroine and I felt for her as prepared to die sooner to save the child. I immediately fell in love Kyle when he rescued her, even though I admit I had a bit of a learning curve about Otterkin and what all that meant. I think the author does a decent job handling it for any readers like me, who pick up the fourth book in a series and try it out.

He takes her to his former lover Declan Donovan, a witch that is uniquely suited to help Meaghan learn her new water magic, but he also needs Kyle and Meaghan to reassure him that he won’t blow up the world in the process.

There is a lot of action as they race to keep the child safe from the Agency, and while I’m sure reading the past books would have helped with the confusion I felt about a few things Agency related, I was still able to follow along and get swept up in the action.

This is a relationship where they all love each other equally and the scenes between just Kyle and Declan were equally as hot as when all three of them came together. I really enjoyed their relationship and while it took a bit of a backseat to the action, it was still very sexy and enjoyable.

Square Affair by Timmothy J. Holt

AWQUEARE
Square Affair by Timmothy J. Holt
Publisher: Christine F. Anderson Publishing & Media
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (244 pgs)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

In the small Midwestern town of Dewers, among the turmoil of the 1960s, the conversations of five men leads to sexual exploration, which takes them and the town on a journey through good and evil that will change the entire community and confirm the town’s resolve to survive.

Arrested on charges of public indecency for anonymous sex in the courthouse restroom, five men reveal complex, unknown, and differing motivations for their actions. As they face not only criminal prosecution, but also the tribunal of Dewers, two questions are on their minds: Who am I, and is anyone out there like me?
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Clara May and Frieda, guardians of Dewers gossip, narrate Square Affair, where the reader becomes a citizen of Dewers: walking the square, in a bar drinking, trick-or-treating, in a store buying a hat, or in a car gossiping.

Sometimes sleepy little towns aren’t as sleepy as you might think. Take Dewers, IL, for example. On the outside, it looks like your typical little Midwestern hamlet, but once you step inside, dig around for a bit, you’re bound to uncover things you’d never expected. Or, you could just ask Clara May and Frieda. Nothing happens in Dewers that the two of them aren’t privy to.

Square Affair was a change of pace for me. While I love historical novels, when I reach for one, it’s usually not set in the recent past. Set in the 1960’s amidst all the changes sweeping through our country, I got a good look into the way people thought and acted in a time when I wasn’t even alive. Having grown up in the 1980’s, the idea that someone might be homosexual (and, in turn, engaging in a romantic relationship with someone of the same sex) wasn’t ever a surprise or revelation to me. However, in the 1960’s, life was much different.

The five men involved in the ‘Affair’ as the locals called it, covered all the bases. Happily married, unhappy in their relationship, single, you name it. One knew he was gay even before the Affair, while others weren’t even sure why they’d indulged by the time the book ended. It was very realistic in its portrayal of the townspeople, both those directly involved and those who weren’t. Square Affair also gripped me in a way that most things don’t. I will admit it – I was angry during so much of this book. These men were lonely, confused, suffering, and yet, all they earned was ridicule and scorn and hatred. It was difficult to continually remind myself that this was a different time in our country.

The one issue I did have with the novel was that some of the dialogue was stilted, predictable even. Although, once you got into the story, you noticed it less and less because the characters took over. Told in revolving points of view that include the men involved in the affair, their wives, and a few townspeople, it is mostly directed by town gossip queen, Clara May. Before each new point of view is introduced, you got a bit of insight from Clara May and her pal, Frieda. I found this an interesting and different way of prefacing each chapter and gave you a little insider information on each player before you ‘met’ them.

Square Affair is a thought-provoking look not just into our past, but into all that small town living is. For someone who wasn’t alive during the time period, it was an eye-opening read.

The Rancher’s Lullaby: Glades County Cowboys by Leigh Duncan

LULLABY
The Rancher’s Lullaby: Glades County Cowboys by Leigh Duncan
Publisher: Harlequin
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (217 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

Falling in love again didn’t figure into widower Garrett Judd’s plans when he brought his infant son home to the Circle P Ranch. But bluegrass sensation Lisa Rose plucks the rancher’s heartstrings as sweetly as she strums the guitar. When Lisa discovers she’s carrying Garrett’s baby, will his love overcome the fear that history will repeat itself?

Neither Garret Judd nor Lisa Rose wants a relationship. However, on dark stormy night, when the light went out in Okeechobee, Florida …. But this is a one-time thing they declare.

Canadian Pharmacy Online Saves Embarrassment There are some drugs such as viagra generic for sale look here, purchasing which may create an embarrassing situation with his partner and will make both of the upset. It is an excellent remedy for the problem of erectile viagra generic sale dysfunction. It has been established that obesity is associated with decreased natural fecundity, a decreased ovulation rate, increased time until conception, and increased rates of miscarriage. https://unica-web.com/archive/2018/better-clubs-ideas-in-german.html cialis online mastercard online generic viagra Furthermore, selling generic or fake versions of this drug is what enables the process to become effective. Garret still functions in a somewhat state of limbo since the death of his wife ten months ago. He even leaves the care of their baby to the grandmother who already has more than enough to do managing the house at Circle P Ranch. Garret does his job as manager of Circle P on auto pilot, just getting through each day.

Lisa signs divorce papers soon after she opens her music store in Okeechobee and grieves about not having a child after trying so hard and spending thousands of dollars. With her touring, music-performing life behind her, she sets in to make a new start with “spunk and determination.”

The author Leigh Duncan tells a sweet story of family and friends support and love. She explores the inner thoughts of Garret and Lisa as they each struggle to get back to some kind of normal in their lives.

The workings on the Circle P and Lisa’s involvement with entertaining the dudes during roundup time sets the stage for Garret and Lisa’s getting to know each other and becoming friends while saying no to the sexual awareness that crackles and pops like electricity when they are together.

Baby LJ is a bright, shining little star in the story as he, like most normal babies, is on a mission to learn about his world, mindless of the havoc he can wreck in his zeal. Unbeknownst to him, he stirs up life-changing emotions in Garret and Lisa.

The Rancher’s Lullaby touches tender, sweet places in the heart that reaffirms the belief of love being able to overcome incredible obstacles, both physical and emotional, to arrive at a happy-ever-after.

The Swamps of Jersey by Michael Stephen Daigle

SWAMPS
The Swamps of Jersey by Michael Stephen Daigle
Publisher: Imzadi Publishing, LLC
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (238 pgs)
Rating: 2.5 stars
Reviewed by Ginger

Ironton, New Jersey has seen hard times before. Deserted factories and empty stores reflect the decades-long decline, that even Mayor Gabriel Richman, scion of one of the city’s leading political families, cannot seem to rectify. Now families are living on the street or in the shells of the old factories.

A week-long tropical storm floods the depressed city bringing more devastation as well as a new misery: The headless, handless body of a young woman in the Old Iron Bog.

Social activities such as drinking and smoking are the main levitra pills for sale reasons for erectile dysfunction in male. It also boosts sex drive and sperm count in men. buy viagra without prescription Erectile dysfunction is slowly becoming one of the major reasons for the reduced sexual libido of a women as well viagra cialis proben as her ability to respond sexually. Indeed, even while generic viagra http://djpaulkom.tv/new-single-dj-paul-k-o-m-you-know-where-im-goin/ doing modest occupation like cutting the vegetables, you should play it safe or else you will wind up cutting your finger. Between the gruesome murder and an old factory suspiciously burning down, Detective Frank Nagler begins to believe that incarcerated Charlie Adams, the city’s famous serial killer, may have fostered a copycat killer. Determined to find the truth, he follows the case that leads into unexpected places.

A broken city flooded under a tropical storm has enough to deal with but when a gruesome murder is added to the mix will the city ever be able to recover from a place of financial ruin?

I can’t say this was the most exciting mystery I’ve read, but it was an interesting read that is well written. The author has away of creating scenes with detailed description so the reader has a good enough visual. The book has a interesting concept, but at times lost my interest. In reading the excerpt I thought the book would be more of a mystery about the body found in the local swamp, and the investigation in finding the killer. Frankly this book was more about the politics of the town and its financial decay.

The characters lacked depth and I just couldn’t find myself connecting. Detective Frank Nagler is on the hunt to identify the person responsible for dumping a young woman’s body in the Old Iron Bog. This isn’t a simple case for Detective Nagler because he ends up uncovering a lot of corruption along with having to confront a past relationship.

The story gives great detail, however there are parts where it went overboard. In the first part of the story there are about three or four pages describing the rain, flood and damages to the city of East Ironton. The description was given with such flair I was in awe of the author’s poetic flow in describing such a detail that I could visualize the continuous rain and for a brief moment I could imagine the rhythmic sounds while reading, however it does slow down the story.

Though this was a bit different from the suspense I normally read the conclusion was somewhat surprising. I didn’t suspect the killer so I guess this makes for a successful suspenseful read.

Though I wouldn’t really call this a mystery, the writing was pleasurable. I would recommend to someone that enjoys reading about town politics and cities with corrupt officials.

The Blue Journal-A Detective Anthony Walker Novel by L.T. Graham

LUE
The Blue Journal-A Detective Anthony Walker Novel by L.T. Graham
Publisher: Seventh Street Books
Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (365 pgs)
Other: M/F, Multiple Partners
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Stephanotis

When one of Randi Conway’s psychotherapy patients is found dead of a gunshot wound, the investigation is turned over to Lieutenant Anthony Walker.

Formerly a New York City cop, Walker now serves on the police force of an affluent community in Fairfield County, Connecticut. He lives among the privileged gentry, where he understands that appearances are often far removed from reality. This certainly proves to be true in the death of Elizabeth Knoebel, when Walker discovers that she had been keeping a private journal entitled “SEXUAL RITES”.

The reputed drugstores offer assistance through genuine medications and information about the drug, dosage and precautions etc. cheap cialis 20mg Dosage and direction : Maximum daily dose of is 100 mg, which asked to be gulped 60 minutes former of sexual act; as, it takes 30 minutes to get mix in the blood & respond accordingly. viagra fast shipping 100mg online has to be taken entirely with enough amounts of water, but not over 1 pill in a day. This is incorrect because, according to existing medical literature, cholecystectomy does not reduce gallbladder pain in 10% to wholesale viagra cheap 33% of individuals within their lifetime. This is one of the most effective remedy amongst many other home remedies for acid reflux. cialis uk visit here In her diary, Elizabeth was recording the explicit details of her sexual adventures with various men, many of whom were married to the women in her therapy group. Elizabeth was a predator bent on seducing and, in some instances, humiliating these men, obsessed with a perverse mission that Walker believes led to her murder.

As Walker uncovers the secrets of Elizabeth’s memoir, he becomes convinced that her killer is another of Randi Conway’s patients.

But which one?

The Blue Journal starts with a sentence that pulled me immediately into the story and a first chapter that had me wanting to find out who killed Elizabeth Knoebel.

The second chapter seemed unrelated to the first where main character Anthony Walker is called to deal with a teenager who’s up on a roof and about to jump. We’re also introduced to Randi Conway, who will eventually play a big part in the plot as she’s the psychologist who’s been overseeing the group therapy sessions that Elizabeth Knoebel was part of.

Journals that Elizabeth kept soon come to light, they’re sexually explicit and it seems she’s been playing a manipulative game with various men.

The plot is a great one, trying to figure out who killed her and there are some plot twists that had me turning the pages. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I didn’t enjoy this book more than I thought I would. I realized it was because some chapters were written from Walker’s point of view and other main characters, but it seemed to switch to a more omniscient point of view in others which made me lose my connection to them and the story. However, if this style of writing is to your liking then I don’t think it will be problem for you. In fact, if you like a whodunit with an erotic undertone then this could be a good pick.

Merry Ex-Mas by Sheila Roberts

EX
Merry Ex-Mas by Sheila Roberts
Publisher: Harlequin Mira
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday
Length: Full Length (308 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

Christmas in Icicle Falls…

Cass Wilkes, owner of the Gingerbread Haus bakery, was looking forward to her daughter Danielle’s wedding—until Dani announced that she wants her father, Cass’s ex, to walk her down the aisle. Seriously? Even worse, it appears that he, his trophy wife and their yappy little dog will be staying with Cass…

Her friend Charlene Albach arrives at their weekly chick-flick night in shock. She’s just seen the ghost of Christmas past: her ex-husband, Richard, who left a year ago when he ran off with the hostess from her restaurant, Zelda’s. Now the hostess is history and he wants to kiss and make up. Hide the mistletoe!

And bring out the hot buttered rum, because the holidays aren’t easy for Ella O’Brien, either. Ella, newly divorced, is still sharing the house with her ex while they wait for the place to sell. The love is gone. Isn’t it?

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Merry Ex-mas, ladies!

Talk about walking on egg shells and the potential for disaster. Having all your exes showing up for the holidays sounds like a total nightmare but Ms. Roberts proved that for some, divorces for the wrong reasons are extra hurtful when it’s discovered the marriage was for all the right reasons in the first place. But who will the lucky couple be?

The one thing I’ve discovered about Ms. Roberts’ writing style is she likes her stories busy. It’s very similar to a real community where lives overlap and everyone affects someone else because there’s a history. I don’t know everyone in Icicle Falls but I’ve read a few books written after this one and what I find interesting is that they are solidly standalone books. There might be a few extra characters that don’t really have anything resolved but they help out the ones that do in the current book. That’s sort of the case here and yet, their POV is just as an important contribution as the main characters.

The cast is varied but it comes down to Cass, Ella and Charley. Ella’s I could figure out, Charley was a heart wringer and Cass was fascinating. I cracked up about Cupcake the dog and yet, the dog’s antics provided insight between two characters that come to terms. It’s amazing how the author took every day mundane events and made them relevant and heavy with substance and meaning.

I enjoyed how the ladies had each other’s backs and how they were there for each other through thick and thin. Not everyone has those types of friendships but I know they exist and if a person is lucky to have them, they more than probably resemble the ladies from Icicle Falls. I also like how the role of pets assists with the storytelling. It gives the novel an everyday feeling making the characters relatable.

Inasmuch as I liked Cass, her story was a bit unbalanced. By that I mean that it seemed to play a huge role but there wasn’t a true role yet I was made to believe there was something that was going to happen but her involvement wasn’t the forefront but more her daughter’s. It came across like Cass was the narrator of the story but lived within the story, was affected by it and affected it but wasn’t the true focal point – if that made any sense.

Merry Ex-Mas is most definitely a character driven romance novel. It’s about family, one broken made whole, relationships in all their complicated glory and yes, a happy ever after that makes the story worth reading. Ms. Roberts has made Icicle Falls a wonderful place to visit with characters readers want to come back and visit with. They have faults and flaws like most people and that’s what makes reading about them so special. Happiness comes in different flavors and each novel about Icicle Falls is a unique treat.

Merry Ex-Mas has its moments of romantic genius and is a must read for fans of family/friends centered romances. It’s a novel about love and life and is worth checking out.