The
Desert Lord's Baby is the
first of a 3
book mini-series set in the kingdom of Judar, a kingdom ruled by
sheikhs and kings. Olivia Gates is as much poet as romance author in
this short romance in which the language itself has all the power and
passion as the hero and romance. If you like passionate romance with
dynamic, powerful romantic conflicts told mostly through the heroine's
viewpoint, The Desert's Lord is a great choice. From the
initial prologue to the last page,The Desert Lord's Baby is a
fast-paced, put-on-your-seatbelt
romance read.
Carmen and
Farooq have a passion together, a passion so intense that it
could burn up oxygen, leaving them (and the reader) gasping for air!
Together, Carmen and Farooq share the intimacies of passion, their
bodies hungering for each other, intoxicated by their desire. After
their first night together, Farooq offers her a three month deal to
accompany him on a tour for peace and relief. Carmen never even
considered the monetary benefits of being a prince’s mistress. Her
passion for Farooq wanted nothing more than Farooq and his love until a
sudden change of circumstances forces her to rethink matters.
Discovering that she is pregnant, suddenly Carmen must think of her
child's future and safety. She cannot let her child be a pawn in the
royal Judar household and the political intrigue that might endanger
them all. She walks out on Farooq. She travels over continents to keep
their presence hidden from forces she cannot control. Farooq has one
passion --- to find Carmen and her baby and nothing will stop him, not
even her. Hurt by her lies, Farooq is determined to make Carmen pay but
can a fated love like theirs turn things around?
Powerful,
passionate and virile, Farooq demands attention, not just
from his royal position but from the force of his personality. Carmen
is equally determined and ferocious, especially when she has her child
to consider. Can Carmen protect her daughter Mennah and love Farooq at
the same time? Can he not only seduce her but win her heart? Can he
show her that a man can serve country and family at the same
time? Can their love for one another survive when Farooq is a man
destined to lead Judar, a man called forth to serve his country,
through blood and through merit?
The Deserts Lord's
Baby, Olivia Gates’ debut
in the Silhouette
Desire romance line, is a romance full of passion and emotion from
beginning to end. The romantic conflict between Farooq and Carmen
sizzles with dynamic energy, sensuality, and unspoken secrets. Olivia
Gates puts together a hero and heroine whose passion for one another
leaps up off the page. Mennah, cute and yet just as audacious as her
father for grabbing what she wants, moves the reader’s heart as her
presence and exuberance for life shines in the presence of her parents.
Olivia Gates paints a beautiful portrait of a father loving a daughter,
truly valuing his child for herself. The Desert Lord’s Baby
looks at the body with powerful, poetic and unforgettable imagery ---
especially during Carmen’s wedding preparations. In this romance, the
reader feels the power of the body, the senses experienced by the body
as amazing and beautiful, especially when love inspires her characters.
In the first of the Throne of Judar trilogy, Olivia Gates captures
all the passion and poetry of romance. Brava!
The Throne of
Judar mini-series continues with: The Desert Lord’s
Bride (July 2008): Shehab’s
story The Desert King (September 2008): Kamal’s story
New Mystery Release Murder Is
Binding by Lorna Barrett
Small
town cozy mystery with mystery bookseller sleuth.
Lorna Barrett's Murder is Binding
introduces the new Booktown Mystery series. A cozy mystery with a
mystery bookseller amateur sleuth and a book at the center of the
puzzle, this mystery is a fun light read. For mystery enthusiasts, the
tribute to the mystery genre itself with mentions of mystery classics
from Cornell Woolrich and Ngaio Marsh to Dorothy Sayers and Agatha
Christie make Murder is Binding a must read. Every good cooking
mystery must include recipes, and true to form, Lorna Barrett delights
readers with a recipe addendum in the back. Stoneham, known as
the safest town in New Hampshire, was a dying
town until the downtown revitalization. Now, the center of town houses
genre specialty bookstores and draws in tourists and book collectors.
Tricia Miles and her cat Miss Marple run the mystery bookstore, Haven't
Got a Clue. When she discovers Doris Gleason, owner of the Cookery,
dead in the neighboring bookstore, Tricia sees a new side of Stoneham
from the political race threatening to divide long term natives on the
town's outskirts and the bookstore newcomers to other simmering
jealousies. When another resident has a suspicious car accident, Tricia
thinks she might have a lead into the motive behind the murder but who
can she trust? Sheriff Adams seems determined to pin the murders on
Tricia, the town jinx. Tricia's sister Angelica arrives into town
unexpectedly, stirring up the past along with her appetizing dishes. Lorna Barrett's Murder Is Binding is a must read for
mystery buffs. Full of first edition classics and tributes to many of
the great mystery classics, readers will not only feel the nostalgia of
a small town mystery but of their personal reading histories. Lorna
Barrett's research into the bookseller trade flows in the smallest
details from the details of book sources and different types of
booksellers to the antiquarian and rare book standards for packaging
books.
Tricia Miles is a
wonderful sleuth. With each new trail, the reader
catches a glimpse of a woman who cares for others and justice beyond
just clearing her name even to the point of endangering her own safety.
Tricia's relationship with her sister Angelica adds depth to the
characterization as Tricia battles a history of sibling rivalry at the
same time as she gains a mystery sidekick who amuses and endears the
reader to the sisters. To the reader's delight, the mystery details and
resolution provide several twists until the very end. Lorna Barrett
gives readers a delicious mix of small town and family jealousies and
undercurrents beneath the surface complemented by heart-warming scenes,
all brought together by Doris Gleason's murder. After reading Lorna
Barrett's Murder is Binding,
the first in the
Booktown Mystery series, readers might just find
themselves hoping that this small town will forever shed the
distinction of safest town to make way for more Booktown mysteries!
Humorous
Hollywood Mystery
Another
Thing To Fall
by Laura
Lippman
Masterpiece of characterization
With
rowing season
soon at an end, Baltimore P.I. Tess Monaghan takes her scull out for a
workout. Headphones in use, she has no idea of the dangers ahead until
she crashes, ruining the shoot for a television series. Baltimore has
not exactly embraced the presence of Mann of Steel inside its city. The
press pans the movie for its disruption of the neighborhood , its
indifference to the steel industry, a series of small accidents and the
bad behavior of the emerging star, Selena Waites. The series creator,
Flip Tumulty, the son of a Hollywood legend, hires Tess to act as a
bodyguard to protect the interest of his film and the spoiled actress.
After all, a man was found dead, surrounded by photographs of the young
star just about the time the set experienced the little incidents of
accidents or sabotage. Despite her uneasy introduction to the cast and
set, Tess agrees to play babysitter. Tess discovers that her assignment
is not as easy as appears when she is forced to spend her time with a
group of people who annoy her with their obsession on appearance, their
lack of knowledge about Baltimore, literature , history and just about
everything else that is not film related. Everyone has an angle.
Everyone has an agenda to put themselves first. To make matters worse,
Selena gives Tess the slip, proving she is more devious and hard to
handle than Tess ever imagined. When a murder occurs, Tess cannot help
but investigate even if only unofficially. As she looks more deeply
into the cast of characters and the details of the murder, Tess
discovers all is not what it appears. Fictive celebrity masks,
jealousies and the hunger for fame are only the first layers Tess must
unveil to unravel all the threads that led to murder.
Laura Lippman
assembles an intriguing and often hilarious cast of characters in her
latest Tess Monaghan mystery. Selena Waites stars as the rising
Hollywood creation, an actress (or actor as women are now called in the
movie culture) with an insatiable appetite who never seems to actually
eat. Oblivious to everything and everyone around her, Selena represents
the perfect example of a culture and generation oblivious to all else
but the present and fulfilling every whim and want. Next to Selena
stars Johnny Tampa, the aging and overweight actor looking for a
comeback. When Selena's role suddenly grows, overshadowing his role in
the series, is he jealous or hungry enough to take matters into his own
hands? Did one of the entourage of men surrounding Selena, men
captivated by her beauty and celebrity, have a hand in the mysterious
happenings? Flip Tumulty, anxious to make a name for himself rather be
compared to his father's legendary fame will do anything to insure the
success of his new series. How far will he go to protect or publicize
himself? Greer took over her position next to Flip in a
well-orchestrated coup of greed and manipulation. Did she go one step
too far? Whose chain did she rattle just enough to make them resort to
murder?
ANOTHER THING TO
FALL is a masterpiece of characterization. The reader sees
Tess's
character mostly as a contrast to the movie culture that has invaded
her town. Through Tess, sarcasm, humor and a broader reality provide a
stark contrast to the insulated world of Hollywood. Readers will laugh
aloud at some of the riotous portraits. This reader has not read such a
fun and funny mystery in years! Humor gives way to a finely detailed
structure of motivations and personalities as these characters chafe
and battle for supremacy in a series which can make or break them. As
Tess reminds herself and the reader, she does not have to like the
characters she investigates ---the job is to discover the culprit and
keep Selena safe. Even the secondary characters are well written and
integrated into the plot with just the right timing. Mrs. Blossom, a
student from Tess's class adds humor and a mystery twist to ANOTHER
THING TO FALL .
As Tess unearths
more and more clues, ANOTHER THING
TO FALL examines all the motives and
seething undercurrents behind the television shoot. First impressions
give way to something much richer. Just as Tess's sarcasm reaches its
height, the reader suddenly notices that this horrible, humorous cast
of insipid actors and support crew have captured one's heart. In a
subtly orchestrated change of tone, the reader moves from laughing at
the expense of these Hollywood creations to caring for the
personalities beneath. Laura Lippman gives readers a welcome dose of
reality with her critique of the movie/television industry, providing a
humorous antidote to a culture obsessed with celebrity and Hollywood.
At the same time, ANOTHER THING TO
FALL goes beyond humor and mystery
to provide the reader with a compassionate view of the people behind
the façade. ANOTHER THING TO
FALL is an intriguing look into
character in a mystery with clever plot twists ---- a mystery and so
much more. Absolutely brilliant!In Laura Lippman's ANOTHER THING TO FALL,
Private Investigator Tess Monaghan enters the world of Hollywoood as
the television series Mann of Steel comes to Baltimore. Filled with
humorous and often sarcastic insights into the a culture of celebrity
and a behind the scenes of look at the film/television industry, this
mystery will have readers laughing aloud as Tess's more literary
insights chafe against the world around her.
Watch for new
release from hot new 2008 debut author Jordan Dane !
Her third book
No One Lives Forever
