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Christmas Presence
Harlequin NEXT
ISBN: 0-373-88147-9
December 2007

Christmas Presence by Donna Birdsell

Young widow Astrid Martin wants to boycott Christmas—but her husband's ghost won't let her! Before long she has a tree, even a gift-wrapping job at the mall, where she meets the man who holds the key to her Christmas future.

Secret Santa by Lisa Childs

When Maggie O'Brien receives gifts from a secret Santa, she suspects one of the three men in her life has finally wised up to how special she is. Who's the mystery man—her ex, her boss, or that good-looking car mechanic? Come Christmas morning, will true love be waiting under Maggie's tree?

You're All I Want for Christmas by Susan Crosby

Divorcée Lauren Wright opts for a Bahamas Christmas getaway—only to be stranded at the airport by weather. But a very personable fellow traveler makes the time fly—and temperatures rise. Bahamas or no Bahamas, things are about to get steamy…

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Madam of the House
Harlequin NEXT
ISBN: 0-373-88136-3
June 2007

It was a great idea—why not bring lonely hearts together and make money? Real estate agent Cecilia Katz's brilliant brainstorm gave a whole new meaning to an open house. Especially with her hunky new assistant hiring the hot young studs to mingle with bored housewives. Who dreamed a game of Truth or Dare would lead to a flourishing business for the nearly broke single mother?

Until a stash of drugs is found and the cops start nosing around. Add in a lethally gorgeous real estate rival, and a risky business just got a whole lot riskier. But Cecilia's up for the challenge. And with the help of Jake the babe-magnet, watch her transform a life that's boring and sexless to one that's hot and reckless!

From RT BookClub:

“Real estate agent Cecilia Katz is known as the Madame of the Million-Dollar Deal, but her soon-to-be-ex-husband has lost most of their savings, so Cecilia is desperate for money to keep their special-needs son in boarding school. When she realizes that some wealthy older women would love to meet younger men -- and would pay a lot of money to do so -- she devises a scheme with her handsome, much younger assistant, Jake Eamon. Before long the police suspect she's running a prostitution ring, mysterious packages start turning up, a very bad man is after her and, worst of all, Jake falls in love with her. Humor, excitement, attractive characters and a light mystery set off sparks that make Madam of the House (4), by Donna Birdsell, a great book.”

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Suburban Secrets
Harlequin NEXT
ISBN: 0-373-88110-X
September 2006

Grace Becker needed to get a life…

And thanks to '80s night, one too many Flaming Togas and a game of Truth or Dare with her girlfriends, this woman who has let her Day-Timer rule her life has found excitement in spades. Rather than reveal the truth--she's done time for forgery--Grace opts for the Dare: giving her undies to a total stranger. A smoking-hot, almost-half-her-age stranger who's been making eye contact with her all night.

Can life get any more peculiar? Well, it does when the hot stranger slips her his room key--along with a computer memory key linked to identity theft. And when she's taken into custody by a sexy Secret Service agent. And when her knowledge of Eastern Bloc cuisine lands her an undercover assignment cooking for a Russian mob boss…

Suddenly her old life as a suburban soccer mom is looking like heaven!

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Loves Romances & More (www.lovesromancesandmore.com)

Grace Becker is a suburban soccer mom with a secret she has never revealed – she was once arrested for forgery in her younger days.  When she finds herself playing truth or dare one night with friends from days gone by, she finds she has agreed to a dare, instead of telling her one major secret.  When she follows through and hands her panties to the hot guy who has been eyeing her all night he hands her a room key, and a computer memory key that she doesn’t even recognize.

Thinking her night cannot get any stranger, Grace finds herself up against a secret service agent who cannot quite believe her innocent or guilty.  She ends up undercover cooking for a Russian mob boss and wondering, what made her think she lived a boring life?

SUBURBAN SECRETS is filled with movies and references to the 80’s that will leave readers feeling nostalgic for the past, when big hair and blue eye shadow were the hot items on the block.  It also comes with a very memorable heroine, who finds herself in hairy situations and just wants her boring life back.  Grace is a great mom and woman that readers can relate to.  What better way to escape our boring lives then to live vicariously through a woman who finds out just what she left behind when she wanted to stop being a soccer mom and be a fun flashy woman.

While Ms. Birdsell writes an over the top tale, it is so entertaining that readers will forget their lives and be pulled into the Russian mob and the secrets that lie behind suburban doors.

SUBURBAN SECRETS goes away from Donna Birdsell’s normal historical themed novels, but to this author this is her number one book.  This reviewer highly recommends Ms. Bridsell’s contemporary debut, and hope to see more from this genre.

Reviewed by Angie

Falcon's Mistress
Berkley Sensations
ISBN: 0-425-20634-3
October 2005

The Duke of Canby is a spy, working as a falconer in France, privy to the secrets of the nobility. But when he learns that his only love, Selena, is imprisoned for his own, faked murder, Canby must return to England to save her. His sudden reemergence into society will come at a price to his freedom--and the ultimate cost to him may be Selena herself.

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The Painted Rose
Berkley Sensations
ISBN: 0-425-19804-9
September 2004

Lucien Delacourte, a French artist plagued by the deaths of his wife and child, accepts a tutoring position in England to escape his demons.

His student, the reclusive Lady Sarah Essington, has not ventured beyond the walls of her gardens since an accident marred her beauty eight years ago.

Can they help to heal each other’s scars, or will their pasts forever haunt them?

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Wolf's Temptation
Berkley
ISBN: 0-425-2126-0
October 2006

Out to prove he hasn't lost his edge, spymaster Ethan Gray-known as the Wolf-is on the hunt for a smuggler shipping arms to colonial rebels in America. Instead, he finds himself frustrated at every turn by a mysterious woman whom he can only recognize by the alluring scent she leaves behind.

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Romance Reader’s Connection Review (www.theromancereadersconnection.com)
WOLF'S TEMPTATION

Ethan Gray, the "Wolf", is an English spymaster, and Maris Winter, the "Raven" is another English spy assigned by head spymaster Lord North to work with Ethan on an investigation.  The novel is set during the American Revolution, and the Wolf has long been investigating a ring responsible for smuggling guns for the American cause.  However, as soon as he gets close, the evidence he is desperately searching for goes missing, and at one point he gets close enough to realize that there is a female responsible for impeding his trail - he names her the "Peacock" based on her masquerade costume.  Ethan is plagued by memories of betrayal by another female spy and is as reluctant to take on a female colleague as he is determined to restore his confidence in his spying prowess.  Maris has followed in her father's footsteps in order to spy for her country.  She has carried a torch for Ethan ever since he had the unfortunate task of telling her family that her father had been killed.  However, despite her loyalty to the English cause, Maris is torn between her duty to her country and to her family.  It seems her half brother, Samuel Pardee, was raised in the colonies and is in support of the American cause.  Samuel is a product of Maris's father's illicit affair with an Indian maiden, Ajala and after the death of Maris's father, Ajala took her son to the Colonies and married an American.

There are some interesting twists and turns as the novel unfolds, and secondary characters such as Samuel and Ethan's sister Frederica are relevant as seeds are planted for a future installment involving these families.  The book is well written, and the characters come alive as the reader turns the page.  The author nicely depicts the issues shaping each character's choices and decisions.  It is easy to connect with the character's feelings of desperation, betrayal, love, and hope.  Furthermore, it is refreshing to find a novel set in England during this time period; WOLF'S TEMPTATION is the first this reviewer has read in quite some time. 
The one element the novel lacked was an abundance of romance, so if you like your historicals steamy, this one will fall short.  However, the author does reward your time investment with a well executed plot, and action that keeps the pages turning.  A recommended read!

Reviewed by Erin Erato

 











 

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