3 Reviews
Here are 3 quickie reviews of romance novels I just finished. These novels represent the various faces of romance:
Married for Christmas (Willow Park Book 1) by Noelle Adams
SKIN by Patricia Rosemoor
Death is Forever: A Delilah West Thriller by Maxine O'Callaghan
Jessica talks her best friend Daniel into a marriage of convenience because she's tired of waiting for her life to begin. She convinces him that they can build a life together and have the family she longs for. She plans to be practical, but she's got a secret.
Despite the author's note in the description that this story is not inspirational, and that the hero being a pastor is not the focus of the story, I was surprised by this book which was quite sensual with fully-developed sex scenes.
Married for Christmas was well-written with motivated and conflicted characters. I think the novel made the point that pastors aren't without physical desires. They're real human beings who possess the same physical desires as others.
Lilith Mitchell finds her runaway sister dancing at a gentleman's club. They barely reconnect when a killer kidnaps Hannah. Keeping his victims prisoner for days, he then hunts them in a forest preserve. Determined to save Hannah before it’s too late, Lilith takes Hannah’s place at the club to lure the killer into coming after her.
When she meets Michael Wyndham, documentary filmmaker whose current project SKIN is a psychological study of the dancers, Lilith falls under his spell. Is Michael the man he seems to be, or is he the one terrorizing her?
In a world of deception, where everyone seems guilty, who can Lilith trust?
This is also not your typical romance. It's gritty and edgy. I could easily see this as a Criminal Minds type TV or movie. If you're a fan of suspense dramas like that, you'll love SKIN.
Ex-cop Delilah West is grief-stricken after her husband's death and obsessed with finding his murderer. She's also broke and hasn't exactly got the choice clients knocking on the door of her PI office. Her latest job gets her drugged and framed for murder. Now she’s on the run and still searching for the murderers who’ve destroyed her life.
What you need to know about this book is that it was originally published around 1981. Heroine Delilah West was one of the first of the modern female private investigators.
Ms. O'Callaghan wrote 13 novels and a short story collection. She was nominated for both the Anthony and Bram Stoker awards. Private Eye Writers of America honored her with their lifetime achievement award, The Eye, for her contribution to the field for her novels and short fiction featuring Delilah West.
I say all this as a way of telling you not to judge her stories by contemporary standards. We're all so knowledgeable now about criminal investigation. That wasn't true in 1981 when her ground-breaking novel was published.
Death is Forever is still a captivating story so read it for the deft characterization, gritty action, and rising tension.
Takeaway Truth
These three romance novels provide good reading for those with eclectic taste.
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