Silent Enemy by Lois Richer

     Silent Enemy is book number two in the Finders, Inc series by Lois Richer.  It is, I think, the first book I have read by this author.  Although this is a series book, I had no trouble picking up on the characters and the action.  I enjoyed it enough that I want to read the other books in the series.
     When I looked up Lois Richer, I discovered that all of her books are published by Harlequin in the Love Inspired series.  I'm glad I found that after I read Silent Enemy.  Sometimes I find the Love Inspired books rather sappy and insipid, but Silent Enemy can stand with the best romance thrillers.  The fact that Daniel McCullough, the hero, has a firm faith in God adds to the book and certainly defines who Daniel is.
     Samantha Henderson works for Daniel at Finders, Inc.  Finders is a security service that finds expensive articles that have been lost or stolen.  Daniel has just turned down Sam's promotion because he thinks she isn't ready for the next level of responsibility.  Sam has trouble trusting anyone so she isn't a very good team played. 
     Daniel sends her to Lima, Peru to recover an Incan statue that went missing in route to the museum that purchased it.  Once in Peru, Sam thinks she is following the statue only to end up in the Amazon jungle.  A priest helps her and Sam discovers some gold coins while she is in the mission compound.  Since her cell phone works only sporadically, Daniel thinks she has once again decided to be an independent operator and he goes after her.  They end up together on a cruise where the statue is supposed to be auctioned off but the bodies keep turning up and none of the clues seem to go together.  In addition to the lost statue and the gold coins, there is also a drug cartel and 5K in missing cocaine.  All of this could get cumbersome, but Richer fits  it together in a plausible story that moves smoothly.
     I really liked this book.  It centered around the usual two people who you know are going to end up together but it kept moving and the plot was just different enough so that I didn't think I was rereading three other books.  Daniel and Sam play off of each other and Richer made you really care about them. 
     Silent Enemy is well worth the reading time!

Finders, Inc.

Identity: Undercover  (2006)
Silent Enemy  (c2007)
Secrets of the Rose  (c2007)

Polly Pepper Mysteries by R. T. Jordan

     R. T. Jordan has created a delightful and funny character in Polly Pepper.  Polly is an aging TV/movie star who became a household name 30 years ago (think Dinah Shore).   Now Polly lives in her mansion in Hollywood with her son, Tim, and her maid/best friend, Placenta.  The three are suffering the effects of the present economic downturn so Polly is always looking for a cameo role, a guest spot, or a gig of some kind.
     In A Talent for Murder Polly has signed on to be a judge for the new reality show, I'll Do Anything to Be Famous.  When the mean judge turns up dead, Polly and crew are off to find the murderer.  All the contestants are suspect, but when one of them dies, Polly is not so sure it is the contestants who will do anything to be famous.  Perhaps someone will do anything to stay famous!
     The newest addition to the series is Set Sail for Murder.  One of Polly's old castmates, Laura, has arranged for the cast of Polly Pepper's Playhouse to give lectures on the old show on board a cruise to Alaska.  As soon as Polly, Placenta, and Tim step on board, Polly knows all is not well.  Her suite has been reassigned to Laura and Polly is not the only out-of-date celebrity on the cruise.  Laura's body is found on the first day of the cruise and there are many on the ship who aren't crying over Laura and Polly is counted in that number.  The captain is sure that Polly is the one who snuffed out Laura so, of course, Polly has to find the real culprit.
     The books are very contemporary.  You will recognize all the names dropped right up to, and including, Barack and Michelle Obama!  Polly is a lovable character without a mean bone in her body.  She is smart but often plays dumb to fool those around her into thinking she is just another "pretty Hollywood face."  The interaction between the characters more than makes up for the convoluted plots.  The series is fun and clean and the name-dropping makes you feel like you are on the inside, too.  For good old-fashioned laugh-out-loud comedy, don't miss Polly Pepper.

A Polly Pepper Mystery

Remains to Be Scene (c2007)
Final Curtain (c2008)
A Talent for Murder (c2009)
Set Sail for Murder (c2010)

Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist

     This is the first Deeanne Gist that I have read but I'll be looking for more!  Maid to Match is funny, touching, historical, and romantic.  Set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina in 1898, this book is a look into the servant's life in America at that time.  Servants for the Vanderbilts were treated much better than in many of the other gilded homes of the time but they were still servants and the demands on their time and the limits on their lives were very real.  Just the look at history makes this a worthwhile read.  You'll be saying to yourself, "Servants were expected to do that!"     Gist has chosen servants for her main characters which is a departure from the usual class chosen for the leading roles in a romance novel.  This change gives the reader a much better view of real life in 1898 but it doesn't lessen the tension and romance one bit.
     Tillie Reese is the head parlor maid for the Vanderbilts and she is in the running to become lady's maid to Mrs. Vanderbilt.  Lady's maid is the position that Tillie has trained for all her life.  It is the position that Tillie and her mother have dreamed of Tillie holding.  It means great esteem in the household and a much needed raise in pay.  Just as Tillie is about to step into this exalted role in the household, she meets Mack Danvers.
     Mack is not the least bit interested in continuing in the employ of the Vanderbilts.  He has taken the job of "useful man" strictly for the money.  As soon as he can earn enough to get his sister out of the orphanage in Asheville, he intends to return to the freedom of his mountain. 
     The sparks ignite between Mack and Tillie, but Tillie is determined that her best life is with the Vanderbilts and Mack is sure his is without them.  The situation at the orphanage draws both Tillie and Mack to
re-evaluate their priorities. 
     In many ways this is a book for our times, too.  It speaks to what we Americans believe to be important - individual rights and responsibilities, freedom to determine our own destiny, and respect for all no matter their place in society.

Books by Deeanne Gist:

A Bride Most Begrudging  (c2005)
The Measure of a Lady  (c2006)
Courting Trouble  (c2007)
Deep in the Heart of Trouble  (c2008)
A Bride in the Bargain  (c2009)
Beguiled  (cFeb.,2010)
Maid to Match  (cJune,2010)

Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter

     Audrianna Kelmsleigh's father was the last man between the supplies of gun powder and the British troops fighting the French.  When bad powder reached the troops and they were massacred, Audrianna's father was held responsible and his name and reputation were ruined.  When he committed suicide, it certainly seemed that he was guilty.  Audrianna, however, can not believe that her father could knowingly do such a thing and she sets out to clear her name.
      When she sees a notice in the paper for her father to meet the "Domino" in a certain country inn, she immediately sets up a meeting.  Knowing that a lady is always prepared, she takes along a gun.  When a very handsome man does indeed show up for the meeting, Audrianna doesn't know that the man is Lord Sebastian Summerhays nor does he know that she is the daughter of the very man he is trying to implicate in the bad powder scandal.
     The gun discharges and suddenly the very private meeting between an unescorted lady and a lord becomes very public.  The more Audrianna and Sebastian try to keep the whole affair quiet and away from the rumor mill, the more public and scandalous it becomes.  Of course, by now Audrianna is aware that Sebastian thinks her father was at fault and Sebastian isn't sure that her faith in her father is justified.
     Ravishing in Red is a good read with a slightly off-beat plot and it is the first book in the series, The Rarest Blooms.  Audrianna is not really a member of the ton but Sebastian is a second son so all does end well.  If you like your romance about 19th century England, then be sure to pick up Madeline Hunter often.

The Rarest Blooms series

Ravishing in Red (c2010)
Provocative in Pearls (c2010)
Sinful in Satin (c2010)

Two Mysteries Revolving Around Sewing Circles

     You don't have to sew to enjoy these two light mysteries.  The sewing circles in both of these books simply give the author a chance to introduce characters and move the plot forward. 
     The sewing circle in The Lover's Knot is in Archer's Rest, New York which is about an hours train ride from New York City.  Nell Fitzgerald has retreated to Archer's Rest to recover from a broken engagement. The engagement had progressed far enough that the invitations were waiting to be addressed, Nell had already given up her apartment in New York, and her grandmother's quilting circle had finished and sent The Lover's Knot quilt when Ryan showed up and announced he wasn't ready to be married.  Nell's grandmother lives in Archer's Rest so Nell goes there for a weekend of chocolate and sympathy. 
     While in Archer's Rest, she meets the town's handyman who is young, handsome and devious.  Nell's grandmother, Eleanor, hires him to remodel the quilt shop which Eleanor owns.  An accident in the shop sends Eleanor to the hospital with a broken leg and Nell decides to stay in Archer's Rest to help her grandmother.  When the handyman ends up dead in the quilt shop, everyone in the sewing circle becomes a suspect including Nell. 
     The fact that the Archer's Rest chief of police is handsome and single definitely adds to the mix.
     The other sewing circle is far from the one in New York, both geographically and socially.  The sewing circle in Sew Deadly is in Sweet Briar, South Carolina.  Sweet Briar is a little town where everyone who lives there was born there and newcomers are not welcome.  Tori Sinclair, from Chicago, enters this closed society to become the town's librarian.  Not only is Tori not from Sweet Briar, she is from the North, uses a nickname, and finds that the former librarian was fired not retired. 
     Tori manages to become friends with the owner of the local antique store who invites her to come to the Sweet Briar Ladies Society Sewing Circle.  Tori is slowly beginning to learn the rules of the South only to have the town sweetheart show up dead at the back door of the library.  The local police investigator is sure that Tori has killed the girl in a love triangle.  Since the investigator doesn't seem to be looking at anybody else as the murderer, Tori sets out to solve the crime herself.  The sewing circle provides both suspects and clues as it meets weekly to discuss the unsettling events taking place in Sweet Briar.
     Both of these mysteries are light and fun reading.  The members of each circle are clearly drawn and diverse enough to provide the reader with plenty of ideas for motive and suspects.  You'll spend a pleasant evening with Nell and Tori even if you can't thread a needle.

Southern Sewing Circle Series

Sew Deadly
Death Threads
Pinned for Murder

A Someday Quilts Mystery Series

The Lover's Knot
A Drunkard's Path
The Double Cross

Deceptions, a Jamestown Novel by Marilyn J. Clay

     Marilyn J. Clay has done her homework with meticulous care for her novel Deceptions.  The book is set in Jamestown in 1617 and Clay was careful to keep her characters within the framework of the strict moral codes which governed at that time.  Men were all powerful and women had almost no rights at all.  Husbands were the rulers of the house and village and women were there to see that the man had what ever he wanted.
     Catherine Parke escapes England when her guardian decides it is time for Catherine to marry a man she doesn't love.  Catherine happens to meet Pocahontas right before the Indian princess dies in England and she feels a close bond with the Indian princess.  Catherine takes passage on  a ship to Jamestown where she hopes to be reunited with her father, her brother, and the man she has loved since childhood.
     Life in 1617 Jamestown is harder than Catherine had ever imagined but she survives and even thrives.  Her brother is still alive and so is her childhood love, but Noah is no longer the fun-loving, gentle boy he was in England.  Catherine's brother, Adam, warns her against Noah, but Catherine is still living her dream of marrying Noah and the two of them finding peace and happiness together.  Fortunately, Catherine discovers Noah's duplicity just in time to save herself and her baby.
     Deceptions is a great read just for the romance and the character interaction, but its real draw is the historical accuracy of the setting.  It is amazing that Jamestown was able to get a toehold in the New World and to hold on to that fragile link long enough to really get the town established.  The book gives the reader that feeling of fragility and how, in spite of the governors sent by England to rule the colony, the common people of Jamestown were the force that maintained the colony.  It was the people who were willing to work for the common good who kept the colony going.  The relationship of the people to the Indians was equally important and, in 1617, the Indians were mostly still amenable to the whites.
     You will walk away from Deceptions not only remembering Catherine and Phyrahawque but also those determined colonists who set the framework for our country.
     Look for more carefully researched historical romance from Marilyn J. Clay.

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

     If you like your romance with humor, then Jennifer Crusie is the author for you!  This is the first Crusie book I have read, but I will continue to scan the shelves for more.
     In Maybe This Time, Andromeda "Andie" Miller is finally getting on with her life.  Ten years after her divorce from North Archer she has met the nice, steady man of her dreams.  She plans to marry him just as soon as she has "closure" with North.  To get this closure, she goes to North's office to return ten years' worth of alimony checks.  He accepts them and all is well, except on her way out the door, North asks her to go to south Ohio and stay for a month with two children who have become his wards.  When North offers ten thousand dollars a month, there is no way Andie can say no. 
     When Andie arrives at the falling-in monstrosity of a house which was moved to Ohio from England at least 100 years ago, she realizes there is a lot more going on than even North is aware of.  The house is filthy, the housekeeper is crazy, and the children are terribly neglected. When it becomes clear to Andie that there are ghosts in the house, she becomes determined to remove the children.  The children, however, are equally determined to stay.
     In addition to the crazy housekeeper, Crusie has added many other interesting and colorful minor players.  Andie's free-wheeling mother, North's straight-laced, up-tight mother, his way too laid back brother, the brother's conniving TV reporter girl-friend, and an unconvinced parapsychologist are just a few of the supporting cast.  Crusie keeps all these characters in their places with humor and some ghostly help.  The final scenes, complete with seances, are well worth the few pages at the beginning where the action is a little slow.