Heart of a Warrior by Johanna Lindsey

           Stunning, statuesque Brittany Callaghan isn’t used to seeing Nordic gods in her tiny California town. But when the spectacular blond Viking – who name is Dalden – turns up at her doorstep, Brittany knows her dream man is very real. Dalden claims to be a barbarian warrior – and since Brittany’s passion has been running red-hot since she first saw him, the sexy giant can fancy himself anything he pleases!

            The truth is a very rude awakening – for Dalden is exactly what he claims to be: a warrior to the depths of his soul from a place where the women always obey. Intelligent, independent Brittany isn’t about to be subservient to any male – not even one who’s everything she ever wanted in a lover. But the proud, powerful barbarian is accustomed to fighting for what he wants – and winning. And what he wants most of all…is Brittany.

            I really think that Johanna Lindsey took the phrase “he/she is out of your world” and took it to a whole new level. I am a huge Johanna Lindsey fan so I’ll try to be objective. Just to let you know, she was the first romance author I started reading. I had most of her collection at one point but since it was actually my mother’s collection I didn’t get to keep it. Then my mom got rid of it! I was so mad! Now I’m trying to collect them all again.

            Okay, for this book…The plot seems pretty simple. Dalden came to Earth to track down Jorran who was going to use mind altering rods to become ‘king’ of the planet. When Dalden was set down in the middle of the mall, he met Brittany. She has a hang up about being with a taller man than herself. Dalden is perfect because he’s so much taller than she is. Dalden finds Jorran with her help and he takes her back to his home planet. She doesn’t believe him until she’s attacked. Most of the book is about getting her to believe. Also there’s a happy ending.

            One part of the book that actually works yet I’m not very fond of, is that in the second half of the book Dalden pretty much quits talking. Most of the second half of the book is spent inside Brittany’s head and her talking to Martha, the computer. I think it works well for the writing style but it’s supposed to be a romance story about Dalden and Brittany, not Brittany’s relationship with Martha.  I liked that Dalden finally got tired of it and banned Martha.

            I sort of wish there was a part two to this book. Another story with Brittany and Dalden about what happens now, after they admit to being in love and she accepts that she really is on another planet in another star system. Perhaps she will tell us in another book.

            In the end I am rating this book 4.5 stars. It was well written, the story flowed, the characters were interesting, the background was believable, and in general it was a good story. The sex was nothing ‘out of this world’ but it wasn’t meant to be and that’s fine. Perhaps I wasn’t so objective, but what can I say? I love her writing!

Publisher: Harper Collins

ISBN: 0-380-81479-X

Price: $7.99 (cover)

www.johannalindsey.wordpress.com

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

This heroic fantasy is set in a world of ominous landscape and macabre menace that is a dark mirror of our own. A spellbinding tale of good versus evil, it features one of Stephen King’s most powerful creation – The Gunslinger, a haunting figure who embodies the qualities of the lone hero through the ages from ancient myth to frontier western legend. His pursuit of The Man in Black, his liaison with the sexually ravenous Alice, his friendship with the kid from Earth called Jake, are part of a drama that is both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike, an alchemy of storytelling sorcery.

I’ll let you know right up front that I struggled to read this book. It wasn’t the writing or the content…it was that I am usually not interested in this type of book. However, I have been wanting to read this book for pretty close to ten years. So, I sat my butt down and got through reading it.

I am pleased to say that for the most part it was a good story. The story starts with Roland, for the most part the nameless gunslinger, walking across the desert in pursuit of the Man in Black, Walter. I was surprised that even through Stephen King gives you the names of the characters, he really preferred you focus the fact that it was the Gunslinger versus the Man in Black. Usually authors want you to get invested in the feelings and emotions of the characters. In this case he uses flashbacks to bring us up to date on what has happened in the characters pasts.

The side characters are generally not much to talk about. However, I was really saddened by the events with the little boy, Jake. His end made me so sad I almost quit reading. Yet I knew that it was important that it happened the way it did. Still, Stephen King I don’t like his ending! Perhaps if I read more of the series there is a chance that Jake will be brought back or perhaps he changed worlds…like how he was brought to this one.

The pace of this story felt grueling. Just like the characters journey. I guess that makes an ironic sort of sense. It’s not bad just not quick paced. There was one part of the story when the gunslinger meets the man in black and they are talking that the man in black gets very philosophical. He’s talking about the universe and relativity and size. If you have ever taken a religious studies class and found it enjoyable you would like this section. Perhaps two or three pages, it was very informative and deep.

In the end I am rating this book 3 stars. It was good but just not my flavor. I’m sure many other people would rate this closer to 5. I could see how they would but in personal preference, my rating was slightly lower.

Publisher: Nal Penguin, Inc.

ISBN: 0-452-26134-1

Price: $10.95 (cover)

Color Illustrations by Michael Whelan

www.stephenking.com

Decisions...

I have made a decision that this blog spot will not just be for romance novels. It will be for anything I have read. That way there won't be long gaps between what I have read and what is being posted. So far there have only been romance novels posted. This will change.

I have just finished reading The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King. I will post a review tomorrow. Hopefully things will run smoother and posts will be more frequent.

Thank you,
Raylin

Night Bites by Nina Bangs

Cindy Harper had an ice-cream flavor for every emotion. Vanilla caramel fudge eased the stress of dealing with her weird and wacky guests at the Woo Woo Inn. But no sweet treat from her freezer was smooth, creamy, or tempting enough to cool down her dark fantasies about über alpha male Thrain Davis.

This was a man to be enjoyed on a strictly primitive level. Every woman who ever saw him smile would wonder about the pleasure his mouth could give her and recognize the secrets in his hard blue gaze. Too late she realized the danger of inviting an ancient vampire into her inn. The concept of fanged creatures of the night scared her witless. Besides, he forced her to examine her past when she was just fine with her present. He did have an upside, though. Who needed ice cream when you had a hot and yummy dark immortal in your bed?

Night Bites is a well written romance novel by Nina Bangs. This story is about Cindy finding out about herself and falling in love with Thrain. Thrain has finally found her after 700 years of searching and knows that he has to reunite her with her father. He did not think that he would develop primal urges to make her his.

The plot of this story was entertaining. Thrain and Cindy had to come to terms with fears that had haunted them for several centuries. They also had to learn how to trust each other. And on the side they had to deal with the crazy, and sometimes real, occupants of the Woo Woo Inn. The Inn was filled with people who believed they were vampires, werewolves, and shape changers…and then there really were those people there, along with cosmic troublemakers, Egyptian deities, and Celtic fairies. The medley of different supernatural creatures just added to the complexity and diversity of the characters within the book.

The sex in this book was great. It wasn’t ‘erotic’ enough to get rated a ‘hot’ or ‘steamy’ rating but it was enough to get the blood pumping through the readers veins. I really enjoyed them. I especially liked Prada’s love rug. You’ll know it when you read it. The bed was also very funny. I liked that there was a touch of humor during the sex scenes and that it didn’t get overwhelmingly serious.

In the end I am rating this book a 3.5 stars. It was great but the plot was not very complex. In the context of another story, this whole plot could have been written in one chapter. Nice job on the expansion but not so much on the complexity of plot.

Publisher: Dorchester Publishing, Co.

ISBN: 0-505-52614-X

Price: $6.99 (cover)

www.ninabangs.com

Nauti Nights by Lora Leigh

James “Dawg” Mackey has lusted after sweet Crista Jansen for years. Just as many as she’s spent running from him—and from that dangerous attraction that shot like a spark through her whole body. But now for Crista, running isn’t an option anymore because Dawg’s got a plan. It’s kind of low-down. And kind of hot.

Blackmail is a dirty word, but Dawg will use it if that’s what it takes to get Crista where he wants her. His hungers are too hard and fierce not to. He doesn’t realize that Crista has a longing too. She’s knows what he’s up to, what he’s capable of. He didn’t get that nickname for nothing. And before the night is through, Crista’s making him work for it.

Crista is out to get her things from the shipping company. She goes into a warehouse and suddenly there is tons of shooting, some guys asking where his money is, Dawg saving her life and taking her back to his boat. Then he’s blackmailing her to stay with him or go to jail. Seems like a reasonable choice considering she’s had a huge thing for him for years. So Crista allows herself to be blackmailed and she stays with Dawg. Now he has to figure out who set her up to be the fall guy for a weapons deal.

Lora Leigh is an excellent writer. I loved the way that she was able to maneuver the characters into the exact position she wanted. They seemed so real and so alive that sometimes it’s hard to remember that she is the one creating these characters.

The sex scenes are something to drool over. I was wet a lot of the time reading her books. Dawg is sexy, even through the written word. I did like that even though there was a reference of Dawg, Rowdy, and Natches sharing women that these women were brave and strong enough to say ‘no’ they didn’t want that and they weren’t going to stand for it. Plus it’s nice to see that the boys loved their women enough to not share them. I actually think the possessive streak is entertaining and well worth the discomfort for them.

I really liked this book and would recommend it for anybody else looking for a good story. So I’m rating this book 4.5 stars.

Publisher: Berkley

ISBN: 042521740X

Price: $7.99 (Amazon)

www.loraleigh.com