Creepy chick on cover doesn't seem v. into it.

 

Because I totally relate to a poor little rich trust fund baby and her almost gratuitous law degree from Yale...

 

The book starts out at her going away party. Not the going away party you assume; the going away party for her alter ego who has decided she can't take living on a legal secretary's salary and doing without her favorite booze and high class dining one more day. She's going home.

 

Chapter one is several weeks later when the former boss she had a crush on calls her out of the blue and wants to meet for dinner or something. The next 2/3 of the book is her hiding her identity from him while sleeping with him. I sort of wondered if she would ever have told him. Her sister, not realizing the poor guy was completely in the dark, arranged a double date and clued him in.

 

Near the end, she reluctantly invited him to a reception of some sort her parents were hosting. His client showed up drunk and said things to her in his (the H) hearing, prompting him to decide they were mostly just tolerating him, so he started to leave but changed his mind.

 

Epilogue has them back in NY (she was from Atlanta) so I guess they worked things out.

Stealing the Cowboy's Heart - Debbi Rawl... 3 stars

Debbi Rawlins is a new author for me. She usually writes under the Harlequin Blaze imprint, one of my least favorite lines, so I haven’t picked up one of her books before. Since Harlequin Western Romance is my favorite line, and this title appeared at the library, I just grabbed it and dove right in. Not everything worked for me, but I would read another title by her in the future.


After discovering that her boyfriend was cheating on her, Kylie decides to start over the small town of Blackfoot Falls. She vows to never let herself be humiliated again, and puts all of her efforts in her bakery. She’s made friends and set down roots when Landon Kincaid, a friend of her ex, shows up in town.

Landon has waited one year to track Kylie down. He has always been attracted to her, but since she was his buddy’s girl, she was off limits. Recovering from a rodeo accident, he plans to hang out in Blackfoot Falls for a few weeks and try to ignite a relationship with Kylie. He knows that she feels something for him, too, and he is willing to put his pride on the line to see if they can make a life together.

I would have enjoyed this more if it wasn’t for the furniture making sub-plot. I just didn’t find it interesting, and it didn’t make any sense that Landon would be sneaking around behind Kylie’s back. There were so many ways his plan to help her out could have gone wrong, and they did, so it just didn’t seem worth the risk.

A lack of communication also tripped this romance up for me. From the beginning, Landon isn’t upfront with Kylie. About anything. Knowing that her last relationship ended because of a lying cheat, Landon should have had the common sense to realize that his secrecy was just a dumb idea. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Despite these quibbles, I enjoyed the trip to see Landon’s family. While the weekend getaway stirred up confusion and was a missed opportunity for both Kylie and Landon to set the record with each other, it was fun meeting his family. While, in the end, I liked both protagonists enough to read to the end, I found their lack of communication frustrating.

Taken from https://www.fictfact.com/BookReleaseCalendar , new series releases today are:

 

A Finely Crafted Murder - Stacey Alabaster, #3 in Craft Circle Cozy

 

    

A Perfect View - Cori Doerrfeld,Cori Doerrfeld, #3 in Cici: A Fairy's Tale

Agent-in-Training - Terri Reed, #1 in Classified K-9 Unit

An Unjust Judge - Cora Harrison, #14 in Burren Mysteries

 

    

Before He Takes - Blake Pierce , #4 in Mackenzie White

Best Served Cold - Susan Rogers Cooper, #14 in Milt Kovak

Bodhi's Synful Mate - Elle Boon, #6 in Iron Wolves MC

 

     

Time Jumpers (Five Kingdoms) - Brandon Mull, #5 in Five Kingdoms

Burning Springs - T. L. Haddix, #13 in Firefly Hollow

Enigma of Fire - Marilyn Leach, #4 in Berdie Elliott Mystery

 

Extracted
R.R. Haywood
#1 in Extracted

 

Future Shock
Elizabeth Briggs
#1 in Future Shock

 

Future Threat
Elizabeth Briggs
#2 in Future Shock

 

Mayhem
Alexis Noelle
#5 in Deathstalkers MC

 

Never Say Die
Michele Bardsley
#3 in Wizards of Nevermore

 

Sizzling Summer Nights
Debbi Rawlins
#20 in Made in Montana

 

Take It Back
Tonya Burrows
#1 in Outlaw Recovery

 n

The Bastards and the Knives
Scott Lynch
#0.5 in Gentleman Bastard

 

The Bone Witch
Rin Chupeco
#1 in The Bone Witch

 

The Innocent's Secret Baby
Carol Marinelli
#1 in Billionaires & One-Night Heirs

 

To End All Wars
P. S. Power
#7 in Gwen Farris

 

Very Important Corpses
Simon R Green
#3 in Ishmael Jones Mystery

 

 

 

Some of you are lucky enough to be on Spring Break. Some of you are in the the wrong hemisphere for that.  I took last week off. Woo hoo! 

 

Here are some great Romances that will take you on Spring Break with them.

 

My lists are never in any particular order. 

 

1. Beyond Me: Sex on the Beach by Jennifer Probst

 

CAN FUN IN THE SUN TURN INTO LASTING LOVE?
Spring break in Key West with my besties was supposed to be casual fun. But I never expected to meet him. Sex and frolic? Yes! A relationship? No. But his hot blue eyes and confident manner drew me in. And when he let me see the man behind the mask, I fell hard, foolishly believing there could be a future for us. Of course, I never considered our relationship might be based on lies...or that his betrayal could rock my foundation and make me question everything I believed in…

OR WILL A LIFE BUILT ON LIES RUIN EVERYTHING?
The moment I saw her I knew I had to have her. She hooked me with her cool eyes and don’t-touch-me attitude. I had it all—money, social status, and looks. I could get any girl I wanted...until her. When my friends challenged me with a bet to get her into bed by the end of the week, I couldn’t pass it up. But sex wasn’t supposed to turn into love. She wasn’t supposed to change me, push me, and make me want more for myself. She wasn’t supposed to wreck me in all ways. And now, if I can’t turn my lies into truth, I just might lose her forever..

 

2. Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi

 

Meet Dorothy Jarrow: devotedly unsexy librarian 

Buttoned-up book lover DJ is all sensible shoes, drab skirts and studious glasses. After an ill-advised spring-break-fueled fling left her mortified, she's committed to her prim and proper look. When she's hired by a rural library in middle-of-nowhere Kansas, she finally has the lifestyle to match—and she can't wait to get her admin on. 

 

But it's clear from day one that the small-town library is more interested in circulating rumors than books. DJ has to organize her unloved library, win over oddball employees and avoid her flamboyant landlady's attempts to set her up with the town pharmacist. Especially that last part—because it turns out handsome Scott Sanderson is her old vacation fling! She is not sure whether to be relieved or offended when he doesn't seem to recognize her. But with every meeting, DJ finds herself secretly wondering what it would be like to take off her glasses, unpin her bun and reveal the inner vixen she's been hiding from everyone—including herself.

 

3. Elements of Chemistry Parts 1-3 by Penny Reid

 

Parts 1-3: Elements of Chemistry
This book has been split into 3 novels.
Part 1: ATTRACTION * Part 2: HEAT * Part 3: CAPTURE

PART 1: ATTRACTION
One week.
Private beach.
Invisible girl.
Jerk-faced bully.
What’s the worst that could happen?

Kaitlyn Parker has no problem being the invisible girl, which is why she finds herself hiding in various cabinets and closets all over her college campus. Despite her best efforts, she can’t escape the notice of Martin Sandeke—bad boy, jerkface bully, and the universe’s hottest, wealthiest, and most unobtainable bachelor—who also happens to be Kaitlyn’s chemistry lab partner.

Kaitlyn might be the only girl who isn’t interested in exploiting his stunning rower’s build, chiseled features, and family's billionaire fortune. Kaitlyn wants Martin for his brain, specifically to tabulate findings of trace elements in surface water.

When Kaitlyn saves Martin from a nefarious plot, Martin uses the opportunity to push Kaitlyn out of her comfort zone: spring break, one week, house parties, bathing suits, and suntan lotion. Can she overcome her aversion to being noticed? Will he be able grow beyond his self-centered nature? Or, despite their obvious chemistry, will Martin be the one to drive Kaitlyn into the science cabinet of obscurity for good?

 

4. Trade Me by Courtney Milan

 

Tina Chen just wants a degree and a job, so her parents never have to worry about making rent again. She has no time for Blake Reynolds, the sexy billionaire who stands to inherit Cyclone Systems. But when he makes an offhand comment about what it means to be poor, she loses her cool and tells him he couldn’t last a month living her life.

To her shock, Blake offers her a trade: She’ll get his income, his house, his car. In exchange, he’ll work her hours and send money home to her family. No expectations; no future obligations.

But before long, they’re trading not just lives, but secrets, kisses, and heated nights together. No expectations might break Tina’s heart...but Blake’s secrets could ruin her life.

 

5. Adrienne by D. Renee Bagby

 

He crossed dimensions to claim her as his queen -- but her reign may destroy his world.

Adrienne
Backett wants two simple little things this spring break: rest and
relaxation. After nearly four years of slaving away for her college
education, she deserves a holiday. What she gets is pulled into another
dimension by a man who claims she's his rightful queen.

Malik,
King of Ulan, has until his birthday to find his bride or he must
forfeit his throne. When a spell reveals her location, he will do
anything, even cross dimensions, to claim her as his own.

As if fending off a lusty king isn't enough of a headache, Adrienne finds
herself a pawn in a rival monarch's plot to bring Malik's world to its
knees. But is the real danger being stuck in the middle of a power
struggle between rival kingdoms? Or the damage Malik could do to her
heart?

 

6. Delicious Do-Over by Debbi Rawlins

On the cusp of a new business venture, überpractical accountant Lindsey Shaw has reluctantly let her friends talk her into a "second spring break" in Hawaii. Now she's in Waikiki…and even reuniting with her wickedly hot one-night fling from years ago! Only Lindsey is feeling a tingle of fear—or is that sweet, sweet anticipation?

Rick Granger has his own fear—that gorgeous, smart Lindsey might discover more about him than he's ready to reveal. She thinks he's just a surfer dude—fine with him, it keeps things uncomplicated. Only, complications whip up like waves once Lindsey dips a toe in his waters….

 

7. Spring Fling by Julia Kent

 

Four tales of hot New Adult romance in New Orleans …

 

Party Spring Break–style with four bestselling romance authors, including Julia Kent and Sara Fawkes, as they dish out sexy tales of romance in the Big Easy!

 

Share Me by Julia Kent
Emma Barton has just been dumped—for being boring. Now she's letting loose and reclaiming her inner bad girl with not one, but two sexy strangers! Double the pleasure means double the fun, right?

 

Shake Me by Sara Fawkes
Determined to forget her cheating boyfriend, Cassidy Dupre agrees to a night out with playboy Travis Dean. But when she finds herself wanting more than she bargained for, this evening could spell desire … or disaster!

 

Show Me by Cathryn Fox
Eva Parker wants a lesson in seduction … from her brother's best friend. When teaching becomes tension, will they be able to keep it professional? Or will friends forever become something much hotter?

 

Shock Me by Lauren Hawkeye
Callie Gilmore is determined to break out of the friend zone with Ryder Hawkins. Donning a mask and making her move seems easy, but when fate throws a curveball, Callie must choose: turn and run … or embrace the night.

 

8. Confessions of a Demon by Susan Wright

 

After accidentally stealing the life force of a dying demon, Allay became the only human-demon hybrid in existence. Demons feed on human emotions, so Allay decided the safest way to satisfy this need-and still retain some semblance of her humanity-was to open a bar. Here she can drink from, and ease, her patrons' pain, which has helped her to stay under the demon radar...until now.

When Allay is attacked and nearly killed by another demon, a human comes to her rescue. Theo Ram is tall, handsome, and mortal-and Allay feels a connection to him she didn't think she'd ever know. But that bond is tested when the demon community in New York begins to rise up, and two opposing clans fight for power. Now Allay is caught in the middle, and she must decide where her loyalties lie.

 

9.  Take What You Want by Jeanette Grey

 

She needs an escape…and he’s exactly what she had in mind.

 

College senior Ellen Price spends every spare minute studying to get into medical school. Until spring break yawns before her, as empty as her wallet.

 

With no money to hit the beach, she fills her empty to-do list with a plan: for just one week, she will become the kind of take-no-prisoners woman she secretly wishes to be, starting with the hot guy at the bar. It's a no-risk situation: at the end of break, he’ll head back to his campus, and she’ll go back to hers. No muss, no fuss.

 

At first, Josh Markley isn’t sure what to think when the quiet, intense beauty from his pre-med classes approaches him for a night of casual sex. Even more mystifying, she doesn’t seem to return his recognition. But if she wants to play “strangers in a bar”, he’s game.

Their passionate night is a welcome respite from life’s stress, but afterward, Josh realizes he wants more—from himself, from life, from Ellen. Except she still thinks he’s a one-off she’ll never see again. Confessing the truth now—before she figures it out on her own—could shatter the fragile beginnings of just what the doctor ordered. A forever love.

 

10. The Guy Next Door by Lori Foster

 

Ready, Set, Jett by Lori Foster

A vacation from her no-strings romance with her sexy next-door neighbor. That's what Natalie Alexander needs to get her head—and heart—together. But her solo trip south turns into a disaster when gorgeous Jett Sutter turns up with another challenge.

Gail's Gone Wild by Susan Donovan

Single mom Gail Chapman insists on chaperoning her teenage daughter's spring-break trip to Key West. But she never expects to face temptation—in the hunky form of Jesse Batista, the mysterious man in the cottage next door.

Just One Taste by Victoria Dahl

All-work-and-no-play businessman Eric Donovan won't be distracted by a "businesswoman" who's all wrong for him. Beth Cantrell owns a women's erotica shop! And she has a juicy little secret. Can she tempt him to put pleasure before business for once?

 

Did I miss one? Let me know! Vote for the best Spring Break Romance on my Goodreads list: Romance on Spring Break.

 

From women struggling to be accepted in what was a man's profession to doctor heroes trying to cope with the overwhelming trauma of war, these American Historical Romance Novels tell wonderful love stories. Enjoy!

 

My lists are never in any particular order. 

 

1. The Texan's Touch by Jodi Thomas

 

Captured by Confederate spies to heal thier comrade, Yankee doctor Adam McClain realized the man in grey named "Nick" was actually a woman! Her beauty and bravery struck him to the core, and after a brief kiss, she helped him leave her life forever...

 

Nichole never forgot the man who'd evoked powerful new feelings within her. And months later, she was sent to the Texas frontier to ask for his help once again. But could she also hope for love from this handsome Texan?

 

2. Fired Up by Mary Connealy

 

When a doctor who attracts danger falls for a cook determined to make it on her own, there's going to be trouble in Texas!

Glynna Greer came west as a mail-order bride and ended up in a bad situation. Now her husband, Flint, is dead, and she's determined to make a go of it on her own. In a town full of men, Glynna decides she can support her two children by opening a diner--never mind that cooking is not her greatest talent.

Dare Riker is a doctor who saves lives, but someone seems determined to end his. It may have something to do with the traitors he dealt with during the Civil War, or it might be related to the recent incident with Flint Greer and the ranch. Whoever the culprit is, he or she seems really fired up, and Dare can't let his guard down for a moment--which is a challenge, since right now he's trying to win the heart of the recently widowed Glynna.

Though his doctoring business is booming due to Glynna's questionable cooking, Dare seems to encounter unexpected dangers wherever he goes. There's the avalanche. And the fire. And then the shadowy figure with a knife. Can Dare survive it all long enough to convince Glynna to take another chance on love?

 

3. Bluebonnet Belle by Lori Copeland

 

April Truitt didn't trust doctors, battle of wills was raging in the Lone Star State in 1876. least of all handsome newcomer Gray Fuller, who opposed her efforts to offer the women of Dignity, Texas, an herbal alternative to surgery. He treated her like some quack, but April was determined to save other women from dying on the operating table, like her mother did.

Gray couldn't help admiring April's spirit and good intentions. Yet he couldn't let this bluebonnet belle steal all his patients—even if she was on her way to stealing his heart.

 

4. Once an Outlaw by Debbi Rawlins

 

In the rough-and-tumble town of Deadwood in 1876, cowboy Sam Keegan is about as hard as they get. Considered a real sexy piece of man by the local womenfolk, Sam runs the town livery stable. And he was last seen in the company of a pretty gal in a wedding dress, Reese Winslow…who escaped one of the local brothels!

The little lady claims to be a doctor—from the future, no less! Beware of her, as she's causing no end of problems. Mostly for Sam, who is real skittish about the law. But trouble or not, the man can't seem to stop himself from wanting Reese…and learnin' firsthand what women from the future like to do with hot, hard cowboys!

 

5. Her Hesitant Heart by Carla Kelly

 

Tired and hungry after two days of traveling, Susanna Hopkins is just about at the end of her tether when her train finally arrives in Cheyenne. She's bound for a new life in a Western garrison town. Then she discovers she doesn't even have enough money to pay for the stagecoach! Luckily for her, the compassionate Major Joseph Randolph is heading in the same direction.

As a military surgeon, Joe is used to keeping his professional distance. But, despite Susanna's understated beauty, he's drawn to this woman who carries loss and pain equal to his own and has a heart that is just as hesitant and wary….

 

6. Plum Creek Bride by Lynna Banning

 

Erika Scharf Had Always Followed Her Heart

Now it had led her to America, and a tortured man with a motherless infant. But would the widowed Dr. Jonathan Callender ever recover from his grief?

 

Whatever drove him had died with his young wife—or so it seemed to Jonathan Callender. He knew only that nothing mattered anymore—until the day a German whirlwind disguised as the very determined Erika Scharf charged into his life—and made his heart live again.

 

7. Fair Play: A Novel by Deeanne Gist

 

Saddled with a man’s name, the captivating Billy Jack Tate makes no apologies for taking on a man’s profession. As a doctor at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, she is one step closer to having her very own medical practice—until Hunter Scott asks her to give it all up to become his wife.

Hunter is one of the elite. A Texas Ranger and World’s Fair guard specifically chosen for his height, physique, character, and skill. Hailed as the toughest man west of any place east, he has no patience for big cities and women who think they belong anywhere but home…

Despite their difference of opinion on the role of women, Hunter and Billy find a growing attraction between them—until Hunter discovers an abandoned baby in the corner of a White City exhibit. He and Billy team up to make sure this foundling isn’t left in the slums of Chicago with only the flea-riddled, garbage-infested streets for a playground. As they fight for the underprivileged children in the Nineteenth Ward, an entire Playground Movement is birthed. But when the Fair comes to an end, one of them will have to give up their dream.

Will Billy exchange her doctor’s shingle for the domesticated role of a southern wife, or will Hunter abandon the wide open spaces of home for a life in the “gray city,” a woman who insists on being the wage earner, and a group of ragamuffins who need more than a playground for breathing space?

 

8. Crescent City Courtship by Elizabeth White

 

Abigail Neal dreams of escaping her life in the slums of New Orleans someday. But how can a woman alone and unprotected ever fulfill her dreams of becoming a doctor? Then, young medical student John Braddock comes to pay a call on a neighbor. Though the scars left on her heart have taught her never to trust anyone, Abby is drawn to John's caring nature. Soon an unlikely friendship develops between the son of privilege and the poor daughter of missionaries. But when Abby's mysterious past comes back to haunt her present, will she call upon her faith to help right a wrong and make a new life with her very own Prince Charming?

 

9. An Outlaw in Wonderland by Lori Austin

 

Saving soldiers’ lives at the Confederate army hospital Chimborazo, Annabeth Phelan is no ordinary Southern belle. She’s never known work more exhausting or rewarding. And she’s never known a man like Dr. Ethan Walsh, with his disarming gray eyes and peculiar ways. But now the Confederacy is charging her with another service: find the Union spy at Chimborazo.

 

Ethan’s one passion is saving lives, and if he can do that by helping to end the war, he will—even if it means spying for the North. He’s gotten used to fooling Confederates, but he can’t bear lying to Annabeth. And together, they are about to discover a new passion—one that could even transcend the chaos of war.

 

10. That Certain Spark by Cathy Marie Hake

 

Gooding, Texas, is about to gain a double blessing--a veterinarian and a doctor. But when siblings Enoch and Taylor Bestman arrive, the discovery that the long-awaited doctor is in fact a woman has the town up in arms. Karl Van der Vort is no exception, though he becomes Taylor's first patient...against his will.

Karl finds he can't deny Taylor's doctoring skills, but he also can't come to terms with her unladylike occupation. Taylor, on the other hand, wants only to prove that doctoring is her life's calling, despite the town's opposition. But when her practice--and Taylor herself--are threatened, Karl's protectiveness flares into a different emotion altogether.

 

Do you have a favorite doctor from this time period and setting? Let me know! and vote on the Goodreads list: Medicine Bag: Doctors in American Set Historical Romance.