Shay's mother marries Ian's father. They meet in the bathroom as Ian is stepping out of the shower. Shay is a nude model while Ian is a minister. She teases, taunts, and tempts him tenaciously. He keeps showing his ministerial side and proving Shay right. Eventually he acknowledges his feelings for Shay, and they begin seeing each other. When emotions are about to explode one night, Ian asks Shay to marry him. While life is good for a while, Shay takes a job and Ian blows up. Will they make their way back to each other or go their separate ways?

I enjoyed this story. Shay just keeps on getting under Ian's skin as he does hers. It was delightful to watch their differences make them more attracted to each other. Shay had her doubts about the two of them together, but it works until she takes the job. I understood Shay's reaction. They never talked about her job before they married. Ian was judgmental towards her job and, as a result, her. Shay is a good, generous person. She sees needs and finds ways to meet those needs. She does it without Ian telling her this is what a minister's wife does. She is spot on and able to step in when Ian is not there. I liked her a lot. Ian needed his behind kicked once or twice.

This book was written in 1983 when romances were getting hotter. The love scenes did not end at the bedroom door but instead went into the bedroom. The language was getting away from euphemisms. This is a book that goes from the tame stories of the early 1970's and back to the more realistic books of today. This is part of the history of the changes of romance novels. The story is as contemporary as anything today, but it shows the evolution of romance novels. A choice read!

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown published by Grand Central Publishing is a gripping mystery.

I received a complimentary Kindle copy from Amazon. That did not change my opinion for this review. I gave it four stars.

"Dr. Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears on a mountain road in North Carolina minutes after an argument with her husband Jeff. But by the time he reports her missing, the trail has (literally) gone cold. Fog and ice encapsulate the wilderness and freeze the search."

Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Mean-Streak-Sandra-Brown-ebook/dp/B00HQ2N52K 417

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Tailspin is a suspense ride from start to finish, the story takes place over a 48hr period, most of it in just 24hrs. Rye is a retired Air Force pilot dealing with guilt over a crash he felt he could have prevented from happening. He now is a “freight dog” flying for a cargo company and when the weather turns extremely foul, he's the only one willing to fly a black box to a doctor in Georgia.

Brynn is the doctor that shows up to pickup the mystery cargo but a plane crash and unconscious air traffic controller, there is a lot to explain to the cops. Especially when Rye and Brynn go on the run as life and death hang in the balance.

He was in this damn thing whether he wanted to be or not.

A standalone that keeps the pace up, Rye was a calm, cool, character that anchored the story. His background is hinted at and through his thoughts, actions, and feelings, the reader gets a pretty good idea of what emotional turmoil is affecting him. When he finally tells the story to Brynn, he almost works through the guilt at the same time and it felt like a quick resolve for an issue that had previously drove his character actions.

I wish we could have gotten more of Brynn's background, she didn't feel like a completely flushed out character. In order to keep some mystery to the story, Brynn's thoughts and reason for actions is kept veiled. When we reach around the half-way point, her reasons are revealed and we get to know her a little better. The side tangent with her father helped humanize her and was a great little emotional additive to a heavy action plot.

She gave him a murderous look, which only caused him to grin.

As this takes place over two days, the romance doesn't really have time to fully develop. Brynn and Rye are pretty much together from the beginning to end but the on the run aspect really does dominate this. I thought the first half was a bit hard to get into, as I mentioned, to keep the mystery up, the author leaves some motivations and explanations veiled. This caused me to be confused by some of Brynn's actions, not buy into why Rye would keep it a secret what caused him to crash, and how all the character pieces fit into the puzzle. The second half was easier to get into the flow, with some key information revealed, characters began to make more sense. There were multiple povs, the senator and his wife, the two goons, the two police detectives, and Violet, Brynn's patient. For the most part, I liked this, it gave a better rounded out look into the story and helped place all the moving pieces.

He sighed. “You're gonna make me come after you, aren't you?”

“If you want me, it's required.”

The ending was somewhat messy with betrayals and finger pointing whirling around to and from everyone; there was a truly unnecessary double cross that clogged up the end and only was surprising because there wasn't any character ground work for it. I wish things could have slowed down for the romance between Rye and Brynn, their love wasn't truly felt but the plot and action dictated the pace. If looking for lighter on romance depth but an on the run with some emotional depth occasionally popping up, Brown's writing is always worth a read.

Rye Mallet, a fearless “freight dog” & Dr. Brynn O’Neal, mysterious and alluring, must learn to trust each other so they can protect their valuable cargo from those who would kill for it. 

What could go better with a romance thriller than Cotton Candy donuts? ;)

Tailspin by Sandra Brown purchase link

Cotton Candy Baked Cake Donuts recipe