The Mistletoe Phenomenon by Serena Yates © 2009 Dreamspinner Press. ISBN 9781615813421. eBook. Gay Romance. 76 pages. $3.99 US [ Purchase ] Source: All Romance eBooks purchase.

Synopsis: Magnus Carstens, an eminent glaciologist, recently had to change his life: he’s become his nephew Jakob’s guardian after the boy’s parents died in a plane crash, he’s taken a new job as a park ranger, and he’s moved them to Mistletoe, Wyoming, so he can offer a stable home to Jakob while still contributing to science. There he meets Lance Rivera, a disillusioned physical therapist who is working in his sister’s store to make a living after his lover took off with all their money. When the two men come together–literally under the mistletoe–both realize all they really want, despite adversity, is a family to love. Read the rest of this entry »

Taking Chase by Lauren Dane (Chase Brothers #2) © 2006 Samhain Publishing. ISBN 9781599983011. eBook. Romantic Suspense. 245 pages. $5.50 US [ Purchase ] Source: My Bookstore and More Purchase

Synopsis: Cassie Gambol is on the run. In what seems like another lifetime, her ex-husband nearly ended her life and effectively ended her successful career as a vascular surgeon. But even though the justice system found him guilty of attempted murder, he fled while awaiting sentencing and Carly Sunderland became Cassie Gambol.

Shane Chase, a man who’s held himself away from commitment since his fiancée dumped him several years before, knows the beautiful newcomer is hiding something. He’s wildly attracted to her strength and her underlying vulnerability as well.

And now, Cassie’s ex is back and he wants her dead.

Review: This review was a bit hard to write.  The book has so much to recommend it and yet…and yet….

Let me start with the good stuff.  If an author wants to tackle domestic abuse then this is the way to do it.  The author obviously did her homework well.  She gave us a heroine who most people would not think of as a possible victim of domestic abuse. She is a well to do surgeon with money that her father had left her, and her ex-husband was a doctor too.  This makes the good point that domestic abuse is not about class, religion or race, it’s about sick people doing sick things.  Read the rest of this entry »