The Look of Love by Rosemary Indra

Story: 9.5
Presentation: 9.5
Total: 19
Publisher: Rogue Phoenix Press
Contemporary Romance
To Purchase
Blurb: Scott Denton always thinks of Penny Herrington as his best friend, a co-worker in the Forest Ridge Fire Department. She tricks him into helping her with the decorations for the Sweetheart Banquet. During their discussion about love and romance, Scott starts to notice Penny as a desirable woman.

When Penny hurts her ankle, Scott feels responsible and decides to move in with her. Spending time together, they share intimate discussions about love and marriage. Penny, a widow, feels guilty when her relationship with Scott becomes romantic. Devastated after a nasty divorce, Scott no longer believes in love and vows he’ll never remarry. He denies his feelings for Penny until he realizes only she can comfort him after he assist the fire department at a tragic car accident.

Review: Scott and Penny are both members of a fire department and most of the story involved their related activities. Scott is a survivor of a tumultuous divorce and Penny is recovering from the death of her husband. If readers have ever dealt with either of these situations, they will feel the pain and emotions that these two have to overcome in the development of their own love. Ms. Indra describes their feelings with such description that I could believe I was sharing them. I feel like I really know Scott and Penny

Even the relationships of secondary characters, like Scott's dad and his lady, were dealt with in such detail, that they were more than just people to add more detail to the main story. Their lives and families added much more interest to the main plot.

I really liked this story. Part of it made me stop and think about different aspects of life.

Read and enjoy this one. Overall, this story gave me happy thoughts about life and love. It gave me many things to think about.

Rekindled by Rosemary Indra

Story 9
Presentation 9
Total: 18
Publisher: Rogue Pheonix Press
Contemporary
To Purchase

Blurb: When Forest Ridge, Oregon is terrorized by an arsonist, Fire Chief Mitch Chambers vows to do whatever it takes to protect the community—even work with the woman who left him four years ago.


Professional sketch artist Abby Denton, still loves Mitch and hopes to regain his trust and respect by working with him. However, she fears when he discovers the truth about their daughter, he will never forgive her.

As they work together, Mitch once again falls in love with Abby, but this time he refuses to let her walk out of his life. Can they rekindle the love that burned between them and uncover the identity of the arsonist before he turns their dreams and the town to ashes?

Review: The cover and the prologue both grabbed my attention .Cover is a sizzler and the prologue is from an anonymous arsonist's view and he is incensed the firefighters don't think much of his fire. He'll show them.

Mitch Chambers is the arson specialist who is going to work with Abby Denton the sketch artist who just happens to be his ex- lover who left him for someone else several years ago. She has a big secret. When she left him, he didn't know she was expecting his baby. She went because she thought he would resent her and the child. After all, that was the reason her father blamed her. Abby still loves Mitch, but he was devastated by her betrayal.

To mix things up even more, Abby's brother Scott works at the fire station and he likes Mitch.

There are several love stories going on among minor characters. The head of the fire department and his wife Millie are having problems dealing with the loss of their daughter and it is affecting their marriage. Scott and Penny, a fire fighter also, have the eye for each other.

There are several areas of conflict in this story. Obviously, the anonymous arsonist is lighting more serious fires each time. He hates the growing relationship between Mitch and Abby. Meyers is a councilman who seems to be constantly confronting Mitch about the slowness of solving the fire problems and he thinks hiring Abby as an arson specialist is a waste of money. When Mitch responds, "She is the answer to our needs. I'll stake my job on it." Meyers has a look of triumph on his face when he responds,"You heard him. If she doesn't solve the case, he's out!"

Another conflict is between Mitch and Abby having to work together; then when Mitch realizes the child is his daughter, the "poo-poo" hits the fan. When she is served papers notifying her of a custody lawsuit, the situation looks hopeless for these star-crossed lovers.

Abby goes to see her father to settle their differences and is shocked to find him thinner and frail looking.

The arsonist is constantly in the story, either expressing his thoughts or phoning Mitch, and showing up at a fund-raiser.

I liked the writing in this story. The details are sometimes very painful; when Millie talks to Hank about losing their daughter and her fear of losing him, I wanted to cry with her. The description of her feelings makes the reader feel the fear and hurt she is going through. Fireman Steve has a big ego and wants to be the best at everything, the center of attention. Comments about him could fit a description of many people we know. Even the men in this story aren't afraid to show and talk about their love for their families. The dialogue was great, sometimes making me laugh and sometimes making me cry, but isn't that like?

I can't think of any thing I didn't like. It was a moving story that kept me turning the pages.

Fire Underneath the Ice by R S Natanevin

Story 7
Presentation 8.5
Total: 15.5
Publisher: Rogue Phoenix Press
Contemporary Romance
To Purchase

Blurb: The paths of Michael Hamming, poor boy turned rich, and Karyn McDonnell, heiress turned penniless, cross during the 2008 financial crisis. Michael decides to get revenge for that old grudge he has against Karyn’s late father. Karyn is in need, alone and defenseless. In total coolness, he offers to take care of her financial problems if she becomes his girlfriend. Karyn, who always liked Michael, accepts.


Karyn’s beauty and kind heart, however, conquer him, to the point that when Karyn is kidnapped, Michael takes chase, first aboard a speedboat, then riding a motorcycle to follow the clues left by the kidnappers and set her free.

As the events of October 2008 plunge the stock market into a record minimum, it is now Michael who gets in financial troubles and Karyn who goes to his rescue, trying to hide her good deed.
Review: The picture on the front cover shows a young woman's face with flames and ice behind her. I wondered if she was supposed to be a sweet young thing or was she seductive? After finishing the story, I'm still not sure.

The story opens in Michael's office where he waits on Karyn who is late for their appointment. As he paces back and forth, it is clear that he is insecure about his looks. He looks in a mirror and decides he is not bad-looking but not handsome.

Michael is a poor boy made good. He has an investment company and is becoming wealthy,but he doesn't feel 'good enough' because of his background.

Karyn is an heiress who has inherited a fortune, but her brother, mother and father are dead. And we will find out the lawyer who was supposed to be taking care of her many businesses is actually a gambler who has taken most of her money.

It appears that Michael is a cold-hearted vindictive man who wants "to punish her because she is her father's offspring". He wants revenge because her father was his mother's lover. Shortly after she arrives makes her an offer. He knows the lawyer had taken most of her money and she is about to lose the family mansion. He bluntly tells her that he will make payments on her family home and support Karyn for a period of time if she will move in with him and act as his hostess. A nice way of saying mistress.

He actually tells her he wants revenge for what her father did to his mother.

The first chapter is mainly dialogue between Michael and Karyn. I didn't like either one of them very much until later in the story. They both seemed very self-centered and selfish.

The story was mainly dialogue and the talking was good, offering much insight to their personalities.

When Karyn finds out her lawyer, Jason Greene, has almost wiped out her fortune, she agrees to Michael's offer. She can't even sell the mansion for half its value because of the recession. She needs his financial support.

When she comes to him the first hight, Michael has her strip in front of him, while he sits in his suit, with a glass of wine. He is very much the king and she is his subject, to do with as he wishes. He wants to make her feel uneasy, uncomfortable and probably embarrassed. Karyn turns the tables on him and makes taking off her well-dressed outfit into a teasing strip.

She is the title, Fire and Ice, she appears to be an icy, always in control, business woman. She has another side and ,wow, is it hot.

Shortly into their agreement, each realizes he/she has romantic feelings for the other. Neither will admit to these feelings because each is insecure enough to think the other would use those feelings to cause hurt.

When she will not admit she loves him, Michael imposes drastic measures. No more sex, no more touching. Because they have had a hot physical relationship, he thinks she will give in. She is to be his hostess when he entertains other women.

They have a trip on the yacht, and a vacation in a fancy hotel. Just as they have admitted their feelings to each other, she is kidnapped.

Is it the crooked lawyer, the ex-fiancee who has appeared on the scene, the other woman, ms Big Boobs, or is it a gang of terrorists who want to ransom her. They all have motive.

What will happen to her inheritance, what will happen to his investment company because of the recession?

I liked this story, I was a little put off with pages and pages of dialogue with no descriptions. But in other places, there were fantastic descriptions of the exotic, gourmet food, and the scenery was beautiful.

Frozen Death by G.L. Didaleusky

Story: 8

Presentation: 7.5

Total: 15.5

Publisher Rogue Pheonix Press

Mystery 134 pages

To Purchase

Blurb: Something is causing people to freeze to death in Florida during ninety-degree weather. Ancient Indian lore holds the answer to these mysterious medical aberrations. A newly constructed Florida male prison sits on ancient hallowed grounds called Forbidden Hill. Soon after the prison opens, two male inmates freeze to death without exposure to frigid temperatures. John Randall, a widowed prison doctor, meets Lena Windmaker, a single, off-duty sheriff detective at a local library. Their initial plutonic relationship soon kindles into a more amorous one. They hide a personal secret that could bring them together or destroy them. They uncover articles in local, post-Civil war newspapers describing residence succumbing to Frozen Death. John and Lena race to discover a cause before it chooses other victims

Review: Well, I must say it was a very good story. The entire mystery was very interesting and the final crack in the case was surprising to say the least. Botht he main characters were very likeable and the story was able to hold my interest well.

My only draw back was a few editing issues that have been reported to the publisher. I have no doubts they were taken care of, but as 50% of our score does reflect presentation, I had to mention them. Nothing to big, just a few snaffoo's. :)

Aside from that, I have to say the story was enjoyable. Check it out if you like a good mystery with a bit of a twist.