Tag Archives: Hero attorney lawyer

Category Romance Review: The Lady in the Mirror by Judith Arnold

Lady in the Mirror by Judith Arnold
Rating:
Published: 1995
Illustrator: TBD
Imprint or Line: Harlequin Temptation #561
Book Series: Bachelor Arms #10
Published by: Harlequin
Genres: Category Romance, Contemporary Romance
Pages: 218
Format: Paperback
Buy on: Amazon, AbeBooks, Open Library (BORROW FOR FREE)
Reviewed by: Blue Falcon

MILD SPOILERS 😉

The Book

This review is of The Lady in the Mirror, book #10 in the “Bachelor Arms” series and the first of two books in the series written by Judith Arnold, a pseudonym for Barbara Keiler. (Harlequin Temptation #561, November 1995).

The Characters

Heroine: Jessica (Jessie) Gale, 27. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Social worker and owner-operator of Rainbow House, a social service center for runaways.

Hero: Clint McCreary, 30. Black hair, gray eyes. Former New York City police officer. Recent law school graduate. Clint has a job with the Bronx County DA’s office when he goes back east. (Spoiler: He doesn’t).

The Plot

The Lady in the Mirror begins with John Clinton “Clint” McCreary, former NYC police officer and the book’s hero, having just arrived in Los Angeles from New York. He is in search of his missing half-sister, Diana.

The first person he meets in Los Angeles is Jessie Gale, the heroine. Jessie is a social worker who owns and runs a social services center for teenage runaways.

From the moment they meet, Clint and Jessie are attracted to each other, although they do have ideological differences.

In the end, Jessie and Clint become lovers. They rescue Diana without any drama or trauma.

Clint decides to stay out west, he marries Jessie, and they have their Happily Ever After.

Upside

… Well…

Jessie and Clint are both fairly nice characters.

Downside

Sadly, Jessie and Clint don’t get much beyond the “nice” category. They’re not the most interesting characters in the “Bachelor Arms” series, and I didn’t feel much emotional connection or passion from them.

The only real emotion in the book comes in Chapter 10, where Jessie and the reader learn about Clint’s past trauma.

Sex

The love scenes between Jessie and Clint are fairly mild.

Violence

There is one scene of assault and battery.

Bottom Line

The Lady in the Mirror by Judith Arnold is an about-average book. No more, no less.

Tropes: Ex-cop. Los Angeles. Runaway. Social Worker.

Location: Los Angeles, California.

Rating Report Card
Plot	3
Characters	2.5
Writing	2.5
Chemistry	2.5
Fun Factor	3
Cover	4
Overall:	2.9

Synopsis

Move over, Melrose Place!

Apartment for rent. One bedroom. Bachelor Arms. 555-1234. Come live and love in Los Angeles with the tenants of Bachelor Arms. Meet colorful neighbors you’ll bump into again and again.

When Blythe Fielding planned her wedding and asked her two best friends, Caitlin and Lily, to be bridesmaids, none of them knew a new romance was around the corner for each of them — not even the bride!

These entertaining, dramatic stories of friendship, mystery and love continue the exploits of the residents of Bachelor Arms and answer one very important question: Will Blythe ever get to walk down the aisle? Don’t miss the goings-on at Bachelor Arms.
The Lady in the Mirror by Judith Arnold

Historical Romance Review: Sunset Temptation by Jane Toombs

The Book

This review is of Sunset Temptation, a standalone novel by Jane Toombs (Zebra/Kensington Heartfire, June 1989).

Heroine: Jennara Gray, 29, Brown hair, green-amber eyes. Healer.

Hero: Bramwell Sumner, 34. Brown hair and eyes. Attorney.

The Plot

The book begins at an unspecified time in Minnesota. Jennara Gray, the hero of the book, has just been confronted by Philadelphia lawyer Bramwell Sumner, the hero. Bramwell’s stepbrother, Ronald Claridge, and Jennara’s sister, Susanna, have run off together. Jennara and Bramwell make an uneasy alliance to bring the couple back. Easier said than done.

As they travel to try to find Susanna and Ronald, Jennara and Bramwell meet a Datoka boy named Cub, encounter various perils and become lovers.

Jennara and Bramwell eventually find Susanna and Ronald in Missouri, but also find more peril. In the end, Susanna and Ronald marry, as do Jennara and Bramwell. The latter couple has a baby together and both couples find their Happily Ever After.

Upside

My record of finishing every book I paid for with my own money remains intact.

Downside

Sunset Temptation is a BORING book. I’ll explain further.

Jennara and Bramwell are not strong enough characters to be leading a romance novel (they aren’t strong enough characters to be supporting players either). This is especially given the fact that Jennara, Bramwell, or both are in every scene in this nearly 400 page book. There is little character depth or development.

The supporting characters only exist as foils for Jennara and Bramwell to play off of. Perhaps realizing that her characters aren’t particularly interesting, Ms. Toombs or her editors try to add juice to the book by placing the characters in various perilous situations. This, too, fails miserably, as these scenes are no more interesting than the ones that precede them.

Sex

A handful of love scenes involving Jennara and Bramwell, which are just as colorless as the rest of the book is.

Violence

Assault, attempted rape, battery, killing, and rape all occur in Sunset Temptation. The violence is not graphic.

Bottom Line

Sunset Temptation probably isn’t as bad a book as I’m making it out to be. However, the stultifying boredom I felt reading it means no positive grade from me. 1.11 stars.

Settings: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri.

Time frame: unspecified but during the Civil War.

Tropes: Attorney. Healer. Heartfire. Historical Romance.

1 Star

Rating Report Card
Plot	1
Characters	1
Writing	1.5
Chemistry	1
Fun Factor	1
Cover	3
Overall:	1.4

Synopsis

INTERFERING TENDERFOOT
If she weren’t so committed to healing, frontier doctor Jennara Gray would’ve killed that arrogant easterner Bramwell Sumner. The single-minded man had stormed into her home, accused her of trying to swindle his rich stepbrother, and was now about to go riding off into the sunset — right in the middle of a Sioux uprising. Jennara told the handsome blockhead she’d accompany him just to save his stubborn hide… and she’d never admit it was really because of the hot, intense desire the good-looking male made her feel!

OVERBEARING SHE-CAT
No woman had ever fooled Bramwell Sumner, and that tall, outspoken Jennara Gray would be no exception. Despite her commitment to frontier doctoring, her genuine love for her patients and her caring hazel eyes, the cynical Philadelphia lawyer was convinced she was only a gold digger. Then for the first time ever his lust overrode his logic and Bramwell forgot all about his hunt for his stepbrother. All he wanted to search was Jennara ‘s silken slender body and claim her beneath the star-studded sky.
Sunset Temptation by Jane Toombs

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Category Romance Review: Having Faith by Barbara Delinsky

Harlequin Temptation #297

VERY MILD SPOILERS 😉

2 1/2 stars

I don’t know the qualifications for getting the Harlequin Temptation Award of Excellence, but I wasn’t impressed with Barbara Delinsky’s Having Faith. I think the award was merely a way for editors to play favorites with authors without having to pay them more. That’s just me being cynical.

The Plot

Faith and Sawyer are divorce lawyers on opposite sides of the same nasty case. (Oh my, freaking divorce lawyers in a romance novel!) They’ve been good friends for many years. Both went through rough divorces, and they have a very amicable platonic relationship. For over 15 years, they’ve been friends with no sexual attraction. Then one night, they get rip-roaring drunk and have “oopsie” sex.

The pair reveal a lot more to each other than they ever have before—not only that they’re compatible in the bedroom but also that they’re both jerks. The two of them make fun of their exes: Sawyer complaining how his ex-wife’s boobs sagged, Faith, talking about how her husband was a dud in the sack. They drink some more and have more sex, then wake up with massive hangovers, in shock at what they’ve done.

After their night together, Sawyer decides it’s time to take it to the next level and be together. Faith, on the other hand, has intimacy issues. While she loves being friends with Sawyer, she’s not sure they’re compatible as a couple. And besides, there’s the drama of them representing opposing clients.

My Opinion

I didn’t buy the book’s initial premise as these aren’t kids. Sawyer says he’s a Vietnam vet, and since Delinsky wrote this in 1989-1990, the youngest he can be is in his late 30s. Or more likely early 40s. Faith is in her mid-thirties, at least. Maybe it’s just me, as the older I get, the less sexy it seems to be sloppy, black-out drunk. (I’m certainly no saint, but I haven’t done that in a couple of dogs’ ages). Your eyes get red, you slur your words, your face contorts all weird, and your body gets all wobbly. It’s not a seductive state to be in. Tipsy maybe, but three-sheets-to the wind, no.

It stretches the imagination that these two good-looking, successful people shared no prior sexual connection. They “platonically” flirted like fools with each other. They were BFFs who shared very intimate secrets. Then, “out-of-the-blue” one night of heavy drinking was enough to make them forget their boundaries. I get the whole friends-to-lovers trope, although it’s not one of my favorites. It’s hard to accept when the pair have been friends for almost two decades.

Oh, I’m sure there are plenty of love stories in the real world where people have been lifelong friends and suddenly fall in love, and that’s wonderful. But that story doesn’t make for a romance that I would gladly plunk down cash to buy unless there’s a funny twist on it, as in Lass Small’s Four Dollars and Fifty-One Cents.

Final Analysis of Having Faith

Eh, I always thought the friends-to-lovers film When Harry Met Sally was overrated. It’s not a trope I seek out. I like romances where love springs up unexpectedly. Personally, my best-liked romantic-comedy is Don’t Tell Her It’s Me, aka The Boyfriend School. Shelley Long plays a romance novelist who acts as a matchmaker for her nice but loser of a brother, Steve Guttenberg, with a reporter performed by the wonderful Jami Gertz.

As for this book, I thought it was undeserving of any particular acclaim, especially considering that Harlequin released it in May of 1990. Two other great Temptation novels were released that month: #299 Changing the Rules by Gina Wilkins and #300 Glenda Sanders’ Island Nights. In contrast, Having Faith was not anywhere as enjoyable. It’s not a terrible read, just nothing special.

Category Romance Review: Changing the Rules by Gina Wilkins

MILD SPOILERS 😉

The Book

Changing the Rules is a very pleasant Harlequin Temptation from Gina Wilkins, one of my favorite authors from this particular line.

The Characters

Elise Webber and Dustin Chandler are two career-oriented people living in Georgia. He’s a high-powered attorney. She’s a news anchor for Atlanta’s top station.

They’ve been dating for six months.

Dustin is not a marriage-minded type of man, nor is Elise looking for anything more than a short-term relationship. The pair have an active, satisfying sex life, and Elise has been diligent about taking her birth control pills.

However, as Jurassic Park taught us, life always finds a way.

The Plot

Elise’s pregnancy is a shock to both her and Dustin. Elise was the product of a single mother, who resented being a parent, so Elise never thought about having children herself.

But now that she’s pregnant, Elise knows what she has to do. Elise graciously allows Dustin an “out.”

While Dustin might not be a lifetime commitment kind of guy, he’s not an irresponsible deadbeat, either. He has just as much to do with the pregnancy as Elise does. Dustin vows to support her whether she chooses to keep the baby or give him/her up for adoption.

Consequently, Elise quits her job and decides it’s better to be out of state and away from the press. Perhaps in NYC or LA a single, pregnant woman could keep her high-profile job in the media. But there were still reservations about such situations in the American South circa 1990.

Dustin comes with her to her surprise, so the two move into a rural neighborhood to play “house.” They meet new people who are vastly different from themselves. The pair adjust to doing their own household jobs, rather than paying laborers to do so.

As time goes by, Dustin and Elise learn that they enjoy living a more sedate, less fast-paced lifestyle. What’s more, they genuinely begin to honestly care for one another, as their relationship becomes much deeper than just sex.

Will Dustin and Elise realize that being together forever isn’t such a crazy idea? That despite their doubts and hesitancy, they can be good parents? After all, these folks are successful, intelligent adults, so why shouldn’t they be able to do what millions of people do: pair bond and create a family?

Sensuality Level

The love scenes are warm and romantic, not overly erotic but deeply emotional.

Final Analysis of Changing the Rules

Changing the Rules is marked by Gina Wilkins’ sensitive voice, imperfect, relatable characters and subtle humor.

Elisa and Dustin’s journey to love is a gratifying trip through Romancelandia. Perhaps these two were just too thick-headed for their own goods, foolishly believing that love and family were for “other” people, not their elite selves.

But love is funny that way, as Cupid’s arrows affect us all: rich or poor, male or female, young or old, and everybody else in between.

And so Elise and Dustin learn to change the rules of the game because it’s much more delightful playing for keeps.

Rating Report Card
Plot	4.5
Characters	5
Writing	4.5
Chemistry	4.5
Fun Factor	5
Cover	4
Overall:	4.6

Synopsis

It wasn’t in the rules. Elise Webber had it all. Looks, a glamorous job as a TV anchorwoman, a beautiful Atlanta apartment- and the charismatic lawyer, Dustin Chandler. Well, she didn’t exactly have Dustin. Dating was all she could expect from a man who had clearly defined rules where women were concerned.

Elise had been careful not to lose her heart to Dustin. He’d been clear from the beginning that love and marriage weren’t in his game plan. She could just imagine how he was going to react to her latest bit of news. Mr. Hotshot Lawyer was about to become a daddy…
Changing the Rules by Gina Wilkins

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Tag Archives: Hero attorney lawyer

Historical Romance Review: Sunset Temptation by Jane Toombs

The Book

The Plot

Upside

Downside

Sex

Violence

Bottom Line

Synopsis

Category Romance Review: Having Faith by Barbara Delinsky

Harlequin Temptation #297

VERY MILD SPOILERS 😉

The Plot

My Opinion

Final Analysis of Having Faith

Category Romance Review: Changing the Rules by Gina Wilkins

MILD SPOILERS 😉

The Book

The Characters

The Plot

Sensuality Level

Final Analysis of Changing the Rules

Synopsis

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