Reviewed by Stacy Ahlgren
Publisher: Penguin
Rating: 5 Stars

BATTLE SCARRED
Six years after trading in his combat gear for hospital scrubs, Luke Rafferty still hasn’t found what he’s been searching for: a normal life. At his job, Luke is faced with things just as heartbreaking as
those on the battlefield, none more so than the abused children brought in by a pretty red-headed social worker.
HEARTBROKEN
For Devon Manning, being a social worker is a rewarding job, but also a constant reminder of her own troubled youth. Devon takes everything one day at a time—unable to form a relationship with anyone except the children she rescues.
A DESIRE TO HEAL…
When Luke meets Devon, he thinks he might have found what he’s been looking for, but in order to get the life he wants, Luke has to break…

Reviewed by Stacy Ahlgren
Publisher Kensington
5 Stars

GET WILD . .. AND THEN GET WILDER . . .
Accountant Katie Kramer is a quintessential good girl – working hard, recycling diligently, all the while trying to ignore the feeling that she doesn’t fit in anywhere. That’s all she wants. Well, that – and amazing sex, and the kind of daredevil escapade she can look back on when she’s crunching numbers in a dusty cubicle. Which explains why she just took a job in Wishful, California, working for Wilder Adventures and Expeditions. Waking up to find a magnificently built stranger towering over her bed – that part defies explanation . . .
After wandering the planet for months following a life-changing accident, Cameron Wilder has come back to the only home he knows. Under other…

Reviewed by Stacy Ahlgren
Publisher:NAL Trade
4 Stars

Jane has wanted Ethan for years but has never found a way to tell him. With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, she decides to seduce him by sending anonymous erotic valentines every Friday until the big day. Then she’ll finally reveal her true feelings— and wildest desires.

But when her stationery store is vandalized, it’s Ethan who comes to her rescue—and the sparks start flying way ahead of schedule. Now Jane and her erotic alter ego are competing for Ethan’s affections— and the results couldn’t be hotter.

At one time, Ethan and Jane had been good friends who enjoyed each other’s company and spent a lot of time hanging out together. However Jane was keeping a secret from her friend – she was deeply in love with him.…

As a long-time reader of romance novels, I’ve seen my share of virgin heroines, both in contemporary and historical books.  However it’s not so common to see a virgin hero, and really, when you first think about it, the very idea may sound unappealing, and certainly not very satisfying.  But when you really take some time to consider what it might be like to be intimate with an attractive man who’s never experienced one of life’s most enjoyable pleasures, you might begin to re-think your opinion.  After all, wouldn’t it be just delicious to have all that attention focused completely on you, knowing that your sexy lover is about to experience the pleasure of lovemaking for the first time, and to prove himself worthy, he’s more than ready to learn…

Reviewed by Stacy Ahlgren
Publisher: Penquin
Rating: 4 stars

This is the story of three girlfriends, all married, who are each about to celebrate their 7-year wedding anniversary. Melanie, owner of a healthclub with her husband Thomas, brings the subject up, reminding her friends Cherisse and Debra that there’s a valid reason behind the concept of the seven year itch, and brings up the idea of a “free pass”, the opportunity for each person to have a sexual interlude with someone outside the marriage and not have it held against them. At first the other two women are skeptical as they are all happy in their marriages and see no reason to court trouble. But Melanie explains that a “free pass” would add an element of excitement and spice to their marriages,…

Reviewed by Stacy Ahlgren
Publisher: Bantam Books – Reprint
5 stars

Yes, this is it. The novel that started my unabashed love for all things Suzanne Brockmann. Back in the day before her Troubleshooters and her TDD (Tall, Dark & Dangerous) Silhouette Intimate Moments (though not much before), Suz wrote the book that changed my whole idea of contemporary romances. Now with the re-release, other readers can pick up a copy and see if they love it just as much as I did (like Shannon loved “Body Language”). And this is how she did it…

It’s New Years’ Eve, and Leila Hunt is on a two-week vacation from the stressful job she loves in New York. She’s come home to Sunrise Key, Florida to relax, and quite possibly get engaged to the man she’s been dating.

Dressed…