The Substitute Millionaire by Susan Mallery

 Title: The Substitute Millionaire 

Author: Susan Mallery

Narrator: Savannah Richards

Series: #1 in the Million Dollar Catch series

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Harlequin (November 7th 2006)

Audio Version: Harlequin Books S.A. (March 16, 2010 )

Source: Audible Escape

Rating: ☕☕☕☕

Synopsis: Successful businessman Ryan Bennett had agreed to masquerade as his wealthy cousin for a blind date.

But from the moment Ryan saw Julie Nelson to the moment he should have said good-night, he was captivated and couldn't resist an invitation to share her bed. In the hazy afterglow of their heated lovemaking, Ryan confessed his true identity, claiming the passion between them was real despite his deception, but Julie wasn't buying it. Obviously she considered him the enemy.

Except now she was having the enemy's baby…. 

My Thoughts: Another great older category romance by Susan Mallery.

The Good, The Bad, and Anything Else I Might Want to Mention: I'm always hesitant to read category romances because so many just let me down either because of insta-love or because there is not enough room to create a viable plot. This one was a straight forward contemporary romance with a mistaken identity (on purpose) and a surprise pregnancy (not on purpose). I like that there wasn't a whole lot of added things to detract from Ryan and Julie's budding relationship. The main conflict within the book was Julie and her inability to trust Ryan. She was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop so she could throw it in Ryan's face. I understand why but after awhile it got tiresome.

The whole concept of Grandma coming into the girls' lives after they were adults and trying to control their lives and the lives of her great nephews was a bit odd and although her absence is explained it didn't do much for how controlling she was. Factor in she wasn't in contact with her own daughter for over 20 years because of the rift between her second husband and her daughter...her current controlling behavior doesn't jive well with her inability to stand up for her daughter and with her daughter against her husband back then. This is also explained away as if but the whole thing is just weird.

Despite those things I actually did like the romance even if the love part was quick to come. I enjoyed the banter between Ryan and Julie a lot and the interaction between Julie and her two sisters was enjoyable as well. 

Savannah Richards' narration was great. I'd absolutely listen to another book with her.

In a Nutshell: A nice quick read. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes Susan Mallery or enjoys a good category romance.

The Unexpected Millionaire by Susan Mallery

Title: The Unexpected Millionaire

Author: Susan Mallery

Narrator: Catherine Carr

Series: #2 in the Million Dollar Catch series

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Silhouette Desire December 5th 2006 (audio version March 22nd 2010 by Harlequin Books S.A.)

Source: Audible Escape

Rating: ☕☕☕☕

Synopsis: Millionaire Kane Dennison's first mistake had been carrying an injured Willow Nelson inside his home, which, as a rule, was off-limits. Of course, she'd needed his help, but his one kind gesture had her believing he was a nice man. He wasn't.

His second mistake had been surrendering to passion after warning Willow to run away. Because a woman like her deserved better than a one-night stand. She believed in soul mates. He trusted no one--needed no one. And not even Willow was going to change him!

My Thoughts: What a gem!

The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else: I loved this book. The heroine was quirky and optimistic. The hero was brooding and emotionally unavailable (until the right woman came along anyway.) The plot was a little thin and a longer book could have developed some of the storylines better (like the family dynamics between Willow, her 2 sisters, her dad, etc.) This is a straight forward contemporary romance with no suspense, no miscommunication, no love triangles....and I liked it so much for not trying to be something it wasn't. Sure it could have been longer. The love could have developed over a longer period or time. Willow's character could potentially grate on some people's nerves as she's quite quirky in her sense of humor. The sex happened very quickly and was pretty explicit (as Silhouette Desires are known for....the Harlequin Temptations were their doppelgänger...all which were replaced by the Harlequin Blaze line...essentially....all of which featured a lot more explicit sex than other category romance imprints.) None of those things took away from my enjoyment. The epiphany of Kane's love did happen almost off page (not quite but it would have been nice had we seen him literally brought to his knees prior to his declaration to Willow.) He groveled but perhaps not nearly enough for me to bump this book up to a 5 star read. Even though this book is practically 14 years old it didn't feel dated at all. Major plus! Just a side note...I really hate this cover.

The narration was done well and I was able to listen to Catherine Carr's voice at 2Xs the speed without difficulty. I would listen to another book narrated by her but I'm not sure I would purposely seek out a book she reads outside my comfort book zone just because of her narration.

In a Nutshell: I honestly find more diamonds with Susan Mallery books than I do coal. I really liked this book and will definitely read the rest of the series. I'd also recommend this book to my friends who like to read the occasional category romance and ones who read them habitually. 

Three Little Words by Susan Mallery

Synopsis: Isabel Beebe thinks she's cursed in the romance department. Her teenage crush, Ford Hendrix, ignored all her letters. Her husband left her for another…man. So Isabel has come home to dust off her passion for fashion and run the family bridal shop until her parents are ready to sell it. Then she'll pursue her real dreams. At least, that's the plan, until sexy, charming Ford returns and leaves her feeling fourteen all over again…..
Seeing Isabel all grown-up hits bodyguard trainer Ford like a sucker punch. Back when heartbreak made him join the military, her sweet letters kept him sane. Now he can't take his eyes—or his lips—off her. The man who gave up on love has a reason to stay in Fool's Gold forever—if three little words can convince Isabel to do the same.

My Thoughts: After finding Just One Kiss just OK and Two of a Kind a little bit better than that I had high hopes for Three Little Words. Despite that some of the books in Mallery's Fool's Gold series are simply average contemporary romances I found this one to be better than most. Matter of fact, I thought she hit this one out of the park.

What Worked: The characters of Ford and Isabel. Ford's charming sense of humor coupled with Isabel's awkwardness around him make for interesting dynamics and some giggling on my part. Their combustable sexual attraction didn't hurt either. I thought it was great that they both were a bit stunned by it rather than the expected reaction of her being stunned and him getting all cocky saying "of course it's good. I'm the man! High Five!"

Although the plot is basic in it's concept it was nice to read a book where what you see is what you get. There were no uber bad guys threatening children. There were no life threatening illnesses to deal with. The only issues were those between adults who agree to 'fake-date' to throw off a marriage happy mama who find that they were actually 'real-dating' instead.

The setting is also a plus. In the past I have felt that Fool's Gold had a bit of a creepy vibe (Standford Wives kind of creepy) but in this book I felt none of that. Even the ever present and all seeing Mayor Masha seemed less...um...everywhere which was a good thing.

What Didn't Work: Just a few very minor things actually. First would be the secondary romance. I typically love a secondary romance but really, Consuelo is such a strong woman with a lot of background baggage adding her romance as a secondary one is short changing her. Her story should have been more than what it was.

In addition, some may find it a bit weird to have Ford date one sister then eventually date the other. I honestly didn't have an issue with this. I thought Susan handled the situation very well.

One more thing. I do think that a new reader to Fool's Gold may have trouble following along with all the secondary characters. There are quite a few. Some are old having been introduced ages ago and some are actually quite new. This is the only reason I would recommend that this book should get read in order. If you aren't inclined to read all 11 previous Fool's Gold books first at least read Just One Kiss and Two of a Kind first. Susan sets her books up as trilogies with a common connecting theme (the town of Fool's Gold).

In a Nutshell: I truly enjoyed this book. From the witty banter to the smexy parts and everything in between I thought this was a winner of a book. Perhaps not for everyone, as it is a pretty basic concept of a romance but for me it worked.

Two of a Kind by Susan Mallery

Synopsis: Felicia Swift never dreamed she'd hear a deep, sexy voice from her past in tiny Fool's Gold, California. The last time Gideon Boylan whispered in her ear was half a world away...on the morning after the hottest night of her life. Her freaky smarts have limited her close friendships, and romance, but she came to Fool's Gold looking for ordinary. Gorgeous, brooding Gideon is anything but that.  Black Ops taught Gideon that love could be deadly. Now he pretends to fit in while keeping everyone at arm's length. Felicia wants more than he can give-a home, family, love-but she has a lot to learn about men...and Gideon needs to be the man to teach her.   As these two misfits discover that passion isn't the only thing they have in common, they just might figure out that two of a kind should never be split apart.

My Thoughts: I have to admit to starting this book almost 2 months ago. I didn't get that far before I set it aside while spending a few days in the hospital recovering from surgery and unfortunately I forgot about it. I wished I'd had continued with it back then because I enjoyed this book so much more than I did the one before (Just One Kiss). While Fool's Gold had a weird Stepford feel to it in Just One Kiss (at least it did to me) the creepiness of the perfect little town was all but gone in this installment. I did think Mayor Marsha was still pretty creepy with her "I know everything" comments but I was able to ignore most of that.

What Worked: Felicia was such a great character. Typically, I have a soft spot for tortured brooding men but Gideon really took a back seat to Felicia. She was so super intelligent and socially awkward that it was hard not to really like her. Her character is exactly like the Tempe Brennan character on the tv show Bones (not the book Tempe....she's completely different.) Anyway, Felicia, like Tempe will all of a sudden start spouting facts about ancient tribal coming of age customs while talking to a 13 year old boy when he's claiming to "not be a child". I totally confess to having a whopper of a girl crush on Felicia. She's that awesome.

Gideon was a great counterpart for Felicia. For someone so analytical, like Felicia, Gideon's inability to emotionally connect seemed a perfect match. After having been held captive and tortured while in the military he feels he is a broken man, unable to love. As a matter of fact he credits his inability to love for saving his life while all his fellow soldiers died one by one crying out to their wives and children. Who doesn't like a tortured hero? Plus he has an amazingly hot bedroom voice that the women of Fool's Gold stay up listening to during his late night radio show.

Because Felicia is now the Festival Coordinator we get a glimpse of her behind the scenes action organizing them. It was nice to understand a little more about the ever present 'Festivals' that Fool's Gold has every month. This made Fool's Gold more of a quaint touristy town to me instead of the perfect Stepford town.

I also liked how Mallery brought in several new characters who will, no doubt, have their own books in the future. We get to see Angel and Consuelo, both of whom are part of Justice's Body Guard School (sounds like a weird an unnecessary school but I just went with it.) Taryn Crawford is new in town also who 1/3 owner of a PR firm called Score that is coming soon to Fool's Gold. She blew in briefly to another up and coming business (The Christmas Attic) while looking for directions and made a great impression on Felicia, her friends and myself. I'm sure she will develop into another great character, one I am looking forward to.

What Didn't Work: Gideon's long lost son's plot thread. I'm not totally heartless but his addition to the story was pointless. He didn't seem a believable 13 year old boy. He made friends quickly with another 13 year old boy and together they cooked up a plot to get Gideon and Felicia to marry. After only a few months of knowing both Gideon and Felicia his match making ideas seemed just odd. I also thought he came across as a little too adjusted for someone having lost his mother to cancer (her second bout of it by the way). In my head she probably didn't go quickly and he witnessed her illness progression with no emotional support as there were no other relatives. His mom's friends were his foster family but they were going through a divorced so in a matter of one year he lost his mom and 2 homes, went by himself to a dad he didn't know (who didn't know anything about him) to a town he never heard of. Also not one person  ever said anything close to..."Maybe we should seek out someone Carter can talk to, maybe a child psychologist or something." Despite a child's appearance of normalcy after having gone through a traumatic loss, such as losing the only parent he ever knew, counseling should have been a priority after making sure he was living in a safe environment.

In a Nutshell: Despite Carter's story line that I disliked a lot the rest of the book was pretty awesome. I love Felicia. I enjoyed my visit to Fool's Gold this time and am looking forward to another visit while reading  Three Little Words soon. I really think those who are already fans of Fool's Gold will love this book and more importantly newbies to the series will enjoy it also. As an added bonus even though these books are all part of a series they can be read out of order (I have been doing just that). This is book 12 but only the 6th book I've read.

 

Just One Kiss by Susan Mallery

Synopsis: He won't hesitate to put his life on the line...but will he ever risk his heart?  Falling for Justice Garrett was a high point in Patience McGraw's otherwise awkward adolescence. Even after he disappeared, Patience never forgot the boy who captured her heart. Now, he's back in Fool's Gold, California, and her passion for him is as strong as ever. But how can she trust that he won't abandon her again-and her daughter, too?  When bodyguard Justice Garrett was a young man, witness protection brought him to this idyllic town and he never forgot its warmth, or the sweet beauty of his childhood friend. He's returned to open a defense academy, and the Patience he once knew is all grown up. He can't resist her smile, or her curves. But Justice's past doesn't make him husband, or father, material.  Patience and Justice think they'll succumb to just one kiss... Then one more... Okay, just one night together. But they might learn that falling in love is beyond anyone's control.

My Thoughts: I am really torn about my feelings about this book. I enjoyed it but there were a quite a few things that really grated on my nerves. In this 11th full length Fool's Gold novel I have to wonder if they've run their course and the entire town should retire. On the other hand I truly love revisiting the quaint town. See, told ya', I'm torn.

This particular venture into Fool's Gold just didn't work for me. The town took on a Stepford feel to it where the children are just precocious, the teens are all heading to college with the highest honors, Mayor Marsha seems to pop in at a moments notice, as if she's hiding behind bushes and billboards waiting to pounce and new business ventures never fail.

Even Patience herself was irritating. Perfectly named, Patience was almost too kind and caring. When she did show some 'negative' feelings ie:jealousy, it seemed so out of character it tipped the scale toward shrew making her look petty and ugly.

There were several plot threads woven throughout the story and all were wrapped up quickly in bright shiny convenient bows. Speaking of convenient, at one point Patience is telling Justice that she wants nothing more than to open up a coffee shop. She even has the name and logo picked out but she is lacking the funds to start such a venture. Next thing we know a Great Aunt Becky has died, leaving her a whopping sum. She was able to pay her mom's mortgage and open up her business. Never mind that Patience didn't even know who the woman was.There were a couple other 'too convenient' happenings too.

I also had a problem with the ending. There were no hard feelings and all was forgiven by an 'I'm sorry' where there should have been massive groveling and some sort of wow factor to go along with the apology. At least the man should have brought flowers!

All of that really prevented me from fully enjoying this book but it wasn't a total loss...

The chemistry between Justice and Patience is sizzling and pretty awesome. I also appreciated that both characters were smart and prepared with condoms. In this day and age not having them mentioned is almost irresponsible.

There are quite a few characters that are super intriguing too. Angel, Ford and Felicia for starters. These are the people helping Justice start up his business. Also, Noelle is interesting as is Gideon. Looking forward to more of them.

Despite the many eye rolls I did during the reading of this book I still am a huge Mallery fan. Even with the issues I had with this particular book it still felt good getting back to Fool's Gold (even with the many shades of Stepford). These books are my comfort food and I'll continue reading them. I just wish I'd enjoyed this one more.

I'd recommend this book to other Fool's Gold fans but keep in mind that you'll have to suspend your disbelief a lot. I would also recommend that readers new to Susan's work or just new to Fool's Gold might want to start with another one, perhaps starting at the beginning with Chasing Perfect.

Three Sisters by Susan Mallery

Synopsis: After Andi Gordon is jilted at the altar, she makes the most impetuous decision of her life – buying one of the famed Three Sisters Queen Anne houses on Blackberry Island. Now the proud-ish owner of the ugly duckling of the trio, she plans to open her own pediatric office on the first floor, just as soon as her hunky contractor completes the work. Andi's new future may be coming together, but the truth is she's just as badly in need of a major renovation as her house.  When Deanna Phillips confronts her husband about a suspected affair, she opens up a Pandora's Box of unhappiness. And he claims that she is the problem. The terrible thing is, he's right. In her quest to be the perfect woman, she's lost herself, and she's in danger of losing her entire family if things don't change.  Next door, artist Boston King thought she and her college sweetheart would be married forever. Their passion for one other has always seemed indestructible. But after tragedy tears them apart, she's not so sure. Now it's time for them to move forward, with or without one another.  Thrown together by fate and geography, and bound by the strongest of friendships, these three women will discover what they're really made of: laughter, tears, love and all.

My Thoughts: I've been a fan of Susan for years now after reading several of her Buchanan family books. I've continued to read her old Silhouette Special Editions and her wonderful Fool's Gold books over the years because her romances are like Mac n' Cheese to me. I know when I open one I'm going to meet a friend. I'm going to laugh a little. I'm going to cry a little. And I'm going to close the book at the end feeling warm and fuzzy and probably smiling like a loon.

With Three Sisters I got all of that and more.

What shined most for me had to be the 3 women. Andi, Deanna and Boston are as real to me as my best friend. Hands down these women are some of the best characters Susan has ever created. She has an uncanny ability to write that one character who is a total witch no one (including yourself) can stand through a good portion of the book and turn them around in a way we readers cheer them on by the end. Oh yes, she certainly did that here. Totally made me want to drive my happy butt to Blackberry Island and give Deanna a hug!

I'm really looking forward to reading more in the Blackberry Island series and I hope Susan continues on with them for a long time.

Tempting by Susan Mallery

Synopsis compliments of Shelfari....

After three romantic flame-outs in a year and a restaurant career going nowhere, Dani Buchanan needs a fresh start. She goes looking for her biological father, but never expects to find a senator running for president. As his long-lost 'love child,' Dani could seriously derail the election— something his handsome campaign manager Alex Canfield isn't going to let happen. Dani isn't about to let Alex run her life, no matter how tempting she finds him—and Alex isn't going to allow Dani to melt his cynicism, no matter how close he has to get. The last thing either of them wants is love, especially with scandals brewing and family trouble on the way. But Dani and Alex are forced to trust each other, and when trust turns to passion, the potential for disaster is only a tabloid scandal away.

My thoughts....

I am finding myself becoming more and more of a fan of Susan Mallery after every book I read by her. This is the second Buchanan book that I have read and one of my favorites. Although I couldn't identify with Dani's struggles to find her true place with a different family while maintaining her connection with the family she was raised in, Mallery does an excellent job of helping the reader empathize with the situation. I found this to be true with the other books I read by her also.

The Buchanan family has a wonderful dynamic and it makes one wish to be a part of it. Even though this is Dani's story we get a special treat to get back in touch with the other Buchanan's from previous books. This included Gloria, Dani's wicked witch of a grandmother. Susan Mallery once again proves that she can take a character that a reader can dislike and somehow redeem them and make them likable.

The romance of the book is good but I think what I like best was Dani's "new" family. The Canfields have created a family that I admire greatly. All the children are adopted and all have either been labled unadoptable or not "normal". We get to meet Bailey, Alex's 15 year old sister with down syndrome, Ian who has a brilliant mind but who's body struggles with CP and Sasha, the youngest of the bunch who happens to have HIV. This is just a few of them and I absolutely loved reading about them. After working for over a decade with people with special needs they definitely found a spot in my heart.

Katherine Canfield, Alex's mother, is another character that you just identify with. You feel her struggles to accept Dani into their home and lives with the knowledge that the husband she loves more then the moon had a biological daughter with someone else. Even though there was no cheating involved that resulted in Dani's conception, you can just feel that she is torn between taking Dani under her wing and being jealous of the fact that another woman gave her husband something she never could.

Over all I would give this book a 4.5 Stars.