Title: Art for Art’s Sake: Meredith’s Story Author: Barbara Clanton ISBN-10: 1935053140 - ISBN-13: 978-1935053149 Publisher: Regal Crest, www.regalcrest.biz Distributed by: Allied Crest Editions, www.rcedirect.com; and Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com Price: $15.95 Pages: 192 Genre: Young Adult/Lesbian

Meredith Bedford is having trouble adjusting to a new high school. In her senior year, her parents have recently relocated to Albany, New York. Meredith’s goal for the year is to survive being bullied by several other students and to move on to a fresh start at college. Her only respite from her troubles at school is art class, where Meredith excels and where no one gives her any grief.

At a senior class meeting, Meredith sees Dani Lassiter and is drawn to this dynamic leader. The dynamic Dani is class president and captain of the lacrosse team, someone that Meredith couldn’t imagine befriending her, yet she longs to paint her attractive classmate.

Things begin to change when one day, Dani volunteers to be Meredith’s partner for a class project, silencing the bullies and making Meredith’s heart beat faster. As Meredith tentatively moves toward friendship with Dani, she finds so much about her that draws her to her friend, not the least of which is Dani’s comfort level with Meredith’s Down Syndrome younger brother, Mikey.

As the two young women work on their class project, they meet two Senior citizens —Esther and Millie—and become more wrapped up in the older women’s lives than they ever imagined. But when Dani confesses to Meredith that she’s gay, Meredith must comes to terms with her own homophobia.

Clanton has written another young adult novel that is sure to appeal to teens and twenty-somethings. She tackles topics that are issues in the lives of young people who must face their questioning and orientation and find strength to live their lives with truth and authenticity. However, this story will appeal to young and old alike, because Clanton’s writing is sophisticated enough and her characters are well developed enough to deliver a message to readers of all ages.
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Reviewed by Anna Furtado

Title: Attractions of the Heart Author: Cheri Crystal ISBN-10: 1600542980 - ISBN-13: 978-1600542985 Publisher: loveyoudivine Distributed by: www.loveyoudivine.com Price: $20.00 Pages: 292 Genre: Romance-Erotica/Lesbian

Erotica is normally not my cup of tea, but Cheri Crystal’s Attractions of the Heart contains stories that are filled with so much more than sex-for-sex’s-sake. They are truly filled with heart…and humor…and good old-fashioned romance. These short stories are varied little vignettes that are small artistic masterpieces in themselves. Each story has its own cover and “backmatter” to get the reader “in the mood.”

The first offering is entitled "Lobster Box," a story filled with awkward getting-to-know-you moments punctuated with humor, lust, and love. Other stories portray more hard-core sexuality. There are stories about fishing, cooking, fisting, relationships with authors, and the most touching of all, a story called "Kumquat, Did You Say?" – a story about the real meaning of love: when a butch goes the extra mile for the love of her life because cancer has stopped the dreams the femme lover in her life has of having a family.

This book would make a lovely Valentine’s gift for that someone special. Or give the gift of reading them as bedtime stories to your special woman.
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Reviewed by Anna Furtado

Title: Backwards to Oregon Author: Jae ISBN: 978-1-934889-31-2 Publisher: L-Book Available From: L-Book, http://L-Book.com; SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $14.95 (paperback); $12.95 eBook; other formats available Pages: 404 Genre: Historical\Romance

Backwards to Oregon is the best kind of historical fiction. It strives to be accurate.

"Luke" Hamilton has lived her life as a man since she was twelve and has had no problem concealing her gender even as an officer in the US Army. Now Luke wants to head for the Oregon Territory and start a ranch for breeding horses. Before the wagon train departs from Independence, Missouri, she meets Nora Macauley who is supporting herself and her young daughter as a prostitute and something about the woman impresses her. Though Luke had never considered the possibility of a family for herself she wants to help Nora start a new life and Luke finds herself not only married, but promising to act as a father to Nora's child. She's able to maintain her charade as a man by saying that this is a business arrangement and that she has no "expectations" for a true marriage from Nora.

As they cover two thousand miles of trail, they learn to depend on each other as they face various threats and the hazards of the wilderness. Their struggles bring them close together and a deep friendship forms and eventually tries to turn into something else. When Nora inevitably learns Luke's secret, she has to make some serious decisions about her attitudes toward family, marriage and love. What is really more important, someone who conforms to society's standards or a person who supplies the support and comforts that you really need? The answer may not be as simple as it seems.

Too often novels try to bend history to fit the needs of the story. This isn't a problem in Backwards to Oregon. Jae captures a real feel for what it must have been like to cross the West in the early 1850s. At all times the real antagonist is the trip itself and the demands it puts on the pioneers. Hollywood creates the impression that people just piled into wagons and, except for the occasional Indian attack, rode across the prairie and the mountains with very little trouble. In truth, this was a long and arduous trek that killed many people not from snake bites or accidents, but sheer exhaustion.

The little details, like how to cook a meal and the techniques for crossing rivers, are what give this book authenticity, but the story isn't bogged down by facts. Another nice touch is that the Indians are not portrayed as vile or blood-thirsty people, but as sophisticated and clever individuals who were perfectly willing to trade for goods rather than staging a massacre and trying to take what they wanted. The only questionable aspect of the book is that the relationship develops very quickly, but on a trip like this that might have been possible also.

Jae presents a very appealing romance with believable characters and interesting settings. Backwards to Oregon is a very entertaining book that is definitely worth reading.
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Reviewed by Lynne Pierce

Title: Family Affair Author: Saxon Bennett ISBN 978-1-59493-150-5 Publisher: Bella Books Available from: Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com Price: $14.95 Pages: 279 Genre: Romantic Comedy

It takes an experienced writer to bring a light, humorous touch to a story fraught with the possibility of disaster and broken hearts. Saxon Bennett, known for her character driven novels, has brought just such a touch to this laugh out loud story of two lesbians. Chase, a published author of lesbian romances, and her lover Gitana, the owner of an orchid nursery, have found themselves in an unusual situation. Gitana's gynecologist mixed up his patients: Gitana has had an embryo implanted in her womb instead of getting a pap smear!

While Gitana handles her pregnancy radiantly, Chase is faced with the task of facing her issues and learning how to be a parent. Bennett has filled her book with wonderful characters in the form of Gitana's and Chase's mothers, their friends, and has even given her rambunctious dogs cameo appearances. Family Affair is a wonderful read. Don't be surprised if you find yourself reading parts of it aloud to your partner.
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Reviewed by RLynne

Title: It Should Be A Crime Author: Carsen Taite ISBN-13: 978-1-60282-086-9 Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, www.boldstrokesbooks.com Available from: Bold Strokes Books, www.boldstrokesbooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $16.95 - Pages: 233 Genre: Legal Thriller

High-powered attorney Morgan Bradley has returned to Dallas to teach at a law university as well as to open her own firm. A defense attorney with a national reputation, Bradley is given a warm welcome at the university. Parker Casey, as a former police detective, knows the law. As a senior who's at the top of her class, Parker is assured a position in a good law firm upon graduation. Parker and Morgan had a one night stand the night Morgan arrived in Dallas. They meet again when Parker signs up for Morgan's class. Any relationship between the two women is forbidden however, by their student/teacher roles. Things get even more complicated when Morgan's advanced class gets involved doing some of the legwork in a real murder trial.

Taite, a criminal defense attorney herself, has given her readers a behind the scenes look at what goes on during the days before a trial. Her descriptions of lawyer/client talks, investigations, police procedures, etc. are fascinating. Taite keeps the action moving, her characters clear, and never allows her story to get bogged down in paperwork. It Should Be a Crime has a fast-moving plot and some extraordinarily hot sex.
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Reviewed by RLynne

Title: On Dangerous Ground Author: D. L. Line ISBN-13: 978-1-60282-113-2 Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, www.boldstrokesbooks.com Available from: Bold Strokes Books, www.boldstrokesbooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $16.95 - Pages: 230 Genre: Romantic Suspense

D. L. Line has cleverly mixed very hot sex, likeable characters, and a serial killer into her very readable first novel. FBI Agent Terri McKinnon is a petite, by-the-books kind of gal who knows the tragedy of seeing a lover die. Her partner, gay agent Robert C. Kraft, is a large, romantic teddy bear who wants to see his partner happy. The two of them have been assigned a strange case involving the deaths of consultants who do research for a giant technology company. As they work the case, they meet the delightfully quirky Dr. Jennifer Rosenberg, one of the technology consultants.

Line is particularly adept at showing the chemistry between Terri and Jennifer; the sparkles between the two women light up the pages. Her villain is a complex diabolical character on a deadly mission. Line contrasts the warmth of Terri and Jennifer with the chilling reality of the killer to her advantage as she takes readers on an emotional ride. This is a fun read!
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Reviewed by RLynne

Title: Piperton Author: Carrie Carr ISBN: 9781935053200 Publisher: Yellow Rose Books, www.regalcrest.biz Available at: Allied Crest Editions, www.rcedirect.com ; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $15.95 (hardback); $7.95 (ebook) - Pages: 187 Genre: Romance

Piperton, Texas, is a hard-scrabble town that is slowly dying. It’s ironic that the most impressive building in the deserted downtown is the old courthouse because there is little justice in this town if you’re different. Sam Hendrickson didn’t plan on stopping there, but her old car finally dies and Sam finds herself trapped in the town until she can raise some money. Unfortunately, with her short haircut and androgynous dress, she sticks out like a sore thumb and she has to deal with bigoted attitudes from the first moment. As she picks up a string of odd jobs, all she wants to do is get enough money to leave this place behind. Then she meets Janie Clark. Janie has lived in Piperton all her life and all she knows is the culture there. Her job in a doctor’s office really isn’t fulfilling, but the biggest problem is that her father is trying to force her to marry a man she doesn’t love. That seems to be what women in Piperton do. Meeting Sam causes her to reassess her life, appearance and attitudes. As they grow closer there is also a growing sense of danger, especially after Sam endures a vicious beating. Staying in Piperton could cost them their lives, but Sam won’t leave without Janie and Janie would have to reject everything and everyone she has always lived with. That’s a lot to ask of someone who has never taken a risk before.

Piperton reminds us that not everyone lives in the same society, not even within the same country. People sometimes forget that, hidden within tiny enclaves, there are values and attitudes surviving quite well as the rest of time passes them by. The cover art on this book is especially evocative of that reality. The atmosphere in this town is more reminiscent of the 1950s than the 21st century except that these ideas can still be found existing. The characters are quite real though and the story drives the reader on as you want to find out how Sam and Janie cope with the situation. Their relationship develops a little too fast and Janie’s transformation seems too easily accomplished, but Carr tells a story that is on the whole convincing. One of the best characters is an older woman named Betsy who not only provides Sam with shelter and support, but injects the humor into the story that keeps it from becoming totally depressing.

Piperton is easy to read and has an absorbing story, but it also emphasizes for the reader an important truth. In a time when people are loudly proclaiming that all gay people should be out and proud, sometimes the smartest move on a battlefield is a strategic retreat…or at least a change of location.
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Reviewed by Lynne Pierce

Title: Power Play Author: Julie Cannon ISBN-13: 978-1-60282-125-5 Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, www.boldstrokesbooks.com Available from: www.boldstrokesbooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $14.95 - Pages: 184 Genre: Matinee Romance

Julie Cannon uses her insider's knowledge of corporate America to bring us two powerful businesswomen, each at the top of her game. Victoria Sosa is the CEO of Drake Pharmaceuticals. A former Olympic Gold Medalist, Victoria brings a strong work ethic as well as a concern for "the rest of the team," the employees and those who use her company's products.

Tate Monroe is much younger than Victoria, and her polar opposite. Brash and from the wrong side of the tracks, Tate is in line to be the next CEO of Sumner Enterprises, a company known for its corporate raids and underhanded tactics. What Tate didn't count on is what happens when she literally runs into Victoria Sosa, a major adversary.

Tate and Victoria are both using every technique they have to persuade Peter Braxton to sell his company. Their battle takes them across the U.S., to Europe and to Asia. As they travel and maneuver, the sexual tension between Tate and Victoria grows along with the tense demands from each of their companies. Power Play gives Cannon's readers a high stakes game full of passion, humor, and incredible sex.
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Reviewed by RLynne

Title: Qualities of Light Author: Mary Carroll Moore ISBN: 978-1-935226-06-2 Publisher: Spinsters Ink Available From: Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $14.95 - Pages: 247 Genre: Fiction

It was supposed to be a routine summer at Cloud Lake, but the Fisher family is coming unraveled. When Molly and her little brother Sammy disobeyed their father and took a boat out onto the lake, they had no way of knowing that an accident would leave Sammy lying in a hospital bed in a coma. Their parents' marriage was tenuous at best with their father absorbed in his painting and their mother waiting for a chance to take off in her plane and leave them all behind.

Instead, her parents are keeping a vigil at the hospital, focusing all of their attention on their son and Molly is left on her own to deal with her guilt, her parents and the strange feelings she's developing for Zoe Novato. Zoe is unlike anyone fifteen year old Molly has ever met - funny, vivacious and not afraid to kiss a girl. Molly's father is distant and her mother distracted, so she has no one to talk to about why she is more attracted to a girl than to Chad who would like to be her boyfriend. As the summer progresses Zoe practices her waterskiing, Chad is confused, and Molly learns to deal with her feelings, both for her parents and Zoe. And they are all waiting, waiting for Sammy to wake up.

Qualities of Light is a sensitive, deftly told story of an adolescent trying to cope with her emotions. Molly's hormones should be raging, but what throws her is that they're drawing her towards a girl and Molly doesn't want to be different from everyone else. She's struggling to reestablish her relationship with her parents, who aren't making it easy, and she doesn't need anything to complicate that more than Sammy's accident already has. Moore shows Molly as a child-woman who alternates between immature behavior and overwhelming maturity as she deals with her family and friends. Those who remember their passage through that age will find much that taps into their memories.

This is a serious, but interesting book. Sometimes it's hard to get a grasp on the emotions that are being expressed, but that may be a device to help the reader relate to what Molly is going through. This isn't a coming-out love story, but a thoughtful look at the process. For those looking for a book with some depth, this may be it.
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Reviewed by Lynne Pierce

Title: Returning Tides Author: Radclyffe ISBN-13: 978-1-60282-123-1 Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, www.boldstrokesbooks.com Available from: www.boldstrokesbooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $16.95 - Pages: 252 Genre: Romance

Returning Tides is the sixth in the Lambda Literary Award winning Provincetown Tales. Radclyffe has brought back her ensemble of familiar characters as well as adding a few new women to the mix. Familiarity with the characters gives this book a feeling of comfort somewhat akin to returning to a beloved hometown. The characters' growth in terms of their professions and relationships is rewarding, as is watching them tackle new challenges.

Provincetown is recovering from a devastating hurricane. The disaster has brought fire and floods to the area and kept the emergency response team busy. Just as everyone is on heightened alert, a murdered FBI agent is found, and there are other unsettling events.

Radclyffe has given her fans an exciting page turner. There is a wonderful blend of sex and mayhem that keeps a reader spellbound right to the shocking conclusion. Returning Tides is a book that demands no interruptions. It's a great read!
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Reviewed by RLynne

Title: Second Time Around Author: Linda Kay Silva ISBN-10: 1935226037 - ISBN-13: 978-1935226031 Publisher: Spinsters Ink Available From: Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $14.95 - Pages: 329 Genre: Adventure/Historical/Lesbian

Jessie Ferguson is on the move again, this time to Elizabethan England to become involved with pirates—and with even good Queen Bess herself.

In this second offering by Linda Kay Silva, Jessie has grown up and out of her teenage angst. She’s pursuing a college degree with emphasis on history. She’s also becoming a stronger druid priestess and perfecting her time-traveling abilities.

When Jessie meets Spencer Morgan, the captain of a pirate ship, she discovers that he needs her help to find a box—the contents of which could change the historical timeline if it falls into the wrong hands. A druid from the past who has lost sight of his commitment and ethics has unearthed a box with the recipe for turning lead into gold and the results could be disastrous. Morgan is searching for the box in his time, trying to avert disaster—and he needs Jessie’s help to do it. Cate and Maeve are back, trying to help Jessie in whatever way they can from their own time. So are her friend, Tanner, and her mentor, Ceara, who knows plenty about time travel herself.

Travel to another time, rich in history, and rich in interesting characters and their adventures. The ending of Second Time Around hints that this will not be the last time we hear about Jessie and her adventures. As an added benefit to this entertaining tale, we learn about history in ways that we could only wish for when we were in high school and had to memorize all those boring dates and details! A truly enjoyable second offering in an interesting series, Second Time Around lingers long after the last page is turned.
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Reviewed by Anna Furtado

Title: The Clash Between the Minds Author: Nann Dunne ISBN: 978-1-935216-10-0 Publisher: Intaglio Publications, www.intagliopub.com Available From: Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $16.95 - Pages: 230 Genre: Historical Romance

The Clash Between the Minds is the sequel to Nann Dunne's earlier book The War Between the Hearts. It picks up the story of former Union spy Sarah-Bren Coulter, her partner Southerner Faith Pruitt, and Faith's son Benjamin. The book is set in the period after the Civil War when the United States was trying to put itself back together, but the process didn't occur easily. Many people still clung to bitter feelings from the war and did not want to accept the new reality of freed slaves living among them.

In this moment in history, life in a Missouri town is difficult for both women. Faith is serving as the town's teacher while Sarah works at home, writing and illustrating books about her war adventures. Their relationship is viewed by the local people as odd, at best, and by some, definitely undesirable. They find their family caught up in the growing violence brought on by the appearance of the Ku Klux Klan and a rising tide of hatred caused by people who will not accept anyone who is different from their definitions of "normal" and "desirable."

Forces conspire to tear them apart, and in an effort to save the woman and son she loves, Faith is faced with demands that put terrible stress on her relationship with Sarah. Confused, Faith agrees. Sarah goes on a quest to find somewhere that they can be safe; whether or not they will be able to save their relationship hangs very much in doubt.

The Reconstruction period following the US Civil War was one of the most difficult in the country's history. People were forced to deal with physical and emotional devastation, a new social order, and old and new prejudices. It would seem an odd period in which to set a romance, but it provides a perfect environment to show how a relationship can be tested. It also gives Dunne a setting to explore important questions like racism, bigotry and terrorism. This is a story about two women who face challenges to their love, but it's also a bigger story as a country struggles to overcome hatred that is openly and vigorously expressed. As the tale of Sarah and Faith is interwoven with the realistic recreation of events that occurred then, it becomes clear that there is more at risk than them. The soul of a nation is also being tested.

Dunne has created strong, but flawed main characters; flawed in a way that makes them susceptible to personal doubts. She surrounds them with noble and brutal secondary characters that bring out the best and the worst in both women. This is an interesting and enjoyable book, but it goes beyond that because it's also educational and thought provoking. This is a story that can be enjoyed on two levels, first as a powerful romance and then as a commentary on a difficult era. The Clash Between the Minds is definitely a book worth reading.
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Reviewed by Lynne Pierce

Title: The Scorpion Author: Gerri Hill ISBN: 978-1-59493-162-8 Publisher: Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com Available From: Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $14.95 - Pages: 289 Genre: Mystery

Award-winning author Gerri Hill has given her readers another "edge of chair" read in The Scorpion. Set on the gulf coast of Texas, Hill skillfully lulls the reader with warm winds and the sound of waves as she terrifies us with gunfire and a corrupt police force.

Detective Kristen Bailey, a member of the Brownsville police department, is a wonderfully old-fashioned hero who isn't afraid to buck the system to find answers. When Kristen is assigned to "babysit" investigative reporter Marty Edwards, she has to wonder what is so special about a ten-year-old cold case. What follows is wonderful escape reading as Kris and Bailey try to find the mastermind behind the Scorpion deaths.

Gerri Hill is a wonderful storyteller who fills The Scorpion with sharply drawn characters, plenty of action, and wonderful sexual tension.
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Reviewed by RLynne

Title: The Seeker Author: Ronica Black ISBN-13: 978-1-60282-128-3 Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, www.boldstrokesbooks.com Available from: www.boldstrokesbooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $16.95 - Pages: 281 Genre: Romantic Intrigue

Ronica Black's books just keep getting stronger and stronger. In The Seeker, her fans meet former FBI profiler, Kennedy Scott. Scott is haunted by the serial killer of twelve children. The killer taunted with rhymes specifically challenging her; she still hears the children crying and sees their bodies in her dreams.

Shawn Ryan is the wife of Veronica Ryan, a Hollywood star. Their life appears to be the stuff movies are based on until Shawn is shot. Veronica has requested that Kennedy be brought in to help the FBI solve the case.

Black draws the characters of Kennedy, Veronica, and Shawn so thoroughly that readers could recognize them on the street. She skillfully changes point of view so readers see the action, at one time or another, through the eyes of each of her main characters, including the villain's. This is such a tightly written plot-driven novel that readers will find themselves glued to the pages and ignoring phone calls. The Seeker is a great read, with an exciting plot, great characters, and great sex.
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Reviewed by RLynne

Title: Warming Trend Author: Karin Kallmaker ISBN-10: 1594931461 - ISBN-13: 978-1594931468 Publisher: Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com Available From: Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $14.95 - Pages: 261 Genre: Romance/Lesbian

When we meet Anidyr (Ani) Bycall, she’s tending an ice bar in Florida, keeping her distance from someone who’d like to get to know her better, and spending her leisure time delving into research on the Alaskan ice fields. As the story unfolds, we find that this research is more than a passing fancy. Ani is a scientest who fled Alaska when she was accused of some unethical behavior. This not only put her in a bad light with her mentor, Professor Monica Tyndell, but also lost her the respect of her lover, Eve Cambra.

A friend in Alaska still keeps her informed about local happenings, and while perusing a copy of the Fairbanks Gazette, she reads an article that leads her to believe that those who meant so much—the people she failed most—may have put the past behind them. Because of this, she begins to think that she may have a chance to recover the belongings she left behind when she fled Fairbanks. The final push comes when the coolers at the ice bar break down and the bar has to close for repairs. As the road trip begins, Ani reveals the story—of what happened to send her running to Key West and her hope to heal the rift left by her flight—to her new friend Lisa.

Upon her arrival in Fairbanks, Ani begins to question motivations and events of the past. She realizes that everything is not as it seems, especially with Eve. And she realizes one thing is for certain: the flame of love has not gone out, even though the two are hesitant to fan the embers.

Kallmaker has given us insight into human emotion along with beautiful descriptions of the Alaskan glacial terrain. Warming Trend will teach as well as entertain, and the broken relationship between Eve and Ani will have the reader on tenterhooks until the end.
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Reviewed by Anna Furtado

Title: Welcome Home Author: Glenda Poulter ISBN: 10: 1-933720-69-7; 13: 978-1-933720-69-2 Publisher: P.D. Publishing, www.pdpublishing.com Available From: SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $16.99 Pages: 183 Genre: Romance

Welcome Home is about going home and confronting the past. It's about learning that things are not always the way we perceived or remember them and the power of forgiveness.

Shelby Livingston has led a very successful life as a photojournalist, but traveling isn't as interesting now and she feels like it's time to settle down. It happens that she has an interview for a position with a magazine near her hometown at the same time that her high school class is having its thirtieth reunion, so she decides to attend. A chance encounter opens up memories of the past when she was one of the Six, including her friends Howie, Carolyn, Melissa, Kara, and Naomi. Shelby is forced to confront some of the things that happened to them, especially the betrayal by one of the group that destroyed their senior year. When that same person asks Shelby to help her atone for what she did, Shelby learns that some of the things she has believed for years are not correct and that forgiving the past can open up the future. She also learns that the love she's been looking for all of her life has been waiting for her at home the whole time.

Welcome Home is a quick to read book that explores friendship and what it can mean in a person's life, especially when you discover that you don't know your friends as well as you think you do. It deals with how friends can be supportive and devastating and how sometimes you fail each other. The one drawback to the book is that it could have been longer to give a fuller understanding of what happened between these people. The reader is asked to accept a lot on face value instead of being able to develop an understanding of the characters. There are holes that needed to be filled, especially involving one of the characters who commits suicide.

On the whole though, it's an interesting story, especially the interaction between Shelby and Naomi and the self-examination that Shelby has to go through about a number of issues. The book delivers a message without hammering it in. The reader absorbs the story and then wonders what she would have done under similar circumstances.

This is Glenda Poulter's first book and shows promise for any future work she may produce. Welcome Home is good reading for a few hours of relaxation.
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Reviewed by Lynne Pierce

Title: Winds of Heaven Author: Kate Sweeney ISBN: 978-1-935216-06-3 Publisher: Intaglio Publications, www.intagliopub.com Available From: Bella Books, www.bellabooks.com; and SCP Books, www.SCPbooks.com Price: $16.95 - Pages: 239 Genre: Romance

This is a wonderful book. There’s no point in holding that until the end of the review. If you’ve ever gone through a first pregnancy not knowing what you were doing; if you’ve ever been in the position of someone who knows very little about children and suddenly having to cope with a three year old who only comes up to your knees; if you’ve ever found yourself in a relationship that you never thought possible, then this is the book for you.

Casey Bennet is a successful composer and well-known playgirl who is used to living by herself and not having to worry about any commitments except those required by her profession. She broke up with a woman she loved because she knew she didn’t want a family, but life has a way of twisting around. The ex-lover Julie has died from cancer and leaves a letter for Casey. Julie has left behind a pregnant partner and a child who have no money and no one they can depend on. Julie’s last request is that Casey take care of her family and help them get back on their feet, so Casey finds herself suddenly living with Liz Kennedy and her three-year-old daughter, Skye.

Liz doesn’t want to be in the position of needing help from someone she’s always thought of as arrogant and self-centered, but realizes there isn’t an alternative, so she’s resolved to make the best of the situation. For Casey and Skye it’s a case of love at first sight, although they sometimes seem more like playmates than adult and child. Casey, Liz and Skye embark on an adventure of coping with loss, pregnancy and the needs of two children – one three and the other forty-four. Families come in all configurations and this is an interesting one.

Kate Sweeney is emerging as one of those rarest of writers, someone who can handle different genres equally well. Sweeney is better known for her Kate Ryan mysteries and her Dawn series about the vampire Sebastian, but she proves with Winds of Heaven that she is just as capable of writing an entertaining romance. This book is full of warmth and humor as Casey struggles to deal with the constantly shifting moods of a pregnant woman and the needs of a small child.

There are numerous scenes that will leave the reader laughing helplessly as Casey stumbles from one accident to another or tries to remember not to use “certain” words around Skye who is more than willing to parrot them back. The tenderness that develops between Casey and Liz puts the book squarely in the romance category and is very satisfying. The supporting characters, including Casey’s friend Nils and her grandmother, enrich the story as they try to help Casey see the direction her life should be taking. One of the important aspects of a book is that the reader relate to and care about the characters. Both of those happen in this case.

Winds of Heaven is a gentle, funny book about the relationship between two women and a child. It’s also the story of a child-woman who has to confront the shallowness of her own life and finally grow up. Those who are not normally drawn to romances will enjoy this book because it’s primarily about the humor in life. This is one of those books that the reader will wish lasted longer.
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Reviewed by Lynne Pierce