Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Delores Fossen, Mills & Boon.
Bulletproof Seal
Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Carol Ericson, Mills & Boon, 2-in-1 book, $14.99.
Healed by the Single Dad Doc
Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Annie Claydon, Mills & Boon, $7.99.
American author and screenwriter, Ray Bradbury, put one emotion into perspective when he said: “Love is the answer to everything. It’s the only reason to do anything. If you don’t write stories you love, you’ll never make it. If you don’t write stories that other people love, you’ll never make it.”
That’s an apt description for romance novels, which can be described as escapist indulgence. The plots may be the same – formulaic storylines when boy meets girl or vice versa, they encounter problems and then all is unbelievably explained away, problems or misunderstandings are solved. Marriage ensues. Now, think Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre or Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice.
Otherwise, remember ’Dame Barbara Cartland, who also wrote under her married name of Barbara McCorquodale, and Denise Robins. They’re prolific writers and considered to be the ‘queens of romantic fiction’. Their novels have a language and style all their own.
I distinctly remember my university years (now, that’s going back a while) when as a carefree teenager, there was romance, anticipation and excitement all around and we looked at life through rose-coloured glasses!
It was ‘cool’ to read Harlequin and Mills & Boon books, to dream through some ‘light’ reading and be transported to a world of magical fantasy. I’ve tried to re-live a bit of that ‘phase’ recently. It’s an intriguing experience to step into someone else’s shoes over a few hundred pages, but reassuring to get back to reality when the reverie comes to an end.
Dr. Seuss places an interesting slant on life by saying: “We’re all a little weird, and life’s a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”
Lives and hearts are on the line in these three books.
Lawman From Her Past: There’s only one man who can offer protection when
Lauren Beckett is nearly killed in a home invasion and discovers her son was switched at birth. Together with Deputy Cameron Doran, they set out to seek the truth when it becomes obvious that someone else wants them dead.
Bulletproof Seal: Rikki Taylor has been branded a traitor. Navy SEAL Quinn McBride knows her well enough to realise that she couldn’t betray him or her country. His priority is to not only save her, but also to keep both of them alive.
Healed by the Single Dad Doc: Dr Ethan Conway is a single father who comes to the rescue of vet Kate Foster. They develop an instant connection. There are some trust issues that first need to be resolved, then maybe they can become a family.
