Book Review: On the Line: A Second Chance Sports Romance by Julia Connors

Written in first person, On the Line: A Second Chance Sports Romance by Julia Connors is the fourth installment of her Frozen Hearts series.  Set in Park City, Utah at the start and finishes in Boston, Massachusetts, the story traces the saga of professional figure skater turned marketing expert and stay at home mom, Lauren Manning-Emerson and professional ice hockey player turned sports agent, Jameson Flynn.  From start to finish, the read moves like a saga, though it is meant to be a cozy modern romance.  The reader experiences all the emotions that go through someone in a lifetime with just this single story.

The hero and heroine each have multiple layers to their characters, supported by strong family ties and good friends.  Connors takes the readers through the trials and tribulations of these characters, building a bond between the readers and these characters.  Their ordeals and the human strength they share with the audience is enlightening.  Granted, sometimes, Flynn seems too good to be true, and other times, Emerson seems to be over-reacting to unsuspecting surprises.  Still, the window into these lives resonates a realistic vibe.

Readers can discern Connors created a story that she put a great deal of thought into, applying care and attention to the details of the characters circumstances and situations.  Connors is an effective author in hooking the reader and keeping the story engaging.

Julia Connors

Book Review: Miracle on Chance Avenue by Jane Porter

Modern romance author Jane Porter skillfully extrapolates the tumultuous emotions of her characters, articulating their thoughts, their conflicting feelings, and the choices available to them.  Her contemporary romance Miracle on Chance Avenue, the second book in her Love on Chance Avenue series has the reader celebrating her characters triumphs and lamenting their losses.

The moments of conflict, tension, and resolution have an authentic feel to them, which makes the story endearing and enduring for readers.  A story that readers will keep with them through life, in other words.

The hero and heroine are their own protagonists and antagonists.  Bull rider Rory Douglas is realtor Sadie Mann's object of affection from afar.  She is a puzzle that Rory strives to unravel, and he is her deepest veiled fantasy.  

Day by day the two get to know each other, tightening the bond of love between them while also angering each other with their self-doubts and fears.  Nobody gets between them except themselves.

The present is interjected with scenes from their past, both having grown up in Marietta, Montana.  In their youth, their paths ran parallel and only crossed when Douglas drives his little sister MacKenna to Sadie's birthday party when the two girls are each 13 years old. 

That same night, Douglas returns to the family's home ranch to find his parents brutally murdered along with his baby brother Gordon and baby sister Grace.  Tormented by the sight, he closes the ranch and raises his teenage sister MacKenna and surviving brother Quinn on his own, earning a living on rodeo tours, riding bulls while his siblings attend college.  

Douglas returns home to convalesce after being injured by a raging bull during the American Extreme Bull Riding Tour.  His homecoming at Christmastime is meant to be short until he sees Sadie Mann, recalling her in the audience at several of the tour's shows.

Raised by a single mom, Mann earns a living as a flight attendant until she returns home to look after her mother.  Back in Marietta, she takes a part-time job in a real estate office while working on her small business, Montana Rose, making personalized products for the home.  

After her mother passes away, Mann becomes aware that she is alone and in her mid-thirties with no child.  As her biological clock is ticking, she embarks on the path to have a baby by in vitro fertilization.

Douglas and Mann link together at a moment in their lives when they each answer the other one's call for comfort, stability and a new chapter of adventure in their lives.  Porter weaves a well crafted contemporary romance centered around a plot that simply unravels entangling emotions.  As grave as the characters plight is, Porter sows in slits of humor and quick wit into the dialogue that makes the story easy to consume.

The reader may not anticipate the story being endearingly enthralling with simply two characters carrying the scenes but Porter manages this task, taking the simple route.  The story's charm is its simplicity, showing that wrestling with emotions is all a plot needs to engage the reader.

https://janeporter.com/

 

Book Review: Like the Break of Dawn by Bree Wolf

Historical romance author Bree Wolf puts a new spin on the time travel theme in her novel Like the Break of Dawn, the first installment in her Lass of Legend saga.  Dovetailing a Romeo and Juliet style romance into the time travel tale along with interlocking Fey lore, Wolf certainly whets the reader's interest to seek out the following books in the series.

The story begins with Yvaine, a little girl, found by Aiden MacKinnear and his son Duncan, beaten and bruised and left in the wilderness of Scotland's highlands.  The year is 1801.  Wolf takes the reader on a deep dive into Yvaine's well articulated and documented introspections, self-discoveries and conflicting emotions, opening the path for readers to develop an emotional bond with Yvaine.  The writing is very effective, ensconcing Yvaine's fate into the reader's care.

So when the story takes a turn and transports Yvaine into 1401 through a hidden cavern, the reader's feelings plummet, experiencing every trial and tribulation that Yvaine goes through.  Except, the time travel takes Yvaine back in time to when she was born and back to her birth family.  

Yvaine learns it had been a fey who saved her life, taking her to 1801, into the safe arms of the MacKinnear family.  Then at 16 years old, the fey takes her back to her time of 1401 to help mend the family feud between her birth father, the MacLeòir chieftain and his enemy, the MacCarmaig chieftain.

In the vane of Romeo and Juliet, Yvaine, a MacLeòir, and Caelen, a MacCarmaig, fall in love.  The entanglements grow more complex as both clans have maidens to marry the Morganach chieftain.  Yvaine from the MacLeòir's and Gwyneth, Caelen's little sister, from the MacCarmaig's.  Thus, the animosity between the two clans is inflamed, making for an entrenching read.

Wolf immerses the reader into the fate of Yvaine and Caelen, as well as offering a budding romance between Gwyneth and Fergus, Caelen's good friend and fellow warrior.  Combining elements of adventure, heroism, and Fey lore, the reader becomes entwined in unfolding Wolf's historical fantasy romance.  This book leaves the reader with a cliffhanger, teasing the reader to learn of Yvaine and Caelen's fate in follow up story By the Grey Light of Morning.

https://www.breewolf.com/