To the Limit *****

First let me say - I was suppose to be reading this with a friend (glaring at her right now - *LOL*) but that is the reason why it took me 5 days to read this book. Not my normal habit of reading, unless something kept me busy and far behind. I was waiting for her to catch up with me, before I could continue to read more chapters. But life got in her way and made her busy. Which I understand :) So I finally finish it last weekend. Yay! I hope to discuss this book with my friend :)

(Romantic Suspense)
To the Limit is the second book to "The BodyGuard" series. If you haven't read the first book To the Edge, please do. It's great story too. To find more about Cindy Gerard books, take look at her website - Cindy Gerard

Eve Garrett received a message from Tiffany, requesting her to hurry and meet her privately. But when Eve went to go meet Tiffany, she never show up. Suddenly someone began to attack her and later she got threatening notes. Then strange things started to happen around her, everywhere she went. But she was set to find Tiffany no matter the danger, because she worries that Tiffany is in trouble.

Tyler "Mac" McClain was the sexy, bad boy beach bum who seduced Amy then left without contacting her years ago. Now he is a PI, hired by Jeremy's man to find his daughter a party girl on the run.

Together Mac and Eve went on a misson to find Tiffany, the missing teenage daughter of Jeremy Clayborne, the multi-billionaire man. Each hoped to find her before the other. Or before the attacker gets to Eve or Tiffany. Amy still held onto her anger over Mac for not contacting her after that one night of seduction, many years ago. So she tried not to care about him too much or have him to close too her. But than Eve knew if they worked together, they could find Tiffany more quickly. But while it was suppose to be all work, there were sparks and tension between them that they can't ignore.

I had to admit that reading the first few chapters was sorta difficult. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but I guess the style of writing made it hard to read it in fast pace. I learned that I had to slowly read it to understand what I was reading. But as the story moved on, it got better :) I like that the heroine is strong, smart, kind and brave. And she doesn't let anyone stop her from doing what she believe is right. I'm glad that even though Eve had a secret past, it didn't become an issue to the point that would have made me feel annoyed too much. I love to see two sides of Mac. A strong, protective, bad boy, alpha man and a very soft human being who loves his little girl, Ali. It's a great combination! The ending was heartwarming. And also you get to see the brothers from the previous book, again :)

It is a great book, I loved it! I really think this book is worth reading. There's good action, great hot sizzling romance and a wonderful group of characters to love.

Too Perfect *****

(Contemporary Romance)
Too Perfect is the third book to the "Perfect" series. To refresh you on what happened on the previous two books: Maddy, Christine and Amy's old college suitemate Jane has written a bestseller "How to Have a Perfect Life". They were thrilled for her, until they realized that Jane had used them as examples to show how women let their fears mess up their lives. They made a pack to overcome their fears by facing them, and have only one year to reach that goal. If you want to read "The Perfect" trilogy, here is her website - Julie Ortolon

Too Perfect is Amy's story. She has a fear of going on trips to strange places by herself. And she always wander to places and wind up getting lost. Just as she did when she took a job as a nanny on a Caribbean cruise and then after making a stop at St. Barts, got lost. Now stranded with no money and clothes, she went to look for a job and landed on Lance Beaufort's doorstep.

Lance tell Amy that he is a personal assistant for Mr. Guy Gaspar, the owner of the house in Fort island. Local people called Mr. Gaspar "La Bete", which means "The Beast", because he kept himself hidden.

But what Amy discovered for herself was that Gaspar was a nice, very sweet and insecure guy. Through exchange of words in emails and camera video screen, Amy couldn't help but want to "see" him. Unknownst to Amy, that Gaspar is also the millionaire screen writer, Bryan Parks, who came to escape for privacy and peace. This may sound like a spoiler but it was written on the back of the book blurb.

What happened throughout the story and at the end was surprisely delightful, charming, sweet and romantic. You're going to melt and love it :)

Too Perfect is a brand-new take on the old standard, Beauty and the Beast. But with a twist! It's an amazing story of personal growth, change and how love can conquer all. And also learning to accept themselves. It was a good read :)

I think I like the first and third books better out of the three. The trilogy was really delightful and fun reading. I think you will like it. Julie always write about relationships as well as accepting who you are and your life. Facing your fears and overcome it. "The Perfect" trilogy was good :)

Ladies' Man *****

(Contemporary Romance)
Ladies' Man is one of Suzanne Brockmann's earlier work. This is one of the books that was hard to find and originally published in 1997. It was intended to be a free bonus book for Loveswept mail-order subscribers. When the promotion was discontinued, Bantam Dell decided to re-issue it this year in 2006. Thanks to the re-issue I now own a copy *grin*

I have read a few of Suzanne Brockmann's earlier work and I love most of them. There is going to be something about each book that I won't like, but at the end, she always manage to make me fall in love with the them anyway. I admit, I always seem to have a little trouble getting along with a few of Brockmann's heroines. I guess maybe it's because they're alway treating the heroes indifferently. It becames so annoying that you just want to yell at them. But when they redeem themselves at the end, you end up forgiving them. But with Ladies' Man it isn't the case. I didn't have that much trouble with the heroine and I thought that she was somewhat likeable. My only small problem is that I wish she didn't focus on the age difference too much.

Ellen is a Yale professor and single mom, who decided to spend the summer in New York City with her kids. And she was to stay with Uncle Bob Osborne, a well known late night television host.

Sam Schaefer , a NYPD detective, was sent to Kenny airport to meet Alma, Ellen's Great-Aunt, due to arrangements made by a famous writer, T.S Harrison. He met Ellen and decided that he liked her. Since Harrison was supposed to be there to write a biography about Bob Osborne, everyone assumed that Sam was T.S.

Sam and Ellen had a great time together and a one night fling in the limousine. But the next day Ellen felt that they made mistake and tried to avoid him. The only problem is that Sam wasn't going to let her go and he intended to get her to admit that their relationship is real.

A stalker had been crank calling and sending threat letters to Ellen and her family. Sam wasn't sure who the stalker was after, but he make sure to protect Ellen and her family. And what happens at the ending was very emotionally moving (to me that is *grin*)

Ladies' Man was fast, sweet, sizzling hot and romantic. I loved it. But not as much as I loved "Letter to Kelly" and I think readers should try it :)

Monkeewrench ****

(Mystery)
My friend Angela, from London recommend me this book. It took me awhile until I finally decided to grab the book to read it. (thank you Angela!) This is supposedly be easy pace reading, but somehow it took me more than 3 days (my usual days I finish each books)to be done with this book. Im not sure why but it might be because my mind is focus on two different thing at same time, that day. But yet I was able to enjoy it. Some dialogues were funny and have me laughing couple times.

P.J. Tracy is a mother and daughter team, writing their first thriller book. They're new to me author, until I read Monkeewrench. I thought it was good for the first book. I know there is two others and the latest book to look forward to :) Here is their website link - P.J. Tracy

Two set of murders, in a different world, brought in together a mystery connection to the killer. In Wisconsin a couple die in church where Sheriff Michael Halloran is investigating the crime. The Kleinfeldts had been accused of trashing homosexuality because of their religion. They had done things in the past, that just needed to be investigated more.

In Minneapolis - A group of 5 friends open a company called Monkeewrench and just launched a newly designed sofware game. A game where the killer is alway caught and the good guys alway win. It turns out that the game became a big success. Suddenly three people are dead. Someone is duplicating the murder scenarios to the exact fictional game. But there is more murder scenes to the game, and the police hope to stop the serial killer from killing anyone else by being ahead of the killer's game. Detective Leo Magozzi vows to catch the killer in time.

But the Monkeewrench gang held a secret to protect Grace. The secret that could also get Grace killed. And if the secret gets out then they would have to move again. Detective Morizzoi is suspicious of their protectivness and his feeling for Grace.

This book was fast,fresh and funny. It was also mystery with a little bit of romance (but barely). There were so many characters that I liked and I hope that they get their own stories soon. The cop gang and the Monkeewrench gang bring snappy scarstic dialogue with humors and laughter through the pages. I enjoyed the book :)

Into the Storm ****1/2

(Military Romantic Suspense)
This is the 10th book of the Troubleshooter - which included the Team 16 and Troubleshooter, Inc team. I have been a big fan of Suzanne Brockmann since a guy-friend recommend me Suz. He started me on The Unsung Hero and since then I was hooked. I would highly recommend to read these series in order. This way you will get the full background story of each characters/couple, built up and growth (hear that Melody!*grin*. This is military contemporary romance

Mark Jenkins is a navy SEAL who fell in love with a Chinese American, Lindsey Fontaine who was a formal detective and is now working for the Troubleshooter, Inc. After their training op exercise in California and a successful lose/lose scenario, they ended up with one night sex. Then Lindsey got scared when Tracy told her that Jenkins is in love with her. So she dumped him.

With a broken heart, Jenkins intended to ignore Linsday and just focus on the second training op exercise, this time taken place in the cold winter storm of New Hampshire, but he couldn't stop thinking about her.

Tracy is an old school friend of Mark. It was through Mark's sister that she was hired as the receptionist to the Troubleshooter, Inc. Trouble is in paradise between Tracy and her on and off again boyfriend, Lyle. And because Lyle had cheated her once, she wanted revenge by having a one night stand with Izzy

While all the old and new teams 16 and Troubleshooter Inc. are in training, they got a message that the game is over and they are needed back home. But unknownst to them, Tracy had gone missing and the team will now work together to find her and get her back.

I enjoy seeing all the previous characters/couple again. There were old and new members to each team. It makes me smile as I read a little tibit of what's been happening to the couples. It was like a reunion! I also enjoyed reading some of the references that were thrown in the book from popular movies. I laughed a couple of times on Izzy's scarastic remarks on the reference movies. I know he is annoying but yet at the same time he is also funny.

Into the Storm was funny, sexy and thrilling. While I do enjoy the book, I felt that the book isn't the same like all her earliest books. I gave it an 4 1/2 because I felt that I would rather read the WWII story than the demension plot she used in this book, instead. I missed reading her WWII story or the co-plot that she usually add in her 3 story weaving. Beside that, I love the book. I love Suzanne's work and hope she gives plenty more to come :) Can't wait to see what she will do next!