Gracie

• Rated 5 stars

“Even though I have a story in this anthology, that's not why I've given this book 5 Stars (I actually don't rate any of my own books here, as a rule). Though I do think the story I have included is a pretty decent read, I'm more happy to be in the company of so talented a group of authors and the 5 stars is for their very inventive, varied and well-done erotic romance stories.

Give them all a try and see if you don't agree [g]!”

Gracie wrote this review 8 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2009

I don't know where to begin this review and I still have tears in my eyes and my chest is still full as I write this. Despite the fact that I made the mistake of going on Amazon to read a few reviews before I started reading this book where I saw mention of "a tragedy" that takes place somewhere in the middle, and told myself I knew exactly what was going to happen and to who, I was still unprepared for the emotions that overwhelmed me by the end of this book.

To begin with, Renee is back, as judgmental, raw, sassy, self-absorbed and sexy as ever. To say she wasn't my favorite character in the world would be an understatement. For most of the beginning of the book it felt like the girl hadn't changed one iota from the young arrogant, bossy woman she was in the first book. Because even though I loved Renee and Jay, I wasn't always fond of Renee. In fact, I most of times downright didn't like her, and especially didn't like the way she treated Giovanni. But as Renee and Jay 2 moves along I begin to see the transformation. It's so subtle I don't even know it's happening, but by the time the big tragedy occurs, I am thoroughly feeling Renee and actually liking her as a person--flaws and all. And isn't that always the case before a big, life-changing occurence?

It's hard to put into words what this book is about. It's definitely not a romance, so if you go into this book expecting a HEA in the accepted romance sense, you'll be sorely disappointed. What Renee and Jay 2 is first and foremost is a story about family and the ups and downs all families go through in life. It's not really about race, though there are elements and mentions of racism in the book. Like Renee says, "folks is folks, is folks". We're all the same and we all want to love and to find our soul mate and settle down--whether we're black or white. We all want to need somebody and be needed. Renee and Giovanni are lucky enough to find all of the above. And Renee is a colorful, engaging and a larger-than-life character enough to tell her story in the most entertaining and emotional way possible. I love her voice and the way Murray can make me hate and love her and the characters all in the same breath. I love how real the characters are and how they handle real-life situations and traumas. I love how they shock me at every turn and make me curse them out and laugh out loud with them and cry for them.

Put simply, I love this book. Like all of Murray's books so far it is real and life-affirming when all is said and done.

Renee and Jay 3 anyone?”

Gracie wrote this review 3 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2009

Widowed mother of two young children and sociology professor, Tamara Briggs has settled into a comfortable life of predictability. She convinces herself she likes it this way after losing her racing legend husband two years previous to his profession. But she comes to see the error of her ways when she breaks up with boring fellow professor Geoffrey Ayers at a cocktail party she was foolish enough to attend with him. Of course, literally bumping into young stud Elec Monroe, along with listening to her girlfiend Suzanne's voice of reason, helps convince her that settling for Geoffrey would be a big mistake.

Shy and quiet Elec Monroe is just looking for a reason to escape the charity event he is attending when Tamara knocks into him and spills her drink all over the front of his shirt. From the moment he looks into Tamara's eyes, Elec feels the sparks fly, but he doesn't want to tell her that and scare her away. He already senses that she is not just a one-night-stand kind of woman and refuses to do anything to ruin his chances of taking things further.

Tamara on the other hand does everything she can to convince herself that sleeping with Elec is a one-shot deal and she is only having fun with a young hunk. She's sure he doesn't want anything more, despite the intense way he looks at her and makes her feel like she is the only woman on earth.

When Tamara finds out that Elec is actually a racecar driver and not just part of a pit crew the way she originally thought, she has even more reasons than just the seven year gap between their ages and the bad blood that exists between his father and her husband's father to keep things only about sex. She does not want to fall in love with someone like Elec with the very real possibility of losing him to the track the way she lost her first husband.

Unfortunately, Tamara's heart didn't get the memo and refuses to give into her fear. Her heart recognizes a good man and so do her kids. But how will her in-laws take it when they finally find out that she's been dating the "enemy" behind their backs for weeks?

Elec and Tamara have instant, sizzling chemistry both inside and outside of the bedroom. They are truly an engaging pair that the reader can just really like and fall in love with and only wish the best for. The subplot characters are just as lovable and colorful and make me look forward to seeing more of them in future books.

What a wonderful start to a new series! Flat-Out Sexy was just flat-out great!”

Gracie wrote this review 23 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2009

Catherine McPherson is a teacher of the deaf who's responsible and staid, lives in Seattle and compared to her showgirl sister Kaylee, has a pretty boring and uneventful life. And this is fine with Catherine, at least she thinks so before Kaylee turns up on her doorstep spouting murder and conspiracy theories and claiming to be running for her life.

Kaylee has always been the more showy, irresponsible twin and proves she hasn't changed one iota when after explaining what sort of trouble she's in, she hightails it out of Catherine's home through the bathroom window, leaving Catherine to hold the bag when bounty hunter Sam McKade busts into her home looking for Kaylee.

Of course, Sam mistakes Catherine for Kaylee and rather than believe her story of mistkane identity, he assumes she's lying because that's what immoral, showgirls who steal cars, jump bail and use their bodies to get what they want do.

Hokay, it took me a long time to get passed the mistaken-identity-identical-twins-plot cliche. Truthfully, I can't say I really got over it but it wouldn't have been so bad if it had been the only cliche in the book; it wasn't. Not to mention the fact that I didn't start coming around to liking the hero or the heroine until I had read more than three quarters of the book. That's a long time to travel around with characters that I just was not feeling. Most of the time I just wanted to slap Sam silly for being so judgmental and the other half of the time I wanted to strangle Catherine for letting him get away with it and not trying harder to get away. Their escapade together with Sam under the impression he had the right twin, lasted entirely too long for me and I found myself skimming over whole sections just to get to the part when he discovered Kaylee was Catherine so I could see him get his comeuppance.

There were also some plot holes and lack of logistics that I just couldn't ignore and before I got to page, oh, 275, I had wavered back and forth between giving this book a 2 or a 3. Given the fact that Sam finally, finally redeemed himself (I knew he would, but it just took so damn long!) and everything fell into place between the sisters and Sam and Catherine the way it should, I decided to err on the side of kindness.

Definitely not my favorite Andersen book by far.”

Gracie wrote this review 23 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 2 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2009

Sigh. This one started out so promising too.

The characters were sympathetic and universal, but as the story progressed and I found myself skipping over more narrative than reading it and trying to get to the "good parts" only to discover there weren't really any, I finally had to put it down. There was no real conflict and nothing of consequence happens (at least not in the first 154 pages that I read which was more than half the book).

One little thing the characters did that drove me crazy was the amount of times they rolled their eyes. It got to a point that I just knew the hero and heroine's eyes were going to roll right out of their heads they rolled their eyes so much.

Good effort, but ultimately a disappointment. ”

Gracie wrote this review 3 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2009

Mallory Dawes has just gone through the worst last few months of her life with the unwelcome attention of the media shining on her full force. She's made the mistake of going against a very influential congressman, her boss and employer, in a messy sexual harassment suit. Wanting to get away from it all after the mediator finally delivers his verdict, she boards a plane to France on a dream vacation she's been planning for years, a dream vacation that quickly turns into a nightmare when everything of importance to her--passport, traveler's checks and her clothes--is lost to her as her rental car gets washed away in a flood in Normandy. Not to worry. The very gallant and fierce Cutter Smith comes to her rescue in more ways than one and more than once. The first time was when some boorish American came onto her in town. A man who later winds up dead. Now Cutter helps set Mallory up for the night in a fantasy chateau and designer clothes provided by their hostess.

Cutter Smith is, of course, not what or who he seems. He works for a covert government agency called OMEGA and his target is one Mallory Dawes. He has it on good authority that the disk she was carrying in her now washed-away luggage was to be picked up by The Russian, a mysterious international spy with whom Cutter has had several run-ins in the past. Somewhere during his surveillance, Cutter begins to believe that Mallory is not who she seems and may be totally unaware of the stolen information on the disk in her luggage. By now, he's thinking with his heart and gut and not his brain. The one time that he let his heart think for him in the past is the one time that almost killed him. However, he can't help falling for Mallory and believing in her innocence.

If Cutter wants Mallory's help to catch the real traitor, he's going to have to tell her who he works for and that he's been using her as a pawn since their first meeting. He's pretty sure she's not going to take this bit of news too well, especially after everything she's been through back in the States and despite the fact that they have slept together.

This being a romantic suspense, it had the expectedly happily-ever-after ending where good and justice triumph over evil and injustice. The story, too, was tightly-woven and featured engaging h/h with juicy subplot characters providing additional twists and turns that made for an enjoyable read.”

Gracie wrote this review 11 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2009

Diane Anderson is a 25 year old suede sister and virgin who doesn't like the way she looks, especially the generous proportions of her caboose, which seems to be generally out of proportion with the rest of her body. Body image issues aside, she works as a librarian in Roanoke after relocating when she was unable to get the position she wanted in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her mother laments the fact that Diane lives around so many white people and wonders why her daughter had to go so far away from home for a job when there were plenty of positions in her hometown. Along with the harangue about her professional life, Diane of course has to put up with the typical, maternal jabs at her personal life, and knows where her mother stands on the color line: no White men for any daughter of hers. Not that Diane is thinking about a relationship with a man of any color. Well, at least not much. She loves books, loves to read and loves reviewing books for the Mid Atlantic Book Review, though she rarely comes across a book that she can give a 4 or 5 to. Everything in the books she reviews seems so unrealistic, relying too heavily on coincidence and chance. No one would ever meet someone in a library, or "bump into" their soulmate like they do in Hollywood and preposterous books like the latest ARC she is reading, Wishful Thinking.

Jack Browning is mourning the loss of his wife and son six months previous. Taking up sleeping in the bottom bunk of his son's room, he seems to have been on a passive-aggressive self-destructive binge ever since, drinking himself into a stupor many nights of the week and wallowing in depression during the day. He's left his teaching job indefinitely. His first book, something that started out as a simple, semi-autobiographical love story that he considers a ridiculous multicultural monstrosity after his editor and agent got to it, is due out in a few months and Jack eagerly awaits the first reviews for Wishful Thinking expecting the worse. On a mission to rejoin the living as much as he's able to, Jack takes back several overdue library books that he has found hidden in his son's room. He's assisted by Diane, the helpful librarian who with just the slightest touch as she returns his change, changes Jack's life.

Something in Jack wants to move on now, though things are still difficult. He decides to start eating more to fill out his gaunt frame and goes on a house-cleaning spree. On a tight deadline to get out the three chapters of his next book, when Jack next goes to the library to start researching, he is almost a new man. After a trip to the barber, doing some laundry and pressing his clothes, he almost looks human and resembles what he used to look like before Noel and Stevie's death. He looks so different in fact that Diane, who had dubbed him Shaggy White Man his last visit, doesn't recognize him. During his research, however, Jack works up the nerve to talk to Diane. During their conversation, Diane discovers that he is the author of Wishful Thinking and under the pretense of helping a local author, Diane gets Jack's home number so that she can later contact him regarding his book.

The more she gets to know Jack, the more Diane begins to regret the scathing review she has posted on Amazon as her MAB review alter-ego Nisi. What will Jack say when he finally sees it and discovers that she is Nisi? And will her honesty be enough to ruin something so precious and beautiful before it has even begun?

As with Murray's Original Love, there were moments in the first half of this book when I found myself skipping over parts and just about ready to give up on the whole thing. Not until the h/h actually meet, somewhere midway, does the book start to really move along with their relationship. The characters and Murray's voice are so engaging, multi-dimensional and quirky (much like in Wishful Thinking [g]) that they redeem the first half of the story and make this book, an old-fashioned love-story with an IR/multicultural twist, a real winner for me.”

Gracie wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) November 2009

Raised by a strong, independent and beautiful single mother who acts more like her sister than her parent at times, Renee has beauty and self-confidence to spare. At twenty-six she works for the local cable company and other than church barely gets out or mingles. Tired of her outgoing best friend Collette's attempts at trying to fix her up, Renee foregoes a night out to try out a neighborhood restaurant she's never been in. Between the time it takes her to meet the owner's son Giovanni outside who helps shovel her car out of a drift she's slid into and the time it takes her to order her meal, Renee's world changes forever.

Aside from her self-confidence, Renee is bossy, demanding, spoiled and can sometimes be judgemental. Her treatment of Giovanni sometimes had me wondering why he was even in love with her. Giovanni on the other hand is the sweetest and most sensitive hero whose kindness sometimes came across as weakness, but thankfully, he does show glimmers of backbone, especially when it counts with Renee and her family.

Some of the subplot characters, especially Renee's Mom, came off as immature and unrealistic at times and had me talking to myself and cursing the characters out for their interfering and unbelievable behavior. Other times, I recognized myself and family and friends in the characters, and caught myself lauging out loud and misting up at their antics.

Overall, I loved the book. Sure some of the characters are off-the-wall and melodramatic, but they're never boring and in the end I could always find something to relate to, even to the White characters, which to me is what makes a good book--the universality of the characters and how they deal with life's little ups and downs.”

Gracie wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) November 2009

Faith Wheeler works for entertainment mag Personality! but wants to stretch her journalistic muscles and write stories that really matter. It's why she defied her parents and left Booger Hollow a decade ago to follow her dream. But while she's covering a junket for fast rising superstar Zander Baron, Faith realizes that she could write her own ticket in journalism if she is willing to reveal what she knows about Baron.

Zander Baron is mega talented and handsome but with an ugly past that he wants to forget. Problem is, seeing Faith, his teenage sweetheart at the junket reminds him of everything he left behind, but most importantly reminds him of what he sacrificed for fame.

When Faith confronts Zander with what she knows and her plans to tell his story, Zander pulls out all the stops to convince her to keep his secret. While trying to seduce Faith, the script gets flipped on Zander to show him that there are more important things in the world than money, fame or revenge--more important things like family and roots.

Good story, multidimensional characters, an enjoyable read. ”

Gracie wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Thomas is a down-to-earth farm boy and talented artist and Marcus is the sophisticated man with a dark past who is his master and mentor in every way. Together they make one and perfect-for-each other couple in this emotionally and physically intense m/m, bdsm romance. Another winner in the Nature of Desire series.

”

Gracie wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )