Tag: Jo Leigh

Guest Review: To the Limit by Jo Leigh

Posted July 16, 2013 by Judith in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: To the Limit by Jo LeighReviewer: Judith
To the Limit by Jo Leigh
Publisher: Harlequin, Harlequin Blaze
Publication Date: July 23rd 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 224
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars

Subject: Captain Sam "Jaws" Brody

Mission: Test his limits…and push hers!

Air force pilot Sam Brody's posting at Holloman AFB is a new start…and a brutal reminder that he'll never fly again. The bright side? It's the same town as teacher (and widow) Emma Lockwood—the woman he's always had a major thing for. The woman who married his best friend….

For years, Emma ignored the spark between her and Sam. Now that he's in town, the spark has turned into full-on electrical overload! She tells herself to stay grounded. She doesn't want another hotshot flyboy, no matter how sexy. But with every night of wicked passion with Sam, she finds herself closer to the point of no return…. 

Uniformly Hot!  The Few. The Proud. The Sexy as Hell.

Romance novels featuring the military in one form or another have become more and more popular as the United States has been involved in the armed conflict in the Middle East over the past decade and beyond.  One of the saddest of ramifications of sons, brothers, nephews, fathers, uncles going overseas is that many are destined never to return.  The fear that one’s special someone may be next is an ever present reality for spouses and families.  This story highlights the fallout and the emotional baggage for a woman whose husband was not only killed, but who frequently chose the adrenaline rush of fast planes and fast women over her long before his death.  Her determination to never again become a kind of victim of an adrenaline junkie is put to the test in this story where her hubby’s best friend, also a fighter pilot, is now assigned in the town where she is now living.  The only thing, though, is that because of a glitch with his eyesight, he is now grounded.  That makes him far more available.  Add in the fact that these two have had “sparks” for one another for years, and you have the makings of a sizzling romance that is definitely loaded with tons of emotional baggage.  There is real fear here, on the part of Emma.  And there is serious disappointment and a sense of loss for Sam.  How do these two work this all out?

This is a beautifully written novel that is serious, edgy, and built around characters that smack of the reality many families and left-behind spouses face when their men go to war or are engaged in war-related professions.  Like all good fiction, the story has the feel of reality and is a fictional look at people who deal with the realities of a nation engaged in armed conflict and how that affects lives here at home as well as overseas.  It is a story that will educate as Sam is involved in some serious ground-related training that well may save many lives, a new slant on his life that he could come to appreciate more than he ever realized.  It is also probing the emotions of a woman who not only lost her husband violently but who knew that his profession of love for her was never enough for him, even before he was permanently out of her life.

Romance lovers, especially those who like it hot and sizzling, will like this story.  And since guys in uniform  are really sexy–trim, fit, and raring to go–who doesn’t like a novel like this?  I think this will be entertaining for anyone who appreciates a really good romantic read.

I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Harlequin Blaze. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

four-stars

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Review: Lying in Bed by Jo Leigh

Posted December 29, 2012 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Lying in Bed by Jo LeighReviewer: Rowena
Lying in Bed by Jo Leigh
Publisher: Harlequin, Harlequin Blaze
Publication Date: December 18th 2012
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 224
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
two-half-stars

Get Intimate: The Workshop

Explore sensuality and true intimacy at the luxurious Color Canyon Resort.

Private assignments include sexy "homeplay" and more…

The setup was simple. To ferret out a blackmailer, FBI agent Ryan Vail and his partner are going undercover as a couple at an intimacy retreat. But when Ryan wakes to find a replacement "wife" in his bed, he knows he's in big trouble….

FBI agent Angie Wolf is on the job. Sure, there's a wicked attraction between her and Ryan, but they're professionals. Touching, kissing—it's all part of the sting. But the intimacy retreat is doing its job, because each tension-filled night in bed is blurring the line between truth and lie. Now this investigation has turned into one irresistible temptation!

This was a really quick read for me and it sounded like a good read, which is why I requested it for review.

So the set up for this story is two undercover FBI agents are going to work.  Except one of those FBI agents gets caught up on a case and a new agent is sent in to take her place.  A new agent that Special Agent Ryan Vail has an attraction to..one that he doesn’t want to be anywhere near for fear of acting on his attraction to her.  Special Agent Angie Wolfe has had a thing for Ryan Vail since they almost kissed at the Bureau’s Halloween party but by silent mutual agreement, they’re not going there.

So now they’re thrown together, having to pretend to be a happily married couple and it’s straining the already fraying control that they have over their attraction to the other and well, it was cute at first.

Getting to know Ryan was interesting.  On the surface, he’s this total playboy who doesn’t commit to anyone longer than a weekend and he likes his life that way but there’s something about Angie Wolfe that speaks to him and being with her every minute of the day for this undercover operations brings all of that to the front of his mind.  Keeping their relationship strictly professional and platonic has added a new dimension to his attraction to her.  He gets to know her and he likes what her and I thought it was cute, the way that he lusted for her but wanted to keep a distance between them because they worked together.

Then there was Special Agent Angie Wolfe.  She’s had a crush on Ryan for a while now but she’s determined to keep things professional with him because they have to work together after all of this and well, things could end spectacularly bad and she didn’t want to have to deal with the fallout of that so she decided to stay away.

The back and forth between both Ryan and Angie got kind of old as the story progressed.  They’re supposed to be in love and in character but they acted like shy teenagers with all of the not meeting of the eyes, the not speaking up and just overall not acting like grown folks.  What started off as cute, quickly turned into an, “Are you kidding me?” because throughout most of the book, Ryan is trying to give Angie space and I wanted to smack Angie a few times, tell her to get over herself already.

I wish I could have gotten to see Ryan and Angie’s best friends more.  I thought the way that they kept both Ryan and Angie honest was funny and I really wish we could have gotten more from the both of them.

So while I had a few issues with their relationship, I still ended up enjoying the book.  I just wished that Angie and Ryan could have handled their attraction and their issues a little better.

Grade: 2.75 out of 5

This book is available from Harlequin Blaze. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

two-half-stars

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What I Read Last Week

Posted August 1, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 6 Comments

Hello there and Happy August!
I hope you’re all happy and comfy wherever you are. It’s hella hot here…and strangely humid so I’m staying indoors lately. Those of you who live in high humidity areas would probably not even notice the humidity here but since we’re not used to it at all it’s a bit weird.
So I’m boss-less now. Ok, not boss-less completely but kind of (we have someone who’ll be the priest-in-charge until we find a new permanent priest). My boss’s last day at work was last Thursday and her last service here at the church was yesterday. We had a beautiful service and a great shindig afterwards. There were lots of teary eyes but both happy and sad tears. We look like a couple of geeks in this picture but here we are at the party yesterday.
Other than that it was a quiet week. What was your week like?
My reading…
I started off the week with She’s Got Balls by Mia Watts. This was the story of 2 police officers who go undercover to crack a drug ring. One of the men has to dress like a woman because “she’s” supposed to have been on steroids. The story is pretty short but long enough to get in some great laughs, great sex and a cute love story. I liked the book and liked Watts’ writing as well. 4 out of 5
Next was The Amorous Education of Celia Seaton by Miranda Neville. This was the story of a woman who is kidnapped. She escapes but comes across a dandy that she knows from London who likened her at one time to a cauliflower. Since he was hit on the head and doesn’t remember who he is Celia decides to make up a story about who he is. She ends up falling in love with the man while they are on their travels to civilization but when he finds out who she is he’s none too pleased. Unfortunately he can’t seem to break himself away from her. The story also involved an erotic novel that the couple read from and role-played a bit. It was a cute story. 3.5 out of 5 Read for The Book Binge
My next read was The Chase by Erin McCarthy. This is book 4 in the Fast Track series and it was another good one. The book was about Evan who is a driver who’s having a bit of a bad season and Kendall who is the only woman on the circuit. The pair dated a decade earlier but broke up – much to Evan’s surprise. Now they’ve communicated and figured out what went wrong all that time ago and next thing you know they’re hot and heavy again. But what happens when a BIG surprise hits Evan what will he and Kendall do about it. This was a really fun, fast and easy read. I read it very quickly as I just kept turning pages. I really liked Kendall and Evan together and how they worked things out. Kendall did have a lot of insecurities that bothered me a bit but I thought they were handled well. Good book. 4 out of 5 Read for The Book Binge
I Love the Earl by Caroline Linden was a cute novella about a woman who grew up as a tradesman’s daughter and then suddenly becomes a Duke’s sister. She is shoved on the marriage market by her brother with a 40,000 pound dowry and told that she can make the decision on a husband all her own. When she meets a man who is destitute and not afraid to let her know she’s not all that nice to him. But she eventually comes to love him and wants to marry…but what will her brother do and say. This was very cute. The pair fell in love rather quickly but it was done well and was a sweet story. 3.5 out of 5 Read for The Book Binge
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week was Closer by Jo Leigh. This was about Christie, a woman who was being stalked. She had no idea who it was but she had lost her job because of the stalker, her friends and now her bank accounts had been taken over and this had been going on for about 5 months. She was afraid to leave her house. While looking at a photo of her and her brother who had died she finds a phone number on the back and calls for help. Boone shows up and says that he was a friend of her brothers – which he was. He does everything he can think of but the guy still has a bead on her and now wants Boone out of the picture. Boone had been half in love with Christie before he arrived to help. Nate, Christie’s brother, always talked about her and Boone felt like he already knew her. It wasn’t that much of a stretch to take their attraction for each other one step further. I liked the book and how it was written. There were no sex scenes at ridiculous, inappropriate times that happen so often in these kinds of stories. Boone and Christie were great together and I liked the end a lot (total plot twist that was unexpected). 3.75 out of 5
Shifting Sands was next on my list. These are 6 different m/m short stories by Jet Mykles, Kimberly Gardner, JL Langley, Willa Okati, Ally Blue and Brenda Bryce that are all related but each have their own HEA. It was definitely a good yet different approach…can I call it an anthology? The story is about Shifting Sands ranch and most of the guys who work there are gay. Daniel who owns the ranch gets married to Yi (though they’re not in love) but when she can’t get the guys on the ranch to sleep with her she calls them unnatural and curses them. After that during the full moon each month they shapeshift into different animals. The stories are about each of the 6 men and them finding their loves. I really liked the stories and thought it was a clever way to tell them all. 4 out of 5
Last on the list was Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter. This is book one in the 4 book Royal House of Shadows series. Each book will be written by a different author (this one releases 8/23) and this one introduces us to the basic plot behind the stories. This book was about the oldest son of the four children Nicolai and his love story. I will post my review on this one later in the month. 3.5 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!

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Help Author Jo Leigh

Posted June 16, 2008 by Casee in News | 0 Comments

Author Jo Leigh lost her husband to cancer last Friday. I’m posting a letter (links included) from Larissa Ione’s blog.

Dear Friends,

One of our own, author Jo Leigh (aka Jolie Kramer) lost her husband on June 13 after he courageously battled cancer. If you don’t know their story, which is the stuff romance novels are made of, you can read it here and see their wedding picture here.

In addition to being a fabulous friend to so many and a multi-RITA nominated author who has written for Harlequin Blaze, Temptation, Intrigue, Special Projects, Silhouette Intimate Moments and Meteor Kismet, Jo is known across the country for the amazing writing classes she teaches, including one on plotting that is incomparable. She has been incredibly generous to so many in sharing her knowledge and expertise.

Unfortunately, Jo has been left with a lot of medical expenses she will be struggling to cover as they had no health insurance, and we would like to help her out by holding several fundraising auctions. If you have items to donate – books or book baskets/collections, critiques, ARCs of upcoming releases, mentoring opportunities, web or promotional material design work etc., please email the item description to the following email address: forjoleigh AT gmail.com This is the address we’re using to organize the items.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Alison Kent, HelenKay Dimon, Larissa Ione, Stephanie Tyler

Larissa also writes this on her blog:

For anyone who would like to contribute money, please email any of us privately and we will tell you how to go about doing so. (My address is larissa AT larissaione.com ) We will have a website up shortly listing all other contributions and auction details. Stay tuned.

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