Review ~*~ Heartless by Diana Palmer

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: HQN Books; reprint Edition edition (April 27, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373774508

This is the first Diana Palmer book I've read. I've read many, many reviews of her copious amounts of books. I've bought a bunch used and was given a few as gifts.
As I've mentioned before I love cowboys. Jason was certainly an interesting cowboy. He had a ranch that he ran as well as buying companies. Gracie is his younger step-sister who lives at his city house where she does the gardening and helps plan his extravagant parties. She has a terrible family secret that she has never told Jason before.

I really liked both Jason and Gracie as characters. However, it was a bit disturbing to me that they were stepbrother and sister. Jason even helped raise Gracie when his dad passed away. I just don't get how a man can be a father figure to this girl and then suddenly turn that off and be in love with her.

This is the first book in a long time that I didn't absolutely love. The mystery was well written. The sex scenes were much more than I expected. I heard she wrote love scenes that were very close doored like Debbie Macomber but they weren't close doored at all. I liked the sex scenes but felt dirty when I thought about the fact that they were raised as brother and sister.

I also didn't like that Gracie was so down on herself and her abilities even after so many of her friends told her otherwise.

I gave this book out of 5 but it still had some elements that I like if I could forget the fact that they were raised as step-siblings.

Review ~*~ Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: HQN Books (June 29, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373774907
ISBN-13: 978-0373774906

After reading Ethan and Liz's story I want to read all of the books I haven't read by Susan Mallery. I have fallen in love with the romance genre again because of Almost Perfect. It is a romance story of redemption and true love. I've been waiting for this story since the end of Chasing Perfect when Ethan spots Liz at the bike race.

Ethan and Liz have a history together they dated secretly and were in love before something led Liz to leave town. They share a child but Ethan didn't know about him. Liz is back in down to take custody of her brother's children who have been left behind in the house that Liz grew up in. A huge misunderstanding led to Ethan not knowing about Tyler. Ethan does not want Liz to take Tyler away from him again which causes a bunch of problems. Ethan and Liz do not have the greatest of friendships at the beginning of the novel but they work through their problems with ease.

I cried when Liz found out that people actually did care about her and what was done in her name without her knowing. She left Fool's Gold embarrassed and disillusioned with the town but comes back years later and falls in love with the town.

The reason I loved this book is because I love reading about people who have been in love with each other for years without really realizing it and coming to the epiphany that they truly do love each other. Ethan was not the nicest of guys when he dated Liz the first time but after a lot of soul searching he redeems himself fully. He is such a lovable character in that he puts his family first and works hard. He is of a dying breed of men that work hard to take care of their family and will do anything for them.

We get to hear about Pia, Jo, the triplets and Ethan's mother. We also mean Raoul who was a character in Sweet Spot. I love that we hear from all the characters and the sense of small town life comes through once again. I really want to pack my family and move to a small town like Fool's Gold. I just love how everyone is always there for each other and come together to help when it is needed.

I'm once again eagerly awaiting for the next Fool's Gold novel to come out. I've started reading her novels Sweet Talk, Sweet Spot and Sweet Trouble because I just can't get enough of her novels. I give this book a strong 5 out of babies because it will be a book I will read again. It will be one of those books I go back to when I need a book to read that makes me feel warm and fuzzy.