Angel Creek - Linda Howard

I got Angel Creek from the library after reading Ms. Howard's "A Lady of the West."

Like A Lady of the West, Angel Creek is a historical western but where A Lady of the West was a sweeping epic, Angel Creek was a very sweet, simple romance.

Dee Swann has held on to the area known as Angel Creek valley since her parents died suddenly years prior. A woman alone on the frontier of Colorado she has made a life for herself by herself. A carefully tended garden provides her with this independence thanks to her hard work and the creek that runs through her valley. Angel Creek could provide several ranches in the area with enough water so that droughts wouldn't be a problem but Dee won't sell to any man for any price. Even Lucas Cochran who wants the water for his ranch. Lucas respects Dee's spirit even as he worries for her safety. She impresses him with her frankness and hard work and soon both fall in love with the other. When Dee is seriously injured during an attempted takeover of her land by another rancher, Lucas takes drastic measures to insure she's never put in danger again.

I really liked this book - as with A Lady of the West there is a secondary storyline involving Dee's friend Olivia and a drifter who works on another ranch. Ms. Howard made both stories intertwine with each other without being distracting or making you feel like it was taking you from the "main" story. Dee is the perfect example of what it took for a woman to survive on this land and Lucas's respect for her made him the perfect hero for her.

I would look forward to any other historical novels that Ms. Howard came out with though it seems like she has been concentrating lately on mysteries. I do have one of her mysteries, Cover of Night, on my to be read shelf - next time I'm in a mystery mood I might have to pull that one down.

Cypress Nights - Stella Cameron

I picked up this book at the ECWC book fair a couple of weeks ago. I had a couple of hours time to kill that Saturday before dinner and started to read it. It was all I could do to not contact the people I was going to dinner with and tell them to go without me.

I love mysteries and I love romance and this book blended both of those genres perfectly. This is part of a series that Ms. Cameron writes, and having never read the others, I did feel at times like I should know things about these people that I didn't.

Bleu Labeau has come to Toussaint, Louisiana to consult on the building of a new school at the local parish. The old school had burned down decades before and the growing parish was now able to support the students. When a man who supported her efforts to build the school is killed in the church, it's clear Bleu's life is in danger. Roche Savage is the local psychaitrist who is trying to keep Bleu safe even as he's falling in love with her.

I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book - the town is small enough that indeed everyone was a suspect, though the motive for not wanting this new school was never made very clear - neither was the old school's fire which you're lead to believe was not accidental but I felt like no explanation for who did it or why is ever really given. The romance between Roche and Bleu is hot to say the least - he's a man who enjoys sex and she's a woman who was once married to a man who made it clear a woman who enjoyed sex was just this side of a whore. It made for great conflict and tender scenes when the pair came together.

I would really like to read more of Ms. Cameron's books in this series - she's brings this area of the country to life with a cast of characters I'd love to spend more time with.

Books from the ECWC

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Emerald City Writer's Conference sponsored by the Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America Chapter. As is tradition with this conference, it featured a book fair on Saturday afternoon with over 50 authors signing their books with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit DAWN of King County (Domestic Violence Women's Network). Additionally, several books were given as freebes both in the goody-bags for attendees and by one of the keynote speakers. Here's what I picked up:

Free:
Knight of Desire - Margaret Mallory
My Fair Temptress - Christina Dodd
Love, Suburban Style - Wendy Markham
Quinn's Woman - Susan Mallery
Kiss of Fire - Deborah Cooke (keynote speaker gift to attendees)

Purchased at the fair (Craft related):
Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance - Angela Knight
Writing Romance - The Ultimate Guide on Craft, Creation and Industry Connections - San Francisco Area RWA
Goal, Motivation & Conflict (aka The Bible for any writer) - Debra Dixon (hint: if you want this book and if you're a writer you do - get it directly from Gryphon Books as most other places are charging insane amounts for this book)
Writing The Breakout Novel Workbook - Donald Maass

Purchased at the fair (Novels - All but Ms. Cameron's signed by the author):
Cypress Nights - Stella Cameron (already read - report to follow soon)
The Conqueror - Kris Kennedy (This was really special - Kris is a fellow Hearts Through History RWA chapter member - I went up to say hi and check out her book and decided to get it - she told me that this was her first book, her first book signing and I was her first sale!)
Dark Warrior Unbroken - Alexis Morgan (2nd in the Talions series - the first is Dark Warrior Unleashed)
An Inconvenient Wife - Megan Chance
Sinjin - Julia Templeton
Outlaw in Petticoats - Paty Jager
Giving Up the "V" - Serena Robar

I'm excited to share my reports on these and all the others waiting on my to be read shelf -

Reading Now: Angel Creek by Linda Howard (from the library)