~REVIEW of Justine Davis' STEVIE'S CHASE~



-Ya just gotta love these awesome 80's style covers 

Stevie's Chase (Silhouette Intimate Moments, No. 402) (Holt series, #1).

Opening Line: "As soon as she heard the sound, Stevie knew without looking that it was the mystery  man."

Stevie’s Chase was a super little read that really surprised me, I mean I wasn’t expecting much based on the cover however I was blown away by the depths of this love story. In fact the entire (Holt) series is just fantastic especially if you’re anything like me and have a thing for the tortured heroes and the angst. Oh the angst. It literally drips off the pages here as we watch our tormented hero Chase try (unsuccessfully) not to fall in love with his neighbour Stevie.

I adored this couple; I mean I was really pulling for them. Davis manages to get right into their heads, writing some of the most poignant and extended (due to all the introspective feelings flying around) love scenes I’ve ever read. And while I admit that this was a bit slow in getting started I really enjoyed the fact that Chase’s “dark” past wasn’t revealed right away. In fact Davis keeps the reader guessing until almost the end of the book as to all of Chase’s secrets. Who is after Chase? Why is he on the run? What’s the deal with the scar? Is he a bad guy? The biker dude persona and gun tell us he is yet he’s so troubled and selfless when it comes to love and nothing like his outer bad-boy exterior suggests. Theres a scene where Chase leaves Stevie to keep her away from the nightmare of his past and … jeez it just kills me to see tough guys cry. Anyways I’m ranting here, this was a really great read; moving, well written, suspenseful, anguished and oh so romantic.

Chase Sullivan is very aware that getting close to anyone means putting their lives in jeopardy. He’s made that mistake before so despite the fact that he lives in a close knit apartment complex he keeps himself to himself, there are no pleasantries with the neighbours, not even the beautiful strawberry blonde, Stevie that lives next door and keeps him awake at night wishing things were different.

When Chase falls ill it’s Stevie that nurses him back to health, following his no hospital rule without question. It becomes just the two of them, allowing Chase to let down his walls for the first time in years and feel a little goodness and light in the form of his sweet neighbour. He’s been so lonely and despite trying time and again to push her away Stevie accepts his strange habits and no questions asked policy and they fall for each other. Big time. Now while Stevie is kinda written as the perfect heroine it worked for me here because she’s not an idiot either.

Eventually Chase’s past does catch up with him and as I mentioned earlier he leaves to protect her in an absolutely heartbreaking scene. And its not until Stevie begins her search for him that we that we finally learn the extent of this deep dark past. The ending held quite a few surprises for me and then just when I thought HEA had been reached Davis pulled out one last suspense card.

The next 2 in the series Left At The Altar and Morning Side Of Dawn are also super good

~REVIEW of Justine Davis' LEFT AT THE ALTAR~

 

.5

 

Opening Line:“Hospitals. He’d sworn once that he would never set foot in on again.”

Sean Holt was left (you guessed it) standing at the altar. Without so much as a backwards glance Aurora Sheridan (Rory) broke his heart and spirit without ever bothering to explain why. Instead a week later she just up and married another man and left town for good.

                      

Sean had once thought that losing his leg and a promising athletic career would be the worst pain he’d ever have to face. He was wrong. It took a year long binge of self pity and then another four years of hard work to get himself back together after Rory but he’s finally in a good place now, having started a successful business he’s matured and gained back his self confidence. Although he’s never been able to let go of the pain and bitterness he feels towards the only woman he’s ever wanted.

Now with the death of her wealthy father Rory’s back in town; sporting a serious black eye, an abusive, brute of a husband and a ton of regret for the hurt she caused and the mess she’s made of her life. With her fathers passing Rory’s husband has become violent and his true agenda has come to light, leaving her nowhere to turn except to Sean. But if she wants his help she’s got some serious explaining to do. Will he even listen to her reasons for leaving let alone give them another chance?

This was a pretty good, standard Harlequin read; the love scenes are few but certainly spicy enough, theres angst a-plenty, and while the middle part dragged a bit for me as our couple hunted down a locket, jewellery box and key the ending was romantic and very suspenseful.

You can also tell that Davis has done her research here when it comes to prosthetics and living a physically challenged lifestyle however, while I appreciated our hero being an amputee I almost felt like it was talked about or used as a reason ‘why’ for everything too much. The reason why Rory left him, the reason why her father didn’t want her to marry him. Why he could/couldn’t defend himself or walk in sand. It was just mentioned in one way or another, every single page while Davis still maintained that Sean was a whole man and more then just his leg. In contradiction by mentioning it every page she wouldn’t let us forget about it. Maybe that was the point, IDK?

Written in 93/94, this is a great older Harlequin series (despite the now lame covers) with a real penchant for the tortured hero. Do yourself a favour though and read it in order. I randomly picked up book#3 The Morningside Of Dawn and then fell so in love with its sublime wounded hero Dar Cordell (sigh) that I’ve been on the hunt ever since to find the rest of the series. Cheers people.

1-Stevie's Chase

2-Left At The Altar

3-Morning Side Of Dawn

~REVIEW of Justine Davis' THE MORNING SIDE OF DAWN~

                                    ONE OF MY TOP TORTURED HEROES OF ALL TIME

1/2 Star read
-Shame about these older Harlequin covers, they sure don't age very well.

Opening line: "She was the most beautful thing he'd ever seen."

I have no idea where I picked this book up but what a fabulous find especially if you’re anything like me and have a soft spot for the wounded heroes. Written in 96 and the last in a trilogy (which I’m now actively searching for) TMSOD contains one of the most seriously shut-off and tortured heroes I’ve come across since JR Ward’s Zsadist.

Dar Cordell is bitter, standoffish, intimidating and often just downright mean. Allowing precious few into his inner circle, and even those he manages to keep at arms length. Dar is also impossibly handsome, a superior athlete and a double leg amputee, preferring a wheelchair to his seldom used prosthetics. This is one hero with a serious chip on his shoulder, belittling and biting out at everyone while using his missing legs as an excuse to shut himself off from the world.

Still, Dar would have to be up there with my top tortured heroes of all time because given the right circumstances (as is the case here) this unlikely romantic lead quickly gains your sympathy. So that despite his attitude he becomes desirable as you gain understanding as to why he is the way he is. And as it turns out Dar’s issues have very little to do with his legs.

The actual story here is pretty standard Harlequin romance; following supermodel Cassie “Cassandra” Cameron as she grows tired of the superficial world of modeling and escapes to her brothers for a much needed vacation. Of course then we have her stalker, and when he catches up with Cassie the only place she has left to turn is to her brother’s friend Dar. Forcing this reluctant couple together while the police investigate.



This is how I pictured our hero Dar

I really liked Cassie, despite her supermodel status she reads like a real person, managing to call Dar on his crap, which is just what he needs. As it turns out she‘s just as stubborn as he is and faces some of the same issues too, with the public just assuming she’s nothing more then her looks.
The sparks really fly between this couple with a palpable level of sexual tension throughout, despite the fact that Dar continually pushes Cassie away because he just can’t believe she would ‘want’ him. However when they finally make it into bed lookout, its smoking hot and sweetly intimate.

You can definitely tell that Davis has done her research here as we learn about the different types of wheelchairs (Dar designs racing chairs) hand controlled driving, and what it feels like to be looked down on or just looked through. And because Cassie moves in with Dar we also learn about modified kitchens and bathrooms, wheelchair ramps and accessibility issues in general.

All in all I loved this story and if it wasn’t for the authors annoying overuse of the word “Chagrin” this would have been a 5 star read. Cheers people!

Okay this is Rick Hanson, bit of a different situation but I've had a crush on him since 1986 when he did his Man In Motion tour.



 Oh yeah our hero is an athlete too