ET

This is the fifth book in the Kathie's THE ILLEGITIMATE HEIRS series and although it does refer to previous books in the series it is still a stand alone story.

Emerald Larson has been looking for her grandchildren even though she was not really sure how many she had. Seems her son went around getting different women pregnant and then leaving them. Finally though she has found her last grandchild~a son name Jake Garnier. After finding each grandchild she has given them one of her businesses to run. Emerald is a very rich woman and has businesses in all parts of the country and they are about as varied as they can be. Jake is receiving the Hickory Hills thoroughbred farm located in Louisville, Kentucky. What he doesn't know is that he is a father and the baby's mother is Heather McGuire who manages the farm.
Jake thinks Emerald has lost her mind when she gives him the farm because he has spent his life in L.A. and knows nothing about thoroughbred horses. But when he meets Heather and finds out she has a six-month-old baby he realizes that the baby is his and is determined to get to know his daughter and build a relationship with her. He also wants to reconcile with Heather as he still has strong feelings for her.

Blurb~~"Becoming the new owner of Hickory Hills Thoroughbred farm was not in billionaire Jake Garnier's plans. Becoming a father was even more unimaginable. For his new business came with one Heather McGwire, ranch manager...and mother to Jake's secret child.

After barely surviving his own father's desertion, Jake knew he couldn't walk away from his responsibilities. Marriage seemed the only solution. Yet Heather wouldn't settle for simple sweet talk and seduction. If Jake wanted a real family, he'd have to saddle up for the long ride."

This is the seventh book of the McKaslin Clan series but it is the first one in the series that I have read. And although it is a part of the series it very much a stand alone story.
Ava McKaslin was a baker by trade and owned a bakery but she needed some renovations to the place. So she hired Brice Donovan as the contractor. Ava had has such bad luck with men and romance that she was determined that even though she like Brice very much she was not going to fall in love with him~we all know about best laid plans and how they don't work out all the time~but he was falling in love with her. Brice always seemed to be coming to Ava's rescue when one thing or the other went wrong~like her locking her keys in the car frequently.

Blurb~~"Though she wanted a family of her own, love seemed so unreliable to busy bakery owner Ava McKaslin. Baking and honoring her faith were all she had on her life's to-do list. Until she hired Brice Donovan as her contractor. And her best-laid plans flew out the window!

He'd long adored Ava from afar. Now that she needed his help, Brice wanted to show her how joyful life could be when there was love. He--and he hoped, the Lord--had big plans to give this special woman all the happiness she deserved."

Soleil Freeman met West Morgan while on vacation. They were from totally different worlds and all wrong for each other. But then West was the perfect summer distraction for Soleil since they had nothing in common and once the summer was over they would never see each other again. Or at least that was Soleil's plan. West was in a Special Forces unit and Soleil was involved with a houseful of teenagers for whom she was mentor, coach, social worker and teacher. And she had no desire to get mixed up with someone like West. But you know what they say about best laid plans.......

Blurb ~~ "Having a baby isn't exactly in Soleil Freeman's plans. Being single and pregnant? Even further off her to-do list. Still, she can make this work...if she can figure out how to handle the father. West Morgan is absolutely perfect summer distraction material. But building a life with a guy who's all about picket fences and tradition is not her deal. Funny thing happens when she drops the 'Merry Christmas, you're gonna be a dad' news, though. The delicious attraction that fueled their affair is alive and well. And when West embarks on a campaign to be a family, she's more open to the idea than she thought!"

Vivian Wentworth worked for a high powered law firm who has assigned her a pro bono case. She has done this type of cases before but at the woman's shelter. This particular case led her to a youth shelter in a really bad part of town and because she was late she had not taken time to change clothes and she was on foot~two things that attracted the attention of gang members who began to harass her and she suddenly found herself in trouble. Fortunately for her Rafael Cardoza~the operator of the shelter~saw what was happening and came to her aid. He was the one who had asked for help for one of his teens. Once he met Vivian he had very serious doubts about her ability to handle the case. Teen Diego Sanchez had been accused of the murder of his girlfriend and their unborn baby but he was innocent.
Once Rafael got to know Vivian and how she does her job he began to admire her tenacity.

Blurb ~~ "Rafael Cardoza needs a lawyer. A good one well versed in criminal law is the only hope to save the wrongfully accused kid from Rafael's community center. So how does he end up with uptown 'divorce' attorney Vivian Wentworth? The chances of her successfully defending this case are slim to none. If Rafael were smart, he'd show Vivian the door.
Too bad his attraction to her is clouding his judgment. And when he can finally see past his libido, he realized that there's more to Vivian than her family name and her designer clothes. In fact, she's working so hard to clear the kid's name, they just might win. It's the best Christmas gift Rafael could receive....or would that be Vivian agreeing to stay with him?"

This is the third book in a three author series. The other two books and author's are: KILLER TEMPTATION by Nina Bruhns and KILLER PASSION by Sheri Whitefeather.

Maddie Ingersoll was a writer for Secret Traveler and would go to stay in resort's to write reviews about them. She was presently in the South Pacific and heading toward Vanua Taru in a small plane when they were caught in the middle of a severe storm preceding a hurricane. The plane was struck by lightening and was going down when she was told to jump out of it into the ocean where she should be safe from the crash.

Tom Laruso who was the pilot of the doomed plane was unable to get out and was in it when it went down. When he got free and came to the surface he was in bad shape and was not concious. Maddie was able to grab hold of a floating seat and pull him on to it and get them safely to the shore.

But once there they passed out and when they came to the had a run in with the "Sex on the Beach Killer" who had going around the area killing couples where having sex on the beach because it was immoral and they deserved to die.

Blurb~~"Seduced...by a mystery man

A plane crash had left Maddie Ingersoll stranded, with a tropical storm approaching and a serial killer on the loose. And it had brought her close--far too close--to the most compelling, most sensual man she had ever encountered.

She knew there were dark, unspoken secrets in Tom Laruso's past. And yet she agreed to masquerade as his lover to try and trap the murderer stalking these once peaceful islands. But their charade of passion quickly flared out of control, until it was as real and as powerful as the rising storm--and made them the target of a madman's deadly rage...."

This book is the third book in a multi-author series. The other two books are: THE AGENT'S SECRET BABY by Marie Ferrarella and THE COWBOY'S SECRET TWINS by Carla Cassidy.

Jagger Holtz worked for a top secret company and he had been sent to infiltrate the headquarters of AbaCo to see if he could locate any information about two men who had previously gone missing when they were investigating the company. He ended up being captured by the guards of the company and disappeared himself. He spent two years in captivity and the whole time he blamed Emily Grainger for his capture. He thought she had set hime up.

Emily Grainger had thought Jagger had just left her after their brief night together and had no idea that the company she was working for was holding him captive. Two years later she gets a cryptic message telling her that there was something going on and she needed to secretly inspect a certain container on one AbaCo's ships. When she did she found Jagger and set him free. All sorts of complications occurred before they could actually reappear in public.

Blurb ~~ "Dashing spy Jagger Holtz lived in a world of danger. Not even a sweet brown-eyed siren alone on New Year's Eve could be trusted, especially when he had to bring down her employer. Somehow Emily Grainger broke through his defenses~~and set him up for two years of torturous captivity. Or so he thought.

Emily hadn't expected a cryptic message to lead her to rescue the man who'd disappeared after their night of passion. Nor had she known that he'd been held prisoner all that time and believed that she was responsible. Despite the suspicion, they must work together to stop the threat against them...and protect their precious daughter."

Kate Spencer had suddenly discovered that she was not who she thought she was. She had been brought up by a mother who had kidnapped her at a very young age and they had lived in very poor conditions. However she had eventually been taken away and put in a series of foster homes where she had been mistreated until the last one. There she had found a home to grow up in and be loved. She had gone to school and become a doctor. Suddenly she found out she was actually had a family who had never given up looking for her. Now she was determined to find out why she had been kidnapped and went looking for the woman who had taken her. In order to do so she would have to travel to Florida.

Hunter Bradshaw had been a member of the Salt Lake City police force until his wife and soon to be child had been killed and he had been convicted of the murder and sentenced to death. He spent two years in prison before the truth came out and the killer had actually been his lawyer. Hunter was still bitter over the injustice and at loose ends so he volunteered to drive Kate to Florida to try and find her kidnapper.

Blurb ~~ "For all their obvious differences, medical resident Kate Spencer and recently freed-though-wrongly-imprisoned Hunter Bradshaw had one big thing in common: both of them had holes in their past they were sure could never be fixed. So when Kate, nee Charlotte McKinnon, announced her plan to take a road trip to try to find clues to her real identity, ex-cop Hunter offered to go along for the ride. For protection, of course...

But there's where their trip took an unexpected turn. For Kate, who'd loved Hunter from afar for years, found no answers, only more questions. And Hunter, with Kate by his side, saw that even though yesterday might be murky, today was dawning clear and bright...."

Sarah Finley's husband had divorced her eight months ago and had married one of the partners in his firm. Now he was off on his honeymoon and she did not know where he was. They had two children one a boy~Simon~who was a first grader and one a girl~Lily~a fourth grader. The kids were in a private school named for the wife of the man who was head of the firm her ex~Erik~worked for. Now Sarah had been called to the school because Simon had brought a knife to school. Lily and Simon had thought up the idea that if they were in trouble at school then their daddy would come home to take care of the problem....but it backfired on them. He refused to cut his honeymoon short and return.

Charlie McNulty was a member of the same firm and was about to make partner when he got involved in the situation with Sarah and the kids. Sarah had gone to the firm's office and when she could not get an answer as to where Erik was nor could she get a number to call him she lost her cool and began throwing things around and breaking stuff. Charlie was able to calm her down and get her to go home~or rather he took her and the kids home~at which point he became involved in Sarah's life.

Blurb ~~ "Grace under pressure was Sarah's hallmark. Smashing antiques in her philandering ex-husband's brokerage firm lobby? Totally out of character. She's always been the one who coped. Who pleased. So how to explain tossing the valuables? And how to explain letting Charlie McNulty ride to the rescue?

Charlie hates mess~~emotional mess, in particular~~and this is a doozy. He can't afford to get involved~~not when he's about to make partner and Sarah's ex has a vote. Maybe Charlie can do the chivalrous thing, then get away clean. Great plan...until Sarah~~and her kids~~work their magic on him. Now, suddenly, he doesn't want to leave."

Field of Danger is an excellent story if you like intrigue and mystery. It is full of murder, attempted murder, intrigue, betrayal, and fear. The author does an excellent job of making you feel the fear and does not give you a hint of who the killer was until well into the story and even then you are not sure if you picked the right person or why he would kill Levon. Through out the book there is a real feeling of how faith helped the hero and heroine get through the ordeal.

April Presley recently moved to the tiny town of Caralinda, Tennessee. She had bought a house on the edge of Levon Richards corn field and each day she would take a cold thermos of lemonade out to him while he was working in the field to thank him for all he had done to help her adjust to living in Caralinda. On this particular day as she walked toward him she realized there was another person in the field with him and this person had a shotgun which he used to kill Levon. Just as he pulled the trigger he realized there was a witness to the crime and began shooting at April. Because she was running through the corn field she was able to hide from the killer using the corn stalks as cover but she had managed to lose her direction. As he moved through the field she could tell he was moving away from her. Suddenly an old woman ~ Aunt Suke to every one ~ and her German shepherd appeared and guided her to the safety of her house. Because of the size of the house and the fact that there were sirens coming toward the house the killer ran from the house without finding them.
Daniel Rivers is a deputy sheriff who is also the son of Levon. He feels that he can help April remember what she saw and help them figure out who and why someone would kill Levon. He also feels he can protect her from the killer. At the same time he falls in love with her but knows he has to get her to believe in his love as well as help identify the killer.

Blurb ~~ "WHO KILLED MY FATHER?"

"Eyewitness to a murder, April Presley wants to answer the deputy sheriff's harrowing question. But she can't. She barely caught a glimpse of the crime through the deep Tennessee cornfield, and cannot recall anything to help the investigation. Or can she? Daniel Rivers is certain that April remembers more of his father's death than she realizes. And the killer agrees.
In the race to uncover April's missing memory before the killer finds her, Daniel is the only one she can trust to keep her safe. Yet will he stay by her side when the shocking truth is unveiled?"

Ellis Chapman was the owner of a radio station and a newspaper in Denver. He had given his granddaughter~Niikki~ a job as a reporter for his newspaper but no one there knew they were related and that's the way they both wanted it. She was a novice at the job and not very good at it.

Colin Wright was an ex-baseball player who had been injured and was no longer able to play. Colin was a radio personality at Ellis's station and would do just about anything to help raise money for charity including push a peanut down the street with his nose.

Now Ellis has a new challenge for Colin to raise money for a homeless shelter and he assigns Nikki to accompany Colin as a reporter. Colin has no idea who Nikki is and she wants to keep it that way. Nikki and Colin had met several times outside of the job and weren't very friendly toward each other. But Ellis was determined to get them together which was why he had assigned Nikki to participate in the fund raiser with Colin. And that's when things get really interesting.

Blurb ~~ "Eight days and 300 miles...
That was how long privileged fledgling journalist Nikki Post had to deal with notorious radio personality Colin Wright and the staff on his eight-day fund-raising trek from New Mexico to Wyoming.
Yet instead of the immature prankster she'd been warned to expect, Colin was generous and handsome -- with a smile that reached the depths of Nikki's soul. As the days counted down, he helped her write the article for her grandfather's newspaper -- and a kiss shortened the distance between them.
But when trouble threatened to bring the trip to a premature end, would Nikki's role in Colin's life end, as well...or continue forever?"