Harlequin Romance Author Team

Bill Bryson's hilarious memoir of growing up in middle America in the Fifties - unabridged and read by the author.

This was a laugh-out-loud funny book which made my commute to work really enjoyable.

After surviving years of imprisonment in England, and now facing a seven year sentence in a new territory, convict Charlotte Badger dares to contemplate a future of freedom and fortune. Strong, short-tempered, but quick-witted, she is filled with determination for a better life.

I just finished Lucy Gordon's The Italian's Passionate Revenge - her debut Presents that intrigued me so much when I read her post about it at the Pink Heart Society.

Penniless, pregnant and alone, Iona Lockwood is desperate to settle and put down roots. When wealthy architect Daniel Hamilton finds Iona living in the empty building he's bought he knows he should be asking her to leave. But Daniel can't turn his back on a pregnant woman, and offers her a job as his housekeeper.

I realised that my TBR would look smaller if I made an effort to read some thick books. So that's what I decided to do - alternating a thick book and a thin (i.e. Harlequin) book until the pile looks more manageable.

This book was the thickest of the lot. A huge doorstop of a book. But oh, what a wonderful book. Here's the back blurb:

Oh, my goodness!  Talk about alpha-male hero!  Cormac Douglas is the dictionary defininition of a callous, maniupulative businessman.  His poor secretary, Lizzie, ends up being tricked into posing as his wife on a trip to the Caribbean.  But Lizzie sees a goodness under Cormac's hard exterior that even Cormac doesn't believe is there and she falls in love with him.

This book had a really nice suspense plot involving keys to hidden loot inadvertently used in collages, which had then been sold on.  The owner, fresh out of prison, wants his keys back and innocent people are put in danger as the villains try to hunt them down.  I particularly liked the heroine, Chan

I loved this story of fly-girl Siena who had impossibly itchy feet, and heart-melting single dad James.  Ally's characters are always so memorable and original and there were some really sweet romantic moments.  Sigh.

This is Kate's first book for Headline's Little Black Dress inprint and it's a great fun read.