After reading one of Janice Kay Johnson's books during last year's challenge I was sure that she was an autobuy author. Her stories are filled with such beautiful and touching emotions and a very strong sense of family; her romances are both real and heartwarming and all those wonderful things that dreams are made of. Reading this series went to show me that my opinion of her as an autobuy author was in no way mistaken... she's fabulous!
Carrie St. John's story is one that I can, from the outside, identify with. And Mark's experiences as a father resonate very strongly as well. Adoption has been a large part in my family history going back to my great-grandmother almost 75 years ago. I have a great-aunt, an uncle, a brother and two nieces who were all adopted, and about 16 years ago my husband and I very much wanted to add wonderful little boy to our family... alas, it was not to be and we still mourn Ryan's loss.
But having these experience with what adoption can mean, I was overwhelmed with the emotions that Carrie, Mark and even Suzanne went through. A wonderful story dealing with a very emotional topic; and the romance between Mark and Carrie is fantastic!
RATING:
Excellence: Excellent to Outstanding ~ 4.5 stars
Steaminess: Sensual
BOOK READ:
Janice Kay Johnson; Open Secret; HSR #1332; Oct 2006
1st in the Lost..But Not Forgotten trilogy
SYNOPSIS:
Suzanne Chauvin was six when her parents died and her younger brother, Lucien, and baby sister, Linette, were given up for adoption. Long having blamed herself, she finally hires a Private Investigator to find her siblings, twenty-six years later.
* * * * * * * * * *
P.I. Mark Kincaid finds his client's younger sister, now Carrie St. John, who has lived her whole life only a few miles away. Problem is, he's very attracted to her, and while Carrie St. John isn't his client, there's still something not quite right about wanting a releationship with this vital and attractive woman. Unfortunately, Carrie doesn't take the news well....
When Carrie first meets Mark Kincaid she's taken with this sexy, but dangerous appearing man. Then his words tear her world apart and she doesn't know where to turn. But Mark understands and is available to listen... now all she has to figure out is if her attraction to him is related to the fact that he is helping her deal with the chaos in her life... and is she more than just a job to him?
Books read in April: 17
Har / Sil ~ 6
Others ~ 11
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kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!
Open Secret
I have this one but haven't read it yet. I can't remember why I bought it, since I haven't read anything else by Johnson--maybe just because the story sounded interesting. I haven't been in a romance-y mood lately but I'll put this one on top of my desk for next time I am--great review!
Hi Amalthea!
I know.. mood reading really is something that affects what happens with my TBR; nice to know that I'm not the only one.
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kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!
re: mood reading
Definitely not! I read based on moods all the time...unfortunately, these days I seem to be in a cranky one where nothing seems appealing. Bah! I've started at least five perfectly good books and am stuck in the middle of all of them. One is sci-fi, one high fantasy, two are paranormals, and one a thriller, so maybe a switch to romance wouldn't be a bad idea...
I've been shying away from the ....
Super Romances in my TBR .... mostly because the trend in recent years has been to cover topics that are heavier .... so they are in a part of my TBR where I just have to be in the right mood to reach for them .... I think maybe I need to set a rule, that I have to read at least one Super a month and maybe this will get me reading more of them
nice review, Kathy!
~~ KatherineT ~~ I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it!
~~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
Amalthea... that happened to me part-way
through April... GAH! I hate when that happens; so when I just could not make my way past the first couple of chapters in three or four books I knew that I needed to do something different. I turned to a couple of ebooks and that did the trick... I needed some kind of change and I guess that was it.
I hope you find an answer soon; five books and different genres... UGH!
Katherine, thank you! I've found that any book by Janice Kay Johnson works for me... I've got quite a few of her books in my TBR and anytime I come across another one it's mine. She's one of those authors, for me, that can never go wrong.
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kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!
re: Open Secret, Supers, reading ruts...
Kathy, yeah, ruts are horrible! I've been reading short stories here and there, from different story collections, to break my moods, which at least keeps me reading, even though I don't finish any collections so I can post them! I'm also reading a bit of nonfiction.
Katherine, that's a good idea, making it a goal to pick up a specific type of book, like a Super, every once in a while. I've been meaning to get back into Blazes, too, and don't have any good reason not to! Maybe I'll make it a goal to read one before the month is done.
But you're getting books read...
and ultimately can add them up to make the requisite books. That's what I've done with a number of the ebooks that I've read lately... most of them aren't enough to make up a book on their own, but I keep track and when I've got enough.. hey, all of a sudden I'm adding two more books to my totals ~ that helps too... at least I find so.
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kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!