Back Cover:
Telling her high-society family she was about to be an unwed mother had been tough. So how could she possibly inform the Garrison clan that the baby's father was their archenemy? Brooke planned to keep the paternity secret…then millionaire hotel mogul Jordan Jefferies learned the truth. And he was not about to let her fear of scandal stop him from claiming his child. Or from making Brooke his wife.
Spoiler Warning: All my reviews contain spoilers
Favourite Scene: (I loved Parker/Jordan's rivalry and fighting)
A vein throbbed in Parker's temple. "Who the hell are you to tell me how to speak to my sister?"
"I'm the man who's going to marry your sister."
Before she could remind Jordan she'd only agreed to date him, he'd gently moved her aside as Parker shouted, "Like hell." In a blink both men launched across the table.
My Review:
I really liked this story. Their family businesses are rivals and there is a lot of bad feelings between them. They hooked up for one night in a weak moment, and birth control failed. Five months later she gets up the nerve to tell him she's pregnant and he's the daddy, of course he already heard about the pregnancy through gossip and realized he's the father. He immediately proposes marriage, gets turned down, but pluckily keeps on trying. They fit nicely together. It's good that the hero hadn't wanted anyone else since the heroine, other women are just an ick factor to me, so it's nice to see a playboy be able to just stop wanting other women and settle down to loving his heroine intently. I like that the hero smartens up and is honest with the heroine about things he realized he shouldn't have been keeping from her, that shows that he respects the heroine, and the heroine's calm acceptance of his confessions shows just how mature and secure she is. Really well-told story, the couple had their struggles and they waded through them in a really caring way.
My Rating: 4.5/5 stars, great story.
Hi Janet
I said that I didn't read the Garrison stories but I actually did read Catherine Mann and Emily Rose's books.
I usually enjoy CM's books and this one was great. I know you don't really read suspense but her Wingmen Warrior series is great. I loved it.
Margie :)
Well since I liked this one
Well since I liked this one so much I am thinking I should read more by CM, but I'll probably read her SD books....
This one really was very good, I think I read a dozen SDs this week and only two of them were VERY memorable: this one and "Secrets of the Tycoon's Bride".
This book is very much stand-alone. You don't have to read the other Garrison books.
Janet,
I'm a big proponent of Cathy Mann's, so I think that you will really like her other SDs. There are not very many of them, so you shouldn't have difficulty finding her backlist if you haven't all ready.
Who knows...she may get you hooked enough that you want to branch out to the WW books!
J
Well the last thing I
Well the last thing I branched out for.... moving into a new genre/line.... was for JR Ward's blood lusting urban vamps....
Does CM's heroes have the same kind of draw as them? *grin*
Golly,
I'm not certain that anything can trump blood lusting vamps....
Honestly, when it comes to Cathy's work, I am pretty biased because I think that she writes such true-to-life AF heroes. Since I have a AF hero of my own, I have a major soft spot for the type.
However, I think that there are several things that make Cathy's WW heroes so appealing to a fairly large-range of fans:
1) Her heroes are definitely alpha, but they have a softer side for family, etc.
2) She doesn't have cookie cutter heroes. Sometimes when authors write for a while, I start to feel like all of their heroes/heroines feel the same. Cathy's aren't like that, each of them has something that makes him unique in his background that helped to shape the hero that he is when the book is written. He watched his dad suffer PTSD or he was an orphan raised by nuns or he was a star football player. Her heroines are the same way. Cathy is able to flesh out the characters to make them feel real. I could meet them on the street or in the BX and have a chat with them.
3) Her heroes really are AF guys. That might sound weird, but being married to an AF cop, I am able to see that there is something about the men and women who answer the call to serve a country that sets them apart from the rest of us. To me, it is an intangible, something completely indefinable, but very real. Sometimes, I read/see books that claim to have a military hero, but when I read a few pages, the character could just as easily be anything--a cowboy, a doctor, a dog catcher. That is a real turn off to me as a military wife because slapping a uniform on a character doesn't make him a member of the military. The character has to have something more. Cathy's men (and women) in the AF have that.
4) Her heroes are hot--or as my seventh graders might say....HOTT!
Of course, her SD heroes are larger than life, too, and I think that you will like her backlist of SDs. There are only three besides the Garrison book (plus the one due out in September), and they are all great reads. Personally, I prefer her longer books like the Spec Ops series because there is more room for plot and secondary romances, but I enjoy the WW books and the SDs, too.
I notice that in your reviews, you mention the characters and I would say that Cathy's books are character driven, so even the WW books might be something that you enjoy. However, I also know that you read mainly the HP and SD lines, which I tend to not to read. Quite frankly, you might not want to take my word for it because our reading tastes obviously vary.
On the other hand, like I said before, Cathy's books seem to appeal to a rather wide range of readers.
Wow, that was quite a lot, but I tend to get quite verbose when I am attempting to convert someone into Cathy Mann reader!
Whew, thanks for taking the
Whew, thanks for taking the time to write all that. It helps to hear a DETAILED recommendation rather than just a "try this author, here's her name" kind of rec. It tells me what the stories are like so I know if it will appeal to me.
First off, I'm assuming AF is Air Force right? It seemed to make sense for most of the times you used that abreviation. The only abreviations I'm used to are H, h, NFM, TBR.
Alpha heroes with soft sides when it comes to family... that appeals to me.
Non-cookie cutter heroes... also a good thing. But you know, I'm just realizing that whoops, so many of the HP alphas could be called cookie cutter, but you know, I still enjoy each H/h pairing and find it unique in it's passion and the reasons they come together.
About military stories... I'm not a huge fan of military, sheikh, royalty stories, partly because I'm not fascinated by the lifestyle. I don't find it as romantic a life to lead. Also, if I'm getting weighed down by the practicalities, I start disbelieving that it's realistic. I think often the only solution for the problems a H/h couple faces when they are miliary/sheikh/royalty is for them to STEP DOWN from their positions, and start a career/life more suited to a quiet family life. So when I see so many stories ending with a H/h making such a huge change, giving up the responsibility they were trained for, and becoming a new person magically at the end, I feel a little cheated and let down. I feel like I spent the entire book respecting them for being a great M/S/R, and then at the end they abandon the people they were so well-qualified to lead. It's just a hard plot to satisfy me as a reader.
You say you prefer her longer stories... I treat my books like candy. I do like a fast-paced intense read where the emotions never slow down. I think longer books don't carry the same intensity and aren't as easy to read in one sitting, so natually I have just veered towards the HP/SDs for the steam and intensity, even though occasionally I read an SSE or a general fiction/romance novel that is 400 pages or whatever.
You say CM's are character driven. I like character driven stories, rather than life-and-death action crises.
Anyhooo... I'll take a peek at CM's backlist and see what I can hunt around for.
Did I mention I was an English teacher?
We never do anything without a loooong, drawn out explanation.
Just ask my seventh graders. 
But seriously, I like to give people reasons. I HATE it when people tell me that so and so is a good writer or that such and such is a good book, but they can't tell me why. It is like when you are a kid, and your mom tells you "Because I said so." (Which, yes, I have done with my own children 
).
About military stories and Cathy Mann...I can guarantee you that none of Cathy's heroes are going to step down from military just for the sake of a relationship. Cathy is a AF (yes, Air Force!) wife also, so she sees that it is possible to have a good strong family life and a career that requires dedication to something bigger than family and self. I, personally, have some issues with relationships (fictional and real life) that require one individual to make a choice between the relationship and the career, so I can totally see your point with that one. (That's a big soapbox with me, actually, but I promise not to get started).
About shorter reads...I do read shorter books, especially during the school year when I don't have as much free time, but usually not smaller than the SRS or HI lines. When I read an SD or HR, I usually finish and think, "Where's the rest?," and I find that most of the completely alpha males in the HP are a turn-off for me, especially in the older HPs. My heroes need some type of softening.
I liked your comparison to candy. I say something similar about books in general--the classics that I read for school (well, when I taught high school), those are food for the brain. Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare those help me to think and grow as a teacher, but romance in general is food for the soul--it helps me to grow as a person or at least to be a nicer person.
About emotional reads...I think that you will find Cathy's to be very emotional. Some are obviously more heart-tugging than others, but her books tackle some issues that are emotional for women--infertility, breast cancer, as well as growing the romantic relationship. Many of her men have emotional issues that they have to deal with as well. I know that I asked her once the difference between HI and SIM (dated question, obviously), and she said that the SIMs (now SRS) were more emotional. I would argue that for some authors, but not for Cathy.
About character driven stories...There is some life and death action in Cathy's books. Obviously, they are military romances, and that isn't really a quiet life style, but for me the characters make her stories great.
Since you expressed an interest in checking out Cathy's backlist, you might want to start here:
http://www.catherinemann.com/books/index.htm
She also has a message board if you have any questions, she is good about answering them. (If one of her normal readers doesn't jump in first).
Additionally, here are some more comments that you might find helpful:
http://community.eharlequin.com/review/out-uniform-srs-1501#comments
Hope that I really have been helpful and not just verbose. I, uh, get a little needy for conversation in the summer sometimes. There just aren't enough grown-ups around.
Wow! I love this...
...review, Janet! What an intense favourite scene (I like how you set your reviews up that way). It really makes me want to read this book!
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain