REVIEWS BY SANDY HUSEBY
Impetuous independence has consequences, as Annie Malloy discovers when she sets out to live as a New Modern Woman in
Maggie Osborne's charmer of a Western romance, Shotgun Wedding. All the New Modern
Woman manifestos with their glorified pronouncements about frontier feminism neglect to mention the daunting shame that single
moms face. Annie's affair with outlaw Bodie Miller leads to an unplanned pregnancy and the added bittersweet sorrow that a
good guy, Sheriff Jesse Harden, could have been hers from the beginning if she had ceded her strong-willed resolve not to
marry. Now, her hastily arranged marriage to Harden, who's determined not to let Annie get away a second time, compromises
her beliefs about the true meaning of modern womanhood, and Annie discovers that the right man offers the foundation she
craves for fulfillment. Maggie Osborne's characters rise from the pages with genuine anguishes and joys that make for a
real page-turner. A true prize!
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Divas dive in and princesses prevail
Oh, to know the joys of being a diva or a princess. Want to learn all about 'em? Unveil the secrets of each in a new
two-for-one novella. In Erica Orloff's Divas Don't Fake It, master
diva Xandra heroically juggles full-frontal confrontations with conniving attorneys for her public relations clients
while pursuing the club life with her best buddy, Scott. He introduces her to the love of her fast-lane life, Professor
David White, whose low-key exterior belies his mastery of what it takes to please a diva. Turn the book over (literally)
and you'll find yet another novella, The Princess-in-Training Manual. In this flip-side tale, Princess Jacqueline de Soignee
shares everything she knows about self-absorption. The life of a princess is a wearying round of cameo movie appearances
(and shopping), leading the board of her Foundation (and shopping), instant celebrity for her writing (and shopping),
tabloid romance (and shopping). These two how-to-live-life-at-the-top stories delightfully blend dishy good times with
nuggets of wisdom that can brighten our own mundane lives.
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Devilishly dark
Four authors—Amanda Ashley, Maggie Shayne, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Ronda Thompson—explore the many facets of unworldly
desire in Midnight Pleasures. Readers who don't think Halloween should be
just a one-night stand will find the darkly sensual heat of these tales just right. Four unique women—Channa, Erin,
Melissa and Elise—meet four bewitching heroes with one common result: this quartet of stories offers up shivers driven
both by our darkest ghostly fears and the shimmery sensuality of passion at its deepest.
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Sandy Huseby writes and reviews from her homes in Fargo, North Dakota, and lakeside in northern Minnesota.
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