Dances with widows

REVIEWS BY SANDY HUSEBY

The delicate dance of courtship between the determined suitor and the captivated yet resistant lady is the foundation of the quintessential romance. There's nary a misstep for the talented Stephanie Laurens as she choreographs a winsome waltz deftly balanced with a splash of intrigue in The Ideal Bride. Caro Sutcliffe is the Merry Widow, determined never again to enter a loveless marriage. Michael Anstruther-Wetherby needs a bride to advance his career as a member of Parliament. When he realizes Caro would be the perfect political wife, he pursues her. When he realizes Caro has captured his heart, he risks his own life and sets aside his ambitions to keep her. Amid the intricate and ordered world of the Ton, Caro and Michael's affair is shadowed by mysterious efforts to learn whatever secret her late husband Camden's papers might disclose about his diplomatic years in Portugal. Secrets surround Camden's personal life, too, and when Caro realizes she hasn't known and kept safe his deepest one, she faces mortal danger. The passions run high in the evocative dance between Caro and Michael, captivating readers who love their romance as blazing as the fireside and as true as love joyously discovered by jaded hearts.


Shall we dance?

Competitive dance can be a killer when the diva of the dance floor literally drops dead at the end of her performance. Heather Graham's new romantic suspense novel, Dead on the Dance Floor, is a fast-paced read as complex and spellbinding as the choreographed patterns practiced over and over by competitive dancers. For Quinn O'Casey, who is dragged into the investigation of the untimely crime by his brother Doug, and for Lara Trudeau, the dancer turned teacher who is confronted with the performance of her life, the gnawing questions of why and who are as tormenting as the unexpected attraction that flares between the pair. Graham's sure-handed melding of suspense and passion as sultry as the South Beach environs of her tale makes for a championship read.


Family Secrets

Family relationships and turbulent emotions fill Luanne Rice's latest novel, Dance With Me, the engaging story of Jane Porter's return to her childhood home to confront the past that still haunts her. Her neighbor Dylan Chadwick's effort to restore his family's orchard is a constant reminder that civilizing natural instincts is a perpetual challenge. Whether that civilization takes the guise of neatly planted rows of trees or flowers, or the placid surface of a family's façade, the tending, the meticulous cultivating can be wiped away in an instant. As Jane and Dylan peel away the glossy surface of the Porter and Chadwick families and discover roots inextricably bound together, they are each challenged to grow strong new life from damaged stock and reap bittersweet fruit. Readers should indulge the author's occasional wildlife gaffes (for example, bears aren't known to be out all winter scavenging through the snow for fallen apples) and instead appreciate the strong message about families working earnestly to heal past wounds.


To serve and protect

Giving guidance leads to a dramatic response for Shelby Simon when her simple advice column triggers a violent letter bomber intent on erasing her the explosive way in Mary McBride's sparkling romantic comedy, Ms. Simon Says. Enter frayed-around-the-edges cop Mick Callahan, her designated bodyguard, and Shelby is drawn into a war of words with the man who wants no part of a sassy female. When they decamp from Chicago for the family retreat on Heart Lake, danger follows. Shelby struggles to understand why anyone would hate her enough to want her dead. Mick faces down the dramatic contrasts in their lives—he's on the fringes of society while she dwells in the midst of it. He believes his greatest challenge is protecting Shelby from herself, and he lays his own heart bare in the process. An irresistible romp through the woods.


Sandy Huseby writes and reviews from her homes in Fargo, North Dakota, and northern Minnesota.

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