ROMANCE

REVIEWS BY SANDY HUSEBY

Phillips' matchmaker extraordinaire
The no-holds-barred competition of the playing field pales in comparison to two determined matchmakers competing to find the perfect wife for sexy sports agent Heath Champion in Susan Elizabeth Phillips' raucous and fun-loving Match Me if You Can. Champion moves among the super-rich athletic realm of Chicago, but his background is pure blue-collar. Now that he's a megastar agent, he wants a woman who'll fit into his life and take care of his every need. Sophisticated Portia Powers would seem to be the perfect marriage facilitator for him. But Annabelle Granger knows that finding the perfect mate for elusive bachelor Champion will elevate her own struggling business to superstar status. Champion is demanding, jaded and hyper-busy, but that's what has made him a winner. Annabelle's been the family loser, until she inherits her grandmother's matchmaking business and the chance to prove her family wrong. When these two team up, brace yourselves—there's a championship season brewing.


Arrivederci, Amalfi
Running away from heartbreak becomes an opportunity for Lamour Harrington to lay ghosts to rest, search out family mysteries, and in the process rediscover herself in Elizabeth Adler's lush and evocative The House in Amalfi. Betrayed by her husband, Lamour decides to abandon Chicago for Italy and the gauzy idyll of her childhood. But even Rome cannot fulfill her needs or answer her questions, so she resolves to return to Amalfi and learn the truth about the mysterious death of her father. Her evolving relationships with a local father and son, Lorenzo and Nico, are both alluring and troubling, as Lorenzo tries to stonewall Lamour's search for the truth. And the enigmatic Aurora adds an additional thread to the panorama of one woman finding her roots and her future in the verdant landscape. Adler's sumptuous, intricately woven storytelling emerges into a grand tapestry.


Summer lovin'
Hiding out and regrouping is the meme for the summer season at Crescent Lake, and that concept replicates itself in many guises in Susan Wiggs' charmer, Lakeside Cottage. Kate Livingston has lost her job, such as it was, and decides to use the family's rambling summer home to figure out what she and her son, Aaron, will do next. Her plan for quiet reflection is disrupted by J.D. Harris, a mystery man who seems to have his own regrouping to do while he stays at a nearby cabin. "First responder" has taken on a whole new meaning for the emergency medical tech in one heroic moment that he's now trying to escape. But no good deed goes unpunished, and as J.D. and Kate discover their growing attraction, he must wrestle with the life he's left behind for the summer. And then there's Callie, the teenage girl who brings secrets and a deadly danger of her own when she picks the Livingston cottage for her hideout. Deftly blending topical issues, dramatic action and appealing characters, Wiggs delivers a summer romance you'll cheer on for all seasons.


The eye of the storm
When a woman and child seek the help of Hanover House, a shelter for abused women, Dana Dupinsky's open heart and arms welcome them. But the "victim," Sue Walsh, turns out to be a revenge-seeking kidnapper who has abducted a deaf 12-year-old boy, Alec Vaughn. In Karen Rose's taut, edge-of-your-seat romantic thriller, Nothing to Fear Alec's desperate parents turn to security expert Ethan Buchanan when they discover that their son and his speech therapist are missing. Ethan's search leads him to Hanover House, and to Dana. As director of a women's shelter, Dana sees the effects of dangerous relationships every day, yet Ethan makes her heart come alive. Safeguarding Alec while she decides whom she can trust puts their lives in mortal danger. Rose's well-crafted story sets pulses pounding and pages turning.


Sandy Huseby writes from Fargo, North Dakota, and northern Minnesota.

© 2005 ProMotion, inc.
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