A man worth loving

REVIEWS BY BARBARA SAMUEL

From the very beginning, Kathleen Eagle has towered high above the rank and file of genre writers for a great many reasons, and Ride a Painted Pony showcases all of them. Nick Red Shield is a scarred and lonely man who lives in an isolated portion of the reservation. He's on his way to buy the horse of his dreams when he finds a battered, terrified woman alongside a dark stretch of highway. Lauren Davis is more than down on her luck—she's escaping a dangerous man who wants her dead. If she could just disappear, life would be fine, but her enemy has custody of her baby son, and Lauren's life isn't worth living without him. These two lost souls make their way toward a fragile and hopeful love, each battling the demons of their pasts and the difficulty of believing in the future, making for a romance of great depth. The joy of Eagle's work is in her portrayal of Native Americans, in the tracery of underpinning legend and the wryness of Indian humor, and in the sure and subtle hand of a wordsmith. Ride a Painted Pony would be an excellent choice for book clubs looking for a thoughtful, yet uplifting read.


Standing tall

Monette Victor, the clear-eyed protagonist of Lynn Emery's Soulful Strut, acknowledges there's some truth to the saying that behind every woman in trouble is the man who put her there. But she also knows everyone makes choices. Newly freed after hard years behind bars for a crime she didn't commit, Monette is a media darling living in a halfway house and hosting a radio show. Unflinchingly honest with herself and others, Monette admits that she would never have been in a position to go to jail—even wrongly—if she hadn't been running with a bad crowd to begin with, but it's not that easy to believe in yourself after years of making mistakes, and for all her bravery, Monette is often a very insecure woman indeed. On her show, Monette teaches self-examination and the power of dreams, hoping to help other women—who blame the men, the Man or their childhoods—to take responsibility for their own lives and futures. Imperfect and entirely endearing, Monette is flummoxed by the attentions of a good man who falls in love with her just as she is. By the end, the reader is rooting for her to accept that love as a reward for learning the lessons she's been given.


Capturing a highwayman

Equally engaging is Ally Grayson, the heroine of Shannon Drake's winning historical romance, Beguiled. When Ally is kidnapped by a handsome highwayman on the way to a party, she spars with him long enough to make him laugh, and then he lets her go on to the party, where Ally—unbeknownst to her—is about to learn the identity of her fiancé. She's been promised to Mark since they were both babies, the result of a secret and powerful vow that must be kept. But now Ally, a writer with dreams of making her own way in the world, can't stop thinking about the dashing highwayman. How can she marry someone else? Meanwhile, a series of grim murders puts Ally, her highwayman and her fiancé, who is in service to the queen, in grave danger. Beguiled features the delights of the form—witty dialogue, a pair of lovers with intelligence and sex appeal—along with mystery and murder.


Hey, good lookin'

Linda Howard's second romp about former cheerleader Blair Mallory (after To Die For) is Drop Dead Gorgeous, an exuberant tale of jealousy gone awry. Everybody is always jealous of Blair, a perky blonde gym owner with a hunky fiancé, and honestly, it's just getting to be one big fat headache! It's gone so far that somebody tried to run her down in the parking lot when she was shopping for her wedding dress. Hello? Who has time for this? Her fiancé thinks it's an accident, but Blair knows in her gut that it wasn't, and she fears there's going to be more trouble any minute. Turns out she's right. Howard's trademark is a sexy, sexy man with great hands and a better heart, and Wyatt Bloodworth is no exception. The playful spirit of this series should appeal massively to 20-somethings as well as the usual suspects.


Barbara Samuel won a 2006 RITA award for her novel Lady Luck's Map of Vegas.

© 2006 ProMotion, inc.