The Numbers Never Lie, by Shelley K. Wall  (Crimson Romance, August 2012 release)

When beautiful Sophie Henderson meets Trevor Adams, she is trying to save him from being struck by lightning. She has no idea love, is about to change her life, but when she discovers that Trevor Adams is really Agent Trevan Prater, an FBI fraud investigator, she realizes his tender lovemaking was nothing but a means to an end.

 Sophie Henderson is an IT specialist who has discovered some unusual numbers in the reams of data she works with daily, but unknown to her, the FBI is investigating the case, and Sophie in particular. When softhearted Sophie coaxes handsome Trevor Adams in out of a bad rainstorm, she sets in motion a chain of events that will jeopardize her life and her career.

Trevor is not supposed to be in contact with his chief suspect, but there is nothing he can do when Sophie rescues him from the rain. The attraction between them builds, especially after Trevor saves Sophie from an intruder in her apartment and takes her to his family’s ranch for safekeeping, and they make love in the belief that they have something special going. But when unexplained money is deposited into Sophie’s bank account, Sophie learns the truth, that Trevor is really Trevan Prater, and she is the chief suspect in a huge fraud scheme at her workplace.

Can Sophie explain the money in her account, and can Agent Prater keep her alive, considering all the people who want her dead?

The Numbers Never Lie is a romantic suspense that lives up to its name. Sophie Henderson won my sympathy right away when she tried to save what she thought was a man caught in a bad storm. Trevan Prater, the FBI agent, caught by surprise, is blindsided by Sophie’s beauty and intelligence. The romance between the two grows in a believable way as the story progresses, until at the last I was rooting for Trevan to get his priorities sorted out before he let Sophie get away.

Sophie is the product of a marriage between a white man who became wealthy and a black female college professor who separated when the wife wanted to give her daughter a quiet life away from the prejudice toward biracial couples in the big city. I found the novel’s take on prejudice and wealth different and interesting, and the romance logical and well developed. Sophie made a strong, proactive heroine and Trevan was the perfect man for her. The Numbers Never Lie was a treat to read and a delight to review.

 

 

SmallTown Secrets by Molly Kate Gray

Beautiful Tara Sullivan, angry at losing a coveted anchor position at her small town TV station to nationally known Josh Owens, heads for the airport when a hurricane bears down on the town, only to find herself stranded with Josh in a seedy motel while the storm rages. When Tara is injured, she is astonished to learn her image of Josh as a conceited playboy is all wrong; he is actually a caring gentleman rather than the prima donna, she had thought him.

Josh Owens, who has actually come home to look after his ailing father, the TV station’s owner, is strongly attracted to Tara, but he soon learns that she once dated the local football celebrity, who has also returned to the little town to live, and there are still some unresolved issues between the two.  

 When several rapes rock the small town, Josh finds himself and Tara on the frontlines of an investigation as their attraction turns into lovemaking, but Tara knows a lot more about than she is willing to let on about the rapes. Will their newfound love survive accusations and uncovering the secrets of the most powerful people in the town?

 Small Town Secrets is a delight of a book  that held my interest from beginning to end. The pace never let up as Josh and Tara investigate the dark, small-town secrets that endanger Tara’s life and reputation. I rooted for Josh and Tara to win their deserved happy ending. My only complaint was that the book wasn’t nearly long enough.

 

Man of Her Dreams by Teresa Blue

 What happens when predictable good-girl Leslie Stone ditches her two-timing fiancé and meets Jay Westfield, a handsome handyman with the wrong family background, but who makes her feel all the things her fiancé couldn’t? We won’t go into details here, but the repercussions involve mechanical bulls, a fortune teller, a new redneck best friend and a doll called Mr. Jingles.

 When they say the course of true love never runs smoothly, they weren’t kidding, and nothing illustrates that proverb better than Teresa Blue’s new release, Man of Her Dreams.  This story had me laughing almost from the first page. Everything happens to poor Leslie, and none of it was what I expected to happen. From the first page to the last, prepare to be entertained, and try not to take a big sip of any liquid while reading lest you damage your e-reader.

 Newly single Leslie Stone rolls into a tiny town where her family has owned a lakeside cabin for years and her elderly car promptly blows its alternator. Handsome handyman Jay Westfield comes to the rescue, but it’s going to take a few days to get the part, and to top it all off, Leslie is broke and has to come up with the money somehow. When she discovers a mechanical bull-riding contest in the local bar that pays actual cash to the winner, what else can she do but enter?

 Alas, her bull-riding prowess attracts a would-be rapist, and gives Jay the wrong impression of her. But when her all-American family arrives at the cabin in the midst of all the mayhem, Jay gives in to the unwilling attraction he feels to Leslie, only to find himself dealing with his own family, in the form of his fortune-telling mother.

 Can anyone ever sort out the mess Leslie has unwittingly created, and will things ever come right between Leslie and Jay?

 Teresa Blue’s romantic comedy, Man of Her Dreams, is the perfect way to lift your spirits and make you believe in the power of love.

 

 

The Overcomers: Christian Authors Who Conquered Learning Disabilities, by Molly Noble Bull,  Ginny Aiken, Margaret Daly, Jane Myers Perrine, and Ruth Scofield

The Overcomers was a fun book to read. I enjoyed learning how these ladies, many of whom were considered the “slow ones” in school, found ways to get around their disabilities and achieve their dreams.

These are the girls many made fun of in grade school because they were in the “slow” reading groups and could not seem to learn how to read or spell. Then they suddenly seemed to make up for lost time and even went on to college.

This is a book that tells the truth about learning disabilities — they don’t go away. But there are ways to get around them, and with faith and hope and a lot of prayer, these women built careers on the very things they once found almost impossible, namely reading and writing.

If you know someone with a learning disability, this is the book to put under the Christmas tree or beside the birthday cake. With hope and prayer, they, too, can triumph over learning disabilities.

 

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