Roselynde by Roberta Gellis

Review by Jerelyn (I-F-Letty)

I have gone through a bit of a reading slump lately.  I have been anxiously awaiting the releases of several of my favorite author’s new books.     So when this happens I go back to my comfort reads.  Now I have been here at PBS long enough to know that there are those who never re-read anything; The too many books so little time group.  Then there is the group who has books that they read once a year for whatever reason.  Then there are those who have comfort reads.  I have comfort reads because quite honestly I am uncomfortable when I don’t have a book on the nightstand.  These books are invariably romances, something that is just a love story with a happy ending.  So I decided to write a series of reviews on older books but they might be new to someone.  They are also readily available here at PBS.

Roselynde by Roberta Gellis, was first published in 1978.  The story begins in the summer of 1189, after Henry II dies and just before his son Richard’s coronation.  Richard’s mother Queen Eleanor has spent 16 years in close confinement after leading her sons to rebel against their father.  In this story of a young woman fictional Alinor joins the ranks of real life heiresses that had been wards of King Henry II, he was in no hurry to marry these girls off not while he had the use of their money, and the power of the knights, sworn liege men of these Countesses to bolster his own army while he was at war with his son Richard and King Philip in France.

Alinor doting Grandfather has raised her to be Mistress of Roselynde’s vast holdings, not to be someone chattel.  But Richard has to raise a great deal of money.  For he has promised to go on Crusade and must get all his ducks in a row so to speak before leaving for 3 years in the Holy land.  He has sent his mother to Roselynde Keep to assess this young and powerful Countess.  The Queen upon meeting Alinor realizes she is in the present of a kindred spirit, a young woman just like she had been at that age, intelligent, capable, and nobody’s fool.  Often times Royal wards fortunes we stripped from them by those who were supposed to protect them. Alinor fears this is just what the Queen intends, when she is introduced to Simon, a man who was, at age 40 is a minor Baron unsuitable as a husband for Alinor and completely and utterly loyal to Eleanor and to Richard.

As Alinor’s warden Simon fights against his attraction to his young ward, as he protects her from fortune hunters who often used abduction and forced marriage, to get around the Kings intentions for his wards.  But she looks very like the young Queen Eleanor, whom he has loved with and unrequited passion for 25 years. He being nearly 20 years older than the 16 year-old Alinor makes it almost more than he can bare.  It is not honorable to have these feelings for a girl he is supposed to protect.  It doesn’t help that Alinor has developed the same passion for him, and has decided that here is a man whom she can trust not to ride rough shot over her, and her duty as Mistress of Roselynde, and she will have him.   Navigating the Court of Richard and then to the holy land Alinor and Simon’s love story is a joy to watch.  And with all of Gellis’s works, her history is well researched.  With some forgivable errors considering the time they were written.

This is one of those books that you really need to over look the cover; there is enough history to make H/F people happy and enough romance to make most romance readers happy.  Also for those who just don’t know if romance is for them they should give it a try.  What sex there is, is restrained and it is making love not just sex.  This is one of my 5 star reads.   It has been re-published into e-book format.  Be warned this is a family saga and if you read this there are 5 equally excellent books that follow,  Roselynde. In order, Alinor, Joanna, Gilliane, Rhiannon and Sybelle. There is another book called Desiree that chronologically falls between Roselynde and Alinor but was written years later and in my opinion the weakest of the books.  I have to wonder if Gellis’s heart was in it.  It is hard to come by and I only suggest it to those who really love the series.

Animal Attraction by Charlene Teglia

Review by Cynthia F. (frazerc)

Good read, action based paranormal.

Like most little adopted girls, Chandra dreams someday her real family will find her and she’ll actually be a princess.  Beware of what you ask for…

Her family does find her and she’s their princess.  But they’re werewolves.  If being about to go furry and fanged isn’t enough, she is about to go into heat, big time.  That means she has to work her way through the dozen pack males to check their ‘suitability’ as her mate.  Publicly.  Through a large portion of the book.  And just to complicate matters, her mate will become the pack alpha…

There are additional plot elements – including old werewolf enemies [one of whom killed her father] and a werepanther pride which seems to be helping him.

The sex scenes are many and varied including ménage [no m/m though].

Book seems to be a stand alone.

Dreams Unleashed by Linda Hawley

Review by Kelsey O

First Line:

“I hurried off the metro at the Union Station stop, looking around to see if I was being followed.”

Ann Torgeson is a character that is definitely more than meets the eye. Throughout Dreams Unleashed more and more is revealed about Ann’s past and a lot is foreshadowed of what future holds. Ann wants the US to be what it was when she was growing up not what it has become. Now, Big Brother is everywhere and every house is wired with SmartWire. The government is able to track every citizen. There are chips even in people’s driver’s licenses. She joins with GOG, Get Out! Government, an underground organization that operates worldwide. Their mission is to assist citizens around the globe in uniting to fight the tracking, excessive taxation and government control.

With her past as a CIA spy for the Clandestine Service, a branch of the Science and Technology Division, Ann is a perfect member of the GOG. Her stint with the CIA had her using her strong astral projection abilities to sense any object, person or even existing anywhere in the present, future or past called remote viewing. Others who aren’t as naturally strong as Ann seemed to die early in life of cancer or heart disease and the project supposedly was shut down. But after a unique “dream” where Ann returns to her very first remote viewing “dream” and returns with a long lost Herkimer crystal, the government is asking questions about her. Currently she holds a job with AlterHydro, the first company to capture the supercharged energy of the Strait of Georgia and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Now her mission is clear, to take down Big Brother’s control she must first practice with the Canadian RFID program and her Herkimer crystal is the key. With help from a very unlikely ally she hopes it is possible so that no one has to live in fear again.

What was unique about Dreams Unleashed was the fact that our lead heroine is 44 years old. There aren’t many books out there that the main character is older. She has an acute smelling ability and can tell you the exact date and location of a smells origin. You also see her vulnerability when she reminices about her late husband, Armond. They were so in love and she has resigned herself to never find that love again. Another thing I loved about Anne, her fondness to enjoy a nice warm bath to relax.

The content of the book can seem a little overwhelming but once laid out is understandable. Bouncing from the past to the future to the present at times got a bit confusing but Dreams Unleashed is a captivating read.