The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood

I was lucky enough to receive an advance galley of Julie Garwood's next book and anxiously dove right in.
This story had all the typical Julie Garwood romantic suspense elements... perfect man of the law and strong sassy and successful woman. As much as I know that her books repeat that pattern, I still love them for the quick escapist reads.

The good:

Max was certainly a "entertaining" *wink, wink* character to read about. I was hooked on him from the first conversation he had with Ellie at the hospital.

The romance was a good one. The connection between Max and Ellie was intense and immediate, and I bought it right away. Julie Garwood sure knows how to make me blush!

The not-so-good:

The end. Everything thing felt rushed; two story lines tied up within pages of each other, one of which that had been ongoing for 11 years? I just didn't buy it. Everything (the romantic elements and the suspense) was just too.... easy.  The book was just suddenly over.

I didn't buy the family either. It was as if she was really close to them, but yet knew nothing about them. I came away confused about Ellie's relationship with her parents. It didn't seem genuine at all. I suppose this comes from her separation from them, but it was just awkward.

Those things aside, it was still a fun, guilty pleasure read and I really enjoyed it. It had a cute romance and some good suspense and it was certainly entertaining. I would recommend it to Julie Garwood fans, or fans of romantic suspense in general.

Sizzle by Julie Garwood

I went in to Sizzle with... well, lets call it an open-mind. Althought I enjoyed them enough, I wasn't overly impressed with Fire and Ice or Shadow Music (JG's most recent releases) so I didn't want to get too excited over this one. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it.

I really like Lyra as a character and easily rooted for her from page one. Strong, driven and courageous, but still sensitive, is exactly how I like my FMC's.

I do have to say that I didn't totally buy into Sam. There's very little development for his character IMO. I did however think he was hot and by the end of the book (read: rugby scene) he had me.

This book of course followed the same story line that most JG books (and most romantic suspense do) but I knew that going in and I like it. That's why I read them. I loved the links back to previous characters and I'm really hoping we get to hear Sydney's story soon. I love me some Buchanan brothers.

A really fun and quick read... classic JG and one that I'm sure I'll re-read in the future.  My guilty pleasure!

Revisiting an Old Friend- Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood

Julie Garwood ranks as as one of my favorite authors.  As I've mentioned before, I don't rank my books/authors based on their writing style or what "genres" are generally considered to be acceptable as favorites, I rank them in terms of the level of enjoyment I get out of the book.  My favorites shelf contains YA fantasy, general fiction, paranormal romance, classics, dystopian YA etc etc etc.  So... although most write JG off as "romantic fluff" or even "trashy romance", I still love her books and own every.single.one.

That being said, I've been dying for a reread. I've read each of my JG books 3-5 times each, but I went through all of 2009 not picking up a single one (aside from Fire and Ice which was released at the end of 2008 which reading it for the first time).    I missed them and I needed a JG fix but I have so many new books on the go and waiting for me with so little time for personal reading that I knew it wasn't going to happen.  So I swung by the library and picked up Shadow Dance on audio.  I LOVED IT!  I promptly put myself on hold for about 4 more JG audio books and I can't wait for them to come in.

A contemporary romantic suspense, Shadow Dance follows the story of Jordan Buchanan and Noah Clayborne.  If you've read any JG (even her Westerns or Scottish historical fiction) you might recognize those last names and you should.... they're all linked. 

I love this story, and although it's not my favorite of her contemporaries, it's still incredibly enjoyable.  You're rooting for Noah and Jordan the entire time and Noah ends up making your heart melt.  There's excitement and passion and... well, just everything that a romantic suspense should have (if you catch my drift). I love the links back to previous books and characters and the historical intrigue.   

I'm so happy that I decided to go through the again.  Re-reading books that are favorites like this one is like revisiting an old friend.  There's something comforting about it and I can't wait for the others to come in at the library.