Hello, and welcome back! We're starting a new baseball tournament this week, and depending on how it turns out, we could be at this another month. At least my TBR pile is starting to increase, and boy, are there some good books in it now! I've got a few more July books here after today's reviews, but the August titles are beginning to come in, there are three September books here already, and even a November book. Just when I was starting to think I'd have to change to another genre. Okay, maybe not really, but I was beginning to get desperate for reading material.

Anyway, first up this week is Mary Jo Putney's
A Kiss of Fate (Ballantine). You may recall I reviewed the anthology "Irresistible Forces" here a few months or so ago, and in it was the first of Ms. Putney's Guardian stories, which was one of my faves in the anthology. Well, guess what? There are going to be more! First up is this one, with Gwyneth Owens, daughter of a Guardian father and human mother, with no apparent magical talents. That doesn't bother her too much: she still has her books and marries her father's aged employer, who tells her she has a Destiny. What that might be, she doesn't learn until much later, after his death and her inital meetings with Duncan Macrae, aka Lord of Thunder. Passion simmers between this pair, but with Scotland's rebellion nearing, their happiness may be short-lived. Duncan is a great hero, all too human despite his magical capabilities, and Gwynne is more than his match. What a wonderful story, one that will make you wish for more when the end is reached. And set in one of my favorite places in the world, against the backdrop of one of its most devastating pieces of history...well, what's not to love? Of Cupid's five arrows, this one's getting four and a half. I can hardly wait for the next Guardian tale.

I also have a couple other books this week, though not romances. If you're looking for some chick lit, you may want to check out Michele Mitchell's
The Latest Bombshell (Plume), with savvy consultant Kate Booth taking on the treason case of her ex, Lyle Gold. As you'd expect in chick lit, a smart (and occasionally smart-mouthed) heroine.

Also on my desk this week, Kate Pepper's
Five Days in Summer (Onyx). If you want some suspense for a change, Emily Parker is kidnapped, but the kidnapper's only begun his plot to terrorize her family.

Just a head's up: next time, I have the latest Linda Howard, and I can hardly wait to share it with you! Until then, happy reading!