Hello, and welcome back! It felt like fall here until today--nice, cooler temperatures, with that bright blue, cloudless sky--and now it's hot again. At least I know fall is just around the corner, so I'll try hard not to mind the heat. It won't last. But, instead of weeding flowerbeds, I've been sitting in the shade with a book and watching the bees and butterflies as they hurry around, gathering food for themselves. I also have several boxes of things ready to ship out for the folks in the Gulf Coast area of the U.S. If you're not signed up for the Romance Novels newsletter, you missed the contact information to help out, along with other romance readers and writers. If you email me, I'll get the info to you.

Blood Lust (Indigo) by J. M. Jeffries landed on my desk last week. I'd been wondering what my favorite writing team had been up to, and now I know. This one features Mignon, two-hundred-fifty year old vampire, hunting one of her own who's gone bad, and Detective Ryan Lattimore, who can't quite believe his eyes when dead bodies in the morgue come to life, only to be struck down by the hottest woman he's seen in ages. Mignon and Ryan generate a lot of sparks, but how does a woman explain something like this to a potential mate? Kind of difficult. This one is steamy, just like its New Orleans setting, when Ryan and Mignon are together, and vampire fans should run out to grab this one: they won't be disappointed. And if you're iffy on vampires, give this one a shot: it's not all blood and darkness like some others I've read, and Mignon is easily Ryan's match. I'm giving this one four of Cupid's five arrows.

Slow Burn (Ballantine) by Julie Garwood is next. Kate MacKenna's world is turned upside down when she survives a bomb exploding. And that's just the first of a series of events that makes her wonder just who wants her dead. A one-night stand with her best friend's brother, Dylan Buchanan, doesn't help things when one night isn't the end of it. If you're looking for an uncomplicated read, suspense that won't tax your brain, and some decent heat between Kate and Dylan, this might be for you. If you're a Julie Garwood fan, you'll definitely want to snag it. I didn't love it enough to add it to my keeper shelf, but I liked it better than her last, so it's earned three arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!