Hello, and welcome back! Mother Nature can't seem to make up her mind what she's going to give us--last night, when I left work, it was warmer than it had been first thing in the morning. Now it's cold again, and the wind is howling. Good thing I have plenty to keep me occupied indoors: the bread machine is working, there's lamb in the oven, and the tea kettle is cooling off, as is the cup here beside me. Then there are the books perched on the corner of my desk. And I have two to share with you now, starting with a January release that just arrived.

Carolina Isle (Pocket) by Jude Devereaux came out at the end of December, but only just arrived here this week. Cousins Sara and Ariel agree to switch identities so Ariel can have a shot at Sara's boss. The identity switch is really a very small part of the plot here, though. Much of the story is told in Sara's point of view, though that changes in the last third of the book, and a little disconcertingly, I might add. I've been a huge fan of Ms. Devereaux's books for years (Wishes is still one of my all-time favorites), but this one left me a bit disappointed in the romance department. It's very sweet and chaste, which was part of the problem for me, and the mystery isn't a really big mystery. I'll add it to my keeper shelf because her name is on the cover, but I don't expect I'll revisit it any time soon.

Shadow Touch (Love Spell) by Marjorie M. Liu brings us back to the February releases. Artur Loginov works for a special sort of detective agency. Elena Baxter can heal the sick and wounded with her mind. And someone wants to experiment on them both. Among other things. This one is definitely not my cup of tea, but I imagine that fans of authors like Angela Knight and Christine Feehan might find it more to their liking. This one's a little too violent and graphic for me. I'm going to dig through my stack of review books and hope for something more like romance now.

Until next time, happy reading!