Hello, and welcome back! It's hot again, but should cool down later tonight, making our semi-vacation week much more tolerable for the couple of outdoor daytrips later in the week. And in the meantime, I have three new romances to share with you now.

Nerds like It Hot (St. Martin's Press) by Vicki Lewis Thompson is first with the latest in her 'Nerds' series. This is another author who's old Harlequin Temtations I loved years ago, and I figured when the Nerds came about I'd have to love them, too. I was wrong. In this one, Gillian McCormick has to get out of town fast after witnessing a murder, and going on the cruise she had no intention of taking suddenly seems like a good idea. P.I. Lex Manchester is no nerd, at least not until he gets on the boat. Fans of the Nerd series will no doubt continue to be delighted with this one. I'll dig out one of her Temptations instead, because I just can't get into these for some reason. Maybe it's the leaning-into-chick-lit tone. I don't know. I wish I liked them better.

With this Kiss (Silhouette Romance Series #1827) by Susan Meier rounds out her 'Cupid Campaign' trilogy, this time with reporter Rayne Fegan meeting up with her old crush Jericho Capriotti when her father goes missing. She needs help finding him, to let him know she's taken care of the reason he left town so he can come back. But it seems her father doesn't want to be found, and Rayne and Jericho's families have too much between them for anything to come of the attraction they feel everytime they meet, more, everytime they touch. Jericho's got things to prove since he's returned to his small hometown, scene of many youthful mistakes, and Rayne has a lot of emotional baggage to deal with before they can have their happy ending, and you're going to want to go along for the entire ride, laughing and crying along with them. This one gets four of Cupid's five arrows.

Home before Midnight (Berkley) by Virginia Kantra is last this time out, with her latest romantic suspense. Bailey Wells's return to her small southern hometown isn't off to a very good start when her boss's wife is found murdered in the pool--by Bailey, which is only one reason detective Steve Burke has to add her to his suspect list. As with her last book, this one is full of taut suspense and crackling sexual tension. And it's going right on my keeper shelf with her other books. This one also gets four arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!