Hello, and welcome back! Not only are there bright yellow crocuses blooming around the side and front of the house, but the daffodils are also adding some lovely spring color to the otherwise winter-dreary flowerbeds. Of course, it's not quite warm enough to go out and really enjoy them, but it's still baseball season here, which means we sit outdoors anyway, just bundled up.

I've got all sorts of interesting-looking books coming in lately, mostly for summer at this point, and with some, it's difficult to resist picking them up ahead of the current month's releases. But I'm behaving so far and working my way through the rather large stack of April romances. This time out, I have the latest from Shelly Laurenston, The Beast in Him (Brava). Bobby Ray Smith, aka Smitty, hasn't seen little Jessie Ann Ward since he went off and joined the Navy, but he sure recognizes her when they meet up in New York City, where he's working security, and Jessie Ann is all grown up and hasn't forgotten his rejection of her. Jessica is now the Alpha of her own pack, and she has no intention of letting Bobby Ray get under her skin again. But Bobby Ray hasn't forgotten her after all these years, and he's equally determined not to let her get away this time. Along with the very successful business she runs, Jessica's also dealing with a potential threat to her pack from one of Bobby Ray's cousins. Now she's got to contend with the very Alpha wolf Bobby Ray, to her wild dog, and both are bent on having their way. I liked this one better than her last book, I will say, but I didn't love it. It does, however, mostly live up to the Brava imprint on its spine, with plenty of sex. I had a hard time, though, believing that a man as smart as Bobby Ray could be so dense when it came to figuring out the proper way to winning his mate. I also don't especially enjoy disfiguration with my sex, so there are scenes later in the story that just didn't do it for me. I do, however, believe that fans of her previous work will absolutely love this one. I enjoyed the light, easy relationship between this pair, as well as a younger, secondary couple who'll most likely have their very own story sometime down the road. This one's earned three and a half of Cupid's five arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!