Hello, and welcome back! This is really one of my favorite times of the year, with the beautiful, clear blue skies during the day and all of the sparkling stars there at night, along with the much cooler temperatures. Of course, all those pluses have a couple of negatives, such as having to get up in the dark in the mornings, which I'll admit is not much fun. But the cooler evenings are perfect for settling in with a great new book, and I've worked my way through quite a few of the October releases on my desk already.

This time out, I have the anthology Deadly Promises (Pocket Star, received from publisher), with stories from Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love, Cindy Gerard, and Laura Griffin. While I'm not a fan of Kenyon/Love or Gerard, I'd planned on picking this one up just for the Griffin story, as I'm a huge fan. Kenyon and Love kick things off with 'Just Bad Enough', another addition to their 'BAD' series. In this one, Jeremy is working a job when he meets and falls for CeCe, a woman he thinks is much too good for him. Gerard's 'Leave No Trace' has David Cavanagh on a dangerous mission to rescue Carrie Granger from a prison camp in the far East, and things get complicated on the way out. Griffin's 'Unstoppable' adds to her 'Tracers' series, with Kelsey Quinn on an archeological dig in the desert, and her uncle sends SEAL Gage Brewer in to keep her safe when a couple of bodies are discovered, and they're not ancient. I did attempt the Kenyon/Love story, despite not being a fan. There's some really awkward phrasing in this one, and there is just something about Kenyon's writing style that puts me off. I liked Gerard's story much better than I've enjoyed her previous work, but I think the shorter length has a lot to do with that. Cav and Carrie draw you in, and Cav is seriously hero material, with his past demons still lurking about even while he's doing the protect and save thing. Yum. Then we get to Griffin's contribution, which is fabulous. Gage and Kelsey are hot, and, despite the grave danger stalking them, there's no way this can't have a happy ending, and it's just so, so good. I've enjoyed Griffin since her first book, and she keeps getting better and better with each consecutive story. I hope she continues with her romantic suspense career for many years to come. I'm giving this one four and a half of Cupid's five arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!