Hello, and welcome back! We're about to have a stretch of really warm, sunny days heading into the weekend, which makes me want to take my books or laptop outside to read and write. I may do it, too, depending on how long kitchen duties take this week. With company coming, there'll be plenty of work to do inside before their arrival.

Good thing I have the last of the March books already waiting for you (and a couple April releases as well). This time out, I have Christy Reece's No Chance (Ballantine, received from publisher), fourth book in her 'Last Chance Rescue' series, and first in a new trilogy. Skylar James fell in love with Gabe Maddox eight years ago, and they got married in a hurry. But there was a rather large secret she hadn't told him, and then suddenly, he was gone. Gabe works now for LCR, and his path is about to cross his wife's for the first time in many years: he's got to rescue her from kidnappers who snatched a friend of Skylar's and got Skylar in the bargain. He's not happy about it, but when he sees her again, he realizes her reality these past eight years has been a lot different than his, and he knows exactly the person to blame. He doesn't know, however, if he can trust her again, even if their long separation isn't her fault. What he does know, though, is that he still wants her, and apparently, the feeling is mutual. I'll be honest and say right up front that I was very disappointed in the first three books in this series, with heroes who were pretty unpleasant to their heroines, and I expected more of the same when this one landed on my desk. So I was very pleasantly surprised when Gabe wasn't the completely miserable man his predecessors were. Sure, he's believed the worst of Skye all this time, but when presented with the reality, he doesn't continue to hold on to his bitterness so tightly that he can't get past it. Skye isn't my favorite heroine, as she does have some issues that I found kind of petty and annoying. I could also have done without some of the more graphic moments in the secondary characters' scenes. Overall, though, saying I liked this one a lot better than the first three is a little bit of an understatement. I enjoyed this one far more than I expected to, though I still don't know if I'd call it a keeper, but I won't automatically put the next book of hers I see in my 'do I have to read this' pile. It's earned three and a half of Cupid's five arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!