Review: Any Man of Mine

Making the Grade: C+

For My Thoughts

I am a long time Rachel Gibson fan. I’ve read every one of her books and for me this wasn’t a typical Rachel Gibson book - light, funny with witty banter between the characters. It’s hard to pull that off when the H/h can’t stand each other for the majority of the book. I think it’s a tough road to hoe as an author when the characters hate each other and not in that playful he loves me, he loves me not kinda way.

Before I started Any Man of Mine I noticed Sam was getting a lot of negative press in the reviews and I was kind of apprehensive before starting, but I tried to keep an open mind.

Sam is a super rich, super self-absorbed, shallow athlete, jock hockey player. But Sam’s also the father of a cute young son Connor. Sam didn’t have the best relationship with his own dad so I wasn’t surprised he didn’t know how to relate to his own son. You live what you know from what you learn growing up - I am a firm believer of that philosophy. He did try to be a father in the only way he knew how, but he wasn’t going to win any father of the year awards. And you could see that Sam came to the realization that he was really missing out on a lot by being a part-time father to Connor.

Autumn and Sam? It’s hard to get invested in and care for characters when they don’t even care for each other. My biggest problem was that I didn’t care if they got together or not.

Their relationship started off after a very brief couple of days six years ago in Vegas. They definitely had chemistry and lusted after one another. After a quickie wedding Sam up and left his new bride and cold-heartedly contacted her via his lawyer for a divorce. In this case what happens in Vegas - doesn’t always stay in Vegas. Hello bouncing baby boy nine months later.

Autumn had so much bitterness and hatred towards Sam, I didn’t see how Rachel Gibson could redeem him enough in time for Autumn to forgive him. Over 2/3 of the way through the book and Autumn and Sam were still on the outs. I kept on thinking Autumn’s been busting his balls this whole book - how are they ever going to get together? It’s going to feel forced and rushed and probably not believable.

Sam did grow and mature as a hero. I think at the age of 35 he came to realize that blowing off his son to party, sleep around, and hanging out with his guy friends paled in comparison to what he could have had with Autumn and his son.

Sam did his moments (even if they were few and far between). The Cher tickets were a sweet, generous touch. Probably my favorite scene of the whole book was when Sam caught Autumn wearing rival Sydney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins hockey jersey. It was a funny, light playful scene - one I would expect from Gibson.

This wasn’t my favorite RG book, but she’s still an auto-buy for me. You can’t score a winning goal on every shot. Sometimes the puck just misses the mark.

From the Author's Website:

Read an Excerpt

What happens in Vegas . . . doesn't always stay there.

Autumn Haven's Las Vegas "to-do" list said to catch a show and play the slots—not wake up married to a sexy jerk like Sam LeClaire. The first moment she saw him eyeing her like a luscious piece of the dessert buffet, her usually responsible self told her to run. And she did—right into the wildest fantasy weekend of her life. But Monday morning jolted her back to reality, and before she could say "pass the coffee," Sam was gone.

Now a successful wedding planner, Autumn hasn't clapped eyes on the heartbreaking hockey superstar for over two years . . . until she organizes his teammate's "Special Day," where Sam makes a big play to pick up where he left off! But she has vowed any man of hers plays for keeps. Is Sam the man for her or does she banish him to the sin bin forever?

Review: Face of Danger

Making the Grade: A

For My Thoughts

Vivi Angelino may look like a Sk8ter girl but sometimes looks can be deceiving and sometimes they can land you the gig of a lifetime. Vivi’s the brains behind the Guardian Angelinos Protection and Security business she runs with her extended family and she‘s very proud of the company she‘s built from the ground up. She wants nothing more than for the Guardian Angelinos to be the best in the business evah! And she's willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that happens.

This is the 3rd book in Roxanne St. Clair’s Guardian Angelino series and if you’ve read the other books, then you already know that Vivi and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colton Lang are in the flirty-dance stage of their budding relationship. Vivi takes great joy in butchering the good agent's title every chance she gets and it's a running joke throughout the book.

Cautious Colton Lang's a preppy, buttoned up, Izod polo shirt and khaki pants wearing by the book Feebee while Vivi...she's a sk8ter girl in her baggy cargo's, t-shirt, spiky hair and nose ring, her skateboard close at hand and the attitude to carry off the look...she said see you l8ter boy. They are total polar opposites, but that's what makes their relationship soooooooo interesting as it develops.

Vivi’s newest case for the Guardian Angelinos could potentially put her life in grave danger, but if she can successfully pull it off...well she can‘t buy that kind of notoriety for the company or make a million dollar pay check at the same time.

Luckily for Vivi, she bears a striking resemblance to Oscar award winning actress Cara Ferrari who may be in danger from The Red Carpet Killer who has killed the two previous female Oscar winners. Vivi agrees to impersonate Cara in public for one month in order to bag the killer. The catch is she can’t reveal the terms of the agreement or reveal to anyone who she really is. That includes the FBI agents who will be protecting her and it’s gonna be awfully hard pulling the wool over a certain Special Agent in Charge.

I mentioned Vivi going to great lengths to do her job and that included a smoking’ hot little scene on an airplane that left cautious Colton Lang in no doubt the “lengths” to which Ms. Angelino aka Cara Ferrari was prepared to go to maintain her “deep” cover. It was one of the most memorable scenes in the book for me.

With the scenic island of Nantucket as the backdrop, Vivi and Colton hide-out, make-out and try and figure out who’s trying to kill the real Cara and in the process puts Vivi right in the killer's crosshairs.

The relationship between Vivi and Colton rocks in Face of Danger, but Ms. St. Clair also does a great job of keeping the tension and suspense of the story evolving and the killer‘s identity concealed right to the end.

I can’t wait for the next book in this series. No idea whose story it will be, but Ms. St. Clair has lots of options. Personally I’m betting on the elusive cousin, Gabe Rossi.

From The Author's Website

Read an Excerpt here:

Private investigator Vivi Angelino has never met a risk she wouldn't take-and her latest client, a starlet with a madman on her heels, gives Vivi the perfect opportunity to walk on the wild side. That is, as long as she can make sure a certain overprotective, overly gorgeous FBI agent stays out of her way-and out of her fantasies.
Special Agent in Charge Colt Lang is not about to stand back and watch Vivi dangle herself as bait for a serial killer. Yet trying to rein her in means throwing his well-worn rulebook-and his iron self-control-to the wind . . . and taking the chance that his heart will become collateral damage in an already perilous case. Because a woman who can't stop searching for the truth is impossible to resist-even when every discovery she makes brings them closer to a calculating murderer with nothing to lose.

Review: Shiver of Fear

Making the Grade: B+

For My Thoughts

The latest case outsourced to the Guardian Angelinos by the FBI is to find Devyn Sterling in Belfast and convince her by whatever means necessary to leave the country immediately. No real details are revealed as to why the FBI wants her gone, but for former FBI agent and newest consultant for the Angelinos Marc Rossi - it should be a piece of cake.

Devyn Sterling is a complicated heroine. To understand some of her less than stellar decisions, it’s important to understand her motivation. Devyn’s recently discovered she was adopted and since then she’s been of a single mind to find her birth mother and father. She’s convinced that her “bad gene” pool has shaped the woman she has become. She discovered her father Finn is a known Irish Mobster and now it seems her scientist mother Dr. Sharon Greenburg may not quite be on the up and up either. Two strikes and as far as Devyn is concerned...she’s out.

Devyn’s obsession with her mother almost borders on stalkerish behaviour and a number of decisions Devyn makes whether you agree with them or not - are done with the soul purpose of finding, meeting and bonding with her mom. There are factions out there who are very aware of Devyn’s desire to make the acquaintance of her mom and use that knowledge to lead Devyn around like a puppet on a string. Did she make some bad moves? Yes. Did she get herself and Marc into unnecessary danger? Yes on more than one occasion. It seemed like Devyn had nine lives since in very other chapter she was being threatened, attacked, almost knifed and shot at because she was asking too many questions and getting too close to the answers.

Here’s a quote from Devyn about what drives her to make a connection with her mom:

“You’ve never known what it’s like to belong to no one, to have no real reason for being on this earth, no connection to anyone, anywhere. “ I want a relationship with her. I want to...I want to love her. And have her love me. Is that so wrong?” That’s some pretty heavy emotion.

Marc Rossi desperately wants to keep her Devyn safe, follow orders and not jeopardize his job with the Guardian Angelinos biggest client the FBI - don’t wanna be pissing those boys off. It doesn’t take long for Marc to realize that there’s a lot more going on in Northern Ireland than meets the eye and he’s going to have to stick close to Devyn because with or without him she’s on a quest. For Marc, trying to derail Devyn from her mission was like trying to corral a run-away train.

Both Marc and Devyn are wary of their developing feelings for each other. Marc’s been burned once before by a woman he was involved with and he is gun shy about getting close to another woman with an agenda. But being in such proximity, their chemistry undeniable, it’s only a matter of time before their emotions burn out of control.

Here’s a little taste of Marc and Devyn:

“That wasn’t sex,” she whispered, the words out before she even realized it.
He still couldn’t breathe but managed to lift his head and look at her with a rueful gleam in his eye. “Can’t wait to hear what you call it.”
She was still floating, high on the sensations, numb to reality, all the pain deep inside her just...gone.
“It was like that aloe I put on you, “ she whispered, no control over the words. “Soothing and healing, taking away the wound. Such a touching scene.

Shiver of Fear is fraught with danger and suspense, bio-terrorism, biological warfare - issues relevant today, all manner of secret agent alphabet agencies involved and seriously I really couldn’t tell the good guys from the bad. Especially Dr. Sharon Greenburg - is she or isn’t ? Good or evil? St. Claire did a great job of keeping you guessing on whose side all he players were really working for right to the very end.

Everyone Needs a Guardian Angel(ino)

I don’t know if Roxanne St. Clarie plans on writing any more books in her Bullet Catcher series (maybe they’re just on temporary hiatus), but her new series featuring the men/women of the Rossi/Angelino families are sure to entice, excite and get your heart pounding if Edge of Sight is any indication.

So au revoir Bullet Catchers and hello…Bring on the Guardian Angelinos.

Making the Grade: A

For My Thoughts


It’s like a murder mystery dinner theatre gone bad at the upscale Boston restaurant Paupiette the night part-time waitress and future Harvard Law student Samantha Fairchild witnesses a murder for real. This game of Clue gone wrong…it was the assassin…in the wine cellar…with a gun… has a decidedly bad ending for Sam. Now she’s become the #1 target on more than one person’s hit list after it’s discovered that her image - smile you’re on Candid Camera - was caught on the security camera which the killer thoughtfully removed before leaving the scene of the crime.

Tired of being alone, afraid and holed up in her apartment, Sam decides to call in reinforcements and contacts her good friend and reporter Vivi Angelino for help. Showing up under the cover of night at Vivi’s apartment, Sam gets more than she bargained for when she has a run in with a blast from her past in the form of Vivi’s twin brother and the stuff wet dreams are made of...Zaccaria Angelino. Doesn’t that name conjure up a hot, spicy Italian dish? Yummy...I’ll take an Angelino to go!

Sam and Zach share a steamy past. Three non-stop hot, off the charts weeks of sex before Zach shipped out for active duty to Iraq (for the 411 on how this relationship began, check out the prequel, Taken to the Edge here). It’s been three years and in all that time, Sam has never heard from the Zach, not even a measly postcard. It’s very obvious that what transpired between these two in the past is far, far from over.

Zach’s never forgotten the time he shared with his Sammi but he’s not the same guy she knew. He’s not only changed mentally, but physically. A close call with a mortar shell, almost cost him his life and did cost him an eye and left him with a disfiguring scar on his face. Dude’s even sporting a black eye patch a la Captain Jack Sparrow. The last thing Zach wants is to take on the job of Sam’s bodyguard, but deep down he knows there’s no one else he can trust with her protection and safety. And Sam’s going to need Zach on her side since the bad guys will stop at nothing including using friends and family to get at Samantha. Being around each other 24/7 and keeping their hands (and mouths) off each other is going to test even the strongest of wills.

St. Claire writes the Rossi/Angelino family members as real, likable (well except maybe JP) characters that we come to know and care about and have a vested interest in their well-being while giving us just enough information to wet our appetite for future books in the series. She has a lot of characters to draw from as the Rossi family consists of 5 siblings (Gabe, Marc, JP, Nicki and Chessie) and then of course the 2 honorary members of the family, adopted cousins - twins Zach and Vivi Angelino.

With twists and turns Edge of Sight is an emotional roller coaster ride from start to finish. Chills galore, taunt, gut wrenching action and a compelling story that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page is turned.

What a fantastic beginning to what is sure to be a great new series from Roxanne St. Claire starring the men and woman of The Guardian Angelinos. Next up is Marc Rossi’s story in Shiver of Fear due out next year.

Read an excerpt of Edge of Sight

Back Cover Blurb

When Samantha Fairchild witnesses a murder in the wine cellar of the restaurant where she works, the Harvard-bound law student becomes the next target of a professional assassin. Desperate for protection the authorities won't provide, Sam seeks help from Vivi Angelino, an investigative reporter who recruits her brother, Zach, to protect Samantha. A Special Forces vet with the scars to prove he's equally fearless and flawed, Zach takes the job, despite the fact that he and Sam once shared a lusty interlude that ended when he left for war and disappeared from her life. Now, as they crack a conspiracy that leads to the city's darkest corners, Sam and Zach must face their fears, desires, and doubts, before a hired killer gets a second shot...