Victoria Pade

Fantastic enemies-to-lovers story. After her mother's death when she was eight, Clairy's Marine father packed her off to his parents to raise, leaving him free to pursue his career. On his rare visits home, he paid very little attention to Clairy. Those attentions disappeared altogether when ten-year-old Quinn showed up, asking for the general's help preparing to become a Marine himself. Over the next eight years, Clairy found herself shoved aside time and again.

Quinn was raised to pursue show more any goal in a no-holds-barred fashion, so he saw nothing wrong with asking for the general's help. However, with the typical selfishness of a teenage boy, he never saw the effect it had on his idol's daughter.

The book opens shortly after General McKinnon's death. In his will, he left instructions and money for a memorial and foundation showcasing his career and those of other town military members. The foundation will help veterans, and is to be run by Clairy. Quinn is tagged to set up the actual display of the general's life and career. This means that Clairy and Quinn must find a way to work together. Furious, Clairy wants nothing to do with Quinn but can't find a way out of it. All she can think of is the way he treated her, even though she hasn't seen him in fifteen years.

Quinn knows he has a challenging task ahead of him. He recently learned some things about the general that shook him to the core and caused him to take a hard look at himself and his attitudes. Can he overcome the effects of his mentor's training, or is he destined to follow in his footsteps?

The first couple of meetings between Quinn and Clairy are painful. The hurt and anger Clairy feels run deep, and with her father's death, any hope of changing their relationship is gone. She still holds Quinn responsible for keeping her father from her, and she makes no secret of her feelings toward him. Quinn attempts to apologize, but Clairy is skeptical of his sincerity. I liked that Quinn didn't give up and did his best to demonstrate by his actions that he'd changed. In a very emotional scene, Clairy explains to Quinn what life with her father was like, countered by the same events from Quinn's point of view. It was an eye-opening conversation for both of them and the first steps in healing the rift between them. As the general's secrets come out, we see the effect on Quinn as he learns about them and again as he shares them with Clairy. Her reaction surprised him, and I loved how she helped him deal with the guilt he felt.

As that rift narrowed and then disappeared, the attraction that each felt began to simmer and grow. The question became one of what to do about it? Clairy, recently divorced from a man who turned out to be much like her father, wants no part of a relationship with a man whose life revolves around his work. At the same time, Quinn's look at his past relationships leaves him wondering if he's capable of a normal relationship with any woman, much less Clairy. I loved watching Quinn's journey as he looked at himself, the changes he needed to make, and the effect that Clairy had on how he saw himself. I loved the ending as he bared his heart to her, and Clairy had to decide if she could trust him and herself enough to have a lifetime together.

My only complaint about the book has nothing to do with the story itself. Yet again, Harlequin and its editors have shown themselves unable or unwilling to capitalize the word Marine in their books properly. When writing of a member of the United States Marine Corps, the word Marine is ALWAYS capitalized. Lower case "marine" refers to something related to water or the sea, such as marine mammals or marine life.

See: P 151, The Associated Press Stylebook, 2004

Marines: Capitalize when referring to U.S. forces: the U.S. Marines, the Marines, the Marine Corps, Marine regulations. Do not use the abbreviation USMC.
Capitalize Marine when referring to an individual in a Marine Corps unit: He is a Marine.
Do not describe Marines as soldiers, which is generally associated with the Army. Use troops if a generic term is needed. show less

Good book about two people who, after years of avoiding commitments, discover that maybe there's something worth risking their hearts for. Josie is a free-spirited young woman who takes life with both hands. She has had all kinds of different jobs, moving on when she gets too comfortable. She is fun-loving, nearly always cheerful, and easy-going. She had also decided that marriage and family aren't for her after her risk-taking parents died when she was a child, leaving her an orphan. Burned show more once again when the man she loved decided he didn't love her, she decided that depending on herself is the only way to live.

Enter Michael, good-looking, charming, and a firefighter. He loves his work and his mother and sister. He had never wanted to be anything other than a firefighter, even though he lost his firefighter father when he was twelve. Between the memories of that time and the more recent witnessing of the devastation caused by the loss of so many first responders on 9/11, Michael has decided that he will hold off on any serious relationships until after he retires from firefighting.

Michael and Josie met at a poetry reading at a local bar. The chemistry between them was instant, and they spent the Labor Day weekend together before parting, not expecting to see each other again. I loved their second encounter. Michael has just suffered through another blind date set up by his mother, who is determined to get him married off. He realized that she isn't going to give up and came up with a crazy plan. He asked Josie to become his "pretend fiancée" and move in with him, long enough to get his mother off his back. This came at a perfect time for Josie, who has been kicked out of her apartment for having an unauthorized dog. Though she is wary because he still makes her heart pound, they agree to a "platonic roommates" arrangement.

I enjoyed the development of their relationship. Michael and Josie quickly became friends over shared meals and movie nights. But underneath it all was a simmering attraction that kept getting stronger, no matter how they tried to fight it. I loved seeing them grow closer as they shared the house and their lives. I especially liked how sensitive each was to the other's moods. It was heartwarming to see the way that Josie was there for Michael when he'd had a particularly rough day. Each of them began to think more about making their pretend engagement real, but getting past their fears was a challenge. Then Josie has a double event that makes her realize just how deep her feelings for Michael are, and that she has to talk to him about them. On his side, Michael has an epiphany about what he's really doing by avoiding relationships. I loved his big moment at the end when he was able to share that revelation with Josie. Her response was great, especially with her own revelation.

I also enjoyed Michael's mother. She was definitely pushy and determined to get Michael married off. I loved their conversation about all the dates she had arranged for him. Her surprise when he announced his "engagement" was priceless. It was fun to see how Josie was amused by her antics rather than put off. Michael's love for his mom was obvious, even though she frustrated him on a regular basis. show less

Good enemies to friends to lovers story. The Camden family has been on a quiet crusade to try to right some of the wrongs done by their fathers and grandfather in their business practices. Each of the younger Camdens has had their assignment and now it is Lindie's turn. It seems that her uncle had used underhanded business practices to drive a wedge between Sawyer's dad and his fiancee - who her uncle wanted for himself. Those actions nearly destroyed his business and took years for him to show more overcome. Now Sawyer fights for the little guys whose lives and businesses are wrecked when a Camden superstore comes to town. Lindie's job is to convince Sawyer to back off and to offer him a job working for the Camdens instead of against them.

Lindie knows she's in trouble the minute she gets a good look at Sawyer. Trying to keep her mind on her goal is really hard when she's constantly distracted by how good looking he is. Sawyer has a similar problem, finding Lindie too gorgeous for his peace of mind.

I really had fun with the relationship between these two. Lindie is up front with Sawyer about what she wants from him, and he is equally honest in telling her that it isn't going to happen. He challenges her to step away from her ivory tower and see the results of her family's activities. What he doesn't know is that Lindie has what may be the world's softest heart, and seeing what is going on makes her want to fix it. Her family isn't too happy with her when she confronts them with what she has found out, especially since that soft heart of hers gets her into trouble on a regular basis. I liked seeing Lindie surprise Sawyer with her willingness to get her hands dirty and how that softens his attitude a bit toward her (but not her mission).

The more time they spend together, the closer they get. But there are some serious obstacles to anything permanent between them, outside of the family feud. Sawyer has very definite ideas of the type of woman he wants in his life, thanks to having been burned once too often by "drama queens". He also has a four year old son who is a big part of his life, one whose mother is talking about moving across the country. Lindie has even more deep-seated issues. As one of ten kids raised by her grandmother after their parents died, she has always felt somewhat insecure in her place in the family. She worries about kids having to fight for attention from parents, especially kids that are only half siblings or who only see a parent sometimes. She has sworn she would never get involved with a man who already had a child who would have to compete for attention with her children, which puts Sawyer on the "no" list. Unfortunately, her heart isn't paying attention.

There were some fantastic scenes of the tenderhearted Lindie jumping in to try to fix something that she sees happening, and Sawyer trying to rein her in, explaining how she might complicate matters even further. There are also some wonderful conversations between them as they get to know each other, and some lighthearted teasing as they poke at each other's foibles. As time goes on, Sawyer starts to realize that he wants Lindie in his life in spite of the problems he sees. At the same time, Lindie wants the same thing, but only sees how impossible those problems are to overcome. It isn't until a discussion with the women in her family makes her see that the feud issue can be dealt with. And an honest look at her insecurities makes her realize that she had been basing a lot on "what ifs". I loved the ending and seeing how they both came to the same conclusion at nearly the same time. I would have liked to see the first Sunday dinner that Sawyer came to though. show less

Very good book. The Camdens are continuing their mission of trying to right the wrongs done by their great-grandfather through the years. This time Jani is supposed to find out from Gideon what they can do to redeem themselves. Once she finally makes contact it is an uphill battle to convince Gideon that they are serious. There is also an attraction between them that is hard to resist, but each one has issues that make it impossible to give in.

I really liked both Jani and Gideon. Jani loves show more her family and her work in public relations and marketing for the family business. She also wants a family of her own and has been very unlucky in finding a love of her own. Because of health issues she doesn't want to delay becoming a mother any longer and is planning to do it on her own. Getting involved with Gideon is a bad idea all around. He hates the Camdens for what happened with his great-grandfather and he has no intention of ever having children. I loved the way that things started out, with Jani's refusal to back down from talking to Gideon about their families' issues. She was nice about it, but determined, and finally got Gideon to listen. I loved the way that her involvement helped Gideon start to let go of the resentment, especially as they got to know each other better. She was fully aware of his "No Camdens, No Kids" rule about relationships, but she still had trouble resisting the attraction. Even after she learned why he felt that way she still felt that he could be shown that it could work. There was so much pain on her part as her feelings kept growing but Gideon continued his resistance.

Gideon had finally broken the continued streak of bad fortune that had followed his family since the rift between the Camdens and Thatchers. He has made a success of himself and his business. Since his divorce and the loss of the little girl he had considered his he has concentrated on work and protecting himself from ever suffering that kind of misery again. He was very wary of Jani and her proposal, not trusting that the Camdens weren't out to screw them again. Once he accepted that the offer was genuine he started to relax a little bit in her presence, but not too much. He was aware of her goals and he refused to open himself up to that kind of pain again. But he was also fighting a losing battle against the attraction and the feelings that were growing stronger. He had so much to do to try to let go of the resentment that was still there over their success and what it had cost his family. He also had to come to terms with his feelings about kids and whether he could let go of his fears and take a chance on a future with Jani.

There were several places where the pain that each of them was going through brought me to tears. It was so clear that they belonged together but they were fighting it all the way. I loved the way that Gideon's friend finally found the right argument to show Gideon what he was passing up. I look forward to seeing them appear in future books to see how things are going with them. show less