Muriel Jensen

Not bad - a sweet romance, though I wanted to slap her, and occasionally him, throughout. Talk to each other, people! She's lying her head off, when he'd be jumping to help her if she told him - of course, if she had told him, she might not have stayed long enough to fall in love with him and his family. He's not telling her what he knows, either - which is not much, for most of the book, but still. Her plan was a rather nasty one, and worked only in the abstract - as soon as there were people involved, it fell apart. Jonathan was pulling a trick on her, too, not telling her about Jane and Lucy. I don't know. Sweet, eventually, but the twists and turns they had to go through to get there...I'm glad it didn't end when she found them, she had to actually deal with real people again. That's what makes it worth reading, that the characters are quite solid, and have their own motives that they hold to. Glad I read it, but I doubt I'll reread; I'm willing to read others by her, but I don't think I'll seek them out. Too much manipulation for my taste.… (more)

Winter's bounty by Jensen_ Muriel
At an extended familys gathering in Astoria, OR MaryJane
realizes her family is messed up. Her mother once an actress has remarried and moved form Hollywood to Oregon where her new spouse owns a lumber yard. She's having a family Christmas reunion and everybody will be there.
She marvels at how her step brother James who didn't even show for the wedding will be there. It intrigues her enough to attend...
She is able to have a talk with him when the dog jumps her but James is there to rescue her and he sets the record straight about the events...
Mary gets a gift ahead of time, so unexpected but she can handle it all...
James convinces her she needs to stay closer to her relatives and move and he has it all worked out.
He goads her to no end and she's able to handle his sons grief over his loss of parents. Lots of past secrets we learn about over the course of the book.
Road hazards and he tries to protect her as much as he can...
So much physical attraction and steamy sex scenes.
Love the locations and how the tree industry terminology is explained when spoken. Love learning about it.
Misunderstandings happen and you wonder if they can work through them...
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).… (more)