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Showing posts with label Camelot Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Camelot Series. Show all posts
Monday, July 22, 2013
Review: Making It Last by Ruthie Knox
Making It Last
Author: Ruthie Knox
Release Date: July 15, 2013
Publisher: Loveswept
Camelot Series, Book #4
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Novella
Format(s): e-book
Book Source: Publisher
About the book:
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A hotel bar. A sexy stranger. A night of passion. There’s a part of Amber Mazzara that wants those things, wants to have a moment—just one—when life isn’t a complicated tangle of house and husband and kids and careers. Then, after a long, exhausting “vacation” with her family, her husband surprises her with a gift: a few days on the beach . . . alone.
Only she won’t be alone for long, because a handsome man just bought her a drink. He’s cool, he’s confident, and he wants to take Amber to bed and keep her there for days. Lucky for them both, he’s her husband. He’s got only a few days in Jamaica to make her wildest desires come true, but if he can pull it off, there’s reason to believe that this fantasy can last a lifetime.
What Nima’s talking about:
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Ruthie Knox has bookended her Camelot Series with Tony and Amber Mazzara’s story. Together the novellas represent the blissful beginning of their romance and then the reality of after “happily ever after.” Making It Last picks up Amber and Tony’s story fourteen years after the first book ends. We’ve seen them make guest appearances through sibling Caleb and Katie’s romances, but not enough to know more than the fact that they’re still married with children. We are allowed to assume that their love has given them the answers to wedded bliss, perfect hair, stress-free Christmases, a new car every five years, as well as expert parenting skills that make their lives the stuff of fantasy. So what’s there to write about? Knox bravely takes on the romance, or lack of it, inside of real married life.
I have to admit to a serious “This is Your Life” vibe that is no doubt coloring my glowing opinion of this story. I am an exercise instructor, stay-at-home mother of three high maintenance kids (including one with generalized anxiety disorder) who lives in a small suburb of Ohio, all things I share in common with lead character Amber. I even read the book at the beach with my family, not at a wedding, but a fiftieth wedding anniversary reunion. There are enough common markers, however, to give most married women with children that same feeling. We all struggle with fatigue, body image, being “the bad guy”, the economy, in-laws, eating all our fruits and vegetables, inconvenience, and guilt. We are also all human with finite resources and energy. Something’s gotta give.
Making It Last begins with Amber at one of those critical moments when if something doesn’t give, she will crack under the weight of her responsibilities… even when those responsibilities are desired blessings. I appreciate that Knox has woven her trademark humor into some serious themes and situations. It has always been my position that humor keeps us from becoming brittle, flexible enough to carry the stress of life without breaking into a thousand pieces. Knox treats the serious stuff with its proper due, it is poignant and thought-provoking, but it’s not over-worked into being a burden to read. Overall I found it to be a quick read, but one I wanted to return to again and again for validation and inspiration.
Especially significant to me as a reader was a personal note Knox tacked on to the end of the book. She talks candidly about some of the book’s themes and her belief in the romance of marriage. I’m giving this little novella my highest rating, which I rarely do, because it is difficult to write about this aspect of married life with authenticity, humor, and hope. We all love the newness of first love or the right love and the idea of finding our soulmate, but rediscovering the one you already have without being cheesy or cliché’ is a far greater challenge. Kudos Ms. Knox.
Nima’s Rating:
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Personal favorite - a must read (A+)
Purchase Info:
Reviews in the Series:
Labels:
5 stars,
Camelot Series,
contemporary romance,
Loveswept,
Nima Review,
novella,
Ruthie Knox
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1 comments
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Review: Flirting with Disaster by Ruthie Knox
Flirting with Disaster
Author: Ruthie Knox
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Publisher: Loveswept
Camelot Series #3
ISBN: #978-0345546661
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): Paperback (448 pgs), e-book
Book Source: Publisher
About the book:
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Fresh out of a fiasco of a marriage, Katie Clark has retreated to her hometown to start over. The new Katie is sophisticated, cavalier, and hell-bent on kicking butt at her job in her brother’s security firm. But on her first assignment—digging up the truth about the stalker threatening a world-famous singer-songwriter—Katie must endure the silent treatment from a stern but sexy partner who doesn’t want her help . . . or her company.
Sean Owens knows that if he opens his mouth around Katie, she’ll instantly remember him as the geeky kid who sat behind her in high school. Silence is golden, but he can’t keep quiet forever, not with Katie stampeding through their investigation. It’s time for Sean to step up and take control of the case, and his decade-old crush. If he can break through Katie’s newfound independence, they just might find they make a perfect team—on the road, on the job, and in bed.
What Nima’s talking about:
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I have to say, I may not even be rational at reviewing Ruthie Knox any more, but I love being her cheerleader. She never fails to deliver. Flirting with Disaster is the third book in her Camelot series, and she’s proven, once again, her ability to put the reader at ease with humor and then dive in with a serious knife, cutting you to pieces with very real emotion. I want to be Ruthie Knox when I grow up.
The plot in this book, the series really, has been slightly more predictable than in previous offerings by Knox. There is a threat to one of the prominent characters, but it never felt like a real threat to me, I never felt the pressure of it; I was never really worried about something bad happening. That fact, however, becomes incidental to the genuinely intense emotion between the main characters whom I was worried about. Would they screw it up? Could they get out of their own heads enough to communicate? Communication itself was a legitimate challenge in a way that I’ve never seen presented in any other book.
The point of view flips back and forth between Katie Clark, Caleb’s younger sister from Along Came Trouble, and our unlikely hero, Sean Owens. Even in rapid fire situations, I didn’t get confused about who was thinking, acting, or speaking. I think I mention it only because it has been an issue in other books I’ve read lately and appreciated so much the clarity Knox gave me here.
Both of these characters are flawed, but exhibit such courage in taking on their problems (one sooner than the other) and working to make much needed changes in their lives. Sometimes those changes drive them apart and sometimes, wonderfully, they bring them closer together. Also, when you have two strong characters, sparks are bound to fly—even in the snow on the side of the road!
In an uncharacteristic move, Knox gives us an epilogue. I think I read somewhere that she hates them. I can’t find that reference now, so I could be totally off my rocker. That wouldn’t be a first with middle-age brain taking over my life. In this case, the epilogue makes sense. Once Katie and Owen know what happens next, we don’t need to see them make it happen; we just need to know how they felt about it. I for one, like being able to have just a little more happily ever after.
Nima’s Rating:
|
Purchase Info:
Reviews in the Series:
Labels:
4 stars,
Camelot Series,
contemporary romance,
Loveswept,
Nima Review,
Ruthie Knox
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Monday, March 11, 2013
Review: Along Came Trouble by Ruthie Knox
Along Came Trouble
Author: Ruthie Knox
Release Date: March 11, 2013
Publisher: Random House/ Loveswept
Camelot Series #2
ISBN: #978-0345541611
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): e-book (350 pgs)
Book Source: Publisher
About the book:
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An accomplished lawyer and driven single mother, Ellen Callahan isn’t looking for any help. She’s doing just fine on her own. So Ellen’s more than a little peeved when her brother, an international pop star, hires a security guard to protect her from a prying press that will stop at nothing to dig up dirt on him. But when the tanned and toned Caleb Clark shows up at her door, Ellen might just have to plead the fifth.
Back home after a deployment in Iraq and looking for work as a civilian, Caleb signs on as Ellen’s bodyguard. After combat in the hot desert sun, this job should be a breeze. But guarding the willful beauty is harder than he imagined—and Caleb can’t resist the temptation to mix business with pleasure. With their desires growing more undeniable by the day, Ellen and Caleb give in to an evening of steamy passion. But will they ever be able to share more than just a one-night stand?
What Nima’s talking about:
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After finishing Along Came Trouble, I think we may have to officially classify me as a Ruthie Knox groupie. Her contemporary romance novels are clever, funny, sophisticated, and well, let’s just put it out there—hot. Along Came Trouble is the romance of Clark sibling number two, Caleb. It is set some years after Amber and Tony find their happily ever after in How to Misbehave. In fact, they have three kids when they show up near the end of Caleb’s story. This particular tale is the one that Knox says was the impetus for the whole Camelot Series and started with a lazy daydream about Justin Timberlake. That’s as promising an inspiration as I’ve ever heard.
The book opens with single mom Ellen Callahan, resident of Camelot, Ohio, entirely annoyed by some stranger in her flower beds. Ellen’s brother Jamie just happens to be a mega-famous international pop star—and he’s in love with Ellen’s pregnant next door neighbor Carly. Caleb, hunky ex-military police with his own security company, has been hired to ensure Ellen’s safety and privacy when the paparazzi descends on the little hamlet of Camelot in search of a story about her, her son, or her famous by association neighbor.
I liked Caleb. His stern military edges are softened by the way he cares for his aging parents and his family. He helps maintain his parents’ rental property, opened his own home to his sister Katie following a devastating break-up, and oh, did I mention he’s great with kids? What’s not to like? Ellen is harder to like. She’s had plenty of legitimate heartache and fought hard to achieve her independence, but she’s emotionally damaged. She’s bravely picked herself up and carved out a new life for herself and her two year old son following her divorce from his cheating, alcoholic father. She likes, no needs, her world well-ordered and uses hard boundaries to keep it that way. Caleb not only messes with her property, he’s messes with her boundaries.
There is a secondary romance here between Ellen’s brother Jamie and her neighbor Carly. This is the source of much of the book’s humor. Ellen could have used a little more of it. She often takes out her frustrations and insecurities on Caleb when they might have been better directed at her brother who hired him in the first place. This is probably the only thing that kept me from giving this book all five stars. True to form however, Knox does deliver an outstanding ending. This is something that I think sets her apart from other contemporary romance authors. She always makes it worth the effort.
Katie’s story, Flirting with Disaster, is due out in June of this year.
Nima’s Rating:
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Enjoyed - strongly recommend (A-)
Purchase Info:
Reviews in the Series:
Author Guest Post: Ruthie Knox
Hello Readers! Today I welcome back romance author Ruthie Knox. Ruthie graduated from Grinnell College as an English and history double major and went on to earn a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use. She debuted as a romance novelist with Ride with Me—probably the only existing cross-country bicycling love story yet to be penned—and followed it up with About Last Night, which features a sizzling British banker hero with the unlikely name of Neville. Other publications include Room at the Inn (a Christmas novella) and How To Misbehave, book 1 in the Camelot series. She moonlights as a mother, Tweets incessantly, and bakes a mean focaccia.
Ruthie is here today to talk about her newest title, Along Came Trouble which releases today! This is the second story in her wonderful Camelot series.
Please help me welcome Ruthie to That’s What I’m Talking About. Take it away Ruthie...
Hello, readerly types!
I’ve come to talk about Along Came Trouble, which releases today from Random House / Loveswept. It’s the second book in my Camelot series. Your own lovely Nima called the first one (How to Misbehave) “a yummy first course” and gave it an A-; here’s hoping you all enjoy this one just as much.
Along Came Trouble is a bodyguard book, but in kind of a sneaky way. To my way of thinking, it’s much less a story about safety and protection as it is about what happens when a woman meets the right man at the wrong time and has to decide how much of herself to give him when she doesn’t feel like she’s got any self to spare. And most of all it’s about how hard it is to find a balance between dependence, independence, and interdependence—and how love can lift our burdens and help us become better versions of ourselves, if we are brave enough to let it.
In this snippet, the story’s hero, Caleb, is helping his sister, Katie, clean up after a family dinner at their place. (Yes, they live together. Katie’s in a tailspin, and Caleb’s letting her live in his place. He’s that kind of guy.) Here, you get an idea of what a caretaker Caleb is—or, put another way, what a worrier.
Katie pulled the trash can out from under the sink and started shoving used disposable cups and cutlery in it, her mouth set in a grimace he’d seen too often lately. Between working as his office manager, studying for the online college class she was taking, and nursing whatever private pain she’d brought back from Alaska, she had too much on her plate.
All of them did. At least Amber and Tony had sorted themselves out. Their marriage had been a mess when Caleb came home on emergency leave to see Dad at the hospital. Now they were talking about renewing their vows, which was good news for everybody. But Mom and Dad’s apartment complex was aging, getting more expensive to run every year, and the price of their health insurance seemed to double every time he blinked.
Someone had to take care of them. That someone was him.
Heading back into the living room, he wiped up the mess on the floor. He’d been hoping it was water, but it didn’t smell like water. Next week, the dog stayed home.
He returned to the kitchen and tossed the sodden paper towels over his sister’s shoulder and into the trash. Direct hit. Katie looked at the bag. Looked at him. “Don’t throw pee towels at me, Buster. I am not the enemy.”
True, that. She was the best friend he had in this town. Most of his old buddies had moved on years ago, drawn away to Columbus or farther afield. Katie had gone all the way to Anchorage with her high school boyfriend and started up an outfitting business, but a few months before their dad’s stroke she’d come back alone, flat broke, refusing to talk about Alaska. Caleb had given her the house to live in rent-free, never expecting they’d end up sharing it.
When he had first moved home, he’d been shocked by the change in her. She spent nights tending bar and sat around listless in yoga pants all day, snacking and watching reality TV. It was as if someone had stolen his sister—usually all restless motion and cheerful wit—and replaced her with a zombie. He’d offered her the job in the office to get her out of the house, and it seemed to have helped. She was much more herself lately.
But he still worried.
He nudged Katie away from the sink with his hip so he could wash his hands. “I don’t have any enemies.”
To his surprise, Katie put her arms around him. “That’s right,” she said. “Everybody loves Caleb.” He turned, holding his wet hands away from her back and looking down at the top of her head resting on his chest.
Affection from Katie was a rare thing. She had a big heart and a barbed sense of humor that she used to keep anyone who didn’t know her well from guessing it. “You’re getting soft,” he told her.
She poked him in the stomach. “Compared to you, everybody is soft.” When she met his eyes, he saw her concern. “You worry too much,” she said. “It’s going to be fine.”
“What is?”
“Everything.”
More about Along Came Trouble by Ruthie Knox
Camelot series, book 2
Releases March 11, 2013
An accomplished lawyer and driven single mother, Ellen Callahan isn’t looking for any help. She’s doing just fine on her own. So Ellen’s more than a little peeved when her brother, an international pop star, hires a security guard to protect her from a prying press that will stop at nothing to dig up dirt on him. But when the tanned and toned Caleb Clark shows up at her door, Ellen might just have to plead the fifth.
Back home after a deployment in Iraq and looking for work as a civilian, Caleb signs on as Ellen’s bodyguard. After combat in the hot desert sun, this job should be a breeze. But guarding the willful beauty is harder than he imagined—and Caleb can’t resist the temptation to mix business with pleasure. With their desires growing more undeniable by the day, Ellen and Caleb give in to an evening of steamy passion. But will they ever be able to share more than just a one-night stand?
Buy the book from Amazon (US) | Barnes & Noble | iTunes Bookstore | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (Canada) | Other buy links via Random House
Thank you so much for stopping by today, Ruthie! Congrats on the new release.
Readers: stop back later today when Nima has her review of Along Came Trouble.
Labels:
Author Interview,
Camelot Series,
guest post,
Loveswept,
Random House,
Ruthie Knox
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
Review: How To Misbehave by Ruthie Knox
How to Misbehave
Author: Ruthie Knox
Release Date: Jan. 28, 2013
Publisher: Loveswept
Camelot Series Introductory Novella
ISBN: #978-0345545305
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Novella
Format(s): e-book (99 pgs)
Book Source: Publisher
About the book:
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As program director for the Camelot Community Center, Amber Clark knows how to keep her cool. That is, until a sudden tornado warning forces her to take shelter in a darkened basement with a hunk of man whose sex appeal green lights her every fantasy. With a voice that would melt chocolate, he asks her if she is okay. Now she’s hot all over and wondering: How does a girl make a move?
Building contractor Tony Mazzara was just looking to escape nature’s fury. Instead, he finds himself all tangled up with lovely Amber. Sweet and sexy, she’s ready to unleash her wild side. Their mutual desire reaches a fever pitch and creates a storm of its own—unexpected, powerful, and unforgettable. But is it bigger than Tony can handle? Can he let go of painful memories and let the force of this remarkable woman show him a future he never dreamed existed?
What Nima’s talking about:
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I love dependable authors. I know that when I open the pages of a new book, it’s not going to be a waste of my time or money. Ruthie Knox has proven to me that she is a dependable author. She’s apparently proven it to Random House as well because she’s been green-lighted to embark on an entire series, the Camelot Series, based in the imaginary little hamlet of Camelot, Ohio, about an hour outside of Columbus. It’s one of those insignificant places that you fly over while going from one coast to the other without knowing what you’ve missed—unless you are among the lucky few who’ve lived there. I’m originally from the west coast and now make my home in one of those historic little gems of Ohio, but really, this story would have been at home in just about any small, Midwest town.
How to Misbehave is a novella, our appetizer to the main course of the series to come. The series follows the Clark siblings—Amber, Caleb, and Katie. Blessedly, we do not have to wait a year between books. Caleb’s story, Along Came Trouble, is due out in March, and Katie’s story, Flirting with Disaster, follows in June. According to the author’s end notes however, How to Misbehave was not written first. Knox wrote it last. Amber is an established side character in Caleb and Katie’s stories and after writing both of them, Knox wanted to go back in time and write about how Amber and Tony met. It’s appropriately placed at the beginning of the series as a yummy first course.
In the confined space of under 100 pages, Knox could do little more than introduce us to Amber and Tony and get them together. Their relationship develops very quickly. It is a burst of intensity injected with Knox’s trademark wit and humor. You have to love characters who have conversations that include questions like, “Was that some kind of romantic declaration, disguised as a filthy pirate sex offer?” I liked Amber and Tony. I’m glad that we will see more of them in the books to still to come, but the thing of significance is that we’re getting introduced to the town of Camelot and Amber’s family. There’s nothing like a family to create drama. Add outside drama, a little hanky-panky, and some humor and you’ve got a good book. Add one of Knox’s dependably great endings and you’ve got a really good book. I, for one, can’t wait.
Read Chapter One Here: http://www.ruthieknox.com/books/how-to-misbehave/
Nima’s Rating:
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Enjoyed - strongly recommend (A-)
Purchase Info:
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