Anthology: A mother's way

An omnibus of novels by Lisa Cach, Susan Grant, Julie Kenner and Lynsay Sands, published May 1, 2007.
Genre: historical romance / paranormal romance / contemporary romance
Cover: fun



MOTHER KNOWS BEST
UM, DOESN'T SHE?

Lynsay Sands - Mother, may I?

Was it the king who commanded Lord Jonathan to wed, or was it the diabolical scheme of his marriage-minded mama?

Lady Fairley wants her son to wed, but every young lady she ever pointed out to him, was rejected. So she persuaded the King to order Jonathan to get married in two weeks, or else.
She would just tell her son that the woman she really did want him to marry, the daughter of her best friend, was unsuitable. Of course that made the stubborn man even more determined to meet her. And when Lady Fairley pretended to be courted by the lady's really unsuitable uncle, Jonathan had to keep his eye on her, and he would take Alice with him while doing it. As cover, of course.
Spending time together made sure they got to know the other person, and Jonathan found himself liking spending time with Alice more and more, and he even asked her help in finding him a suitable bride amongst the many ladies his mother throws at him. Alice is confused by Lady Fairley's apparent dislike for her in public, while she has always been so nice to her. She won't marry Jonathan if it means her mother in law will hate her, as her own grandmother made her mother's life very miserable.

A nice enough story, but very predictable, with some fun elements.

5 stars out of 10.

Lisa Cach - The Breeding Season

After escaping her convent schooling, Miss Evelina Johnson wanted to sow her wild oats. Mrs. Johnson was planting different ideas.

A young lady is gaining a bad reputation as a flirt, and worse, as she likes kissing men. Her excuses? After her marriage, she won't get the chance and how is she to find out if her husband to be is a good kisser?
She also dresses outrageously, and wears too much face paint.

Her mother's best friend has a son, who is only interested in breeding his horses, and not in courting young ladies. So the ladies hatch a plan, where each one of their offspring is "punished" by having to spend time together. Evelina will teach Charles how to dress and act in public, and Charles will keep Evelina in check before she damages her reputation beyond all repair. Evelina discovers that she likes being outdoors, especially if she can paint, and Charles learns that dressing the part is not as bad as he thought, and with Evelina he has lost his shyness.

Again, a nice enough story, but I did not fall for either character.

5 stars out of 10.


Susan Grant - The day her heart stood still

Andie never expected the man of her dreams to fall from the sky-but when he did, her mother would make sure the earth moved!

Andie grew up with a mother who believes every alien story ever told, and she even has a museum dedicated to Roswell, and ET and such. Andie did not appreciate the other kids always making fun of her hippie mother. Now that she is an astronaut, about to achieve her life long dream, she doesn't need any bad publicity. While visiting her parents for a short vacation, she makes a wish on a falling star, or is it really? When her mother comes home, claiming there is an alien in her trunk, Andie doesn't want to believe her. It is just an attractive man her mother must have hit with her car or something.
But the evidence is there, when she activates a device intergraded in his arm. She falls hard for this alien, and they have to do their best to hide him from her mother's friends who know she is hiding something, and of course, the authorities.
She can't just give up on her dream, now that she is about to journey to Mars! Of course, Zefer can tell her lots of things about Mars and all the other planets and races out there.


I enjoyed this story a lot more, I connected with Andie, and how she reluctantly had to believe there really was an alien in her mother's museum. She did wish for a Soulmate, when he fell out of the sky…

8 stars.

Julie Kenner - Seeking Single Superhero

Jennifer Martin always wanted to marry the man she loved, but her mom knew the only ones worth having were superheroes.

Jenny's mother is working for the Protectors, and she wants nothing more for Jenny than to hook up with one herself. What more could a girl aks for? She herself was in love once, but choose to marry a mortal man instead, who left her shortly after, leaving her to raise Jenny on her own. But Jenny is not interested in a Protector for a boyfriend, they are arrogant and conceited, and look down on mortals. So when her mother has placed an ad in the company's newsletter, pretending to be Jenny and wanting a date with a superhero/Protector, she is livid. And so, to spite her mother, she starts going out with the very normal, mortal man repairing her mother's computer. Or so she thinks…
What Jenny doesn't know, is that Starbuck is a very undercover Protector, and he is there to investigate her mother. Secret data has been leaked to their number one enemy, and Daphne is the one with the access to all their data, as she has practically build the system.
But he doesn't mind spending time with Jenny, as she is gorgeous, and he really likes her and her mother. He has to find the traitor, and soon … preferably before Jenny finds out he is not a normal mortal after all …


As you might suspect, I bought the anthology for the Julie Kenner novella, as I really like her Protector / Aphrodite books. It was a fun story, and I liked both Jenny and Starbuck. (Except for his name!).
The plot was nice, the shenanigans Daphne went through to get her daughter to date a Protector, embarrassing but hilarious.

8 stars.

So, after all, not a book I can recommend. Perhaps you can buy the two paranormal stories as e-novella's?



Julie Kenner:

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian