A Kiss Before Dawn by Laurie Salzler

A Kiss Before Dawn
by Laurie Salzler
Pages: 258
Date: October 27 2015
Publisher: Bedazzled Ink Publishing, LLC
Series: Dawn (1st in series)

Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: March 18 to 23 2016
I received a copy of this book free from the author

This is the third book that I’ve read by this author, all of the books falling within a series called ‘Dawn’.

I read this series kind of weirdly – I read the middle one first – the one that followed a different set of main characters than those that populate the first and third books in the series. Hmms, that was confusing. The main characters in the first book pop up in the second, but aren’t the main focus of that book, and then take back the lead spot for the third book.

Then, while attempting to read the first book in the series, I – and I still am unsure how this happened, acquired and read the third book in the series. And now, finally, I’ve read the first and final book. Heh. First and final. Well, it’s the first book in the series, and the final book I needed to read to have read them all.

So, with this experience I say this – the middle book is connected to the other two books but can very easily be read as a stand-alone. Sure, you learn in it that Mary Jo and Chris are a couple, and that there was some incident that they don’t like to talk about (I actually forget how forthcoming they were about ‘the incident’ and have a vague recollection, this long time later, that they just mentioned that something had happened). But there wasn’t really any secret, I can now say having read the first book, that Chris and Mary Jo were potentially going to be a couple or really good friends.

I kind of messed this up, sorry. All I had been attempting to note was 1) I accidentally read the books out of order, reading the second book 1st, the third book 2nd, and the first book last; 2) after reading the books in that order, I’d say that there is no inherent problem with reading the second book first; or second. On the other hand, beyond that I don’t know what to say. 3) I know I got a lot more out of the third book, reading it second, that I might have if I had read it third.

I like the concept of actually seeing a couple be a couple, instead of yet another book wherein two people meet, circle, and potentially ‘hook up’ and then book ends. So if you read the series 1, 2, 3, then you would see Chris and Mary Jo come together, be a couple in 2, then . . . do the thing they do in the third book that I can’t actually mention without going into spoiler territory. Though I can say that I now understand why people might have been disappointed or rated that book lower than I did. Since I read that third book in the series with those two, Chris and Mary Jo, after having only read them as being a ‘presence’ in the book I had read; when they took center stage in the third book in the series. So I had nothing specifically invested in them. As such, the events that unfolded in that book didn’t impact me the way I know they would if I read the series in order.

Right, so, that was a lot of me basically saying that I can’t recommend which direction to read this series. Though reading the second book first seems safe enough.

This specific book here involves Chris Martel and Mary Jo Cavanaugh. Before I move too far, let me briefly note that I kept thinking, in my mind, ‘Charlemagne’ when I saw Chris’ name pop up. And that’s all I’ll mention about that (eta: actually, I see I noted that specific issue in at least one other review; I see that I repeat myself).

Okay then – Mary Jo Cavanaugh is the new vet in the area, and Chris Martel owns a horse farm – one specifically designed to be a breeding farm (people keep their mares there). They first meet when Mary Jo’s partner/mentor/friend introduces Mary Jo around (partner as in veterinary office partner). They kind of meet badly, what with Mary Jo doing something stupid, and Chris yelling at her.

They attempt to move past this bad start, and something of a friendship/romance proceeds to unfold. Slowly.

I am not certain how I might have felt about this book if I had read it first, but know two things – I had some vague idea how things would unfold since I had read the other books first, and … I don’t remember the second thing. Right, so – I knew that certain things would unfold, but I didn’t specifically know everything that would occur.

The characterization of Chris, Mary Jo, and Frances (the elderly neighbor lady) was good. The story unfolded naturally. The sex was fade to black (unless I missed something), oh except . . well, it depends on how much information constitutes fade to black, and how much leads to the word graphic being used. I mean, there was this scene in a bar that was kind of detailed. Mostly, though, events would start to unfold, and then the next morning would arrive – suddenly. The violence, though, was graphic.

I liked the book. I enjoyed having the chance to read the book. I’d recommend the individual books in this series, though am unsure how to recommend them – as in what order to read them. On the one hand, things obviously enough flow more naturally when you read them chronologically; on the other hand I believe I personally was able to ‘get more’ out of the third book than I might have if I had read things in order (as in, I’m fairly certain I’d have been really annoyed by the stuff going on in that book if I had been more invested in the characters when I read that book; annoyed to the point I’m not sure I’d even been able to actually finish the book; and yet I did finish the book, and enjoyed the book).

March 23 2016

Worth the Risk by Karis Walsh

Worth the Risk
by Karis Walsh
Pages: 264
Date: April 1 2012
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Series: None

Review
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Read: March 16 to 17 2016
This is my fifth book that I have read by this author.

Firstly – I’m surprised at myself that it took me a good long while before I caught on to the title. Well, maybe not surprised, since I wasn’t really paying attention to the title. ‘Worth the Risk’ – I was seeing it, when I briefly rarely thought of the issue, as ‘is the proposal by the person who wishes to pay a million plus dollars for a horsie worth the risk?’ And yes, there is a connection between the two – the proposal and the book title. But then there’s also the other type of risk. The one I might have caught on to quicker, or at least caught the connection to the title, if I had been paying more attention – ‘is this person worth the risk to break through the barriers that I have put up around myself?’ – and before you ask, that question goes to both characters.

At a relatively young age, Jamie Callahan was caught making out with another female by her parents. Neither of whom approved of the activity. And let Jamie know. The step-father, though, took the ‘punishment’ rather far. Then the mother abandoned them. And, eventually, at the age of 15 Jamie broke away with her younger sister to attempt to both protect her sister, and attempt to do something approaching a better life. She put herself through college, got a job, one that she was/is highly successful at. Though she’s something of a large shark in a tiny pond because she’s staying in the Portland area instead of attempting to make it big in one of the larger financial sectors of the nation (like, say, New York and possibly Chicago). To a large extent she’s stayed a large shark because she has a kid to raise who has ‘special needs’ (which is both true and misleading, depending on how someone interrupts my use of that phrase). Let’s be clear – her niece is in a wheel-chair; Jamie is raising her because the mother is dead; Jamie, somewhat, blames herself for both the need for the wheel-chair, and the death of the child’s mother; having to grow up fast, she’s not emotionally equipped to show love – neither to her sister, who she raised since she was 15 (and the sister was . . . 10?), nor to her niece. So, she has work that distracts her and many one night stands. She doesn’t think she’s equipped for more than that. But, is it worth the risk to have more than just sex? More than just a one night stand? With Kate Brown?

Kate Brown’s parents raised her to always be striving to go as high as she can socially. To be a social climber. They left their homes in Kentucky, and put on airs of being more than they were so that Kate could push higher (by the way, the mother doesn’t like the name ‘Kate’ as she thinks it’s too . . . mundane? Something). And Kate has fallen into the trap that she wants to both protect her parents (reputation? Something else?), and advance herself. So, when the opportunity came to reach higher than she currently resides in the horse jumping world, she jumps at it. The opportunity involves a horse, a million dollar horse, which will allow Kate to reach the heights of the field, maybe even an Olympic medal (the maybe even part might need to be stricken from the sentence). Kate works hard to get the financial backing to get the horse. She has a proposal in at Davison and Burke, and Jamie Callahan has been assigned by D&B to investigate the proposal. The ‘is it worth the risk’ for Kate is two-fold – is it worth the risk to break away from her parents desires and strive for her own (i.e., she found happiness in her own situation – a barn, (a) good horse(s), teaching students (some of whom require special teaching methods, like those who are autistic, or use wheelchairs, or have M.S.)), and/or is it worth the risk to see if there’s more that could develop between her and Jamie Callahan?

The conflict, stress, turmoil involved, found within the story seems, at a first read glance (which is good enough for me, I rarely do more than one read) to be largely in keeping with the characters and story-line. And yes, there is conflict, there is drama, angst, and ‘issues’ that come up. Barriers that have to be breached. Issues that have to be tackled. Emotional growth that needs to occur.

I think I just wrote a teaser instead of a review. Hmms. Mmphs.

Well, I rather enjoyed the time spent with the horses, the time spent between Kate and Jamie, even when both were trying to be professional; the time they spent when they weren’t trying to be professional; the various competitions; the growth shown by Jamie in various areas. The sex.

March 17 2016