LILLIAN'S BROTHER HAS ONE LAST REQUEST. On a cold April night as the Titanic sinks to the ocean floor, Conrad Bradenton asks his new business partner, Aaron Stone, to fulfill a final wish: that Aaron return a well-worn book to his family and take care of his sister. Aaron seeks out Conrad's family, never imagining the depth of his commitment until he meets lovely Lillian Bradenton. Hit hard by the despair in her eyes, Aaron encourages Lillian to restore her hope by bringing a boarded-up bookstore back to life.
Lillian is uncertain whether she can trust this stranger, the last link to her beloved brother. But she has faith in her brother's ability to read people. If Conrad saw something in Aaron, maybe she will in time.
Then Aaron is summoned to London, and Lillian wonders if it is too late to turn hesitant friendship into undying love.
Renee Roszel is the author of over 40 romance novels. She has been named Oklahoma Writer of the Year and has been a National Rita Finalist several times as well as a finalist multiple times in Romantic Times Short Contemporary Romance category. She is married, the mother of two sons and the grandmother a boy and girl who live way way too far away for Renee's taste!
Besides writing Renee volunteers her time with her local Animal Shelter's thrift Shop, which she helped start several years ago. She is proud of both her writing career and her volunteering. Both have brought her great friends, happy times and a warm and fuzzy feeling around the heart.
Wind Shadow by Renee Roszel Silky Overbridge had moved to Alaska with her husband, Rex, where he ended up leaving her for someone else. Divorced, depressed and just down, her friend Annie pushes her to live again. Going on bike rides, getting a job and finishing her education. Now Annie has them going on the Biked Alaska, a four week bike trip across the state. She learns Rex will also be on it and decides to get him back.
The handsome detective Silky met at the hospital one night, under embarrassing circumstances, is also on the ride. Why is it that she keeps noticing his dark eyes and handsome looks when all she wants is to win Rex back?
Ride up and down the road to romance along the beautiful Alaskan countryside with the characters. Cool springs, beautiful mountains and wild animals. Smell the fresh mountain air and the burn of peddling uphill. Along with the burning passions passing between the characters. Will Silky see what she really needs or will pride blur her view? **Sexual content http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...
I found the extreme oafishness of Silky's ex and the extreme perfection of the new guy to be too OTT to be believable. It read very much like a classic Harlequin from the early 1980s, but without the timelessness some of them have to make them still enjoyable. I got tired of rolling my eyes, so I stopped reading it.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the descriptions of the beauty and majesty of the Alaskan wilderness. I loved that the main character is a woman whose husband leaves her for another woman. Then she discovers he is single again. She now has to figure out if the love she once had was real or just a fairy tale she really wanted to believe in. Her working through her thoughts and feelings it what connect the reader to a very real to life experience.
A long bike trip is not where I would imagine romance to bloom but this story works. The characters are believable and funny. The situations each of the characters find themselves in are true to life. Often we think the divorce was the mistake but sometimes the marriage is the mistake.
I have been a BIG fan of Renee Roszel since the mid 80's and thought I have read all her books but this one was a surprise. This is the first time to read it for me and I enjoyed it as much as I have any of her others. It's a sweet romance with just a bit of heat to it. I don't think you will be unhappy reading this one. Please check out her other books too. I'm really hoping she will start writing again soon! Hint, hint!