Charming the Highlander by Janet Chapman
Why I read this: The back cover blurb sounded good.

When a plane crash strands brilliant scientist Grace Sutter on an icy mountaintop in Maine, she finds herself alone in the wilderness with the only other surviving passenger -- Greylen MacKeage,a sexy, medieval warrior who's been tossed through time to find the woman he's destined to love. Forced together to survive the harsh, wintry landscape, neither expects the fierce passion that flares between them. But Grace is not used to letting her heart take control, and Greylen will settle for nothing less than her heart's surrender....

There were a few things that had me excited to read this; highlander, plane crash, time travel.
I'm disappointed. That blurb is much too misleading.

I was wanting and expecting something similar to Linda Howard's Up Close and Dangerous, but with a highlander twist.
It wasn't even close.

Only two or so chapters covered the survival aftermath of the plane crash, so there goes the plot as described on the back cover that I was wanting to read.

Since I enjoyed a the other Janet Chapman books that I have read I figured I'd just read on. Even though it wasn't the story I was lead to believe, it could still turn out to be a good book, right? Sadly it didn't turn into a good read.

The story was all over the place. Heroine is to give her nephew to his father, but she doesn't want to (even thought she made a promise to her now dead sister) she lies about who the baby belongs to. There is a weird kidnapping plot that is inserted over half way in that doesn't fit the book at all. The heroine trying to help both her Hero and her sister's baby daddy, but there is resistance on both sides. None of it fit. It could have, though. But as it was, it felt like a bunch of different stories meshed into one.

DNF on page 272, however, I did jump to the end to skim the last few pages.

I'm not giving up on this author. I have the next few books in the series, which I do plan to read.

The seduction of his wife by Janet Chapman
Published by Pocket star
Grade: B

He set out to seduce her for all the wrong reasons -- but found himself falling in love with her for all the right ones. Alex Knight is dead -- or so everyone thinks. A widowed logger baron with a risk-taking streak, he took on a South American engineering project and was reported dead after a rebel attack. So when he turns up back in Maine very much alive, his grieving family is shocked. But the biggest shock is Alex's, when he discovers he's now married -- to a woman he's never met. Sarah Banks is ready for a change from running a quiet Bed & Breakfast, and working for the Knight family offers not only a bigger opportunity, but also the family life she yearns for. So she's glad to help secure custody of Alex's orphaned children, whom she's come to love, by marrying their father by proxy before he's legally declared dead. But when Alex returns, the sexy, determined woodsman upends all of Sarah's plans. Because suddenly she's married to a passionate stranger with an easy smile...and tumbling headlong into a fiery dance of seduction.

I originally read this when it was first released. I liked it very much, and little has changed. As much as I liked the story, I still found the Heroine rather annoying. All that sugar, spice and sweetness just didn't do it for me.

With the help a judge who is a family friend, scheming Grady arranges the marriage of his son to his housekeeper. Grady is told that Alex has died, so in order to stop Alex's in laws from trying to take his 2 children from them, he has married off his son by proxy and then had Sarah adopt the children.

Alex isn't really dead though, so when he come back home and finds a gun pointed at him and a pretty little thing calling herself his widow, he is confused and mad.
Alex intimidates Sarah, so in order to keep him off her back till the rest of the family comes home, she keeps his glass full with whiskey.

Later that night, they end up having sex. He is drunk, and she thinks she is dreaming. Afterwards Alex treats her badly. He kicks her out in at 3 in the morning and she has to walk several miles into town.

Alex wasn't aware that she can't drive, so the next morning when Grady wakes him up by dumping a bucket of cold water his head, he is quickly set straight. Grady makes Alex find Sarah and bring her home. Alex is attracted to his wife, and once he sees how great she is with his kids he decides to try and make the marriage a real one. Sarah doesn't really trust him, so she avoids his advances. Thats when Alex starts courting his wife.

Alex and Sarah don't just meet and fall in love. It all takes place over a 7 week period. They learn about each other and get to know one another first.

I enjoyed rereading this one.
You can read my review of the second book here.

The stranger in her bed, by Janet Chapman
Published by Pocket Star, Feb/07
Grade:C+

When Ethan agreed to work at a sawmill his family
is purchasing, he didn't foresee getting fired on his first day. He should be
mad at the fiercely outspoken female foreman, but something about her seems
disconcertingly familiar -- even though Ethan is sure he'd remember meeting a
stunning beauty like Anna Segee before.

Anna has never forgotten Ethan -- or the schoolgirl
crush she had on him before her father whisked her off to Canada. Now the shy,
gangly girl is grown up and back in Oak Grove with a new name, new confidence,
and a newly inherited mill of her own. Her superb reputation in a male-dominated
industry hasn't come easy, but even harder will be ignoring the sexy man Ethan
has become. . .

This is the second book in a series. The first one is called The seduction of his wife. Funny thing though-I like the Heroine of this book better than the one in TSOHW, however, I liked TSOHW better.

Anna and Ethan grew up in the same town and were childhood friends. She was 11, he was 12 and she had a crush on him. Ethan saved her from being attacked by a group of boys. Anna's mother was the town tramp, so the boys figured that Anna was just like her mother and decided to try and take advantage of that.

Anna ended up being sent to Canada where her dad changed her name and gave her a very secure, loving upbringing. Anna's father decided it would be best to cut all ties with everyone in Anna's past, including the Grandfather who has raised her for her first 11 years.

So now Anna is all grown up. She works at the mill that the Knights bought in TSOHW. She is 29, and unlike Sarah from the first book, she is no innocent virgin. She wants to sleep with Ethan and she throws herself at him. They have a good time sleeping together. The sex is hot, but all the condom talk got to be a bit much. I don't care about safe sex in my romances. Either use one or not-I don't care. Just don't go on so much about it.

At one point, Ethan fires her, yet she still kept on sleeping with him. I didn't believe it at all. Even though Anna agreed that she would have fired someone for the same thing, I can't picture her still having sex with the man who fires her. Especially since Ethan knew how much money she owed in back taxes. Sarah, the Heroine from the first book I can see still sleeping with Alex if he ever fired her, but Anna? Nah, I don't buy it.

Meanwhile, there are some people who are trying to force Anna into selling her property, but she doesn't want to. There are people who are breaking into her buildings, and even caused her to get into a car accident. All the Knight men come to her rescue and they save they day.

Even though Ethan and Anna were in love, they took way too long to express it to each other. She was waiting for Ethan to say it first, and I think he was waiting for the same thing. I expect that sort of thing in historicals, but not contemporaries.

You probably can't tell from all my complaints, but I did enjoy this book. I don't think there will be any more books in this series, but if another should ever be written (a story for Daniel the game warden I hope) I'd buy it.