Power Play

STORY BRIEF: Emily is a health center massage therapist who is in town for her cousin's wedding. Her relatives take advantage of her by asking her to run errands, do wedding chores, etc. She's staying in a hotel to avoid the additional stress of staying with family members. Jonah is a detective who plays in an ice hockey league for guys over 30. He's in town for several days for a hockey tournament. The hotel is overbooked and puts them in the same room - a room they don't rent out due to a leaky roof and buckets catching water when it rains. Neither wants to leave the hotel which means they have to share the room. Jonah promises he won't make a pass at her, so they agree to share. Meanwhile, Emily's relatives are playing matchmaker for Emily with her repulsive orthodontist third cousin Buddy. When Leanne (the bride) calls the room, Jonah answers the phone. Leanne wants to know who the male voice is, so Emily lies saying he's her boyfriend. As events unfold, he plays along with it. REVIEWER'S OPINION: The main story was what I expect from a good romance novel. The only downside might be its short length - 206 pages. Most novels are over 300 pages. There is a second story that was neat as well. Kirsten was bright with great possibilities in marketing and public relations, but she gave up on herself. She now works as a waitress and dates a loser. She meets Sadhu, one of Jonah's fellow hockey players, with some interesting results - different from what I expected. DATA: Story length: 206 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 2. Total number of sex scene pages: around 11. Setting: current day Elk Crossing, Idaho. Copyright: 2009. Genre: contemporary romance.

Regretting saying yes to being a bridesmaid at Cousin Leanne's wedding, massage therapist Emily Saunders returns home to Elk Crossing, Idaho. She is staying at the Elk Crossing Lodge along with the ugliest dress in creation, pumpkin colored and shaped like it was grown in the field. Bed bugs attack her. Cop Jonah Betts is in Elk Crossing for the over thirties Old Timers Hockey League tournament. He and his horde of players have left no rooms available for Emily and others forced out of theirs. Due to further incompetence, Emily and Jonah share a room. They are attracted to one another, but he promised her he would not make the first pass while they share a room; however if she makes that first pass, he will shoot for the hat trick with her. Instead she places him in the penalty box. Neither expected a Power Play by an unknown killer. This is a super contemporary romance with hockey and homicide to round out the amusing comedy of errors. The story line is a fast-paced lighthearted frolic that readers will enjoy unless they recently purchased a bridesmaid dress. Readers will enjoy this fine Idaho caper especially the final resolution of what to do with Big Orange (except for fans in Syracuse or Denver) in a state rooting for blue as in the Boise State field. Harriet Klausner

In Power Play, Nancy Warren has taken bedbugs, a delicious hockey player, added a wedding, a murder and the worst bride's maid dress in the history of bad dresses, tied it together with humor and served it up with aplomb. I was only going to read a little of this book before I went to sleep, but as 2 AM clicked past, I was still reading-and giggling. The writing is topnotch, fast paced, hot as Hades, with a delicious cooling off sequence in a lake. Buy this. Read it. You'll love it.