Well I spent the end of the week reading a really good book. It was Molly O’Keefe’s August 2008 SuperRomance WORTH FIGHTING FOR. This is the third and concluding book in the Mitchell’s of Riverview Inn series. Boy was it ever worth the wait.

This book is about Jonah, the surprise child neither Patrick, Max or Gabe knew about until their mother comes back into the picture 30 years after leaving the family. Jonah is a bitter land developer and doesn’t want to connect with his father or brothers. While Daphne is happy being the organic developer and Mom to a great 7 year old. Put Jonah and Daphne together and watch the embers ignite. They challenge each other to become better people and in the end fall in love with one another.

I have to say, I hate to see this series end (I do have some hope that Ms O’Keefe will return to tell Cameron’s story, a new addition to the family). The characters are vibrant, the writing sparkles and a reader simply can’t get enough, at least this reader couldn’t. I look forward to Ms O’Keefe’s next release whenever it might be.

Max was introduced in BABY MAKES THREE, he’s Gabe’s moody younger brother.  In this second book of a three book series Ms O’Keefe introduces her readers to their mother and the truth behind her departure thirty years previously. So Max not only has to deal with the pain of what happened before he left the forces but the past that none of the Mitchell men want to face, their mother.  Delia Dupuis is a single mother on the run from her ex-husband. Her sole purpose is surviving and protecting her 8 year old daughter. Together Max and Delia must face their fears and their pasts before they can move towards a future. 

Ms O’Keefe didn’t disappoint with this second book. I loved Max in BABY MAKES THREE and couldn’t wait until he had a story of his own. Here it is. It certainly was worth waiting for.  Now I can’t wait for the concluding book coming out in August. It’s sure to be a winner like A MAN WORTH KEEPING.

BABY MAKES THREE is the first of a new series, The Mitchells of Riverview Inn, for Molly O’Keefe.  The first book features Gabe and Alice. They were once married but numerous miscarriages and fights later they went their separate ways until Gabe found himself needing a chief for his new Inn and Alice in need of a job.  Together they are like fire and ice.  At first, the fights resume where they left off while they were married, but soon they realize that the love they once shared was still alive. However would it be strong enough to get Alice to stop drinking and get Gabe to let go of the past.

I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next book in this series which will be released in early April 2008. I can’t wait! I have to confess that I had a hard time with the heroine having a heavy drinking problem. I wouldn’t have had a problem if the book started with her coming out of rehab still struggling to control her demons. Other than that the characters in this book were true gems and very likable. I couldn’t help but feel for Cameron the young guy Alice has helping in the kitchen. I hope he gets his story once he grows up. I think he would make a fabulous hero, but until then Gabe and Alice have a story of their own to tell through BABY MAKES THREE. Pick up a copy at eharlequin or Fictionwise. I swear you’ll love it!

I picked up another Harlequin release through Fictionwise this week. Yep it’s starting to be a habit, purchasing books through Fictionwise. This week I finished reading Molly O’Keefe’s December 2007 release UNDERCOVER PROTECTOR.

This is the story of journalist Caleb Gomes and FBI agent Maggie Fitzgerald. Caleb was first featured in HIS BEST FRIEND’S BABY. He’s an Iraq war hero, a journalist that was a tortured at the hands of terrorist. He was burned, bones were broken and his body whipped. So now he’s in hiding trying to recuperate. Maggie is an FBI agent undercover as his cleaning lady. She’s trying to get information Caleb has on the gang that killed her brother, a police officer. She has to keep her identity a secret from Caleb since he doesn’t trust the FBI at all. Along the way Maggie discovers the new Caleb and falls head over heels for him, scars and all. Together they discover what really living truly means and that life is too short to live it for someone else.

I simply couldn’t put UNDERCOVER PROTECTOR down.  It was well written.  The characters jumped off the pages.  Ms O’Keefe described Caleb’s scars and pain so well that I felt them myself.  Now I want to read Liz’s story. She’s Maggie’s sister in this book. I bet her story will be just as fabulous as this one was.

Have you ever read a book that simply made you sigh? Well HIS BEST FRIEND’S BABY by Molly O’Keefe did that for me.  Ms O’Keefe brings her readers back to the small town of New Springs for the story of Jesse and Julia his best friend’s widow.  Battered and bruised after leaving the military, Jesse is back in town to sell the house his mother left him upon her death. He has no intention of reconnecting with the sister he believes abandoned him when she left at the age of 18.  Julia comes to New Springs to start a new life with her new family and get to know her in-laws. Well things aren’t what they appear for both of them.  Julia and Jesse will find out that before you can truly love someone else you have to let go of the past and love who you are.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. Jesse was the perfect troubled hero. Ms O’keefe had me in love with this story within the first few pages. I also loved finding out what happened to Rachel, Mac and Amanda. I have to say I can’t wait to read more books from this fantastic writer. Don’t miss her April release A MAN WORTH KEEPING

FAMILY AT STAKE is about so many things that it’s hard to nail it down to just a few. So I’ll just talk about the parts that hit me the most. I found it to be about friends who reconnect years later with resentment, anger and longing between them.  Mac is a single father struggling to what’s best for his twelve year old daughter Amanda.  Rachel is the social worker to takes over their case.  First off she’s going against protocol from work and her own which is to stay detached. The more time she spends with Amanda and Mac the more involved she becomes. Rachel works to unravel the events that have let to Amanda’s change in behavior and in the process destroys the life she ran away to create at the age of eighteen.

Together Mac and Rachel discover that sometimes it’s best to let past emotions blossom into love than to ignore and destroy them.  Also they learn to look beyond the past and build a better future together.

What did I like best about this book? Well how long do you have? LOL I loved the quick dialogue and the deep emotional evolvement of the characters. As I read the story they came to life and became real.  Ms O’Keefe is a fabulous writer. I can’t wait to read about Rachel’s younger and estranged brother next. Its sure be a good one.