Will of Steel & Reluctant Father by Diana Palmer

Title: Will of Steel 
Publisher: Harlequin 
More Information: http://www.eharlequin.com

My Rating: 3.5 out 5 stars

After so many disappointments with her recent books, I was hesitant to buy the latest Diana Palmer book. But to my surprise, I actually enjoyed this latest installment.

According to their uncles' will, Chief Theodore Graves and Jillian Sanders have to get married if they wanted to inherit the land they live on. If not, there were hungry land developers waiting to fly in. Graves was all for it, but Jillian just can't imagine being married and refuse. Graves made it his mission to change her mind and protect her from the unexpected threat coming after her.

First, I like to say, this isn't a Silhouette Desire kind of story. This should have been put under the Harlequin Romance line. So, if anyone expects a lot of passion in this one, think again. That aside, if you are familiar with her writing, it still carries some of the same themes. The heroine is still ridiculously young in comparison to the hero, not really educated and innocent. There are nonsensical banters between characters and the much loved visits from characters from her other stories.

What's different? The huge one for me is the hero. Theodore Graves is 360 to her recent heroes. He's kind, not overly wealthy. When he hears gossip about the heroine, he never thinks badly of her and wasn't quick to jump to conclusions. Another thing was the heroine has some personal issues. So when Graves tries to kiss her, she freezes up. But he doesn't call her a tease. He instinctively know that something scarred her and vowed to be gentle with her. I totally love this guy. The heroine, Jilly, was okay. Nothing special about her. Sorry. I found her to be a little weak and without the support system of the side characters, she would be a mess. There were visits from her other characters, but this time luckily, not enough to overwhelm and distract from the plot.

Her writing is similar to her older works which is a big plus. What I didn't like recently in her books was the banter between characters. They were humorous but frivolous. In this story, there was banter but it was limited. It became Graves and Jilly's way to get to know each other. The plot was pretty good and simple. However, I felt like I was reading 2 stories. The first half of the book was spent with Graves trying to woo Jillian. The second part was when an old enemy of Jillian's shows up. I felt the second part came out of nowhere.  It would've been great we had some inkling of what was to come in the first part of the book.  It would help build some suspense.  That's why I couldn't give it a complete 4 star rating. This story had great potential. Unfortunately, the page limit kind of ruined it. The ending was anti-climatic considering how well Palmer built up the bad guy here. I would've love to see more information about him. I think Mrs. Palmer could have expanded more on this.

All in all, this was a good story and wasn't a waste of time and money. If you are a Diana Palmer fan, then don't hesitate to pick this one up. If you are looking for a gentle, sweet romance, this is perfect for you as well. But if you're expecting something different from her recent writings, please skip this. You're not missing much. This also comes with a reprint of "Reluctant Father".

Title: Relucant Father

My Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Blake Donavan just found out he had a daughter.  He was a loner for years and had no idea on how to raise the little girl.  Steps in Meredith Calhoun.  They grew up together and at a young age, Blake knew he was attracted to her.  Afraid of their attraction, he humiliated her and called her demeaning names.  Meredith ran away and became a famous writer.  She has always loved him but was still bitter about their last meeting.  Now Blake needed her help and was still attracted to her.  Could he make her love him again?

Blake was an f***ing jerk.  Because he wasn't sure of his "feelings", he humiliated Meredith to get her to hate him.  As an adult, he hasn't grown too much either.  I'm not sure what Meredith really saw in him.  He does have a soft side when it came to his daughter.  But when it came to Meredith, he does the opposite to what he says and do petty things to get back at her.  For example, Blake was annoyed that she had to travel so much to promote her book. And you know what he did?  He flew himself and his daughter to the Bahamas without even telling his own wife!  How can anyone respect that?  Meredith was great at the beginning.  But as soon as Blake started making his moves on her, she folded like a stack of cards.  I felt this story was rushed.  They were together for a couple of weeks before getting married and yet they never really talked about any important issues.  In all honesty, this is a divorce waiting to happen if this wasn't a romance novel.  The only highlight was Blake's charming daughter.  Despite a rotten childhood, she turned out pretty good.  Her father should learn from her.

If you are into revenge type stories, then this is perfect for you.