Amazon discontinued the ability to create images using their SiteStripe feature and in their infinite wisdom broke all previously created images on 12/31/23. Many blogs used this feature, including this one. Expect my archives to be a hot mess of broken book cover images until I can slowly comb through 20 years of archives to make corrections.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Review: Herons Landing

There are two types of contemporary romance readers: those who turn up their nose at category and novellas because they're "too short" and those who look at single titles and think, "Dear Lord, how much filler crap am I going to have to wade through to get to the good bits?"  If you've been following this blog for any length of time you'll know I'm definitely the latter.  And yet?  I still occasionally dip my toes into the single title contemporary pool looking for...I'm not sure exactly.  One that doesn't make me feel like I'm wading through filler, I guess?  Herons Landing by JoAnn Ross is the first book in her Honeymoon Harbor series that sort of read like it was probably spun off another series.  While there's plenty of "filler" in this story, I'm here to tell you that if you love world-building and you love small town contemporaries?  This one is very, very good.  Even a hater like me has to recognize.

Brianna Mannion is in the hospitality business, a concierge at a ritzy Las Vegas resort/casino. She's used to the comically bizarre,  but after a run-in with a guest she not-so-lovingly dubs "Dr. Dick," she quits her job and heads home to Honeymoon Harbor, a quaint small town in the Pacific Northwest.  "Dr. Dick" was the final straw and when she sees a grand Victorian home that she's been obsessed with her entire life, Herons Landing, up for sale?  She takes it as a sign.  She's going home to open her own bed & breakfast - and for that she needs a contractor to help her restore the old gal to her former glory.

The best contractor in town is Seth Harper, her former childhood crush.  Like, serious crush.  Brianna has been pining after this guy since she was in short pants.  But Seth only had eyes for her BFF, Zoe - who went to nursing school on the Army's dime and was killed in a hospital bombing in Afghanistan.  That was two years ago and Seth is still heavily grieving. His routine of getting through the days, weeks and months since Zoe's death is so consistent that the town residents can set their watches by what Seth is doing at that moment.  Seth is at Quinn Mannion's brewery picking up dinner, so it must be 6:00PM on a Tuesday.  He's still got Zoe's car in the garage.  This guy might as well have "no fly zone" stamped on his forehead.

Brianna was Zoe's BFF and Seth is still mourning - so they share in that grief.  But as they begin to work on Herons Landing they are reminded of how much they think alike, how much they have in common, and naturally what happens in romance novels starts happening between Seth and Zoe.

Look, I'm going to be brutally honest.  If you strip out all the small town "stuff" from this book the romance between Seth and Zoe is essentially category romance length.  Like, probably the length of a Harlequin Desire (around 200 pages).  It's kind of frustrating actually because while I do think the author does eventually get there with the ending, I wanted a lot more of Seth working through his grief to see Brianna standing on the other side.  In the end I have every confidence that Seth is ready to move on - that he'll always love Zoe - but Brianna is a new happiness, a promising future if only he can get past his survivor's guilt.  I just wanted more lead-up getting to that point.

Ah, but that small town "stuff."  I have a low tolerance for such shenanigans, often suffering from cutesy overload - but Ross's world-building is so, so good.  Her characters are interesting without being overly saccharine.  She teases that some characters have a "past" that could become fodder for later books.  Plus she includes some added drama with Seth's parents - whose marriage has hit the skids. It's really clever - showing another side to Seth's character through his parents' pasts.

It did feel overly long to me at times and I did feel the pacing (especially early going) took a while to get anywhere - but oh how it pays off in the end.  Because y'all know what happens right?  Seth is a jackass, Brianna gets her heart broken, and the emotional aftermath that plays out is gut-wrenching.  Like cold-hearted Wendy almost leaked out some tears while listening to the final chapters of the audiobook gut-wrenching.

So, yeah.  Look.  I'm probably never going to be a reader to fully embrace long-ass single title contemporaries and I've never completely gotten on board with the small town contemporary craze - but folks, if this is your jam?  This book is a good one.  And the set-up of the series is also very promising.  Even I'm invested, which is saying something.

Final Grade = B

Friday, November 22, 2019

Unusual Historical Best Bets for November 2019

 Book Cover
Here we are, in November, and I’m in denial. Have I thought about Thanksgiving dinner or my holiday gift purchasing? Of course not. Because it just doesn’t seem possible that somehow nearly a whole year blew past while I was busy doing...stuff, I guess. Who the heck knows anymore. I’m sure it involved The Day Job, continuing to finely tune my tea snobbery and books, because of course books. Which brings us to the latest crop of unusual historicals that have caught my eye. Here’s what’s hitting my wishlist for November:

My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh
Lady Grace Wyatt is content as a wallflower, focusing on scientific pursuits rather than the complications of society matches. But when a handsome, celebrated naturalist returns from abroad, Grace wishes, for once, to be noticed. Her solution: to “build” the perfect man, who will court her publicly and help her catch his eye. Grace’s colleague, anthropologist Sebastian Holloway, is just the blank slate she requires.  
To further his own research on English society, Sebastian agrees to let Grace transform him from a bespectacled, bookish academic into a dashing—albeit fake—rake. Between secret lessons on how to be a rogue and exaggerated public flirtations, Grace’s feelings for Sebastian grow from friendship into undeniable, inconvenient, real attraction. If only she hadn’t asked him to help her marry someone else...  
Sebastian is in love with brilliant, beautiful Grace, but their bargain is complete, and she desires another. Yet when he’s faced with losing her forever, Sebastian will do whatever it takes to tell her the truth, even if it means risking his own future—and his heart. 
When Leigh hits her beats she writes really interesting romances featuring feminist heroines bristling at convention. I generally really dig Pygmalion tropes in romance but Leigh flips it by giving readers the less common version of the heroine making over the hero. Plus, the hero is a bit of a nerd and those aren’t exactly thick on the ground in historicals. This is also the start of a new series.

The Truth Behind Their Practical Marriage by Marguerite Kaye
A marriage hiding secrets
…but forged by passion!  
A Penniless Brides of Convenience story. Miss Estelle Brannagh has never met a man who’s tempted her to renounce her hard-won independence—until an encounter with Irish landowner Aidan Malahide blossoms into spine-tingling attraction. He’s carefree and charismatic; accepting his proposal seems practical and shockingly desirable! Yet Aidan is hiding a dark secret, and it will take all of Estelle’s courage to ensure it doesn’t tear them apart… 

Obviously I like Kaye’s books, having featured them more than once in Unusual Historical posts - but the description of this one has literally made me go weak in the knees. Why? Well if you follow Kaye on various social media channels she’s been referring to this book as her “Irish Gothic” since she started writing it. And if there’s anything I love more than “unusual historicals?” It’s Gothics. Gimme, gimme, gimme!

Scandalously Wed to the Captain by Joanna Johnson
Bound to a stranger
…in a secret ceremony!  
With her finances, reputation and heart all broken by a family scandal, Grace Linwood seeks employment. But the lady she’s companion to isn’t long for this world. She’s intent on seeing Grace protected and quickly wed to her son, curt and closed-off Captain Spencer Dauntsey. With little choice, all Grace can say is “I do”…but who is the man she has just married? 


Discovered as part of Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write, this is Johnson’s second book and the back cover blurb hits a ton of my sweet spots - a down-on-her-luck heroine, a stoic military hero, and a marriage of convenience.

Night of the Scoundrel by Kelly Bowen (novella)
Can he trust her with his darkest secret?  
Ruthless. Dangerous. Known simply as King. No one knows his true name or where he came from. And when he learns that the man who betrayed him has returned to London, King has only one goal: vengeance. But first, he must seek out an unlikely ally to aide him in his pursuit...  
Adeline Archambault is as mysterious as she is beautiful. Exiled after the French Revolution, she's determined to reclaim her birthright and deliver the justice that is owed her. King's offer to help her, in exchange for her assistance, is a bargain she can't refuse. But will this deal with a devil lead to a future she never dared hope for? 
Bowen has been racking up so many accolades it’s hard to keep track (by my count she’s got three RITA Awards under her belt and appearances on numerous Best Of lists….). This back cover blurb is magic and caught my eye immediately thanks to a super mysterious hero and a heroine in search of justice. This sounds perverse, but I’m a sucker for romances that utilize the French Revolution in some way.

Ride the High Lonesome by Rosanne Bittner
A man bent on revenge
A woman determined to survive
A land that knows no mercy
Meet the Men of the Outlaw Trail  
When Kate Winters is left stranded and defenseless in outlaw country, she knows there's little chance she'll make it out alive...until she stumbles across a ruthless gang hanging a cowboy for his cattle. She waits until the outlaws are gone, desperate enough to claim the dead man's horse to make her escape—only to realize he's not dead after all.  
Those outlaws should have made damn sure Luke Bowden was good and gone. Now he vows he'll have his revenge no matter the cost. But they're miles away from the nearest town, and the woman who saved his hide won't survive the ride back. He owes her his life—he owes her everything—and it doesn't take long before he's faced with a terrible choice: stand by Kate...or claim his revenge? 
I’m the type who will generally look a gift horse in the mouth, so while I’ve been happy more westerns are getting published they’ve been riding on the coat-tails of the small town contemporary trend that’s showing no signs of slowing down. Which means lots of cutesy small towns west of the Mississippi and while I do read those, they’re not my favorite. Bittner tends to write the style of western that I love - the sort where you really think either hero or heroine are going to end up dead, but never do because, hello, she’s writing romance. Action, adventure, road romance, and the start of a new series? Sign me up.

What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to reading?

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

#TBRChallenge 2019: Her Knight in the Outback

The Book: Her Knight in the Outback by Nikki Logan

Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin Romance #4466, 2015, Out of print, Available in digital

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: It's not autographed and I've switched over to digital for nearly all my Harlequin reading desires - so I suspect I picked this up impulsively in a used bookstore (yes, those do still exist) or a library book sale.  The cover and back cover blurb caught my eye.

The Review: I have a fair amount of baggage that I lug around thanks to my love of Harlequins. Not only do I take crap from people who sneer at romance in general, but I take crap from romance readers who sneer at Harlequin. Fun times!  This book though - this is the sort of book I like to keep in reserve and chuck at people (aiming for their heads, although they are obviously empty and it probably wouldn't do much damage - but whatevs...) when they dismiss category romance out of hand.  There's an emotional heft to this story (yes, despite the cutesy cover image) and the ending is not pat nor easy.  I'll be thinking about this book for a while.

Evelyn "Eve" Read's younger brother is missing and the police aren't remotely close to potentially finding him.  He's 18 (still a kid in Eve's eyes) with a history of depression and anxiety.  Their alcoholic mother dead thanks to a motorcycle accident (that Travis witnessed) and their father broken down by life, Eve decides to sell her house, quit her job, and buys a converted bus/RV.  She's going to paper every town in Australia with fliers of her missing brother, hunt up leads, find him and bring him home.

It's on a lonely stretch of highway that she meets Marshall Sullivan after his motorcycle has an altercation with an emu.  He's dressed in leather (smart man) with an overgrown beard and at least one tattoo (that she can see).  She's naturally wary.  Words are exchanged, bargains struck, and Eve drives him to the next town for help.  Of course their paths keep on crossing and of course they are soon traveling together.

Marshall is one of those great heroes who isn't who he appears to be.  He's hit the road on his bike for work.  He's a meteorologist (yes, really) who volunteered to check out various weather stations across the country.  It's a way for him to separate himself from his past, a brother and mother he's cut off communication with (for reasons...) and an ex-girlfriend who did him wrong.  So he knows something about being closed off emotionally and he immediately connects with Eve on that level even though our girl is a mess.

Eve is a woman on a desperate mission, consumed by her brother's disappearance, desperate to find him, and is basically no longer living any sort of life.  Marshall knows she cannot keep going down the path she's traveling, but our girl is stubborn and HER BROTHER IS MISSING!  It's hard to think of more compelling conflict and it's easy to understand why Eve is the way she is even if, intellectually, you know that Marshall is right on a basic level.  They slowly and cautiously develop a connection and relationship in just a few short weeks, but when feet are put to the fire, how can they possibly move forward?  Eve will never give up her quest to find Travis and Marshall knows this.

The Black Moment in this book is suitably black and simply gut-wrenching.  It's one of the few that I've read in a long while that feel utterly hopeless.  As in "how the heck can this story end happily?" hopeless.  And I think that's what makes this romance so notable.  Here's the thing, I've criticized many a romance in my day where the characters didn't need a romance - they needed therapy.  And these characters?  Yes, they do need therapy.  But here's the important distinction - while I do think life won't necessarily be sunshine and roses all the time for them?  I think they're stronger together and that these two crazy kids will actually weather any storm that comes their way.  She has issues, he has issues, and while I see arguments and more hurtful Black Moments in their future?  I have every confidence that they're a couple that could come out the other side, stronger for it.

There's some passionate kissing in this story, but true to the Harlequin Romance line the sex is of the closed door variety and the mystery of what happened to brother Travis is resolved (nondescript spoiler: he's found alive).  While I love a good road romance, what I'll remember most about this book is how emotionally gut-wrenching The Black Moment is - when the hero and heroine are driven apart and need to find their way back to each other.  It does come perilously close to a hero "telling" the heroine what's best for her, but Logan writes it the only way I think she possibly could have and both characters need to meet in the middle to close the distance between them.  Very well done, and now I've off to scour my unorganized digital TBR to see if I've got any more Nikki Logan books waiting to be discovered.

Final Grade = B+

Monday, November 18, 2019

Retro Review: Jude's Law

This review of Jude's Law by Lori Foster was first posted at The Romance Reader in 2006.  Back then I rated it 2-Hearts (D Grade) with a sensuality rating of R.

+++++

Foster’s latest starts out with a pleasing fantasy that many readers should enjoy. A Hollywood heart throb, fallen from grace, seeks refuge in small town U.S.A and falls in lust with the girl next door. Unfortunately, the absurdity of the main plot, a doormat heroine and an ending that doesn’t end ruins everything.

Jude Jamison made a name for himself as the star of Supreme Battle Challenge (think Ultimate Fighting) and quickly parlayed his good looks and charm into an acting career. Then a young starlet is murdered, and Jude is acquitted in a sensational murder trial. With the paparazzi dogging his steps, Jude runs away to Stillbrook, Ohio, and quickly falls in lust with the local owner of an art gallery. Except the lusciously curvy May Price seems completely immune to his charms, and worse yet thinks his come-ons and innuendos are a joke!

May Price is hugely attracted to Jude but isn’t about to act on it. They are from totally different worlds, plus she has a lot of baggage. Then her loser brother, Tim, borrows money from the wrong person and promptly loses it gambling. When hired goons grab him they give him an option – the $50,000 debt will go away if he kills Jude.

This throws May and Jude together in the same house as the goons also threaten her. In between getting Tim’s debt taken care of and figuring out who wants Jude dead, May and Jude are spending a lot of time burning up the sheets.

While Foster has a pleasing writing style and knows her way around a sex scene, the rest of the plot strains at the seams of credibility. May is afraid to get involved with Jude because he’s a Big Hollywood Star and a major hunk. Never once does she pause over the fact that he was the defendant in a well-publicized murder trial! Why? Well he’s so hunky and he buys a lot of art from her, he just can’t be capable of murder. While the romance hero obviously has to be innocent, May’s blind faith in that fact is just a little too unreal. The American justice system has been known to be wrong.

May also is the worst kind of romance heroine – The Doormat. I kept waiting for Jude to write “welcome” on her forehead and toss her by the front door. She’s one of those self-sacrificing types who is constantly rescuing her petulant younger brother. Why? Because Mommy and Daddy expect it of her. They also expect her to come running to them for all of their slights. Mommy’s a boozer and Daddy likes to chase skirts. Why a grown woman pushing 30 wouldn’t just tell these losers to take a hike is anyone’s guess.

Original Cover
The mystery of who killed the starlet might not have been half bad if the tone of the story would have matched. One would think that a man who has someone out to kill him would be concerned about finding out who the bad guy is. Not Jude! No, he’s more concerned about getting May in bed and buying her a whole new wardrobe. Naturally May doesn’t know how to dress herself and is always hiding her fuller figure behind unflattering business suits. Frankly, I’d be more concerned about staying alive than what my bed partner chose to wear, but that’s just me.

However what ultimately sinks Jude’s Law from being an acceptable read is the ending. There isn’t one. Foster leaves a lot of loose ends – including the bad guy and some issues with May’s family. The whole thing screams sequel (likely involving May’s best friend Ashley), but series books should stand alone on their own. The reader who wants closure is essentially being manipulated into reading book two.

All in all this is one disappointing read. Foster writes fast, fun and frothy, and the pages flew by at a fast clip. Too bad the plot and the heroine had to get in the way.

+++++

Wendy Looks Back:  Foster just may be one of the first authors I encountered as a baby romance reader who so did NOT work for me, but others seemed to love.  Case in point, this book - which received a frackin' starred review in Booklist.  A book for every reader and a reader for every book...I guess.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Reminder: #TBRChallenge Day is November 20!

Hey, hey, hey!  For those participating in the 2019 #TBRChallenge, a reminder that your commentary is "due" on Wednesday, November 20.  This month's theme is Sugar or Spice (closed door/just kisses or sexy-times-steamy)

This is one of my favorite themes and I tend to trot it out every year because, well, I read both "types" of romance.  I like so hot it peels wallpaper AND just-kisses and have been known to alternate between both types rather indiscriminately.  It also should be a fairly easy theme to stick to, assuming you're reading romance this month.  But if you're not in the mood, or you pick a romance that falls in non-descript PG territory - no problem!  Remember that the monthly themes are always optional.

If you're participating on social media, please remember to use the #TBRChallenge hashtag so people can follow along.

You can learn about the challenge and check out the full list of blogging participants on the information page.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Retro Review: Deadly Double

This review of Deadly Double by Adrianne Byrd was first posted at The Romance Reader in 2005.  Back then I rated it 4-Hearts (B Grade) with a sensuality rating of PG-13

+++++

Dr. William Hayes hasn’t been working at the Keystone Mental Institution very long, but he knows one thing for sure – the patient everyone is calling “Michelle Andrews” isn’t Michelle Andrews. She’s the girl he loved and lost one summer while vacationing in Paris – Josephine Ferrell. It’s a mystery he can barely wrap his mind around, and “Michelle” is so doped up that she is unable to give him any answers. Worse still, “Michelle” is a long time patient of a doctor on staff, and that doctor assures Will he is mistaken.

Through a sense of loyalty, and the fact that he’s still in love with her, Will ends up putting his career on the line and kidnaps a patient.

“Michelle Andrews” is indeed Josephine Ferrell. A crazy woman is trying to steal her life, and has nearly succeeded. Josie’s pleas for help with hospital staff only lands her on the wrong side of a hypodermic needle. She is soon swimming in a sea of drugs, so William not only has to figure out what is going on, he also has to help Josie detox. With dead bodies piling up, time is running short. Will Josie and Will be able to clear her name before they end up in the morgue?

Author of several contemporary romances, this is only Byrd’s second foray into romantic suspense and it is quite accomplished. The author literally drops the reader right in the middle of the action and slowly unfolds the nuances of all her characters. While this technique can often prove confusing and frustrating, Byrd makes it work by setting a frantic and exciting pace that kicks off with Will spiriting Josie away from Keystone. The suspense is then revealed through real time and flashbacks.

Will and Josie share a poignant and heartbreaking past. When they met in Paris, Josie was an aspiring jazz musician and Will was a first year medical student. They fell in love, but Josie had made promises to another. They went their separate ways; both of them still half in love with each other. Josie’s current predicament throws them together, but they still have some leftover baggage from their affair 16 years earlier. Josie in particular has a haunting vulnerability about her, which makes it easy to understand how she fell prey to the villain.

Byrd keeps the action humming with several secondary characters – most notable being the female, Asian-American police detective assigned to the case. Her story is equally as compelling as Josie’s thanks to the inclusion of at-home moments between her and her husband. These added another dimension to her character, making Ming Delaney a full flesh and blood character as opposed to a mere bit player.

Original Cover
The conclusion of the story is particularly well done, as while Josie starts out vulnerable, she’s soon out for revenge. Will may be her knight in shining armor, the man who rescued her from Keystone, but Josie isn’t about to sit idly by while someone tries to steal her life. The minute she makes the decision to fight, even with the lingering effects of detox, she becomes a true heroine - a woman no longer willing to sit back and take it any longer.

The only missteps occur in the love scenes. Byrd can write credible sex, but has a tendency to use silly euphemisms. Otherwise sexy and romantic moments are ruined with the inclusion of phrases like “moist cave” and “vortex of euphoria.” These scenes stick out like a sore thumb in a novel that is otherwise finely written.

However overlooking the unfortunate tendency towards purple prose, Byrd has written an exciting story. I could very easily have finished it in one sitting had I not had to go to work. Readers who like women in peril stories where the woman fights back will find a lot to like here. Fans of tender reunion stories shouldn’t be disappointed either. Here’s hoping Byrd continues her foray into romantic suspense, this is certainly the most memorable one I’ve read in ages.

+++++

Originally published by HarperTorch, rights have reverted back to Byrd so there's a reasonably priced self-published edition available.  Byrd is still writing and self-publishing, her most book, Milk and Honey, released in August 2019.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Retro Review: The Courting of Widow Shaw

This review of The Courting of Widow Shaw by Charlene Sands was first posted at The Romance Reader in 2004.  At that time, I rated it 4-Hearts (B grade) with a sensuality rating of PG-13.

+++++

After a shaky start, Sands’ latest effort for Harlequin propels itself into four-heart territory with a sweet romance and charming Beta hero.

Steven Harding has always admired Gloria Mae “Glory” Shaw from afar, and due to circumstances feels indebted to her as well. So when he spies her home engulfed in flames, her no-good husband stabbed to death, and a physically battered and unconscious Glory holding a bloodied knife, he spirits the young woman away. While it appears he had it coming to him, Steven knows that Glory will surely be arrested for the murder of her husband – which he cannot let happen. The problem is there is only one suitable place to hide her – a place no one would think of looking for her.

That place is Rainbow House – the brothel that his mother owns and that Glory has been trying to shut down. The town preacher, Glory’s father, was shot and killed during an altercation outside his church between a dissatisfied customer and Steven’s mother, Lorene. Glory naturally blames the existence of the whorehouse on her beloved father’s death, and while her efforts have proved fruitless thus far, she hasn’t given up her crusade.

Glory awakens having no memory of that fateful night, and more than a little disconcerted that Lorene Harding’s son is her rescuer. She’s also not terribly pleased to be convalescing at Rainbow House, and “the girls” that are employed there don’t exactly give her a warm welcome. With a crisis of faith looming, the long arm of the law lurking, and her brother-in-law telling anyone who will listen that she’s a murderer – Glory has no choice but to trust Steven Harding, even if she does see Lorene as her enemy.

Things get off to a shaky start entirely due to Glory. I could understand how a preacher’s daughter would be horrified to discover she was recouping in a whorehouse. I could also understand Glory’s strong opposition to prostitution. What I couldn’t understand was her reaction to her circumstances. Our girl immediately likens her room at the whorehouse to a “prison” and begins lamenting on how bored and useless she feels. Call me crazy, but I found it a little bizarre that our heroine felt “bored” when she should have been worried, scared out of her mind, frustrated by her memory loss, or all of the above.

However, things do get better – including Glory. What is interesting is how the author handles her transformation. While the hookers here all have the requisite hearts of gold, Glory is fairly unyielding in distaining their profession – that is until she gets to know the girls. As she begins to see them as real people who made choices, she too looks at the choices she’s made in her own life – including marrying a man who was entirely unworthy.

Steven is my favorite kind of hero – a sweet Beta guy who has always admired Glory but felt as a madam’s son he was unworthy of her. He rescues her, protects her, and with his caring nature ultimately woos her. While he does feel indebted to her for her father saving his mother’s life, he’s also not about to make excuses for his mother’s profession. Lorene made her choices, just as he made his by rescuing Glory.

While Glory’s behavior didn’t instill much hope in the beginning, by the end of the novel she really is a changed person. She’s better for her stay at Rainbow House, and even makes peace with events of the past. Steven endears himself with his what-you-see-is-what-you-get attitude, his steadfast vow to protect Glory, and his gentle wooing of her, even if he doesn’t think he’s wooing her at all. While the love scenes have some punch to them, they are sweet all the same – making The Courting of Widow Shaw one of the more tender romances I’ve read this year.

+++++

Wendy Looks Back: This obviously worked for me back in 2004, but I'm curious if it would hold up for me on a reread.  That may take a while though.  Even though it was published by Harlequin Historical, it's currently not available in digital or listed on the author's web site.  My guess?  Rights reverted back and the author just hasn't done anything with them yet.  Sands is one of those authors who sometimes works for me and sometimes doesn't.  She's been concentrating on contemporaries in recent years - publishing with both Harlequin Desire and Tule.