Review: One Frosty Night

One Frosty Night by Janice Kay Johnson is the sort of a book that exists to punish me for having a ridiculous TBR pile.  Had I read this book back when it was newly published, I think I would have liked it a lot better.  Don't get me wrong, what Johnson does well (she's dynamite at writing conflict) is on full display here - but it doesn't always mesh well with the romance and quite frankly I found a lot of the secondary characters rather gross.

Olivia Bowen came home to Crescent Creek, Washington to run the family hardware store after Dad's health began to fail.  Shortly before her father finally passed, the body of a young girl was discovered out in the woods.  As if that wasn't shocking enough for the small community, nobody knows who the girl is, how she ended up in the woods, or even how she died.  It's like she just curled up outside in the snow and froze to death. 

Ben Hovik is the high school principal and ever since Jane Doe's body was found, the teenagers in the community have been acting strangely - including his stepson, Carson.  He raises money to give the girl a proper burial, is keeping his ear to the ground, but continues to be distracted by Olivia.  He came home to Crescent Creek after gaining custody of Carson hoping to reunite with his first love - a complicated prospect since it was Ben who broke up with her after he left for college and she was stuck back in Crescent Creek because she was still in high school.  Needless to say, she's not terribly anxious to let him back into her life and besides, she's got problems of her own.  Her relationship with her mother has become incredibly strained since her father died, and the woman just dropped the bomb on her that she plans to sell the family home and business as soon as possible.

If you're familiar with Janice Kay Johnson's work at all, you'll know she doesn't write happy sunshine fluff books.  So I can't help but think that the cozy outdoor sledding scene that screams "meet cute!" on the cover does this book a huge disservice.  Also, I wouldn't go so far as to say the author "struggles" with the tone of this story - but it's easy to get whiplash going from a burgeoning reunion romance to the harsh realities of an unidentified dead teenage girl found out in the woods!

It takes a while for the conflict and plot to gain some forward momentum, and once it does we're then regaled with characters behaving in a gross manner.  Look, is this the author's fault?  No.  I mean, how was she to know when she was writing this book that 2016-2018 was going to happen and I was going to be full-up on gross people always seeming to "fail up" in life.  The high school students were bad enough - but then they're teenagers.  No, it was the adults in this story - specifically Olivia's mother who made me SO VERY ANGRY to the point of seething.  I was so tempted to give up on this story because it was all so unsavory and...well, gross.

But this is Janice Kay Johnson and gods bless her - she can write the hell out of some conflict.  Once everything comes bursting out into the open, I couldn't tear myself away from this story.  I had to keep reading to see how it would all end.  Also, if romance readers are brutally honest with ourselves, we know the genre has a nasty habit of romanticizing (I mean, it's what the genre DOES!).  If you're fed up with idealized small towns, yeah - this is your book.  Johnson does not romanticize Crescent Creek in the slightest.  She writes about all the crap that makes small towns annoying - certain small-minded citizens, everybody all up in your business, the mean-spirited gossip, the obsession with high school sports, the lack of opportunity and dying main streets.  Crescent Creek is not a town with cutesy cupcake shops that somehow miraculously seem to stay in business even though the population is maybe a couple thousand. 

Unfortunately, the good stuff tends to get overshadowed by the bad.  While it's not blatant, I couldn't help but feel that Ben's ex-wife (Carson's Mom) was demonized for her addiction and mental health issues.  Also, there's some veiled slut-shaming of a high school girl that bothered me.  Does all this crap go on in small towns?  Yes (heck, everywhere - small towns don't hold the monopoly) - but again: Wendy Tired of Gross People.

The ending felt lackluster.  Almost like Johnson may possibly have been setting up a series (or at least a book 2) that, from what I can tell, didn't happen.  There's one rather large nugget in particular that doesn't get answered and since it's a BIG DEAL for the majority of the story, it's pretty hard to swallow.

So yeah. In the end I'm left with a feeling of malaise.  Is this terrible?  No.  I don't think Johnson is capable of writing terrible.  But it's also nowhere near as good as she's capable of.  The darkness of the conflict doesn't really mesh with the romance and Wendy Tired of Gross People made this one hard going in parts.  If it's in your TBR?  Look, you've probably got worse there and this isn't anywhere near a disaster.  But if you don't own it?  I'm not necessarily going to say you need to drop your life and one-click this baby either.

Final Grade = C

TBR Read: Papa Can You Hear Me?

The Book: Revelations by Janice Kay Johnson

The Particulars:  Contemporary romantic suspense, sequel to Mommy Said Goodbye, Harlequin SuperRomance #1228, 2004, Out of Print, but available in digital format(s)!


Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  Came across it in a used bookstore and the back cover blurb tickled my fancy.  It was sheer dumb luck that the previous book in this "series" was also in my TBR.  This is what can happen when your TBR pile can be seen from space.

The Review: Ann Caldwell became a cop to please a father who was impossible to please.  She was only 9 when her mother died, and desperate for some kind of normalcy, she looked to her detective father for reassurance.  She did this by becoming a tomboy, only to have the old man neglect her with emotional abuse.  Being a tomboy didn't please him, her inability to be "girlie" frustrated him, and her being a damn good cop wasn't enough.  So when her father dies in a car accident, she's left with a lack of closure.  A lifetime spent trying to please him has left her ill-equipped.  She has no friends, no man, and quite frankly, she's not really sure who she is.  Complicating all these issues is her attraction to her partner, Juan Diaz.

Juan is divorced with a couple of kids.  When he first was partnered with Ann, it was a bit rocky.  However, over time, he's developing more than "work partner"-type feelings for her.  Something about Ann's tough exterior, and achingly vulnerable interior just knocks the wind right out of him.  But his life is also complicated, with two kids, the demands of the job, and an ex-wife who puts the capital B in Bitter First Wife.

Along with the developing romance is Ann's gut feeling that someone is killing cops.  Since her father's car accident, some of his cronies in the department have also died in "accidents."  Ann grew up idolizing these men, and investigating into their potential murders turns up all sorts of baggage.  Hence the title of the book.

I am a complete and total sucker for heroines like Ann.  The ones with mountains of emotional baggage.  The ones who act all tough on the outside, but inside they are desperately lonely and vulnerable.  Ann is a smart, capable woman but is totally unsure of herself.  All she ever wanted was for her father to be proud of her, and the asshole was completely incapable, or unwilling, to give her that.  With him as a father, and a mother who "abandoned" her - it's easy to understand how and why she is so insecure.  She's muddling through, coping the way she knows how - by being "a cop."  And for her being a cop means trying to make everyone forget that she's a woman.  Except, of course, that Juan cannot forget.  And he's torn between putting on the full court press because he's desperately attracted to her, and taking it slow so she doesn't get spooked.  There is also the small matter that, oh yeah, they have to work together.

As enjoyable as this story is, it wasn't perfect.  When I read about heroines like Ann, I want everything to be perfect for them.  I understand this is not realistic.  Nobody's life is "perfect."  But after all the shit Ann's had to put up with, I want her to have "perfect," and there was just too much left twisting in the breeze.  For one thing, Juan comes from a large family, and while Ann has an obligatory meet-and-greet with his two kids, she doesn't meet any of the rest of them.  Also, Ann never runs up against Juan's Bitter First Wife.  I have complete faith that Ann will be able to handle that "relationship" - but it's a mighty big other shoe that never drops.

There's also no love scene.  Now, here's the thing - I don't need sex in my romance novels.  I don't.  But here?  With all of Ann's personal baggage?  I think I need one.  She's not very experienced in this area (she's not a virgin, but dang - pretty darn close) - and while I think Juan is a good guy - I wanted the reassurance of a love scene.  I wanted to read about Ann having a great orgasm because honestly?  If a woman ever needed and deserved one - it's Ann.

Still, this is a very good book.  Solid, emotional, a real heart-tugger with a interesting and competent suspense thread attached.  Revelations didn't hit my "must reread it one of these days" plateau, but it was still pretty dang awesome.

Final Grade = B+

TBR Challenge 2011: Mommy Said Goodbye

The Book: Mommy Said Goodbye by Janice Kay Johnson

The Particulars: Contemporary romantic suspense, Harlequin SuperRomance #1197, 2004, Out of Print...but available in digital!

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  One of the ladies on my "coffee klatch" e-mail loop read this and loved it.  I'm a HSR ho, so that was enough for me to run out and buy it....only it's been sitting in my TBR all this time. Seriously, I suck.

The Review:  A year and a half ago, Craig Lofgren's wife disappeared.  Ever since, he and his two children have been stuck in a living purgatory.  Their marriage was hitting the skids, and they had argued loud enough the night before that the neighbors heard.  Julie had a reputation around town for being Mother Of The Year.  It's inconceivable to everyone, including the investigating police officer, that she would leave behind the kids, not to mention her purse sitting on the kitchen counter (hello, what woman does that?!).  Naturally, suspicion lands on Craig, even though there were zero signs of a struggle, no evidence, no body, and the fact that their son, Brett, is vehement that "Mommy said goodbye" to him.  It's been a living hell, and now his son is getting ready to start a new school year with Robin McKinnon as his teacher.

Robin and Julie were casual friends, chatting at soccer games since their sons played on the same team.  She feels guilty for letting young Brett drop off her radar since his mother's disappearance, something that happened because she was going through a bitter divorce and custody battle.  Now Brett is in her class, and he's very troubled.  She's worried about him, and so goes to talk with his father.

We need to get this out of the way up-front: this book does not work as a romance.  Chalk it up to a case of the conflict overshadowing the love story.  Craig is presumed guilty in the eyes of everybody that he killed his pretty, young wife.  Everybody thinks this - with the exception of Craig's own father.  In order for me to buy into the romance, I need to see the characters "building a foundation" over the course of the story.  For the first 2/3 of this book, that isn't happening.  The shadow of What Happened To Julie? is looming large.  Certainly, as the reader, we know Craig couldn't possibly have killed her, but Robin doesn't know that - and continues to wrestle with doubts very late in the story.  How is the reader supposed to buy the romance when the heroine has these thoughts on page 172 of a 296 HSR:

Oh God, oh God, she thought.  What if he killed Julie?  If they didn't find her or her body, Robin would never know for sure.  Given the creep her ex-husband had turned out to be, she sure couldn't trust her judgment.

Now that being said, you fair blog reader are reading my blog.  The girl who also loves mystery/suspense novels.  And as a mystery?  This one is a humdinger.  I was glued to this book and did not want to put it down.  Who was Julie Lofgren, and why would she just vanish?  Did she meet with foul play?  What the heck happened to her?  Plus seeing how the people she left behind (her husband, her children, the entire town) deal with her disappearance is equally as riveting.

During the last 1/3 of the book the author must have realized she needed the hero and heroine to spend more time together in order to make the happy ending work - but by that point I was so captivated with the mystery that I sort of resented the time away from it for the Love Cooties "stuff."  The author makes this story extremely light on the sensuality though (I'm talking G-rated), which does make this romance a bit more believable, but I still couldn't help but feel that the final chapter was really rushed.

I'm so tempted to slap this one with an A just because I thought the mystery was that good.  However, I tend to reserve A grades for books that I know I'll reread one of these days, and this one?  Yeah, now that I know what happened to Julie Lofgren, I probably won't do a reread.  The romance just wasn't strong enough to carry this book to reread status to compensate for me knowing how the mystery turns out.  Still, it was a damn awesome read while I was devouring it with fresh eyes.  So that means....

Final Grade = B+

PS:  The investigation for Julie is led by newly-minted police detective, Ann Caldwell - whose father originally was in charge of it before he died in a car accident.  She's convinced, just like her Daddy was, that Craig is guilty as sin and she wants to nail the guy to the wall (and not in a good way) to make her Daddy proud of her from beyond the grave.  She is a fantastic character, with lots of hard edges and brains to boot.  Imagine my absolute delight when I learned that the author gave her her own romance in another HSR title, Revelations, and that I had it in my TBR!  I immediately pulled it out to read, and a review for that one is launching tomorrow.

Whiteout Conditions

It was dumb luck that I was about halfway through Snowbound by Janice Kay Johnson when the RITA finalists were announced and I noticed the book was up for the Best Contemporary Series award. I'll admit it, I wasn't feeling it. At that point I was around the halfway mark and the only reaction I could conquer up was "uneventful, but pleasant." Then I got to the second half.

Fiona MacPherson is a teacher at an exclusive private school. She's driving eight students back from a "Knowledge Champs" competition when they run into a blizzard. The road they're taking through the Cascade Mountains is quickly becoming dangerous and Fiona can't see a thing. Luckily, one of her smart-aleck students notices some tire tracks, and recalls that they're near Thunder Mountain Lodge - where his family has vacationed in the past. Turns out the smart-aleck is right, and the merry band proceeds to collapse on John Fallon's front porch.

John is a veteran, injured in Iraq and discharged from the National Guard thanks to a bum leg and a facial scar. However the war hasn't left him just physically scarred, and he's "checked out" of his former life as a mechanical engineer to operate the lodge. He was looking forward to the solitude that the early blizzard promised. Now he finds himself with a pretty, young teacher and her eight teenage charges. To say he's not entirely pleased by this turn of events is an understatement.

I'm going to be honest here, the set-up didn't quite work for me. For one thing, I didn't see the logic in John not wanting to be around people, yet buying a lodge and taking in guests. I mean, if he wants hard work and solitude, why not just buy an isolated cabin, split wood and start an Internet business to support himself? The fact that he chooses to become an innkeeper, when he wants quiet and solitude, makes about as much sense as saying, "I don't like kids so I think I'm going to open up a daycare center!"

The first half of this story is pleasant. John and Fiona are immediately attracted to each other and the teenagers provide angst and drama to keep the plot moving along. It's nice, but nothing to get excited about. Where Snowbound really shines is after the blizzard is over and the Knowledge Champ team leaves the lodge. Fiona and John are left trying to feel their way around their budding attraction, communicating via e-mail, and even seeing each other over the holidays. What is left for conflict is John's memories of Iraq and his unwillingness/inability to communicate them to Fiona. These are very emotional chapters, and when John finally reveals his feelings of guilt to Fiona it's heartbreaking stuff. I found this story very topical, and wouldn't be surprised in the least if the author either 1) knows an Iraq veteran or 2) talked to some. There's a lot about this aspect of the story that rang true to my ears. (Take that for what you will. I've never been to Iraq, and don't know any veterans, so all I'm going on here is my "gut.")

So what we have here is a pleasant, so-so first half and a dynamite second half. I have a lot more of Johnson's HSRs in my TBR, and I'm certainly not dismayed by that fact. Would this be worthy of a RITA win? Hard to say since I haven't read the other nominees in this category. That said, while it didn't personally rock my socks, it was a pretty nice read.

Final Grade = B