New York City police captain, Grant Malone finds himself in need of a refuge in order to heal his troubled spirit. At the behest of his grandfather, he arrives at the Snug Harbor Lodge for a stay of indeterminate length. Pursued by nightmares, he's not fully convinced that time will heal him but what time can't do, Alexandra Sullivan will. During the off-season, Alex enjoys the isolation of the lodge but she's willing to tolerate the disturbance initially for her grandfather's sake. But there is something about Grant that draws out Alex's intrinsic need to heal. The question is whether or not she is ready for the toll it takes on her heart.

"Awakening Alex" begins Ruth Langan's new Sullivan Sisters trilogy quite successfully. The Snug Harbor Lodge provides the perfect backdrop for these two characters to get to know one another. Langan does a beautiful job of painting a picture of the Lodge's landscape. She also does a great job of developing the relationship between Grant and Alex as well. Grant truly begins the story as a tortured hero but he finds a great deal of comfort in Alex's company as well as her friendship. Perhaps the one flaw with this story is the rather sudden and unexpected turn in plot, which finds its roots in Grant's pain but seems out of place due to a lack of continuity. All the same, this is a terrific beginning and I'm looking forward to reading more of the Sullivan Sisters.

This book is the third in Ruth Langan's popular Highland series. I remember reading and enjoying these books in 1991, when they first came out. This book focuses on Megan, the youngest of the MacAlpin sisters. Her two older sisters have married and left the family home, so Megan is left to rule. Unfortunately, she is wounded and is taken to Ireland with no memory of who she is or where she comes from.

Sean O'Mara, the man who rescued MacAlpin, and who is rescued by her at times throughout the story, begins to fall in love with her. Even though he does not know her past history, Megan's actions show him the sort of person she is, and O'Mara is enchanted by her.

While the romance is sweet and I found Megan, Sean and Sean's brother Colin all to be wonderful characters, the story unravels as it goes on. The intrigues at O'Mara's home in Ireland are a bit far-fetched. The final scenes with the appearance of the MacAlpin clan from Scotland and Megan's final decision were thinly plotted and frankly quite ridiculous. If only the end of the book were as good as the beginning....

I love romantic anthologies, and while some are naturally better than others, I'm generally not disappointed. Until now, that is. I had no preconceived notions about the "Rose" stories, except that they would all feature roses, obviously. I was a bit taken aback at the "magic and mythology" involved-- not just in one story, but in ALL of them. As one other reviewer noted, the Nora Roberts story is almost a rip-off of the Beauty & the Beast story. (I also remember another fairy tale about a kingdom, complete with beautiful princess,hidden by an impenetrable forest of roses; very similar to the concept of the "ice island" hidden from the rest of the world in Roberts' story... can't remember the name of it, tho.) "The Sword and the Rose" and also the "ROse of Glenross" both started slowly and then suddenly were at a climactic moment (no pun intended). I'm not sure why these stories should be so awkward and contrived.... other anthology stories I've read have no problem being well-paced and balanced. Perhaps these well-known authors didn't put in the amount of time necessary to produce a quality story, but instead just wanted to "get it done"-??

It started out well enough with "Winter Rose", but, as many other reviewers have said, it had a lot of eery parallels to "Beauty and the Beast". Also, towards the end, I was confused at how the turnaround came so fast, without reason. How did summer all of a sudden come to the island?

"The Sword and the Rose" I liked, except for the fact that it ended way too fast. I thought that they would have spent more time finding the Rose staff or whatever it's called. And the climax was very short and the story cut off right after. It made me think that they thought they were in love because they went through an ordeal. I wasn't at all sure of their feelings for each other.

"The Roses of Glenross"...wow...that majorly sucked. I really hate to be this blunt, but the storyline could have been much better. First of all, I don't believe that they would have everlasting love from seeing each other for one second on the battlefield. And making love before they're married in a convent?! That was misplaced in my opinion. It just seemed that the concept of roses was too forcefully tied into the main storyline.

"The Fairest Rose" is ok. However, I didn't like the fact that Deirdre died and that Rosaleen didn't get to live like a princess. At least not in the story as written. The bit about them going for the phoenix was too mythological. It weirded me out. I don't get why the King doesn't feel more sad for finding out that the Queen killed his love. That was disappointing. He just stated that Rosaleen was his daughter and that Deirdre's death had something to do with the Queen, but dammit!! There was no punishment, no anger, no expressing his lasting love for Deirdre. And I still wasn't sure if the guy really loved Rosaleen because he seemed VERY infatuated with the princess. But all of a sudden, he finds Rosaleen irresistable. Who knows if he'll decide that that's an infatuation too?

Confusing, a bit flat, but overall enjoyable.

Okay, I admit it. I'm a sucker for a good fairy tale. We all grew up hearing the stories of the prince who comes and rescues the beautiful princess from the evil queen. Now that I'm older, I'm not afraid to admit that I'm still attracted to those kind of stories. And that's why I absolutely loved Nora Roberts' "Once Upon A Rose". She, along with authors Jill Gregory, Ruth Ryan Langan and Marianne Willman weave four enchanting tales of wicked queens, handsome princes and magical creatures.

The first story, "Winter Rose" is written by Nora Roberts. It's the tale of Prince Kylar of Myrdon who wonders into a mythical land cursed with eternal winter. The prince has been injured in battle and is on the brink of death when he is rescued by Deidre, Queen of the Isle of Winter, who because of the curse cannot love. Kylar falls in love with Deidre and vows to find a way to break the curse.

The second story, "The Rose and the Sword" by Jill Gregory revolves around Brittany, the long lost princess of Palladrin, thought to have been murdered along with her family by Darius, the evil wizard. Hidden by a kind wizard and by Queen Elysia, Brittany has grown up knowing nothing of her family and that she is the rightful heir to Palladrin. Two days before her 20th birthday, Queen Elysia tells Brittany, really Britta, that a spell was cast when she was a child to protect her from Darius. The spell though, only lasts until her 20th birthday and that after then Darius will be able to see her and will try to kill her. To prevent this, Brittany must seek out and marry her betrothed Prince Lucius of Marric, who holds the Jeweled Sword. She also has to find the Rose Scepter. Together, the Jeweled Sword and the Rose Scepter can defeat Darius and reunite the kingdom of Palladrin.

The third story, "The Rose of Glenross" is by Ruth Ryan Langan It's set in war-torn Ballycrue, Scotland. Duncan McKay, a warrior has just saved Alexa MacCallum from the same fate as her family when he is wounded. When he wakes, he's in the care of kind nuns of the Abbey of Glenross. Also there Alexa, the young woman he saved. She speaks to no-one and tends to the rose gardens day in and day out. The only "person" she ever speaks to is Lady Anne, the ghost who haunts the Abbey waiting for her true love to return to her. Can Duncan heal Alexa's wounds as well as his own. And will Lady Anne's love ever return? I'm not telling. :)

The fourth and final story in the book is my favorite. "The Fairest Rose" by Marianne Willman begins with the fair Deidre, nine months pregnant awaiting the arrival of her love, Prince Gilmore of Airan, recently victorious in battle and appointed new King of Airan. Deidre knows that when he returns her and Gilmore will marry and will become a family. On his return though, Deidre discovers that a spell's been cast on him to forget her by his new wife, Queen Bryn. Deidre has been cursed by Bryn as well and gives birth to a girl, Rosaleen, before she dies. To protect the child from Queen Bryn, Deidre asks Elva, the village wisewoman, to cast a spell on Rosaleen so that those who would do her harm forget her. The spell can only be broken by her true love. As it so happens, years later, Tor,a warrior of royal blood, travels to Airan in hopes of winning the hand of the King's daughter, Prince Camaris as well as half of the King's land. The only way he can do this is to bring back the egg of the legendary Phoenix. And the only person who can help him is young Rosaleen, who is madly in love with him.

I thouroughly enjoyed this novel and would suggest it to anyone who loves a good fairy tale or love story in general.

Gennie Bailey-Rogers

I felt that nothing happened in this novel. I found myself skipping pages just to get to the end. The most exciting event was a community party called the "Spring Fling" where the two main characters danced.

The heroine's past was not fully developed and only given about three paragraphs on the third to last page of the book.

Very boring...I do not recommend.

For Lizbeth Sullivan, providing food and hospitality is a legacy she is proud to have inherited from her family of hoteliers. The one thing that sets her apart from them, however, is her unusual need to establish roots. In Stafford, New Hampshire, she has found a way to accommodate her legacy and her preference by running a successful bed-and-breakfast, which allows her to exercise her expertise in home economics. Colin St. James is in Stafford to restore a house. His clients' recommendation leads him to Lizbeth's bed-and-breakfast where he finds himself delighted with the service and the proprietor whose timid manner and generous heart move him as much as her quiet beauty. An army brat, Colin finds he shares a common background with Lizbeth to a certain extent. Until he met Lizbeth, he was quite comfortable with his pick-up and go lifestyle. But Lizbeth, with her heart steeped in this quiet and appealing town, shows him how tempting putting down roots can be.

Ruth Langan's second installment of her "Sullivan Sisters" trilogy is well written. It has an engaging style, which centers itself around a persistent change in point of view among the primary characters, including Loretta a ninety-two year old widow who nurtures the love that is developing between the hero and heroine. Colin St. James is an endearing hero who is a throwback by way of occupation as well as manner. He is an architect who loves to restore old houses, preserving their history while retaining their function. He is also gallant and charming when it comes to Lizbeth and Loretta. Lizbeth is a little harder to understand through no real fault of her own. She displays a great deal of strength despite her shyness and she loves being a part of a community. She is clearly a person meant for hearth and home. But in terms of development, Lizbeth was slightly lacking. Langan does hint that a previously painful experience with love gives the heroine pause when it comes to giving her heart but because she never allows her audience insight as to the reason why, it is difficult to sympathize with Lizbeth or to find any development on her part to be credible because it gives the impression of being too sudden. "Loving Lizbeth" has an appealing hero and a wonderful setting. The heroine is admirable but she would have been far more engaging if we had as much access to her thoughts as we did Colin's.

I would've liked this book alot more had it been more in depth and not so vague and simplistic. The plot and characters were very promising at first, but somewhere along the way they seemed lost and disjointed.
The story starts off slow and you find yourself wondering when it will pick up, then when it does, it sputters and then fizzles out. I haven't read anything by this author and this is an old book(1994) so this author may have matured in her writing by now(2002), so I won't judge her. It just seems as though she wasn't sure and wasn't completely confident about her ability to write an in-depth story with factual information and a compelling look into life in England and Scotland in 1281.
Some of the facts are obscure and we the reader are left with a simple shell of a tale about love and politics that leaves much to be desired.
The author proves that she doesn't know a whole lot about this time period by writing an author's note stating that fact and how she had to add into account that the family she chose(Campbell) was a major key player in the Wars for Independence from 1296-1314.
She also repeats herself throughout the book with phrases and thoughts from the main characters that seem to just fill up pages rather than add to the plot. My advice? Skip this one if you're in the mood for an exciting and fullfilling adventure through Scotland and England's wars with eath other.

She was kidnapped right from under her father's nose and dragged to the untamed wilds of Scotland to be the hostage to the Laird of Clan Campbell. Lady Leonora Waltham didn't expect to fall in love with the barbarian in the process! How could she not? He was tall and rugged and he protected her.
Dillon Campbell needed her as his hostage to make sure his brothers were returned unharmed. He doesn't expect to become enchanted by the spirited English beauty or to fall hard for her either. He has to decide...love or honor?

Tracy Talley~@

If Bethany Lambert thought juggling the life of being a lady and a privateer was difficult, it is nothing compared to the life of secrets and tragedy that hounds Kane Preston, the earl of Alsmeeth. Kane's world is steeped in dark rumors that he murdered his father and the time served for the crime as well as the vicious gossip, keeps him reclusive and isolated in his estate in Cornwall. And although he presents a picture of restrained propriety, Kane's defiant heart recognizes a kindred spirit in Bethany and he is determined to draw her fearless spirit into his life.

Ruth Langan continues her Sirens of the Sea trilogy with Bethany Lambert, an expert marksman with a pistol and a courageous privateer. But she has met her match in Kane Preston whose own rebellious spirit cannot be contained completely by society, obligation, or his title despite his efforts to live up to the parents who loved him. But like a moth to a flame, he is drawn not only to Bethany, but to her adventurous life and supportive family as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the many sides of Kane Preston who is an irresistible combination of Robin Hood and Clark Kent. But in a sense, Langan allows Kane with his troubled spirit and multitude of facets to eclipse Bethany. There is not much exploration of her life as a privateer. The edge of suspense and balance between the main characters maintained in the previous installment is not quite as successfully achieved but it is a well-written and engaging continuation of a daring trilogy.

These stories were uninteresting, with unrealistic plots and underdeveloped characters. I have read some of the other books in this Once upon series and they have been mediocre, but these stories were all a complete bore. Save your money.

I really enjoy the Once Upon collection. . . However was really disappointed with this books. The stories lack substance and characters. In addition, I was expecting more romance in the sense that the kiss in each story would almost be soul shattering for each of the couples. In several ways the authors could have focus more on the reasons as to why the kiss is so important or how it seems to have affected each of the characters. Instead I got the idea that the authors wanted to rush to the ending.

"A World Apart" by Nora Roberts. Kadra the Demon Slayer has vowed to destroy the devils that threaten her world. When the demon warriors and their king flee through a portal to a strange orb, Kadra follows. However New York City in the twenty-first century is eerily bizarre so Kadra coaxes private investigator Harper Doyle to help her battle her demons even while love blossoms between them. Nora Roberts provides a strong fantasy romance.

"Impossible" by Jill Gregory. Her family has always sheltered Princess Erinn of Marlbury from the ravages of the hundred-year war. Still their enemy Tynon of Bordmoor kidnaps her. Tynon believes that Erinn is a witch, who has enchanted his land and soon afterward his heart. Jill Gregory paints a wonderful fantasy romance.

"Sealed with a Kiss" by Ruth Ryan Langan. Her father promised powerful Highland chieftain Duncan MacLean his daughter Arianna Douglas in marriage in exchange for protection against invaders. When Duncan's warriors come to escort Arianna, his nephew Lachlan steals her heart. This is an entertaining tale that although the key characters are never developed.

"Kiss Me, Kate" by Marianne Willman. Kate Singleton inherits a manor with a resident enchanted prince. However, her heart belongs to her new neighbor, Michael Bellamy. With a wee bit of help, Kate might save the prince and gain heart's desire too. This is a fun fairy tale that the audience will enjoy yet feel the American, the Englishman, and the frog needed further development perhaps in a novella.

The fifth "Once Upon a ..." is a delightful fantasy romance anthology.

Harriet Klausner

I just hate it when women are portrayed as fools. I really do. As readers, we are supposed to identify with the heroine and fall a bit in love with the hero.

In "The Sea Sprite", the heroine got on my nerves and i felt soo sorry for the hero.

The heroine is pushy, risks the lives of her crew - she's a sea captain, which is more than a little out of the ordinary - and does nothing but mourne the loss of her "one true love" (cue violins) who is presumed dead after an accident at sea.

She meets the hero, and instead of recognizing him - I mean, honestly!! If she loved him that much, why didn't she recognize him??? - she insists that he isn't her lost true love. In fact, she almost feels as if she's being unfaithful to the memory of her lost love.

The whole thing kind of bothered me - the female sea captian set in medieval times, the fact that NO ONE recognized the new guy as a scarred version of the old guy. Well, they think it's him - and they go on with this charade of dressing him up, shaving his beard, and trying to make him look more and more like the guy they remember.

Which only makes the poor guy feel more and more sad - he doesn't think he is who they think he is - so all the dressing up is re-inforcing the fact that his "sea sprite" doesn't really love him, but the memory of the man she lost.

At any rate, I just didn't care for this book. Save your money and borrow it from a friend - or better yet, find a good book and spend your time enjoying it!

It was your basic romance with a comfortable, familiar plot. I read the entire series (there are three) and I enjoyed them. The story flowed well enough and was easy to read.