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Romance
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Captured
Beverly Jenkins.
New York : Avon, c2009.

Dominic LaVeq is the son of a French nobleman and his mistress, a freed slave.  After the death of his mother, he and his father sailed the seas until his father's death.  Dominic is now a privateer in the time of the American Revolution.  When he takes a British ship, he demands that Clare, a slave woman who is with her Savannah mistress, come to his ship, or he will sink the captured ship. 

Clare has been a slave since her capture at the age of seven.  She does not want to go with Dominic because she has two children who were sold to a neighboring plantation that she is allowed to see on Sundays.  Her mistress has no problem sacrificing Clare to save herself.  Clare is afraid of Dominic, but soon finds he is much more than a pirate.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

     
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Laced with magic
Barbara Bretton.
New York : Berkley Books, 2009.
This sequel to Casting Spells returns to the quaint Vermont town of Sugar Maple were everyone except Luke, the temporary police chief, is a supernatural.  Luke's girlfriend,Chloe, isthe last of her family of sorcerers and half human, but responsible for keeping the town protected from hostile humans and from Isadora, the fae woman who tried to move the town beyond the mist in the previous book.  When Luke's ex-wife arrives saying that their dead daughter has been calling her on her cellphone and the monthly town meeting is interrupted by an earthquake with purple glitter, Chloe knows that Isadora is trying to come back.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

     

Staff Picks by category.

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Practice makes perfect
Julie James.
New York : Berkley Sensation, 2009.
Payton and J.D. are both hardworking associates in a large law firm.  Both of them are up for partner this year and both expect to make it.  The two of them got off to a bad start their first year with the firm and it hasn't gotten any better.  When a possible new client requires both of their specific skills, they must work together, but, they are also told that this year only one of them will make partner.  Can they do their jobs, bring in a new client, and compete for the one position and still fight the growing attraction they suddenly discover?

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

     
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A duke of her own
Eloisa James.
New York, N.Y. : Avon Books, 2009.

James continues her "Desperate Duchesses" series by finally giving the Duke of Villiers his own story.  He has been in all of the other books of the series, as a rival, a foil, a help, or an observer.  He has decided to find and take more responsibility for his six bastard children, now that he knows that the employee who was supposed make sure they were cared for put them in awful situations and absconded with the money.  He also decides that he needs to find a wife of high standing so that he can bring these children into society.

Eleanor is the daughter of a duke who has said that she will marry no one less than a duke.  The boy she loved in her youth was heir to a duke, but his father arranged a marriage with another girl and he was unwilling to go against him.  He broke her heart, so she has put all suitors off by her declaration.  Villliers and Eleanor end up in a social situation the puts them together and they are suddenly engaged in the eyes of the ton.  Humor and wit are at the forefront of this fun romance.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

     
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Unhallowed ground
Heather Graham.
Don Mills, Ont. : MIRA, 2009.
The haunted side of St. Augustine, Florida is the backdrop for this story of ghosts and serial killers, modern and historic.  Historian Sarah returns to the town of her birth and gets the opportunity to purchase an old house that she has loved since she was a child.  When a renovation crew discovers a number of Civil War era bodies enclosed in one of the walls, she sets out to discover the truth about the bloody history of her new home.  Caleb works for a P.I. firm that investigates crimes as well as paranormal activity.  He is in town to search for a woman missing for over a year.  Another young woman who looks very similar to the first woman has just been taken.  Caleb is drawn to Sarah's house and to Sarah and the two of them soon discover that old evil and contemporary evil are about to collide.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

     
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Bed of roses
Nora Roberts.
New York : Berkley Books, 2009.
Roberts continues her Brides Quartet with this second book about Emma, the florist for the wedding planning company, Vows.  Emma is the ever cheerful, ever hopeful one who enjoys dating, but who has never found "the one."  When Jack, a friend of all four of the women and of Parker's brother, and Emma start striking sparks together, it throws off the dynamic of the group.  The wedding business and the friendship of the four women continues to be delightful.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

     
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Hunting ground
Patricia Briggs.
New York : Ace Books, 2009.

Briggs continues her Alpha and Omega series that is a spin-off of the Mercy Thompson books.  Werewolves Charles and Anna travel to Seattle to meet with werewolves from a number different countries.  Charles' father, the leader of all North American werewolves, is ready to bring out the facts about werewolve exist to the public.  There are strong objections to this move from the work Alphas.  Charles comes to represent his father.  Anna, his wife, is an Omega wolf.  She has the ability to calm agitated werewolves, something that will be needed at this conference. 

The action is fast, the players often suspects, and the interaction between Anna and Charles is sweet.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.