Clay

Rating:
Summary: My romreadtoday.com review for Clay
Review: A simple favor turns into a huge nightmare for Clay Benedict, the youngest of four boys from the powerful Benedict family. Clay agrees to help his cousin, Denise, by checking on her friend, Janna Kerr, who is staying in Denise's secluded fishing camp. Unbeknownst to Clay, Janna has ulterior motives and secretly drugs his coffee. Once he is unconscious, Janna moves him to her spare bedroom before tying him up.

When Clay wakes up and discovers he is being held prisoner, he figures Janna is hiding something. As he becomes closer to Janna's precocious young daughter, Lainey, Clay finds himself looking into the eyes of a Benedict, but whose child is she? As the situation unfolds, Clay learns Lainey has End Stage Renal Disease and there is little hope unless a transplant is found soon. No matter the cost, Janna is determined to keep her child alive until a kidney can be found on the black market. When a dead body is found in the bayou, Janna realizes she may be in over her head.

Admittedly, I have other Benedict books waiting upstairs on my bookshelf; I kept putting them aside. What a huge mistake! CLAY is fast-paced and toe curling. I fell in love with Clay and his brothers; each has his own story either previously released or in the works. Clay is honest, caring and does not take grief from anyone. His dialogue with Lainey is heartwarming and genuine, the ideal man/child relationship, while the passion roaring between Clay and Janna adds a strong romance to the already stunning story! Janna, on the other hand, seemed a bit naïve and acted before thinking. Janna's carelessness was a good match with Clay's steadfast attitude.

Suspense fans will adore this story; the action picks up rapidly and had me flipping pages as fast as I could! Now I can't wait to work my way through the other brother's stories- KANE 3/98, LUKE 2/99, ROAN 7/00 and the upcoming WADE 9/02.

Tracy

Rating:
Summary: So Unbelievable...!!
Review: Can anyone imagine a small adult female kidnapping and tying up a big hunk?? I could not! The premise of this story was too much of a stretch. Amazing as I found ROAN was a fantastic story! The heroine waffled from one plan to another and all of them were way out in "left field" I have completed all the Benedict books - sorry this one was so disappointing!

Rating:
Summary: Back to Turn-Coupe.
Review: Clay Benedict was only checking on his cousin's friend. He didn't expect to be drugged, tied up and drawn into Janna Kerr's problems. But one look at Janna's eight-year-old daughter told Clay he had to stay and help the ailing girl and her attractive mother. Romance, mystery and education about renal failure. What more could you want?

Rating:
Summary: Back to Turn-Coupe.
Review: Clay Benedict was only checking on his cousin's friend. He didn't expect to be drugged, tied up and drawn into Janna Kerr's problems. But one look at Janna's eight-year-old daughter told Clay he had to stay and help the ailing girl and her attractive mother. Romance, mystery and education about renal failure. What more could you want?

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable romance
Review: Eight years old Lainey Kerr is dying unless a kidney transplant occurs quite soon. Her desperate mother Janna turns to black market Doctor Gower, a dealer in illegal organs. Janna moves into a remote Bayou cabin owned by a friend Denise who sends her cousin Clay Benedict to insure the safety of her guests.

Janna, fearing Clay will interfere when Gower summons her especially if he realizes who her daughter is, drugs his coffee. Clay awakens to find himself tied up with Lainey looking at him. He concludes he was drugged but not sure why and the little girl staring at him has to be the daughter of his deceased twin Matt. Clay soon realizes how far Janna will go to save Lainey and how much he wants to help her and his niece, but the murders of two boys for their organs make the price exorbitant and real to both adults.

Jennifer Blake asks how far will the reader go to save the life of a loved one. Will an individual willingly allow murder to reap body parts for a life saving transplant? Those ethic questions confront Janna, who wonders if she is Faust having sold her soul to the devil? The story line is thought provoking though the manner in which Lainey was hidden from her relatives (Matt dies while Janna is pregnant and his father dies after threatening her) seems unnecessary overkill, but does not take away from the tale. Readers will find CLAY filled with a complex moral dilemma that not only showcases Ms. Blake's talent, but also will send the audience seeking the first three novels of this series.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable romance
Review: Eight years old Lainey Kerr is dying unless a kidney transplant occurs quite soon. Her desperate mother Janna turns to black market Doctor Gower, a dealer in illegal organs. Janna moves into a remote Bayou cabin owned by a friend Denise who sends her cousin Clay Benedict to insure the safety of her guests.

Janna, fearing Clay will interfere when Gower summons her especially if he realizes who her daughter is, drugs his coffee. Clay awakens to find himself tied up with Lainey looking at him. He concludes he was drugged but not sure why and the little girl staring at him has to be the daughter of his deceased twin Matt. Clay soon realizes how far Janna will go to save Lainey and how much he wants to help her and his niece, but the murders of two boys for their organs make the price exorbitant and real to both adults.

Jennifer Blake asks how far will the reader go to save the life of a loved one. Will an individual willingly allow murder to reap body parts for a life saving transplant? Those ethic questions confront Janna, who wonders if she is Faust having sold her soul to the devil? The story line is thought provoking though the manner in which Lainey was hidden from her relatives (Matt dies while Janna is pregnant and his father dies after threatening her) seems unnecessary overkill, but does not take away from the tale. Readers will find CLAY filled with a complex moral dilemma that not only showcases Ms. Blake's talent, but also will send the audience seeking the first three novels of this series.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Believable plot
Review: I actually found this book to have the most believable plot of the series so far (I have yet to read WADE). Blake does a good job of describing renal disease and the frustration and desperation a mother can feel for a sick child. Being a mother of a child with a genetic disease I could identify with the characters. Having Clay be a twin of the father (which was not a surprise since it is mentioned in the previous book) was the only reliable way to resolve the organ donation issue and it worked well within the plot of the book and the series as a whole. I think you will enjoy this book if you have enjoyed the others in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Lame, lame, lame
Review: I bought this book because I hadn't read a romance in a while and I remembered liking Jennifer Blake--about ten years ago. I didn't even finish it, it ended up in the recycle bin and if it's a good example of her current writing, she needs to retire. The plot is ridiculous, the emotional development between the characters is pathetic and without substance, the characters are about as complex as white bread and the narrative is absurdly cliche (how many times in one book can you say, "it had nothing to do with -x- and everything to do with -y-" before it gets silly? She needs to find a new favorite narrative line).

I recommend trying her earlier books, which were much more original and compelling. I really liked Southern Rapture in particular.

Rating:
Summary: So Unbelievable...!!
Review: I hate to say it, but the entire premise for the hero is just laughable. I couldn't even finish the book because of it. The thought that someone went all the way through four years of vet school, where needles abound (especially in the deep south - heartworm anyone?) could work there way all the way through, only to give it up after graduation, because they can't stand to cause anything any pain (including using needles) is a joke. I just couldn't make myself even start to accept the hero. Needless to say, I didn't make it far through the book, because I just couldn't believe in the hero. The rest of the book's premise is nothing to shout about either. Woman with a daughter by the dead twin brother of the hero, who no-one has ever heard about before, comes to town to steal a kidney from someone in the family. Oh please! I can read (and enjoy) paranormals, but a vet who spooks around needles is just too unbelievable.

Rating:
Summary: laughable
Review: I hate to say it, but the entire premise for the hero is just laughable. I couldn't even finish the book because of it. The thought that someone went all the way through four years of vet school, where needles abound (especially in the deep south - heartworm anyone?) could work there way all the way through, only to give it up after graduation, because they can't stand to cause anything any pain (including using needles) is a joke. I just couldn't make myself even start to accept the hero. Needless to say, I didn't make it far through the book, because I just couldn't believe in the hero. The rest of the book's premise is nothing to shout about either. Woman with a daughter by the dead twin brother of the hero, who no-one has ever heard about before, comes to town to steal a kidney from someone in the family. Oh please! I can read (and enjoy) paranormals, but a vet who spooks around needles is just too unbelievable.