Maverick (Harlequin Superromance, No. 1042)

Rating:
Summary: Some of Carrie's best writing to date!
Review: After being shuffled around to various foster homes and then sent to live with her alcoholic father, seventeen year-old Sophie Ryan finds the only safety and love she's ever known in the arms of nineteen year-old "bad" boy, Luke "Maverick" Salinger. A break-in and severe misunderstanding lead the two to separate for fourteen years. Now, Luke is back in town and Sophie is Deputy Ryan. She immediately arrests him for speeding and a fourteen year-old charge of robbery that's never been closed. Sophie never expects the judge to make her Luke's "baby-sitter" instead of throwing him in jail.

Luke Salinger is back in Treetop after fourteen years of odd jobs, the last eight spent as a motorcycle stuntman. He's tired. He's burned out. He doesn't need ancient history creeping up on him. All Luke wants is to help his aging grandmother run her ranch. But small town gossip and rumors about Sophie Ryan betraying him all those years ago, then supposedly giving birth to his son, have Luke wondering what really happened back then. He reevaluates his life and discovers his feelings for Sophie have never disappeared. The more time he spends in Sophie and her son Joe's company, the more he becomes suspicious about what his brother, Heath, has been telling him over the years.

THE MAVERICK is a hornet's nest of small town gossip, rumors, pettiness and love tragically gone wrong. Sophie has worked hard to redeem herself in the eyes of the townspeople for her son's sake. Now her life is crawling with Salingers when the only one she wants to associate with is Luke. Can this couple heal old wounds while trying to discover why anyone would have wanted to tear them apart in the first place? Add to that the mystery of wild mustangs being killed on preservation property, betrayals, and a surprise twist and you have a fast paced, suspense filled, intense romance about a second chance at love.

Carrie Alexander pens an exciting, yet tender love story, filled with in-depth, believable characters. Sophie and Luke behave in a manner totally in character for both of them. Their dialogue, body language and rediscovery of each other sing. The senseless killings of the horses lead to a discovery of evil that neither suspects, but is integral to their coming back together.

I highly recommend THE MAVERICK as a romantic story that satisfies on all levels. A definite candidate for keeper shelves, I'm claiming this book as one of my best reads of 2002.

Rating:
Summary: Return of The Maverick ...and Old Rumors
Review: Carrie Alexander is known for her sensual romances in the Temptation and Blaze lines. Her foray into Superromance is her first...and a wonderful debut it is. She tempered her ability for comedic scenes a little to show she could write a book that is both serious and heartwarming. She did not have to temper too much her brand of sensuality, but in comparison to her Temptations, this would be rated warm, rather than hot. The story is a tale of a familiar theme... bad boys and secret babies. How she tells it is different.

Sophie Ryan is a deputy sheriff who originally came from the wrong side of town. When she was a teenager, she was deemed unworthy of ever making it, and seemed to prove it when she got pregnant and gave birth to her son Joe. Sophie had never publicity named the father of her son, but the rumors abound.
But she has risen above all the rumors to become a respected citizen and deputy of Treetop, Wyoming...the reader will have to learn the reason and answer of who is Joe's father by reading the book.
The story is heartwarming and seems to come from the author's heart. Carrie Alexander is known for her colorful characters and lively play on words...she continues that in The Maverick. She took the cliches of bad boys and secret babies to a new level that is believable and created a winner of a book. Pick this up and read it and you will see what I mean.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Penned, Both Sensitive and Heartwarming
Review: Carrie Alexander, known for sensual and light romances, debuts stunningly in the Harlequin Superromance line with THE MAVERICK, an emotion-packed story with strong protagonists.

Throughout the story, Sophie remains honestly unapologetic and thoroughly sympathetic. The reader will cheer for both Sophie and Luke as they are caught in a deepening web of deceit and intrigue. Author Alexander rivets the reader right down to the surprising conclusion. A memorable read. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Love eternal will not be denied.
Review: In a departure from her usual light romantic comedies, author Carrie Alexander stretches her creative wings with The Maverick. It had been over a decade since Sophie Ryan had last seen Luke Salinger-the day he left her behind: alone and [unknown to him] pregnant. Over the years, Sophie has managed to keep memories of Luke at bay and get her life back on track. And she's done all right for herself and her son, Joe. She's a sheriff's deputy with her ultimate goal to finish getting her degree and say good-bye to Sheriff Ed Warren, a man whose ideas of women leave a lot to be desired.

But her peace is shattered the day a silver-and-black Harley sped past her doing well over the speed limit. And riding it was none other than Luke Salinger.

Alexander takes two people, who never fell out of love with each other, and throws them into instant turmoil and intrigue: Heath Salinger, who has more than one secret to hide, the mysterious killings of wild mustangs and the lingering doubt over the parentage of Joe Ryan.

There were so many times I put this book down because I couldn't read through my tears that it's a wonder I finished it. Poignant and, at times, heartstring-tugging, The Maverick is one of the best stories I've read. And I hope that Ms. Alexander plans on giving us more along this line.

Rating:
Summary: Love eternal will not be denied.
Review: In a departure from her usual light romantic comedies, author Carrie Alexander stretches her creative wings with The Maverick. It had been over a decade since Sophie Ryan had last seen Luke Salinger-the day he left her behind: alone and [unknown to him] pregnant. Over the years, Sophie has managed to keep memories of Luke at bay and get her life back on track. And she's done all right for herself and her son, Joe. She's a sheriff's deputy with her ultimate goal to finish getting her degree and say good-bye to Sheriff Ed Warren, a man whose ideas of women leave a lot to be desired.

But her peace is shattered the day a silver-and-black Harley sped past her doing well over the speed limit. And riding it was none other than Luke Salinger.

Alexander takes two people, who never fell out of love with each other, and throws them into instant turmoil and intrigue: Heath Salinger, who has more than one secret to hide, the mysterious killings of wild mustangs and the lingering doubt over the parentage of Joe Ryan.

There were so many times I put this book down because I couldn't read through my tears that it's a wonder I finished it. Poignant and, at times, heartstring-tugging, The Maverick is one of the best stories I've read. And I hope that Ms. Alexander plans on giving us more along this line.

Rating:
Summary: The deputy and the maverick - Very highly recommended
Review: Labeled "trailer trash" by her small hometown of Treetop, Wyoming, Sophie Ryan got pregnant at seventeen. When her alcoholic father kicked her out, she found a place to live, finished high school, and eventually landed a job as a deputy while finishing a degree in social work. A coat of paint might not conceal the sagging floors, but she is proud of her small house and her now thirteen-year-old son Joe. She's finally gained the respect of her tiny community. Then she sees the Maverick racing back into town on his motorcycle, and stops him for speeding. That leads to an arrest for fourteen-year-old charges of breaking and entering, arson, and such. When she looks into his deadened eyes, Sophie can't help wondering what happened to Maverick Luke Salinger's possibilities. He'd had plans and dreams living in those eyes fourteen years ago.

Sophie never publicly named the father of her baby, but Luke had heard all about her rebellious behavior from his brother Heath. Indeed, Heath had been Luke's only contact to the past, until he finally chooses to come home for a family reunion. Years on the road, eventually working as a stuntman for B grade movies in Los Angeles, hadn't filled the empty spaces. Now he and Sophie have traded places. She earns the respect of her family and town while Luke returns to the family ranch as a black sheep. When the judge remands him to Sophie's supervision, he considers it an opportunity to rediscover the girl he left behind. Then Luke begins to unravel the secrets of the past, and finds there's a lot more than he didn't know. Unfortunately, even Sophie can't even identify with absolute certainty the father of her baby.

Author Carrie Alexander reveals the soul of a poet in her beautifully penned THE MAVERICK. Thoughts, emotions, and images come to life with her lyrical prose, in such descriptions as "the great dome of sky deepened to purple-tinged indigo." Her respect for these wide-open spaces, and the bored youth with troubled backgrounds that make foolish decisions, shine throughout the novel. Although she portrays those mistakes with empathy, Alexander's characters also face the consequences of those actions, albeit fourteen years later with the maturity of adults. Strikingly, the heroine takes full responsibility for her actions regarding her pregnancy, and does not blame anyone else for her mistake. Such responsibility makes her a strong, incredibly powerful heroine. Further, irony makes the plot sparkle with humor and with grimness in equal measure, making THE MAVERICK a memorable read. Very highly recommended.