Romance

Overall Rating: 5.00
Action: 3.0 / Emotion: 5.0 / Romance: 5.0 / Sensuous: 2.5 / Suspense: 4.0 // Laughter: 4 / Giggle: 2 // Tears: 8 / Teary: 3

The Loner: 5.00:
Joan Johnston's third book in The Bitter Creek Series is one of those books that is impossible to put down after reading that first sentence. This over-nighter, un-put-down-able book was so engaging, intriguing, and emotionally moving that it was impossible not to give it the highest rating -- five stars. Basically, this book just "spoke" to me.

Hero: 4.95:
'Bad' Billy Coburn: You have to love a hero that never gave up. Billy overcame an extremely difficult childhood and turned out to be an honorable, compassionate man. It also helped that Billy was an incredibly masculine hero that had that special something that bad boys usually possess that melts a reader's heart. It would have been nice if he would have admitted his love for Summer sooner.

Heroine: 4.00:
Summer Blackthorne: Even though she came across as unlikeable in the previous books of the series (a spoiled little rich girl with a sense of entitlement), Summer won hearts because she was willing to try to live in Billy's world in spite of his mother and sister, who didn't like her. It was easy to identify with Summer because she exposed the same vulnerabilities to readers that all women seem to possess to some degree or another.

Story Line: 5.00:
Johnston did a great job with this story line. She built the romance between Billy and Summer, while in the background finishing up the unrequited story of love between Jackson "Blackjack" Blackthorne and Lauren "Ren" Creed, and including a third mini love story between paraplegic Sam Creed and Emma Coburn. Also, the twist that Eve threw into the mix was quite original and entertaining.

Action: 3.00:
Although the story moved along at a quick pace, it was not filled with a lot of action and adventure scenes to add extra excitement to the book.

Emotion: 5.00:
Johnston is simply gifting at tying the emotions of the reader to her characters. Johnston engaged the readers on such an emotional level that she brought forth laughter, giggles, that tight throat feeling, and tears.

Romance: 5.00:
This book will filled with three love stories in one. A strong sense of romance permeated all three of those stories.

Suspense: 4.00:
Johnston managed to keep the readers guessing all the way through the book. Was Billy ever going to confess his love to Summer? Was Summer ever going to realize she loved Billy? Were Blackjack and Ren going to get their belated happily-ever-after? Would Sam and Emma grab hold of their happiness? Would Billy and Summer solve the murder investigation in time?

Sensuous: 2.50:
Johnston may not include graphically detailed love scenes in her books, but there is just something about the way she writes those scenes that adds a sizzling sensuality to the story that is always a wonderful addition to any romance book.

Secondary Characters: 5.00:
One thing that Johnston does extremely well in her books is to include secondary characters that bring her books to life. In this book, numerous secondary characters were given a point of view voice that greatly enhanced the story. Besides Blackjack, Ren, Sam, and Emma, the other secondary characters that added a vivid flavor to the book included: {1} Evelyn "Eve" DeWitt Blackthorne; and {2} Dora Coburn. Also enjoyed the cameo visit of Callie and her children and Bay and her children when they visited Uncle Sam.

A more in-depth, detailed, spoiler-ridden review of The Loner appears at Wolf Bear Does Books (http://goo.gl/S3sMlN). ( )