Customer Reviews

Still Mine

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jolene Benate has had to put her life completely back together over the last six years right after she was told her husband was dead. Now she is a deputy marshal on an elite warrant team. It's not been an easy road and Jo has succeeded, if you don't count the fact she can't move on from the love of her deceased husband.

Paul Benate gave up Jo in a move he thought would prevent her from ever being harmed. Paul has a brain that many would love to control and while he likes working for the military, he missed Jo every day these last six years. When a report shows that Jo has been found and is a target, Paul demands to get back all he lost.

When Jo and Paul meet again, the fireworks are many and pointed. Jo is hurt and angry that she was lead to believe Paul was dead. Paul wants to begin again, but first he has to convince Jo to both forgive him and to understand. Love brought them together and drove them apart. Now when the danger to Jo seems to follow her, will love be enough to give Paul and Jo another chance?

Still Mine has several of my favorite aspects in a story: hot sexy scenes, engaging main characters, and enough suspense that it makes you want to read quickly to find out the ending. Jo has grown up and found a career even while loving the husband she believes is dead. Paul made a decision he thought would save Jo from danger and was given a second chance. From the moment they met face-to-face, I was drawn in and could not flip the pages fast enough. Even before giving in to their passion, I could feel the strength of it. I was quickly reminded that the emotions that give passion can produce equal fear and anger. Watching Jo and Paul try and work out the past to hopefully lead to a new future for them showed me that a true and deep love never really dies. When the danger comes from an unexpected angle, at least for me, I loved seeing the depth of the trust that had been restored between Paul and Jo. Still Mine is equal parts hot romance and suspense, which I found not to be missed. The cliffhanger ending leads me to hope that just maybe Jo and Paul will show up again soon in another book.

Jo
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Jolene Benate should be on top of the world. She had a very coveted spot on the warrant squad, and was the only female team member. She was damn good at her job, and everyone knew it. There was only one thing missing from her existence, and that was a personal life, and love. Her one true love had been stripped away from her six long years ago, and to this day she still felt the acute pain of losing her husband Paul Benate. Jo knew she should try to move on; give her heart a push to meet someone new, but she just couldn't do it.

Paul wasn't dead as everyone assumed he was. He had cut Jolene out of his life because he was working on classified projects, and he was terrified that someone would use her to get to him, so he had taken that possibility away. He did keep tabs on his beautiful wife, and knew she hadn't moved on with someone else just the same as he hadn't. When he could stand it no longer, he decided to have her brought to the current military complex he was working in. Someone trying to get to him had shot her, and it was time he started protecting what was his.

Jolene was abducted from her protection detail, and was being shipped to someone. She had no idea what was going on, but decided that keeping a cool head would be her best line of defense. She had to pay attention, so she could find an opportunity to escape. Nothing could have shocked her more than coming face to face with the husband she had mourned for years. She almost lost it, but reigned herself in, and took the only course of action she could at the moment. Jo resorted to violence, and punched the husband she thought was lost.

Paul is a man that was forced to live with a decision he wished with his soul he could change. He knew he never should have given up his heart's desire in favor of what he wanted to accomplish professionally. Jolene had existed without Paul for years, but never recovered from his loss. As these two lost lovers try to rekindle the love, and loss of trust, outside enemies try to separate them forever. This is a pretty good story, but in several spots it slows to a crawl, and is even boring at times. Overall it is an interesting read, but not a keeper.

Jolene Benate was devastated when her husband died leaving her a widow at the age of twenty. That had been six long years ago. Rather than wallow in self pity, Jo used his life insurance to attend a special training program for women interested in law enforcement. She's made a name for herself and is now in one of the highly sought after positions on the elite warrant squad. The only area of her life where she hasn't moved on is her love life. Since her husband's death, not once has Jo taken a lover even though she's had plenty of opportunities.

As a member of the elite warrant squad Jo's used to facing down bad guys and plenty of injuries but the recent attacks against her are troubling. Sure the protection team will do their best to protect her but even they are no match for the men who are after her. Jo realizes that she's pissed off her share of perpetrators but even she's stumped as to who's after her and why.

Paul Benate believed that he was doing the right thing when he allowed Jo to believe he'd died. His position dealing with extremely classified projects makes him a target so he's had to live within the confines of a small base which is extremely difficult to penetrate. When he learns of the attacks on Jo, he realizes that his sorry attempt at protecting her by letting her go has failed miserably. The only option acceptable to him is having her brought to him. The old Jo would have been ecstatic to learn that her husband still lives: the new Jo is beyond furious that Paul allowed her to be deceived for so many years.

Jo's worked long hard hours to gain the respect of her team and make a life for herself - without Paul. So him thinking that he has the right to have her kidnapped and brought to him is simply too much. She may still love Paul but no way is she going to allow him to dictate her life.

Mary Wine tells an amazing tale with STILL MINE! I loved Jo's kick butt attitude and yet she still has this vulnerability that endears her to readers. She's a feisty little woman and even Paul is stunned by the changes that have taken place with her over the past six years. Paul is very much in love with Jo so even though she's furious with him, as a reader I couldn't help but want them to have their happily ever after.

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

Well I agree that Mary Wine is good writer. This book lack something big for me likeablilty. While Jolene is a great character I hated Paul hated him. He was rude and condesending in the worse way. I never felt he was truly sorry for the pain and angst that all of his lies had created and that made him completly unredeamable to me. through out the whole book all I really wanted was for Jolene to dump him and really move on with her life. I gave it 2 stars instead of one only because I believe that it was written very well

My first Mary Wine read.
I really liked the characters. His was something we don't read about very often and it was one that closely resembled the Highlander posessive alpha male* in the current century of course. He is strong, posessive, controlling, intelligent, secretive and passionate.

She was 18 and orphaned-vulnerable when he met and married her 6 years ago. Then he faked his death to protect her from being used as a weapon to gain his military secrets. When she becomes a target-he whisks her away to his secret compound to protect her-also realizing he needs her.....She has changed though.She is now a trained deputy and can defend herself with action and words.

HIs total vulnerability didn't come out until she pressed her free will to leave his security compound. Strong woman Heroine.

The story is interesting, filled mystery and intrigue in a military compound setting. The re-developing relationship is easily followed and blends into a read that has you wanting to keep turning the pages to see what happens next. I liked it and will be seeking more Mary Wine books.

I love Mary Wine. This book was HOT and Good. This book caught me from the beginning and I stayed with it to the end. A book about loosing the most important person in the world to you then having that same person turn up alive. WOW talk about feeling betrayed. Mary Wine gets all those feeling and puts them in a great book. Defintely a must have for those Mary Wine fans.

Realizing that his and his wife's life are threatened by a terror organization, Paul Benante stages secretly his death. The plan is so secret that his wife Jolene doesn't know anything about it and isn't involved in its realization. However, she has to pick up the bits and pieces of her life, has to get used to the idea of being a widow and has to try to go on with her life.

Six years after the death of her husband Jolene is a successful deputy marshal on an elite warrant team but her private life still suffers - she hasn't been involved with any man after her husband's death. Then, all of a sudden, Paul's worst fears seem to come true: an attempt on Jolene's life is made and Paul decides to "secure" his wife by taking her to the high security military base he is working. But what thinks Jolene about her husband's "resurrection"?

I would've liked to elaborate more on above summary but was really afraid to spoil too much since the plot was simple and straight forward, without creating any mentionable ups and downs. Except for few pages at the beginning of the novel, the whole book took place in the secret military base. Furthermore, the book didn't have any serious sub-characters, except for two of Jolene's colleagues and one of Paul's, who all made very rare and unmentionable appearances. That wouldn't really matter if the interaction between the two main characters would've been outstanding and making the change in scenery and characters needless, which really wasn't the case, especially since Paul's main target was completely one dimensional: he wanted only to get her into his bed and she couldn't resist.

The more I read about Paul the less I liked him. By choosing his career he very consciously made the decision to lead a solitarily and withdrawn life, gaining in return for this sacrifice self-fulfillment through his academic achievements. Basically he made the very active decision to barter his private life for his professional life. So far so good, until he decides to marry Jolene against his better knowledge and for one reason only: he wants to get her into his bed. As if this wasn't selfish enough, he decides to "reappear" after six years, without taking his wife's career and private life into consideration. This is no alpha male but just a stupid egoist!

This isn't the first book I read from this author, however, I was deeply disappointed and very much surprised by the many 5* ratings it got! Anyway, maybe I just wasn't in the mood to appreciate a book with an elementary and simplistic storyline, no suspense, no twists and turns, which tried to compensate and focus the reader's interest by using blunt and badly integrated sex scenes. Nothing else!

6 years ago, Paul Benate, a scientist working on top secret assignments for the US military, married the young and naive Jolene. The two were highly attracted to each other sexually and deeply in love, but when his superiors told Paul that Jolene was at risk because of his job, he agreed to put an end to their relationship. The best solution seemed for him to 'die' in a lab explosion. Since then, Jolene has toughened up and has become a deputy marshal on an elite squad. But then she is almost kidnapped and shot in the attempt. That's when it becomes clear to Paul that someone has found out about his 'widow' and that she's at risk, whether she's with him or not. Since neither of the two ever got over their relationship, he has her transported to the secret military base where he's working. Confronted with the man she mourned for and now feels betrayed by, Jolene is angry - but the attraction is still there. And while the two are trying to put their lives back together and deal with their problems, the criminal who wants to use Jolene to blackmail Paul is still after her...

I felt this was an intelligent book with characters that were convincing and had depth. I also liked the fact that there was a real problem to be solved between the two, not a silly misunderstanding or some other romance nocel clichee. The suspense was well done, as was the whole military and marshal background. There is eroticism, but not for its own sake, it's well connected to what's going on within the characters. I would recommend this book. If you enjoy it, Mary Wine's 'Dream'-series should also interest you since it's also dealing with secret military units and involves suspense and (erotic) romance.