I just got back from a spring break trip. The week before our trip, I was really tense and stressed, and my mom suggested I take some fun reading along. At the time, all that was left unread on my e-reader was classics (a LOT of them), and some dense fantasy, and while I'm sure I'll enjoy them when I read them, my mom was right--this wasn't the time.

So I went shopping at the Sony Reader Store, and a few minutes later had five new books ready to go. (Have I mentioned how much I love my e-reader?) I haven't bought new books other than nonfiction for so long that I had no idea what was out there, so I just searched for authors I trusted and came up with Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Anne Stuart (a.k.a. Kristina Douglas), and Kathleen O'Reilly.

from the back of the book:

When midnight strikes...The last thing temp agency owner Ian Cumberland expects on an icy New Year's Eve is a little magic. But when a stunner of a woman plants a sizzlin' kiss on him in the middle of Times Square, Ian's world explodes. A moment later, she's gone....But as much as Ian shakes Rose Hildebrande to the tips of her designer shoes--and a few other choice places!--she can't afford to fall for a charming pauper instead of Prince Charming. Still...there's something about Ian, his sexy good looks, his charming kindness, that inspires Rose to find him and seduce him. But will their naughty fling still be blazing come summer?

One thing about e-books is that you don't really see the cover, which is a good thing. This would have irritated the heck out of me. Ian Cumberland does not own a temp agency. He works for an employment agency, and has since he was laid off from his prestigious job as an investment banker. It's a big step down, and part of his personal journey.

But Ian is not the primary focus of this story--it's Rose. Gutsy move on O'Reilly's part, I have to say. Readers love damaged heroes. Damaged heroines, not so much. Unless the heroine is damaged in a way that makes her ultra-lovable. (insert eye-roll here) Unlike the other reviewers I read, I was captivated by Rose from the start.

It was clear from the beginning that Rose had Issues, and pretty serious ones. I loved how she had to fight herself, how she struggled between what she believed she should want and what she did want. Even better was how the origins of her issues came out a little bit at a time. Each chapter I knew her a little better. And it was never all laid out like "Rose was screwed up because of X, Y, and Z," not even when she finally came clean with Ian. It was very well handled.

Midnight Resolutions demonstrates exactly why Kathleen O'Reilly was one of the first authors I looked for. She's a master of category-length romance, a difficult length for many authors. Both characters grew and changed, the conflicts were real, and the secondary characters were three dimensional and their challenges added to the main conflict.

One more reason to like my e-reader: Midnight Resolutions, being a Harlequin Blaze, is already out of print in paperback, but it's still available in e-format. ( )