Book review: Archer (Hard Body #1) by Debra Kayn

Available now! 
She's on the run . . . 

Jane Beaumont currently has in her possession: a cat, a hundred grand in cash, and a pistol. She's on her way home to Bay City, Oregon-and away from the nightmare of her violent ex-boyfriend. She'll lay low at Beaumont Body Shop, a car detailer that runs a private investigation agency in the back. The only wrench in her plan is Kage Archer: sexy, strong, and intent on protecting Jane at all costs. She's wanted Kage forever, but putting him in harm's way is not a risk she's willing to take. 

He's not going anywhere 

Kage is no stranger to the dark side of life, but he's always walked on the right side of the law. Yet when Jane expressed her interest in him years ago, he pushed her away for her own good. Now, after learning of all she's endured, Kage can't leave her side-or hide his need for her. When a frightening situation turns dire, can Kage convince Jane that the safest place to be is in his arms?

This is book 1 in the new Hard Body series by Debra Kayn. I have read and loved her cow girl series but this time she takes a turn at contemporary/romantic suspense. Jane finds herself in a abusive relationship with a man who is not what he appears. When he comes close to killing her she grabs her cat, her now ex boyfriend gun and a wad of his cash and runs home to her brother and his friends.  Kage comes from a violent and drug filled background. His mom and dad were casualties of this life and ever since he was a kid he's fought to not be like them To be honorable and upstanding doing the right thing always. Jane always had a thing for Kage but he never made a move because she was 4 years younger than him. She's all grown up now though and back home. Kage and Jane's brother and two of their other friends run a car detail shop. It's a front for their other business as private investigators. They have the skills to protect Jane when it's clear her ex isn't going to let her go easily. Kage always want to finally put his mark on Jane but first he's got to get the ex out of her life permanently and try to convince her he's in it for the long haul this time. Debra Kayn knocks it out the park with this story. I got into it right away. Love the guys and the ladies in this book. Kage Archer. The name just screams sexy! The character matches the name. He's a tall, dark and brooding alpha male. He takes charge right from page one but yet shows his tender side to Jane when she needs it. You also get the set up for the next two books possibly if your paying attention. Be sure to read Chapter one of "Weston" the next book in the series that comes at the end of the book. Looking forward to the rest of this series. 5 out of 5 stars for Archer by Debra Kayn.


Find out more about this series and Author Debra Kayn on her website here www.debrakayn.com

Book review: Mine to Take by Cynthia Eden

Available June 12th 2013
Sometimes you want someone so much…
Sometimes you need someone so much…
Lust can become love.
And love can turn into a deadly obsession.

***

Skye Sullivan knows that someone is watching her. Not just watching—stalking her. Months ago, Skye was involved in a dangerous car accident. The accident ended her dancing career and sent her fleeing back to Chicago. Skye is convinced that her stalker caused the crash, and she fears that he won’t stop pursuing her, not until she’s dead.

When someone breaks into her apartment in Chicago, Skye turns to the one man she believes can protect her—Trace Weston. Once, Trace was her lover. Two lost souls, they’d come together in a firestorm of need and desire. But then Trace had pushed her away. He’d joined the military, vanishing from her life. She’d put all of her emotion into dancing, and she’d tried to forget him.

Now Trace is one of the most successful men in the United States. Rich, driven, and carrying dark secrets, he agrees to help Skye. He’ll protect her from the danger that lurks in the darkness, but Trace wants more than to just be a guard for Skye.

He wants her. And he’ll take her. The years have changed him, hardened him. He’s not just a poor kid from the streets any longer. Now, he can have anything—or anyone—that he wants. And the one woman he has always wanted has just come back into his life. He won’t let her go again.

But with the threats mounting against Skye, she suspects that her stalker may be intimately close. He’s a man who knows her too well. As his attacks grow ever more dangerous, she realizes that if she trusts the wrong man, she could be making a fatal mistake.

Lust. Love. Obsession.

Just how far would you go in order to possess the one person you want the most?

Author's Note: MINE TO TAKE is a sexy romantic suspense novella—it contains approximately 41,000 words. MINE TO TAKE is intended for adults. Sexy situations and adult language will be found within the pages of this story—please consider yourself warned.


This is a 150 novella that's part thriller part suspense with a healthy dose of sexy romance tossed in. The book takes place 10 years after Trace and Skye have broken up. He pretty much threw her up for her own good although she didn't know that. She thought he didn't want her anymore. Skye was this phenomenal dancer and he knew for her to succeed he needed to let her go. It killed him to do that but he did. What he didn't know is she would have given up everything to be with him. Ten years later though she comes to him as a last resort because she thinks someones been stalking her and possibly trying to kill her.  Trace has his own security firm and has connections and is rich now. He takes over Skye's lief pretty much to find out what's going on.  Who is the stalker? Is there a stalker? There is so much packed into these pages. Lots of secrets to unravel and a mystery or two. Can love last after so many years apart and so much hurt? This is action packed. Cynthia Eden drags you right into the middle of it. Can't wait for the follow up to this! 4 out of 5 stars for Mine to Take by Cynthia Eden.

Find out more about Cynthia Eden and this book here www.cynthiaeden.com

Hot Cover Monday! Targeted (Deadly Ops #1) by Katie Reus

Targeted
Book 1: Deadly Ops series
NAL/Signet Eclipse
Release date: October 1, 2013

Hidden in plain sight…

Former Marine sniper and current NSA agent Jack Stone has a new face to go with his new identity. But he still has the same tortured memories—which include the woman he let get away years ago, when they were teenagers. Now his new assignment in Miami will put him so close to the woman he’s never been able to forget, he could reach out and touch her—if only she weren’t under suspicion.

When Sophie Moreno uncovers evidence linking the medical supply company she works for with arms smuggling—and worse—she doesn’t know who to turn to. After a shocking betrayal, she realizes the only person she can trust is a mysterious new person in the company—a man with hauntingly familiar eyes.

As Sophie questions her intense attraction to this man and Jack struggles not to blow his cover, the two of them must race against the clock to stop terrorists from killing scores of people—starting with them.

Find out more on Katie Reus website www.katiereus.com

Book review: Hotshot (Buchanan-Renard #11) by Julie Garwood

Available August 6, 2013
Peyton Lockhart and her sisters have inherited Bishop’s Cove, a small, luxurious oceanfront resort, but it comes with a condition: The girls must run the resort for one year and show a profit—only then will they own it.

A graduate of a prestigious French culinary school, Peyton has just lost her job as a food critic. Out of work and in a bad place personally, a year doing something completely different sounds wonderful.

There are countless challenges and too many people who want to stop the sisters from succeeding. Among them are Peyton’s contentious cousins, who are outraged that they didn’t inherit the resort, as well as a powerful group of land developers who have been eyeing the coveted beachfront property.

It’s soon apparent to Peyton that their efforts are being sabotaged, but she refuses to let the threats scare her—until she’s nearly killed. She calls on her childhood friend and protector, Finn MacBain, now with the FBI, and asks for his help. He saved her life once; he can do it again.


Finn MacBain meets Peyton Lockhart when she's a little girl in the beginning of this book. He's 14 and she's 6. Peyton's family is the MacBain's new neighbors and because of a incident with the Lockhart's pool Finn and his 2 brothers aren't allowed over there.  Just so happens the evening the Lockharts are having a party Finns observes a little girl wander out to their pool and sit down and in a matter of minutes she falls in. Finn runs to the rescue when he bursts into the party knocking Mr Lockhart down in the process and dives into the pool and saves her. From then on Finn has a fan for life in Peyton.  Years later Finn is with the FBI now and home for one of his twin brothers wedding. Peyton walks right up to him and says hi and he has no idea who she is until she calls him the knickname she gave him years before,"Hotshot".  Peyton  has just gotten a job at a foodie magazine and uproots herself from  her home to move to another state only to find out her new boss is a major sexual predator. After getting some evidence against him she takes off only to be chased in a snow storm and almost run off the road and shot at.  When Finn notices the bullet holes in Peyton's car he starts looking into what's going on. In the mean time  Peyton and her two sisters are offered a deal by their wealthy uncle who owns a bunch of resorts.  They can run Bishop's Cove in Florida for one year and make a profit they can keep it forever. While Peyton and her sister Lucy move down there to start working on the resort and getting it ready they have to deal with a cousin who is hell bent on ruining their chances. All the while this is going on someone is still trying to kill Peyton or at the very least scare her to death.  Finn is on the job and although they become close he's in denial that he he loves her can't leave her alone. He can't although he does try it just doesn't work.   This book has  a lot going on. Peyton and her sisters trying to fix up the resort while someone is trying to sabatoge the whole thing and then Peyton nasty ex-boss  trying to silence her from exposing what he's been doing  to his father in law. Peyton comes across as a strong female character trying to do the right thing by exposing her boss and protecting other women from him and trying to run a resort while dealing with her crazy family. Finn is this larger than life good guy, former Olympic champion and now super FBI agent. The man is saving the world one day at a time.  I love how Julie Garwood brings back past characters in small ways.  You'll find a few previous characters mentioned in this book and hearing tidbits about past characters always gives me a thrill.  This is a fast read and i enjoyed the main characters as well as all the secondary characters. Another win for me from Julie Garwood. 5 out of 5 stars for Hotshot!

Find out more about this book and everything Julie Garwood on her website here www.juliegarwood.com

Hot Cover Monday! Deathwatch (Broslin Creek Trilogy #3) by Dana Marton

ComingAugust 2013!!

The only person who can identify the most notorious hit man in the country, Kat Bridges is running for her life. Murphy Dolan is in the Army Reserves, returning from his 2nd tour of duty, only to find a stranger hiding in his house. She's scared spitless. He's completely burned-out on violence. Neither of them has any trust left to give.

 If the best of the FBI couldn't protect her from the country’s most notorious assassin, does a burned-out small town cop have a prayer?

More info about Dana Marton and the Broslin Creek series check her website here www.danamarton.com

Book review: Deathtrap (Broslin Creek Trilogy #2) by Dana Marton

Available June 3rd.

She'd been "the sick girl" for most of her life. She refused to go straight to "the weird girl". Heart-transplant recipient Sophie Curtis has been in her own antiseptic bubble for so long, she just might not be able to venture out into the real world again. Her spooky body memories are scary enough, but then she finds herself in the cross hairs of a killer.

"Love was blind, people said. But lust was blind, deaf and reckless." Ethan Bing hadn't been a great romantic before he became a cop. Whatever shred of optimism he had left after becoming Broslin Chief of Police had been seared out of him by the unsolved murder of his wife two years before. A new case brings the killer within reach just as Sophie pops into his life. She gets through his defenses like no other before, but soon it becomes clear that she's been selected as the killer's next victim.

This is book 2 in the Broslin Creek series but  is essentially a stand alone book. The characters from book one are only mentioned in this book. I have not read any book that i can recall with a heart transplant person in them. Sophie Curtis is one such person. Her whole life she's been the sick girl. Unable to do the things she's dreamed of. Now though with a new heart she's starting to work on a long list of things she wants to do. She broke up with her boyfriend who only wanted her if he could run her life. She moved away from where she grey up and bought a place of her own and is running a successful company from home.  While out for a walk she comes across a stray dog. A rottweiler with a sweet disposition really but it takes her a while to get used to him when she can't find the owner and is stuck with him. The dog is what causes her to meet Ethan Bing. Ethan or "Bing" as everyone calls him is the towns police chief. He's got his own demons. Hi wife was murdered two years ago and he still has no clue as to who killed her and why. Then another murder takes place with a connection to his wife's murder. Between investigating the murders and  Sophie he is twisted up inside about where his loyalties should be. Guilt is a heady thing sometimes. Then comes a HUGE twist in the investigation when he realizes that Sophie is tied up into things. This is a another example of Dana Marton's ability to write romantic suspense.  She keeps you guessing right up to the end. The emotional factor in this story is huge when you see everything that is going on with both main characters and you can get a little hung up on that and you ask yourself what would you do if it was you.  5 out of 5 stars for Deathtrap by Dana Marton.

Find out more about this author and this series on her website here. www.danamarton.com

Book review: Long Simmering Spring (Star Harbor #3) by Elisabeth Barrett

Available now!
Cole Grayson finally returns to Star Harbor, and now that he’s the town’s new sheriff, he’s upholding the law instead of breaking it. He and Julie Kensington, the local physician, have known each other since grade school, and she’s less-than-impressed with the bad boy he used to be. But after stints in the military and on Boston’s police force, the question isn’t whether he’s changed, it’s how much. It isn’t long before Cole realizes that his sweet, sexy doctor will force him to confront his past and help him to face the future

This is the 3rd book in the Star Harbor series. We finally get to the troubled military veteran brother Cole. As a combat vet myself it always gets to me when authors write about military people. There are so many things combat veterans can have issues with and PTSD is one of the most widely talked about. Cole suffers from it and is making headway when he finally get Julie his old classmate and the town's Dr to talk to him. She seems to calm him as they slowly start a relationship. Julie has always had an attraction for Cole but his player image didn't work for her. She smacks him a good one when he kisses her back in high school.  There are several things going on in this book but the main story is Cole and Julie. Both have issues they are working out and they try slowly to find their way through a relationship. I have enjoyed each book in this series. Elisabeth Barrett does a great job with each of the Grayson brothers. She continues  in this book as Cole strives to find his normal again after all he's been through. She also opens the eyes to PTSD and how it is to deal with it. Kind of a tough subject but Ms. Barrett takes it on with a lot of success.  5 out of 5 stars for Long Simmering Spring by Elisabeth Barrett.

Find out more about this series by Elisabeth Barrett here on her website www.elisabethbarrett.com

Guest Post and giveaway! Breathing His Air by author Debra Kayn

Everyone loves an anti-hero. Readers snap up books were the hero is emotionally wounded, keeps to himself, and no one can get past his protective shell…except the heroine. Often times he comes across as brash with an "I don't give a frick" attitude. But, what if the book you're reading has an anti-heroine? Is she a badass with an attitude?

Not always.

In Breathing His Air, there's a sexy hardcore biker dude. He's bossy, controlling, and doesn't care what others think about him. His motorcycle club comes first, and that's his life. He's not an anti-hero. He actually has his act together!

The heroine, who owns a cute mobile coffee shack, hands out love advice with every cup, and seems to draw a crowd wherever she goes is the anti-heroine. Are you shocked?

A lot of my early ARC readers and reviewers were taken by surprise. They read the blurb, figured the heroine for a bubbly blonde who was a bit of a goof, who ended up smack dab in the middle of a territory war between the Bantorus MC and the Langsturns MC.

As with real life, we often see what others want us to see. The cashier at the store who always asks about your dog might go home to an abusive husband. The florist, who surrounds herself with beautiful flowers and witnesses other people's showing of love every day, suffers from depression. The young lady who helped you put your groceries in your car grew up in twenty foster homes and is currently living on the street. We only see what others show us.

I hope you enjoy getting to know Tori from Breathing His Air, and her story. She's a lot deeper than first impressions. Her story could shock you, but I think once you see inside her head, you'll respect her even more for what she's experienced. And, you'll see why Rain will do anything to keep her alive.

 

Buy from Amazon here :www.amazon.com/Breathing-His-Air

BLURB

She is love advice in a coffee shack, he's protection in a biker bar. When her past meets his present it's a killer cocktail that might get them shot, stabbed or otherwise dead.

TORI BALDWIN spends all her time traveling the states, running a mobile Coffee Shack and handing out love advice with every cup. She’s staked her rig in the parking lot of Cactus Cove—a local biker bar by all appearances— and plans to stay put for three months. Just long enough to make some money, without making any friends, before she moves to her next destination as she tries to stay ahead of a painful past.

RAIN BROOKSHIRE is the leader of the Bantorus motorcycle club, and owner of the Cactus Cove in the small town of Pitnam, Washington. He wants the Lagsturns, a rival-bad-news motorcycle club, to leave town before they infect his town with trouble. He doesn’t trust them after his ex-girlfriend hooked up with Sanchez, the Lagsturns’ leader, and screwed him over.

With bullets flying and the Lagsturns putting on the pressure, the only way to keep Tori safe—since she refuses to leave town—is for Rain to claim her as his woman. She has no idea that Rain’s played his hand for all to see in the biker world. It doesn't help that Tori exhibits the three ideal classifications of his ideal woman—Classy, Sexy, and a total Goof— and he can't help but posture and lay down the law. But, when it appears Tori’s life is in danger, and the Lagsturns are innocent, he isn’t going to let the law stop him from keeping his woman safe.

Bio

Top Selling Romance Author, Debra Kayn, lives with her family in the beautiful coastal mountains of Oregon on a hobby farm. She enjoys riding motorcycles, gardening, playing tennis, and fishing. A huge animal lover, she always has a dog under her desk when she writes and chickens standing at the front door looking for a treat. She's famous in her family for teaching a 270 lb hog named Harley to jog with her every morning.

Her love of family ties and laughter makes her a natural to write heartwarming contemporary stories to the delight of her readers. Oh, let's cut to the chase. She loves to write about REAL MEN and the WOMEN who love them.

When Debra was nineteen years old, a man kissed her without introducing himself. When they finally came up for air, the first words out of his mouth were…will you have my babies? Considering Debra's weakness for a sexy, badass man, who is strong enough to survive her attitude, she said yes. A quick wedding at the House of Amour and four babies later, she's living her own romance book.

www.debrakayn.com

www.twitter.com/DebraKayn

www.facebook.com/DebraKaynFanPage

Want to win a copy of Breathing his air? : Leave a comment with your email address and your entered to win A copy of Breathing His Air in epub or mobi, whichever one the winner prefers. Giveaway ends Friday April 26th.

Book review: Beneath the Secrets part 2 (Tall, Dark and Deadly series) (serial) by Lisa Renee Jones

Vengeance is all Blake Walker has lived for....until he met her. She will bring him to his knees but will it be in passion or pain? 

Two paths collide.

Two people who will do anything, including sleeping with the enemy, to avenge or save someone they love. But what if everything isn't as it seems and the enemy isn't the enemy at all? Can these two broken people drawn together by their sizzling hot attraction see beyond their pain and their need for vengeance and find the trust they will need to survive a vicious drug lord's wrath before it's too late?
Part 2 Feb 28th
Part 3 April 30th
Part 4 May 31st

This is the last book is the Tall, Dark and Deadly series. The previous book came out as separate books but book 3 is being broken up into parts like a serial. I'm not a fan of this and would rather read it as a whole book but non the less I am still reading this. I have read the other books and part 1 so i want to finish it but also i have loved this series. One of my favorite series by this author.  Part 2 gives you another small piece of the story and takes about 45 minutes to read. Blake is trying to decide if Kara is the enemy or someone he needs to help and protect. Kara has some big secrets and she's not telling. Not the Blake isn't giving it his all to find out. Kara has  the same problem as Blake though. She's trying to decide if Blake is a bad guy or a good guy. By the end of this part of the serial though the gig appears to be up for Kara. You'll have to wait til part 3 to find out though. The writing is awesome. I love the characters but i don't like it broken down into parts. You barely get started and it's over. If i rate it based on the writing i could give it 5 out of 5 stars, but if i rate it based on the amount i get to read for each part I would have to lower it. To what i'm not sure. It's frustrating. Do you like serials? If yes how long do you think each part should be? I don't mine them but i think it should be long enough to get somewhere and should be a serial from the beginning and that is my problem here. I'll still read the next two parts though of course. lol

Find out more about Lisa Renee Jones and her work here www.lisareneejones.com

Book Review: Leave No Trace (Black Ops Inc 5.5 novella) by Cindy Gerard

Reissue from anthology Deadly Promises.
December 2012
David Cavanaugh is tired of his undercover work for the CIA. He desperately wants to retire but when a colleague (Wyatt Savage; Risk No Secrets) asks Cav to find his missing friend (Carrie Granger) he reluctantly agrees. Cav arrives in Myanmar where he discovers Carrie has been caught up in a bungled arrest. To cover up their mistake the government has thrown her in their ruby mines where she labors as a virtual slave. To free her Cav must pretend to work with the corrupt government in Myanmar. Can Carrie learn to trust him or will this rescue mission end in tragedy for them both?

If you have read the BOI or Black Ops Inc. series from Cindy Gerard you have met David Cavanaugh. David is better known simply as Cav. Long time friends and former coworkers of Wyatt Savage and Joe Green both on the BOI team.  In Whisper No Lies (book 3 and my favorite!) Cav helps the guys save the heroine in that book. Now he's thinking he's done with the CIA he wants out. Right about that time Wyatt calls desperate for his help. His friend Carrie is missing in a country that doesn't care for women's rights. He can't so no so off he goes. This is a short but fast paced book. Still has all the thrill factors the other full books in this series had and the hunky guy and tough but vulnerable girl and steamy sex scenes. I'm so glad we got to see a bit more of Cav. He comes  off as pretty slick and put together in the previous book he appeared in but we find out he's not as perfect as he seems. Loved this book but as always with a really good novella you wish it had been longer. Have to add it was nice to have a really quick visit with some of the other BOI guys too! 5 out of 5 stars for Leave No Trace by Cindy Gerard.

PS i found this novella after reading Killing Time and checking out her website. Great place to find out about the BOI series and the new One Eyed-Jack series. Book 1 in that series was reviewed here yesterday. 

More info here. www.cindygerard.com

Book review: Killing Time ( One-eyed Jacks series) by Cindy Gerard

Available January 29th
An exciting new series featuring Mike "Primetown" Brown, a character from her popular "Black Ops, Inc." series.

For the seven years after Operation Slam Dunk went south, Mike Brown got drunk on each anniversary. The eighth year was no different--until he was drugged by a woman and woke up to her questions about what had happened eight years ago in Afghanistan. CIA attorney Eva Salinas has her own theory behind what happened to Mike's team--which included her husband--in Afghanistan eight years ago, and she's determined to prove foul play. Though she doesn't trust him, Mike is the only person she can turn to for help. Under an assumed name, Eva convinces Mike to assemble a new team and go after the traitor who screwed up both their lives. As they track down the rogue who started it all, Eva and Mike discover they can't live without each other. But can they stay alive while an enemy is still on the loose?

Huge Gigantic fan of Cindy Gerard over here. This is the first book in Pne-Eyed Jacks a new series which is also a Spin off from the BOI( Black Ops Inc) series. This one starts out with Primetime Mike Brown which is you did read the BOI series you saw him make an appearance there. I didn't know how much i liked him in those books but he slowly won me over in his own book. Cindy Gerard proves she's still got it with this book. I mean it's easy to expect that it'll be good if you liked her other books but there is also potential to not like it because it might not be what you expect. I can say for myself it was just the right amount of everything. I don't want to say a whole lot even though there are 2 chapter on Cindy Gerard's website it doesn't tell you a whole lot really. Just a intro to the two main characters. It's hard to know what's coming until you get into the meat of it where it really takes off. I will tell you that you get a nice juicy junk of Gabe from the BOI series. I like how the BOI were mixed into this first book to help you get to the start of the new series. I'm hoping they make an appearance here and there throughout the following books.  This book has the right amount of everything for romantic suspense.  Hot and broken hero, sexy tough heroine, pacing that works, story and of course mind bending sex scenes. Romantic suspense fans must check this out. 5 out of 5 stars for Killing Time by Cindy Gerard.

Find out more here www.cindygerard.com
While your there check out her other books including the Black Ops Inc series this is a spin off from.

Book review: Fever ( Book 1 Phoenix Rising series) By Joan Swan

Available Now

Dr. Alyssa Foster will admit to a bad boy fetish…

But when she finds herself face to face with a convicted murderer with a ripped body, a determination for freedom and an eye on her as his get out of jail free card, Alyssa knows she’s in deep trouble…. Not just because Teague Creek is a prisoner desperate for freedom, but because his every touch makes her desperate for more.

A man with a life sentence has nothing to lose…

Teague Creek has one shot at freedom, but his plan to escape with a hostage develops a fatal flaw: Alyssa. On the run from both the law and deadly undercover operatives who know of his strange abilities, he needs to avoid trouble, but every heated kiss tells him the fire between them could be just as devastating as the flames that changed him Forever.

Fever is book one in Joan Swan's Phoenix Rising series. I have already read and reviewed book 2 which i really enjoyed and decided i needed to backtrack to book one to find out about the first couple in the series. They can be read as a stand alone but make a little more sense read in order. I had some trouble getting through this one but i was ill for over a month and that was part of the problem. I barely got halfway through when i had to lay it down. I sat down finally yesterday and read the last 200 plus pages and i loved it. Poor Teague really gets his ass handed to him no matter what direction he turned  when a a Warehouse Fire 5 years ago kills one of his friends and irrevocably changes the rest of them. From there his life took a downward spiral. His wife commits suicide and while he  is searching for answers about the fire a woman helping him is murdered. After that he is accused of the murder and sent to prison and loses custody of his little girl.  Finally he makes his break from prison and takes  what is the wrong girl as a hostage. What started out as wrong slowly becomes right when Alyssa Foster starts to see the real Teague. Doesn't hurt that she has a twin brother who is a kick as lawyer that decides to help Teague because he hates injustice and because his sister cares for Teague. A secret government agency is after him though and they will stop at nothing to silence him. Action packed and exciting. I grew to love the characters even though some made it tough at times. lol 4 out of 5 stars for Fever by Joan Swan. If you decide to read this one make sure when your done you pick up Blaze next which is book 2 in this series. You'll meet Luke in Fever who is the hero in book 2.

Find out more about Joan Swan and all her books on her website herewww.joanswan.com.  PS there are excerpts to enjoy there as well.

Hot Cover Monday! Killing Time ( One eyed Jacks book 1) by Cindy Gerard

 Out in January 2013
From New York Times bestseller Cindy Gerard, an exciting new series featuring Mike 'Primetown' Brown, a character from her popular Black Ops, Inc. series.

For the seven years after Operation Slam Dunk went south, Mike Brown got drunk on each anniversary. The eighth year was no different - until he was drugged by a woman and woke up to her questions about what had happened eight years ago in Afghanistan. 

CIA attorney Eva Salinas has her own theory behind what happened to Mike's team - which included her husband - in Afghanistan eight years ago, and she's determined to prove foul play. Though she doesn't trust him, Mike is the only person she can turn to for help. Under an assumed name, Eva convinces Mike to assemble a new team and go after the traitor who screwed up both their lives. As they track down the rogue who started it all, Eva and Mike discover they can't live without each other. But can they stay alive while an enemy is still on the loose?


Find out more about this series and even read a excerpt on Cindy Gerard's website here www.cindygerard.com

Book review: Shades of Temptation (Book 2 Special Investigations series) by Virna DePaul

WILL HE HELP PROTECT HER...
Carrie Ward understands dangerous men, and she's got the scars to prove it.
These days, the Special Investigations Group detective saves her risk taking for
the job. But when she's asked to pursue a high-profile serial killer, she'll
have to join forces with the last man she wants to depend on-Jase Tyler, an ace
senior detective who's as reckless as she is cautious. And despite her best
intentions, the sparks begin to fly.


OR DRAW A KILLER FROM THE SHADOWS?
As Carrie and Jase race to try to save the next victim, the passion that
simmers between them ignites. But a cunning killer at the top of his game is
challenging Carrie to play to the very end. Now all she can count on are her
instincts-and Jase, the one man daring enough to keep her safe....

Shades of Temptation is the follow up to Shades of Desire in the Special Investigations group series by Virna DePaul. I read book one and enjoyed it. It was a bit more intense than what i usually read for romantic suspense but i liked it. Shades of Temptation is book two and for me a whole lot more intense than book one. Jase and Carrie are on the same team, both are attracted to each other but have never acted on it. They each have their own internal problems with their pasts and their family lives growing up. Carrie is the most messed up in that area though. There are trust issues that the two have to work through. The romance portion of this book is small compared to the suspense part but for me it was part thriller as well. There is more violence that what i would expect in a romantic suspense.The writing was excellent and well done and i was surprised by the twists and turns throughout the story. Several things surprised me but i think that as i said already it's part thriller too and so the violence was a bit for me but true to the story being told. By the end i was stunned by some of how the story wound itself up. I was pretty torn up on how i felt about it. 4 out of 5 Modokker Book Picks starts for Shades of Temptation by Virna DePaul.

Find out more about Virna DePaul on her website here www.virnadepaul.com

Free ebook Friday! Intimate Enemies(Covert Affairs book 1) by Joan Swan!

Available as of July 2012. Your chance to read this exciting new series from book 1!

Intimate Enemies

She is on a quest for answers; answers that could just get her killed.

Six months after the mysterious yacht explosion that killed Cassie Christo’s mother and stepbrother, authorities still have no answers to the cause. Searching for closure, Cassie returns to her childhood home on the Pacific Coast of Baja, Mexico, where she launches her own investigation into the accident.  She never expected to find an adversary in the man who had once touched her heart with kindness in her darkest moment.

Rio’s been fantasizing about reconnecting with Cassie for months. But not here and sure as hell not now. As an undercover agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he’s working the biggest sting operation in all of northern Mexico, and he definitely doesn’t have time for the wild attraction he feels for Cassie.

Not only is his cover on the line, so is his heart. Because as the end of a yearlong operation draws closer, Rio knows if he tells Cassie the truth about who and what he is, it won’t only jeopardize his mission, it may result in him losing her forever. And if he doesn’t, his lies and deception could get them both killed.

Find out more about Joan Swan here  www.joanswan.com. Check out Chapter on there also!

Get it from Amazon for free right now! 

www.amazon.com/Intimate-Enemies

Free ebook Friday! Passion to Die for by Marilyn Pappano

"I wish to God you were dead."


Little did Ellie Chase know those would be the last words she ever spoke to her estranged mother. When Martha's body was found the next morning, all eyes were on Ellie...who couldn't remember what she'd done that night. So when Tommy Maricci—the man she refused to let herself love—came to her rescue, she couldn't say no.

Tommy believed in his former girlfriend's innocence—no matter how damning the evidence against her was. She may have broken his heart, but he took her into his home for protection. Because if Ellie wasn't the killer, someone had set her up. And Tommy refused to let anyone hurt the woman he loved.


Buy it from Amazon for free here www.amazon.com/Passion-to-Die-For

Find out more about Marilyn Pappano here on her blog www.marilynpappano.blogspot.com

PS. I really enjoy these short Harlequin suspense and Intrigue books. Usually around 200 or so pages and packed good with lots of action suspense and romance. Enjoy!!

Book review: Lie to Me (Black opals book 2) by Tori St Claire

Lie to Me

Erotic Romantic Suspense
Available now!

A man of action…


After helping to break up a Russian human trafficking ring as part of the CIA’s elite Black Opal team, Alexei Nikanova’s newest assignment is to rescue one of the stolen women and return her to her father. When he arrives in Dubai, he discovers his target is Sasha Zablosky—a woman he knows all too well, and who has haunted him ever since their one unforgettable night together. But he finds Sasha reluctant to leave her Sheik, the only true friend she’s ever known. Only Alexei can’t give her a choice.


A woman of deception…

With their yearning roused by intrigue, Alexei and Sasha can no longer resist and spend night after night in forbidden pleasure. Soon Alexei finds himself falling for her even as he battles a shadowy menace to protect her. But Sasha is no innocent. She has a past darker than she could ever admit or that Alexei could ever forgive. And it is about to explode into her life once more. Now, as the lies they tell themselves—and each other—pull them deeper into a perilous desire, what began as simple passion becomes a love certain to destroy them and end the lives of countless innocents.


This is my first Tori St Claire book. You never know what to expect when reading a new to me author. It's kind of exciting but a little scary because i hate finding that i don't care for the book. Don't we all want a winner when we read a book? Tori St Claire gives up a sexy, seductive, action packed book with Lie to Me! Both Sasha and Alexei ( love that name, so sexy) have some pretty big inner demons raging around in their heads. Unfortunately neither one really tells the other one the black parts of their pasts. It's a lasting barrier throughout the book til the end.  There's a lot of berating of themselves by themselves and a lot of misunderstandings. The sex scenes were many and super hot. I think that there could have been fewer of them though. It was a bit to much sometimes. Not that those scenes weren't superbly written it just seemed with all the action going on that the sex scenes took away from the pacing of the book a bit. I hope i explained that OK. I really enjoyed the story though and i thought a time or two i could see where it was going but i was sadly mistaken. I hate when you can figure out exactly where the author is going in a suspenseful book.  I loved all the secondary characters as well. It was exciting and unpredictable and the ending was pretty perfect for me. 4 out of 5 Modokker Book Pick Stars for Lie to me by Tori St Claire.

Find out more about this series and Tori St Claire on her website here www.toristclaire.com You can also read a excerpt there.

Free Ebook Friday! One dangerous Night by Lisa Renee Jones

Blake Walker left behind the ATF when the drug cartel he was hunting cost him the life of his fellow agent, and fiancee. Now, two years later, he’s working with his brothers at Walker Security, but he’s living fast, hard, and wild, until he reaches the ultimate high…revenge. And he’s close, so close he can taste it. He’s one meeting, one woman, away from being inside one of the money laundering shells the cartel operates.


One woman….

One dangerously hot night….

This is 20 pages and goes with the Tall, Dark and deadly series and goes with book 3 that out in October of this year. This is my favorite series by Lisa Renee Jones.

PS. Come back next Wednesday when Modokker Book Picks hosts Lisa Renee Jones blog tour. There will be a giveaway.

Find out more about this series and Lisa Renee Jones other work here www.lisareneejones.com She always has some kind of contest going to check her website and blog out.

Get this free from Amazon right now! www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Night-Tall-Deadly-

Book review: An Inconvenient Affair by Catherine Mann

Available now

Sometimes wrong feels oh-so right…


Hillary Wright has always been a magnet for Mr. Wrong. Her latest left her in trouble with the law, and to clear her name, she’s agreed to an undercover sting—as the “date” for infamous Troy Donavan. The notorious hacker is now a government good guy…and a sexy billionaire playboy. Troy has a reputation as the sort of man she’s vowed to avoid, and his secretiveness adds fuel to Hillary’s distrust. But with his kisses like molten sin, her fierce resistance is melting. And being sensible in the face of such overpowering desire is just not an option.

The Alpha Brotherhood: Bound by an oath to make amends, these billionaires can conquer anything… but love.

I just recently started reading Catherine Mann and i have discovered whether she writes a full size book or one of these smaller Harlequin books with around 200 pages she knows how to pack them with exceptional writing and plenty of action. Poor Hilary always seems to have the worst taste in men and her latest boy friend has gotten her in trouble with the law. Now she's trying to help out the government to put him behind bars and clear any suspicion that she was helping him. This puts her in contact with Troy who has a bit of a sketchy past of his own he can't live down. Busted at 15 for hacking into files to expose some corrupt men got him sent off to military reform school. It ended up helping him find some really great stand up friends and a purpose for his life. A family since his own didn't seem to care enough about him. Troy falls for Hilary pretty quick but he has trust issues and social issues from his childhood that cause him problems when dealing with her. Hiliary has some trust issues herself as her mom was and is a alcoholic and her dad was her enabler until he passed away. Her one bright spot was her sister. They've tried to be there for each other over the years. After a several great days together and building a little trust between them while waiting for the bad guy to get caught it all falls apart with one lie. I loved Troy. You feel for him and Hilary with their trouble childhoods and their parents failings of them. Catherine Mann paints a clear picture of their pasts and makes you roots for them. Really enjoyed this past paced book. You feel like your getting more than 200 pages the story is so rich in detail. You also get introduced to Troys fellow reform school friends and hopefully we get their stories in the near future. Can't think of anything i didn't like about this book.  5 out of 5 Modokker Book Pick stars for An Inconvenient Affair by Catherine Mann.

Find out more about Catherine Mann and all her other work as well as this one on her website here. www.catherinemann.com

Book Review: Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood

Available starting today 8/7/2012

Sweet Talk


When FBI agent Grayson Kincaid first encounters Olivia MacKenzie, she makes quite an impression.

The beautiful, tough, young attorney has stumbled into the middle of an FBI sting operation and has reduced it to chaos. Months of surveillance and careful planning down the drain, Kincaid's partner is furious and lets Olivia know that she's ticked off the wrong guy. After all, he's FBI.

Olivia isn't intimidated by his partner's bullying because she's something even scarier...she's IRS. And working for the IRS isn't for the faint of heart. She's on the trail of an elaborate Ponzi scheme, one that threatens to ruin the lives of naive and unsuspecting victims, and one she has personal reasons to be angry about. But after she asks questions of the wrong people, her life is suddenly endangered. She's accustomed to fighting for the underdog but being vulnerable herself is a very different story. Smart enough to know when she need reinforcements, she looks to Grayson Kincaid.

Together they make an excellent team to fight corruption, but Olivia is also fighting the immediate and intense attraction she feels for Agent Kincaid, and that may be a battle she is bound to lose.

Anyone who knows me know i am a huge Julie Garwood fan. It makes reading her new books a lot of fun but a little scary too. Of course i hope to love them but there is the chance i won't. I really like how Julie connects her books. In this new one they are at one of the Hamilton hotels and Grayson knows and speaks to Aidan from one of her earlier books Murder List. Grayson is also the cousin of Sam from a couple of books ago, Sizzle.  This book starts with 4 little girls who are gravely ill and form a bond because of their shared pain and suffering. They all survive and the book begins with Olivia going to a job interview because she thinks she might lose her job at the IRS to cut backs. She ends up getting attacked by the guy interviewing her and his body guard. FBI agent Grayson Kincaid ( love that name) comes to the rescue when he tackles the body guard and saves her. That's how they meet!  Olivia had a hard childhood. She spent most of it in the hospital seriously ill and none of her family every came to see her until her aunt Emma moved to be near her and became like a surrogate mom to her. The three girls she was hospitalized with are her best friends even now. She grew up to become a lawyer and she  uses that to help kids in need of legal representation. Which sometimes gets her into dangerous situations.Outside of that she's trying to put her father in prison for what she thinks is a big Ponzi scheme. She just can't seem to find the evidence she needs to prove it. Somehow the guy her job interview turned fist fight  with has something to do with her father and between threats from him and her family and her dad lawyer and well several other people, her life is in danger. Grayson of course is going to protect her at any cost. Grayson for his part doesn't have to work. He's got plenty of money and at this time is caring for his 9 year old nephew. (sweet huh?)  I like how this story played out. I was really hoping we'd get a little more Aidan though instead of just the one appearance at the beginning because i have been hoping for a long time that she'd get back to him and Cordy from her previous book Murder List. A couple of the sex scenes were the kind you might roll your eyes at although a couple others were really darn hot. I love epilogues but the one Julie did here was kind of me'h for me. Didn't add anything really. What i really liked what Grayson and Olivia as a couple. I also loved some of the character names for Grayson and Ronan. The one name i didn't like but hope if this is going to continue on with the other girls is Olivia's one friend Collins. 4 out of 5 Modokker Book Pick stars for Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood.

Find out more about this book and Julie Garwood's other work on her website here. www.juliegarwood.com