REVIEW: Long, Lean and Lethal by Lorie O'Clare

ISBN 978-0312943431

Genre: Romantic Suspense, Erotic Romance

(c) September 2009, St. Martin's Paperbacks

Lorie O'Clare's website

Rating: 4 stars

Buy Links (paper): Book Depository

"Intrigue and romance and sizzling attraction. What more do you need?"

FBI agent Noah Kayne was called in to help local police detective Rain Huxtable solve a series of murder crimes that have the same MO as crimes in other cities, leading them to believe this could be the work of a serial killer. However, they weren't ecstatic to be paired up as partners, especially when they have to go undercover as a married couple to infiltrate the group of swingers to which the victims belong. But their sizzling attraction to each other couldn't be denied, and it wasn't long before they were starting to fall for each other.

Lorie O'Clare provides the right combination of romance and mystery, intrigue and scorching hot scenes. The mystery of who the killer was and his/her motive kept me turning the pages to satisfy my curiosity. And of course, it was also curiosity that prompted me to pick up this book to know more about that world of which I know nothing about: the swingers world and the whys and wherefores of their activities.

Noah Kayne possessed a forceful personality and this showed in the way he showed Rain who was "boss" right from the beginning. He rubs me a little wrong here, coz I feel like he was manhandling the heroine a little. But perhaps Rain needed to be shown this, else she would've walked all over Noah later on. Also, Rain seemed to need a man who can handle her, who can go toe-to-toe with her when she's in a fighting mood, especially when Noah's dominance turns her on. You know how for some couples disagreements serve as the foreplay? Well, for Noah and Rain, they needed to get physical. A little too physical for me, but hey, whatever pushes your button.

However, Noah could be tender and patient with Rain when she needed it, like the time when certain words triggered her memories of her dad and the way she still grieved for him. On the other hand, Rain also satisfied Noah's needs and expectations, as he'd been burned before by a woman who wanted a little extra on the side.

What I like about this book is that there's a real intrigue and crime that our hero and heroine has to solve, and I like how they never lose sight of their mission, despite their attraction to each other. (I've read a book where the "mission" is but an excuse for the main characters to be put into close contact with one another.) Even in their mission, Noah and Rain complemented each other, each bringing something to the table that the other lacked. Clues are peppered throughout the book to prod the reader into making an educated guess as to who the villain could be (I love this part of romantic suspense, like playing Cluedo), and the suspense and action keeps me turning the pages.

Buy Links (paper): Book Depository

REVIEW: Breaking Daylight by M. J. Fredrick

ISBN 978-1-60504-869-7

Genre: Romantic Suspense

(c) 2010, Samhain Publishing

M. J. Fredrick's website

Rating: 3.5 stars

Buy Links (ebook): Samhain Publishing, Barnes and Noble Ebook

"All the ingredients for a good romantic suspense are here! A sexy, tortured hero, a drug lord villain and the beautiful, gutsy heroine."

On a mission to hunt down drug kingpin Santiago Saldana, Alex Shepard instead rescued Saldana's mistress, Isabella Canales. His orders were to keep close to her in case she led him to Saldana, but Alex found it hard to ignore the attraction that flared between them. Yet he fought it, because he believed her to be the same as his mother, a woman who put pleasure over everything that was right and decent.

As for Isabella, she had been Saldana's prisoner for over four years, but Alex didn't believe it. His words and the way he thought of her hurt, but she forced herself not to care, not if it meant getting out alive and being able to retrieve her most precious possession.

Because of what Isabella had been over the past four years, it wasn't easy to like her at first. She whored for Saldana, not because she was willing, but because she was essentially trapped. In a sense, we are seeing a woman who would do anything to survive and to protect her own. As I read, I thought of the women who were probably in the same situation--trapped because they had no other way of making a living, of making it through to the next day except to sell themselves. And it made me uneasy.

However, Isabella also proved herself to be strong, courageous and smart in the face of danger, willing to do anything to get what she wanted most. (Sorry, can't say what, as it would be a spoiler. I think.) She did have her TSTL moments initially, especially when she and Alex were still in the jungle. When a ranger (Alex) tells you to be quiet, he has a reason. When he tells you to stay put, he has a reason. You don't go talking just because you can't stand the silence and you don't go barging into unknown potentially dangerous situations, especially when in the previous village you came to, all the people were shot dead by Saldana's men. I'm glad to see though that she wised up over the course of the story and even learned to hold her own against the bad guys by thinking what Alex would have done.

Alex is a man mired in his past, which was the basis for his rejection of Isabella. I like that he has a good relationship with his adopted father, and that he didn't hesitate to open up his problems to his parent.

M.J. Fredrick's writing is understated, which is both good and bad, in my opinion. Good because she doesn't dumb down the reader. She describes the action and a little bit of the character's emotion and lets the reader fill in the rest with her imagination. On the other hand, this kind of writing creates a distance between the characters and the reader. For example, I would've loved to know more of what Alex was feeling when he finally realized he was in love with Isabella rather than just reading that he grinned and threw his hands up in the air. I get that he's happy, there are the outward signs after all. But what was he feeling inside? Was his happiness a joy that expanded his heart and overflowed? Or was it a gentle, quiet one that brought peace? Also, the action/suspense scenes could do with a little more excitement, especially the last one, since it's the biggie scene with the bad guy there and all.

Note that I'm not a writing expert, but merely a reader who tries to articulate what she felt while reading. That said, there's a solid plot here, with an unexpected villain and real emotions. There were also unexpected moments of humor that I appreciated. I would definitely want to read more of M.J. Fredrick's works.

Buy Links (ebook): Samhain Publishing, Barnes and Noble Ebook

*Note: This review copy is provided by the author.

REVIEW: Laid Bare by Cerise Deland

ISBN 9781419927171

Genre: Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense

(c) January 2010, Ellora's Cave

Cerise Deland's website

Rating: 3.5 stars

Buy Link (ebook): Jasmine Jade, Barnes and Noble Ebook

"Gripping, suspenseful story with a huge dose of hot, sizzling attraction"

Tate Ryder has been in lust with Anna Stephens since the woman came to work for him two years ago. However, he was crushed when she didn't seem to return his regard, even though he had this strict rule about not getting involved with his staff. All that was forgotten when he saw Anna being attacked outside his condo.

Anna hid a deep, dark secret, the reason for which she's kept Tate at a distance all this time despite being attracted to him. And in Tate's attempt to keep her safe, he would be drawn into her world of danger.

Cerise Deland writes a gripping, suspenseful story and topped it with hot, sizzling attraction between the characters. The clues were all there in the story, if you knew to look for them. The action really heated up from the time Tate and Anna arrived in Mexico and didn't let up until the villains were caught. The suspense gripped me so much I had to finish the book or else.

I think Anna is a great heroine--smart and gutsy and unwilling to put the ones she loved in danger. What she had to go through alone, the terror and having no one to lean upon, made her strength believable. Still, I did wonder why she decided to trust a certain person when her experiences told her that no person is to be trusted. Look how she put Tate at arms' length for two years. But perhaps, in a moment of weakness and loneliness, she decided she needed a friend.

With regard to the romance between Tate and Anna, I would liked more development of their feelings with more interaction (instead of just sex) between them. Seems though that the two-year attraction and working relationship were made to serve in this capacity. Yet how much do they really know about the other? I also feel that there were times when Anna just needed to be held and comforted, but Tate decided that sex was the answer.

Despite that, I really enjoyed the story and looked forward to more from this author.

Buy Link (ebook): Jasmine Jade, Barnes and Noble Ebook

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Something About You by Julie James

ISBN 978-0-425-23338-2

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Romantic Suspense

(c) March 2010, Berkley Sensation

Julie James' website

Rating: 5 stars

Buy Links (paper): Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble 

"Delightful, light-hearted, romantic romp. Hard to put down!"

Julie James never fails! Something About You is hilariously funny, the humor coming from the characters' interaction and/or thoughts. Within the first few paragraphs of Chapter One, I was alternately smiling, chuckling or bursting with laughter.

Cameron Lynde became the unwitting witness to a murder in the hotel room next to hers, and who should be the FBI agent in charge of the investigation than Jack Pallas, the agent who believed she'd almost destroyed his career three years ago. Each didn't want to work with the other, and having no choice, sharp, cheeky and sarcastic remarks abound in their dialogue, but soon, they couldn't deny the attraction that flared up between them.

I like Cameron and Jack, because they are flawed, thereby believable, real and human. The difficulty Cameron faced three years ago was plausible, and although I hate the fact that she didn't act the way I thought she should, I realized that, given her position, her hands are tied. The way our hands are tied sometimes. Jack's anger and the way he lashed out are all things we can relate to.

However, despite the danger to herself, Cameron still tried to right the wrong about to be committed in the best capacity that she could. I like her idealism and strength of principles, that with each criminal she helped put behind bars, she was helping to make the world a better place in her own small way. I like that she's smart and friendly and likeable, an ordinary woman who doesn't have airs due to her position and who is, in Jack's words, "fucking gorgeous". Both Jack and Cameron are professionals, that they are able to set aside their "hostile" feelings for each other long enough so that they didn't get in the way of the business at hand. And I like that in the end, Jack got the justice that he was angling for, although that made the ending a little too neat.

Early on in the book, the author revealed the villain and his motive. I believe this slowed down the book a little, as I remember feeling I couldn't wait to finish reading the chapter so I could get on to more Cameron-Jack interaction scenes. Also, revealing the villain this early took away one of the joys of romantic suspense for me: trying to guess who the villain is from the clues dropped throughout the story and his motive.

That said, the emotional development between Jack and Cameron was done well, in my opinion. I love seeing how sweet and romantic Jack could be, the way he goes all tense and protective when Cameron was in danger. *melts* I also absolutely love the presence of the supporting cast--most notably, Jack's partner Agent Wilkins (I loved the way he was portrayed as the total opposite of Jack, and I laughed out loud upon reading Jack's and Collin's reaction to him on p. 77 of the book), and Cameron's friends Collin and Amy. I love seeing the dynamics of their interaction with Jack and Cameron, and I especially like the way Collin and Amy were portrayed--concerned and supportive of Cameron, yet having that air of teasing irreverence that comes with being good friends for a long time.

In all, I enjoyed this book a lot (read it in two days) and I look forward to being taken for a wild, hilarious ride again in Ms. James' next book.

Buy Links (paper): Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble  

* I enjoyed this book so much The Raving Readers is giving away a copy of Something About You!

How to enter?

In the book, Cameron has Collin and Amy who stood at her side through thick and thin and who "threatened" Jack should he ever hurt Cameron again. So, tell us: What is the nicest thing that your best friend or anyone has ever done for you?

No geographical restriction, so everyone on this planet is welcome to enter.

Extra chances to win:
+ 3  if you're a follower of this blog
+ 2  if you follow us on Twitter or Facebook
+ 1  for every time you spread the word about this contest via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,
          your blog, website or other form of social media. Be sure to come back here and
          post the links. For example, you tweeted about this contest twice and also announced
          it on your Facebook. That's 3 additional chances!

If you do all of the above, at a minimum, that's 7 chances to win! But note that the barest minimum to qualify is that you have to post your answer to the question.

Contest ends on March 5 (Friday), 1159pm EST.

Winner will be picked via Randomizer.org and announced on March 6 (Saturday).

Good luck!

SNEAK PEEK: Breaking Daylight by M.J. Fredrick

ISBN 978-1-60504-869-7

(c) January 2010, Samhain Publishing 

M.J. Fredrick's website

Buy Links (ebook): Samhain Publishing, Fictionwise

Blurb from Publisher's Website: 

Touching her crosses the line…and shoots his code of honor all to hell. 

Sergeant Alex Shepard is all about getting the job done. That single-minded purpose helps him forget the fact he hates the jungle as he leads his Special Forces team in search of Honduran drug lord Santiago Saldana. His quarry eludes him, but the woman left behind in the compound is the next best thing. Saldana’s mistress—an American woman who clearly puts her own pleasure over right and wrong.

Isabella Canales has been Saldana’s prisoner for four long years. Worse, he’s taken away her most precious possession. Except Alex doesn’t believe a word of it. The clock is ticking, and she’s frantic to do anything to convince him to take her home. Even agree to serve as bait to draw Saldana out.

As they push through the tangled jungle dodging bullets and ambushes, Alex fights his growing respect for Isabella’s determination—and an attraction that’s impossible to resist, whatever she’s done. But Saldana never lets go of what’s his. And betrayal is his deadliest weapon…

Exclusive Excerpt (provided by the author):

“Where did you get these boots?” He motioned to the footwear that was out of proportion to her body. 

“I borrowed them.” She swiped the back of her wrist over her forehead. “I didn’t have clothes for this." 

“Who did you borrow them from?” 

He inspected a fallen tree, looking for snakes or anything else that might be using the log as a hiding place. Tossing his pack down, he motioned her to sit. She looked at him warily, then did. He reached for the laces, but she drew her feet back, the quickest he’d seen her move in hours. For the first time he saw that her pants were too big as well, rolled at the hem and at the waist. She was tiny, and these were men’s clothes. 

“Saldana’s clothes?” He squinted up at her. 

“No.” She folded her arms over the loose waist and dipped her head. “No, if he knew they were missing—” 

“Someone you trusted?” 

She shook her head. “If he found out someone helped me, it would be terrible for them. I couldn’t ask anyone for help.” 

“Well, you’re not asking me.” He gripped the heel of her boot in one hand and untied it with the other. 

She sucked in her breath when he tugged the boot, and he looked up at her. She was in real pain. This wasn’t going to be good. 

Blood had soaked through the thick white socks—three pairs, she’d had sense enough for that. 

“Jesus.” He peeled the socks gently, one at a time, feeling her tense with each layer. If there was this much damage after only walking this morning—the outer sock was little more than a rag—what were her feet going to look like? Hell, he knew. What he didn’t know was how he was going to deal with an injured woman in the middle of the jungle with no transportation. 

He peeled down the third sock. Her ankle was so small he could wrap his fingers around it. It was ripped to hell, the skin over her Achilles tendon shredded and the flesh over her anklebone where the heel of the boot had rubbed. The tops of her toes—tipped with red nail polish—were raw. 

He rested her heel on his thigh, then gave the same attention to the other foot. Only after he dragged his pack over did he look at her face. She had braced her weight on her hands behind her, her whole body tense as she stared at her feet. 

“I thought nothing could hurt as bad as stilettos.” 

That comment surprised a grin out of him. “Yeah, you wouldn’t look too great in them now.” He pulled out the peroxide, gauze and antibiotic lotion. “You’re going to have a hell of a time walking and we’ve got a long way to go.” 

She stilled. “You can’t leave me here.” 

He sat back on his heels and sighed. The objective had changed on the mountain—get her back to the States. But how was he going to make that happen when her feet were in this shape and he was on his own? He couldn’t protect her and get her out of here. He’d have to stash her until he could do both. “They won’t hurt you. We’ll get you to the road, they’ll find you, take you back.” 

“To Santiago.” Her voice rose in panic. “If he knows I left on my own—” 

He dragged a hand over his hair. “You tell him we took you.” 

She shook her head violently. “He’ll know. There’s no way you could get in, and I’m forbidden to leave.” 

“Ever?” He opened a new bottle of water, splashed a bit over each foot, soaking the thigh of his BDUs, and he passed the bottle to her. 

She took it but didn’t drink. “In four years. I even—” She stopped herself, pressing her lips together. 

“Even what?” 

She shook her head, her gaze following a trail of ants on the jungle floor. He cut a strip of gauze, cleaned her wounds with gentle swipes and dabs, applied the antibiotic and started wrapping her foot. “If you give it an extra layer or whatever I could make it,” she said. “It already feels a lot better.” 

“Your socks are bloody rags.” He looked up. “I have to send you back.” 

“You can’t!” 

She shot forward and grasped his wrist. Her dark eyes were pleading. The kind of eyes that could make a man do anything. He turned his gaze down. 

“You don’t know what he’ll do to me.” 

He pulled his wrist away. “Your choice. You went with him.” 

She reached for her pack and dragged it close as he wrapped her other foot with less gentleness than the first, needing to get her away from him. But God, how could he make her walk on these feet? 

“You’re not going to leave me all by myself?” 

Damn, she was about to cry. “We’ll find a village. I’m not going to leave you in the middle of the jungle. But even that won’t be easy.” He held out his hand. “Give me that.” 

She pulled her pack closer, protective, wary. 

“I need to stuff the toes or something so your feet won’t have room to slide around.” 

"I don’t have anything.”  

He tugged the pack free, frowning at her determination to hang on to it. What was she hiding? “I already saw the vibrator. Not that you’re likely to be embarrassed by something like that.” He unzipped the pack and pulled out a brightly colored silk dress, something fine and expensive, something Rebecca would never wear. No, she liked soft colors and cotton, and had probably never paid more than fifty dollars for a dress. This garment was probably worth four times that, at least. 

The goddess whimpered, her gaze focused on it. 

He grabbed the garment by the shoulders, took just a moment to imagine how the fabric would mold to her body, and ripped it in two. 

You would have thought he’d stabbed her in the heart, the way she cried out and reached for it, trying to pull it from his grasp, too late. 

“What the hell?” he demanded, holding it away. “It’s a dress.” 

But the woman who’d refused to cry when she was in a truck on fire, or hanging off the side of a mountain, was sobbing over a dress. Jesus. 

He snatched up her boots, one at a time, and shoved the fabric inside, wadding it in the toes. Then he held out each boot expectantly. Lower lip trembling, she took them, eased her sore feet inside and laced them up. 

He stood, backing away and grabbing his pack, not taking his gaze off her. Goddamn, he’d never understand women.

Buy Links (ebook): Samhain Publishing, Fictionwise

DNF: Two Historicals and A Romantic Suspense

After finishing Nightkeepers by Jessica Andersen (awesome book! Review to come soon), I thought I'd read some historicals before going into more paranormals (Deidre Knight's Red Fire and Larissa Ione's Passion Unleashed and Ecstasy Unveiled, not to mention the next two books after Nightkeepers). I've read so much about Julia Justiss that I picked up her book and another by Anne Mallory. Sad to say, I was disappointed.

A Most Unconventional Match by Julia Justiss utlized my favorite trope: friends to lovers. I was so sure I would love this! Unfortunately, the book (the writing, the characters) just didn't grab me. I read until the chapter when the hero and heroine met again after seven years, before I finally gave up. One good thing I do have to say for Ms Justiss: The hero has a speech impediment and his dialogue clearly showed it (unlike other books).

I was intrigued by For The Earl's Pleasure by Anne Mallory, as it also seemed to be a friends to lovers story, plus the fact that the hero became a ghost and only the heroine could see him (I gathered this from excerpts and reviews). I thought it was interesting and it probably is. I wouldn't know because I couldn't get past the first chapter where Ms Mallory meant to show that the hero and the heroine were at odds with one another and how they kept baiting each other through the years. She was able to show this marvelously, however, the characters came across as silly. I know there's not much maneuver room for historicals, unlike say in paranormals where the author is only limited by her imagination, but still...

A previous DNF (one I hadn't blogged about) is Hard to Hold by Stephanie Tyler. Just about everything about this book caught my attention--the cover, the back summary and the excerpt, and so, I picked it up while I was browsing in a bricks-and-mortar bookstore without reading the reviews beforehand. I don't know though whether it would have helped. I believe I read up to Chapter Three before I gave up. Aside from the fact that I didn't like the heroine (not usually something that happens to me), the book just didn't grab me. I forced myself to read on, but at some point, I just couldn't, so I stopped.

However, your mileage may vary, so don't let my DNF reviews stop you from picking up and enjoying these books. I know for a fact several reviewers gushed about Julia Justiss and that Shana enjoyed Hard to Hold, so you may have the same taste as them.

REVIEW: Shadowlight by Lynn Viehl

Series: Kyndred series, Book 1
(c) 2009
295 pages, Ebook ARC
Author's Website

Summary:

With one touch, Jessa Bellamy can see into a person's deepest thoughts. In the process, she has uncovered criminals and leaked information to the authorities for many years. However, her activities are catching up to her, and unbeknownst to her, people are watching her--a mysterious man named Gaven Matthias and a biotech corporation called GenHance Inc. Each wants her for his own purpose, but only one will get her...

Review:

Lynn Viehl crafted an amazing story--a brilliant mix of the paranormal and suspense. Each scene raises the stakes and escalates the mystery until she reveals the answers one by one, and I couldn't stop turning the pages due to the urgent need to know what happens next.

The worldbuilding is superb, especially with the use of the proper terminologies that lends credence to the world the author has built. Some of the foundation has already been laid during the Darkyn series, and Lynn Viehl just builds more upon it. It was nice to see how Lucan's and Sam's relationship has evolved, for those who love visiting with characters from the previous books. I do wish though there could have been some solid interactions--instead of the almost-interactions--between them and the main characters, but alas, it was not to be. Perhaps I'll get my wish in the succeeding books.

Jessa Bellamy makes the perfect heroine, smart and with a strong character. Having gone through a lot, she has emerged stronger from her experiences, though wary and cautious and protective, especially for her fellow Takyns. She is also smart and resourceful, and she knows when she is at the limit of her strength and needs to trust the hero. Oh, and did I say she's smart?

I love the mystery of Gaven's identity, and I have to admit that it is also in anticipation of the revelation of who he is that makes me keep scrolling down. I have such fun guessing who he could be and what he was about. I also like how his background intertwines with that of the arch enemy's. This makes me eager to read the next book in the series, where I'm sure we'll see more of them both.

I have to admit, I didn't like Rowan so much at first. But I warmed up to her when her backstory was revealed. One thing for sure, Takyns are such a wary, untrusting lot! However, one can't blame them. When evil men want to harvest your DNA, well, that's a lot of cause for keeping important things secret.

Though all the important threads pertaining to this book are addressed by the end of the story, Lynn Viehl leaves enough questions unanswered to make me wish I could get the next book now.

Book Rating: 4.0

Disclaimer: This e-ARC is provided for by the author.