with a review of Eagle’s Heart by Alyssa Cole. While I liked the ethnic diversity of the book, for the most part this one didn’t work for me.
Tag: romantic suspense (Page 17 of 18)
with a review of Slow Burn by Sam B. Morgan. I have a weakness for cops in m/m romance.
Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Navy SEAL Ian Dunn went rogue in a big way when he turned his talents to a lawless life of jewel heists and con jobs. Or so the world has been led to believe. In reality, the former Special Ops warrior is still fighting for good, leading a small band of freelance covert operatives who take care of high-stakes business in highly unofficial ways. That makes Ian the hands-down choice when the U.S. government must breach a heavily guarded embassy and rescue a pair of children kidnapped by their own father, a sinister foreign national willing to turn his own kids into casualties. Shockingly, Ian passes on the mission… for reasons he will not–or cannot–reveal.
But saying no is not an option. Especially not to Phoebe Kruger, Ian’s bespectacled, beautiful, and unexpectedly brash new attorney. Determined to see the abducted children set free, she not only gets Ian on board but insists on riding shotgun on his Mission: Impossible-style operation, whether he likes it or not.
Though Phoebe has a valuable knack for getting out of tight spots, there’s no denying the intensely intimate feelings growing between Ian and Phoebe as the team gears up for combat. But these are feelings they both must fight to control as they face an array of cold-blooded adversaries, including a vindictive mob boss who’s got Ian at the top of his hit list and a wealthy psychopath who loves murder as much as money. As they dodge death squads and play lethal games of deception, Ian and Phoebe will do whatever it takes to save the innocent and vanquish the guilty.
Or die trying.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I have missed Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters books. This isn’t a Troubleshooters book but it is a kind of offshoot of them. Regular Brockmann readers will recognise Deb Erlanger and Joe (“Yashi”) Hirabayashi from the FBI and Martell Griffin from Force of Nature (he is a friend of Ric Alvarado’s). Jules Cassidy even gets a mention or two but he didn’t actually appear on page (sadly). It’s set in the same world where the Troubleshooters are and I gather that future books in this series may incorporate other TS characters in some way.
Why I read it: I received a review copy from the author. This brand new novella is being packaged with a re-release Silhouette title from Suzanne Brockmann called Scenes of Passion. The anthology is called Passion and Peril and releases on November 26.
I don’t remember much of Scenes of Passion – I read the original category a few years ago which I picked up at my local UBS. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads so I gather from that I thought it was okay but nothing amazing.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The snowstorm forecast says it’s a big one, but wildlife photographer Paige Dawson is prepared. Until a terrible car accident brings a sexy stranger to her remote mountain cabin and the bad weather strands them together . . . for days. The heat between them is like nothing she’s ever known — incendiary, undeniable. And just as she begins to hope for something real with Colin Reid, after the snow melts, he remembers what caused his accident . . . and it may be too late for them both.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): While I thought the beginning of the story was a little overdone (too many exclamation marks), things really picked up in chapter two. Paige and Colin had a lot of things in common and their connection and attraction was obvious. I thought Colin in particular was pretty funny in the way he thought about things. Some of his musings regarding a naked Paige made me chuckle. The novella is only about 70 pages long, so there wasn’t a lot of time in which to draw the characters and make me care about them, but by the end of chapter two, I did. There’s not time for deep character exposition but the essential parts of them were on the page and it was clear that their connection was based on more than mutual lust.
Today, I’m reviewing Heart of Danger by Lisa Marie Rice, narrated by Seraphine Valentine, over at AudioGals. Leave your disbelief at the door to enjoy this one. But if you can, it’s a lot of fun.
Why I read it: I read the first book, Power Exchange, a little while ago and really enjoyed it. I bought both books at the same time but wanted to wait before reading the sequel. After the somewhat disappointing experience of reading Aftermath, I picked up Safeword because I felt sure I could get the tension and the angst I had been looking for here. Also, I like books about established couples – after the HEA is a fascination to me.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Everywhere Detective Gavin DeGrassi looks he’s reminded of his attack by the Breath Play Killer. It’s in the house he lives in with his partner and Dom, Ben Haverson. It’s in the sympathetic yet pitying looks he receives from his fellow detectives when he returns to the force after a year-long hiatus. It’s in the suffocating coddling of his entire family, and the relentless reporter demanding an exclusive of his ordeal.
Most of all, it’s in his lack of submission to Ben, who isn’t convinced Gavin’s recovered enough to trust the power exchange between them.
The miraculous recovery of two teen boys from a twisted kidnapper gives him heart, and Gavin’s determined to prove he can handle anything despite increasing strain between him and Ben, painful nightmares, and panic when anyone touches him.
But his next case is too close for comfort: a friend and colleague found raped and murdered in a fate chillingly similar to what could have been his own, and this killer isn’t stopping with one cop. As the body count rises and taunting souvenirs are being hand-delivered to Gavin, he faces a frustrating lack of leads, a crushing need to prove himself, and a sinking suspicion the imprisoned kidnapper’s reach is further than originally thought. A miasma of uncertainty and fear threaten to suffocate him when he asks a question with which he’s overwhelmingly familiar: what happens when a victim is pushed too far?
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Safeword had a bit of a slowish start for me. I found myself taking some time to settle into the BDSM theme whereas I don’t recall having that problem in the first book. It doesn’t really make sense and it’s not really fair, but I found myself being irritated by the capitalisation of Dom and feeling my feathers becoming ruffled by the power exchange aspects at the start of the story. Which is ridiculous because I knew what I was getting when I opened the book. And, while it appears I am not a “natural submissive” even remotely, I have had no problem enjoying books with these themes before. So, I can’t really put my finger on what was bothering me at first. I found myself thinking the beginning of the story was a little… clunky (?). Perhaps it was something in the writing – perhaps it was merely that I was feeling out of sorts. Perhaps it had something to do with that Ben seemed to be unaffected by the events of the first book and it was only Gavin that seemed to struggle (this doesn’t continue – it becomes clear that Ben has his own demons to tame and, that’s one of the things which increased my satisfaction.). But.
But, not too long after I was too engrossed in the story to think anything other than “what’s next?” and that which bothered me right at the start, snapped into it’s groove (or perhaps, I did) and the story flowed smoothly from there.
NetGalley Reviewer
Currently Reading
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
