She knew he would have taken the bullet for her, with or without a vest. It both filled her heart with love and with colossal fear.
Material Witness by Lisa Mondello
Standalone - Heroes of Providence #1
Release - January 1, 2012
Genre - Romantic Suspense
Primarily Dual POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3 out of 5/a couple of barely descriptive scenes
Format/Source - Amazon Kindle purchase
Length - 237 pages
Publisher - Indie
Bestselling crime novelist, Cassie Alvarez, aka Cassie Lang, had murder on her mind when she walked into Rory's Bar under dressed and under cover to research her latest crime novel. Researching the cool, blue-eyed and dashingly handsome man at the end of the bar stirred her senses more than she wanted to admit. But was this man of leather armor all he appeared to be?
Playing White Knight to an innocent wasn't how Detective Jake Santos planned to spend his time under cover. But there was no way "CJ" was what she claimed to be and that nagging tightness in Jake's chest told him he'd better take her home to safety and leave it at that. Then the barroom exploded with gunfire, leaving a trail of dead that includes a notorious Providence crime boss and an undercover FBI agent. When Cassie's name is leaked to the media as the only witness to the grisly murders, Cassie insists she only trusts Jake to protect her.
The FBI wants their star witness happy and will do anything to make sure Cassie testifies. But it is clear to Jake that the shooter isn't the only person who wants Cassie dead. Not knowing who to trust, he vows to protect Cassie at all cost despite the fact that guarding the beautiful novelist is a serious distraction.
Cassie was a woman who wrote crime fiction for a living and she was pretty good at it... if you chose to neglect the fact that it wasn't wholly accurate or that she naively put herself in dangerous situations in order to research whatever she was writing about. I found her to be a bit deluded when it came to real life as opposed to the fiction she wrote. Who goes into a mob-run bar to conduct research for a fiction novel? Seriously? At least Detective Jake Santos had a reason to be there, seeing as he was undercover. Anyway, her being there ties her whole life up in knots because she's a witness and someone doesn't want to leave her alive.
It was pretty obvious who some of the bad guys were, but I was still caught off guard. I enjoyed the way the story developed and the way the suspense brought the characters closer together. If someone recommended another book from this author for me to read, I'd definitely give it a go!
Visit http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com/ for more information!
Stop delaying in tackling things that terrify you.
Because you never know.
The spoils might be sweet.
Dream Spinner by Kristen Ashley
Standalone - Dream Team #3
Release - May 25, 2021
Genre - Contemporary Romance
Dual POV - Hattie/1st person & Axl/3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5/a few scenes
Format/Source - eARC provided by the publisher
Length - 393 pages
Publisher - Forever
Hattie Yates has finally met the man of her dreams. Yet years of abuse from her demanding father have left her petrified of disappointment. She’s already failed to reach her goal of becoming a professional ballerina—she can’t handle the terrible consequences of another dream becoming a nightmare. But when a stalker sets their sights on Hattie, there’s only one man she dares to hope can help . . .
Axl Pantera knows Hattie is the only woman for him. Yet despite the attraction burning between them, Hattie refuses to let him in. The former soldier is determined to woo her into letting down her walls. And when danger comes calling, he’s up against more than her wary and bruised heart. Axl will do anything to prove to Hattie that they’re meant to be, but first, he’ll need to keep her safe.
Find your copy of Dream Spinner here:
Amazon * Nook * iBooks * Kobo
There's Hattie, who has suffered many years of abuse from her father, who has built up walls that allow her to deny herself her greatest wish, walls that do their best to keep Axl out. Then there's Axl, a man who has been through a lot. He has his own demons, he has a huge heart, he's compassionate and patient, he's bloody awesome!
I wasn't Hattie's biggest fan in the beginning, but I grew to like her as the story developed. Now Axl, I loved him from the start. Again, this is something I find with many of the KA books I've read. Love the hero, like the heroine, ecstatic over the journey to get to the end.
Dream Spinner gave me tons of feels, oodles of laughs, and a story I could really sink my teeth into. Whether you're an old hat like me or new to this author, this is definitely a book to fall in love with.
➔ My Side Note(s)
I'm all for female empowerment... but I'm completely over strippers who are happy to be strippers and aspire to be nothing else until the men in their lives give them inspiration. That really doesn't work for me and turns me off of the female in question. Weird right? It's just that unless you're a headliner in a chic, respectful club, there is nothing fabulous about a stripper's life. Actually, a stripper's life, on average, isn't the glamorous show that KA presents. Most strippers are struggling, beaten down, low on self-esteem or confidence, and invisible. So yes, I wanna say thank you for making a stripper into someone worthwhile in a story, but no to how proud they are to be a stripper.
He stared down at me, unmoving.
I stared up at him, the same.
The air around us grew heavy.
And he was so gorgeous, saying such incredible things, not to mention right there, and I was touching him, I couldn't stop my lips from saying, "Shut up, shut up."
The words that came after that lingered in the air unsaid, but they were there.
Kiss me like you mean it.
And he heard them.
I knew he did when his arm sliced around me and my hand on his chest was forced up into his spiky hair because my body was plastered to his.
And his mouth was on mine.
He kissed me.
Axl kissed me.
And he did it like he meant it.
His other arm swept around me, and I came up on my toes, his head angling, mine tipping the other way. He held tight and I pressed deep and I tasted, and I took, and I gave, and I drank, and he plundered, and he sucked, and his tongue danced with mine and yes...
Yes.
He kissed me like he meant it.
And I kissed him back the same way.
Kristen, born in Gary and raised in Brownsburg, Indiana, was a fourth-generation graduate of Purdue University. Since, she has lived in Denver, the West Country of England, and now she resides in Phoenix. She worked as a charity executive for eighteen years prior to beginning her independent publishing career. She currently writes full-time.
Visit https://www.kristenashley.net/ for more information
You can begin again anywhere you want to in life, but you can't recreate your past or the way it shaped you.
The Brave Line by Kate Stewart
Standalone
Release - March 31, 2017
Genre - Contemporary Romance
Dual POV - 1st person
Heat Level - 4 out of 5
Format/Source - Amazon Kindle purchase
Length - 290 pages
Publisher - KLS Press
She is a five foot seven long list of things he can’t have.
He is a determined cop, desperate to keep his heart sealed behind his badge.
Michelle is a survivor. With a fresh perspective on life, she trades her tragic past in California for the coastal waters of Charleston. Fueled by a new career as a dispatcher, she’s determined not to let her scars weigh her down. She apologizes for nothing, especially her insatiable need for a certain police officer.
Rowdy is a newly minted sergeant dedicated to his job, but the life of a Charleston police officer has never been more dangerous. With his need to take order of a city spiraling out of control, the last thing he wants is an entanglement with a mouthy dispatcher. But, there’s just one problem. He can’t get enough of her.
As the heat rises between the unlikely pair, so does the tension.
Three months of summer was all it took to shake their foundations, rattle their walls, and bring them crashing down.
It was lust.
It was love.
It was real.
And it would have been perfect . . . if it wasn't already over.
You can find your copy of The Brave Line on Amazon
It's FREE to read with Kindle Unlimited
While Rowdy's fears weirdly aggravated me, I understood them. He had lost someone close to him. He was still dealing with that loss and didn't want to put anyone through the pain he was going through. It was an honorable motive. It was also dumb. He was hurting himself and Michelle more than anything else. It took him a long while to finally see how wrong he was, but when he did... Damn! The author did a beautiful job of busting this man's heart wide open!!
Kate is a lover of all things '80s and '90s, especially John Hughes films and rap. She dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for necessity, and on occasion, does very well at whiskey.
Visit http://www.katestewartwrites.com/ for more information about Kate Stewart
Remember, trust no one. Pay attention to the details. Don't believe everything you hear. And watch your back.
A war is coming.
Which side will you choose?
Blood Seeker by Lexi C. Foss
Standalone - Immortal Curse #7
Release - October 24, 2020
Genre - Paranormal Romance
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3 / a couple of scenes
Format/Source - Amazon Kindle purchase
Length - 286 pages
Publisher - Ninja Newt Publishing, LLC
An unexpected connection led to a forbidden affair that ended in blood. Now Sethios will stop at nothing to find his mate, even if it means risking his life and love in the process.
Caro’s mind is fractured, her body destroyed, her heart broken. She thought he would come for her, save her, free her from this nightmare. But her hope flees with every wave, her soul teetering on the brink of madness.
Will Sethios arrive in time? Or will other powers intervene?
A new prophecy is rising… One that will threaten to destroy them all.
Amazon blurb:
Seraphim do not feel.Seraphim do not love.
Seraphim do not react.
Those are the rules every higher being lives by. And Caro broke them all for him.
Now she’s lost in a vacant sea, punished for the ultimate sin of choosing an abomination—a vampire—over her duty.
Sethios promised to come for her, to find her, to save her, but with each passing breath, her hope melts into despair.
Will he find her in time? Or will her mind shatter from the madness?
Welcome to the Immortal Curse world.
The High Council of Seraph will see you now...
Find your copy of Blood Seeker here:
Amazon * Nook * Kobo * Indigo * Audible
That is most definitely me!
Stas is still at the head of a prophecy. Sethios is now up-to-date on everything and is trying to figure out how to be a father to his daughter, who grew up without him. And Caro is somewhere they can't find her. When the family is finally reunited, it's beautiful and it's funny. But those super warm feelings I got when I watched them interact paled in comparison to all of the moving parts of this story.
★ the seraphim aren't as lovely as they seem
★ someone I always believed to be the 'bad guy' may not be as bad as he seemed
★ there is still so much more to know about what is to come
★ Vera... Vera... Vera
★ and it seems that Balthazar is getting his memory back - bound to be good times :)
I believe there is so much more to come and that this story is far from over. And as I impatiently wait for the next book...
I'll implore you to get started!
Check out the other books from this series:
She loved this man. This Sethios. This male who had shattered all her beliefs and had broken through the harshest of her resolves.
Caro clung to him, weeping, her time with him too short. The sacrifice they would make would change the future of the world. But what if they couldn’t come back from it?
She would never voice that fear, the knowledge of what was to come. Because her mother would find her when she failed to locate Astasiya. Caro would endure rehabilitation. And she would survive.
That was her purpose, her one secret, that she never gave up. With Sethios forever etched into her very soul, the council couldn’t separate them. They would try, and they would fail. She would return to him. Always.
“I love you,” he whispered to her, his lips a caress against her ear. “I will forever love you.”
“I love you, too,” she breathed. And this time it was her. Her voice. Her heart. Her body. Her soul. She’d fallen into the memory, enraptured and ensnared and never letting go.
His eyes burned into hers. “Come back to me, Caro.”
“I’m right here.”
“Come back to me, angel.”
She frowned. “I’m here.”
“I miss you.”
It didn’t make any sense. How could he miss her? He was holding her. A part of her. Only, everything began to blur, the memory slipping from her fingers and surrounding her in a cage of literal glass.
She frowned. Where am I?
For more information: https://www.lexicfoss.com/
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