Tag: #romanticsuspense

Book Review: Bones Don’t Lie by Melinda Leigh

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BONES DON’T LIE (Morgan Dane #3) by Melinda Leigh is another thrilling addition to this series!

One mystery that has influenced Lance Kruger’s life for the past twenty-three years was the disappearance of his father, Victor Kruger when he was just a boy. His mother’s mental instability completely collapsed and he took on more responsibility than any child should.

Lincoln Sharp, Lance’s current partner in their P.I. firm has always carried the burden of the unsolved case from his years as the detective assigned the case. He took the fatherless Lance under his wing and helped with his mother. Sharp is called to the scene of a car being pulled from the bottom of Grey Lake. It is identified as belonging to Lance’s father. They do not find Vic, but they do find a female skeleton locked in the trunk.

For Lance, this development causes more questions than answers and also has Lance questioning if his memory of his father is accurate. As Sharp, Lance and Morgan all work to find the truth of what happened all those years ago, some witnesses are being caught in lies and others are being killed for the information they have. To add to the suspense, Morgan is also receiving threats from an unknown source.

Ms. Leigh keeps making this series a must read for me. The plotting is fast paced and the dialogue is realistic. The warmth and love between all of the characters makes you want to keep returning to check up on them. The emotional growth and love between Morgan and Lance is wonderfully satisfying and heart-warming. I was completely surprised by the killer, which makes this book even more fun for me. I am looking forward to many more books in this series to come.

Thanks very much to Montlake Romance and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I love this series!

Book Review: Beat of the Jungle by Erin Moira O’Hara

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BEAT OF THE JUNGLE (Deadly Forces #1) by Erin Moira O’Hara is an intense, fast paced and sexy contemporary romantic suspense. Not only are the H/h on the run from mercenaries, but the Amazon Rainforest landscape is as deadly a foe as their human protagonists.

Kitarna Ashford is a botanist who has come to Brazil to join her sister, Bernie’s archeological dig. Just as she arrives, she receives a cryptic call from her father, who is a U.S. Governor, for her and her sister to get out of Brazil as soon as possible. The call breaks up and they do not know why or whom they are running from.

Jack Callaghan is an ex-military sniper whose last mission has left lasting nightmares. He has just completed a private mission for a friend and is now on his way to retire in the Caribbean.

After some pleasant, but brief flirting and not quite truthful introductions, their plane goes down in the Rainforest. The remaining passengers and crew that survive the crash, soon realize they are being hunted by mercenaries and must split up and try to reach the closest mission in small groups. Kit and her sister become separated.

There are so many secrets not just between Kit and Jack, but also crew and fellow survivors of the crash. Kit’s botanical skills and Jack’s military skills may help save the group, but there are hidden motives among the survivors and the Rainforest itself is a beautiful, but deadly paradise.

This author had me feeling the heat of the Amazon. Slogging through the Rainforest with wild animals, bugs and plants that are all beautiful and yet deadly. The knowledge base Kit and Jack both demonstrate was blended seamlessly throughout the story and not just an information dump. The romance builds at a hot and steamy pace even as Kit and Jack fight for their lives and the lives of the other survivors with them.

This was a great read that I highly recommend for lovers of romantic suspense and I am looking forward to reading the next Deadly Forces book which will be Bernie’s story!

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.

Book Review: An Uncommon Honeymoon by Susan Mann

RATING: 5 out 5 Stars

Susan Mann had me once again turning pages well into the night in Quinn and James’ latest exploits. This is such a fun series with a couple that takes you on their CIA over-the-top missions. The plots have serious background premises, but are entertaining and balanced with a lighter side at the same time. James is your secret agent dream come true and Quinn is great as a covert research librarian.

AN UNCOMMON HONEYMOON (Librarian and the Spy Escapade #3) by Susan Mann has the big marriage scene between Quinn and James and it is everything I was hoping for, beautiful, fun and filled with love.

As they are on their honeymoon in the Turks and Caico’s, they are approached by Dave Flores, a former CIA operative now working for a group that rescues children caught in human trafficking. Quinn and James were invited to a party that Dave would like them to surveil, but Quinn meets two of the children being held at the compound and vows to help them get free. The plot has child slave trafficking, drug trafficking and a Russian crime lord. The child slave trafficking is handled seriously and with heart by Ms. Mann, while the Russian crime lord and his minions get the action packed, super spy treatment.

Quinn and James are just perfect together. Their love for each other is always present, Quinn is always James’ equal in any situation and they are seriously sexy and hot. I especially love the sometimes witty, sometimes steamy banter between these two. All of the secondary characters that I have come to care about in the two previous books make an appearance. This series does continually progress forward in Quinn and James’ relationship and abilities, so I really think it is more enjoyable to read in order.

I am waiting anxiously for the next installment!

Thanks very much to Kensington Books, Zebra Shout and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Strike Force by Beth Rhodes

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

STRIKE FORCE (Hawk Elite Security, #4) by Beth Rhodes is another great addition to this romantic suspense series. I have been waiting for Malcolm’s story and it is everything I was hoping for.

Malcolm Daniels dealt with a lying, cheating ex-wife. He was young, inexperienced in relationships and she took everything from him including his trust in all women. When Marie is taken in by Hawk and given a job at Hawk Elite, Malcolm knows she is hiding secrets and he vows to reveal them. What he does not expect is that he comes to admire Marie’s hard work, courage under fire and her ability to see outside of the box. Marie is also beautiful and Malcolm wants his “little thief” physically, but he refuses to trust her.

Marie Feur is from a long line of Romanian gypsies and is meant to inherit and wear the gold armband that is legendary in her family. When Marie was young, the armband was stolen by another family with a long standing feud with her family. Her chance to get close to the armband comes with her work for Hawk Security. She wants to please her only remaining family member, her Uncle Bert, by returning the armband to their family, but that means she will be betraying her friends at Hawk Security, betraying her growing feelings for Malcolm and proving him right in believing she is only a thief.

Malcolm is so rigid and by the book. He loves his computers and programs and no longer believes in love or relationships. Marie is fun, loving and good at what she does, which does not always follow what one might consider “right”. These two are so opposite and yet Ms. Rhodes makes them, over the pages of this story, so right for each other. There is plenty of action and suspense as Malcolm and Marie deal with not only the stolen armband, but drugs and international sex slaves with the help of the FBI and their friends at Hawk Security.

The sex is steamy and hot, hot, hot between these two. It also progresses from sex with no strings or attachments to much more. Both Malcolm and Marie are now two of my favorite characters in this series.  I especially love how Malcolm’s only response to good or bad situations, out loud or silently in his head is “Fuck”. A man of few words, well basically only one word, who left me laughing out loud!

I highly recommend the entire series and especially this book. It can be read as a standalone, but I bet you will go back for more.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.

Book Review: Last Rights by Ava Bradley

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

I have just finished a story by another fabulous new-to-me author who had me on the edge of my seat in suspense, crying and laughing, morally debating cloning and hot and twitchy with short, but steamy sex scenes.

LAST RIGHTS by Ava Bradley was a romantic suspense set in the future that starts from the very first page at jet speed and does not let up.

P.I. Fallon Monroe is sent by her sister to retrieve her nephew’s clone for life saving heart transplant surgery. Fallon soon comes to realize this clone is not just a lump of cells, but an exceptionally gifted little boy who calls himself, Jamie. The cloning company does not want people to know the true reality of the clones and a terrorist group wants to set this child up as a symbol to get the country to change the cloning laws.

Special Ops Lieutenant John White is awakened from a medically induced healing coma as Fallon and Jamie burst into his hospital room attempting escape. He does not know why, but he knows he has to protect these two above all else. John and Fallon will do anything to protect Jamie, but each is also harboring a secret that they fear could change the feelings that are beginning to blossom between them.

I did not want to put this book down. The chase and suspense were always constant. Fallon, John and Jamie are wonderfully realistic characters that I fell in love with. Cloning is debated, not just in the hypothetical, but by making you fall in love with characters it effects and makes you think about what you would do and how you feel. I never felt it was preachy because the author made you feel Fallon’s heart wrenching decisions as she made them.

This story had everything I am looking for in a romantic suspense and more. I highly recommend this story and I will definitely be looking for more from this author.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.

 

Book Review: Gone in the Night by Anna J. Stewart

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

GONE IN THE NIGHT (Honor Bound #3) by Anna J. Stewart is the 5 STAR conclusion to the Honor Bound trilogy. This entire romantic suspense trilogy is a roller coaster ride that is packed with strong, but emotionally vulnerable heroes to swoon over and heroines that are wounded and yet at the top of their professions and know how to kick butt. Book three is the conclusion to the overall story-line arc that tied this trilogy together. I believe these books should be read in order.

Allie Hollister is a psychologist who is one of three friends who are all still haunted by the unsolved death of their childhood best friend, Chloe. The past seems to have invaded her present with the kidnapping of one of Allie’s patients, Holly Kellan, who is almost a twin to her friend who was killed 20 years earlier. As the friends work the abduction of Holly, it seems to mirror their cold case and the two cases start to converge.

Max Kellan was a firefighter who has moved to Sacramento to help with his niece, Holly as his brother goes through a contentious divorce. When the police, FBI and Allie appear on his brother’s doorstep, Max knows something is terribly wrong, but he also realizes he is not getting the whole truth from the law or Allie.

Max and Allie search for Holly and try to piece everything together from both the current kidnapping and the cold case with all the friends from the previous two books. Allie cannot believe the timing as she finally is starting to be attracted to Max. Max, for all his anger and mistrust of mental health doctors is only calm and focused with Allie around. These two come together in a slow burn that intensifies throughout the book, but will it last?

Allie projects a calm even cold analytical exterior that hides her fear and yet she can physically fight like a SEAL. Max is a ball of anger since what happened to make him leave firefighting. Yet the two of them find a way to get through to each other and the banter is light, fun and sexy, even in their stressful situation. I loved these two together, the friendship of all the women carried throughout all three books and the fast paced plots.

I highly recommend this trilogy! I will be looking for more Anna J. Stewart romantic suspense books in the future.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.