Book Review: Witness to Passion (Guarding Her Body #1) by Naima Simone

Fallon Wayland hates birthdays. After all nothing good has happened to her on any of her birthdays. On her tenth birthday her dad stood her up because he was on a business trip, on her fifteenth birthday, her mom took her puppy to the pound and on her eighteenth birthday she kissed her childhood crush and got rejected. If you think all this was bad till you hear what happened on her twenty-fifth birthday. She gets dumped by her boyfriend on twitter, witnesses a mob hit and gets fired from her job. And now her life is all turned around.

Shane Roarke has avoided his baby sister’s best friend, Fallon for the past seven years after sharing a hot as hell kiss with her. But now that Fallon’s life is in danger, he can’t stay away. I doesn’t matter if just seeing Fallon turns him on. Her life is more important than his need to stay away.

With Fallon’s life endangered at very turn, Shane takes it upon himself to keep her safe. With both of them cooped up in a safe house, desires flare, clothes come off and hearts are at risk. Even when the clothes are flying off, danger is creeping in. Fallon and Shane need to survive if they must have a chance at love.

Fallon and Shane have a love-hate relationship, more hate than love. Being rejected does not sit well with Fallon after all. After avoiding her for almost eight years, when Shane shows up at her doorstep ready to be her knight in shining armor, she is skeptical.

“If you were truly ‘here for me,’ you would have a Kahlua in one hand and Henry Cavill’s number in the other. Since I’m not having drunken phone sex with Superman, there must be another reason you’re darkening my living room.”

Their banter is what made me love Fallon and Shane. Their back and forth was fun and oozing chemistry.  Both came from similar emotional backgrounds. While Fallon’s parents had money and never love to give her, Shane’s mom had loads of love, but was reckless and self-involved. They never tried to see the people behind the masks, and now that they do, they might not survive long enough to act on it.

The suspense in this book was good. I figured out who the traitor was once a couple of hints were dropped, but otherwise this book was majorly unpredictable. The characters were strong, the sex was hot and Addy, Shane’s sister and Fallon’s best was friend was super fun.

Witness to Passion was a good blend of romance and suspense. The action in the book kept me on my toes, and the author did not disappoint.

This review first appeared on The Ever Romantic Arts.

Book Review: Wilde at Heart (Wilde Security #3) by Tonya Burrows

I was so happy to receive an early copy of this book, ’cause since the day I finished Wilde for Her,  I was looking forward to Reece and Shelby’s story. And Tonya Burrows didn’t disappoint.Wilde at Heart was by far my favorite book in the series.

Though Cam and Jude were the most fun Wilde brothers and they are, except, Reece is better. He is adorable, sweet and sexy as hell. Reece and Shelby together were amazing together. Tonya Burrows had me laughing from the very first page. And considering that the heroine was Shelby, this book was guaranteed fun.

Shelby as usual spoke her mind and was fun as always. She is an independent young woman who knew her strengths and weakness. People never gave her a chance to be anything other than the flighty, reckless girl that she was. She tried so hard to be the responsible adult, but people’s views including that of her sister Eva and the Wilde brothers, including to some extent Reece, never changed.

While I loved Eva for the kick-ass woman that she was in Wilde For Her, I strongly disliked her in this book. She never really understood Shelby and she didn’t try to. She was always the first one to point out Shelby’s shortcomings and reprimand her. She was also the very last person to believe Shelby could make a sane, responsible decision. True Shelby was impulsive, but even behind her impulse she had good reason.

While I loved Reece for the kind-hearted, geeky nerd that he was, I was sometimes disappointed with him for his behavior with Shelby. He too never saw behind the mask of Shelby’s impulsiveness. He tried to change her from what she is to what he thinks she should be. But on the other hand he also didn’t want Shelby to change. His complexity and duality made for an intriguing read.

This book was suspenseful, fun and mostly unpredictable. There were two tracks working parallel in the story- one was Reece’s blackmail and the other was Shelby’s. While it was easy enough to guess who had a bone to grind with Reece, I honestly couldn’t predict who the villain in Shelby’s life was till the end. The sex as usual in Tonya Burrows style was hot has hell. Burrows has made sure to pave a footpath for both Vaughn and Greer Wilde. Tonya Burrows made sure to throw us crumbs about the upcoming books. I can already feel the fun and intensity in Lark and Vaughn’s book.

The surprise element in this book for me was Reece. In the previous books he came across as uptight and snobbish. But in this book Reece truly shined. He was just a lot more shy and reserved than his brothers. Trying to shoulder the weight of his brothers took a toll on him. Shelby was the perfect woman for him. She brought out the fun, geeky, artistic guy that he was. But what really threw me was the fact that Reece was a virgin!! I NEVER and I mean NEVER expected that. Thank you Ms. Burrows for surprising me!

Wilde at Heart truly encompassed what both Reece and Shelby were, and they were incredibly wild. This book is undoubtedly my favorite book in the series. Can’t wait for Vaughn and Greer’s story to come out.

This review first appeared on The Ever Romantic Arts.

Book Review: At Both Ends by Vanessa Lennox

***I got a copy of this book from the author in exchange of an honest review.***

This is my first book by Vanessa Lennox and it was a very decent read. I am  a big fan of the romantic suspense genre since it combines two of my favorite genres: romance and suspense. And Lennox managed to coalesce both these aspects of the genre quite well. Even though the romance part of the story was a bit predominant than the suspense, the suspense was unpredictable and that was what made me enjoy the book. The real culprit turned out to be someone I wouldn’t even have guessed.

When ER doctor Cate St John stitches up firefighter Lucas Cartwright, sparks fly. Cate ‘with a C’ St John and Lucas ‘not Luke’ Cartwright have a easy-rapport and some combustible chemistry. Lucas’s sweet nature knows no bounds. He’s a total darling. He takes Cate to picnics, he cooks for her, he feeds her during her breaks in the hospital, he takes care of her dog and he is amazing with her daughter Sophie. Cate on her part is pretty great too. She has been burned once in love, so she wants to look before she leaps. She wants to take things slowly. Cate is also understanding and knows when to push and when not to.

But no relationship is perfect. Though Lucas can anticipate Cate’s every little need and like Cate says, can read her mind, he also has a secret that could destroy their relationship forever. He is not very forthcoming about himself. He makes these occasional trips to Denver, but every time Cate asks him about it he shuts her down. His secretive nature stings her a little, but she doesn’t push.  Cate too has garnered some unwanted attention from a mystery guy. The intrusive anonymous calls she used to get suddenly doubles after she starts dating Lucas. Her stalker is willing to go to any extent to make sure no one else can have Cate if he can’t. Even if it means killing her.

The book was largely fun to read especially with all the ribbing Cate takes from her friends at her hospital. Even all the Lucas and Cate moments were fun and made sure you had a smile on your face. Cate’s daughter Sophie was pretty great too. She seemed a lot mature than her age.  Sophie was very perceptive and smart for a seven-year old. She was happy as long as her mother was happy. Knowing that Lucas made her mother laugh, Sophie readily accepts Lucas. I also loved Hero, Lucas’s 22-year-old daughter. She too easily accepted Cate and had a easy-going relationship with her. The only time the book gets intense is when the stalker makes an  appearance, or when Lucas’s secrets come out.

I loved Lucas’s family. He had a big family full of brothers and sister-in-laws and hoard of nieces and nephews. All of them loved Cate. His brother Jacob is another character that I loved. He was sweet and a bit wild. I liked him and Jordan, Cate’s best friend as a couple. Though that just happened in the last couple of chapters in the book. Their chemistry too was pretty hot, and even they had a bit of their own drama.

Bryan, Cate’s ex-husband creates a bit of drama himself too. He seemed like the kind of guy who would move on in life, but wouldn’t want others to do the same. In the start of the book he has met a woman he is interested in and tells Cate about her, but as soon as he finds out that Cate is dating Lucas, he gets all jealous and possessive. He is also the reason Cate finds out what Lucas’s secret is. Bryan does go on to accept that there is no hope of reconciliation between him and Cate and wants her to be happy.

The overall plot impressed me and so did the characters. I’ve read quite a few books in the romantic suspense genre where either romance gets puissance or suspense does. And every time I read a fairly balanced novel, I enjoy it quite a lot. The plot was expounded and the characters were well fleshed out and it was well-written. Though it was pretty much a case of insta-love between Lucas and Cate (and I’m not a fan of insta-love), I still enjoyed their relationship. There was so much happening in the book that you didn’t have time to count the number of days before they proclaimed their love for each other. A job well done. I’ll be trying to read more books by Ms. Lennox.

Book Review: I’ll Be Watching You by Tina Wainscott

I’ll Be Watching You is my first book by Tina Wainscott. It did not impress me as much as I though it would. Romantic suspense is one of my favourite genres because it involves both a suspense/mystery and romance. It is a good mix of the two, which I found lacking in this book. The suspense part was very good and unpredictable, but the romance was pretty meh!

Ten years ago Kim testified against her stepfather in a murder case. Winnerow was a rich and influential man and a son of the Everglades. Nobody believed Kim, and after Winnerow was acquitted Kim became a pariah in town. She left soon after as she knew very well she would not be welcome.

Now, ten years later, the sudden death of Kim’s grandmother, Elva brings her back. She is the sole owner of her grandmother’s bar and house and all her assets. Even now the townspeople are cold towards her and will go to any extent to make her leave town. Some discrepancies in the bar’s accounts, Kim’s sudden inclusion in her grandmother’s will, Elva’s missing rifle and her confidant and lover Smitty’s discomfort about her death leads Kim to believe something is wrong. And it maybe related to the murder that happened ten years ago. Trying to find her grandmother’s killer might just get her killed.

When things get rough the last person Kim expects to help her is Zell Macgregor. The son of the man Kim testified against and the very man who lied outright in court to save his father. She has enough trouble on her own and she does not need a complication like the sexy and gorgeous Zell. And she definitely does not need to fall in love with him.

The suspense aspect of this book was very well done. It was very unpredictable. There were attacks on Kim’s bar and her house and there were attacks on Kim herself. It became a little difficult to figure out if everything was done by the same person or two different people. The suspense aspect was the best part of the book.

As for the romance element, it was pretty mediocre. Kim and Zell’s relationship was not very well done. They started off as enemies. Their transition to friends and later lovers was not clear. I also did not like Zell very much. Throughout Kim and Zell’s relationship there were a lot of lies and secrets, and pretty much all of them on Zell’s part.

Ten years ago Zell pretty much branded Kim a liar in order to protect his father and even now he keeps lying to her. That is no basis for a successful relationship. Zell came across as a bit self-involved who thought everything he does is right. Sure he does have a caring and helpful side, but what I remembered was how hurtful he was to Kim and all the lies he told her. He is the kind of man who would do anything to protect his family. And that’s not a bad thing, but he needed to learn the difference between right and wrong and stand for the right.

I liked Kim’s grit and determination. Not matter what the townspeople threw at her, no matter how unwelcome they made her feel, she stood her ground. She came back stronger each time. That said there was nothing else worth remembering about Kim. The characters in this book were pretty forgettable.

The one character I did enjoy was Tullie, Zell’s niece. She was a sweetheart but also too mature for her age. She kept having feelings about things, like before the death of Elva. Even though her mother brands Kim as a traitor and proclaims her to be a bad person, Tullie decides for herself if Kim is good or bad. She was the only character that I loved in this book.

If you are looking for a good suspense, this book is an amazing read. But overall with the romance aspect of the book, it’s nothing great.