Series:
Lone Star Legacy (Book 4)
Nothing tempts like the forbidden...
It had been a night of heart-pounding seduction…. In the morning it
became their little secret. Jared Weston could never see his best
friend's little sister again. But that didn't mean he'd stop wanting
her….
Years later, when the billionaire tycoon hires her, Allison Tyler is all
grown up and hotter than ever. But the new Allison is cautious,
pragmatic -- everything the daredevil thrill seeker is not. She wants
forever; he wants right now. And she's still off-limits. But can a
hot-blooded Texan like Jared choose propriety over passion?
Good book. Jared and Allison had known each other for a long time, but she was always his best friend's bratty little sister. Until the night they ran into each other at a wedding reception. They allowed themselves one hot night together then went their separate ways. When Jared hired her family's company to inventory and catalog a house he'd inherited, Allison was the one who showed up. Jared still finds her incredibly sexy and wants her, but Allison is over her wild days and lives her life more cautiously now. She wants him too, but isn't interested in a fling with him. She doesn't want to risk her heart on him.
Allison hadn't forgotten that one night with Jared. She hoped that she had gotten over the attraction she felt for him and was dismayed to discover that it was stronger than ever. She made it very clear to Jared that she wasn't interested in a fling, especially with him. After losing a brother and her mother in an airplane crash she avoids men who have daredevil tendencies. Jared is a man who likes the physical challenges of those risks and she won't risk her heart by loving such a man. Her brother has also warned her that Jared is not the settling down type and she wants a husband and family. Working with him puts her under siege by his charm and determination and it gets harder to say no. The more time they are together the deeper her feelings for him grow. I liked the way that Allison tried to stay firm with regards to what she wanted from life. I loved seeing how much fun they had together and how much they had in common. As much as she loves him, she knows that she can't handle his lifestyle. It was so hard seeing her give up on her feelings for him and think about settling for so much less.
Jared had been best friends with Allison's brother Sloan for a long time. He had also been warned by Sloan to stay away from Allison. Other than that one night, he had done so, but he had never forgotten that one night. Seeing her again has brought all those memories back and he wants her again. He doesn't understand her resistance because he can see that she wants him too. So he puts his mind to getting her to step outside her rules and have some fun with him. He's not interested in the future, just enjoying the present. Jared remembers the way that his father worked so hard to provide for his family, never taking the time to do the things he dreamed of. By the time he retired and could do them, his health didn't permit it. Jared wasn't going to let that happen to himself. The more time he was with Allison the longer he wanted her to stay with him. He really resisted the idea that he was falling for her until she left because of her fears. I loved the way that he finally faced his feelings and her fears and the solution that he came up with.
I also enjoyed seeing the interfering brother and the way he tried to protect Allison. It was pretty funny to see him tell each one that the other was "all but engaged" in order to keep them apart. I loved seeing him do a complete turnaround when he realized that Allison was giving up a chance at real love.
Series:
Project Justice (Book 8)
Desperate times call for desperate measures…
And Travis Riggs is way past desperate. With time running out to
overturn his brother's wrongful murder conviction and stop his niece's
adoption, Project Justice is Travis's last hope. But when his request
for an interview is denied, he resorts to drastic measures -- kidnapping
the founder's personal assistant, Elena Marquez.
Travis hadn't planned for any of this to happen, least of all the
chemistry between him and Elena. Under different circumstances, they may
have had a chance at a relationship. However, the last thing he wants
is to drag her down with him, which is exactly what will happen if he
accepts her help. Not that Elena is giving him much of a choice….
Good book. Travis is getting desperate to get his brother out of prison in time to stop his niece from being adopted away from the family. He's tried getting Project Justice involved but has run into problems with the online application and getting through by phone has been impossible. Next he shows up at Daniel Logan's home, hoping to see him face to face. Instead he gets Daniel's assistant, Elena, who he promptly tosses in his truck and drives off with, hoping to force Daniel to help him. The kidnapping doesn't last long, with Travis regretting his actions immediately. All Elena wants is a chance to help Travis clear his brother's name.
I really liked Elena. She has been working for Daniel as his personal assistant for awhile and has a good feel for how things are done. She is the one who takes the call when Travis shows up at the mansion and tries to get Daniel to listen, but he's on his way out to an emergency and just tells her to tell Travis to fill out the application. When she goes down to tell him in person his frustration gets the better of him and he kidnaps her. She's frightened at first, but soon learns that Travis isn't dangerous, just desperate. Once the whole kidnapping thing is dealt with, Elena really wants to help Travis get the resolution he needs. I loved the way that she uses her organization and research skills to try to help him. She gets very frustrated with his refusal to accept the help she can give. She is also very attracted to him which is adding a whole other layer to her frustration because he keeps saying he's not good enough for her. I loved her persistence in keeping her eye on the goal of getting Travis's brother cleared and his niece back where she belongs. There are also some great scenes with Elena's mother. The ending was very satisfying and moving.
Travis is a man with a good heart and a problem with making some bad impulsive decisions. One of those impulses got him some jail time, another one saw him married to a real piece of work, and the latest had him kidnapping Elena. All he really wanted was a chance to get his request in front of the Project Justice people. He had some real problems with the online application due to some learning disabilities and a definite aversion to asking for help doing something that should be easy. As soon as he kidnapped Elena he knew he was in trouble but didn't know how to fix it. Once he had convinced her that he really didn't want to hurt her he was surprised at how forgiving she was. He was also surprised by her offer to help him. He has a problem accepting any kind of help for two reasons. First, his ex-wife had considered him a "project" and wasn't happy with him the way he was. She kept trying to "help" him improve himself, so now he sees all offers of help as an indication that he isn't good enough. Second, because of his jail time and background he doesn't think he deserves the kind of happiness that Elena's help could bring. I have to admit that I got pretty frustrated with his constant negative attitude about himself. It was great to see the way that she chipped away at that attitude, then really blasted him when it got to be too much for her. I did like the way he came through at the end.
There was quite a bit of action also. The kidnapping itself and Travis's efforts to evade being caught were pretty intense. The most important action revolved around Travis's niece MacKenzie and his efforts to get her away from the foster family that is trying to adopt her. There is definitely something fishy going on with them. There are also multiple instances of vandalism to the house that Travis is renovating that seem to be tied to MacKenzie and Travis's brother's imprisonment. It certainly kept me turning the pages to see how it was all going to work out.
Series:
Brothers in Arms: Fully Engaged (Book 3)
The last thing Miranda Lewis remembers is being
shot…then tumbling over the balcony. When a sexy, blue-eyed stranger
finds her, she has no memory of who she is or what she's doing in the
jungles of Colombia.
Gage Booker risked his life in the raid on the compound, only to
discover his quarry gone and an injured woman left for dead, a woman the
covert operative would be a fool to trust. But her amnesia seems real
-- and so does the passion exploding between them.
Good book with some intense action. Gage is part of a team that has raided the compound looking for an arms dealer. What he finds is Randi, injured and with no memory of who she is or why she's there. He's sure that she's Zendaris's mistress and wants to make sure that they get every bit of information possible from her. But first he has to get her home alive.
Both Randi and Gage were pretty awesome. In spite of her memory loss Randi kept a pretty good grip on herself. She's not sure at first if she should trust Gage but he's her only option. It doesn't take long before he wins her trust. I really liked her confidence that Gage would find a way to save her from the crazy CIA people in Panama. As the intensity of their danger continued Randi also felt a growing attraction to him. They tried to convince themselves that it was just because she was dependent on him but she was sure that it was more than that, at least on her side. She is still fighting his belief that she was Zendaris's mistress even though she is sure she was not. I liked Randi's confidence in her own morality that she could be so sure.
Gage was not happy that his target was gone when he got to the compound. His group has been after Zendaris for a long time. When he finds Randi he's sure he's bagged Zendaris's mistress, thanks to a blurry photo of Zendaris with a similar woman. He thinks she's lying about her amnesia at first and does whatever he can to try to trip her up. By the time they reach the CIA base he's pretty sure she's telling the truth - just in time for them to be drugged and separated. I really liked seeing everything he did to get her away safely. He also feels a strong attraction to her, something that isn't welcome with his certainty of who she is. He really doesn't like to think of her in that position. Thanks to the run-in with the CIA Gage isn't sure who he can trust so avoids contacting anyone in authority to help. As their attempts continue to restore Randi's memory Gage becomes more convinced that he was wrong. I loved the final confrontation, though I did feel like Randi's memory return was glossed over.
Series:
Project Justice (Book 7)
Walking away is not an option
It was one night. And it might have stayed that way for Elizabeth Downey
if her steamy evening with Hudson Vale hadn't been the same night her
estranged father was murdered. Now she and Hudson -- a cop who had
arrested her father -- are the prime suspects.
Forced to work together to clear their names, Elizabeth and Hudson must
deal with their wildly different approaches. Worse, the simmering
attraction between them won't go away. As they race to untangle a web of
deceit, the stakes get higher. Because not only do their lives depend
on finding the truth, but so does this passion that's turning into so
much more....
Very good book. Liz had approached Hudson at a wedding they were both at, simply wanting a chance to talk to the man who had the courage to take on her father. She wasn't expecting the intense chemistry that gave them a steamy night together. Then her father is murdered and both she and Hudson are considered suspects. The only way to get out of it is to find out who really killed him. With the help of the people at Project Justice they set out to do just that.
I liked both Liz and Hudson. They have very different ways of looking at things but they end up working pretty well together. Liz had cut ties with her father when she was eighteen because he wouldn't stop interfering in her private life. He was so controlling that she couldn't even have a boyfriend. When she heard about Hudson's arrest of her father she was impressed that he hadn't caved in to the pressure and wanted a chance to talk to him. Her attraction to him was unexpected but she went with it, figuring it would be just one night, and she never told him her last name. When she discovers that they're both suspects in her father's murder all she can think of is to appeal to Project Justice for their help. For all that Liz is a talented social worker I thought she was kind of naive. She spends a lot of time coming down on Hudson because of his negativity but she has a hard time seeing the bad things that could happen to them. I did enjoy her strength in standing up to Hudson in order to protect her clients and how she did have something of an effect on his attitude. She knew that she was falling for him but she didn't trust that they had a chance of any kind of future because of how different they were. There were a couple times that she did some really stupid things but that was all part of her personality. I liked that she did finally see that there was room for hope for them.
Hudson has been a cop/detective for long enough that he mostly sees the down side of people and what they do. When he sees Liz's father trying to force money on and threatening a prostitute he places him under arrest. He then ends up suspended because of the accusations made by the powerful man. He's going a bit stir crazy when he attends the wedding where he meets Liz. Something feels off about their meeting but the attraction is enough that he ignores it. The next day he ends up a suspect in the murder and he has no idea who his alibi is. When he tracks her down and discovers that she's as much a suspect as he is he's not sure that he wasn't set up. As they decide that their only option is to clear themselves he has to decide whether to trust her. There were times I wanted to smack him for being such a downer but it certainly kept them out of trouble a few times. I enjoyed his partnership with Project Justice, especially as he had to reconcile his attitude toward them as a cop with his gratitude as a victim. He was certainly impressed with their resources. I really enjoyed the discussions he and Liz got into over their differing viewpoints. I also liked the way that he was so open to the idea of a future for them even with their differences and how frustrated he was with her certainty that it wasn't possible. It was his ability as a detective that came to her rescue at the end.
I loved seeing the Project Justice team at work again. It's always fun to see how they are able to push the boundaries and get the job done. I really enjoyed seeing Daniel and how much happier he is now. I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.
Series:
At Cain's Command (Book 2)
There's nothing a Cain can't do
No doubt about it, Griffin Cain makes love better than any man. Night
after night his decadent, sensual acts turn conservative Sydney Edwards
into a wanton woman. But all that stops when Griffin is made CEO of his
family company…and becomes Sydney's boss.
Griffin's father's desperate ultimatum has put a billion dollars and a
legacy at stake, and now Griffin needs his forbidden lover's help more
than ever -- in the boardroom. As for the bedroom, why can't he have it
both ways? Nothing will stop Griffin from getting Sydney back where she
belongs.
Good book with quite a few issues going on. First up is the continuation of the search for the missing illegitimate daughter. Dalton had gotten some information by the end of the first book in the series (All He Ever Wanted). Then he resigned and turned the CEO position over to Griffin. As second son, not much had been expected of Griffin and he played that up whenever he could. He used his position in International Marketing to hide his activities with a charitable foundation because his parents were as anti-charity as anyone could possibly believe. Griffin had also been having an affair with his brother's assistant Sydney. The passion between them was incredible, but they didn't really share anything about themselves outside the bedroom. Sydney had grown up in foster care and worked very hard to get where she was. She never wanted to be one of those women who slept with her boss, and when Griffin took over the CEO job she tried to end their liaison. But he really needs her help doing his job and finding his half-sister. I really enjoyed seeing Sydney stick to the strength of her convictions. I loved the way that she stood up to Griffin's mother and refused to be intimidated. I also liked seeing her call Griffin on his nonsense and then walk away from him. Griffin was an interesting character. His parents' manipulations, especially his mother's, had had a real effect on him, making him doubt his ability to be loved. He kept insisting to himself that what he and Sydney had was just sex, but after awhile he couldn't fool himself and realized that she had gotten closer to him than anyone else ever had. She also knew him better than anyone else did which really made him nervous, especially when she confronted him near the end of the book. I loved the way it was such an eye opener for him. I still really hate his parents. I'm looking forward to the next book and getting to know Cooper.
A Baby Between Friends?
Ming Campbell always has a plan. She is no longer in the market for
love, having been burned one too many times, but starting a family is at
the top of her to-do list. There's no better sperm donor than her best
friend, Jason Sterling. Only, the rule-breaking tycoon has a proposal of
his own: conceive their child the old-fashioned way.
With one kiss all the rules crumble. Now that passion is unleashed,
everything's complicated -- from their friendship to their families…to
Ming's secret dream of a future with Jason. But will nothing go
according to the agenda in this baby bargain?
Good book. Ming was tired of trying to find true love but still wanted a family of her own. So she has decided to go ahead with a plan for single motherhood. Problem is, she doesn't really want to go with an anonymous sperm donor, so she asks her best buddy Jason. They have been friends for most of their lives. When she puts the proposition to Jason he agrees - but he wants to make the baby the natural way. Ming has cared for Jason in ways far stronger than just friendship for a long time but she knows he isn't interested in falling in love and settling down. As soon as they make their friendship physical she knows she's in trouble. She finally admits to herself that she's been in love with Jason for a long time and she wants her own happy ending with him. Jason cherishes his friendship with Ming. He has sworn never to open himself up to the risk of devastating loss by falling in love. He has seen too many people made miserable by that emotion. When he makes his bargain with Ming he thinks of it as his chance to satisfy his curiosity about the physical attraction he feels for her. He refuses to see that the feelings he has are actually love and works hard to convince her and himself that it is only friendship. I loved seeing him fight against the inevitable and how everyone but him could see what was happening. Watching him finally admit the truth was very satisfying. I also loved seeing the Case brothers again and the scene with Jason and Max's car was great.
