In Her Defense by Denise A. Agnew

Erotic Romantic Suspense

Heart of Justice, Book 2

February 2009

Celeste Rice's life has been shattered by terrible violence more than once. Violence threatens to creep back into Celeste's world when her ex-boyfriend stalks her. When Celeste inherits her aunt's home, she decides to move back into her childhood neighborhood after long years away. Upon her prodigal return, she encounters old friend and long-time object of her desire, Mick MacGilvary at a charity event and knows that she is finally ready to pursue that heart-stopping attraction. She believes she'll stop craving him if she has sex with him once and gets it out of her system. She decides to test the wildfire attraction, even though Mick's violent past and his SWAT position frighten her.

Mick will do anything in her defense…

SWAT cop Mick MacGilvary's instincts tell him Celeste's ex-boyfriend has something evil up his sleeve. Mick's uneasy past with Celeste makes him gun-shy around her. His protective feelings for Celeste have never abandoned him. Ten years ago, Celeste rejected his advances, and he hasn't forgotten. The heavy-duty attraction he's always had for her ramps up now that she's near. Better yet, she's obviously interested in bedding him.

Danger lurks around the corner…

Caught up in a passion neither of them can deny, Mick and Celeste's strengths and weaknesses are tested when her ex-boyfriend decides if he can't have her, no one will.

There are lots of ways to tell you’ve read a good Romantic Suspense novel, good characters, good plot and a strong mystery. IN HER DEFENSE has all that, but it has the one thing that makes it an Excellent Romantic Suspense!

It’s excellent because from all most the very beginning we know who the bad guy is yet I was still twisted in knots as I read it. The reader know right away that Darrell is the bad guy. Celeste tells us when she asks Mick for help, we see it when he accosts her in the parking lot, yet I was still on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what Darrell was going to do. Added to that is I read this book before, I mean hello I know what’s going to happen, yet as I sat downstairs with my DH reading this novel while he watched the UFC fights I stopped to tell him just that.

There are so many good things about this book starting with Celeste, she is a survivor plain and simple, as her past is exposed to the reader you can’t help but feel for her. I can’t blame her for wanting to be in control of her life, for wanting to stand on her own and I applaud her for becoming the well adjusted woman she is. She should be disillusioned, she should be bitter and she just isn’t. My only beef with her was her refusal to move in with Mick as they tried to make Darrell go away, but that has more to do with me being a chicken then with Celeste’s choice.

Mick is in a word HOT! Course that’s just one word to describe him, he’s also loyal, protective, caring, handsome, sexy, dangerous and Alpha to the nth degree. Simply put he is just want I want in a Romantic Suspense hero, Brave and Sexy, oh boy I could go on and on about Mick. He can be so frustrating to Celeste and it does my little old heart good to see him struggle with his feelings for Celeste, his desire to do things his way and his desire to keep her safe.

The two of them clash in so many ways throughout IN HER DEFENSE and that is what adds to the tension of waiting for Darrell to strike. A fast paced novel with tummy churning suspense and steamy sex makes this novel a must read for anyone who loves a really excellent Romantic Suspense Novel.

IN HER DEFENSE is a 9.5 out of 10

Within His Sight by Denise A. Agnew

I wanted to feed my need for sexy cops and WITHIN HIS SIGHT fit the bill nicely as I waited for the ball to drop. It's a fast, sexy read that started my year off right. It has been languishing in my HUGE TBR pile and since it's book one in her Heart of Justice series I have three more yummy SWAT guys to read about. Denise A. Agnew never fails to deliver and I can't wait to read the rest of this series.

WITHIN HIS SIGHT gets a solid 8 out 10!

All She Wants for Christmas by Jaci Burton

Big Star, Small-Town Christmas

Country singer Riley Jensen would never have returned to her small Missouri hometown if her publicist hadn't come up with the scheme to tape a Christmas special there. So she never would have known that the man who broke her heart at eighteen—causing her to flee to Nashville—was now a widower with a seven-year-old daughter. Riley has ten years of angst-filled hit songs and Grammy awards to prove she doesn't need Ethan Kent. But suddenly, she can't help thinking of all she gave up by running away...

Ethan Kent knew Riley had the talent and the drive to make it as a singer. He also knew she wasn't going anywhere if she stayed in their nowhere town for him. Then one night and one huge mistake sent her running on the road to fame. Which doesn't mean he ever stopped loving her...

But with so much separating them, can Riley and Ethan find their way back together one magical country Christmas?

Christmas reads for me aren’t complete without an offering from Jaci Burton and this year she not only delivered but her book was centered around a famous country music store. Second to read music is my favorite thing and country seriously tops my list. So when I saw this book was coming out I was anxiously counting down the days till it’s release. December 6rth couldn’t get here fast enough and well real cut in and ALL SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS sat languishing on my hard drive waiting for me to read it. The wait was brutal I tell you but so worth it.

Riley is a strong woman even though it seems as though she doesn’t see it. At eighteen she ran away when her heart was broken and took a chance on her dream. That to me is brave and well scary, but she did it and it paid off. She has fame, fortune, everything a girl could want right? Wrong, but this trip home may end up being the one thing she really needs. Jaci could have gone so many different ways with this, she could have made Riley bitter and mean, but she chose to make her genuine and friendly. I liked her from the word go, she wasn’t some over inflated ego, she was a woman, one who'd been hurt and who used her pain to build a career she could be proud of.

Ethan, well from the blurb I was unsure if I was supposed to like him or not, but I figured that was the point. Without ruining the story I will say that Ethan was in the wrong when he and Riley were teens, but I believe him when he says he never meant to hurt Riley and he paid for his mistake a million times over IMO, but darn it I like him, he’s a good dad, a good brother and a good friend. There is nothing sexier than man who’s a good father, a nice body and good looks are pluses and hello I have eyes don’t I, but a man who loves his kids now that is Sexy!

Jaci is the queen of back story when it comes to short novellas. I always learn so much about her characters is a short amount of time, I have no idea how she does it but she’s good at it and I end up devouring her books in one sitting only to be disappointed when I’m done. Not because the story is bad, but because IT’S OVER!

I really enjoyed going to Riley’s hometown, I felt a real connection to her, she came across real and true to me and I was thrilled she got her HEA, but I have so many questions about characters that appeared in this book.

Like will Wyatt ever be happy again and what happened with his wife Cassandra? Will Brody and Tori hook up? What will Zoey be when she grows up and what will happen to her? So much depth and character development in so short of a book.

So this book is a keeper for sure and I hope just the beginning for some of the secondary characters, It’s well written, sad is some place, happy in others and sexy enough to be enjoyable for any romance reader.

ALL SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS is a firm 9.5 out of 10.

You can grab a copy here.

Holiday Sparks by Shannon Stacey

House-sitting for her parents seemed like a good idea, until the microwave blew up and the lights went out.

Now Chloe Burke thinks upgrading the electrical system of her childhood home while they are away would make the perfect Christmas gift. Fortunately, there's an electrician in town who can get the job done by the holidays.

Scott Quinn has wanted to get his hands on the Burkes' wiring for almost as long as he's wanted to get his hands on their daughter. Chloe didn't notice Scott back in high school, but she's noticing him now, and soon they're indulging in a little festive fun: no strings, no expectations. After all, Chloe plans to get out of this goldfish bowl of a town and back to her real life in Boston by New Year's.

But Chloe and Scott discover they enjoy each other's company just as much out of bed. Could their holiday fling turn out to be the real thing

I’m finally getting a chance to get back to blog land and to read some of the Christmas themed books I accumulated this season. Shannon Stacey is a Auto-buy for me and HOLIDAY SPARKS reminds me again why she is on my must have list.

First we have Chloe, she’s my kind of heroine, she smart, independent and most importantly not TSTL. The power goes out or at least partially and while she is willing to investigate she knows not to mess with it herself. She calls for help and lucky her the help is handy as well as easy on the eyes.

Of course we have Scott local electrician, former geek and current local hunk. He knows Chloe but she doesn’t remember him from school and why would she. Her lost weight, his glasses and his bowl haircut. He lusted for Chloe all through high school and even though he’s looking for more that a casual relationship, he knows Chloe is not home for the long haul. So he agrees to a three week fling while he fixes the electric in Chloe's parents house.

Sparks fly and it has nothing to do with electricity. Chloe and Scott are well formed and extremely likable characters. They connect in way that is believable and that’s saying a lot. Building a realistic relationship in a shorter novel is hard and Shannon Stacey delivers. They have enough history to be quickly comfortable with each other, but enough differences in the past for me to believe they didn’t know each other that well in High School.

All in all HOLIDAY SPARKS was a fun, sexy read that was well worth the time invested. It was in fact juts what I needed and it fed that quick read fix I needed after spending the day with family. I will have no problem reading this again and placing it on my virtual keeper shelf.

HOLIDAY SPARKS is a 9 out of 10

Check out HOLIDAY SPARKS here.