Hello all, it's that day of the week where we learn new things about each other and discover new blogs along the way. We also help each other by becoming followers of one another. Normally that following would be through GFC (which would be great if you'd still take a few seconds to do), but with that being eliminated for certain blogs (a big boo-hiss to that) I now ask that you follow through a RSS Feed (or Twitter, FB, or email) which you can find to the right. I want to thank all of you ahead of time who choose to become a follower and make sure to let me know in the comments if you're new so I doubly make sure to follow you back. And now for this weeks get to know me question....
Q: Confess your blogger sins! Is there anything as a newbie blogger that you've done, that as you gained more experience you were like--oops?
A: It seems so long ago since I was a newbie. But honestly, I can't think of anything I did horribly wrong. It's the little things that bug me still.....like not catching a typo, STILL NOT having a button made (I know you're all mocking me that I still haven't managed to make one--LOL), or not having my post look picture perfect. I'm a Type A person so it's the little things that bother me.
I'm a big fan of books in the m/m genre and am thrilled to be hosting Eden Winters today who's here talking about her new release, Collusion, the second book in her Diversion series. So keep reading to learn more about this sexy, yet gutwrenching story with an exciting bit of suspense thrown in. You also have the chance to win a copy! So please welcome, Eden Winters...........
Reality In Your Fiction?
How much reality do like in your fiction? A hint? A lot? Total fantasy? While I’ve written about ghosts, werewolves, werepossums, and time-traveling pirates, my latest release, Collusion, is contemporary, heavily plotted with stories straight from the headlines, involving drug shortages (and the protags don’t shift into an animals, unless you count Lucky’s manners). No, not drugs like meth or marijuana, but the kind that come from a pharmacy, prescribed by your family doctor. Imagine the United States suffered a massive drug shortage. Medications you relied upon every day were suddenly in short supply. And what if doctors had to decide which patient received what little remained available, and who had to wait? In this time of desperation, unscrupulous businesses take full advantage. No, not the black market, but the gray market. What? You’ve never heard of the gray market? Gray market buyers purchase shortage drugs for the sole purpose of reselling at a vast profit, to other wholesalers, or facilities such as hospitals and pharmacies. Their actions are not illegal as of this writing. Through the gray market, counterfeit drugs often enter the supply chain, prompting pharmacy buyers to shy away from a desperately needed drug for fear of harming patients. Some gray market goods are found to have no active ingredient, or even ingredients that cause harm. And those who conduct business with the gray market do so at their peril. A vial of product sold by a manufacturer might cost seven dollars. After entering the gray market, the markup in some cases exceeds six hundred dollars, costing patients, insurance companies, and government programs, such as Medicaid, millions. The above passages sound like a great setup to the fiction novel, don’t they? And yet…they’re true. While my upcoming release, Collusion, is a work of fiction, sadly, the drug shortagein the US and gray market are not, and as of this writing, are both still going strong. Bo and Lucky are back, and right in the middle of the crisis.
Dead men can’t love.
Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter “died” in the line of duty while working off a ten-year sentence in service to the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, only to be reborn as Simon “Lucky” Harrison. The newbie he trained, former Marine Bo Schollenberger, is now his partner on (and maybe off) the job. It’s hard to tell when Lucky doesn’t understand relationships or have a clue what any sane human is doing in his bed. Bo’s nice to have around, sure, but there’s none of that picking-out-china-together crap for Lucky. While fighting PTSD, memories of a horrid childhood, and a prescription drug addiction, Bo is paying for his mistakes. Using his pharmacy license for the good guys provides the sort of education he never got in school. Undercover with his hard-headed partner, Bo learns that not everything is as it seems in the world of pharmaceuticals. When a prescription drug shortage jeopardizes the patients at Rosario Children’s Cancer Center, it not only pits Bo and Lucky against predatory opportunists, but also each other. How can they tell who the villains are? The bad guys don’t wear black hats, but they might wear white coats.
Although Collusion is a sequel, it was written so that readers wouldn’t need to read the first book in the series, Diversion, to follow the story. However, Diversion is currently available at Amber Allure, an imprint of Amber Quill Press. http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Diversion.html
The next volume in the series, Corruption, is currently in the drafting phase.
MY IMPRESSIONS OF THE BOOK:
The tug-of-war romance between undercover co-workers Lucky and Bo continues in this action-packed thrill ride with some super steamy sexual interludes thrown in to amp up the emotional tension that permeates the story. Collusion nicely balances the struggling relationship between two very complicated men both in and out of the bedroom as a new case adds even more conflict into an already uncertain coupling.
Lucky's used to living his life on the wrong side of the tracks until given the chance to be one of the good guys. He likes this feeling of being a hero and takes pride in it, but still sees himself as unworthy. This constant self-doubt has him questioning the strengthening connection between him and Bo and wondering if he'll ever be worthy of his love. After everything he's done to put his past behind him it is heartbreaking to see these self-doubts hurt what is a perfect relationship of two halves equaling a whole.
Bo too has been through a lot and has even more emotional baggage weighing him down than Lucky but hasn't let it turn him cold. He always puts his heart on the line and isn't afraid to show how he feels. Showing too much heart though almost drags him completely back into the abyss if it weren't for Lucky grabbing onto him with both hands.
These two hurt souls couldn't be more opposite in how they act and do their job but when it comes to their hearts they both finally come to an agreement, cemented by a near-death experience that helps them realize how lonely they'd be without each other. The sexual interludes are super hot and go from sweet to frantic depending on how badly their case is going. As Bo goes further into the abyss there's a sense of desperation. Their final encounter is almost freeing and has them going in the right direction towards a HEA. The case is an exciting addition to the story and adds an extra layer of conflict to their relationship. It provides heartpounding action and ended up being a nifty little mystery.
This is an intensely emotional story with two very complicated and realistic characters dealing with realistic issues. The action in and out of the bedroom allows for the reader to see these characters at their best and worst and shows Ms. Winters talent at creating fully fleshed-out characters that you can't help but be drawn to. Fans of the m/m genre will find much to admire about this emotionally complicated story.
My rating for this is an A.
*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
AUTHOR INFO:
Our heroine sits quietly in her cube, just one of many, typing, filing, and breaking the occasional nail, hiding her true identity beneath her clever disguise of nerdy glasses and business suits (with sensible shoes!) Frantic eyes watch the clock as she waits impatiently for the ruse to end and her true calling to begin.
With eager anticipation she drives her average car to her average home, and eats her average (vegetarian and completely healthy!) meal alone. The minutes tick by, and when the sun finally sets she leaps tall sofas in a single bound, shedding her disguise to take on her true super heroine persona! Is she in such a rush to save the world? Save the city? Save the neighbor’s kitten from a tree? No! She liberates her laptop from the evil clutches of arch villain, Hall Closet, and flings it open to free the worlds hiding within its depths. There are lonely werewolves searching desperately for mates, spoiled rich boys just waiting for her gentle caress of the keyboard to create someone who’ll truly understand them, and futuristic soldiers, gunning across the universe to save the men they love… No scenario is too bizarre! A time traveling pirate? No problem! Violin playing specter haunting a Scottish castle? You betcha!
When she’d not busily creating happy-ever-afters for fictional hotties, our heroine enjoys music, the great outdoors, and cruising down the highway on the back of a Harley Davidson. Eden can be found at: www.edenwinters.com
**********GIVEAWAY**********
Would you like to a chance to win a copy of Collusion? Follow this link to a post on my blog and enter your name and contact information. On March 5th I’ll draw three names—two winners will receive ebooks copies of Collusion, and one lucky winner will receive signed print copies of both Diversion and Collusion, once Collusion becomes available in print next month.
Today I'm hosting a book that shows the erotic excitement of when opposites attract. In The Princess and the Prepper by Barbara Elsborg a woman who appears to have everything really has nothing until she meets a man hiding from the harshness of reality. Keep reading to discover my impression of the book along with the chance to win a copy. Also, make sure to visit the other blogs hosting this tour to learn even more about this sexy read. Let's get started by giving Barbara a big welcome......
Most of my stories are set in the UK. One of the golden rules for authors is to write about what you know, a rule I ignored from day one but luckily I have been to Wyoming where The Princess and the Prepper is set. But I went in the summer, not the winter so I had to research and imagine what the snow would be like for my story. Mad, bad and dangerous – according to the web. We’ve had a quite a bit of snow in the UK this year, and some hysteria from the press though we get over excited at a couple of inches. My experience of REAL blizzards is limited.
My heroine, Lili, finds herself dumped half naked in the middle of a snowy nowhere. In reality I suspect she’d have not lasted for very long at all before she succumbed to hypothermia and died. Lucky for Lili, my hero turns up to save her. But what Lili should have done was think before she acted and that’s not bad advice for life. Take a moment to consider whether what you’re planning to do is the right choice. If it’s something that might put you or those you love in peril, then take steps to ensure your safety. Tell someone where you’re going, take the right equipment, don’t overestimate your ability.
I wish I followed my own advice. I once went on a tour under a glacier – with a German speaking guide and an all German group. I don’t speak German. So when we were underground – very freaky, very dark and very slippery – I ended up going the wrong way and really scared myself. Not the right time to find I’m claustrophobic. I found the group again and wanted to go to the surface, but no, we had to keep going down on rickety ladders and I was too scared of being left behind to not go with them. When I finally saw the sun again, I almost broke down in tears. I climbed on hands and knees up a slope to my husband who’d been off skiing, only to see him white with pain and desperate to go to the hospital. He thought his appendix had burst. It was a kidney stone – which apparently is more painful than childbirth. Hmm.
Next time I do anything remotely dangerous, I’m going to make sure he comes too. Mind you he can’t speak German either.
Lili knows she shouldn’t accept a lift from a stranger, but as usual, she leaps from one disaster to another. The consequence is being stuck in the middle of a snowy nowhere wearing next to nothing, and this time, being unprepared looks likely to kill her.
Grant lives in an isolated cabin for a reason. He’s prepared for almost every eventuality. The last thing he wants is some needy person interfering with his ordered life. When he gets into bed with a woman he rescued from certain death—just to warm her up, of course—Grant discovers something else he’s not prepared for. His heart opening.
A match made in heaven, until secrets come knocking. Lili is not just a simple woman in need of shelter, and unless she can survive dealing with her background, it doesn’t seem possible the happiness that’s fallen out of a blizzardcan heal Grant’s own past.
EXCERPT:
Grant Houston heard Shadow bark as he dropped down through the trees. As he stepped out onto the road, it took a moment to register what he saw wasn’t a hallucination. A half-naked woman limped toward him with Shadow padding behind. Grant had been carrying wood into the cabin when the wolf had tugged at his sleeve. He’d listened, heard a large vehicle, noted it had stopped with the engine running, and decided to come and check. He’d almost turned back when he heard it pull away. He clenched his jaw. Not hard to guess what had happened. The driver had dumped her. Bastard. He stopped a few yards away, not wanting to alarm her, but she kept going, head down, until she collided with his chest. His arms came out instinctively to wrap around her and prevent her falling. She looked into his eyes and turned to Jell-O. He tightened his grip and groaned. The thought of dropping her, going back to his place, and pretending he’d never seen her flittered through his head. As if. He had his cell phone but even if he wrapped her in his coat, she might die by the time the emergency services made it out there, and if he took off his coat, so might he. He wished he had a choice, but he didn’t. Supporting her with one hand, he pulled the hat from his head and stuck it on hers, then unbuttoned and unzipped his coat and picked her up so her legs settled on his hips. She was light as a feather. “Put your arms around me.” His voice was gruff. He didn’t use it much. Resentment surged in his chest at the disruption to his life. By this act of human kindness, he’d have to allow people into his world. He was relieved when she slid her fingers onto his back under his coat. Even with his shirt and sweater between her and his skin, he quickly felt her coldness. After a brief struggle he managed to pull the zipper over her back so they were wedged tight together. This was not the time to have an erection, but his cock wasn’t listening. Did it ever? Her lower legs were exposed but at least most of her was covered. He linked his arms under her backside, clasping his gloved hands together to support her weight, and began to walk. The woman’s face was pale, and she shivered violently against him. The smell of her awakened memories he’d buried, the soft scent of coconut and vanilla reminding him of the last time he’d held a woman in his arms. The memory surged up his throat and choked him. His foot caught on a tree root, and he almost fell. Shadow growled. “Okay, okay, I’m paying attention,” he muttered. The woman he carried was tall and slender, too slender, though her breasts…. He increased his pace. The sooner he got her back to his cabin the better, even though the thought of her being there disturbed him. But stronger than that feeling was another, one he hardly recognized, a desire to protect her. Some fucking truck driver had dumped her and she’d have died if he hadn’t come along, if Shadow hadn’t alerted him. He could feel her heart beating against his chest, the gentle warmth of her ragged breathing hitting his throat, the wet chill of her body seeping through his clothes, and even as he desperately tried to keep his cock under control, it swelled further. There ought to be a prize for the time to have the most inappropriate erection.
MY IMPRESSIONS OF THE BOOK:
This is ultimately a story about loss and two people recovering from their losses through the healing power of love. These are likable people who have gone through horrendous experiences and grab on to the one moment of happiness that presents itself. They appear opposites at first but their mutual pain brings them together in a night of steaminess that leads to an unexpected, yet completely satisfying conclusion.
Lili was the child her parents never really wanted. She never lived up to their expectations no matter how hard they tried to mold her into the perfect Princess. She had dreams, but through her parent's machinations, those dreams have continued to go unfulfilled. She's now trapped in a nightmare of physical and emotional abuse from which a haphazard plunge into a dark and snowy night seems a better alternative. This one moment of bravery after years of accepting the abuse could be her final act, but the stranger who rescues her epitomizes her dream and she'll do anything to stay with him....even if it means learning how to cook and make a decent cup of coffee.
Grant prides himself on being prepared for everything but finds himself uncertain in how to deal with a pampered Princess who isn't what she appears. He's been hiding out after the loss of his family with only a wolf for company. He doesn't like the chaos she brings with her to his quiet life or lonely heart but he can't turn away a damsel in distress. She brings a smile to his face and forces him to deal with his demons. He's scared of being forced into living again but knows he can't let the bit of light she's brought to his darkness go no matter how different they appear.
This story is a modern-day fairytale where the Princess is rescued by the handsome hero. This hero is slightly tarnished though and the Princess isn't picture perfect. Their path to a HEA starts out steamy with a bit of desperation attached to it and leads into an entire hometown standing up for what's right in a completely heartwarming conclusion. Ms. Elsborg is a master at pulling at the reader's heart strings and this book once again leaves me believing in fairytales and her on my must read list.
My rating for this is an A-.
*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Barbara Elsborg lives in West Yorkshire in the north of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.
After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.
Her books feature quirky heroines and bad boys, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as they are to write.
**Decadent Publishing: Indulge Your Book Fetish...
For more information about Decadent Publishing authors, books, and their submissions guidelines, visit http://www.decadentpublishing.com. Decadent Publishing is currently accepting submissions in all sub-genres of romance, including their ongoing series'.
Those looking for a little steam to go with high drama will find exactly that in Laura's Light by Donna Gallagher. Today you get a glimpse inside this book as well as the chance to win a gift card. So get reading and see what makes this new release so special......
Forty-two- year- old single mother Laura Harris devoted more than half her life to raising her son. She remembered the concept of having sex but it had been aeons since she’s actually been a participant - especially with a real flesh-and-blood partner. But it’s time to reclaim her life. Her son is a man now. And the rising star of the Jets rugby league team. Their future is brighter than ever and, for the first time, financially secure. But Laura is starting to think agreeing to have dinner with Trevor Hughes could be biting off more than she can chew. Not that she can’t see herself taking a nice big chunk from the absolutely gorgeous thirty-four-year-old sports commentator’s rump, he’s one prime piece of masculinity! She just isn’t sure how or when the whole sex thing will become an issue. She can’t even get past the what-to-wear step. Let alone the when-to-take-it-off stage…
Trevor Hughes usually avoids the woman with substance - he has enough of his own demons to deal without trying to care for anyone else. But there’s something about the upbeat, sexy, one-woman-dynamo Laura Harris. The woman is pure sunshine and happiness. And that’s surprising when you look at what life has handed her. Nothing seemed to dampen Laura’s spirits and she quickly becomes someone Trevor needs in his life…Until misunderstandings come between them. Can Trevor put things right?
EXCERPT:
He dragged her roughly by the shoulders to her feet—too roughly, probably, but the need to kiss her robbed Trevor of rational thought. Laura’s swollen, wet lips opened under his and their tongues duelled, competing in a dance of passion. They stood embracing, kissing, looking dishevelled. Trevor’s pants were around his ankles and his cock drooped, sated, from his body. Laura’s discarded underwear was strewn beside them and her dress was creased and rumpled. Trevor drew his lips from hers, leaned his forehead against hers. “Wow, that was unbelievable. You are unbelievable. We are unbelievable together.” His words came in a whisper, his emotions spinning out of control. Trevor did not want to scare her, did not want to come across too strong, but he could not stop himself. Laura filled a hole in his soul, made him feel complete. Touching her filled him with such a sense of contentment, a sensation that was so foreign to Trevor. In a moment of clarity so strong he could not ignore it, Trevor understood that Laura was the missing piece of the puzzle he had searched for his entire life. And that thought scared the shit out of him. His life was not a life to share. It was a life that was not always easy to live. A life that had been filled with dark thoughts and, a short while ago, even darker days. It was not the sort of life he would wish upon anyone, least of all Laura. Those dark days still haunted Trevor. He hadn’t realised at the time that depression was an illness, had thought that this latest bout of black moods and then decline into utter despair was due to the knee injury that had subsequently forced him into retirement. Just thinking back on those times made Trevor mentally shudder. It was still hard to put into words the depths of his struggle to regain some kind of perspective—sanity. After months of counselling and with the help of prescription medication, Trevor now understood that he had been battling depression for a good chunk of his life. All those times when the world had seemed against him, it had felt as though he was being singled out, that people just didn’t understand him. Those times, when he’d just locked himself away, struggled to get out of bed because facing the world and all that was expected of him had been too daunting a task, had been as a result of his ongoing battle with the misunderstood disease.
AUTHOR INFO:
Sydney-born Donna Gallagher decided at an early age that life needed be tackled head on. Leaving home at 15 she supported herself through her teen years. In her twenties she married a professional sportsman, her love of sport -- especially rugby league -- probably overriding her good sense. The seven-year marriage was an adventure. There were the emotional ups and downs of having a husband with a public profile in a sometimes glamorous but always high-pressure field. There were always interesting characters to meet and observe and even the opportunity to live for a time in the UK. Eventually Donna returned home a single woman, but she never lost her passion for watching sport, as well as the people in and around it. Now happily re-married and with three sons Donna loves coffee mornings with her female friends, sorting through problems from the personal to the international. But she's on even footing with the keenest man when it comes to watching and talking rugby league. Donna considers herself something of a black sheep in a family of high achievers. Her brother has a doctorate in mathematics and her sister is a well-known sports journalist. An avid reader, especially of romance, Donna finally found she couldn't stop the characters residing in her imagination from spilling onto paper. Naturally rugby league is the backdrop to her League of Love Series, published through UK publisher Total-E-Bound, spicy tales of hunky heroes and spunky heroines overcoming adversity to eventually find true love.
Donna will be awarding a $50 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
-To be entered, leave a comment, along with your email addy.
-A winner will be chosen randomly from all comments made throughout the tour, so the more you comment the greater your chances of winning. A list of all participating blogs can be found here.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read • Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) • Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.
NEW LIFE by Bonnie Dee
....location 64 of 3265.
-I could feel Anna wanting to ask about the scar, but she didn't. People are too polite. Except for little kids, who'll say anything that crosses their minds. I appreciate that honesty.
Hailey spent her life dreaming of a dark prince falling in love with her. He never showed up, until now. A short tale set on the spookiest day of the year, Halloween. Be careful what you wish for!
********************
Ultimately, this short story is about waiting and the things you give up in the pursuit of a dream that may or may not be worth it. For Hailey, it's a life full of children and a man beside you that she's given up in the dream of meeting the vampire of her dreams that's taken many years to come to fruition. As Hailey's life passes her by it takes a lonely Halloween night for her dream to finally come true with an unexpected reaction to getting what she waited so long for. This story starts sad and ends a bit sad too. Hailey was always a dreamer who never made permanent connections. One day is the same as the next as she ages into an elderly woman all alone. Once she meets her dream vampire though the ending is still reminiscent of the beginning where she's still waiting. This short story is surprisingly well fleshed-out and thoughtprovoking. The emotions it engenders stay with you long after the final page is turned and have you rethinking what you'd give up for a dream. My rating for this is a B. *I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
**********GIVEAWAY**********
Prize is a digital copy of The Old Vampire by Emma Meade!
-To be entered, leave a comment, ALONG WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDY.
Today I bring to you a wonderful addition to the paranormal genre as Karin Shah is here discussing her new book, In Like a Lion. Read my review to learn even more about this book and then make sure to sign up for the giveaway so you can win a copy. Let's get this party started and welcome Karin Shah......
What's In a Name?
Names are important. Anyone ever bullied in school with an unfortunate twisting of her name knows this. Superheroes do, too. Ratman is far less fear-inspiring than Batman. Finding good names is a problem for writers, too, and readers recognize it, because I get asked, "How do you come up with names?" all the time. Romance names carry a lot of weight. Dwayne Dibbley does not give rise to images of a strong, handsome and courageous hero. Romance names have to be evocative. There's a reason names like, "Stone" and, "Brand" and "Hunter" have almost become cliches. Many times, when asked where I get names, I give the quick answer--a baby book, but there's a lot more that goes into it than a name that sounds good and has a pleasant meaning. I changed a secondary character's name in IN LIKE A LION only a few months before handing it in to my editor. That change caused me a lot of angst because although she only has a few quick minutes of "screen time" in IN LIKE A LION, I have her slated to be the heroine in book four of the series. Her original name was Jade. I love this name, it's evocative, lovely and short (which is important if you're going to write a name hundreds of times*g*). But the heroes name is Jake, another character's name is John, and there were getting to be far too many "J" names in the series. I could foresee a scene full of Jade's and Jake's and John's and though that would pass muster in "real life," I don't want to confuse my readers (or myself). Last names are tough, too. When I conceived of the Chimera series, I thought I was going to get around this. They're brother's right? All their last names can be Mara. Then I realized they couldn't be very well hidden from their enemies as children, if they all had the same last name! Then, there are the unconscious things I do. After I began Chimera 2, I noticed that, starting in BLOOD AND KISSES. All my heroines, except Anjali, had names that were places in England, Kent, Devon, Coventry. What are your favorite romance names? Which ones can't you stand? I'd love to hear!
Dangerous and forbidden...
Research scientist, Dr. Anjali Mehta, lost her beloved family in an earthquake. Only her work cuts through the paralyzingly grief, but when she finds her new research subject, reputed mass murderer, Jake Finn, maddeningly uncooperative and inexplicably sexy she's tempted to run away. How can she burn to touch a killer--a man behind bars?
What she doesn't know is that Jake is a chimera, a shapeshifter who can change into a lion or a dragon with all the strengths of both even in human form, who believes his ability to shape shift is nothing but a terrifying hallucination, and his overpowering attraction to his new doctor proof positive he’s finally gone over the edge.
And the employer she trusts has an agenda all his own. If she can't believe the impossible, neither she nor Jake may make it out alive.
EXCERPT:
As Anjali stepped out into the corridor, a shout made her freeze.
The exclamation’s guttural force spurred her heartbeat into double time. What the hell?
She tracked the alarming sound to a door with a glass window and peered inside.
In the center of a large room, a shirtless man moved with fluid grace on exercise mats. Karate? Or Tae Kwon Do? That explained the shout. She shrugged.
Before she could slip away, the man turned and came closer. She ducked to the side so he couldn’t catch her watching.
Her breath caught as she saw his lean face.
She swallowed, pulse leaping. God, he was gorgeous. Staring much, Anjali? she admonished herself, scraping together the remnants of logic blown away by the sight of him.
This was just a man, his face, just a pleasing arrangement of features.
Papers on the appeal of symmetry to the human mind had been mandatory reading in some of her classes.
His movements took him deeper into the room and she inched closer again, her long exhale fogging the window in front of her. She didn’t need calipers to know when God had handed out facial symmetry, this man had pushed to the front of the line.
Odd shadows lent the suggestion of a tiger’s stripes to the man’s elegant cheekbones and clean jaw. She glanced at the ceiling and noticed metal baskets caging the fluorescent light fixtures, throwing voids into the harsh glare.
Her attention zeroed back to the man.
His hair—raven black with the sheen of a crow’s feather—hung past his chin and fell forward, masking his eyes. She caught herself wishing he would raise his head so she could see them. Her gaze drifted downward, following the delicious curve of his shoulder.
His large body was a work of art, each muscle defined and chiseled, as if Michelangelo had carved him from a piece of granite. The impish light played more tricks, lending his golden skin the sheen of satin as he defended against the attacks of invisible adversaries.
Her mouth dry, she watched him flow through the movement, muscles rippling beneath that flawless skin. Who was he? A guard?
Given his size and superior musculature, if he was a doctor, he was nothing like the doctors and researchers she’d worked with in the past.
Goose flesh pimpled the back of her arms. There was just something about a man that big that called to her most basic instincts.
A disparaging laugh huffed from her chest. She’d been living like a nun for years and now she was drooling over a man so out of her league he might as well have been a movie star.
What sounded like a voice—short and harsh, but indistinct—reverberated through the thick, metal-reinforced glass. The man halted mid-move and glared over his powerful shoulder.
For the first time, Anjali noticed there were other people in the room; uniformed men with sleek, ugly rifles, not only drawn, but leveled at the man as if prepared to shoot him at the slightest misstep.
She gasped as an awful realization washed over her. This man—the first man to draw her interest since her loss—was not a guard or a doctor.
He was Jake Finn, her subject, and a stone-cold killer.
MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:
A lot happens in this first book in the Chimera Chronicles series as we're introduced to a family of brothers separated a birth to keep them safe. In In Like a Lion brother Jake is unaware of his abilities. A nefarious businessman has convinced him that he's a killer with mental issues and has kept him under lock and key doing tests on him. Jake remembers nothing of his early years but growing up was full of painful moments. He knows he's different from others and is scared of what he's capable of and the dreams he has. It's not until a new doctor comes to work that he realizes what he's truly capable of and a connection forms between them that changes their futures forever.
Anjali has been alone since the death of her family and cut herself off from others for fear that she'll lose someone else. She's smart and strong-willed but has been living in a box not wanting to put herself on the line. She finds herself instantly attracted to the men behind the bars though and quickly realizes that what she's been told about him is nothing but lies and that she's his only hope to escape being put to death. They're soon on the run to reconnect with a long lost brother and the changes that Anjali noticed upon meeting Jake soon transform her forever and forge a deeper bond between them.
The sexual tension is palpable once these two meet and as the action and suspense take off on a life or death journey there's a constant sense of fear. Their escape takes them from the city to the desert to Las Vegas in a bloody and heartpounding rampage. Luckily there's time for a bit of sexual healing along the way that is satisfying but seems a bit out of place considering they're running for their lives. Their final encounter with the bad guys unearths a villainous plot that is just scratching the surface and promises to rear its ugly head again.
With so much happening and so many characters introduced it's easy to get bogged down and lose track of who's who. This didn't ruin the story for me but did lead to a reread of certain passages. With a few strong and sexy brothers left to meet though and a loss of control for those not mated by the age of thirty, there's still plenty of drama ahead in this paranormal series that shows us lions, dragons, and witches. In Like a Lion had a fast pace with lots of suspense and action and a likable couple that you rooted for every step of the way. I look forward to discovering more of these sexually tempting brothers and recommend this exciting paranormal story to others.
My rating for this is a B+
*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
I live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio and worship Jeni's Ice Cream, JK Rowling, Jayne Ann Krentz, the tv show Supernatural, and the movies, Hunt For Red October and The Princess Bride (though not necessarily in that order).
I am a fanatical reader of Romance, particularly Sci-Fi Romance, Fantasy Romance and Paranormal Romance. I always write the book I want to read, so I tend to jump sub-genre a bit. My husband and I are the parents of two kids (a girl and a boy) and slaves to two dogs (a basenji and a vizsla).
I was born in Rochester, NY, attended SUNY Oswego and got my Master's in Information and Library Science at the University of Buffalo. I was a School Librarian in Webster, NY for five years before starting my writing career. (I still miss my students).
