Page Turners

Auguat

BLOOD IN THE MOONLIGHT
by Allie Harrison
Reviewed by Barbara Scott

Allie Harrison taps the perfect blend of romance and suspense in her new offering Blood in the Moonlight. Be prepared to spend some time with this read because you may be snared from the first until you reach the satisfying end.

Three years after barely escaping death at the hands of a serial killer, former cop Jenna Delaney is visited by her ex-partner Hunter McCall. The killer, long assumed dead, may be active again and Hunter fears for her safety. Though healed from her physical wounds, Jenna is not prepared to confront the harrowing memories of her attack Hunter's arrival incites. What's more she harbors suppressed feelings for him and the resentment that he abandoned her when she was at her lowest point.

Hunter knows he should have seen Jenna through her recovery and the loss of her beloved father, a cop who was killed in the pursuit of the killer. But he was torn by the guilt that he failed to protect her and the fear she would never forgive him. He too has long denied his romantic feelings for her. They were partners. It was not allowed.
This time, he is determined to keep her safe. He refuses to accept her rejection of his help and takes her undercover with him so she will never be far from his site.

As they are drawn deeper into the hunt for the killer, the chemistry between them ignites. Harrison brings the reader along for the ride. Jenna is a wounded heroine who tries to shelter her fragile psyche. Hunter is a hero you'll wish you had on your side. Blood in the Moonlight is a fast paced thriller that will also satisfy your romantic side.

Allie Harrison is also the author of Out of the Storm.

Only with a Cowboy
By PJ Mellor, Vonna Harper and Melissa McNeal
Reviewed by Julie Opdyke

This anthology has three hot tales about irresistible cowboys. Need I say more?

In Hard in the Saddle by P.J. Mellor, Madison St. Clair is having a really bad day. Her fiance disappeared, and she owes the town money and an explanation for his bad business. On top of that now she's beholden to cowboy, Sam Austin. Nothing could be worse, except her instant, inexplicable gut-level attraction to said cowboy. The chemistry between this cowboy and city girl kept me turning pages to find out if they are going to kill each other or end up in bed.

Breeding Season by Vonna Harper is a lovely story about two people who knew each other in childhood, dated as teenagers, went their separate ways and are reunited in a spectacularly hot way. When Mike's prize bull gets into the same pen as Wendi's heated heifers, Mike and Wendi have plenty of time to get reacquainted. Intimately reacquainted. The initial love scene between Mike and Wendi is sizzling. yet it is made poignant by the tender memories of their first time together. A mutual love of the land and ranching has brought them together again. Is it the real thing this time or just lust inspired by a horny bull?

I've always loved Melissa MacNeal's witty banter, filled with double entendres and sexy innuendos, and Getting Lucky doesn't disappoint. Lucky Luke McGrew is back in town after his mother's death to save the family ranch, but he needs a loan to do it. He and bank president Jane Cook have a past, but that's not why she turns down his request. He's a bad boy with bad credit, a risk for the bank and for Jane. But there's something about this sexy cowboy she can't resist. After discovering secrets about his mother's finances, she comes up with a plan to revitalize the little town she loves and help Luke pay down his debt. Luke agrees to her plan because it offers him the opportunity to honor his mother's memory, repair his reputation and get the girl. Sometimes it's not about getting lucky, it's about getting it right.

Overall these three novellas made me want to run out and rustle up a cowboy for my very own.

FUELED BY INSTINCT
by Rebecca Savage
Reviewed by Barbara Scott

Fueled by Instinct slams into action on the very first page and author Rebecca Savage maintains the pace through to the very end. Whether dazzling us with her tough-as-nails heroine Devin Ladue, an FBI agent who risks her life and job to exact revenge on her parents' killer, or making us fall in love with her courageous hero, journalist Lane Steelman, Savage knows how to turn up the heat and keep it simmering.

Lane's eyewitness testimony at the killer's trial is threatened when a mob hit is ordered for him. Corruption in the highest levels of city government and a mole in the ranks of the FBI add to the danger. Devin is determined to protect Lane long enough to testify despite the threat to her professional reputation, not to mention her self control.

Lane was smitten by Devin from his first sight of her on TV after her parents' murder. Now she's appointed herself his bodyguard and all he can think of is doing more than guard her body.

Even with the gender reversal in the expected roles of protector and protected, Savage deftly maintains the alpha of her hero. In Lane and Devin, she's crafted two hot, tough leads with all the chemistry of Pitt and Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. When they go on the run together in the effort to keep him safe and, at the same time, draw the mole out of hiding, the sexual tension between them is enough to singe the pages.

Along the way, the reader is treated to a tense thriller and the treat of Savage's excellent dialogue and descriptive skills. I was hooked and can't wait to read her next work, Cloaked in Assassination. In fact, I'm on my way to buy it now.