Reviewed by Susan S.

Impressive! M. L. Buchman delivers an action-packed novel that’ll leave adrenaline junkies smoking a well-satisfied cigar. The Night Is Mine contains military covert operations, chopper crashes, secret agents, murder plots, daring rescues, humor, and still…pulls off a touching love story. Where’s book two?

Summary: The Night Stalkers Series, Book One

Captain Emily Beale is a highly trained soldier, the heroine of this story, the daughter to the Director of the FBI, a killer chef, the Black Hawk pilot for the Black Adders, and the first and only female pilot to fly for SOAR (The Army’s Special Operations Aviation Regiment a.k.a. The Night Stalkers). As is evidenced by the aforementioned-she’s one badass female. Oh, and did I mention she’s beautiful? Some gals have all the luck! Or do they?

This gal’s life is about to turn on a dime. The captain harbors feelings for Major Mark “The Viper” Henderson and vice versa. But since the Army prohibits relationships between different ranked soldiers-they’ll have to lock and triple-bolt their passion. Then there’s the reassignment order plunging Emily neck deep into a black-in-black ops mission. Suddenly, the Army’s fraternization policy becomes a moot point. Because if they die protecting the Commander-in-Chief, sex post-mortem just isn’t as appealing.

Review: I’m hoping one day The Night Is Mine adapts to the big screen. But even if it doesn’t, in my mind- it played like a movie. Guess I can always reread the novel when I feel the hankering to watch it again.

With military romantic suspense novels I always think, oh boy-here comes the heavy unintelligible military jargon. I needn’t have worried though. None of that in this novel. Only descriptions of military choppers and a great story infused with megadoses of action.

Recommendations: For readers who stow Silhouette Romantic Suspense and Harlequin Intrigues inside their minivans. Also recommended for anyone who craves the forbidden love tropes. And if you’re a booklover who’s partial to All-American Heroes, hot Army pilots, secret agents, and political intrigue-then this is your kind of read.

Disclaimer: I received this novel free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Review-O-Meter Rating:

Buy: The Night Is Mine

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Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc., Copyright 2012, Mass Market Paperback, Print Pages 402. ISBN# 978-1-4022-5810-7.

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Reviewed by Susan S.

Accused is a powerhouse of suspense!

Summary: Pacific Coast Justice Series-Book One As a law enforcement officer, C. Edwards, has always upheld the law and followed her agency’s protocols. And prior to becoming a divorcée, she was also the faithful wife. No one would categorize Carly’s life as perfect, but at least it has a semblance of stability. Now all that’s about to change!

As Carly searches for answers regarding who murdered Mayor Teresa Burke, she’ll uncover deeply protected secrets. Secrets those in power would kill to keep. With body counts rising, Carly will find herself in a race to stay alive! She never would’ve guessed it, but she’ll have to rely on the two people she’s been avoiding the most. Her ex-husband (Nick) and God.

Review: Janice Cantore is a new-to-me author. And the first thing that impressed me was the flow of the story. Everything flowed perfectly! There were no abrupt and jarring scene changes. It was one continuous smooth storytelling. Secondly, the suspense is top-notch. Furthermore, as a former police officer, Cantore’s uniform dispatch signals were accurate. As a civilian, I also found her descriptions of police procedures insightful.

Recommendations: Recommended for readers who enjoy police stories and inspirational tales of faith and hope.

What I Enjoyed:

Element: I liked the police officers’ sobriquets: Carly is Crash, Joe is Control, and Nick is Face.

Scene: There’s a scene where an officer risks his life for another. I wept copiously! I wouldn’t say I used an entire box of tissues, but it was close!

Extras: After the story there’s an author interview; that was a novel element.

Disclaimer: I requested this novel from NetGalley because of my interest in police stories.

Rating:

Buy: Accused (Pacific Coast Justice)

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Copyright 2012, Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers, Religion & Spirituality, Romance, ISBN-13# 978-1-4143-5847-5, Pages 416.

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Reviewed by Cara Lynn

This book was long on sex, maybe short on story.  I finished it a while back and can't say I particularly liked it.  I felt more neutral, so I put off writing a review. I read the PDF provided by LRP on my iPad.

What I liked: I liked the colored pictures in the text, though at times I felt she looked very young.  Does that let you know how old I am?

I liked that she was a journalist/reporter which is an interesting twist on a romantic suspense.

What I didn't like: I didn't like the idea that a professional journalist/reporter would sleep her way through her assignments.  Somehow that seemed like a setback for women, not progress.

The sex: Yes, it's hot.  And with two men, at different times.  And which of them turns out to be the criminal?

But it doesn't seem like the real dilemma that Janet Evanovich poses between Ranger and Morelli.

My feeling: I suspect that there are other books in the series, or at least planned for the series.  I would likely read another one to see if I still felt the same.

And I suspect she will sleep her way through the next assignment too. And that bothers me.  As a character, she seems too immature for the level of assignment and for her naivete about dangers, both real and perceived.

But the sex is hot.

Most other romantic suspense that I read has a more believable main character who actually falls in love with the man she is with, who also falls in love with her.  It is not gratuitous.  Ultimately it keeps them both safe.  That last sentence could be said about this book too.  But somehow it wasn't as believable, at least for me.

Have you read it?

Rating:

Buy: C.J. Hawke on Assignment: Mexican Flames

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Guest post by Rebecca York, author of Dark Moon, Chained, and Ambushed.

Because I’m a romance writer, some people feel free to ask me, “Do you practice your love scenes?"

I like to answer that I also write suspense, and nobody ever asks me if I practice murder.

I’ve got a good enough imagination to come up with hot love scenes and cold-blooded murder scenarios. However, research IS a big part of my writing process.  If I’m setting a book in a particular area, I want to go there, if possible, to find out details I’d never know if I hadn’t visited.

Take CHAINED, the novella in my new indie romantic suspense series called DECORAH SECURITY.  To give you a little background, it’s about a woman hiding out from bad guys on a ranch near Sedona, Arizona.  A ghost saves her life.  Or is he?

How do you have a happy-ever-after with a phantom?  You could have the guy’s consciousness get transferred to some other body.  In CHAINED, I think I came up with a much more interesting solution, which I’m not going to give away.

The whole premise of how I bring the hero and heroine back together revolves around a feature unique to the area.

To quote Isabella, my heroine, in CHAINED:

Still scrambling for explanations, she thought about the vortexes that were all over the Sedona area.  The places of power that the Native Americans had known about for thousands of years.

In modern times, they had become famous among adherents of New Age philosophies, people who incorporated Eastern and Western traditions into their spirituality and who took ideas from many different fields--as diverse as motivational psychology, holistic health, parapsychology, and even quantum physics.  Rather than relying on dogma, they were willing to use anything that worked for them.  Including the vortexes.

They had fascinated Isabella, and she’d read as much as she could about them.  In the physical world, they were forces of wind and water.  Like the circular motion of a tornado or water whirling down a drain.

In Sedona, they were created by spiraling spiritual energy-- locations where the conditions were right to facilitate prayer, meditation and healing.  Mystical, magical places, if you put it in those terms.

From her earlier research, she knew they were believed to have an energy flow that existed in multiple dimensions.  Some people could get in touch with that energy.  And maybe she was one of them.

I’d heard of the vortexes, of course.  But I had to hike to them, walk around them, and sit and meditate at them to really get the sense of how I could use them in my story.

I needed to visit the vortexes to write CHAINED.  But sometimes a life experience or previous research comes in handy.

That was the case with DARK MOON, the werewolf novel from DECORAH SECURITY.  It’s set on a cruise ship that a very nasty villain has turned into a kinky pleasure palace.  No, I haven’t been to an S & M club.  But I have cruised.  And I drew on those experiences to design the Windward, the ship where my werewolf hero, Cole Marshall, and fellow Decorah agent, Emma Richards, go to rescue a young woman who’s been kidnapped by a business rival of her father’s.

Thrown into the pressure cooker of sensuality and danger on the Windward, Cole and Emma try to fight their attraction for each other.  But can they complete their mission before the owner of the ship discovers their identities and has them killed? Will they get caught in the mutiny that’s threatening to send the Windward up in flames.  And how do they cope when the bad guys capture them naked?

AMBUSHED, the short story of the set, takes place in Washington, D.C.  And there I’m really lucky.  I grew up in D.C. and still live nearby.  I know the city.  I’ve visited a lot of federal office buildings.  I’m familiar with the security.  And I love to use my hometown in my work.

In the story, hero Jordan Stone has a sixth sense for danger.  He’s going to need it to save the life of federal witness, Elizabeth Bannerman. But he’s not only fighting the bad guy.  He’s also fighting his notion of right and wrong, which could prevent him from giving in to his attraction for Elizabeth.

Do you notice the research in an author’s work?  The trick, of course, is to weave it in so it adds to the story and doesn’t overshadow the plot and characters.

Author Bio: An award-winning, best-selling novelist, Ruth Glick is the author of over 100 books. Writing as Rebecca York, she has authored or co-authored over 50 romantic suspense novels.

Buy: CHAINED, AMBUSHED, DARK MOON

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Reviewed by Sandra Scholes

As part of the Private Protectors series released by Carina Press, Roxanne Thorgesson has never felt life like she has now---where she is so out of control she might risk everything to make it all seem worthwhile. Having to take over the business after her father has had a near fatal heart attack; her task is to take on his firm of the second largest newspaper in Chicago.

It isn’t easy, and she didn’t expect it to be either, but the heat is turned up when former boyfriend, Michael comes around wanting a favour from her. She has an idea he will spell trouble for her, but she can’t say no, especially when he is a part of a scandal that won’t go away.

She didn’t expect an exclusive story like his would come up, but she indulges his every word as it is important to him, as much as it is to her. Michael left her once and offered no reason as to why. It is now that she can send him away, or use him to get her one big story from him. Only this story is bigger than the both of them – his wife has been murdered, and he is high on the list of main suspects. He tells her he didn’t do it, but why should she believe him?

There are many things that the reader will find from the characters in this story, and one of them is that Michael isn’t the sort of person who would murder his wife; she was the only woman he ever loved as much as he hated her.

Even in their darkest times of arguing, which was most of the time, he had never thought of ending her life – he was a very wealthy man and as far as he was concerned, he could have ended their arguments easily enough, and he did for a time when they were going through a rather lengthy divorce settlement.

His wife had gone from being a loving and caring woman to becoming a money-grabbing bitch, something he watched happen through the course of their marriage. As it was common knowledge that it was a rocky one, Michael is thought of as the prime suspect in her murder even when there is someone else lurking out in the shadows who is actually responsible.

This is a story that is easy to get into, and you won’t help but keep turning the pages to find out more.

Rating:

Buy: Risking Trust

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Reviewed by Susan S.

Book Two: Elite Force Series

Summary: Amelia Bailey is a county prosecutor from Alabama. She’s in the Bahamas helping her brother (Aiden) with the legalities of an international adoption. With her assistance, Aiden and Lisabeth are now the proud new parents of a baby boy. And she’ll be the doting aunt. All’s right in the world until disaster strikes. Aiden and his wife decide to have lunch; leaving baby Joshua in his aunt’s care when the unthinkable happens. An earthquake strikes the island, leveling Amelia’s hotel. She and Joshua are now trapped beneath the rubble.

Luckily, Air Force Pararescueman Hugh Franco comes to their aide. And while Hugh may have given them a second chance at life, they’re not out of danger yet. For sometimes, the aftermath is more terrifying than the disaster!

Review: I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Ms. Mann did a wonderful job of describing how emotionally and physically taxing a pararescueman’s mission can be. Her scenes felt entirely too real. Especially the one where Amelia and Joshua are trapped. I felt claustrophobic just envisioning it! Did I mention her scenes feel real?!

The author also does a splendid job of showing the dynamics of the task force team members, and you’ll respect their bravery and courage. And yes, even their human failings.

I hadn’t realized the author was so crafty. Here I am envisioning my idea of this mysterious antagonist, and all the while Mann is leading down the wrong road. Yep. I was duped!

Recommendations: Recommended for readers who enjoy Harlequin Intrigues, military romantic suspense novels, romantic suspense, strong heroes, sexy soldiers, and survival stories.

My Favorite Scenes:

Scene # 1: When Bailey asks if she can hug Hugh. (Yes, there’s more to that-that I’m not saying.)

Scene # 2: I loved the dialogue between the hero and heroine when they were trapped under the rubble.

Comedic Touch: The new team member of Hugh’s task force team is nicknamed Fang. But FANG is actually an acronym. What the letters signify is what makes it funny. Sorry readers; telling you would spoil the fun.

Rating:

Buy: Hot Zone

Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc., Copyright December 2011, Romantic Suspense, Mass Market Paperback, Print Pages 318. ISBN# 978-1-4022-4498-8.

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Reviewed by Lynn Reynolds

This is the first book of the "Zodius" series.

Cassandra Powell comes to work for her father and to evaluate some of the soldiers at the military facility.  Not two minutes after literally bumping into one of the soldiers he's hitting on her.  His name is Michael Taylor.  She then goes to meet her assistant Kelly who tells her something interesting about the GTEC soldiers that she will be working with.  I love how Kelly tells Cassandra how to have protected sex - ok Mom!

Cassandra's father seems to be one of the evil forces in this story.  He's done some experiments on the soldiers that Cassandra must now see what the effects are.  He seems to think that he can play God and not be held accountable.  But there is someone who is much more evil than he is.

Michael goes on a mission with two brothers, Adam and Caleb.  Adam shows us how the experiment can take a turn for the worse.  What's even worse is that there is a woman, his wife, who's as evil as he is.  Lisa paints Adam as a very dark sadistic man.  He gets pleasure from other people's pain.  Lisa doesn't make it too graphic but just enough so the reader will understand the type of evil man he is.

Lisa takes the reader on a very suspenseful ride.  From one chapter to the next we don't know what's going to happen to Cassandra and Michael.  But we have to keep reading so that we can find out.  You have to love a hero that in the midst of a war going on, he has time to make love to his lifebond.

Cassandra's father isn't happy on how his soldiers have turned out, now he wants to create a super soldier.  This is one more reason to keep reading.  Was this latest experiment a success?   And how does Michael's mother fit into all this?  Lisa gives us a glimpse into a world where if you fool with Mother Nature, you will suffer the consequences.

I love how Lisa has given Cassandra a strong personality.  She either fights by Michael's side or she'll just go out on her own.  They also love each other - no matter what.  This is the type of love we all long for.

The story ends with us wondering whether good was able to defeat evil.  Who will prevail?  You will have to keep reading the series to find out the answer to this question.  I definitely recommend reading this series.

Rating:

Buy: The Legend of Michael: Sin and Satisfaction (Zodius)

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Reviewed by Lynn Reynolds

The reader first meets Rebecca Burns as a very studious high schooler. She’s so smart that she tutors during the summer. Sterling Jeter is a young man that hacks into computers for money. He uses the money to take care of his grandmother. We think that they will be sweethearts right away but then Sterling gets into trouble and Rebecca doesn’t see him after that.

The story then jumps fourteen years. Sterling is now part of a special elite team. He then goes to see Rebecca. This is where Lisa gives her reader an indication of what makes Sterling a hero. This is also where our adventure begins.

If you have not read Lisa’s first book in the series, The Legend of Michael, you may not understand a lot of what’s happening in the story. Originally, I read this book first and was totally lost in what was going on. I then went to my local library and took out Michael’s book. This time everything was less confusing and it made sense. You do need to read this series in order.

This book is darker than the first - the evil in Michael’s book continues here. You can tell that this is a book about good vs. evil but that the evil is getting stronger. As you get into the story, you will question as to which will win.

The first time I read this book, I was reading it as a paranormal romance. This second time, I read it as a paranormal romantic suspense. The book is good as a paranormal suspense but it is a little light on the romance. Danger always seems to get into the way of any type of romance between Sterling and Rebecca.

In other paranormal romances, that I have read, the life mate appears early on and we see the instant connection between the two main characters. As I started to read the first few chapters of Sterling’s story, I just didn’t see that connection. At the end of chapter 5, Sterling and Rebecca finally admit that they want each other but as a reader I just don’t feel it.

In Chapter 21, Becca says how badly she wants him but as a reader I’ll have to take her word for it. I just never saw it in the pages previously. At the end of this chapter, we finally start to see their romance take shape. But as a romance reader, I felt that the author had to put in a love scene somewhere and this is where she decided to put it. To me it felt out of place. It just didn’t seem to flow with the rest of the story.

Once the romance finally starts it seems like the dark side of the story seems to take a back seat. You see glimpses of it so that you know it will continue into the next book but the feeling of the story changed.

Would I buy this book? No. Would I borrow this book from the library? Yes. Would I read the next book in the series? Yes, I would like to see what happens next. I will say that I did like Michael’s story better.

Rating:

Buy: The Storm That Is Sterling

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Reviewed by Karin of Savvythinker

Sandra Brown has a prolific imagination, and the good thing is that every book seems fresh, no re-runs. How she does it is anyone's guess. Lethal is no exception.

I chose this book, given to me by LRP to review. I generally like Sandra Brown's books. I just don't want her romantic suspense to go too graphic in violence.

The story:

Lethal opens with action right in the thick of things. And the action is non-stop from there.

Honor Gillette is the widow of a police officer, and she is home alone with her precocious 4 year old daughter, Emily, planning a birthday party for Stan, her father-in-law, when Emily spots a man lying in their yard. When Honor goes to investigate, he turns out to be Lee Coburn, who is accused of a mass murder at a local trucking company. In a matter of seconds he has taken her hostage, using her young daughter as his way of keeping her in line. He is armed and dangerous, but he promises not to hurt her or her daughter if she does exactly as he asks.

And she does and doesn't.

But is he part of the problem or part of the solution? Did he murder the men or was he a witness? And who are all the corrupt officials and police officers, if they are? And are some of them supposed friends of Honors? And was her husband corrupt too? And was he murdered or was his death an accident? And how does Stan figure in?

Honor quickly realizes she must find the answers to these questions, because in the meantime, if Coburn is correct, someone -- or many someones -- are out to kill her and her daughter, to keep whatever her husband might have given her, if he did, a secret.

It is especially hard to find, because she has no idea that she has it or what it might be. And first she must convince Coburn of this -- and others would be less likely to take her word for it, but would try to torture her to get it.

Complicating matters is The Bookkeeper, merciless in all aspects, who is running the show, and The Bookkeeper does not leave witnesses. One of the enforcers is good (bad as the case may be) with a razor.

What's at stake:

The Bookkeeper is trafficking for prostitution using the Interstate and corrupt officials who look the other way when shipments of young men and women come through. Those who try to escape are taken out by the above enforcer or in other ways.

Violence:

The murders in the warehouse take place off page. Some of the razor action does not. Other violence occurs, shooting at close range; an explosion; etc.

Friendship and love:

Honor ultimately relies on her friend Tori, who is a good friend indeed. While she has had a colorful life, there's no question she will do what it takes to keep Honor safe. She contacts a new gentleman friend and asks him to lend her $1 million dollars for a ransom, if it is needed. (I would love to read a book about these two.) He proves himself to be a friend and lover to her, no questions asked and nothing brooked to the bad guys. And Tori is smart enough to realize she is being watched.

Even the man with the razor is not all bad. He has redeeming qualities.

Heads up:

There is a severely handicapped boy, the son of one of the officers, who is cared for at home. There is some discussion about how hard this is to do, as well as how it affects their marriage.

The ending:

I won't give it away. It's like an ending, then another ending, then an epilogue -- very clever indeed, and the actual ending is very satisfying, clever, and up for grabs, which makes it even more clever.

Does it get any better than this?

My take:

The plot is complicated, but woven together nicely. I guessed some of the plot, but it is spelled out clearly by about half way through the book. The question then becomes staying alive and taking down the operation and the bad guys. I did not guess the hiding place, but I thought I had.

I did my usual, reading the end, skipping back some, hesitant to read my way through, even knowing where it was going, taking it in bits and pieces, because it was scary, just the same.

Rating:

Have you read it?

Karin

Buy: Lethal

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Reviewed by Cara Lynn

After Midnight by Sarah Grimm was very readable, plus it had an interesting story.  It's romantic suspense for adults, not only because the sex is adult, but because the story is developed more fully than many other romantic suspense books.

The story

Isabeau Montgomery was a child prodigy, a pianist and composer of renown, with four albums to her credit, but when her mother died in a car accident that left her maimed when she was still a child, she gave up playing the piano. She now owns a successful bar and grill.  And she is capable of playing again, because her hands are restored except for the scars, but she no longer plays because it makes her physically ill and brings up emotions that she cannot deal with.

Then Noah Clark walks into her bar and the music begins again in her head, in a way she cannot ignore.  He has come to record a come-back album after he has fought a few demons of his own.

One night, after closing, she plays the piano, which he overhears.  At first he does not know who she is.

And he falls for Isabeau. He comes into her bar nightly just to be near her.

Isabeau has protectors, friends and family, -- and somewhere there is an enemy, maybe more than one, lurking who wishes to destroy her.

The music

Music is interwoven into the storyline.  If you love music, you will appreciate this book.

The sex

The sex is hot, believable, builds to a climax (pun intended) (more than one) but does not move so fast that it loses you.

The love story

The love story between Noah and Isa is very dear.  He is changing, just as she is.  Both of them need each other. It is a testament to their love that they continue on a path which saves them both -- and ultimately saves Isa from death.

Friendships

I enjoyed the interaction of their friends with them.  Their friends are loyal, but also straight on, willing to challenge them, when they need to be challenged.

The suspense

There are enough red herrings in the story, that there are several people who might be the one(s) out to destroy Isabeau.  I ultimately guessed who it might be, but I wasn't sure until the denouement.  And the acts of potential violence escalate until...

On the other hand, it is more a story of psychological unfoldments for the two main characters than it is suspense, though the suspense is major.  Most romantic suspense does not develop the main characters and their motivation as fully as Grimm has.  This is what sets this book apart -- and the element of music, which factors into all parts of the book.

Rating:

Have you read any of her other works?  You can be sure that I will~

Buy: After Midnight

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