Author: debra

Hey everybody,

The Blurb:  Justice Wallington knows how to harness his strength and intimidating size—skills he put to good use first in the MMA cage, and now as a bodyguard at the Body Armor agency. But no opponent has ever left him feeling as off balance as his new client, heiress Fallon Wade. Far from a spoiled princess, she’s sweet and intriguingly innocent. It’s a risk-free assignment, until he’s required to fake a relationship with her in order to blend in. Sheltered from the world after a family tragedy, Fallon longs to experience life—going to bars, dancing, talking to strangers. Not easy with a huge, lethal-looking bodyguard shadowing her every move. Justice seems like her polar opposite, but pretending to be a couple stirs undeniable heat. And when danger strikes again, it’s not just her safety in jeopardy, but a passion that’s real, raw and absolutely against the rules…

My Thoughts:  Hard Justice is book 2 of the Body Armor series by Lori Foster. I love Ms. Foster’s books and this is another winner by her. Justice is a former MMA fighter turned bodyguard and is given the assignment to protect Fallon, who has been sheltered by her parents after a family tragedy. Fallon is not your “typical poor little rich girl”. She is level-headed, sincere, nice and spunky. She is determined to live life a bit and catch up from being sheltered. Justice is charmed by her but they start out being friends before the pull between them heats up. It takes Justice a little time to realize she is not quite what he assumed she would be.

Both Justice and Fallon are great characters. I enjoyed the banter between them and also between Justice and Fallon’s father. I also liked Justice’s family that we see when he and Fallon visit. This story has a very good plot that must be solved and it takes a little while to figure out who the bad guys are. It was also fun to see some of the gang from the Ultimate series pop up.

I highly recommend you check out Ms. Foster’s books. They are entertaining and well-written.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader copy of this book.

The blurb: Caleb Hodgins is a lupine known to the Arkin City Pack as an easy going wolf with a carefree attitude. But after tragedy strikes because of what he is, he’s left with a painful secret and the weight of grief hanging on his shoulders. Such heartache causes Caleb to swear he’ll never seek companionship with a human woman again, and it’s a plan that works well enough—until Emily Sterling comes to town.
When presented with the opportunity to take a long sought job in Arkin City, Emily quickly accepts, moving halfway across the country to live next door to her childhood friend, Joslyn Santiago-Hodgins. After years of keeping in touch long distance, she finally meets the people in Joslyn’s life, and finds everyone easy to fit in with—that is, everyone except Joslyn’s brother-in-law, Caleb.
Emily has no idea why he’s so put off by her, and his dismissive behaviors become increasingly disappointing as her attraction to him turns into undeniable interest. Yet she also doesn’t realize just how quickly her fun loving attitude and playful wit draws Caleb in, reminding him of his painful secret and his drive to prevent history from repeating itself.
But a case of missing lupines sweeping the southern states may put Emily in danger simply by her unwitting association with the Arkin City Pack, giving Caleb more than one reason to protect her. In the process, the gears of bonding start to turn, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it, forcing him to face his fear of revealing the truth about what he is, and risk losing Emily for good.

My thoughts:  Another very good installment in The Crucible world by Angela Colsin. I enjoy the world the author has created. The world has depth, well-developed characters and believable dialogue. Caleb and Emily are interesting characters and whose story had a detailed and entertaining plot. I felt sorry for Caleb’s plight and was glad to see the pull between him and Emily. I also enjoyed seeing characters from other books appear and able to catch up with their lives.

I hope Ms. Colsin writes more in this world–I will read them. I am hoping for one character’s book in particular!! (And I hope the author has the same plan!!)

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Hey everybody,

The Blurb:  Montreal, Quebec . . . A charming city on the St. Lawrence River, historic, sophisticated, but beneath it all lies an extensive underground where treacherous vampires are plotting to seize the country.

Lucifer Scuderi is a vampire—handsome and charismatic, a powerful hunter of unusual skill—who arrives in Montreal to take on the most important hunt of his life. Someone has kidnapped the mate of Canada’s ruling vampire lord, and it’s up to Lucifer to find him before his death sets off a crisis that could engulf the entire continent.

Eleanor Morel lost everything—including the love of her life—when she became a vampire. But now, twenty years later, she’s a trusted bodyguard to the Canadian lord, Sophia, and the only person Sophia can count on to lead the search for her endangered mate. But what Eleanor doesn’t know is that the special hunter she’ll be working with is none other than her long-lost love. And he’s demanding answers.

Lucifer’s love for Eleanor burns as hot as his anger towards her for leaving him. But they’ll have to find a way to set history aside and work together if they’re going to unravel the twisted betrayal that threatens not only Sophia and her mate, but the whole continent. Because the European vampires are on the move. And if Canada falls, the rest of North America could follow . 

My thoughts:  A great entry in this series. The vampires from Europe continue to come to North American to attempt a takeover of the continent. Raphael and the Council will not allow this. In this book, Colin Murphy, the human mate of Sophia, the Lord of Canada, is kidnapped and being tortured by a traitor. Aden, a vampire Lord, sends Lucifer, a hunter to help Sophia locate and rescue Colin. Attempting in the rescue is Eleanor, a trusted fighter for Sophia. Lucifer and Elle have a history together with misunderstandings involved but they remain very much in love with each other. They figure out how to work together for the goal of Colin’s rescue and the culminating battle for control of Canada.

These characters are great. I loved Lucifer. You see the future Lord he will be yet we also see the humanity that remains in him. Eleanor took a little bit to warm up to, but in the end I did like her. Especially after she told Lucifer her back story and why she left and why she thought the way she did. In the end, she was a great fighter and help to Lucifer and Sophia. We also get a hint of Raphael’s next move in the war with the Europeans. I love this series!

Happy Reading,

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Blurb:  Leese Phelps’s road hasn’t been an easy one, but it’s brought him to the perfect job — working for the elite Body Armor security agency. And what his newest assignment lacks in size, she makes up for in fire and backbone. But being drawn to Catalina Nicholson is a dangerous complication, especially since it could be the very man who hired Leese who’s threatening her.

What Catalina knows could get her killed. But who’d believe the sordid truth about her powerful stepfather? Beyond Leese’s ripped body and brooding gaze is a man of impeccable honour. He’s the last person she expects to trust — and the first who’s ever made her feel safe. And he’s the only one who can help her expose a deadly secret, if they can just stay alive long enough.

My thoughts:  Lori Foster is my favorite contemporary romance author and I will read anything she writes. Under Pressure is the first book in Lori’s new series, Body Armor. This series will highlight the stories of Leese, Justice, Miles and Brand from her previous series, No Limits. This story belongs to Leese and his heroine, Catalina. Leese is hired to be Cat’s bodyguard when she is in serious trouble and on the run. Leese is a former MMA fighter who recognized although he was a good fighter–he wasn’t a champion so he left fighting to become a bodyguard. He is determined to keep Cat safe and figure out exactly who and why she is in danger. Cat has information about a serious crime and she is threatened without anyplace to turn. She feels safe with Leese. Over time, Leese and Cat fall in love, have a few adventures as a plan is hatched to capture the bad guys and have to figure out how to make a relationship work between them. One of my favorite scenes involves a creative way Leese had of dealing with a couple of bad guys that had entered Cat’s unoccupied house while he is doing surveillance!

This is a nice story with some good characters. I like how Leese has grown as a character since we were introduced to him in the No Limits series. I liked Cat–she was willing to go it alone because she knew she was in danger. I do think she should have been more forthright in the beginning about some details of what she knew, but that would have shortened the story somewhat and I wouldn’t want that! Another winning story by Lori Foster and a very good start to her new series.