Category Archives: Mystery

Bare It All by Lori Foster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Title: * Bare It All
Author: Lori Foster
Series: Love Undercover, #2; Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor, #5
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher:
Format: ebook
Date/Year: April 30, 2013
Reviewed by: ElaineReads

*This book was provided to me by the publisher for review.

Summary from the publisher:

As the person responsible for taking down a brutal human trafficker, Alice Appleton fears retaliation at every turn. No one knows about her past, which is exactly how she prefers it…until the sexy cop next door comes knocking.

Detective Reese Bareden thinks he knows what makes women tick, but his ever-elusive neighbor keeps him guessing like no other. Is his goal to unmask Alice’s secrets? Or protect her from a dangerous new threat? One thing is certain: their chemistry is a time bomb waiting to explode. And with no one to trust but each other, Reese and Alice are soon drawn into a deadly maze of corruption, intrigue and desire-and into the line of fire….

My Musings:

Lori Foster never disappoints and this book is no exception. With “Bare It All,” she has merged two of her Alpha male series: Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor, #5 and Love Undercover, #2. It is not necessary to read the “Honor” series, but you really need to read book one, Run the Risk, of “Love Undercover” first. Otherwise, I think it will be difficult to follow the plot.

SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVE NOT READ “RUN THE RISK”

“Bare It All” begins immediately after the ending of “Run the Risk.” Reese is a cop that helped take down the bad guys with Alice’s support. Reese has always considered Alice to be mildly timid until she shows up with her own weapon and demonstrates that not only can she take care of herself, she can take care of others as well.

Although they are next door neighbors, Reese has never been able to get close to Alice. She is too ashamed of her past and has too much to hide. It is only Cash, Reese’s puppy, who allows him to break through her barriers.

I loved this book. I loved the way it flowed directly from “Run the Risk.” I loved the return of characters that I know will be getting their own books soon. I really, really loved one of the characters from Foster’s “Edge of Honor” series showing up in this one.

Reese is your typical Alpha male. He is protective and very much a take charge personality. Alice, however, is not interested in trusting anyone to protect her. She can take care of herself.
She is a woman in hiding. As I said, she is ashamed of things she was forced to do in the past and is afraid to let anyone get close to her. That doesn’t keep her from noticing Reese’s “manly parts” however.

As always, Lori Foster writes great sex scenes. They are strictly vanilla, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t hot. Alice definitely becomes well acquainted with Reese’s manly parts.

When I read this book, I had not read any of the “Edge of Honor” series. I enjoyed both of the books in her “Love Undercover” series so much, I have purchased the other series as well. Alice’s story is introduced in this series, but not knowing that did not interfere with my enjoyment of the book.

As I said, Lori Foster doesn’t disappoint.

Ratings:

Overall: 5
Sensuality level: 3

(review originally posted on Seductive Musings)

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Dangerous Embrace by Dana Mason
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Summary from the publisher:

Sarah Jennings wants nothing more than a quiet life—alone.

Raised by an eccentric mother, their life on the road only taught her how to run away from hard times. But when she finds herself in an abusive relationship, this lesson serves her well.

Now, back in her hometown, she’s found a place she loves. She’s a first grade teacher, and with few friends and less family around, she has what she wants, a quiet life under the radar where she can be free of her past and live quietly. Finally comfortable in her own skin, she’s settled, and less fearful than she’s ever been in her life.

But it only takes one night and one act of violence for everything to change. Injured and afraid, Sarah wants to run again, but Mark Summors refuses to let her go.

Just when Sarah thinks she can have Mark and the life he promises, her past comes back to haunt her.

Mark Summors was born and raised in Santa Rosa. He married his high school sweetheart and never questioned his life, until he found his wife with another man.

Now divorced, he wants something more. He’s passionate about his job, he wants to protect people, and he devotes his life to it.

This time he’s protecting more than just another client, he’s protecting his future; at least, Sarah Jennings will be his future, once he convinces her she loves him.

My Musings:

I really wanted to like this book. It had a strong beginning with a likeable hero and heroine and a less common plotline than a lot of romances. I thought the first half of the book was well written and I was impressed that it was by a debut author. Unfortunately, I was tired of it by the time I was half way through. I even looked on Amazon to see how long the book was in print – 368 pages. I would have liked it better if it had been condensed to about 200 pages.

After all, I knew how it was going to end well before that. There was one minor plot twist I did not see coming, but beyond that it was just slogging through to get to the end. I even think the author was tired of it because the writing in the second half was not nearly as good as the beginning.

So, what’s the book about?

Sarah escaped from an abusive relationship eight years before. She has created a new life for herself under a new name and is finally beginning to feel safe. So, of course, she is targeted by a rapist. She manages to fight him off and literally runs into the hero of the story – Mark.

Mark, an ex-cop who now owns a security firm, immediately takes her under his protection whether she wants to be or not. Sarah has fought hard to be in control of her own life and does not want anyone to have any say in what she does.

Okay, although I thought Mark was a really nice guy, I think his take charge attitude was over the top. He had never met Sarah before, but he is sleeping on her couch to protect her from the day of the attack.

Sarah, who has a history of abuse by men, almost immediately trusts him. Her only issue with Mark is his take control attitude and she’s an absolute bitch about that. I also thought her “I can take care of myself” attitude was unbelievable considering how much physical damage she has suffered.

Their relationship swings from “hold me, I love you” to “I have to escape . . . don’t leave me, fine, go ahead and leave” in the space of a few pages. And it doesn’t happen just once. Sarah has a history of running from her problems and Mark suffers through the hurt . . . over and over again.

Remember I said the book went on for too long.

Finally, I felt there were various characters who were only introduced so they would be available for a sequel. The book is listed as first in a series and the author has a lot of people from which to choose.

Need I say, I won’t be reading any sequels?

THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON SEDUCTIVE MUSINGS.

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