Katana Collins

Jessica Walters continues to investigate the murder of her sister, Cassandra, but she realizes that everyone has been lying to her - even Sam who confesses that his mother was the drunk driver that ran her parents down and killed them when Jess was a teenager. Without Sam to lean on, she now looks to Elliot, who seems to have truly been in love with her sister. He suggests that they pose as a dom and sub to infiltrate the world that had been so much a part of Cass's life before she died, but show more the discovery of a large stash of illegal prescription drugs hidden in Cass's house leads Jess in a whole different direction.
Wicked Release continues the story that began in Wicked Exposure. Unfortunately, this book doesn't live up to the promise of the first. The pacing of this book is off as it rehashes clues and suspects without offering much beyond what was shown in the first book until almost the very end, where several new aspects of the case are introduced. The ending, however, is very satisfying and somewhat unexpected. Overall, a pretty good book, though a bit of a letdown. show less

What I Thought:

I fell in love with this book the moment I started reading. It was so real.

I think it was the fact that the story really hit home. It showed that when you are at your lowest moment, sometimes wonderful things can happen, well sort-of. In the case of Lydia, she has just learned that she is infertile. She hadn't begun to think about children, a hubby or her happily ever after, as she was just focused on work and making her own. Then she gets landed in a small town, where she show more meets a 10 year old girl and her dad.

Cameron is a widower, to a heart disease. Unlike Lydia, he thought he had found his happily ever after, and had lost it. He'd convinced himself that he didn't need love and would never find it again.

Then the two meet. I love that they both are in places in their lives that they believe they will never find a love to complete their 'happily ever after.' They both think they best move on with the life they have and not worry about love. However, just as the world seems to work, they find each other. It was fantastic reading about their early spark and meeting, getting read along as they discovered each other and what it might be like to become a family.

However, love it not always what it seems. Lydia has a job to do, and Cameron may not like what he reads.

I won't give away the ending or the lead up to it, but I will say that it is great!

I liked the plot, as mentioned above, as I think life has so many times when you feel like giving in and just making do with what you've got, but life always has a curveball. The characters had loads of depth and personality, as to be expected with a longer read like this. They didn't grow dull, boring or easy to guess as I flipped the pages. It was just the opposite, I felt more drawn to them and couldn't wait to read more.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good pick-me-up, a little love and just a few kisses. It is a great read. show less

I received an advanced copy of this book from Patricia D. Eddy, whose contribution "Her Mafioso's Honor" is about midway through the book, for review. I started with her story, and am slowly making my way through the rest.

I love anthologies like this, especially romance-laden ones, as they give a ton of heat in bite-sized stories that don't have the same kind of pressure to commit as a full-length novel or series (though, who are we kidding - most of these stories are going to send you show more searching for the full catalogues of the authors within).

"Her Mafioso's Honor" serves up the kind of characters you can't help but want to see more of. Evelyn and Damian are both driven by a sense of duty and pride, though stemming from wildly different circumstances, and clash together when Evelyn finds herself over her head. Cue the steam, swoon and that longing to see a so-called "bad boy" take names and save the day. I'm thrilled that we may see more of these characters developed in the year ahead.

Following Eddy's story was "So Much More" by Reina Torres. Somehow the author managed to create that delicate sense of hesitation and slow burn within just a few chapters. The shared history and pining between the two characters made the heat in the story that much more satisfying, and I'd happily read about the hinted back story in a full-length novel.

As I continue through the other stories, I will try to update my review, however, considering this anthology is literally free across all major retailers, I'd highly recommend diving in. With so many stories to choose from, there's bound to be one that draws you in and provides that perfect evening escape. show less

Blind spot made me realize one thing. I adore the into love/lust thing because it keeps some heroes from sleeping with other women after they meet the heroine. I know it might sound silly to you, but I hate seeing the hero. heroine sleeping with someone else. I was elated when Tate didn't accept Veronica's offer in the beginning of the book because Shelby caught his eye I didn't trust Tate. I was certain that he would screw things up in the end, b but it was Shelby, who did what I expected show more Tate to do. And I thought I liked her until that point. I was a little disappointed with that because every time Sophia was talking to him, he had his attention elsewhere namely Shelby. He might have won what I expected him to do about her, but it didn't do much to make me think better of him. He did plenty of things to please Shelby, but not much for the kid. Shelby's family was a welcome addition to the set of characters and I hope they will get their own books. This book was a nice college romance story with drama that was a little over the top for me. I would recommend it, but I must warn you that Shelby has a horrid past which made the book not so light hearted as it would have been otherwise. show less