Dee Tenorio

Full Review is up on http://scorchingbookreviews.blogsopt.com

Amanda was a bit of a stubborn idiot at times but on the whole I liked her. She was trying to break out of the protective barriers created by her elder brothers but there was something inside telling her she wasn’t good enough to make it on her own. Never really having seen the “I will kill you painfully and they will never find the body” side of her eldest brother, she never really understood the barrier that other men show more faced. She just assumed that she wasn’t worth fighting for, that she was destined for a life in the shadows.When Cole asks her out, she doesn’t believe it’s anything other than a joke.When she hears about the plan, it all makes sense her head. Yes, she’s hurt by her brother’s actions but also it’s a way to get rid of the virginity she doesn’t think she’ll ever get rid of otherwise. She really was a woman with issues and I felt so much pity for that.

Unfortunately, there were also points I wanted to slap her upside the head. Her stubbornness was cute, but over the top. I loved that she traded skills for life skills (i.e. cooking lessons for electrical safety lessons) but her reasoning pissed me off. Being self sufficient is one thing; learning these skills to prove a point and never having to ask your brother? Bit much. She was likeable but a little childish in her reasoning.

Cole I adored. Cole didn’t want to be married because his parents had had a terrible one, but he forgot about that soon enough. What I loved throughout this tale was the total devotion he had to Amanda. He didn’t stifle her,didn’t control her; he tried to enable her to make her own way. He arranged for her to learn car maintenance, tried to romance her even though she was a sure thing and he never let up trying to show her she was a person worth knowing. He had some of the best lines in this entire book and I fell for him hook, line and sinker. The scene where he found out about the catalogue was the best in the book for me; that firm control snapped and we got some seriously pissed off man... *swoon*. Of course the fact that he knew Elfish and Klingon only cemented my love of him...I love secret nerds :D

"There's more to sex than just going at it." He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth, then another along her cheek. She turned her head to give him more room. "There's not much satisfaction in that. You should have build-up. Anticipation. Temptation. Seduction."

The side characters of this tale made it even better. A special mention must go out to Locke... I cannot wait for his book! He was a complete caveman for the majority of the book, but the scene where he explains how much he gave up to bring them all up made me tear up; there are many hidden layers to that man, I can’t wait for his story (especially with the big massive clue Dee throws our way in the Epilogue :D)

This is a contemporary with angst, humour and sexual tension throughout. With a Hero that made me swoon and a side character that made me cry, I don’t think I could ask for anything more. Read it for Cole if nothing else.... he named his motorbike "friend" in Elfish. show less

Conquered – This story will forever be known as the one that made me spit grape soda all over my kindle. It was one of the funniest stories I have read in a very long time. There was plenty of chemistry and hot sexy times between Emma and Shane but it was the humor that really made Conquered shine.Conned - A heroine not afraid of her sexuality and a con man turned science geek? Love it! Lots of hotness in Conned.Consumed – I don’t even know what some of the foods were in this story but show more they sounded really sexy. In fact, “sexy” can be used to describe the entire story. A sexy discussion about food. Sexy cooking. Sexy times with food. Sexy use of a spatula. Yes, I said spatula :DConvicted – Dee Tenorio is the only author in this anthology that wasn’t new to me and I started Convicted with certain expectations. Once again, those expectations were exceeded. Katrina is tough and snarky while Cade just ignores the snark and distractions to get what he wants, which is Katrina. I loved every second of Convicted.Undercover Lovers is the first anthology I’ve read that I really enjoyed every story in it. Some I love more than others but they are all well worth the read. And I discovered three new-to-me authors! show less

Book 2 in the Resurrection Series
After a series of murders is discovered along the trail of the Shifter Underground, wolf soldier Jensen Tate is the one assigned to find and protect a missing stray. But Lia Crawford, the missing stray, doesn't seem to want his protection. When she eludes his watch and then returns with mysterious injuries, Tate knows she's hiding something from him. To discover Lia's secrets, Jensen will have to win her trust....and get closer to the woman he thinks may well show more be his mate.
Lia has reasons to keep her distance. The killer is haunting her steps, and seems determined to claim her. He will come after them both if he sees how drawn she is to Tate, though it becomes increasingly difficult to deny her attraction to him. Protecting Tate is vital - but will her deception cost her his love?

Oh Wow I loved this book.....I really did, it is up there with The Shifter Series by Rachel Vincent and the Kelley Armstrong Women Of The Otherworld Series! and to be totally honest I never thought I would find a shifter series as great! I just want to read more...... Dee please tell us there's going to be lots
more? The possibilities seem endless, I mean we haven't actually been in Ressurection yet, well, only briefly so there are many more shifters to meet and their stories to tell.
I find the cover so strong and powerful, the eyes are just the colour you imagine for Tate's. Tate is such a brilliant character, and then so is Lia! I didn't think this second book would be as good as the first but...I have to say it was even better. Its so well written, the relationships and dialogues between the characters so "real". The relationship between Tate and Lia make you laugh, make you smile, and it also breaks your heart at point and gives you tears in your eyes, but it also gives you a warm n fuzzy feeling.
The ending was not exactly as I expected it was better, I have to say it was perfect! Lia is a strong female character and Tate is a strong character, so strong he even dares to kind of argue with his Alpha and his mate. both characters have their own difficult pasts that they have to put to rest as well as dealing with the phsycopath Asher who has bonded to Lia and thinks of her as his mate. The bond is complicated and this book goes into more detail to explain it, which ties in with the story and journey of Tate and Lia. I love that Lia is as tough a character as Tate. you wouldn't know which one to bet on in a fight lol.
Its very rare I give 5 stars but this book deserves every one of the 5 stars!

Only one note of warning it does contain sexual scenes but they are within the context of the plot and not overly exaggerated. So would then have to say this is an adult book or older teens show less

3.5 stars

I was drawn to this book because it centered on the DEA and local law enforcement banding together to take down a lawless motorcycle club and, in the midst of this joint effort, an unlikely friendship between undercover DEA agent Katrina Killian and Deputy Cade Evigan blossoms into a romance. Overall, I enjoyed the romantic aspect of the book but was disappointed in some respects by the level of action and suspense.

One of the most surprising parts of the book for me is the reversal show more in roles between the hero and heroine. In creating Cade’s character, Tenorio breaks from the traditional heroic stereotype of a take-charge dominant alpha male who becomes uber-protective over the heroine he is charged to protect. Cade suffers from PTSD and is only in town because he couldn’t say no to former marine teammate Rick’s request to help maintain law and order in a community under the stronghold of the Wheels of Pain MC. Cade is extremely quiet, private, distant, and brooding, all characteristics I would expect from a man who feels emotionally broken. What’s unusual is that he’s not the hero who comes charging in to save the day and who actively pursues the heroine.

Instead, Katrina is the one aggressively pursuing Cade. She isn’t shy nor does she worry about getting too close to the handsome Cade, who quietly exudes a power and control that draws her to him. In fact, she’s downright brazen about her interest in him. Her straightforward, sometimes jaw-dropping assertions startle Cade and initially caught me off guard as well. Although some readers may not like such a bold heroine, and I’m not sure I do either, I do believe her behavior is exactly what is needed to break down the emotional barriers Cade has erected to protect himself. No matter how hard Cade tries to push her away, Katrina refuses to be deterred. Slowly, she inches her way into Cade’s life and their love story progresses over a period of months. This span in time was integral in helping me believe their romance is genuine. Cade has been emotionally shut down for so long that it would be hard for me to accept a romance developing too quickly.

By narrating the story from both the Cade’s and Katrina’s POVs, the author makes the characters’ inner struggles just as prominent as the main external conflicts involving the MC club. Both characters have arcs that reflect their growth over the course of the story, but Cade’s arc is much more dramatic. Cade doesn’t know that Katrina is working undercover to bring down the MC run by a brutal, violent and unscrupulous leader, and he is conflicted about getting involved with someone who seemingly doesn’t mind living and working along with this gang of criminals. Similarly, although Katrina is genuinely interested in getting to know Cade, she feels guilty that she’s deceiving him and that, when he learns the truth, he may resent her and put both their lives in jeopardy. Yet, no matter how strong her feelings for Cade become, I admire her willingness to sacrifice her personal happiness to keep her cover and put a stop to the MC’s illegal activities. Katrina grew up in this MC, which is why she is so easily accepted by the club. Furthermore, she’s seen firsthand all the people who have been hurt and terrorized by this club that has no loyalty or sense of brotherhood. They are merely a band of felons and drug traffickers united by their greed.
One aspect of the book that I found especially striking is how effective Tenorio is in describing and picking apart Cade’s feelings about his own state of mind and his emerging feelings for the feisty Katrina. Although she awakens emotions in him that have long been dormant, Cade doesn’t think he has anything to offer. I feel the depth of Cade’s despair when he wishes “he had something more to offer her than the body of a ghost who didn’t know how to die.”

Another one of Cade’s reflections that I found to be especially poignant and powerful:

“From the start, she’d made him wish he could be different. That he was still the guy who wanted to change the world and save lives. The one who laughed easily and trusted the world to be black and white. That guy had died with so many others, thousands of miles from here, under a killing sun that never seemed to set, in sands that never satisfied its thirst for blood.”

Tenorio gives this couple a HEA that is realistic and consistent with their backstories and the events that occur in the book, and you can expect some steamy love scenes along the way.

When I read a romantic suspense, I like to see equal weight given to the romance and the suspenseful. In Convicted, the romance overshadows the major external battle between the law and the MC. The suspense was strongest at the beginning and in the scenes closest to the climax. While I was aware throughout the book that the major characters were in perilous situations, especially Katrina, I just didn’t experience the nail-biting adventures I like to read. One minor aspect that disrupted my read was the abrupt announcements that signaled progression in the story’s timeline. Transitions should move the story forward seamlessly, and, if done skillfully, when reading along, I will hardly notice the shifts. This wasn’t the case with this novel.

To sum up, I’m glad I read the book and especially enjoyed the romance between two people who appear to be on different sides of the law finding their way to each other.

Source: I received an ARC ebook from the publisher to provide an honest review. show less