both enjoyable ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: This collection features two older stories from Lori Foster. While they weren’t really my cup of tea, I could still see why she has become a very popular author.

Opening Sentence: She was the only female fully clothed.

The Review:

I’ve not read anything by Lori Foster before, but I’ve heard good things about her. The two stories here are older ones of hers that have been reprinted. Neither story was really up my alley, but they were well written and kept my attention.

Body Heat – 3 Stars

Adam and Melanie haven’t seen each other in years. Growing up, Adam was the bane of Melanie’s existence, constantly picking on her. Little did she know that Adam was secretly harboring strong feelings for her, but refused to act on them because of his feelings about her wealth. Several years later, they run into each other on a boat trip. Their initial meeting doesn’t go well at all, and ends with Melanie falling overboard. Adam goes over as well, and they find themselves stranded on an apparently deserted island. What better time for all those old feelings to come back to the surface?

I think my feelings about this story can be best summed up this way: meh. It was fine for what it was, a deserted island romance story. Not much really happened though, and neither character was developed well enough for me to really get a grasp on their personalities. Neither of them were objectionable in any way, but they weren’t particularly memorable either. The story itself is well written, which made it easy to read. I just wish it had been a bit longer so that maybe I could have had a chance to connect to the characters.

Caught in the Act – 3.5 Stars

Delilah is a famous author, known for her unusual research techniques. One day while researching a new novel, she finds herself in the middle of a robbery. Her life is saved by a man named Mick. She is immediately captivated by him and follows him to the hospital so that she can take care of him. What she doesn’t know is Mick is an undercover cop, one who is equally fascinated by her. Thus begins a whirlwind romance, one that becomes threatened by a continued threat to Delilah’s life. Will they figure out who wants her dead before it’s too late?

This story was a lot more fleshed out, which made it move a bit quicker for me. I’m not really a fan of love at first sight romances, but this story still managed to entertain me despite that fact, mainly due to the wonderful secondary characters. I would have loved to see more of Zack and Josh because their personalities practically leapt off the page. As for the main characters, Mick and Del were both likeable, but I wasn’t in love with either of them. One thing that kept this from being a 4 star story has to do with an issue I have with the ending, but I can’t get into specifics without spoiling the story. In the end, I found this story more enjoyable than the previous one, but it still fell short of being great, in my opinion.

Notable Scene:

“The anesthesia is wearing off,” Zack explained. “You’ll be groggy a little longer, but overall you’re fine. They left the bullet in- that’s two for you now, right? Taking it out would only have caused more damage. You lost too much blood already.”

Mick was still registering what Zack had said when his friend leaned forward and growled not two inches from his nose, “You scared the hell out of me! Don’t you know if you get shot you should stay down? Swinging your arm around that way encouraged it to bleed more.”

Mick grunted, as much from the pounding in his head as in reply. “Where the hell is she?”

Exasperated, Zack sighed. He didn’t need to ask She who?

“Josh has been keeping a close eye on her, since right before you passed out and bashed your damn head on the ground. Yeah, that’s why your head feels like it’s splitting. I’m surprised you don’t have a concussion, as hard as you hit. If you didn’t have to be so damn macho, if you’d just tell someone when you were ready to faint-”

“I did not faint.” Mick’s voice, his words, were gaining strength, and he grumbled, “I passed out from blood loss.”

“Yeah, well, they look about the same when you drop right in the middle of a crowd.”

It hurt, but Mick narrowed his eyes and said, “Zack? Come closer.”

Zack, filled with new concern, leaned down close.

“Where the hell is she!”

FTC Advisory: Harlequin provided me with a copy of Up in Flames. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

5 Stars!
Erotic Contemporary Romance (2 short stories)
Release: May 27, 2014

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The last person Melanie Tucker wants to find herself trapped with on a party boat is her nemesis, Adam Stone. As always, he's too smooth…and a bit too sexy for comfort. But when they both fall overboard—and wind up stranded together—Melanie just can't resist all the delicious body heat smoldering between them….

Caught in the Act

When a robbery goes bad, undercover cop Mick Dawson can't believe Delilah Piper (aka mystery writer Lela DeBraye) was just in the wrong place at the wrong time—and neither do the perps. The only way to protect her while he investigates what really happened is to stick with her 24/7—and try not to fall for the object of his investigation!

MY REVIEW:

Two REALLY good stories packed into one book. The laugh out loud dialogue, steamy chemistry, and intriguing plots will leave you up all night and wanting more!

I loved the characters of both pieces and couldn’t stop thinking about the first story for days. Being left alone on a deserted island is one thing, but being stuck there with one sexy man? HELLO! The author caught it all and then some in this piece.

The second story was riveting and had the reader trying to figure things out as the detective did. It was a complex story of mixed emotions, a little deceit, and a lot of questions wrapped into a neat package.

If you want to read two short stories that will leave you plenty satisfied, pick this book up today! ( )