Review: Desire and Deception by Sharon Buchbinder

Desire and Deception by Sharon Buchbinder

Publisher: Red Sage Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Pampered princess and daughter of a Mexican crime boss, Isabel (Izzy) Ramirez is a newly appointed assistant professor working toward tenure and promotion. Driven by voracious desires, including ambition for advancement in the legitimate world and lust for her boy toy, Izzy’s house of cards is threatened when the department chair confronts her about a major transgression. Izzy’s take no prisoners approach means she makes sure her boss can never expose her deceptions.

Graduate assistant and guy-on-the-side, Sean Richards wants Izzy to leave her sleazy husband. If she would only get away from that crook, he’s convinced that he can bring out the better woman who exists beneath Izzy’s tough sex siren exterior. He adores his hot blooded Latina and will do her bidding--up to a point. Despite the mind blowing sex, he can’t and won’t murder for her.

As Izzy’s nosy parker friend and colleague doggedly follows an obscure trail of clues about the department chair’s death, Izzy is forced to choose between reverting to the ways of her unredeemable father--or becoming the extraordinary woman she sees in Sean’s loving eyes.


Monica's Review

When I read the blurb for this story, I was taken by it. I wanted to know what path Isabel “Izzy” would take, the path of what her father wanted or become the good girl that was truly deep inside of her, buried in all the turmoil that she had been though in her younger years.

This story had a couple of different paths it was heading towards that kept me intrigued about who was Izzy and what was she capable of when she would go into her deranged tantrums. First when I came across her character she seemed like a sex vixen just wanting to empower her husband and her lover, Sean. Then you read more about Izzy and it seems that you just want to slap the crap out of her and yell at her to control herself. With her thoughts and actions you can basically come to the conclusion that she had a horrible childhood but that should not give her cause or actions she has done. Sean just might have just the right touch or words to make Izzy see that she can change her way of life and they could have a happily ever after together. He really tries to make Izzy understand that murder, and violence is not everything and that he truly loves her and will not leave her. At one point of the story I actually smiled with her action that gave me hope that maybe Izzy was not so bad after all.

Then you meet her friend Sarah and her troubles with wanting a family that have you guessing how she fits into the storyline. Yes, Sarah goes through a traumatic experience in Florida but she becomes obsessed with the situation and this might cause havoc in her marriage. Sarah needs to be careful and watch what she is doing and whom she is confiding in because people are not what they seem. Sarah gives people the benefit of the doubt but later in the story this might come back to bit her in the rear. Sarah has had the perfect life but there are two exceptions but even with that she was able to overcome her hurdles. Sarah truly has a generous heart that seems to be able to empower everyone around her even her husband. Sarah went through hell and back in trying to find out who murdered her boss but at what cost. This is not the only problem surrounding Sarah and her husband but something from the past comes back to haunt them and will really test their marriage.

This book started with a murder but the true storyline started with the investigation of her murder. With that investigation, it also led to other discoveries that I would have never guessed that these situations would have been explored in this story. It really took me by surprise. I highly recommend this book to any reader that enjoys reading a book mystery/suspenseful book.  Believe me, the ending will leave you speechless!

4 Tea Cups!

   

Review: Indulge Your Fantasies Anthology

Indulge Your Fantasies Anthology by Nathalie Gray, Dominique Sinclair, Nicole North and Saskia Walker

Publisher: Red Sage Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Chimera by Nathalie Gray


All warfare is based on deception
—Sun Tzu’s Art of war
From the overcrowded slums of a future Earth, he rose as the perfect tool of lethal justice and deception. Cold and stoical by choice, alone by circumstances, he will neutralize any and all threat to his client then move on. Blunt, direct. Nothing personal. But when his next assignment involves a popular politician who’s as smart as she’s attractive, the greatest betrayal would be to deny his heart.


Edge by Dominique Sinclair

The search for the truth leads to the edge of danger, revenge and love… A beautiful hellion, the first woman trained by the Department of International Intelligence, Catlina Demarco left her life without so much as a goodbye. Deep in Mexico, she’s close to finding the man who can give her the truth of her past, or kill her.
Agent Noah Tyler, Cat’s former partner and lover, is the last man she expects to show up with handcuffs and intent to bring her back to headquarters. No one has ever left the agency alive, Cat’s no exception. Only she refuses to go anywhere with Noah, he betrayed her trust. Forced into the jungle by three armed banderos, Cat finds her and Noah once again working as partners, their thoughts as one, their bodies craving, their goals conflicting.
Hot, angry and infuriated, Catalina must rid herself of Noah Tyler before everything is lost, including her heart.

Beast in a Kilt by Nicole North

Scottish lady Catriona MacCain has loved Torr Blackburn, a fierce Highland warrior, since she was a young lass, but Torr only sees Catriona as his best friend’s little sister. When Catriona’s family promises her in marriage to a detestable chieftain, she desperately needs Torr to save her from a fate worse than death. But Torr is under the spell of a witch of the dark arts and is cursed to spend his nights as a kelpie water demon. He doesn’t believe himself worthy of the virginal Lady Catriona. However, she is determined to seduce Torr and claim him… body, heart and soul, if only they can banish the curse and defeat the enemies who have vowed to possess and enslave them both.


Sweet-talking the Opposition by Saskia Walker

London-based journalist, Eliza Jameson, is on assignment on a luxurious Rhine river cruiser when she finds the perfect distraction on board — old flame, Marcus Weston. But Eliza came dangerously close to falling for Marcus last time around, and in order to play him at his own game, she decides to call the shots. Meanwhile, Marcus has his own agenda. In the ensuing battle, who will end up on top?


Kris' Review

Sweet-Talking the Opposition by Saskia Walker is the first story in the anthology. It is the story of Eliza Jameson and Marcus Weston. After a fling two years ago, when Marcus had loved her and left her, Eliza Jameson is not about to let the same thing happen again. Therefore, when she finds herself stuck on the same cruise ship for a week with him, she decides if they start a fling, it will be on her terms, so she can protect her heart. Her fantasy is to be in control of the fling, by setting rules that Marcus must follow. However, are rules enough to keep Marcus at arms-length or will they be Eliza’s undoing? What happens when the cruise ends, will her fantasy with Marcus end as well? Better yet, can she let him go? Ms. Walker’s story of Marcus and Eliza’s voyage is a wonderfully erotic love story set against beautiful, breath-taking settings along the Rhine River.

Chimera by Nathalie Gray is the second story in the anthology. This is a futuristic love story set in 2377. New Heraklion station’s Lady Mayor Selene Delian is on her way to a summit of the Planetary Commonwealth taking place in Iceland on Earth. She wants New Heraklion to be independent but Earth refuses to allow it because they want New Heraklion’s osmium. Her protector is a man she knows only as Agent Corinth from the Aegis agency. He can't tell her his real name, he always wears his helmet and talks through a robotic voice but that doesn’t stop Selene from being attracted to her. An erotic night of passion in the dark allows her to feel his face, hear his voice and know his real name Perseus. What starts as a wonderful affair takes a turn for the worse when at the Planetary Commonwealth Perseus starts hearing the word Chimera. The word programmed into his mind can only stop the voices when he completes his mission – kill Selene or go insane. Ms. Gray’s love story of a tormented soul and a beautiful woman he’s assigned to kill is wonderfully written and leaves you holding your breath. The erotic love scene is worth the read alone.

Edge by Dominique Sinclair is the next story in the anthology. Cat is a spy for the Department of International Intelligence (DII) who has fallen in love with her partner Noah Tyler. That is until she discovers that her entire life has been a lie and those closest to her, including Noah have kept secrets. Her father killed her pregnant mother during a jewelry heist. Cat finds out that he recently got out of prison and is living in Mexico. She goes rogue from the agency to find him. Noah takes off after her. The more she tries to get rid of him the more he hangs on setting the pace for a wild adventure in Mexico. Ms. Sinclair has created a great combination of an alpha female with an alpha male with the characters of Cat and Noah.

The last story in the anthology is Beast in a Kilt by Nicole North. Lady Catriona MacCain has always loved her brother Brody’s friend Torr Blackburn. When an evil witch curses Brodie and Torr into shape shifters, making Brodie a selkie (fish) and Torr a kelpie (a horse) they think they are banished to live out their life that way for all eternity. Without her brother as a man, her mother arranges for her to marry a chieftain that is old enough to be her grandfather. However, when Catriona learns that the curse can be broken if ‘love given and received in equal parts, with complete trust and without reservation’ she defiantly sets off on a quest to get Torr to help her break Brodie’s curse so she won’t have to marry the horrible chieftain. She also realizes that if she can make Torr love her than she can help him break his curse and she can marry him. The problem is that Torr still thinks of Catriona as his best friend’s little virgin sister and he feels he is unworthy of her love. Can Catriona convince Torr that she truly loves him and can help him break the curse? Can Catriona and Torr work together to break Brodie’s curse as well? After all, if one of the curses isn’t broken Catriona will have to marry the ugly, fat, disgusting, swine of a man, the chieftain John MacPeter. Ms. North has written a beautiful love story full of hope and possibilities set against the backdrop of Scotland. Catriona and Torr are wonderfully characters that you can’t help but root for their success.

This anthology has something for everyone: from the present day cruise, to the present day drudges of Mexico, to the future and to the past. All four women have created memorable characters who take you on some wild and erotic adventures. I truly enjoyed reading the anthology and I have to say that all four stories are wonderfully written.

4 1/2 Tea Cups!