Surrender the Dark by Donna Kauffman

They call themselves the Three Musketeers: three lifelong friends, men who will put it all on the line in the name of honor and loyalty. Jarrett McCullough values those bonds as seriously as he values his job heading a covert group of operatives skilled in handling sensitive international information. But his current mission has suddenly gone very wrong-and he finds himself wounded and near death in the last place he ever expected to be.

Rae Gannon is stunned to find her ex-boss bleeding from a gunshot wound, mere paces from her front door. It has been two years since her move to the remote Blue Ridge Mountains, where she tried to erase the memories and the pain she suffered from having been part of McCullough's team. Yet as Rae tends to Jarrett's battered body she realizes that the air between them is still sizzling with a slow-burning need. But this time there are more than just hearts at stake. The mission that almost got Jarrett killed threatens to put Rae back in harm's way. And if they surrender to their desires, it may cost them their lives.
~~

I simply cannot remember the last time I enjoyed a military romance as much as this. From the first page there is just so much emotion and tension between Jarret and Rae, because of their past history. It never felt old or came off as typical, I think because Rae is such a kick ass character - and because Jarret is obviously so broken. 

Even though Rae goes against her instinct and saves Jarret after he's been shot, there's not another moment in the beginning of this story where she lets him get away with anything. He betrayed her and the faith she'd put in him at the worst possible moment after a horrible ordeal; it made a lot of sense for who she was a person that she didn't just allow him back into her life. In response Jarret had to fight to make her see him beyond his job, a task made even harder by the fact that he still needed her to go on one more mission. It's all so vivid when you're reading, Rae's pain and Jarret's confusion, especially when he finally starts to think/feel beyond his job - beyond the end goal. It makes for a beautiful love story and one that's filled with sparks, action, and a great HEA. Awesome. Plus there's two more!

Overall Feeling - A

Series - 1) Surrender the Dark 2) Born to Be Wild 3) Midnight Heat

**Title requested from NetGalley**

When You Dare by Lori Foster

The tougher they are, the harder they fall…

Professional mercenary Dare Macintosh lives by one hard and fast rule: business should never be personal. If a cause appeals to him and the price is right, he'll take the mission he's offered. But then the lovely Molly Alexander asks him to help her track down the men who'd had her kidnapped—and for the first time, Dare's tempted to combine work with pleasure.

First Time in PrintFiercely independent, Molly vows to trust no one until she's uncovered the truth. Could the enemy be her powerful, estranged father? The ex-fiancé who still holds a grudge? Or the not-so-shy fan of her bestselling novels? As the danger heats up around them, the only anchor Molly has is Dare himself. But what she feels for him just might be the most frightening thing of all…

~~

**I requested this title for review from NetGalley**

I love a well done military-esque romance. It just appeals to the little woman inside me who wants to be swept away in big strong arms......or something like that anyway. There's no way to get around the sense of protectiveness and possessiveness that's characteristic of military men, especially in romances, but I think Foster hits another one out of the park by allowing Dare to stay true to his roots while also clearly showing his feelings for Molly.

In addition to the central romance of the story I think Foster also does a good job making sure that readers don't forget the large picture - we don't know how Molly got to Tijuana or what crazy person is after her. Even as a plot point that's removed from the relationship building I never quite forgot that I had to be looking at every new character with a discerning eye. No one could really be trusted because it could be anyone! (I would be 'ooohing' in a scary voice over the blog, but just imagine it for me ok? You'll make me feel better)

And of course no Lori Foster novel would be complete without some really spicy love scenes right? She definitely doesn't disappoint because the physical stuff between Dare and Molly is on point! The bathtub scene? I mean come ON the bathtub scene! Foster never loses the emotion but she builds the tension to it's natural conclusion and it's a lot of fun to get through.

All in all it's a great book and a wonderful beginning to a new series. I can't wait for Trace of Fever!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) When You Dare 2) Trace of Fever (May 2011) 3) Savor the Danger (June 2011)

Megan's Mark by Lora Leigh

Cursed with the extraordinary power to feel other peoples’ emotions, Megan Fields has tucked herself away in a remote corner of New Mexico, working as a small-town sheriff’s deputy. She finds solace in the silence and heat of the desert. But when Breeds begin dying on her watch, Megan realizes that the secrets from her past can’t stay buried forever. Someone is out for blood - her blood.An arrogant Feline Breed, Braden Arness broods with feral intensity. His mission to solve the mysterious murders brings him to Megan, a woman who accosts his senses like no other. Only with him can she let down her guard - and surrender to the insatiable hunger that wracks her body. But as they team up to hunt the elusive killers, Braden and Megan find themselves becoming the prey…

I've already ranted about how annoying it is for authors to continue publishing in a series that started as E-books as if nothing has come before that latest installment - so I won't repeat myself. What I will say is that no matter whether it's print or virtual, Lora Leigh does a damn good job writing paranormal erotica. Not the usual 'shapeshifter' paranormal, this book focuses on characters called Breeds, beings that were designed to be a mixture of animal and human, the perfect soldier. Of course, those kinds of combinations, and the people who are willing to experiment with them, are never very pleasant. After years of incarceration and torture the Breeds are free (mostly) to find their way in the world and the people who will love them.

Just to give people an idea, being Breeds, when men or women meet their mate there is all sorts of hormonal connectivity and lusty-ness that goes on. I know some people hate the idea of that 'destined mate' or the like, but I personally think that Leigh does a wonderful job combining the heat of a hormonally perfect mate and the emotion that's needed to cement a true life bond. If you don't believe me, continue reading on and you'll see instances were one or both parts of the couple try to keep things just physical - it doesn't work out well.

Megan and Braden are unique because as a Lion Breed Braden can feel people's emotions to a certain extent and Megan as someone who is actually empathic can feel them all. So in the midst of all the blood and violence, her skill can be both a help and a hindrance depending on her ability to handle other people's emotions. Still the relationship between the two of them is a scorcher, with plenty of give and take and H.O.T. sex in between. Through in the action and mystery of a dangerous spy and you've got a damn good time!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up. A reread that never gets old, it's an almost new beginning to an already fantastic series.

Series - The chronology of these books is long and confusing and split up between 3 publishers. Check out Leigh's explanation on her website, here.

Street Game by Christine Feehan

For Mack McKinley and his team of GhostWalker killing machines, urban warfare is an art. But despite a hard-won knowledge of the San Francisco streets, Mack knows from experience that too many things can still go wrong. Danger was just another part of the game—and now he’s come face-to-face with a woman who can play just as tough.

She’s Jaimie, a woman with a sapphire stare so potent it can destroy a man. Years ago she and Mack had a history—volatile, erotic, and electric. Then she vanished. Now she’s walked back into Mack’s life, as a spy with more secrets than are good for her. Against all odds, she’s hooking up with Mack one more time to take on an enemy that could destroy them both, or bring them back together in one hot, no-holds-barred adrenaline rush.

Sorry this post took me a bit - life got just slightly hectic and I didn't get a chance to write it up before now. Street Game is Feehan's latest addition to her GhostWalker series, books filled with military men whose psychic abilities were revved up in one scientists quest for the perfect soldier. I think one of the things I like best about the series is that while she started with one set of enhanced soldiers she gradually introducing all of these other teams, each with their own personalities and quirks. It allows the series to evolve naturally and the reader never feels like Feehan pulled some character out of left field to write a book about because her publishing company told her to crank out another one. And while this book focuses on the romance between Mack and Jaimie, the other members of the team, men and women who have known each other since childhood, are really intriguing characters on their own and do a lot to tell the story. What makes this book stand out in particular is that because Mack and Jaimie have known each other so long there's this intriguing 'we were together, I cared about you, why did you leave' element to their interactions and that, combined with the action of him being a member of an acting counter-terrorist unit, make this book a great thrill ride.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up. Just as good as any action movie, Feehan knocks another one out of the park.

Series - 1) Shadow Game 1) Mind Game 3) Night Game 4) Conspiracy Game 5) Deadly Game 6) Predatory Game 7) Murder Game 8) Street Game

Heat Seeker by Lora Leigh

John Vincent has always led a life of danger, and now he has every reason to want to remain as dead as the obituary in the Australian papers had proclaimed him to be. He’d left nothing behind in the life he had once led—except for one woman, and one night of unforgettable passion. Now, both will return to haunt him…

Bailey Serborne is still tormented by a past she can’t change and a man she hasn’t been able to forget. A man who was supposed to dead.. But now, a stroke of fate has revealed that sometimes, a woman is given a second chance to heal her heart—and exact the sweetest revenge

I really like Lora Leigh, she probably rights the best erotic suspense novels, and this particular story was good - but it was not her best. It might be that I'm kind of done with the whole back from the dead thing. But, I try to say that, yet I like the other ones and they had similar plot lines, because this whole particular series is made up of an Elite Ops team that is run by 'dead' men. I did think the characters were interesting though, with John pretending to be this international negotiator of all things deadly and Bailey leaving behind her life as a CIA agent to put the worst of the worst behind bars. Almost sounds like a movie trailer, doesn't it?

All the really seems to matter in the end is that this probably won't be one of those books I reread a million times. The sex was hot and the violence even hotter (and the twist at the end wasn't too damn bad either)- it just wasn't my favorite of hers. But she has so many that I don't think it makes too much of a difference to the still very high quality that the rest of her books continue to maintain.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up. While not the best, it was still fun and definitely worth it to round out the series.

Series - 1) Wild Card 2) Night Hawk 3) Maverick 4) Heat Seeker