Wicked Burn - Beth Kery

343 pages
Rating: 3/5

He wanted all of her
Vic Savian knows what he wants when he sees it. And what he wants is his sexy neighbor, Niall Chandler. When he finds her in the hallway of their building being harassed by an aggressive suitor, Vic steps in - and finds himself greatly rewarded
And did she ever let him have it...

Sleeping with her gorgeous neighbor - when she didn't even know his last name - is the craziest thing Niall's ever done. Now, she can't seem to get enough of Vic - or the uninhibited passion he stirs in her. Suddenly, with his help, she's experiencing sensual pleasures she's never known before. But when Niall's past comes back to haunt her, will she and Vic let themselves venture beyond the bedroom and explore the possibility of the love that is in their hearts?

I have mixed feeling about this one. I think that's because i liked the heroine Niall but the hero was complete jackass material.

Vic Savian, is a playwright, who is best described as self involved. He had a bad relationship before, so he has a thing about staying away from beautiful women - which obviously didn't work, or this novel would be 2 pages long. He lusts after Niall, but the sex is crude, at best and the conversation mostly non-existent unless it was dirty talk.
He can see she's got demons and even sees sees her having nightmares, but gentleman that he is, steers clear of that part and is only interested in the sex.

Niall, is a character that i thought was pretty well written. She's suffered a lot with the horrific death of her son, a institutionalised husband, parents who blame her for not caring for said husband, and most others judging her for how things turned out. She finds Vic sexy (never heard of anyone finding a overlapping tooth sexy. I didn't even know that was possible. It being sexy i mean, not the overlapping part. But hey, whatever makes you happy, right?) She apparently likes the crude rough sex (it really wasn't nice) and sees in Vic someone she can share her life with.

Then things go downhill when Niall's mother spills out things Niall has not explained to Vic yet. Niall goes into relationship guilt hibernation mode, Vic gets into drama queen mode and gets more self involved. Later, Niall is ready to get back to him and goes into 'let me explain things while i stay at your ranch' mode. but he's not ready to listen to explanations and wants nothing from her.
Aah wait. He changed his mind. We're now in 'boinking but no explanations' mode. (Note to self: Stop using the word mode)

Playwright Neanderthal Extraordinaire has a sudden turn around when Niall finally grows some balls and walks out on him, and suddenly his brain cells are buzzing and analysing everything that's been happening since they met, and now he wants to talk. Sheesh.

The ending was quite good actually. Almost 'get the tissues out' good. I don't know how anyone would want to be with this man, but she obviously loved him. The only reason this gets a 3/5 is the plot, because of Niall's back-story and how Kery has depicted what she's gone and goes through. I'll admit the negative tone of the review is because i just don't like Vic and this book isn't as bad as I'm making it sound. The plot is really good actually. Its worth a read just for that.

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Dangerous Games (Tempting SEALs, #2) - Lora Leigh

344 pages

Rating: 3/5

It's not whether you win or lose.

Navy SEAL Clint "Iceman" McIntyre didn't earn his nickname by being a coward. Or a quitter. Having crushed an infamous drug cartel in Colombia, Clint was nothing short of an American hero. Now he's home, on a much-needed leave, but instead of some R&R, he finds himself neck-deep in trouble with his best friend's little sister, Morganna Chavez, the only woman who has the power to bring him to his knees. . .

It's how you play...

Morganna has been secretly working with the DEA to uncover a thriving date-rape drug, which leads her to a shadowy faction that is more deadly than anything her team has ever encountered. Now it's up to Clint to keep this beautiful, determined agent out of harm's way, even while the passion between them threatens to consume them. Soon Clint's greatest mission will be not just keeping Morganna safe, but getting her into his arms and never letting go.

I started off completely hating this book and even put it down twice, but in the end it wasn't so bad. You get most of the story from the book blurb.

Clint didn't redeem himself until the end, and he was more jerk than Alpha male.

I don't get people who pine after someone for ages, and open themselves up to hurt like the heroine Morganna did, but it seemed to work in this one. I skipped a lot of the sex-scenes as i usually do with Lora Leigh's book. ick.
But what i liked is that these 2 characters understood and got each other. They didn't always acknowledge it or act on it (specially Clint) but they knew each other well - which you don't see explained in a lot of books. Am i still making sense?

There was also bit of a story, which usually isn't the case in Lora Leigh's books. That's the only reason it has 3 stars. The previous book was Reno's choice which, if i remember correctly had a sweeter story (Yes? No?) I may read the next one, if only to find out what happens with the drug cartel.

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