“Let me make sure I have this right. You’re banging the prosecutor on your case?” 

I swallow a mouthful of turkey club. “Yep. Well, sometimes we bang — sometimes we just hang out… Sometimes we talk… And sometimes we make sweet, sweet love.”

Stanton clarified. “And it doesn’t affect how you’re trying the case?”

“Nope. We go at each other hard all day in court, then we go at it harder all night in bed. And nothing about it isn’t awesome.”

“And the prosecutor is your childhood friend, who you pretty much fell in love with when you were seventeen but didn’t see again for fourteen years?” …

“That’s right.”

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WOW!!! This book was fantastic!!! Emma Chase is one of the leading authors in contemporary romance and she consistently delivers a delightful balance of hilarious laugh-out-loud comedy mixed with hot, sexy, heart-warming romance that’s guaranteed to make you swoon! I read this book in one sitting and loved everything about it!! A new top favorite recommendation!!

The story starts off with a hilarious bang — pun intended — and seriously, the first chapter alone sells the book better than anything I can ever tell you. If you love the first chapter, you’ll love the whole book. In true Emma Chase form, this book is told entirely from the male POV and let me tell you: IT. IS. PURE. GOLD!!!!! Ohhh, the win!! It’s funny, witty, sarcastic, adorable, sexy, everything you could possibly want! This author’s comedic timing is absolutely flawless, and her ability to bring emotional depth to light-hearted romance is exactly what makes so many readers fall in love with her books.

Insults are our flirting. Arguing is our foreplay.
One time, she was so worked up she hauled off and took a swing at me — and my reaction was a boner that couldn’t be denied. It’s not as twisted as it sounds.
It works for us.

This is actually a second chance romance. Over a decade ago, Brent and Kennedy were best friends. Then one amazing night brought them together… and then she was gone. Both of them nursing broken hearts. He never knew what happened to the girl he’d fallen for, and she spend years toughening her heart — knowing that she’d never let anyone trample over it again.

Once upon a time she was my best friend. For a hot minute, she was more. After that, she hated me. And then she was just… gone.

I haven’t seen her for fourteen years, and the last time I did, she sure as shit didn’t look like this.

“Kennedy…” I whisper, still not entirely convinced it’s her.

She regards me with a tilted her, a cocked hip, and a disdainful smile.

“Hello, Dickhead.”

Okay. Now I’m convinced.

When they finally meet again, it’s on opposite ends of the courtroom — as opposing lawyers on the same case. She’s harboring years of anger towards him, and he doesn’t haven’t have the slightest clue why. But one thing he knows is that he’s going to get to the bottom of it and win back the only girl he ever fell for.

I look into the gorgeous eyes of the girl I’ve known my whole life, and my only thought is, what the hell took me so long to do this?

I know that some people might consider Kennedy a little bit prickly but I actually adored her. Seriously. This girl had so much sass and fire. She was awesome! Even though she did sometimes take it a little far — I still loved how feisty she was. To be honest, given what she thought happened so many years ago, I could really see where she was coming from. That level of hurt is bound to make a person a little cold and distant. But it was so clear to me that what she had was hurt, and nothing more. And who she really was underneath it was was genuinely wonderful and I loved her character. Luckily, so did Brent….

“What are you doing?”

She turns sharply, like she wasn’t expecting me to wake up. “I have to get home. I have to shower and get ready for court.”

With a yawn, I say, “Okay, I’ll drive you.”

“Don’t bother. A cab will be faster.”

Ahhhhh. Sweet, cuddly, open Kennedy has left the building.

Defensive, jumpy, prickly-like-a-cactus Kennedy is in the house.

Now Brent was an awesome hero. He was wealthy, but uninterested in living the pompus lifestyle his family indulged in. Rather, he worked hard every day and loved every minute. Incidentally, I know many of you like to read about wounded heroes — and he only has one leg (childhood accident), but that’s more of a side note, not really relevant to his personality. This guy had spend over a decade moving from one meaningless fling to another never understanding the real reason why he never wanted to give his heart away — until Kennedy came back into his life and he realized that she still had it. She always had had it.

“All these years, she’s never let anyone else in. She’s had her reasons, but the bottom line is, there hasn’t been any guy who’s gotten past her fire-breathing dragon. And what if… what if the reason I’ve never let myself fall in love with anyone is because I didn’t have anything to give? Because I’d already given my heart to her when we were seventeen years old? And all these years… I’ve just been waiting for her to come back to me with it.”

This was such a fun, thrilling, sexy story as fifteen years of broken hearts, resentment, unresolved feelings, unrequited love, and sizzling chemistry came flooding back into their lives. Seriously, this is one of the few stories that actually managed to twang my heart strings and make me almost tear up in the same paragraph that just made me literally laugh out loud. Brilliant writing!

“I don’t know why I’m here.” And she sounds genuinely bewildered — even a little panicked.

“Obviously because I’m irresistible.” The wind blows, spraying ice cold drops across my bare skin where my shirt hangs open. “You’re shivering, honey, come inside.”

She stares at me, so many emotions swirling in her expression. She’s like a skittish kitten who can’t decide if she should let the stranger pat her head or haul ass up the nearest tree.

And it breaks my heart.

Another thing I loved was that the sex and heat in this book was very well ‘built up to’ rather than just throwing it right in. It was sexy and intense because the story first developed their characters and relationship to a point where, once it was time for them to get together, it just felt right.

When her eyes dip, I lift her chin. “If I could go back and change all of that, I would. But this is where we are now. We have to move forward. I’m in love with you. And if it takes a while for you to wrap your head around that — to wrap your heart around it — then I’ll wait. Because you’re worth waiting for. You always were.”

Not to mention that all the romance is heavily laced with hilarious moments…

“What’s your nickname”?”

“BC.”

She frowns, trying to figure it out. “Because your middle name is Charles?”

I shake my head and tell her with the straightest face, “Big Cock.”

The awesome thing about it is that it can easily be read as a standalone. It honestly doesn’t matter whether or not you’ve read any other standalones in this series (Overruled – which I haven’t read, or Sustained – which I have reviewed), you can just jump right into this one and be fine! Ohhh, there’s this double epilogue at the end and the very last page seriously made me shed a happy tear — just gorgeous!!!

I LOVED THIS BOOK and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a light-hearted feel-good romance that’ll just make you genuinely HAPPY!! This is definitely going to be a Top Favorite of 2016!!

Rating: 4.5 — 5 stars! Contemporary romantic comedy.

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 My life is a secret. 
His life is dangerous. 
We’re both stubborn, calculating, and controlling. 

Mark Dixon doesn’t know what he’s getting into. He doesn’t know his games could cost us our lives. I have to do what is necessary to keep us alive, and that means guarding my heart. But I know I’m defenseless against him, and in the end, he’ll force me to surrender.

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If you’re a fan of romantic suspense, Defenseless is definitely a book you should be checking out this year! After reading Consolation & Conviction last year, I fell in love with Corinne Michael’s writing — her stories are addictive, fast-paced, and absorbing — so naturally, I just had to read this as well!

Defenseless is a sexy contemporary romance about an undercover spy heroine and a Navy SEAL hero teaming up to work a mission together to take down a big bad guy who has caused a lot of pain to people they love… and all the while, they slowly fall in love. The fun thing about their dynamic was that they were BOTH strong, stubborn, badass, dominant, and highly trained in their respective fields. These two operatives went toe-to-toe on everything and more-often-than-not ended up butting heads along the way resulting in some pretty fun and hilarious banter heavily laced with the sexual tension and sizzling chemistry that anyone could see they shared. While she desperately tried to not get involved with him, he was equally relentless in his efforts to convince her to give them a shot. Needless to say, the combination of these two together was… explosive! It was Alpha guy meets Alpha girl. No surrender.

“Sounds like we’re going on a mission.”
“The only mission is us.”
“And what are the risks?”
“That you’ll fall in love with me.”
“Is that so?”
I laugh as his arms tighten. “Yeah, I’d say the chances are high.”
I peer at him from the side. “I’m not so sure.”
“I never fail.”

Admittedly though, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with the romantic suspense genre in novels. For some reason, I sometimes find the mystery side of things harder to follow in books (which is weird considering that all my most favorite shows are the ultra-tactical badass action ones like Strike Back and 24). So it always takes me just a little longer than usually to get ‘into’ these types of books. So, I did find the beginning a little slower, but once I really got into the swing of things, I was IN. Fully invested.

This story is told in alternating first-person POVs between Charlie and Mark. It swaps back and forth every chapter and I found the transitions smooth. It’s also pretty evenly balanced between the romance and suspense sides of the story. There’s a strong romance storyline (full details, no fade-to-black, lot of steam, swoon, and all-out sexiness) at the heart of the story, but there’s also an intricate and suspenseful mystery going on as they try to figure out who these bad guys are and how to track them down.

“Sometimes the lie is safer than the truth.”
“I’ll protect you. Do you believe that?”
“Mark.” I can barely speak. I know he wants to think he can, but there are some things even he can’t stop. Instead of letting me finish, he takes me into his arms.
“I can live with your lies. As long as you don’t lie to me.”

And intersperced throughout this all is that awesome banter I was talking about earlier!

“You know you can’t resist me.”
“Is that so?”
“I rev your engine, baby. I speak your language. I’m your weapon of choice.”
“Oh, Jesus. You need a shrink.”

Teehee!!

After the 75% (ish) mark, things definitely picked up speed in a major way and I’m pretty sure I read the whole rest of the book after that point without putting it down even for a minute. No blinking!

I’m thrown to the ground and Mark rushes to cover me.
Always protecting me, giving me his body as a shield.
This is love. He’s the guy who will take the bullet. The guy I’ve dreamt of being with.

Luckily, this book has a fully resolved ending! Unlike her previous books, this is a standalone so you do get a complete story within this one book. It’s fun, sexy, suspenseful, and romantic! A really great read!

“I’m not a man who easily throws things away. Even when this house is falling apart, I’ll find a way to fix her.”
“Her?”
The intensity in his eyes softens, “I’ve learned women are usually the ones that give me the most headaches. This house definitely fits the bill. So, she’s a chick. A giant pain in the ass woman who drives me bat shit crazy, yet makes me need her at the same time. Sound familiar?”
I burst out laughing. “I don’t know what the hell I see in you.”
“Humor, good looks, sex appeal, the fact that I have a big dick probably helps. I mean, really, the choices are endless.”
My eyes widen as I listen to his self-proclaimed attributes. “Perhaps the big dick helps.”
“Yeah.” He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me flush against him. “Feel free to tell me how much you love my ginormous dick anytime…”

*snort* LOL!

While this can easily be read as a standalone, it’s also interconnected with this author’s previous books. The author has structured it well so that if you read this separately, you won’t be lost. The deal is that all the heroes work together… so their characters do cross over at times along with interconnecting elements. However, if you haven’t read any of the other books, you’ll get things filled in. So it’s totally up to you how you want to read them. Personally, I’ve read Consolation/Conviction, but not Beloved/Beholden.

Bottom line is that this was a sexy and suspenseful romance that was equally hot and intense, with a strong, stubborn, badass couple falling in love in the midst of chaos!

“Shhh,” he murmurs. His lips press against mine. “You can keep fighting as much as you want, but so will I. And I fight to the end.”
“Why me?” I ask…
“Because no one else sees through your lies. No one has ever tried. You’re worth everything hiding behind those blue eyes.”

Rating: 4+ stars!! Contemporary romantic suspense standalone.

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