Tina | Saucy Southern Readers

Rules of Protection

Tangled In Texas Series- Book 1

By Alison Bliss

Synopsis

It’s rule breaker Emily Foster’s birthday, and like everyone at The Jungle Room, she just wants to get some action. Unfortunately, she stumbles on the wrong kind, witnessing a mob hit. To protect her, she’s entered into the Witness Protection Program with by-the-book Special Agent Jake Ward as her chaperone.

When the location of their safe house is compromised, Jake stashes Emily deep in the Texas backwoods. The city-girl might be safe from the Mafia, but she has to contend with a psychotic rooster, a narcoleptic dog, crazy cowboys, and the danger of losing her heart to the one man she can’t have.

Jake’s as hot as he is infuriating, and she can’t help but push all his buttons to loosen him up. Their mutual, sizzling sexual attraction poses a dilemma: Jake’s determined to keep her safe and out of the wrong hands; she’s determined to get into the right ones—his.

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Tina’s Review

It’s her 28th birthday and she spends it at The Jungle Room in Chicago with her two best friends. After meeting an insanely hot guy and seeing him duck into the back area, she can’t help but follow. Instead of finding Mr. Hottie, she witnesses the murder of Sergio, one of Mr. Felts’s employees, in one of the back rooms of the club.

Special Agent Jacob Ward, FBI, has been working with US Marshals to build a case against Frankie Felts for money laundering and drug trafficking. Every time they get close to a bust, their witness turns up dead. When the safe house is compromised, he sure there’s a leak in the department. Determined not to let this sarcastic, stubborn and feisty woman suffer the same fate, he will do whatever it takes to keep her alive.

Not halfway through the first chapter, I’d already figured that I’d like the book based on the wry humor, but as it progressed I wished that Jake would ease up on being a man-handling Neanderthal and wondered why she accepted it without slapping the ever-loving crap outta him for it. I wanted Emily to grow up and mature a little; she seemed to completely disregard the severity of her/their situation. There were plenty of witty narratives and dialogue comments to make you laugh but at times it was too much; there’s a time and place for the snark and this book was almost too-heavily loaded. The secondary characters were very well written and several are extremely enjoyable. Despite the first person POV, the story had good fluidity. The plot had many elements: fun and sass as well as action and intrigue. I enjoyed the numerous second chance scenario presented to several of the characters, it added more depth to the already multifaceted individuals. There was plenty of dimension in the plot, the climax was exciting and the resolve was well done. I can’t say that it was predictable, so I am pleased. We never did learn Emily’s real name, which is a bit strange in a way, but I guess in the long, unnecessary. Overall, a decent read that I’d probably recommend to others.

Author Bio:

As the youngest of five girls, Alison Bliss has never turned down a challenge…or been called by the right name. Her writing career may have started out as a dare by one of her sisters, but Alison hasn’t put her pen down since.

She grew up on a small island off the Texas Gulf Coast, where most of her childhood vacations consisted of camping or hunting trips to the deer lease. Although she’ll always be a Texan at heart, Alison currently resides in the Midwest with her Iowa farm-boy husband and their two sons. With so much testosterone in her home, it’s no wonder she writes “girl books.”

She’s an animal lover, a closet video game enthusiast, and believes the best way to know if someone is your soul mate is by canoeing with them because if you both make it back alive, it’s obviously meant to be. Alison’s an avid romance reader who enjoys penning the type of books she loves to read most: fun, steamy love stories with heart, heat, laughter, and usually a cowboy or two. As she calls it, “Romance…with a sense of humor.”

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Once Perfect

A Shattered Past Novel

By Cecy Robson

Synopsis

His life was never easy. Hers wasn’t supposed to be this hard. They come from different worlds, but fate lures them together in a way neither expected in Cecy Robson’s raw, steamy series debut—perfect for fans of Monica Murphy and J. Lynn.

Evelyn Preston’s future once looked perfect—until her wealthy father was caught in an embezzlement scandal and took his own life. Alone and struggling to pay her college tuition and bills, Evelyn finds a job as a waitress at the ultra-hip nightclub Excess, where she used to have more in common with the privileged private-school clientele than her fellow staff members. But something attracts her to the sexy six-foot-four bouncer and underground MMA fighter Mateo Tres Santos. Although they’ve led different lives, their troubled pasts bonds them in both survival and love.

Mateo is ex-army who wound up in prison for assaulting the man who harmed his sister. Now he’s feeling the same protective impulse for this petite blond waitress. When Evelyn experiences a panic attack at the club, Mateo comes to her rescue. And when Mateo is wounded shielding her from a brawl, Evelyn returns the favor and comes to his aid.

As their attraction intensifies, Mateo is determined to find out what nightmares are lurking in Evelyn’s past—even if that means tackling his own to save her.

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Tina’s Review

Evelyn: the Riches-to-Rags cocktail waitress. She was once one of the social and financial elite then became a pauper when her father’s embezzlement scandal surfaced, the IRS confiscated everything, he committed suicide, any remaining family disowned her & her so-called friends dumped her. Now she’s struggling through school loans, trying to get a degree and pay the bills by waitressing in one of the most elite nightclubs in Philly – Excess.

Mateo: the head bouncer at Excess. Mateo was a stellar soldier in the Army until, while on leave, he nearly beat a man to death in the heat of passion. Dishonorably discharged and sentenced to prison, Mateo did his time. Now, he participates in the underground fighting circuit and is the lead bouncer at Excess.

Once Perfect is written in a first-person (Evelyn’s) POV style.

Mateo and Evelyn had both had a less-than-ideal upbringing for different reasons & their family issues play a huge role in the development of the story. Learning to accept and understand one another’s differences is the biggest challenge.

The characters are multifaceted. The plot flows smoothly. I was a little disappointment with the lack of dimension & wished for a little more conflict or plot diversity. I really enjoyed the secondary characters & find myself wondering what will become of several of them, BUT I did not care for the continuous racial jabs between friends.

Michel’s Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this new adult romance by Cecy Robson. I liked the originality of the characters backgrounds and family. Both of the characters had less than stellar family lives and upbringings. Although their experiences are on opposite sides of the spectrum. But opposites attract , Mateo and Evelyn prove this in sexy romance.

The chemistry between Mateo and Evelyn is sizzling. Their passion is contagious.

I thoroughly enjoyed Once Perfect and would recommend it to other readers. I am looking for some of the secondary characters to have their own book.

Go read Once Perfect by Cecy Robson

Author Bio:

Cecy (pronounced SESSY) Robson is the Penguin Random House New Adult author of Once Perfect, Once Loved, and Once Pure and the award-winning author of the Weird Girls Urban Fantasy Romance series. A self-proclaimed professional napper, Cecy counts among her talents a jaw-dropping knowledge of useless trivia, the ability to make her hair big, and a knack for breaking into song despite her family’s vehement protests. A writer, registered nurse, and mother living in the South, Cecy enjoys spending time with her family and silencing the yappy characters in her head by telling their stories.