Synopsis
Most people wouldn’t think of a bad Santa case as the perfect Christmas gift. Then again, Molly Malone, office manager at Hunt Investigations, isn’t most people, and she could really use a distraction from the fantasies she’s been having since spending the night with her very secret crush, Lucas Knight. Nothing happened, not that Lucas knows that—but Molly just wants to enjoy being a little naughty for once . . .
Whiskey and pain meds for almost-healed bullet wounds don’t mix. Lucas needs to remember that next time he’s shot on the job, which may be sooner rather than later if Molly’s brother, Joe, finds out about them. Lucas can’t believe he’s drawing a blank on his (supposedly) passionate tryst with Molly, who’s the hottest, smartest, strongest woman he’s ever known. Strong enough to kick his butt if she discovers he’s been assigned to babysit her on her first case. And hot enough to melt his cold heart this Christmas.
It took Lucas Knight longer than it should have to realize he had a woman in his bed, but to be fair, he had a bitch of a hangover. Even worse than that, last night was a blur, prompting him to take quick stock. One, there was a bundle of sweet, soft curves against him. Two, his head was currently threatening to secede from the United States Of Lucas. And three, his side hurt like … well, like he’d been shot.
It’d been two weeks since he’d gotten caught in some crossfire on the job and he hadn’t yet been cleared for more than light duty – something he’d obviously managed to ignore last night given that he was palming a nice, warm, feminine ass.
Think, man.
Straining his brain, he remembered taking a pain med before going to O’Riley’s Pub to meet up with some friends. A client had been there, someone he’d recently helped save from a multi-million dollar corporate espionage. The guy had ordered shots to toast to Lucas and … shit. Knowing better than to mix pain meds and alcohol, he’d hesitated, but everyone had been waiting on him, glasses hoisted in the air. Thinking just one shot couldn’t hurt anything, he’d knocked back the drink.
Clearly, he’d been wrong and it’d been enough to mess him up big time, something he hadn’t been in years, not since his brother Josh had been killed. Shoving that away for another time – or never -- Lucas cracked open one eye, but when his retina was stabbed by a streak of sunlight glaring in through the window, he immediately slammed it shut it again. Taking a deep breath, he told himself to suck it up and opened both eyes this time, learning two additional facts.
He was naked and completely uncovered.
And the woman snugged up at his side was rolled up in his comforter like a burrito.
What. The. Hell.
Purchase here:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2OEgags
IndieBound: https://bit.ly/2NVDppc
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2NCSGs5
Books-A-Million: https://bit.ly/2NothpS
iBooks: https://apple.co/2G3I0zj
GooglePlay: https://tinyurl.com/y94r2c6f
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website, www.jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.
Connect with Jill
Website: http://jillshalvis.com/
Facebook: @JillShalvis
Twitter: @JillShalvis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillshalvis/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jillshalvis/
Tumblr: http://jillshalvis.tumblr.com/
GIVEAWAY
*(US residents only)
*(US residents only)
Hot Winter Nights by Jill ShalvisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Title: Hot Winter Nights
Series: Heartbreaker Bay #6
Author: Jill Shalvis
Release date: September 25, 2018
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 4 stars
Returning to the Heartbreaker Bay series is like catching up with old familiar friends, and once again they did not disappoint. This was such a fun and entertaining comfort read! Jill Shalvis always delivers the laughs and sexy romance that makes my heart go pitter patter. Hot Winter Nights was no exception. From page one, I had a huge smile on my face as I slipped effortlessly into the story starring this lovable, tight-knit group of friends.
Molly and Lucas work together at Hunt Investigations, a security company that can take on some pretty dangerous cases. Molly is the office manager who keeps everyone organized, sitting on the sidelines while her brother and the rest of the guys work in the field. She hasn't been content in the office for some time, but no one is willing to put her safety at risk as a security specialist. She's hungry to prove herself capable, but her pleas to take on a case repeatedly get shut down and ignored. It doesn't help that her brother Joe still can't let go of his guilt and overprotectiveness towards her. If you read his story, About That Kiss, you're familiar with the painful events in the siblings' pasts. What they survived made them both stronger and closer as a result, but they still had wounds that hadn't completely healed.
Molly lived through a traumatic experience as a teen that left her with physical and emotional scars. She doesn't let it control her life though, she works hard to keep her body as strong as possible, and chooses to focus on her strengths rather than her weaknesses. For the most part. She has her insecurities just like any woman does. And when you have people look at you with pity or revulsion, you tend to close in on yourself and lock your vulnerabilities away. She's every bit the tough, intelligent, unflappable woman that throws sass back just as hard as she receives it. Then there's that other side of her that she doesn't allow anyone to see. It's where she hides her own regret over ancient history, and the hurt over the pain it still causes.
Lucas has been fighting a secret attraction for his partner Joe's sister for some time. Pursuing that attraction was WAY out of the realm of possibility for more than one reason. Mixing business and pleasure, Joe's almost certain disapproval, and his own relationship hangups was enough to kill temptation stone dead. Then he wakes up with Molly next to him in bed with no memory of the night before. Cue the panic. Can I just say that I wanted to give her the highest of fives for messing with his head over it? With her pride smarting over his reaction to their "one night stand" she of course decides she must at least get some laughs out of the whole thing. It was so funny to see him so uncomfortable and out of sorts over his supposed loss of self-restraint.
An opportunity comes up for Molly to prove her case solving abilities, and she grabs it with both hands. Lucas reluctantly partners with her after being given orders to keep an eye on her. Everyone knows she'll investigate whether she has approval or not, so he becomes her designated back up. One thing I loved was that he had faith in her pretty much from the beginning. He saw how much it meant to her, and never fails to stand up for her and be her champion at work.
He knew people sometimes saw Molly as a fragile little flower, but in his mind she wasn’t fragile like a flower at all. Not even close. She was fragile like . . . a bomb.
When they're almost caught outside the office, and he pushes her up on a railing to kiss her and create a reason for being there:
Lucas turned back to Molly, who was still balanced on the railing, dazed. “Did you just . . . put the elf on the shelf?” she asked. He gave a disbelieving head shake.
In that moment, Lucas knew he’d do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, wherever she wanted. Because in spite of his determination to hold back from the smartest, most resilient, most resourceful, most incredible woman he’d ever been with, he was in. All in.
Her trust issue was a fifteen-foot-thick brick wall around her heart, and not much penetrated.
FOLLOW SMOKIN HOT BOOK BLOG ON:
0 komentarze:
Post a Comment