Reviewed by Divine Zape for Readers' Favorite

Finding Lyla by Cate Beauman is a riveting story with a great setting and an engaging plot. Dancer Lyla Markovik-Avery, the daughter of a former dancer, becomes a serious and committed dancer too. She visits her beloved Russia, traveling with Collin Michaels who is assigned by her somewhat overprotective father as a guard. The chemistry between the two comes off easily and readers will love to see them grow to love each other. But Russia has more surprises for them than they could ever have imagined. Someone wants Lyla dead and getting out of Russia could be the only way to keep her alive. But how can she get out of Russia when anyone she crosses could be a spy following her? Readers will be pulled in as they watch the pair take the path less traveled. Question is: Can they make it out alive?

This is a gripping story that is character-driven and, although there are no great twists in the plot, the author has crafted characters that will keep readers focused and engaged. I wasn’t surprised that Michaels and Lyla could get to like each other. I enjoyed the fact that the relationship between the two isn’t rushed and it comes across just naturally. The action is intense and the writing has a tantalizing feel to it that will have readers gripped by the story. Finding Lyla is the tenth book in The Bodyguards of L.A. County Series and even if I never read the other books in this series, this one read well as a standalone novel, thanks to Cate Beauman’s gift for plot and narrative. I found this book to be well-paced and utterly engaging.

Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

His Desire: HIS Series, Book 1 by Sheila Kell is the story of passion and finding that sweet relief when you can fall in love once more, especially when you have sworn you will not love again. The story follows FBI Special Agent Kate Ross; she is independent, aggressively competent, and ready to take on her job with a single minded approach to justice. However, there is one man that has the power to bring her to her knees and she will never accept that.

Jesse Hamilton, the leader of Hamilton Investigation & Security (HIS), had sworn off love when his one mistake cost him the life of his wife. Now he is raising his daughter alone and all he wants to do is be a good father and stay far, far away from Kate. But this independent woman has made her way under his skin and there is no getting out now. However, things are becoming worse; someone is targeting Kate because of him and that stubborn woman will not listen to him. Is he destined to lose the ones he loves? Even the ones he refuses to lose? Is his hell ever ending, or is this his punishment for that one mistake?

This is a hot, powerful, and simply scintillating story. Both Kate and Jesse were equally dominating and tenacious and that somehow made them the perfect couple. No one was the little woman in the relationship and, even though sometimes Jesse had the upper hand, Kate never let the reader down by being complacent. She was in charge and her presence could not be ignored, ever. Sheila Kell did an amazing job at creating these two very powerful characters that demand your attention on every page. His Desire is definitely one of my favorite novels so far this year! Superb and such fun!

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Discover Love: Saints Protection & Investigations is a romantic novel of suspense written by Maryann Jordan. Luke Costas loved being part of Jack Bryant's Saints Protection & Investigations Team. Working for the CIA had been a disappointing and stifling experience. His MIT background in Computer Engineering made him the perfect tech specialist for Jack’s private security team. The Saints worked and partied together; they were a family as well as a professional team. As he watched the rest of the Saints and their wives and girlfriends having fun at Chuck's Bar & Grill, he wondered when or if he would ever find someone special. The only other single guy on the team was Marc, who could pick and choose his dates. Luke was a nerd, always had been, and while his neighbor, as he was growing up, had taught him martial arts, and he did some running in college, Luke was more comfortable with his computer than with people. He did have one computer friend, someone he had gotten to know online and who had actually helped the Saints with some of their cases, but Luke had no idea who they were. Luke's responsibilities on the team were abruptly changed after they were approached by the FBI for their assistance in investigating the death of an informant, Eli Frederick. Frederick’s body was found in the Potomac River, months after he was supposed to meet with them. Frederick was a programmer genius who, like Luke, had also gone to MIT.

Maryann Jordan’s romantic novel of suspense, Discover Love: Saints Protection & Investigations, focuses on Luke, one of the newer members of Jack Bryant’s Saints Protection & Investigations Team. While it’s not the first book in the series, Jordan gives enough background information to allow this book to be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel. She does a superb job of making each of the Saints and their significant others distinct and memorable without overwhelming readers who are new to the series. I especially liked the character of Charlie, who is an intriguing combination of streetwise and bookish nerd. Discover Love is an action-packed military thriller that shows the Saints operating as a team against a particularly heinous crime scheme, and the story works quite well. Discover Love: Saints Protection & Investigations is most highly recommended.

Reviewed by Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite

Sheila Kell’s His Choice is the second entry in the HIS Series, an engaging blend of sizzling romance with suspense, one of those stories that delight fans who love romance with powerful plots and intense action. AJ Hamilton is a killer. A merciless one. This time, his orders are very simple. Warn the woman, threaten her, make her scared enough to stop.

Megan Rogers is a reporter, and she seeks justice for her brother, knowing the dangers in the way. She is stubborn and determined, the very traits that got her brother into trouble. “He’d never have given up and neither would she,” but when a man who has been sent to threaten her deliberately kisses her, and later saves her from certain death, things change irrevocably for both of them. As their romance intensifies, the threat to both their lives becomes more powerful and they must fight to keep ahead of the man known as the Magician, while figuring the best way to expose him. AJ is thrust into a dilemma where making a choice would cause huge danger to the life of the woman he has come to love passionately.

Sheila Kell is a mistress of the genre and she has a gift for crafting well-rounded, rock-solid characters and scenes that are emotionally charged and interesting. Readers will love the mix of romance and action as they follow the heroes of this tale. I enjoyed the idea of a killer falling in love with a reporter. The twists in the story are many and they are designed to give readers sudden jolts and surprises. His Choice is intelligently plotted, masterfully written, and well-balanced. You’ll finish reading and find yourself thinking about the characters.

Reviewed by Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite

Coming Home by Maryann Jordan is a stunning entry in the Baytown Boys series, a perfect book for fans of romance and suspense. Readers are introduced to compelling characters, military men who come home to their roots, to rediscover the tranquility of their seaside town. All they want is to make life better for the most unfortunate of their brothers. Former FBI agent Mitch Evans gets entangled with Tori when one of her guests dies of poisoning. Mitch wants to find out the truth, but things change when he discovers that the poison might have been intended for Tori. Victoria Bradford is back home too, but she has business to do. She thinks running the Sea Glass Inn would be the most peaceful thing, but something more awaits her in her childhood crush. Readers are taken on a fast ride of romance as childhood friends reconnect and passions awaken.

This entry of the Baytown Boys series is beautifully written with prose that is as sensual as it is entertaining. The sex scenes are detailed and somewhat intoxicating, so it would be a fair warning to let readers know that it’s not for the “mild” reader. Maryann Jordan knows how to lead readers into the heart of human emotion. She builds tension in readers by creating suspense with shifts in subplots. Readers long to know what will happen next as they move from scene to scene. The plot is stellar work, fast-paced, and filled with many surprises for readers. This is one of the books I’d recommend for readers who love their romance to be sizzling.

Reviewed by Sefina Hawke for Readers' Favorite

His Chance by Sheila Kell is the fourth book in the HIS romance suspense series. This is a book that would appeal most to a mixed audience of mature young adults and adults who enjoy romances with an element of danger mixed in, and who do not mind explicit language and sexual situations. Rylee Hawkins first meets Devon Hamilton when she wakes up in his room in Vegas after a night of drinking. With little to no memory of meeting him, she flees after knocking him out with lamp. Devon Hamilton works at Hamilton Investigation & Security (HIS) and has not been in the field since his time in the CIA, when Greg Donovan was killed four years ago, yet when a member of HIS mentions that Rylee may be in danger, he finds himself being drawn back into fieldwork.

I liked the fact that I was able to enjoy His Chance by Sheila Kell as a standalone novel without any knowledge of the previous books. I felt like I was missing some character development of the Hamilton siblings, but none of that was vital to understanding or enjoying the book. I was originally worried that the book would lean towards being too graphic, due to the elements of trafficking in the book, but Sheila Kell managed to keep the elements realistic without being horrifying. I enjoyed the character interactions between Rylee and Devon, especially as Rylee’s feelings for Devon began to grow, and she realized how much he truly meant to her. I enjoyed this book so much that I am already planning to read the first three books in the series!

Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

Spotless by Camilla Monk is an awesome love story that will actually make a great rom-com one day. The story follows a woman named Island Chaptal. She is a romance novel enthusiast and a boring IT professional. She may seem like a stiff upper crust woman, but she is a warm blooded woman who is waiting for her Mr. Right ... yet when she actually comes across him, he is not someone she anticipated. He is a gentleman, but he is also after something. He wants the diamond that was her grandmother’s and he also wants her house … clean?

Yup, he is a neat freak and together Island and March will try to trace the diamond, and she has to do all that while they fight off people who are not shy of killing and getting what they want. They don’t care if Island is innocent. She and March are going to different places, and maybe along the way they fall in love? Steam up the room and ignite the fire? Well, maybe. You will have to read it to find out.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for a great romance. This novel is clean (almost, there are some steamy scenes that I won’t trade for nothing), with a hero that is swoonworthy, and a heroine that is a little too straight and falls head over heels in love with this amazing man. The characters were beautifully done, they are fully developed, they make you laugh with them and appreciate their wit and charm. A truly 5 star novel that deserves tons of attention.

Reviewed by Tracy Slowiak for Readers' Favorite

Wow! Just, wow! That’s exactly what I thought when I finished reading Deceiving Bella: Book Eleven in the Bodyguards of L.A. County Series by author Cate Beauman. This book grabbed me from the very start and kept me reading obsessively all the way through to the very end. Follow the story of Isabella “Bella” Colby, a young woman who finally feels as if her life is what she wants it to be: normal. She has good friends, a nice home and a career she can be proud of. She meets her handsome neighbor, Reed McKinley, a retired police officer, just as her long lost father turns up and threatens everything she has worked so hard for. When Reed finds out about Bella’s dangerous past, his developing feelings for her make him prepared to do almost anything to save her. Will he succeed? You’ll need to read this excellent book to find out!

I loved Deceiving Bella. Loved. It. How’s that for a review? Well, it’s absolutely how I felt about this wonderful read by Cate Beauman. The author has done an excellent job in creating characters that her reader will connect with, relate to, and truly come to care about. If that isn’t a hallmark of a great author, I’m not sure what is. The story is exciting and suspenseful, full of romance and just an all-round great read of fiction. I am pleased to be able to highly recommend Deceiving Bella: Book Eleven in the Bodyguards of L.A. County Series and look forward to reading more from the very talented author, Cate Beauman, as soon as I possibly can!

Reviewed by Sefina Hawke for Readers' Favorite

Love Bleeds Blue (Hot Cops. Hot Crime. Hot Romance.) by Emma Calin is the fourth book in the suspenseful romance series Passion Patrol. This is a book that would appeal most to a mixed audience of mature young adults and adults who have enjoyed the Passion Patrol series and who do not mind profanity, mild violence, innuendo, and sexual situations. Sergeant Sophia Castellana rescues boy band star Charles Gonin from what is believed to be an attempted kidnapping. After being rescued by the beautiful Sergeant Sophia Castellana, Charles becomes determined to have her as his bodyguard and hopefully much more. Will Charles get his wish; will Sophia decide Charles is worthy of her heart; will the two survive the events that are unfolding around them?

Love Bleeds Blue by Emma Calin is a well-written steamy romance that could easily be read as a standalone novel. I really liked the fact that I did not miss out on anything by not having read any of the previous books in the series. I quickly found myself liking Sergeant Sophia Castellana as she was a strong female character who did not lose her femininity. I liked the mix of action and adventure elements as these kept the plot unpredictable, which allowed the story to have a real plot line instead of just coming off as another predictable romance novel. Overall, I really enjoyed the novel and I especially liked the way that the author developed Sergeant Sophia Castellana and Charles Gonin as unique individuals brought together by circumstance.

Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite

Always Room for Cupcakes by Bethany Lopez is a humorous tale of how to pick oneself up off the ground and have a good shake up! Lila was married to Eric for 12 years when she found him with his head between the legs of a girl who wasn’t her. With quick thinking, she got her revenge with one photograph. Now divorced, she has taken a job as an Investigative Photographer and spends her days photographing others who are in compromising situations. Suddenly, she finds herself mixed up in something just a little too dangerous for words, but she seems to have a knight in shining armor, as well as group of very good friends, behind her. One thing Lila does know is that, no matter what happens, no matter where the chips fall, there is always room for cupcakes.

If you are offended by strong language and strong sex scenes, do not read Always Room for Cupcakes by Bethany Lopez. If you are not offended, then I strongly urge you to pick up this book. This is a really fun read, a fantastic story with some very strong characters. I laughed so much while reading this I had tears pouring down my face. The story line is sound, there is plenty of action in it – between the sheets and out – and a lot of suspense. It is a unique story line and Bethany has done an amazing job with it. There really are no holds barred but, with the exception of a couple of words that I personally don’t like, it was all done very tastefully. This has everything – action, suspense, murder, romance and sex. Great book, I will definitely be reading more from Bethany Lopez.