mignon mykel { reviews }: review || DEADLY TESTIMONY { blog tour } by Piper J. Drake

Thursday, May 12, 2016

review || DEADLY TESTIMONY { blog tour } by Piper J. Drake

Carina Press | May 9, 2016 | Romantic Suspense
Safeguard, book 2
★★★★

SOURCE: BARCLAY PUBLICITY

The stakes have never been higher as an elite team member must outwit a dangerous killer and save the man she's sworn to protect. The second installment of the exhilarating Safeguard series from Piper J. Drake.

Kyle Yeun didn't start out bad and he doesn't intend to end his life while on the wrong side of the law, either. His testimony to his former employer's environmental misdeeds has earned him a protection detail compliments of the US government. But due to a dark international conspiracy Kyle was unaware of, his former employers have made ending his life a top priority. Realizing he needs more protection than the US Marshals can provide, he turns to Safeguard after seeing the beautiful, deadly Lizzy Scott in action.

One look at Kyle, and sniper Lizzy Scott knows this isn't going to be an easy protection job. He's arrogant, irritating and almost irresistible. Instead of being put off by her hardened attitude, Kyle seems to thrive off the challenge. And she's slowly giving in to his charms.

After narrowly escaping the latest assassination attempt, Lizzy starts taking dangerous risks to keep him safe. But the last thing Kyle wants is another life ruined because of his actions. He found his redemption in Lizzy's arms and he'll risk everything to make sure they both make it out alive. As will she, even if it means walking away from him to keep him safe.

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{ about piper j drake } .

Piper J. Drake (or “PJ”) began her writing career as “PJ Schnyder” writing sci-fi & paranormal romance and steampunk. She has recently received the FF&P PRISM award for her work as well as the NJRW Golden Leaf award and Parsec award.

Now, PJ is exploring the complexity of romantic suspense, incorporating her interests in mixed martial arts and the military into her writing.

{ excerpt } .

She stepped forward inside his guard and put her left foot behind his right. Seeing her coming forward, he instinctively tried to step back and get his guard back up.

Nope.

She caught his ankle in an ashi harai, driving him backward and down toward where he expected his foot to be bracing his back-step. Tall as he was, he relied on his solid stance to keep his footing too much.

Instead, she threw her right arm up between the two of them and quickly swung it around in an exterior loop to place his still-retracting arm into an under armpit lock. He lost his balance and toppled, taking her with him. Which was fine.

She landed heavily on top of him, forcing grunts out of the both of them. Somehow, she wasn’t even going to mind the bruises. This was more fun than she’d had in a while.

“Minx.” He was breathless now and still a little stunned.

The clothes around her throat tightened as his left hand took hold, and he pivoted his hips under her. Throwing his left leg up, she found herself in the beginning of a triangle hold.

Really?

She got her feet under her and heaved herself—and him—up until she was half-standing and slammed him back on the ground. He loosened his hold. Pivoting to her right, she released his right arm so she could get into position to secure an arm bar on his left.

Before she could manage it, he rotated on top of her. “No you don’t.”

She half snarled, half giggled. “Yes, I do.”

And she blocked his right knee with her leg, raising her hips, placing the ball of her right foot on the ground near his other knee and pushing with her right. As he came off the floor, she pulled him to the left to continue the momentum of the roll…

…and landed on top of him.

He chuckled and repeated the move right back on her, rolling them even farther until they both hit the wall, laughing.

She buried her fingers into his hair and his hands gripped the back of her neck.

They met in a kiss, hard and hot and so incredibly good. If she’d been breathing hard before, she lost everything in that kiss.

Suddenly, she didn’t care about anything but his body against hers. He wasn’t her client anymore and she wasn’t on contract. This was between them, person to person. They were safe enough for an indulgence, here and now, later they might not be. They twisted and rolled, and he was under her again as she straddled him. His hands roamed over her as she had her way with his mouth.

She let him up for air for a second as she decided whether she wanted to lick his pulse or nip at his collarbone.

Kyle’s voice rolled over her, husky and dark, sending delicious shivers down her spine. “Let’s get rid of the pants.”

{ review } .

Like the previous, this book was a grab-your-attention-from-page-one-and-don't-let-go one. And, similar to the previous, it is the action that draws the pages, not so much the romance. Where Hidden Impact had a car explosion, making Gabe rethink his choice to not help Maylin out, this particular one shows off Isabelle's skills, as well as the trouble Kyle finds himself in. These are standalone books, but it was fun to get to see Gabe and Maylin again!

Isabelle, or Lizzy as Gabe (a childhood friend and now boss) calls her, has spent most of her life proving herself. First in the military, and now as a part of Safeguard. She's tiny, not to mention a 'she', and as such, I felt she had a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Even toward the end of the story, you see her need to keep pretenses up so the people she works with don't find a weakness in her.

Kyle's past decisions puts him in the opening scene predicament, and it's Isabelle's skills that have him seeking out Safeguard and, more accurately, Isabelle. The ensuing pages take us on a ride of suspense, drama, as well as the chemistry between Isabelle and Kyle. Kyle brings out the girly in Isabelle, and it was nice to see her be a little laid back, not as tough around the edges. Kyle's character, however, sometimes left something to be desired. The balance in their relationship is one that sometimes felt off, but on the other hand, simply seemed to work for then.

Another good Safeguard title. I'm curious who will be the next to fall.

{ giveaway } .

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No comments:

a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.

Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

~ Mignon

http://mignonmykel.com

GOODREADS updates

Dirty Saint: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Vesper Vaughn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book almost failed to get my attention. Why?

The hero.

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Everything by Erin Noelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

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