Friday, December 4, 2015

review || LIES { blog tour } by C.A. Harms


Limitless Publishing | Date, 2015 | Romantic Suspense
Phoenix Undercover, book 1
★★★★★

SOURCE: HEA BOOK TOURS

FBI Agent Joshua Phoenix goes undercover…Deep.

Thrust into a world of drugs and criminal activity, integrating himself into the Russian Mafia turned out to be much more than Josh bargained for.

It’s dark and it’s dangerous.

The lives they destroy along the way will never be the same.

The things he is forced to do will haunt him forever.

Even more importantly, he never planned on meeting her…

A chance encounter with Real Estate Agent Gabriella Shannon, has Josh questioning his ability to complete his mission.

And now the dark world may consume them both.

He’s in too deep.

Leaving now would only risk the safety of those around him.

But when his cover’s blown Josh is forced to make a decision that will reroute his future.

One decision.

The hardest decision he will ever have to make in his life.

And those he meant to protect will be the ones who suffer the most…

{ about c.a. harms } .

C.A. Harms is like any other addicted reader. She enjoys happy endings and HEA love stories. She hasn't always been a lover of Romance and had once been addicted to a good Mystery. Just recently she has taken on a new liking and now is a full blown Romance novel addict.

She lives in Illinois and enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. You will always find her with her kindle or paperback in hand as it is her favorite pass time.


{ excerpt } .

“I like the red ones,” Josh said before turning back toward the display of lingerie. “Oh, and this color. Is that teal?” He lifted up the pair of panties and held them out before him.

I smiled as a younger guy three feet away ducked his head in embarrassment.

“Now these would look fucking amazing on you. Damn, baby.” Josh’s eyes gleamed in excitement as he looked up at me. “I may go broke if you keep bringing me to places like these.”

I giggled as I grabbed the pink, lacy, and completely see-through nightie he held in his other hand.

“We’ll take one of these in every color you have,” he hollered to the clerk.

I hid my head against his chest and tickled his sides.

“What?” he grunted and tried to pull back from my assault. “You can’t blame me for trying, sweetheart.

Forget about getting dressed daily. I think you should live in these nighties.”

I tilted my head and looked up at him. “You are insatiable.” I rose up on my tiptoes, bringing my lips close to his. “And extremely adorable.”

He closed the distance and kissed me, wrapping his arm around my waist securely. His tongue rolled with mine, and for a moment I forgot we were standing in the center of a department store. Someone cleared their throat, and I broke the kiss to look over my shoulder. An older salesperson was giving us a disapproving glare.

“Sorry,” I offered. When I turned back to face Josh, he was grinning from ear to ear.

“So—” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “—we are getting some of these. Right?”

I lifted up the light pink nightie and shook it in front of his face. “We’ll get this one and the red one,” I assured him as I walked toward the sales clerk at the checkout counter. When I looked back over my shoulder, Josh was smiling brightly and following close behind.

“Now that’s my girl. Looks like tonight we’re staying in.”

I rolled my eyes and turned forward again as he chuckled.

{ trailer } .


{ review } .

At this point, I'd like to say I'm a C.A. Harms fan. I know her writing style, and I know that I can go into one of her books and get just enough emotion to pull me through the pages. Generally, the characters are well-rounded and I can be sucked into the book for a little while, sometimes needing a break.

This was a C.A. Harms I hadn't experienced yet. From the prologue to the double-cliff at the end, I was completely engrossed in Gabby and Josh's story. Now, I'm not sure if it's her writing that's grown, or if she's just really rockin' the new adult-romantic suspense theme (while not necessarily marketed as new adult, these are young working people, so I feel they still fall in the category a little bit), or maybe she's just a talented serial-er (and that's big for me to say, because I don't typically care for serials), but this book just did it for me. Part of me thinks that the serial-ish aspect works, though, because these books (at least this first one) is a bit longer than a typical novella, but is still shorter than a full-on novel that generally comes in at 80k words. It almost feels like a greatly written duology/trilogy (I have no clue how many books will be in this).

We start out with Josh eyeing a pretty girl -- only to find out she's going to be the date from hell. He's saved by a stranger, who all he knows is her name and the feel of her lips -- until the two run into one another afterward.

Josh was very much the career detective. He loved his work. He loved the chase, the thrill, the puzzle... He enjoyed the undercover parts too. His work was the very top of his list -- until he met Gabby.

Gabby was so much fun! She was lippy but with a smile, sassy but with a wink... She was a doll to read about. I very much enjoyed her character. I liked that Josh found peace in her, and while he can't tell her much about his day, she is his calm.


As for side characters, Josh's partners Grey and Mike were a hoot to read. I really, really liked Grey. I liked how he stood up for his boy when the time really counted (even though he was a manwhore in every other scene). Another side character with lots of page time would be Gabby's little sister, Brook -- who is super overprotective and at times probably takes it a little too far.

I loved that this part of their story spans 6 months -- it makes the chemistry and romance feel real; these two characters came off as extremely real and normal and people who you would be neighbors with, and I appreciate that when reading a story. That said, my heart broke with Gabby's at the end... Heck, my heart broke with Josh a few times at the end.

And CHAOS doesn't release until "2016". Ok, I know, that's literally as few as 26 days away, but really, we have to wait for more?!

Hands down, my favorite showing of C.A. Harms's yet. Josh and Gabby, and their posse, are so fun to read about but Josh and Gabby's story has to be finished first. So how many books are we spanning?? And then when they're done, do we start to see others settle?? Time will tell... 


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