Book Review & 10s list: Officer Off Limits by Tessa Bailey

Officer Off Limits by Tessa Bailey

Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Imprint: Brazen

Publish Date: June 10, 2013

eBook, 250 pages
Fiction, Contemporary Romance
 ISBN: 9781622662197

Today I welcome Tessa Bailey as part of the Officer Off Limits blog tour.  She'll be sharing with us a special 10s list.  Then check out my review!

Ten Things that make Forbidden Romance HOT

Hi Crystal, thank you so much for having me. I’m very excited for my latest release, OFFICER OFF LIMITS. Below, I list the ten reasons forbidden romance is so hot, but I want to clarify that I’m not talking about cheating! LOL. In my book, Story is the daughter of Daniel’s mentor who has forbidden him from pursuing her. That kind of forbidden romance is what I’m referring to J

1.      Stolen Moments – They’re passionate and rushed because you never know how long you have together. The lack of opportunity increases the appeal and the intensity.

2.      Being Bad – We all like to rebel a little once in a while, break from our normal routine. Maybe even surprise ourselves. Forbidden love is definitely a rebellion and the threat of getting into trouble is incredibly sexy.

3.      Loosened Inhibitions – You’re already doing something considered wrong, so why not take the extra step and try new things? In Officer Off Limits, Daniel and Story have a penchant for public lovin’. They’re forbidden to be together, so why not break a few laws while they’re at it?

4.      You’ve got a Secret – There’s something about keeping a secret to yourself that no one else knows. It makes everything more interesting when you’ve got something delicious bubbling inside you but don’t share it with anyone.

5.      Naughty Phone Calls – You know the ones. Where you say the things over the phone that you’re too shy to say face to face. They make you desperate for your next time together.

6.      Risk – It’s sexy. The risk of being caught. The risk of being hurt. Just risk.

7.      Anticipation – The pulse-pounding lead-up to your next meeting, where you imagine how the other person will feel, smell, look. What you’ll do together. How long you’ll be able to hold out.

8.      Makes you feel Sexy – Knowing someone else wants you bad enough to take the risk with you definitely increases your self-confidence and makes you feel desirable.

9.      You Might Surprise Yourself – When we step outside our comfort zone, we tend to learn new things about ourselves. How far we’re willing to go to get what we want. Or who we want.

10.  It’s Worth It – If you and someone else are willing to go to all this trouble just to catch a few moments together, there’s a reason. They’re worth the trouble and they feel the same about you.

My Review:
Can I just say this book is scorching!  Forget 50 Shades, this book is real and hot.  I'll just say that Tessa definitely has chemistry down to a science in this book and move onto my thoughts on characters and plot.

Characters:
Let's start with Story, Story comes to NYC from a broken engagement and she's trying to make sense of life on her own and she runs into Daniel, who is sex-on-a-stick.  The chemistry is immediate for both her and Daniel and she can't get him out of her head especially after that chemistry explodes between them.  I like Story, she's very relatable.  She's a teacher off work for the summer so it explains why she can drop everything to go see her father. She's sarcastic and she doesn't want to be ruled by a man.  Yet she comes to understand love very slowly and starts to understand what a man truly caring for her means.  In the meantime she is having quite a bit of fun with Daniel and again this is scorching!

Then there is Daniel, Daniel has secrets and scars.  He's the ultimate bad boy with more notches on his bedpost than Story can even think about.  Yet he's perfect for Story.  He starts to fall for her and realizes that he doesn't want to be a mindless romp for women or even Story any more.  He wants more meaning and he wants it with Story.  Watching him fall for story and understand his life and himself better was nothing short of amazing.  I am pretty positive any woman reading this will want a Daniel after this (I have to admit I have one, though he's not a scarred bad boy).  And the sex, again did I mention scorching?  Daniel, ahem, has such a way with words . . .

Plot:
The forbidden love plot works great in this book.  Daniel isn't supposed to be around Story as declared by her Dad and his mentor, but somehow he can't help the attraction.  Story can't help the attraction either though she feels she should really be on her feet more after her broken engagement before entering a relationship.  I loved watching these two fall for each other slowly (at least slowly in the course of the book).  And I loved the heat they generated, yet you could really tell they were falling for each other and it wasn't purely physical.  I somewhat saw the ending (not the happy-ever-after, that's a given) but there were still elements that surprised me.  So I was thrilled with how the plot ran from beginning to end. 

Officer Off Duty moves fast, holds your interest and has you cheering for Story and Daniel from their first encounter at the snack machine.  I loved the characters and I loved how the plotline unfolded.  If you haven't read Tessa I suggest you give her a try and have a fan nearby. :)


My Rating: 5.0/5.0


About the Book:

Story Brooks’ fiancé just called off their wedding two weeks before the happy day. As if that isn't bad enough, her semi-estranged father, an infamous NYPD hostage negotiator, has suffered a heart attack. Not wanting to examine her lack of emotion over the broken engagement, she hops on a plane to reconnect with her father before it’s too late.

Playboy hostage negotiator Daniel Chase has never, not once, been refused by a woman, so when a debate over hospital snack foods with a delectable kindergarten teacher ends in flat-out rejection, he makes it his mission to seduce her. His only obstacle? She’s the daughter of his mentor who implicitly forbade Daniel from pursuing her.

Despite her father’s warnings and Daniel’s troubled past, Daniel and Story can’t resist their intense attraction to one another. But when the reason for her fiancé’s abrupt wedding cancellation comes to light, can Story and Daniel's already forbidden relationship survive?

About the Author: 

Tessa lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and young daughter. When she isn't writing or reading romance, Tessa enjoys a good argument and thirty-minute recipes.

Join Bailey's Babes, Tessa's street team, to receive ARC's and sneak peeks of upcoming releases!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/191945697620644/

Follow Tessa on Twitter @mstessabailey

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

Book Review, Interview & Giveaway: Out of Control by Stephanie Feagan

Today I welcome Stephanie Feagan, author of Out of Control, an excellent romantic suspense.  She's stopping by for an interview during her book tour which starts today.  Out of Control also comes out today so make sure you get your copy.  And after checking out the interview and review, enter the tour giveaway!

Interview:

What three things do you need in order to write?

Music, coffee, and time. Mostly time.

What's your favorite season?

Fall! I love when the days grow shorter, cooler, and there’s the scent of woodsmoke in the air.

Flip Flops or Sneakers?

I walk every day, so sneakers, except when it’s pedicure day.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

Russia. It’s tops on my bucket list, and wonder of wonders, I’m going to Russia in August. Can’t wait!

What's the first sentence of Out of Control?

The blond guy was making me jumpy.

Tell us what is Out of Control is about.

The heroine, Blair, is a petroleum engineer who works for a company that kills oil well blowouts. After she’s almost killed on a platform blowout, she’s assigned to work one of a string of blowouts in west Texas, along with her new coworker, Nick. Blair thinks Nick is way too full of himself, but there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When it becomes evident that the blowouts were set on purpose, one thing leads to another and they discover it’s part of a grand plot to disable the world’s oil supply. Their suspicions lead them to Saudi Arabia, where Blair finds herself saving the world while wearing a scarf and abaya, unable to drive or speak to anyone other than Nick, her ‘husband’. Lots of explosions and bad guys and some really fun twists and turns in this book. Also, kissing. And sexy times. Whee!

Dish, who’s your favorite character?

I love Nick and Blair, but my favorite may be Leslie Conaway, a grad student working on a documentary about the oil business who becomes Blair’s friend with ovaries, an oddity for her because she works all the time, and all of her friends are macho adrenaline junkies. Conaway is snarky and funny and everlastingly loyal.

What was your inspiration for Out of Control? I’m really curious since I don’t think I’ve read a novel dealing with oil rigs and people that work on them.

I grew up out here in the oilfields of west Texas. Before he went to college a little later in life, my dad was a roustabout (oilfield speak for guys who set drill pipe and get dirty and smelly.) A well he was working blew out and he had significant burns. A couple of guys died. When I grew up, I married a petroleum engineer who brought me back to my old stomping grounds, where the tallest tree is a mesquite bush, you can’t walk through the desert without stepping in a rabbit hole, and pumpjacks line the horizon. It’s hot, dry, and dusty, but to me, it’s home, and desolately beautiful.

The oil business has always fascinated me. I’m a CPA and have been involved with many different lines of business, but nothing else is like the oil business. Elements of it really abrade my feminist sensibilities, but there’s a part of me that’s entranced by the whole romanticized world that is the oil business. Blowouts fascinate me. It’s like Hell coming topside. I liked the idea of a female working in a male-dominated business, and being very good at it. Throwing a guy at her who’s just a smidge different than all the other guys she works with mixes it up a little, throws her off her game, and oh, it was so fun to write!

What can we expect next from you?

I’m working on a book about Conaway, the snarky grad student, which I hope to have finished in early fall. I’m also dipping my toe in the historical romance world and have a sexy Regency coming in July, The Last Duchess. In September, I’ll be publishing the third installment of the Mephisto Covenant series, The Mephisto Kiss, a New Adult written under my YA pseudonym, Trinity Faegen. It’s a crazy year, but exciting!

Awesome, I can't wait to read Conaway's book, I loved her in Out of Control!

Thanks Stephanie!

Thank you so much for having me!

Make sure you check out the rest of the tour stops here.

My Review:
What was not to love about Out of Control?  Kick-butt heroine who knows when to lean on someone else, check.  Kick-butt alpha male hero who is definitely more than he appears, check.  Interesting suspense, check.  Believable romance, check.  It had everything I was looking for in a romantic suspense!  Now onto the specifics:

Plot:
I normally start with characters, but since I feel this book was slightly more suspense than romance (but don't worry there is still romance) the plot is more of the steering factor.  The characters are important too, but the suspense seemed to drive the book, at least to me.  From oil wells in the Gulf to one in Texas and then overseas this book offers the variety of different locales.  I loved the information about what the team did to stop the oil rig fires.  It was fascinating but the plotting really got going with the suspense of who set the fires and then onto finally solving and proving the crime which takes place overseas and really added to my interest.  I don't know much about oil drilling, oil rigs and the fires but really feel Ms. Feagan did her research.  And her research really shines with the overseas part of the book.  I was fascinated, captivated and just thoroughly entrenched in this book due to the plot.

Characters:
The characters are stars in their own right.  Blair is a female in a career full of males and she comes from a fancy family.  So many contrasts about her, and I loved it.  She also didn't pretend to be something she wasn't.  She was tough, but underneath it she seemed to understand she needed to lean on someone.  Now maybe she didn't want to but she understood it.  Nick is alpha to the hilt but kind and gentler with Blair.  He also has secrets which are fascinating and really add to the story. And the chemistry between Nick and Blair is scorching.  You can feel the heat between them and it's sexy. As I mentioned in the interview I loved Conaway.  So snarky and fun, yet she pulls no punches as well.  She will get what she wants through sheer determination.  And I loved that she and Blair clicked.  Conaway really added to the story and sometimes it's hard to have that third character that you really like, but Ms. Feagan did it and now I can't wait to get Conaway's story as well!

Out of Control was an amazing edge-of-your-seat read.  It took me one day to read (I had interruptions).  I just had to know how it would turn out and kept turning the page.  I was engrossed by the plot and I cared about the characters.  I loved learning new things and visiting new places.  It was one of those reads that I am still thinking about days later.  I want more of Nick and Blair and hope to see at least a little of them in Conaway's book!  If you love romantic suspense then this is a great book to read!

My Rating: 5.0/5.0


About the book:

And they thought the blowout was hot…

Oil rig blowout specialist Blair Drake is finished with men—especially after her disastrous marriage that caused her family to disinherit and cut all ties with her. But when Nick Robichaud, a handsome, roguishly charming oil well fire expert, wildcats into her life, throwing his devil-may-care attitude all over the place, the real sparks begin to fly.

Forced to work together to kill a string of sabotaged oil rig explosions, Nick and Blair discover a plot to cripple the world’s oil supply. Unless they stop the doers, it’ll mean global economic catastrophe. With time running out and their lives on the line, they risk everything to prevent disaster. But nothing can stop the fire between them from burning out of control....

Buy Out of Control:

Amazon | B&N

 

About the Author:

Author of the RITA winning Pink Files series, Stephanie Feagan has had a love affair with romance novels since she was eleven and discovered there are kissing scenes in Victoria Holt books. She spent a lot of time in her closet with a flashlight, reading as fast as possible to get to the end, only to start a new book and begin the whole Leave-Me-Alone-I’m-Reading cycle all over again. She still stays up until the wee hours to finish books, now courtesy of a lighted e-reader which she believes is mankind’s greatest invention ever.

Stephanie also writes Young Adult and New Adult paranormal romance as Trinity Faegen. A practicing CPA who loves travel, books, new pencils, old keys, and smart guys, she lives in the oilfields of west Texas with her engineer husband and a mean cat. She’d love to hear from you. She answers to Stephanie, Trinity, Hey Lady, and Mom, and can be reached at Stephanie@StephanieFeagan.com or Trinity@TrinityFaegen.com

She’s aware the similarity between her pseudonym, Faegen, and her real name, Feagan, confuses pretty much everyone, herself included. Since so many mispronounce Feagan as FEEgan instead of FAYgan, she thought she’d mix it up when she took a pseudonym and make it easier on people. Now people say FayEEgen, and spell it wrong. Next time she takes a pen name, she’s totally going with Smith or Jones.

Stephanie’s Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Giveaway:
Enter the Tour Wide Giveaway – 1 $25 Amazon gift card & 1 $25 B&N gift card.
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***