You'll get the full story tomorrow, but Harlequin books gave me the kick to start book review blogging! So it is with great pleasure that I'm hosting today's stop on the Virtual Book Tour for Anne Marsh' Wicked Nights!
For all the stops on the Wicked Nights Virtual Book Tour, check out Tasty Book Tours.
The Book
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Former diving champion Piper Clark never loses. Unfortunately, if she doesn't land this lucrative contract, her diving business will fail. Worse still, it will be at the hands of her childhood nemesis, Cal Brennan—six feet of hard, rugged former Navy SEAL. So Piper proposes a wager: whoever loses the diving contract must take orders from the winner...in bed.
Cal needs this contract for his own reasons. A former rescue swimmer, he may be having a few issues with diving since his last mission ended, but Piper doesn't need to know that. Something about her impulsive nature makes Cal rise to the bait, and there's nothing he'd like more than to show Piper exactly what rules are good for.
All bets are on. And someone's about to start playing dirty....
Get your copy of Wicked Nights now!
Excerpt:
Piper Clark cut hard right, the prow of her motorboat slicing through the clear blue
water, yards in front of his. He’d have recognized that impish,
take-no-prisoners grin anywhere.
Plus, she flipped him the bird as
her wake hit his deck, soaking both him and his gear.
Definitely Piper.
Good thing for her he’d grown up
in the past twenty years. Cal Brennan’s ten-year-old self would have gunned his
motor and gotten even, racing her for Discovery Island’s marina until he’d
swamped her deck every bit as much as she’d swamped his. Tit for tat—those were
the rules of engagement they’d always competed by. Still, he picked up speed,
hugging her wake—and was just in time to watch as she maneuvered her boat into
the last decent slip. Mentally, he readjusted his assessment of his maturity. Score one for
Piper. He forced his fingers to unclench from the wheel,
counted to ten and concentrated on searching out an empty slip. She waved
jauntily as he motored past her, close enough to read the name painted on the
boat’s side. What kind of name was The Feelin’ Free
anyhow?
She’d always named things badly.
He distinctly recalled being hit over the head with a stuffed teddy bear named
Grand Poo-bah. There had also been a rescue puppy named Mr. Cuddles. Mr.
Cuddles had been a mostly deaf white Boxer with a severe drool problem. Mr.
Cuddles had moved on to the Happy Hunting grounds some years before, but
apparently Piper’s lack of naming skills had stuck.
Not that the other four thousand full-time
residents on Discovery Island would mind. Twenty-two miles long and eight miles
wide, the island’s main selling point was its horseshoe-shaped bay with
postcard-perfect deep blue water, dotted by boats and two piers. The pier for
the cruise ships stretched out into deeper water, but the shorter pier was pure
pleasure and clear at the other end of town. The good folks of Discovery Island
had named that pier Pleasure Pier and the broad strip of
creamy, palm-tree studded sand fronting an old-fashioned boardwalk was Primrose
Path. The hotels, shops and restaurants lining the street sported even worse
names in Cal’s opinion. Good Time, Please Your Eye, Wine, Women and Song.
The daily influx of tourists who ferried over from the California coastline to
explore the boardwalk loved the names. Or they simply loved diving, fishing,
zip lining or doing any one of the hundreds of activities on offer. Discovery
Island was big on keeping busy.
Grabbing his sodden gear bag and
his deck shoes, he padded barefoot along the dock, enjoying the heat from the sun-warmed
boards soaking into his feet. He and Piper had business, more so than usual.
The familiar, soothing noises of the marina washed over him as he fielded
greetings from the occasional other boaters and closed in on his target. Discovery
Island’s marina was a hopping place, but the blue water with its glint of fish
and kelp were an invitation to take it easy, as was the familiar bouquet of sea
salt, motor oil and Neoprene rubber filling the air. Lazy waves broke against
the docks, slapping fiberglass hulls, and he could just make out the beach
boardwalk. On a summer day like today, the place bustled with tourists looking
for the quintessential California dream. It was also an ideal day for diving,
but he’d stuck to the surface. He hadn’t strapped on a tank or even free dived. Not him. He’d had a nice swim, stuck his head under water and promptly
panicked.
Just like yesterday.
And every other day since his
last dive as a U.S. Navy rescue swimmer. The dive boats he passed, loading and
unloading, were an unwelcome reminder of what he’d lost. Temporarily.
Somehow, he’d get his head on straight, would figure out how to get back in the
game and back in the water. He’d never failed before; he wouldn’t start now. He
had too much riding on his ability to dive.
Turning the corner and spotting
Piper’s boat was almost a relief. The sighting was definitely a welcome
distraction from the panicked voice in his head asking, What if you don’t
get back
in the game? What if you never dive again?
Hearing voices was never a good sign.
“Piper Clark,” he bit out,
relieved to have something to do. Setting his gear bag down on the
dock, he moved to the edge where she’d tied up.
Retreat the inner voice demanded. Stand your ground, sailor,
his body urged.
Piper was naked.
Okay, so, she wasn’t totally
naked, but a man could dream.
Somehow, he’d timed his arrival
at her slip for the precise moment she grabbed the zipper running up the back
of her wet suit. Undeterred by his presence—because surely she’d heard him snap
her name—she pulled, the Neoprene suit parting slow and steady beneath her
touch.
Hello.
Each new inch of sun-kissed skin
she revealed made certain parts of him spring to life.
If someone had asked him what the
over-under was on his seeing Piper naked, he’d have bet heavily against his
spotting so much as a sliver of her bare flesh. If he’d expressed an interest,
Piper would have shot him down, hard and fast. After all, she didn’t like him
any more than he liked her. Their shared past was proof of that.
Even as he reminded himself she’d
spent most of their early days trying to either torment or kill him, his eyes
were busy. Piper’s arms were spectacular, strong and toned from hour after hour
of pulling herself through the water and then back up into the boat. Diving
wasn’t for the weak, and she’d had a professional platform-diving career long
before the accidental collision five years ago between his boat and her Jet Ski
had destroyed her right knee. After she’d rehabbed on the mainland, she’d up and
moved full-time to Discovery Island. Island gossip hadn’t shared with him the
reasons behind the move, but since he’d come back himself, he had to assume she
simply loved the place as much as he did. Now she was looking sexier than any
stripper, uncovering skin tanned a rich golden brown from time outdoors. The
way she’d braided her water-slicked hair in a severe plait only drew his
attention to the deceptively vulnerable curve of her neck.
But this was Piper.
So dragging his tongue over her
skin and tasting all the places where she was still damp from her dive should
have been the last thing on his mind. He’d read her
the riot act about her careless driving and say his piece about tomorrow’s
business meeting. Then he’d go his way and she’d go hers. After all, he’d been
back on the island for almost six months and had managed to avoid all but the
briefest of interactions with her. They said hello, goodbye (he suspected she
preferred the latter) and nodded tersely at each other from across the street. Life
was much quieter that way, because Piper invariably did plenty of yelling when
she spent too much time around him.
My thoughts:
I have a very soft spot for Harlequin Blaze books. They're the perfect book snack - with a quick pace and a middling length, I can devour one in an afternoon. I like this because it means I get the set-up and the HEA all in one sitting (if I'm lucky, which is rare these days because of kids, but theoretically, it's possible). They also have a modern, sexy feel and that appeals to me too. Truth be told, I'd happily read many of the Harlequin lines.
Wicked Nights fulfilled all my expectations. It was a sexy, quick read. I thought that the love story was believable and I had a smile on my face at the very end. Two thumbs up!
Taking a look at the details:
The main characters - Piper and Cal - had some great sexual tension. They also had a way of interacting that was very schoolyard-ish - tugging on pigtails and double-daring and such. I found their back and forth a bit... uncomfortable? But only because I shy away from that kind of conflict. I could feel the frustration of both Piper and Cal - Piper wanting Cal to be less cautious and have more faith in her, and Cal wanting Piper to be more circumspect. Underneath it all was a complicated and quite beautiful friendship, with each having the other's back despite wanting to one-up each other constantly. I would have liked a little more evidence of how they might actually get along in a
I liked that there was no concerns about keeping any developments to themselves, no half-hearted efforts to hide their relationship from the close community in which they lived. It was refreshing to have two consenting adults not fretting over who knew and who didn't, and what everyone else might think.
The book revolves around diving and I loved how well the book integrates diving into the story. Not only is the idea of diving and the ability to dive important, but actual diving figures quite significantly. Kudos to the author! This isn't just a nod to a 'sexy sport' or a hat tip to a physically active occupation, but instead embraces that work in a way that's much more authentic and true to life. I'd love to see more of the day to day operations of Piper's and Cal's dive shops.
The plot itself is narrowly focused on who will win the diving contract and all the ramifications therein (as well as, of course the budding romance), but this wasn't really a negative at all. In fact, I'm glad that there was no shoehorning in of additional sub-plots or added complications to the main plot.
I enjoyed Wicked Nights quite a bit. I felt that it was an excellent modern romance, and that it fulfills all expectations.
4.5 stars
The Author
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The Contest
Anne is hosting a tour-wide giveaway of a $25 Amazon gift card. Great opportunity to pick up some of the Uniformly Hot series, including Wicked Nights!
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Thank you for hosting WICKED NIGHTS today!
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