Grant Warwick has never scoured luscious, funny Coco Dalton from his brain. She was heaven to hold, hot as hell in Bed, and for four scintillating months, totally his. So why she left him one morning without the courtesy of a call is one big mystery he’s never solved.

When Coco reappears one day in Venice, he’s stunned she wants to apologize. Heartbroken she had to desert him years ago, Coco asks his help to find a terrorist who’s tracking her. Resisting her isn’t possible, and Grant sweeps her up into his arms and savors her sweet body with kisses so torrid and lovemaking so mind-bending, she’ll never again want to leave him. But Grant must also find time to track down the terrorist, before Coco is taken from him forever.

This novella is the latest in a series that Cerise Deland has written in the past few years. Grant Warwick made token appearances in other Deland novellas as a security expert and it is in that role that he is featured in this story. He is a passionate, careful, thorough man who was literally swept off his feet by Coco Dalton three years ago. Their passionate affair lasted four months, and then, one morning, she just disappears. They were to meet at the airport and fly away to a vacation together. Grant waited 10 hours at the airport, simply not able to accept the fact that she wasn’t coming.

Now it is three years later, and Coco pops up in Venice where Grant is to meet with diplomats from Dubai with whom he is signing a lucrative security contract. These same diplomats have been friends of Coco’s family for many years as her father was a part of the diplomatic service before his death. But all is not as it appears, and before the night is over, Grant learns that Coco is CIA and is being targeted by terrorists she has identified years ago. Now their romance, though rekindled—in fact, they take up right where they left off—is set against the suspense of a Middle East plot with stops in Naples and Jerusalem.

DeLand has very successfully brought suspense and terror in many of her latest stories and she carries this off well. The plot is not an unusual one, but together with steamy romance and a very good working knowledge of the various locales in the story, she keeps the reader in suspense until the very end. There are times when one cannot really separate the good guys from the bad guys. That’s a very good story and a very well-written one. I think there are also glimpses into the deeper realms of Grant & Coco as well—two people who really love each other but whose relationship now rests on a very shaky foundation. Grant is now wary of giving his heart once again; Coco is wracked with guilt and a deep need for forgiveness and understanding. It is the classic romantic snafu and DeLand does it well.

This is not a really large book—it can be read in just a couple of hours by most people. Yet it packs a romantic and literary whollop and has the ability to leave the reader feeling like this is a story well worth the time and effort. There are some surprises here, and those unexpected twists are a part of making this a successful literary effort. I think Grant is a really great guy, and I think Coco is a woman whose need to fulfill her goals has overwhelmed her personal life and her love for Grant. Such is the case in many real relationships. I like this author’s work, and I think she has added another work to her portfolio that is worthy of our consideration.

I give this book a rating of 4.25 out of 5.

Tate Ryder, a former NFL football star, has spent his life savoring plenty of women until luscious anna Stevens comes aglong, who doesn’t seem to know he is alive. Then, inexplicably, Anna is attacked outside Tate’s condo. He keeps her safe by whicking her to his yacht, where he vows to enchant her sleek body with pleasures she’d only imagined.

Anna answers his intimate kisses with scorching caresses and wild revelations. She’s been on the run from the Russian Mafia for years. She’s not who she claims. But one thing is real: her deep craving for Tate. Enthralled, Tate lays bare her body and is equally determined to lay bare her nameless enemy.

I really, really love mysteries! They engage my imagination, make my mind work, pique my curiosity, and keep my interest level consistent throughout the novel. This book has mystery to spare and is, for that reason alone, a good read. However, add in the elements of romance and the journey of discovery that Tate makes as he hears Anna’s story and you have a book that can be riveting, to say the least. For those who don’t want to deal with the suspense, this will not be their “cup of tea.” However, for mystery fans who are also romance fans, this book has both and lots of it.

Deland has written a story that has interesting characters, twists and turns that are the mark of good suspense, betrayal of trust, foiled plots, secrets that have been held for years and which must come out, and the growing bond between two people who come together because of sexual attraction and stay together because they have found someone who can answer their deepest heart call. Tate is a man who has come far from the playboy football star, who now recognizes his own need to be a man of mature values and who wants only the best for those about whom he cares. Anna is so very tired of running, of becoming a new person whenever her life is invaded by the old fears and the old enemy. Tate challenges her to trust, something she has chosen not to do for many years and which she knows she can do with him for the first time in decades. His need to protect and to finally give this woman a chance to live a fear-free life is his own personal challenge, and he makes a commitment to her and to her need for normalcy at a level he has not experienced before.

Romance fans will find this a good story and all you who love a good ending will be pleased with this one as well.