Tag: Desiree Holt

Guest Review: Downstroke by Desiree Holt

Posted April 2, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Judith‘s review of Downstroke by Desiree Holt

It’s been twenty years since Charley Roper and Dallas Creed had their bitter parting.  Now a killer in stalking mode has brought the security specialist and the country music icon together again, but are either of them ready for this?  It’s obvious that the explosive chemistry is still there.  She can’t forget the feel of his hands on her body.  He can’t forget the hot touch of her mouth.  When they finally tumble into bed together, the sex is hot enough to singe the sheets, but is it really enough?


Set against the music industry with a killer nipping at their heels, Dallas and Charley find themselves on a roller coaster ride that is hot, suspenseful, and erotic.  Can Dallas convince Charley to trust her heart to him one more time, to reach out for a deeper, richer, more mature love?  Can she keep him safe long enough to give him a chance?


Unlike  much of Holt’s writing, this is a full-length novel and is a composite of mystery and erotic romance.  Set in the context of a country musician’s professional tour, with a murderous stalker threatening not only Dallas’ safety but his life, Charley Roper is hired to provide special security for Dallas and his band and crew for the remainder of the tour.  That Dallas and Charley have history has the potential for making problems, especially if these two can’t find a way to work together to keep Dallas safe.  That they were once lovers, that they each believed that the other was their “forever one,” really complicated this reunion more than if they had just been casual dates.  That they parted angry and bitter really put them both under the gun in many ways.  Yet Charley believed that she was a professional and able to provide the security for which she was contracted, and the past was still in the past.

This is a compelling novel that takes a look not only at the pressures, logistics, and relationships that can make or break a professional music tour, but it also takes the reader into an old relationship where both Dallas and Charley put their dreams for the future before their love for each other.  That they loved each other was never in doubt.  Perhaps that’s why the hurt and bitterness was so acute when they parted.  Like so many lovers they made assumptions that weren’t based on truth, fact, or good communication.  And when their dreams collided, their relationship broke apart in the most wounding way.  Now they are faced once again with finding a way back, if for no other reason than Dallas’ safety is at stake.

Here you have two people who know that each of them bears a portion of the blame for their bitter parting.  They know also that each has blamed the other for the last 20 years.  This reunion of sorts has given them the chance to face their own culpability for wasting the past two decades and for the wounds that hurt them both. I came to like Dallas a lot–he had come back from his descent into drugs and alcohol, for spending money like water and cutting a swath through crowds of women–easy booze, easy drugs, easy women.  An auto accident nearly claimed his life and through months of painful recovery, he not only got his body back but his life and his good sense as well.  Now he has reclaimed his fans but a killer is out for blood.  The novel really doesn’t give many hints as to the identity of this maniac.  Holt teases her readers almost to the very end.  But during the course of the story, the reader not only encounters the stalker but also walks the journey of reclaiming their relationship with Dallas and Charley.  Now they are really grown-ups, having dealt with real life, having had to learn to live with the consequences of their choices, learning what it means to put their dreams ahead of their love.  I found that it was curiously redemptive to experience their renewal–Holt has a wonderful ability to bring her readers into the meat of the story.  And while the unrelieved presence of the killer keeps the tension level high, it is also the pressure-cooker of circumstances that forces Charley and Dallas to make some important decisions about their future together.

This is a great read which is full of tension, mystery, hot loving, and some wonderful caring, affectionate concern, and genuine relationship, not only between Dallas and Charley, but between Dallas and his brother, with Dallas and the members of his crew and band as well.  Their mutual respect and regard get them all through some trying days.  I like to experience that kind of dynamic in stories.  I am also delighted that Holt has given her readers a full-length novel.  Her ability to tell a story never fail to delight, but I have really felt cheated when some of her tales are so short.  They get the job done, but the encounter with the characters is way too brief.  So Holt fans:  enjoy!  I think you’ll really like this one!

 I give this novel a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place. 

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

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Guest Review: Lust Unleashed by Desiree Holt

Posted September 23, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Tracy’s review of Lust Unleashed by Desiree Holt

Jonah Grey, driven by a lust for the blood of the legendary Chupacabra that murdered the woman who was to be his mate, jumps at the offer to leave the FBI and join Night Seekers, who are dedicated to hunting and killing the devil beast.

Then Jonah encounters a woman with whom he shares explosive chemistry that neither can deny-and sex that brings a level of pleasure neither has ever known. Soon he’s dividing his time and indulging in erotic bouts of orgasmic lust with Dakota. But the devil beast must still be dealt with, and the wolf in Jonah won-t rest until the Chupacabra is dead.

A type of vigilante group made up of law enforcement agents – well, I guess they’re now ex law enforcement agents is searching for the Chupacabra. This devil beast, as they call it, has killed someone close to each member of the group and they’re all determined to exterminate it for good.

Jonah Grey is the first one to investigate a sighting/killing. They don’t have much to go on but he’s in the area to find it and kill it. While there he meets Dakota Furcal – a local woman who’s been shunned for her half-breed status. While the others of the small town want nothing to do with Dakota, Jonah can’t seem to stay away.

They start their sexual relationship quite quickly after meeting but for some reason it just never seemed odd to me. While Dakota is hesitant at first she feels as comfortable with Jonah as he does with her.

The killings continue as they normally happen in three’s but Jonah can’t seem to get a bead on the creature. There are some clues that the reader is given but Jonah is in the dark. Despite his frustration with the Chupacabra there’s no confusion in Jonah’s mind about Dakota. She’s his mate and he’s going to be with her forever.

This was a great read. I liked the combination of paranormal – Jonah and some other of the Night Seekers are shifters – horror, romance and mystery. I think that Holt did a fine job of bringing everything together without going heavy on either the mystery or the sex. This is obviously the start of a new series as we’re kind of left hanging at the end of the book but there was definite closure despite that. I’ll definitely be reading the next book in the series to see what happens next!

Rating: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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What I Read Last Week

Posted September 20, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 9 Comments

Where are the weeks/months going?  I can’t believe it’s already the 3rd week in September!  Didn’t summer just start?  Ok, I know my kids went back to school and all but it’s just going too quickly! lol *sigh* Oh well, what’s a body to do?
It was a pretty quiet week around here. As I said on my Saturday Song post, my parents were in Maui this past week so I would take a late lunch and then go pick up my youngest daughter from school and bring her back to work with me.  That made life a little more interesting in the afternoons, but it was good to spend some extra time with her. 🙂
So let me get to telling you what I read:
First up was a book for The Book Binge called Lust Unleashed by Desiree Holt.  This was an interesting shifter story with a different twist.  A billionaire brings together a group of various law enforcement agents – some shifters, some not – to catch a beast called the Chupacabra.  All of the people have had loved ones or dear friends killed by the creature and they are determined to hunt it down and kill it.  During the first of these hunts shifter Jonah Grey meets the woman who end up being his mate.  It was a good book filled with a good mystery and great sex and a nice little twist at the end that will have me reading the next book in the series. 4 out of 5
Vampyres of Hollywood by Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott was next.  This was a contemporary story of Osvanna, a vampyre, and Peter King, a Beverly Hills detective, trying to find the killer of the people who know and work with Osvanna.  You can read my review here. 3.5 out of 5
Next up was Red Leopard by Tracy Cooper-Posey.  This story took place in a country called Vistaria that’s on the brink of revolution.  Calli finds herself attracted to a man that goes by the name Red Leopard aka Nicholas Escobedo and that attraction is mutual.  However due to his position as the Presidents brother and her being American they cannot be together.  What happens when they can’t deny their attraction any longer and the county breaks out in fighting?  This was a good book that I had some niggles with.  I liked the different setting and the sexual tension that you could cut with a knife – that was great.  The cousin who was a sex kitten was more down to earth than I thought she’d be but she still did some pretty reckless things.  When she pulls a doozer Calli runs to Nick for help because time is of the essence.  So what do Calli and Nick do because time is short and the cousin’s life may be on the line?  They stop and have sex in a conference room.  Was it hot?  Yes, but hello?  The cousin?  Remember her, might die, etc.?  That was just so frustrating for me to read because Calli and Nick were both so much smarter than that! *sigh* oh well, I can’t have it all my way. lol  3.25 out of 5
Next was another book for The Book Binge.  This was Play Fling by Amber Scott.  This was a book that kind of had 3 stories going on at the same time but they were all interlinked. It had Millie and AJ who are a cupid team trying to get Brooke together with her ex-husband, Jason.  Millie was kind of reincarnated – I think, that part’s a little hazy – from a socialite to a cupid.  She must make a match for Brooke or her partner AJ will be reassigned.  Since she’s in love with AJ she doesn’t want that to happen.  She’s determined to get Brooke and Jason back together.  But they don’t want to be back together.  The next story is Brooke who is 37 and being pursued by 28 year old college student, Elliot.  He’s just wonderful but she’s concerned about the age difference.  Then there’s Jason, the ex, who is actually gay and in love with Elliot’s cousin, Gordon.  The story was very cute but Millie was making such a mash of things I just wanted to kick her out of the story and read about Brooke and Elliot! lol 3.5 out of 5
Next was Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake by Sarah MacLean.  I have an ARC of book 2 in this series so I figured I should probably finally read book 1! lol  It was good!  Calpurnia (Callie) has been in love with a rake for 10 years.  She’s firmly on the shelf at age 27 but decides that she’s going to do all the things that she’s wanted to do that men get to do, but women don’t.  She makes a list that includes, among other things,  kissing a man passionately, gambling at a gentlemen’s club and attending a duel.  For the kiss she goes to the rake’s house.  The Marquess of Ralston supplies her with the kiss and then ends up guiding her through the rest of her list.  I thought this book was so good. I love that Callie was plain but as Ralston got to know her he just thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. *sigh* I love that! A very sweet romance that I very much enjoyed reading. 4.25 out of 5
I read In The Rough by JB McDonald next. I have By Degrees by the same author, which I guess is the first book I should have read but got mixed up.  Oh well. Jay goes to Rick when he finds out that his ex wife’s boyfriend has molested his eight year old daughter.  Jay has many, many, many issues from his childhood and teen years and needs to get his life together so that he can take custody of his daughter who is temporarily a ward of the court because the ex wife won’t kick the boyfriend out of her house.  Rick loves Jay but knows that Jay isn’t the committing kind so tries to keep his distance – even though they are occasional fuck-buddies.  This book shows Jay slowly getting his life together and Rick and Jay moving into a relationship.  The first thing about this book that I had a huge problem with was: if the court found out that the ex wife’s boyfriend had molested a child they wouldn’t worry about whether he was kicked out of the house or not – he would be in jail!  I had a really hard time dismissing that issue in my mind and kept going back to it. There were also flashbacks in this one but I didn’t know who was having the flashback until half way through the book – that was kind of annoying.  I did like how they showed Jay getting his life back together but wished that there had been more of Rick and Jay after they’d decided to make a go of it as boyfriends. 3.5 out of 5
My Tracy’s TBR challenge read for the week was The Hunt by Anne Marsh.  This was a fantasy shifter book.  Virgins enter a temple once a year and the warrior/were-cats hunt them to search for their mates.  The townspeople do this in exchange for protection from another world that had been destroying them.  It’s much more civilized than it sounds when it’s explained throughout the book but at first I was kind of thinking wtf? lol  Miu enters under the guise of a virgin, which she’s not, in order to steal a necklace for her “master” who is holding her sister hostage.  Miu will stop at nothing to get the necklace.  Jafar is under instructions to follow her to see what she’s up to, but he discovers she’s his mate and when she’s put under a death sentence he’s more than willing to get her out of there.  This was a fun, light read.  Pretty fantastical in the end and everything gets wrapped up with a tidy bow, but there was some witty banter and good sex scenes that kept me reading. 3.25 out of 5
Last up was The Accidental Wedding by Anne Gracie.  This was a fun book – almost a cottage romance, which I love.  The Honorable Nash Renfrew is on his way to claim an inheritance when his horse slips on mud and throws him into a wall.  Maddy sees the whole things and manages to get him to her cottage to save his life.  She cares for him while he’s ill but when he awakes he has no idea who he is.  He’s not able walk because of a hurt ankle so he must stay at Maddy’s cottage with her and her 5 young siblings that she has charge of.  While at the cottage Maddy falls in love, but Nash doesn’t believe in love matches after seeing his parents go through hell with their love match.  I really liked Maddy in this book.  She was a very strong character and wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself – I loved that! (another Book Binge book) 4 out of 5 (this book releases on 10/5)
My Book Binge reviews that posted this past week:
Happy Reading!

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Guest Review: Scorched by Deiree Holt & Allie Standifer

Posted August 22, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Kasey Jacobs spends her days as a bookkeeper for a discount furniture store and her nights writing erotic romances, still waiting to meet the man who could ring her chimes. Maybe her new neighbor, Skyler Brody?? Too bad she hasn’t seen him since the day he moved in.

Then Skyler, a cop recuperating from a gunshot wound, spies Kasey pleasuring herself in front of an open window and nearly trips over his tongue rushing to introduce himself. The sex is instantaneous and hot, with all the xplosiveness of fireworks. But Kasey wants something Skyler isn’t prepared to give. Perhaps they can find a way to each other’s heart, if they don’t burn themselves out with their nightly erotic activities.

First, I think the cover of this book is really kind of dopey. Really, what does it have to do with the story? I just can’t figure out why this particular design was chosen or who at Ellora’s Cave decided that this was the best to go with. Perhaps the authors liked it — well, anyway, I still think it’s dopey.

Beyond the graphics, I thought this story was a very good example of an entertaining tale with a really contemporary message: giving into one’s fears of the past rarely if ever makes a happy future. This is certainly the case with Skylar and perhaps even with Kasey. Both are looking for authentic relationship and neither one is so foolish to mistake their initial attraction as love. But as time goes on, both want more but are hesitant to give it. This is especially true of Skylar who has come out of a previous relationship that ended badly. Kasey is beginning to feel that she must have more of Skylar than just his body or his sense of humor; she wants the man himself. Big problem, so it would seem.

As always Holt and Standifer work well together. I don’t know what is their division of labor, but they manage to write some very good pieces. Each has a marvelous track record as a writer and a formidable history as collaborators. This “quickie” short story is one of those literary “snacks” that is fun to keep around and worth taking time away from the ponderous routine of life. Not a major time commitment, but nevertheless thought provoking in spite of being “lightweight.” I think they have done well to pose the question for all readers: “Can we really give all of ourselves to those we claim are important to us?” And to do so is to give one of the greatest gifts to significant persons in our lives. It also begs the question: “Can we have a genuine and solid love relationship if we withhold who we really are?”

This is a very romantic tale and will be enjoyed by romance lovers. It would stand up well were it longer or extended into a full novel. But Holt and Standifer have again given readers a very nice short story that will not only be fun to read the first time around, but I can testify that it stands up to repeated attention.

I give this work a rating of 3.75 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

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Guest Review: Eagles Run by Desiree Holt

Posted July 22, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments


Judith‘s review of Eagles Run by Desiree Holt.

Her father was murdered by an unknown killer. Now Leah Morgan, the half-Commanche daughter of the owner of White Eagle Ranch, is faced with his unsolved murder, as well as two illegitimate half brothers who have each been left a share of the ranch. If not for Shane Duffy, the hot-looking, hot-blooded veterinarian, she’d be falling apart completely.

As she fights to retain control of the ranch and considers her heritage, Leah finds comfort in long nights of sweaty sex with Shane. And then there’s Grant Fallon, the geologist who wants to show Leah he can bring her more screaming orgasms than the hunky vet if she’ll just give him a chance.

But someone has an ulterior motive. Is it Shane? Grant? One of her half brothers? Leah might find the answer–if she’s not too busy chasing away the shadows in the arms of her lover.

Desiree Holt has written quite a number of steamy, sweaty, sexy volumes of erotic romance in a number of genres, not the least of which is Western romance. This particular book is the first in a two-book series and while it is not an extensive read, contains a fair amount of suspense and mystery to go along with the erotic romance.

The introductory paragraphs give you the gist of this book’s plot, but suffice it to say that Leah is at a critical crossroads in her life journey. She has really planned to continue on running White Eagle Ranch with her dad until he was murdered. Now she finds that she not only has to contend with the murder mystery, grief over her father’s death, but she also now cannot make decisions for the ranch without the say of her two half-brothers, previously unknown to her and who now own 2/3 of the ranch. The are willing to leave the day-to-day running of the ranch in her hands since neither of them have ever run a ranch before this. In fact, her father’s will is the first time that her dad had acknowledged either one of these men as his son. And Grant Fallon? That handsome, pestiferous presence that is supposedly a geologist that has been granted permission by her father to survey the ranch for possible minerals that could be mined? He wafts in and out of this story and is constantly putting doubts in Leah’s mind about the loyalty and genuine affection for her by boyfriend Shane. Now she wonders if any of these men really cares about her or do they just want her ranch?

Anyone who has read Desiree Holt knows that she can steam up the windows of your reading room as fast as anyone out there, but I’m not sure she gets enough credit for writing a darn good story. She has developed this plot beautifully, helped the reader to know not only the presence of each of these characters but also a bit of what is “making them tick.” There are a number of surprises and just the nature of the mysteries within this story is enough to keep the reader on the edge of their reading chairs. I was quite taken with the fact that by the time I was in the middle of the book I was not sure how Holt was going to resolve the issues and reveal who the “bad guy” really was. Well, she did it, and she did it well.

This is also about the hurt and fall-out that comes when a person engages in irresponsible relationships and is not willing to make amends when children are involved. Both these half-brothers stand as metaphors for many people who have been brought into this world because of a thoughtless roll in the hay by people who are not prepared to live with the consequences of their irresponbility. Now, they not only are victimized by their now-dead father, but Leah’s life has been turned upside down. There are indications that her dad would have done the same thing to Leah if her Commanche grandfather, a tribal elder, had not visited Mr. Morgan in full battle dress and demanded that he “make an honest woman” out of Leah’s mother. Not a very nice guy!!

I liked this book a lot and I am look forward to reading the next book in the series that is just newly available–Eagle’s Redemption. I have read quite a bit of Holt’s work and find her to be very creative and a writer who has managed to stay off personal “hobby horses” where themes and plots are concerned. I think erotic romance fans will find a lot to like in this novella, especially if your heart goes pitter-pat over those hunky Texas cowboys. I give this book a 4 out of 5 rating.

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

You can read more of Judith’s reviews at Dr. J’s Book Place.

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