SWEET SURRENDER by Liliana Hart: Review & Excerpt

Sweet Surrender by Liliana Hart
Series: 1001 Dark Nights, The MacKenzie Family #13.75
Published by Evil Eye Concepts Incorporated
Publication Date: December 13th 2016
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 89
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Goodreads
Buy Online: Amazon

Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.

It’s been twelve years since Liza Carmichael stepped foot in Surrender, but after her great aunt’s death she has no choice but to return and settle her estate. Which includes the corner bakery that’s been a staple in Surrender for more than fifty years.

After twenty-five years on the job, Lieutenant Grant Boone finds himself at loose ends now that he’s retired. He’s gotten a number of job offers—one from MacKenzie Security—but he’s burned out and jaded, and the last thing he wants to do is carry the burden of another badge and weapon. He almost turns down the invitation from his good friend Cooper MacKenzie to stay as their guest for a few weeks while he’s deciding what to do with the rest of his life. But he packs his bag and heads to Surrender anyway.

The only thing Boone knows is that his future plans don’t include Liza Carmichael. She’s bossy, temperamental, and the confections she bakes are sweet enough to tempt a saint. Thank God he’s never pretended to be one. But after he gets one taste of Liza and things start heating up in the kitchen, he realizes how delicious new beginnings can be.

 

 

Review

This book was a live wire from the very first page and dumps a reader straight into a ton of action and gunfights without even a hello. A maverick cop, a feisty baker and an OK corral-style shoot out on Main Street with some passionate interludes thrown pretty much captures this story in one line. 

Lieutenant Grant Boone is in Surrender to regroup after being forced to retire under murky circumstances after giving twenty five years on the job as an undercover cop. But one thing he hasn’t given up is the thrill of danger and if anyone personifies this, it’s Liza Carmichael, who inherited her bakery and used it as a chance to put thousands of miles between herself and her cheating ex after exacting her revenge in a creative way. She’s got attitude in spades and is a firecracker but Grant is nothing but adventurous. 

Unfortunately for both of them, Grant’s issues have followed him to Surrender and Liza’s best chance of staying alive is staying close to him and a night of passion is enough to convince both of them that Surrender may not be a just a pit stop, but a new beginning.

Grant is exactly the kind of character that fits in with the MacKenzies – dangerous, skilled and thankfully on the side of the good guys. The town of Surrender sure has seen a lot of action in this series, but it certainly has never seen anyone like Liza and she’s sure to turn it on its head. For a woman from the streets of New York, she definitely held her own in a dangerous situation and was quick to jump into action when needed. This was a very fast but captivating read and Ms. Hart just whet my appetite for more from this series.

 

 

 

Excerpt

“Hey, there,” she said, not taking her gaze off of the stranger. “What can I do for you?”

“A loaded question, if I’ve ever heard one,” he said.

“Oh, for the love of God,” Cooper interrupted. “I want a bear claw and a fresh cup of coffee. You make it better than what I can do at the sheriff’s office.”

“You got it, Sheriff,” she said, going to get his order. Her gaze still strayed to the stranger as she worked.

“What about you, cowboy? What do you want?”

“I’m swearing off donuts,” he said in a slow drawl.

Cooper snorted out a laugh, but she ignored him.

“That’s a damned shame,” she said, feeling herself go hot all over. “I don’t think you’ve ever tasted one of my donuts. They’ll melt in your mouth.”

Good Lord, what was she doing? She was practically seducing this man in her great aunt’s bakery. She’d never be able to look Cooper MacKenzie in the eye again. But she couldn’t seem to help herself. And from the heat in his dark brown eyes, he didn’t seem to mind.

“How can I resist such a temptation?”

“Oh, I’m sure you could if you put your mind to it,” she said.

“Why would I want to do that?” he asked.

“I’m standing right here,” Cooper said. “Just waiting for my coffee and bear claw. It’s nothing really. Don’t mind me.”

“I never do,” the stranger said.

“You’re not from around here,” she said.

He shrugged and took out his wallet to pay. “Neither are you.”

“Guilty,” she said, putting their purchases in a brown bag since she hadn’t opened the boxes yet. “I’m Canadian.” She reached for the money and their hands touched. She felt the sizzle all the way to her toes and their gazes locked.

“Still standing here,” Cooper said.

“You have a name?” she asked.

“Grant Boone. I’m visiting from Detroit.”

She nodded. “I figured you were from somewhere in that region. The Midwestern accent without the patience or courtesies.”

“That’s so un-Canadian of you,” he said.

“I’ve lived in New York the past couple of years.”

“That’ll do it. I enjoy a woman with an attitude every now and then.”

“That’s a shame,” she said. “My attitude is pretty much like this all the time. I’ve got it on good authority that I’m a real pain in the ass.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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