Love can play tricks on your heart… After serving several years in the United States Marine Corps, Sergeant Tucker Patton decides to hang up his uniform and go to work at a private investigative firm owned by his buddy. His boxes are packed and he’s got one foot out the door when a phone call changes everything.
Instead of going to North Carolina, he heads to New York City to literally step into the life of his twin brother, who died under suspicious circumstances. But pretending to be someone else isn’t easy.
Especially when the person you’re supposed to be is wanted dead.
Not only that, but he’s going from being blissfully single to living with his brother’s woman. An uptight, no-nonsense lawyer.
Charlotte Rose Carter doesn’t have time for fun and games. She graduated with honors and made all the right moves fresh out of college to jumpstart her career as a successful young lawyer. She even snagged the most eligible bachelor in New York City’s corporate world.
So what if her and Max’s relationship isn’t burning up the sheets? So what if their life doesn't read like a chapter from a sizzling romance novel? This is the real world, and in the real world that stuff is just fantasy.
Until it isn’t.
Suddenly, just the slightest touch or a single glance from Max has her heart doing somersaults. Suddenly, the lackluster relationship begins to spark, and Charlotte finds herself tied in a knot of desire.
But she has no idea about the tricks being played right under her perky little nose.
I have enjoyed all of the books in this series, and it
occurred to me while reading “Tricks” why I find them so appealing. I think it’s mostly because they have a
quality about them that is fantastical.
They are stories that are grounded in reality with ordinary characters
and ordinary settings, but extraordinary circumstances are presented in each
book. While it may not be very
realistic, it sure as hell is fun to read about and helps me to suspend my
disbelief and just enjoy the story.
Tricks introduces us to Tucker. His identical twin Max is killed while
gathering information on corporate espionage for the FBI, and they enlist
Tucker to take over Max’s life in order to get the information to them, stored
on a thumb drive that must be found.
Tucker wants to avenge his brother’s death and put those away who are
responsible, but what he’s not prepared to handle is Max’s live in girlfriend,
Charlotte. Tucker (as Max) and Charlotte
share intense chemistry, the likes of which neither has ever experienced
before. The both find this confusing for
different reasons. What will happen when
the truth is revealed? Will they be able
to avenge Max’s death when their own lives are in danger?
This book was really exciting to read. The chemistry and tension between the main
characters was great, the circumstances of life or death in getting the
information Max had gathered to the FBI kept me on the edge of my seat as
well. It’s romantic suspense and
adventure at its best, and I’m not even a big fan of that sub-genre. It was a nice departure from my normal reads
for sure.
I also really loved the characters in this book. Tucker is not only sexy and formidable, but
he’s hilarious and tender too. He’s a
man with regrets and past hurts that protects himself by not letting anyone in,
and I thought it was touching that Charlotte was the one to be able to get
through his defenses just by being Charlotte.
And Charlotte was smart, sassy and sweet. A great combination and the perfect balance
in the story for Tucker’s intensity.
As always, I thought the story was really well-written and
easy to follow. I read this in pretty
much one sitting because I was so engrossed in the story. As previously mentioned, I do think that the
storylines in this series tend to be a bit on the unrealistic side, but the way
they’re done makes that ok. As a reader
I don’t find it silly or ridiculous because the author somehow manages to set
the expectation early on that fantastical and unrealistic is ok through her characters
and their circumstances. I’m a bit of a
critical reader, but I find myself not questioning the extraordinary
circumstances of these books and finding that I actually appreciate the
fantastic nature of her stories. I love
that about her writing.
Overall, I thought this was a great read. If you’ve not read any other books in this
series, it’s ok to read them as standalones.
Each one is exciting and fresh, so but them on your TBR if they aren’t
there already. 4.5 stars.
Chapter 1 - Tucker
My mouth felt like it was packed with cotton. You know that dry but slightly sticky feeling? My tongue moved and it brushed against the roof of my mouth, and the cotton came with it.
I grunted and opened my eyes, only to immediately shut them again. I wasn’t ready for morning. Shit, how much did I drink last night? My body was still heavy with sleep, my limbs not wanting to cooperate.
One of my arms was flung wide and I pulled it in to rub a hand over my sleepy face, hoping it would wake me up a little more. I knew I needed to get up… I just couldn’t think of the reason.
Something shifted beside me and I felt the covers lift and drop. The soft sound of footsteps reached my ears. It wasn’t a something. It was a someone.
I went home with someone last night.
Opening my eyes again, I glanced to my left in time to see a woman wearing nothing but a pink thong step into the adjoining bathroom and quietly close the door. Well, now I remembered the reason I went home with her.
Her ass was luscious.
Vague memories of last night filtered through my hazy, beer-soaked memory of skin against skin and a low seductive laugh. What was her name again? Veronica? Violet? Shit, I hadn’t a clue.
Tossing away the covers, I swung my legs over the side of the mattress and looked down. I was buck-ass naked. I looked around for my clothes, which were lying in a pile near the door of the bedroom.
Must have been in a hurry to get naked. I smirked. I was always in a hurry to get naked. Especially when I was with a woman with an ass like that.
I glanced back at the closed bathroom door as the toilet flushed and the tap water turned on. That was my cue to leave. I had on my boxers and jeans before the door opened.
Rushing out the door with shirt in hand seemed a little immature, so I turned. And, man, did I get an eyeful. There was no way in hell her boobs were real. They were too perfect. Large round, creamy globes sat high atop her chest. They gave way to a flat stomach with a light-reflecting stud in her bellybutton. The pink thong was still in place but left little to imagination, and her long, tan legs stretched all the way to the floor.
Her hair was dark, her features exotic, and her lips were full.
Even drunk, I had great taste.
I motioned with my chin, a little what’s up gesture, and draped my T-shirt over my shoulder.
“Leaving so soon?” she asked, padding across the carpeting toward me.
I didn’t even pretend to not look at her chest. Shit, this had been a one-night stand. She could think I was a dog all she wanted. Hell, she’d be right.
‘Course, she clearly wasn’t the type of girl to be offended by my wandering eyes. She walked right up to me, wound her arms around my bare waist, and pressed those perfect tits right up against my chest. Then she rubbed around like she was a cat and I was her scratching pole.
“Don’t you want to stay for breakfast?” she purred.
“Much as I’d like to, I can’t. Got somewhere to be.”
The woman whose name might or might not be Veronica pulled back and sashayed her ass across the room to a wooden nightstand by the bed. She bent at the waist, giving me the perfect view of said bottom as she scrawled something on a piece of paper.
I considered staying longer, but if I did that, she’d think this wasn’t just a one-night stand. Girls were complicated like that. If our night stretched into morning, they got ideas. Ideas that maybe they would be the one to capture the guy no one else could. They would read something more into morning sex than the sex that occurred late at night when both our tongues tasted of beer.
I might sleep around, I might like a variety of ladies, but I never gave false hope where there was none. I might be a dog, but I wasn’t an ass.
Sweet cheeks (I had to call her something) swayed her hips back across the room and held out a scrap of paper to me. “Call me,” she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder.
I glanced at her chest one more time, then stuffed the piece of paper in the front pocket of my jeans.
She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine, slipping her tongue between. I kissed her back quickly and then slowly pulled away. Reaching around, I palmed her ass. “Thanks for last night,” I said and walked out of her bedroom without even looking back.
By the front door, I found my shoes and leather jacket and quickly finished dressing before stepping out into the cold morning air. I wasn’t going to miss this cold. I was actually looking forward to moving on, trying something new.
A thin layer of frost covered the windshield on my truck. Instead of getting out and scraping it, I blasted the heat and let the engine idle, letting it melt on its own. While I waited, I pulled out the already crumpled piece of paper I was just given. Smoothing it out, I looked down, my eyes skimming over the number I was never going to call to look for her name.
I laughed and crumpled the paper back up and tossed in on the floor of the truck.
Rachel.
Damn. I hadn’t even been close.
Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series, the new adult Death Escorts series, and the new adult Take it Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com
Romance Basket Includes (A $75 value): One Diamond Candle in the Desire fragrance (features a ring inside the candle!) A signed PB of Tricks A heart filled with chocolate A set of 5 Edible Massage Oil for Sensual Intimacy Kissable Oil Gift Set by Earthly Body I Dare You: 30 Sealed Seductions - a box that has 30 seductive prompts and dares each in their own sealed envelope.
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