Tasty Review Tour for Desert Exposure by Robena Grant

Welcome to my stop on the Tasty Review Tour for Desert Exposure by Robena Grant.  Please leave a comment or question for Robena to let her know you stopped by.  You can enter her tour wide giveaway by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  You can also follow the tour here, the more often you enter, the better your odds of winning. 

Desert Exposure

by Robena Grant

Desert Heat, Book 3 

Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press

Release Date: April 20, 2013

Genre: Romantic Suspense

ISBN: 978-1612178752

ASIN: B00CGOGTTO

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Book Description: 

She follows her gut—he follows the rules.

Rachel Copeland’s fearless spirit makes life an adventure. Yet when her grandfather goes missing, she finds herself embroiled in an undercover sting operation with a by-the-book detective. Their partnership should be a disaster, but the spark between them is far from boring.

Detective Michael Delaney is hot on the trail of a drug kingpin, and fears Rachel’s grandfather may be involved somehow. That doesn’t mean he’s ready to accept Rachel’s help, though. Despite her sharp intuition, she’s an ordinary citizen and he shouldn’t risk her safety. But as they work together, his respect for her grows…and so does his attraction.

Stolen cameras, a criminal seeking revenge, a cabin at the Salton Sea, and one fluffy white dog make for a complicated case. Can Michael find Rachel’s grandfather and solve the case in time? Or will Rachel’s impulsive spirit get them both killed?

Buy Links

Amazon │ARe │The Wild Rose Press

Excerpt

"Oh, dear God--"

Rachel didn't look back. If she was about to die, she didn't want to see the bullet coming. Another burst of gunfire sounded. A bullet lodged in a tree trunk above her head. She squashed the backpack against her chest, keeping Ralph in place, and pumped her legs hard to get over the slight rise.

Once down the other side, she darted through a field of date palms and got to the old truck, which she'd parked off the main drag. Opening the truck door, she slid into the seat and shoved the key into the ignition. With a quick gasp for air she tossed the backpack onto the floor of the truck. Slick with sweat and trembling with fear, her fingers shook as she turned the key in Grandpa's old truck.

"Please start. Please start." It leaped into action. She yanked on the zipper of the windbreaker, and let Ralph out onto the seat. He ran to the open window and barked.

"Shh, Ralph," she whispered. "Good boy. Lie down."

There was no sign, or sound, of movement. She pressed the accelerator hard. The truck roared across the unsealed track, and out from under the cover of tall date palms like a raging bull released from a rodeo pen. She headed for the highway and toward the safety of Grandpa's cabin.

"Oh, hell, oh, hell...oh, hell," she said, and tried to slow her panic.

The empty camera case still hung around her neck and it bumped against her chest. Pulling the strap over her head with one hand, she gripped tight to the steering wheel with the other, and then shoved the case on top of the backpack.

I risked my life for a freakin' camera? 

Author Info

Robena Grant writes contemporary romance about ordinary women who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Travel and discovering new places brings her great pleasure, and she often includes travel locations in her stories. She is Australian by birth, and now lives in Southern

California. 

Robena may be contacted at: www.robenagrant.com where she blogs weekly, or follow her on Twitter and Facebook

My Review

A bar owner with a missing grandfather and a cop determined to bring down a drug cartel are the key characters in Robena Grant’s Desert Exposure, the third book in her Desert Heat series.  With well developed characters, good dialogue and just enough action to keep the plot moving at a good pace, Ms. Grant’s book is a page turning romantic suspense and a good addition to her series.  

Angry at what she feels is a lack of action on the part of the local police, bar owner Rachel Copeland is determined to find her missing grandfather.  When threatened by a well dressed thug near The Salton Sea, Rachel makes a run for it and thinks she’s being chased by a criminal.  A criminal who turns out to be undercover detective Michael Baxter Delaney, who thought she was fleeing the scene of a drug buy.  Believing her grandfather may have inadvertently seen something he shouldn’t have seen while out around The Salton Sea, Rachel decides to help Michael with his investigation, whether he wants it or not.

Determined to bring down the Suarez Cartel, Detective Michael Delaney is undercover and trying to get clues about the next big shipment.  Hearing gunshots out by The Salton Sea, he becomes involved in a car chase with a person fleeing the scene.  A person he’s sure is a suspect until the chase is over and he meets Rachel Copeland, an intriguing red head.  At least she was intriguing till she decides to take part in his investigation.

The scenes between Rachel and Michael are well written, full of lively dialogue and smoldering chemistry.  Attracted to Rachel from the start, Michael discovers she’s intelligent, feisty and a woman who’s used to doing things her own way – a complete contrast to his by the rules way.  Ms. Grant does a good job developing Rachel and Michael’s character and it’s great seeing their strengths and weaknesses as they work together to locate her missing grandfather and bring down the cartel.

The secondary characters are well developed and we’ve met some of them before.  In particular Rachel’s best friend Debbie and her husband Jack, the primary characters from Blue Dolphin, the second book in the series.  The villains are also well developed and it’s interesting to see what they do as Rachel and Michael get closer to bringing them down. 

Will Rachel and Michael be able to bring the cartel down and locate her missing grandfather?  Will their relationship survive their experiences as they face off against the Suarez Cartel?  You’ll have to read Desert Exposure to find out, I enjoyed it and I think you will too.

My Rating:  4.5 out of 5 Stars

FTC Disclosure:  I was given a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.  I did not receive any additional compensation for my opinion of the reading material provided.

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