Tag / Adrienne Giordano

by mvbookreviewer

Requested ARC Review: Risking Trust by Adrienne Giordano

Format: E-bookriskingtrust
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Private Protector’s, Book 3
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Michael Taylor
Heroine: Roxann Thorgesson
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 7, 2011
Started On: November 5, 2011
Finished On: November 6, 2011

Believe it or not Risking Trust by Adrienne Giordanno is actually the book that started Adrienne’s writing journey and acts as the beginning of the the Private Protector’s series. Though this is the third book published in the series, this story actually takes place before Man Law, the first book of the series which made me sit up and take notice of Adrienne’s writing style.

39 year old Michael Taylor, CEO of one of the nation’s most private and elite security companies finds himself the number one suspect in the murder of his wife Alicia, whom he has been separated from and embroiled in a financially ugly divorce for the past two years. Wanting to prove his innocence in the most public manner possible, Michael approaches Roxann Thorgesson, owner of the Banner-Herald who happens to be his ex-girlfriend from twelve years back.

35 year old Roxann’s life has just about spun out of control since the sudden death of her beloved father. Watching Michael stroll into her office and offering her exclusive rights to all his life past and present in exchange for her helping him uncover the real killer seems like the icing on the cake. Though Roxann would love nothing better than to tell Michael to run back to his life and leave her alone like he had done twelve years back without any explanations, the curious nature within her as well as her heart which still remembers the happiness that had been her life when they had been together refuses to let her do so.

Delving into the murder of the woman who had married the man she had wanted beyond anything else and keeping her emotions intact seems to be one of the toughest challenges Roxann has encountered up till now. The close proximity which the investigation puts her in with Michael weakens her resolve not to get involved with the man who had broken her heart and never looked back. As the investigation opens up a can of worms neither expected, so emerges the reasons why Michael had left her which clears up the air for both of them to start over; only if they can find the real killer behind the murder.

Risking Trust is the story that serves as the missing component when I first delved into Man Law. Back then, I had no clue whatsoever that Michael had a story of his own. And I am so very glad that Carina Press decided to publish his story which serves as a really good beginning for the whole series. If you haven’t read this series yet, I recommend that you kick it off by starting with this one.

With Adrienne’s trademark wit, style and humor, she reels the reader in with this installment as well; none of the cardboard variety characters to be found in her stories, but people you can most definitely relate to which makes her stories unbeatable. She has a way of portraying her characters that is unlike any other and pits them together in the most difficult situations which they work through like heroes and heroines who definitely deserve the happily ever after at the end. Time and yet again, it is the style and prose with which Adrienne delivers her stories that keeps me her #1 fan when it comes to her Private Protector’s series.

Michael is the broody, ex-military hero who finds himself living his worst nightmare when the police refuses to investigate any other avenues in the investigation of his wife’s murder. His regrets makes him human, his resolve to win back Roxann’s affections that makes him an alluring hero!

Roxann is a heroine who makes for a very worthy partner for Michael in every single way. She is the type to stubbornly stick to the side of those whom she loves which makes her unbeatable as a heroine. I loved her style, her sense of humor and the way she fights the panic that threatens to submerge her even if she were to give an inch.

And that brings me to my favorite character Vic Andrews. Whenever he strolled into the picture in all his come-get-me-now-sexiness, I felt a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth and an overwhelming urge to just sigh and crumple at his feet as one big puddle of goo! Yep, he is that good and I believe even if I had never read or heard of Vic before this story, I would still have ended up half in love with him by the time this one was done!

Combining explosive passion and a story of second chances twelve years in the making, Risking Trust is a novel that stands true to Adrienne’s remarkable talent as one of the best RS authors out there

Highly recommended for those who love humor, wit and verbal swordplay in their romantic suspense, there is none who does it better than Adrienne.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Carina Press

amazingread

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: A Just Deception by Adrienne Giordano

Format: E-bookajustdeception
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Private Protectors, Book 2
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Peter Jessup
Heroine: Isabelle DeRosa
Date of Publication: September 5, 2011
Started On:September 1, 2011
Finished On: September 3, 2011

A Just Deception by Adrienne Giordanno is her second book in the Private Protectors series. 32 year old Peter Jessup is former Navy SEAL and now works for Taylor Security. Forced into taking a vacation to get his act together, Peter is a restless soul that has no penchant for sitting around twiddling his thumbs. Coming from a family that is filthy rich, Peter is someone who feels comfortable being his own guy, away from all the rules that the ultra rich society adheres to.

Isabelle DeRosa is a defense lawyer who hides behind the effect her sultry and heartstopping good looks has on the opposite sex. A victim of sexual abuse during childhood, Isabelle has no qualms about what she is capable of emotionally and physically and arms herself with the necessary skills to defend herself if the need were to ever present itself.

When her cousin Kendrick with whom she shares her turbulent past with is murdered and fingers start pointing in her direction, Isabelle agrees to help the FBI uncover the reality behind the facade of a charity home that Kendrick has been keeping up as a business front on his home turf. When Peter Jessup enters the picture as her protector, a man who for the first time in her life has the ability to pierce through the iron clad armor that guards her fragile emotions and heart, Isabelle is in the battle of her life to overcome the fear that has ruled over her life up until now. As block by block the armor crumbles around her, Isabelle makes her way into the treachery and deceit that is Kendrick’s legacy.

This is my second book by Adrienne Giordanno and the one thing that constantly strikes a chord deep within me is Adrienne’s voice which rings with humor all throughout the story. Yes, she deals with a lot of emotional, dark and heavy subjects like the trauma of a woman getting over being abused sexually as a child to baby selling black markets to murder within this story. But somehow, all through this, Adrienne finds a way to keep true to her voice and deliver the reader with what I have come to identify essentially as her own style. And that is one main reason I would always constantly keep coming back for more of her books whenever a new one comes out.

When I encountered Vic Andrews in Man Law, the first book in the Private Protectors series, I thought to myself that no man could ever measure up to Vic. But I was proven completely and utterly wrong when Peter Jessup strolled in and swept me off my feet and tumbled me into his world where his character is everything and I mean everything you would want in the man by your side. He is however not without his own demons to fight but what makes him so appealing is the way he is so patient with Isabelle who has a lot of baggage of her own to get over from before Peter and Isabelle can find their own happily ever after.

The one thing that I can always count on when I pick up a book by Adrienne is the fact that she doesn’t waste time trying to portray the men in her stories the way that the opposite sex wants them moulded and shaped up as they want men to be. But rather, Adrienne brings the male characters in her books to life the way they should be, the way I see men in reality interact with one another and react to emotional upheavals in their lives. And that is one reason I just loved the 2nd book in the Private Protectors series as much as I did.

Isabelle’s character is one worthy of being mentioned because she is one tough chick with an inner vulnerability that just reaches into something deep inside of you until you cant help but empathize with what she has gone through at such a young age. Her coping mechanism when it kicks in is more than understandable and what appealed to me is the way Adrienne handles Isabelle’s emotional trauma in the book, giving her ample enough time and reason to get over it and even then there are no magical solutions to healing the scars that seems to be embedded deep inside of her.

The dialogues are wickedly hot at times and of the laugh out loud variety, the sexual tension between Isabelle and Peter insanely hot, sweet and emotional and the suspense factor that aligns nicely along with the romance aspect of the novel makes this an instant winner! Recommended for fans of the series and fans of Adrienne Giordano. Peter Jessup’s character alone makes this one worthy of being picked up!

Momentous Scenes:

  • The scene during which Peter’s mother walks in on Peter and Isabelle getting it on. Laugh out loud funny. Seriously! LOL
  • The car smexing scene. Insanely and wickedly hot and emotional as well!
  • Every.single.time Peter Jessup gives his Hollywood variety smile. Made me go weak at the knees every time I tell you!

Favorite Quotes

(Isabelle) “You can do whatever you’d like at my house.”
He raised his eyebrows and grinned.
“Within reason,” she added. “If I find you in my bed with a woman, you’re a dead man.”
He grinned bigger.
Her stomach knotted. “Did I say that?”
He continued to grin.
She had said it. Must be the fatigue. Three hours of sleep didn’t cut it.
He stepped closer. Oh, boy.
“Izzy, the only woman I want in that bed is you.”

Peter heard the lock tumble. She must have turned it with her free hand, because the door opened and the inside light she’d left on washed over them.
Izzy threw her arms around his neck, pressed against him and slammed her tongue into his mouth. Demanding and hot. His breath caught and he couldn’t release it. Thank you, Jesus. He’d never known anything better than this kiss.

After slipping the condom on, he rolled on top of her, shoved her hair out of her face and held it while he got lost in those sea green eyes that, in a darkened room, shined bright.
He wanted her. And it wasn’t just the sex. He wanted the whole nutty package.

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Man Law by Adrienne Giordano

Format: E-bookmanlaw
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Private Protectors, Book 1
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Vic Andrews
Heroine: Gina Delgado
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 4, 2011
Started On: June 27, 2011
Finished On: June 27, 2011

Man Law by Adrienne Giordano is the debut novel of the Private Protectors series set to be released on the 4th of July by Carina Press. Lately Carina Press has published some very great books which in turn has introduced voracious readers such as myself to a number of fabulous and really talented authors for which I am forever grateful to Carina Press.

Man Law tells the story of the sexy Vic Andrews with his distracting goatee and his unwanted attraction towards his best friend Mike’s younger sister Gina Delgado, a single mother with three kids, who has been a widow for the past four years. Vic is a man who lives by and follows only his Man laws and he screws that up royally when he has mind numbing sexual encounters with Gina in the basement of her house, at the beach and the next time in her kitchen. Though Vic and Gina both brush those off as brain farts, they both know that the underlying attraction that always ignites whenever they are together won’t be brushed aside just that easily.

When one of Vics’s assignments come back to haunt him and the target this time is Gina and her kids, Vic knows that he won’t let anything happen to them as long as he is able to draw breathe from his body. To say that Vic has commitment issues and emotional garbage is to put things mildly. But Gina is determined that Vic decide once and for all whether what they have between them is worth exploring or walking away from. What Gina wouldn’t back down from is that she won’t say yes to a relationship with a man who puts his life constantly in danger, having once already gone through hell after the untimely death of her husband.

What made Man Law such an interesting story was because of the way the author brings in all the characters and let them do their thing. Lily, Gina’s youngest is so adorable that you can’t help but grin at her conversations with Vic who might think he is clueless when it comes to kids but does so very well in that department as well. Gina fights for what she wants and when it is Vic that she sets her sights on, she doesn’t let him that easily off the hook when the last thing he wants to do is talk about how he feels.

The twenty four hour surveillance that Taylor Security pulls off on Gina’s family certainly brings Vic that much closer for the first time in his life to saying yes to commitment, but for Vic that might not be what fate has in store for him when he leaves Gina to hunt down his enemy, knowing that without that final act of vengeance on his part, he would never  be able to look himself in the mirror ever again.

I just flat-out loved Vic’s sense of humor and the way his thoughts filter out to bring a smile to the reader’s face even during the most charged moments in the story. The thing that drew me in the most was that every part of the story felt real from the humor to the teenage crabby issues to the passion and love that flares between Gina and Vic. And if I hadn’t already been half in love with Vic by the end of the story, the last chapter would have convinced me to go all the way as I just simply adored the ending.

Filled to the brim with humor, sizzling sexual tension, romance with a love that grows on you, Man Law is a summer read not to be missed out on!

Recommended for those who love romantic suspense, adventure and romance in one setting.

Definitely looking forward to the rest of the novels in the series.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Carina Press

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