THE SAPPHIRE AFFAIR (Jewel #1) by Lauren Blakely-Review, Book Tour & Giveaway
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 12, 2016
Bounty hunter Jake Harlowe knows how to track a criminal. So when a group of swindled shareholders hires him to trail their former CEO, Jake expects a quick trip to the Cayman Islands to close another case. Until a devastatingly beautiful woman gets in the way.
Steph Anderson is visiting the Caymans for a rock climbing and dive trip—or so she tells Jake. She’s really trying to find out whether or not her stepfather embezzled money from his company. The last thing Steph needs is the distraction of a sexy, charming man whose kisses drive her wild.
Soon, the pair discover they’re after the same target—and millions in jewels. While Jake can’t be certain Steph isn’t working for her stepfather, and Steph can’t be certain Jake isn’t after the diamonds for himself, they can agree the heat between them is intense, and neither can deny the passion for long.
But the morning after, Steph discovers that she just might have slept with the enemy, and now she’ll have to outwit him to get everything she needs…
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REVIEW: THE SAPPHIRE AFFAIR is the first installment in Lauren Blakely’s contemporary, adult JEWEL romantic suspense duology focusing on bounty hunter/ recovery expert Jake Harlowe, and Island Adventure Tour operator/owner Steph Anderson.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Jake and Steph) THE SAPPHIRE AFFAIR focuses on the hunt for the truth. Steph Anderson is hoping to uncover the truth behind the embezzlement accusations against her stepfather- a man she considers her father but the same man who destroyed her mother’s heart. Enter Jake Harlowe, former military intelligence specialist, and a man seeking the identical information as our story line heroine. What ensues is a partnership between Jake and Steph that leads to a romantic liason where the morning after is anything but expected.
THE SAPPHIRE AFFAIR is a fast paced, romantically charged, and suspense filled story about two people searching for answers and the whereabouts of millions of dollars in missing money and diamonds. Steph Anderson hopes that the rumors about her step father are not true but all clues point to an illicit operation where missing money is but the tip of the proverbial iceberg in the Cayman Islands.
The relationship between our couple is one of immediate attraction; palpable sexual energy that is driven by a vow to remain professional and friendly. The $ex scenes are intimate, provocative and seductive. The premise is entertaining and will keep your attention from the very start; the characters are energetic, real and driven; the romance is hot and steamy. Betrayal, heartbreak and a lack of trust fuel the fires for the next installment. THE SAPPHIRE AFFAIR ends on a cliffhanger-you have been warned.
Lauren Blakely takes the reader on a tropical island adventure where intrigue, suspense, and a game of truth or dare are but a betrayal or ten million dollars away.
Copy supplied by Netgalley
Reviewed by Sandy
She arched an eyebrow. “Is that so? What does a woman like me need?”
The guy flubbed his lips and walked away. Mission accomplished.
Jake could walk away, too.
But he didn’t. He was mere millimeters from her, and that coconut scent was in his damn nostrils again. Reminding him of how her skin tasted. How she smelled when he’d kissed her. And how goddamn much he wanted to wrap her legs around his waist.
Digging his thumb into her hip, he answered her. “Someone who knows how to savor a stunning marine biologist.”
That earned him a sparkling smile. She raised her chin as the music pulsed from the stage. “Savoring is your specialty, I take it?”
While he hadn’t cut across the floor to flirt, he found himself unable to stop. Being this close to her short-circuited all his brain cells. “Oh, believe you me. I am excellent at that pursuit,” he said, letting go of her hip, so his fingers drifted across the fabric of her dress to her belly.
“How would you do that? Savor me, that is.”
He flicked her belly button ring through the material, and her breath caught in response. “I’d run my tongue across this ring, then properly kiss you all over. Every inch. That’s what you need. That’s what you deserve.”
“Proper kissing? Everywhere?” she asked, her voice breathy and low, but he heard every word because they were only for him.
He splayed his palm over her flat belly. The club goers crowded them in, crushing them closer together, and the press of bodies and the tightness of the space made it so hardly anyone could tell who was with whom. “Everywhere,” he said as his thumb dropped lower, tracing a line along the waistband of her panties, making his intentions clear. “Everywhere along your beautiful body.”
She shivered, and her lips parted, but she said nothing. Maybe she was wondering why the hell he was saying these things when they’d agreed to cool it. Hell, he was wondering, too. “You deserve someone who craves the taste of your lips. The feel of your body. Most of all, a woman like you deserves a man who understands the three-to-one ratio.”
She scrunched her brows together. “What’s that?”
He brushed her blonde strands away from her ear, cupped a hand over it, and whispered, “I would make sure you come three times before I even do once.”
Lauren Blakely writes sexy contemporary romance novels with heat, heart, and humor, and she has had eight books on the New York Times Bestseller list and fifteen on the USA Today Bestseller list. Like the heroine in her novel, FAR TOO TEMPTING, she thinks life should be filled with family, laughter, and the kind of love that love songs promise. Lauren lives in California with her husband, children, and dogs. She loves hearing from readers! Her bestselling series include Sinful Nights, Seductive Nights, No Regrets, Caught Up in Love, and Fighting Fire. She recently released SWEET SINFUL NIGHTS, the first novel in her new sexy romance series Sinful Nights that became an instant New York Times Bestseller. Her new adult forbidden romance, 21 Stolen Kisses, hit e-readers in May and landed on the USA Today Bestseller list. In January, she’ll release BIG ROCK, a standalone contemporary romance sure to make you swoon. She also writes for young adults under the name Daisy Whitney. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, text BLAKELY + your email address to 678-249-3375 (please use the actual + sign).
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Wonderful review, Sandy. Looks like an exciting story.
Sounds like a really good story. Great review Sandy.
Great review. Sounds very good.
What a wonderful review!! And a HOTT excerpt, too!
😉
Looks great, Sandy. Thanks for the review.
Another wonderful review Sandy, thanks. Congrats to Lauren on the new release.
Sounds like a great story, thanks Sandy.
Terrific review, Sandy. I like the premise of this series.
Looks like a great read, thanks Sandy. Congratulations to Lauren on the new release.
Thanks for the great review Sandy. Looks like something I would like to read.
Wonderful review, Sandy. Sounds great. Enter me to giveaway.
thanks for the wonderful review. So many books, so little time !!!! 😉