She’s leery of
overprotective men—he’s sworn to protect and serve.
When Katie Sheridan’s best friend is blackmailed over an affair
with a yoga instructor, Katie stuffs herself into workout togs to help identify
suspects. Instead of getting fit, she learns yoga can be a killer when the
instructor winds up dead. Worse, Katie is a suspect, and finds herself tangling
with the sexy, commanding cop investigating the case.
Detective Dirk Johnson knows getting involved with a
material witness—especially one as reckless as Katie—means trouble, but his
heart and protective instincts aren’t logical. More than once, she rescues
herself just before he arrives to save the day. Dirk’s not sure he can keep up
with her, but he’ll go down trying.
Blackmail, murder, and adultery teach Katie and
Dirk that love obeys its own laws. With passion as the final reward, they find
fighting temptation is highly overrated.
Review by Melissa Snark:
The Cover: Normally, I don't comment on covers. However, this time I prefer to make an exception and observe that DEATH STRETCH has become "The Green Book" in my mind. To this day I'm still unsure whether I LIKE its neon limey-likeness. What I can say is that I remember it.
The Story: DEATH STRETCH is a contemporary romantic suspense thriller that begins with a murdered yoga instructor and then takes the reader on a crazy roller coaster of ups and downs. Intermixed with the basic attraction between the hero and heroine are blackmail, affairs, adultery, and plenty of action sequences. The authors has a lot of flaming chainsaws in the air at once and she managed to juggle them without dropping any (or chopping off any limbs). So bravo!
I should state up front that first person isn't my favorite style because it throws me out of the story when the "I" and the "me" inevitably take over. That said, I felt that Ashantay Peters did a good job of creating a compelling heroine who managed to carry the story through to its exciting end.
Katie Sheridan is an easy to identify with every woman who loves chocolate, hates exercise and is fiercely loyal to her best friend. She's lonely and has issues with authority figures, so she is predestined to clash with cop hero, Dirk Johnson. Katie also possesses a genius level talent for finding ingenious ways of placing herself into dangerous situations. She does so repeatedly in defiance of both common sense and rational self-preservation.
I really really felt for Dirk. Of course, he is handsome and courageous, as a hero should be but he is also likeable. As he rides to the rescue over and over on his shiny white horse, he seemed to develop a bit of a Daffy-Duck complex. The more frustrated he became, the more I adored him. (Point blank, the man is an absolute saint for not throttling the heroine.)
I loved the back and forth between Katie and Dirk. The couple share wonderful charisma and their love scenes were sensual and loads of fun. Their flirty interactions were some of my favorite scenes in the entire story.
Secondary characters were well developed and interesting. As the story progresses, there's a lot going on that requires the reader to commit their mental resources. However, the resolution to the yoga instructor's murder fell flat for me. I wanted the killer to be someone less obvious. All in all, this is a highly entertaining novel. Fans of romantic suspense will be pleased.
I downloaded this book during a free day on Amazon.
The Cover: Normally, I don't comment on covers. However, this time I prefer to make an exception and observe that DEATH STRETCH has become "The Green Book" in my mind. To this day I'm still unsure whether I LIKE its neon limey-likeness. What I can say is that I remember it.
The Story: DEATH STRETCH is a contemporary romantic suspense thriller that begins with a murdered yoga instructor and then takes the reader on a crazy roller coaster of ups and downs. Intermixed with the basic attraction between the hero and heroine are blackmail, affairs, adultery, and plenty of action sequences. The authors has a lot of flaming chainsaws in the air at once and she managed to juggle them without dropping any (or chopping off any limbs). So bravo!
I should state up front that first person isn't my favorite style because it throws me out of the story when the "I" and the "me" inevitably take over. That said, I felt that Ashantay Peters did a good job of creating a compelling heroine who managed to carry the story through to its exciting end.
Katie Sheridan is an easy to identify with every woman who loves chocolate, hates exercise and is fiercely loyal to her best friend. She's lonely and has issues with authority figures, so she is predestined to clash with cop hero, Dirk Johnson. Katie also possesses a genius level talent for finding ingenious ways of placing herself into dangerous situations. She does so repeatedly in defiance of both common sense and rational self-preservation.
I really really felt for Dirk. Of course, he is handsome and courageous, as a hero should be but he is also likeable. As he rides to the rescue over and over on his shiny white horse, he seemed to develop a bit of a Daffy-Duck complex. The more frustrated he became, the more I adored him. (Point blank, the man is an absolute saint for not throttling the heroine.)
I loved the back and forth between Katie and Dirk. The couple share wonderful charisma and their love scenes were sensual and loads of fun. Their flirty interactions were some of my favorite scenes in the entire story.
Secondary characters were well developed and interesting. As the story progresses, there's a lot going on that requires the reader to commit their mental resources. However, the resolution to the yoga instructor's murder fell flat for me. I wanted the killer to be someone less obvious. All in all, this is a highly entertaining novel. Fans of romantic suspense will be pleased.
I downloaded this book during a free day on Amazon.
Available for purchase:
AUTHOR BIO:
Ashantay
Peters loves escaping into a well-written book. Her reading addiction also has
her perusing magazines, Internet articles and even food labels. The last is
often feebly excused as an attempt to maintain health, but her friends know the
truth. She lives in the mountains of western North Carolina, a happy transplant
from the much colder (and flatter) Midwest.
She loves to hear from readers!
Give her a holler via one of the links below.
Connect with Ashantay:
Email: ashantay.peters at gmail.com
Hi Ashantay,
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm curious. Do you share your heroine's issues with authority? How did that aspect of her personality come about?
Yes, I d share my rebellious (and stubborn streak) with my heroine. Hmmm. Not sure how it happened, except that I was an exceptionally well-behaved girl until senior year of high school then turned into a raging hellion! I have a feeling you know what I'm talking about...
ReplyDeleteThanks for your book review - I appreciate your kind words!
Moi? A raging hellion? HARRUMPH. I suspect I may resemble that remark. ;-)
DeleteYou're welcome! :)
Cover is definitely eye-catching and the story does intrigue me...although not a fan of adultery LOL. I am a very well-behaved girl so might need to lighten up. Enjoyed the post today, Ms Snark. Congratulations, Ashantay.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tanya! Adultery is not nice, no. Lighten up? My favorite words! Well, besides, "Dinner is served" and I'm not the one speaking -
Delete