The two strong women who carry this story, Irene Turner and Kinsey Masters, are some of the best characters I've read in a long time. And I’ve been reading some good books, so that’s says a lot. Irene is an original—independent, passionate, determined, and gifted with genuine humor. I want to know her and hang out with her. Kinsey is equally independent, deeply compassionate and loving. Both excel in their sports, Irene as a sharpshooter and Kinsey as a former soccer star, now a coach and teacher. The male characters are excellent also—especially the detectives Nate Paxton and Sammy Lucero—but the women steal the show.

The level of betrayal Irene endures is extraordinary. The mystery involves uncovering not only how her infant daughter was stolen from her at birth, but also murder and attempted murder—and another kidnapping. The intersection of Irene and Kinsey’s stories with Nate and Sammy’s efforts to take down a dangerous gang creates stay-awake-page-turning suspense. There’s also a touch of romance, believable and charming, perfectly fitted into the pace of the story, giving the reader a chance to catch her breath and even more reason to root for the characters.

Today we have the cover reveal and re-release of Rebecca Shea’s Bound and Broken Series! Check it out and be sure to grab this sexy series today!

Series: Bound and Broken Series

Author: Rebecca Shea

Genre: Contemporary Romance

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Title: Broken By Lies

Genre: Contemporary Romance

About BROKEN BY LIES:

I had no idea how much I would love Alex the day he walked into my life. He changed everything. The way I breathed. The way I thought. The way I loved. He brought me back to life. He gave me strength and a safe place to land. And then he broke me.   Finding Emilia was a chance to do something good for once in my life. I wanted to change. She believed I was her savior. I ached to be. She found her way into my heart and claimed it as her safe place. I should be telling her the truth about me…instead I break her with lies.

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Title: Bound By Lies

Genre: Contemporary Romance

  About BOUND BY LIES:

Torn between two men; one was what I needed, the other was what I wanted. One man was safe and the other was dangerous. But both men would lay down their lives to save me. ATF agent Sam Cortez is fighting to bring down the Estrada family empire, which was built on murder and corruption. Alex Estrada did what was needed to keep me safe…and paid with his life. Starting over as I try to rebuild my life, it’s clear that the past is never what it seems. What no one knew was that we were all bound by lies.  

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Title: Betrayed by Lies

Genre: Contemporary Romance

  About BETRAYED BY LIES:

From the USA Today bestselling author of the Unbreakable series, comes a sexy, heart-wrenching novel…Betrayed by Lies. As an ATF agent, bringing down the Estrada cartel has been my sole mission. I’m a skilled agent, determined and fearless, but a relentless pursuit and a willingness to risk everything almost killed me. A year later, when an opportunity in Los Angeles presents itself, I jump at the chance to start over and rebuild the career and life I almost lost. Kate Stevens was not part of my new plan. I never expected she would be the one to save me from my past. She was exactly what I needed—smart, beautiful and independent. I finally have a future I look forward to. Only nothing in my life ever goes according to plan. Losing Kate is not an option, but fate seems poised to ruin me, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.

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Exclusive Excerpt:

Chancing a quick glance over my shoulder, I hear the squeaky hinges of a door opening just as I run square into the person exiting. I startle and try to step back as I begin apologizing profusely, but firm hands grip my shoulders, not allowing me to move.

“I’m so sorry,” I gasp. The keycard falls from my hand and lands at the feet of the man I nearly ran over. Looking down, my eyes take in his expensive black shoes, the keycard resting on the ground just in front of him.

His hands release my shoulders, and I lunge for the keycard, but he’s too quick, reaching down and picking it up before I can get to it. His tan fingers wrap around the cheap plastic as he stands up. In shock for a moment, I finally pull myself up and meet his amber eyes.

“Are you okay?” He narrows his honey-colored eyes on me, and I take in his gray dress pants, black shirt, no tie. His hair is short, but slightly wispy on top—a little messy, not perfectly in place. His skin is golden brown, as if he’s been on a tropical vacation. His tan skin makes those amber eyes pop against his dark eyelashes. His square jaw is sprinkled with just enough hair to show he hasn’t shaved today, but it’s his dimples that take my breath away. He’s so well put together I’d guess he was in his thirties. He may be the most beautiful man I’ve ever laid eyes on, but he screams money, power—danger.

“Are you okay?” he asks again, tilting his head at me as I drink him in.

“Oh, um…yes, sorry…just nervous.” I look away from him and down to my fidgeting hands.

He glances behind me at the men on the sidewalk and then back to me as if piecing things together. “Are they harassing you?” He gestures with his head.

“No.” I shake my head. “I’m just tired. It’s been a really long day. I’m sorry I bumped into you,” I say timidly. I extend my hand, palm up in an unspoken gesture for him to return my keycard. My hand shakes as he looks between the card in his hand and me. His thumb flicks at the little yellow sticky note before he turns around and walks toward the door marked one hundred forty-three. He inserts the keycard and pushes the door open, holding it for me.

My heart stammers in my chest as I approach cautiously. I notice the expensive watch on his wrist, which peeks out from his dress shirt, and the light, luxurious smell of what can only be designer cologne. The scent paralyzes me—so intoxicating that I want to press my face to his neck and breathe him in.

Everything inside me—my good sense, my gut—screams at me not to walk toward that door, but I go against my better judgment. In three quick strides, I’m standing at the open door to my motel room as his amber eyes follow me. Brushing against him, I slide by and reach for the lights on the wall just inside the door. Only a small bedside lamp illuminates the room. I notice the musty smell as I glance around at the old furniture.

“Close this door and lock it,” he says, pulling the keycard from the door. He steps just over the threshold and into the room, reaching out to me with the keycard. “Don’t open this door for anybody. Understand?”

I swallow hard and nod. His fingers are warm against my palm as he places the keycard in my hand. My fingers instinctively close and trap his hand in mine. Rooted in place, he scans the room as if searching for something or someone. With no other words of warning or even a goodbye, he pulls his hand free and steps back through the door, closing it behind him with a loud bang.

About Rebecca Shea:

Rebecca Shea is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Unbreakable series, including: Unbreakable, Undone, and Unforgiven, and the Bound and Broken series, including: Broken by Lies, Bound by Lies & Betrayed by Lies. As well as standalone novels, Dare Me and Fault Lines. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her family. From the time Rebecca could read she has had a passion for books. Rebecca spends her days working and her nights writing, bringing stories to life. Born and raised in Minnesota, Rebecca moved to Arizona in 1999 to escape the bitter winters. When not working or writing, she can be found on the sidelines of her sons football games, or watching her daughter at ballet class. Rebecca is fueled by insane amounts of coffee, margaritas, Laffy Taffy (except the banana ones), and happily ever afters. Sign-up for Rebecca Shea's newsletter here: http://tinyurl.com/h8mfya2

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Enter Rebecca’s Giveaway!

I liked this book much better than the first one simply because I felt it was more complexed story and Vienna finally didn't feel so fake to me. In the first book although she was swearing she was taking everything in without a question and was pulled wherever and whenever someone wanted her to do something and in this book she finally starts to think and analyse things on her own and make up her own decisions based on facts that she has and not someone told her.

I really liked this book and am waiting for more

I was sent an ARC copy of this novel, which I freely chose to review.

As I said in my review of Secret Sky, I had known about this series for a while but never seemed to find the time to read it as more books kept being added to it. After finally reading the first novel, I had the opportunity to read this one, that in effect covers much of the same ground as Secret Sky, but it is told from a different perspective, that of Jackson Delaney, the man who trains Em in the first book, and teaches her quite a number of things (and in case you haven’t read it, I won’t say any more). I must confess that my curiosity was two-fold. On finishing that novel, I think most readers will be left wondering the reasons for Jackson’s behaviour. Although he was never a favourite of mine (he seemed too good to be true and too secretive to be trustworthy), the things we learn about him at the end of the story would make most people reconsider what they had read and make conjectures as to why he had done what he did. As a writer, I was also intrigued about how the author would approach the challenge of telling the same story from a different perspective, or at least, including part of the same story into another story told by somebody else. It is not the same to write a book that includes different perspectives as writing two separate books giving us different accounts of the same story. By using a first-person narrative again, we get inside of the character’s head, and it makes for a very interesting experience, especially if one has read the other book very recently, as you can see the same scene, and read the same dialogue, but interpret it in a completely different way. It must have been a challenge, and I must say that although I read both books back to back and was, therefore, very familiar with the story, the nuances and the change in point of view kept it fresh and intriguing.

This novel talks about families and family relationships, particularly between fathers and sons, although the relationship of Jackson’s wife to her family is also key to the development of the story. The novel opens at the funeral for Jackson’s father, and the author sets the scene beautifully, with great descriptions of the setting, the characters, the funeral arrangements, down to the heat (this is New Orleans in August, and having visited it in September, I can only imagine how suffocating it must be). The author also manages to convey a lot of information about Jackson’s father and his somewhat “dubious” business practices, without making the reader feel there is too much telling. Being inside of Jackson’s head, we share in his perspective and, at least at first, it seems as if he is trying to leave his mark on things and do things more ethically and stand his moral ground, in contrast to his father. (Of course, having read the other book, I had my doubts as to how things would work out, but I think he makes for a very credible character if somebody reads this book first). It doesn’t take long though before it becomes evident that perhaps he is more of his father’s son than he wants to believe, and some of the lessons he learned from his father prove difficult to unlearn, like his lack of confidence and mistrust of women, and his attitude towards family, his and others.

This is another book that has paranormal elements at its heart although, at least at first sight, the novel is set in our everyday world, only with some enhancements and secrets most of us know nothing about. This novel can also be enjoyed by people who don’t often read fantasy, but here we come to realise much sooner than in Secret Sky that the gift can be manipulated and put to uses far from harmless, and we get the perspective of somebody who has grown up with the gift, rather than learning about it with the main character. Jackson moves between both worlds with ease and manages to keep them separate most of the time, but perhaps not as well as he imagines.

I enjoyed reading the same story from a different perspective, although I would not say the book has managed to endear me to Jackson, in particular. He is a solid character, his motivations are plausible, and whatever we might think of his behaviour, he is not all good or all bad. He is quick to think the worst of people; at times he seems cocky and full of confidence but some of his actions and reactions prove he is not as strong and self-confident as he’d like others to believe; he misjudges people often and holds grudges that seem unjustified; he is rather egotistical and thinks of his own interests first; he manipulates others to get what he wants, but he is ambivalent and tries to avoid causing unnecessary harm, can be generous on occasion, and is a dutiful son.  His attitude towards women is problematic, but this seems to be part of his inheritance, and yes, we do get the male perspective of the sexual encounters as well (not something I particularly cared for, but like the rest of the book, I thought Jackson’s voice felt genuine and worked well). There is a clear ARC to the character and by the end he has learned a lot about himself, not all of it flattering.

I read a description of the book which mentioned Rashomon and it got me thinking. Rashomon tells the same story from the perspectives of several of the witnesses present, and in this case I wondered how other characters would have seen the events, or rather, thought about Jackson and his actions at the time. But that would be another book. (Just saying!)

The novel also contains questions for book clubs (don’t read them before you read the novel, as there are spoilers) and a glossary of terms that hints at a much more complex world than we have so far glimpsed. That and the description of the rest of the books in the series piqued my curiosity, and I suspect this would not be the last book in the series I read.

I think this book can be enjoyed on its own, and I’d be curious to hear the opinion of somebody who read it without being familiar with the series, but to fully appreciate it I’d recommend reading at least the first of the Gift Legacy series first. A book for readers who enjoy a touch of fantasy and fancy, combined with a good story of family relationships, betrayal, and mystery. And if you like boats and sailing, even better.