Lethal Design by Desiree Holt is an amazing romantic suspense book.  Ms. Holt has delivered a book that once started, you can't put down.  Shannon is a video game designer.  Owen is a bodyguard for the Omega Team.  When strange things happen to Shannon, Owen is assigned as her bodyguard.  Their story is packed with action, suspense, humor, and 5 alarm fire heat.  I loved this book from cover to cover and can't wait for my next book by Desiree Holt.  Lethal Design is book 3 of the Omega Team Series but can be read as a standalone.  This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I read a print copy of this book.

Cricket is a runt who has had to prove herself all her life. She is good at her job but wants out of her next assignment, calming Slade. Slade is working through grief and is a bit out of control. They spend time together and work together, until they cross a line. Danger pulls them apart and they realize they need to be together despite rules. I enjoyed the story although I found the narrator a little off, distracting.

I received this audiobook as a gift, and this is my unsolicited review.

They’re both werewolves, but they come from worlds apart. Cricket is technically a Runt in the werewolf hierarchy, but her competence and ability to blend in as human has granted her honorary Beta status in the American Lycan Intelligence Agency in Team Greywolf. Slade comes from a long line of werewolf royalty where long-held rules of mate choosing are strictly adhered to. Recently, he lost his entire pack and madness threatens to consume him utterly. It’s hoped that Cricket’s Runt status will serve to bring out his Alpha protectiveness and ground him once again. Cricket isn’t too enthused about the assignment even as her libido lusts after the well-muscled Slade.

I’ve been wetting my feet on paranormal shifter romances this past year. I find some parts of this genre to be fascinating (like the shape-shifting) and other parts to be a bit over-pronounced (the damaged Alpha male). I found this book to be a better story than most I have encountered in this genre. It was Cricket. She made the story for me. I found her wit and sense of purpose and self to be refreshing and totally entertaining. She has a career and a place in Team Greywolf that she earned. Her status isn’t dependent upon the man in her life (another theme in shifter romances that has worn thin for me). I often chuckled at her sarcastic jokes. I think I could be best buds with her.

The damaged Slade was not much more than that. He has his royalty thing going, being a rich man in his own right and then his damaged psyche that needs healing. I could have used something more to give him personality. The lusty scenes between him and Cricket were good if a little brief. Perhaps that’s just my lustful hormones wanting more…

I did enjoy the big mystery to the story. Something is taking out werewolves, like Slade’s pack, and the Lycan Intelligence Agency is at a loss to explain it. One tiny lead gives us another and then Cricket and Slade have to go undercover and on the hunt. The action picks up and there’s one rescue after another. It was fun if a little predictable.

As a biologist, I also liked the few realistic touches about wolf hierarchy, such as all the sniffing, the nose nipping, and other such things. These details made the shape shifting, and especially the wolf form, more realistic and the other all story more entertaining.

At the end, not everyone gets everything they wanted, which I also liked. I don’t need everything to turn out totally happy hunky dory in my shifter romances. A few complications were left for the characters to work out.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Christine Padovan was great as Cricket. She has Cricket’s sarcasm down to a T. Padovan does tend to drop the last word in a sentence and draw it out, giving her speech an odd cadence that I can’t place. However, she doesn’t do this often when she’s doing a character’s lines. She does do it often when telling the story narrative and I feel it takes a little getting used to. Don’t be put off by it though as her character voices are worthy.

I was invited to read this by one of the authors, in exchange for an honest review, despite her knowing I have a bit of an aversion to police procedural fiction. Brave woman.

This is probably one of the most police procedural focussed books I have read. Having said that, I actually really enjoyed it. I think it helped that I got to see the Organised Crime Team coming together at the beginning of the book, so I felt like I was at the same stage of the journey as all the characters, with regards to getting to know each other.

The Caller was fast paced, sometimes tense, and certainly very hard to put down. It left me feeling on edge and unable to fall asleep one night, as I was home alone.

I’m waiting for the panic to set in when a parcel is delivered. Thank goodness for the dog gate directly behind my front door. It may save my life. Failing that, there is always my huge softie of a guard dog who can protect me by drowning evil delivery men with his slobbery licks. While I was out posting orders yesterday, I actually helped a lost looking courier find a house. It was only afterwards that I thought, oh no, I hope my neighbour is okay. Slightly creepy timing, considering the subject matter of this book.

Having enjoyed this so much, I would happily read more in this series, and highly recommend it to those who love police procedural crime novels.

Can you guess?  Yes, I loved Raw Edge Of Danger by Desiree Holt!  Grey and Athena's story was action packed.  Ms Holt has delivered a well written book loaded with fantastic characters, drama and smokin' hot sex.  Raw Edge Of Danger is a fairly quick read, a perfect choice for those with limited time for reading.  Raw Edge Of Danger is book 1 of The Omega Team Series and can be read as a standalone.  This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.  I look forward to reading more from Desiree Holt in the future, she never disappoints!