"When Gage Lawton finds his brother shot dead on his back porch, every shred of evidence points to one person: Gage's former lover, Riley. He and she didn't part ways on good terms, and he's not planning to rekindle anything now--not when he's got a revolver pointed at her head and a finger on the trigger. "
Published: Noble Romance Publishing on September 2011
Pages: 114 Pages
Form: E-book (from a tour for an honest review)
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Packing Heat #1
Amazon: Buy / $8.05 (Kindle) ( EU price, click to see US price )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $5.00 (Nook)
All Romance Ebooks: Buy / $5.00 (Ebook)
Excerpt: Prologue & Chapter 1
"Riley Beckett's past just came back to haunt her . . . and this time, he's got a gun.
When Gage Lawton finds his brother shot dead on his back porch, every shred of evidence points to one person: Gage's former lover, Riley. He and she didn't part ways on good terms, and he's not planning to rekindle anything now--not when he's got a revolver pointed at her head and a finger on the trigger.
A year after Riley swore she and Gage were over, he returns in a hail of gunfire. One look into those achingly familiar blue eyes and she knows how wrong she was to let him go, but now far more than their heated past stands in the way. A twist of fate puts them in the cross hairs of a killer, leaving Riley with two slim options: trust her greatest betrayer or face a murderer on her own."
Unforgiven starts with a bang and doesn't slow down, from murder to suspecting your ex-love of your life to becoming fugitive things don't come easy to Gage and Riley - but it sure makes for interesting reading! Sarah Ballance writes an action packed story where in its center we have an ex-couple, still in love with each other but enough has happened in their past, from his drinking to her parents death that they are more than weary of connecting again.
I liked Gage, I liked how he'd grown to be a man in the year these two spent apart. He's passionate, commanding and skilled ( and has a yummy jealous streak ) and he was a perfect partner to Riley's character. Riley was a joy to read, she's capable, has a good sense of humor, but a really nice vulnerable side as well. :) The characters are well written, wonderfully real and easy to like and care for, their chemistry works well and you believe the passion and the love.
The plot on its own was great! I like my novels with bit of mystery, loads of action, hot couple and all kinds of yummy sexual tension and Unforgiven provided them all! Half way through the book I was all invested in finding out just who pulled the trigger and how was her brother involved, great mystery! When it comes to things I found have wanted more was sometime between the murder and the flare of emotions again, it felt bit too sudden and bothered me in the beginning along with the teasing and jokes, I felt if my brother had just died or if I'd been shot at it would take me some times to recover. But that soon faded as the story moved and the character journey and the plot won over. Great ride, I do love my romantic suspense with a danger threatening the couple's lives, mystery to discover and whole lot of action!
You'll like this if... romantic suspense is your thing, if you aren't squeamish about guns and if you like action in your stories!
Rating :
Something was wrong. Was the dark playing tricks on her? Riley Beckett froze, arm outstretched, hand poised to toss her keys on the table just inside her front door. But she didn't let go. Instead of dropping them in their usual spot, instinct whispered for her to feather pieces of the makeshift weapon between her knuckles. Heart pounding, she pressed the keys in a silent, white-knuckle grip and prayed her concerns were her imagination, that the paranoia of coming home alone to a dark house was getting the better of her.
One, two steps in. Wood planks echoed underfoot. She fought to breathe in air that grew thinner with every tense second.
Three steps.
Then it hit her. The scent. His scent. And with it a flush of memories. The burn of hot grass on her bare skin. Rough hands, a tender touch. Love so sweet she ached for it, her dreams raging, and her body drenched with need.
Their first time.
Her last.
"Gage?" Her voice broke on the single syllable. Riley's grip on the keys tightened, her blood raging hot and cold all at once.
A creak sounded from the corner chair. Her eyes refused to adjust in the darkness, but not even the faint light kept the blond streaks in his russet hair from giving him away. Like rays of sunshine, she used to tease, and her words never failed to draw a scowl across his rugged face.
"Riley."
God help her, her name on his lips sounded as it always had. Coarse. Dangerous. Forbidden. Even before . . . The memory surged, hot and vivid, leaving a metallic taste in her mouth. White heat assaulted her from every corner of the room.
The keys fell to the floor with a clink.
"An eye for an eye, is it?" His voice sounded unpracticed, as if he hadn't spoken in a long while.
She couldn't see his face, but she knew his expression. Flat and humorless. Broken. She remembered the day he stopped smiling. Every part of her wanted to flee, but she stood frozen to the spot.
"What do you mean?" Riley wondered if the words, whispered and weak, had the strength to make it across the room. Hadn't she always known she'd shatter the next time she saw him? Hadn't she dreamed of it anyway?
"You have to ask?" Gage laughed, cold and hollow. "Billy's dead. Hell of a thing to come home to, Riley. My brother blown to bits on my back porch."
"Oh, God." Riley swayed, bile rising in her throat. The room filled with a distant buzzing. She took one unsteady step to the side and stumbled.
When she found his gaze, it was over the business end of a revolver.
He leveled the gun in her direction. Everything else in her world trembled, but his aim held rock steady. Unyielding.
His eyes burned blue and bright. "What I want to know, sweetheart, is why you did it."
He worked his finger over the trigger, and a veil of blackness threatened her last discerning thought.
