Workout Wednesday: Impulsive - Hooking Up Hawaii Style

I'd like an Impulsive hook-up in Hawaii

instead of doing this read-n-ride challenge

Pages read 245

Riding Time 3hours 1minutes

Calories Burned 1252

Distance Peddled 61.38 miles

Making the Grade: B

For My Thougts


I have been a big fan of HelenKay Dimon ever since I read my 1st book by her - Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy. And with this review she becomes my 1st three-peat offender on the blog. I love her sexy, contemporary stories, great characters and the Hawaii setting provides a great way for me to escape and imagine I'm chillaxing on the beach enjoying a great book.

HelenKay Dimon gives new meaning to “smoking in the boys bathroom" in her latest novel Impulsive and she wastes nooooo time getting right to the action…like page 1.

Katie Long had a simple job to do at the wedding of Deana Armstrong & Josh Windsor (Holding out for a Hero)…well besides helping her sister cater the wedding of the century. Keep her eye on the prize that is Eric Kimura, ex-hubby of the blushing bride and report back on his activities. Sounds like a simple enough task to make a little extra cash on the side except Katie didn’t count on the physical chemistry that ignited between her and the hunky Deputy Prosecutor. Hot sex in the bathroom had definitely not been in the job description.

Eric Kimura was going to put all the rumors to rest once and for all and show everyone that he was well and truly over his ex-wife Deanne. What better way to prove it than by attending her wedding to her DEA agent hubby. The last thing he expected was the hot quickie in the bathroom with one of the catering staff.

On the surface Katie and Eric are not what I would consider a match made in heaven. First of all Katie is much younger, by like 12 years than Eric. She’s barely out of her wild child years, had a brush with the law, has always been considered a screw-up by her sister and is just starting to get her life on track. Eric on the other hand is older, more mature, established in his successful career and has decided to run for the position of Prosecuting Attorney.

Considering that Eric was running for a public and high ranking position, I found the quickness with which these two engaged in hot anonymous sex a little foolhardy. In Eric's position he should have realized that his life was about to be dissected, bisected and probed while his every move was examined under a microscope. Hooking up with the hired help could have derailed his political ambitions before they even got off the ground. Having said that one only has to scan past and current headlines regarding political figures and their penchant for inappropriate sexual encounters to know that - men are men - they aren’t always thinking with the big “head”.

Katie didn’t think that when she agreed to play I Spy on Eric that she would ever see him again but he had different ideas. As her feelings grow and their relationship blossoms, Katie knows she needs to come clean about her part in their supposed first “meeting” before it blows up in her face. Someone inside Eric’s camp however has other plans for Katie “aka their inside source” and isn’t about to let her quit without a fight or take her down in the process.

When he truth comes out, who will Eric believe? Can he get over Katie’s betrayal and the betrayal of someone close to him? Do these two have more between them then hot sex to sustain their relationship? All these questions and more, plus a great story can be answered...don’t delay...be Impulsive...buy this book now!

Workout Wednesday: Huffin' and Puffin' My Way Through Leave Me Breathless

Ok I wasn't really out of breath while reading Leave Me Breathless by HelenKay Dimon, but I did break out into a good sweat and I thought it was a clever tie-in with my read-n-ride challenge this week.
(BTW this graphic is a good depiction of life imitating art LOL!)

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The results are in:
Pages read 269
Riding Time 3hours 6minutes
Calories Burned 1287
Distance Peddled 61.50 miles


For My Thoughts

I actually finished the book before the deadline this week. Hallelujah! So does that mean the book was sooo good and a great read that I raced through it? Or that I made it to the gym enough days in a row to to get it finished on time? The truth is actually a combination of both.

I love Helenkay Dimon's style of writing. Snappy, witty dialogue, complicated family dynamics, a hot alpha male and a take no prisoners heroine collide for a combination that can't go wrong in Leave Me Breathless.

Callie Robbins ex-FBI agent, is a firecracker with a smart-aleck mouth, a quick wit and attitude out the ying-yang. Judge Bennett Walker never stood a chance once Callie was assigned to protect him after a threat on his life.

Bennett Walker may be the cock-o-the-walk around the courthouse, but he's met his match in Callie. She's not the least bit intimidated by the Judge or his formidable black robe (what do Judges where under those robes anyway O_o?) and she lets him know it just about every chance she gets. Ben is dead set against a bodyguard and a woman no less (sheesh he's an ex-marine - he can look after himself!), but his protests fall on deaf ears as Callie just shuts him up with a volley of one-liners and verbal zingers. She's stuck like glue on the good Judge whether he likes it or not...and surprisingly he likes it!

Just a little sample of one line delivered early on by Callie to Ben that had me snickering: "I was going to call you a douche and the bag you came in, but I thought you'd have me arrested." Something about that line just struck my funny bone.

In fact the night I started this book at the gym, someone commented to me that the book must be good since I had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading it. Certainly a good sign that this book was going to be an enjoyable read and make peddling all those miles a little less arduous.

I wasn't 100% sold on the suspense plot and who the threat turned out to be or their reasons for going after Ben, or Emma or Callie whoever the intended target turned out to be (you are going to have to find out for yourself by reading the book if you want to know), but it served it's purpose and brought Callie and Ben together and I can live with that.

The real draw for me in Leave me Breathless was the relationship between Callie and Ben. It's what kept me hooked and reading till the end. The secondary romance featuring Ben's brother Mark - Mr. Homeland Security Agent with no time for a personal life was a nice added bonus. That poor boy was a commitment phobe if ever there was one. Once he got his head out of his ass and embraced the love of his own good woman, it was nice to see him get his HEA as well.

You really can't go wrong with a HKD novel....at least I haven't been disappointed yet!

Back Blurb

PERMISSION TO APPROACH
According to Judge Bennett Walker, trying to kill him is a dumb idea. They might make him wear a big black nightgown to work, but it covers a lot of muscles, and he’s definitely packing beneath it. He’s also an ex-prosecutor and an ex-GI Joe. So when his brother brings in Callie Robbins to protect him, Ben has a few issues. First, he doesn’t need a bodyguard. Second, she’s a 130-pound girl—more smoking hot than smoking gun. And third, what if his body wants her guarding the night shift?

Callie has no problem brushing aside Ben’s disbelief. She left the FBI to escape the boys’ club, but she can be deeper undercover and twice as lethal as any beefy John Doe. As for whether someone’s after Bennett or not, the death threats and car bombs look pretty convincing to Callie. Of course, she might get distracted, sitting inches from the sexiest judge in DC for ten hours a day. Keeping him safe is no picnic. Keeping it professional—that might be impossible.

You'll be "Under The Gun" To Finish This Action Packed, Page Turner!

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Back Cover Blurb:

A good agent never lets the job become personal…
Who wanted her dead? That's what Claire Samson wanted to know. On the run and alone, there was only one man she trusted to find her. Recovery agent Luke Hathaway was the best at locating and saving, and she needed the best if she wanted to live. But the handsome agent who promised salvation had some conditions of his own. If he were to help, she needed to stick close by his side. Very close. And the only thing more dangerous than her current situation was the way Luke made her feel. From the protective look in his green eyes, she could tell he felt the same. But every second that brought them closer together was also ticking toward an explosive confrontation that might tear them apart….

If you want a fast, quick, easy read then Under the Gun is the book for you.
HelenKay Dimon delivers alot of action in the 214 pages of her new Harlequin Intrigue.

Clair Samson is on the run and in serious trouble. She's been set-up to take the fall for murdering her estranged husband Phil (who it turns out really isn't dead after all) and now someone is trying to kill her. Claire turns to the one man she believes can help her prove her innocence and keep her alive at the same time.

Luke Hathaway hunts people for a living, both those who don’t want to be found and those that are praying to be rescued; he’s an expert at recovering people.

Her look may be different, but the minute Luke spies the familiar face in the computer monitor staring back at him, he recognizes it as none other than his former fiancée Clare Samson; the woman who jilted him just before their wedding two years earlier.

Aided by fellow agents Holden and Adam, Luke and Claire are going to have to set aside their differences and unresolved feelings for one another if they are going to solve the mystery of who set Clair up and the reasons why.

I loved the interaction between Luke, Holden and Adam. It was fun, quick-witted and full of sarcastic banter (I can only assume Holden and Adam get their own stories in the future and I certainly hope so!). Claire is no push-over either and she can certainly hold her own against the men. There was lots of fun dialogue between all the parties.

I know the author doesn’t have a lot of time for a back-story in these category romances, but in this case, I wish there had been more time to provide insight into why Claire left Luke and how she hooked up and married Phil so quickly after her breakup.

Under the Gun has it all; betrayal, deception, embezzlement, gunfights and even a daring escape from a burning building. The action is fast and furious once it starts on the second page and doesn’t let up until the end!

I really enjoy HelenKay Dimon’s writing and I hope you will to.