Book: Heels of Love
Author: Phoenix Rayne
Trilogy: From Love to Loathe, Book #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: G Street Chronicles
Synopsis:
When Cricket Hooper moves to Seattle she only has a couple of goals—find a job and an apartment near her friend Chelle, and basically to live a quiet, normal life. However, it isn't long before life becomes far from normal.
When a mysterious man helps get her car out of the mud after she makes a wrong turn, she finds herself in his thrall. He wines and dines her, quite literally, and before Cricket can stop it, things are steamy and serious…very serious.
Cricket is thrown aback when Jyme turns out to be more than a simple fisherman, but then she isn't telling all of her story either.
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Excerpt:
I
woke to an alarm but it wasn't my alarm. I sat up, looked around, and realized
it was the hotel's fire alarm going off. I jumped up, ran to Cinnamon’s room,
and swung the door open. She was knocked out on her bed half dressed; I shook
the shit out of her, and she started yelling.
“What
the hell is that noise?”
I
ran down to Sugar's room, and she was butt naked and so was her company. I screamed
at the both of them to get up. They both jumped up disoriented. I ran back to
my room. I put my stilettos I'd had on earlier in my big purse and slid into my
house shoes. I ran back down the hall, passing Sugar and her company. I ran
back into Cinnamon's room, and she was wide-awake at her safe in her closet
getting money out. I had forgotten about my safe, so I ran back to my room. I
put the code in and yanked the door open; I pulled out the small stack of money
and reached in deeper. I got the plastic bag that was balled up in the corner
and shoved everything in my purse. I reached deeper, found the last item in the
safe, and slid it on my ring finger. I slammed the door and took off towards
the living room. Cinnamon was waiting at the door; we clasped hands and ran for
the stairs. The hotel was in an uproar. We made it down to the lobby, but it
was so congested with customers trying to leave the casino.
“Basement,”
I yelled to Cinnamon. We took the employee stairs and ran down the long
concrete hall. There were about a dozen people in front of us, but we finally
made it through the door. When we got outside, the back lawn was crammed with
people rushing towards the front of the building. Cinnamon and I still held on
to each other’s hands. We made it to the front of the building, and everyone
was frantic. I pulled out my cell phone to call Sugar, but someone pushed me so
hard I dropped the phone. I let go of Cinnamon's hand to retrieve my fallen
phone. I found it and stood up straight; a man in all black with a white ski
mask stood right in front of me. Before I could even prepare a good scream,
someone covered my mouth with a wet bandana, and then I was out. I woke up to
soft kisses all over my face, and then I stretched wide. I was sleeping well
and I kept my eyes shut. Someone was happy to see me. I have had this dream so
many times, and I enjoyed every single one of them.
“Hi
there,” I breathed.
“Hi.”
“Where’ve
you been?”
“Looking
for you.”
“I’ve
been right here the whole time.”
“What?”
“You
used to come and see me all the time, and then you stopped.” I told him. I
kissed his neck and pulled him closer.
“I’ve
missed you so much.”
“Cricket?”
He said my name in an odd way.
“What’s
wrong? Do you have to go now? Please, Jyme, just stay a little longer.”
“Cricket,”
“Shh,
just hold me real tight before you go.” There was a knock at the door, and I
freaked.
“NO…PLEASE…JYME,
DON’T LET HIM HURT ME. HE HITS ME SO HARD. PLEASE DON’T
LEAVE ME PLEASE.” I screamed at the top of lungs through tears.
Someone
knocked again, louder this time.
“Wait
a minute,” Jyme yelling. I clung to him and wrapped my arms around him tighter.
I cried into his chest, and my eyes started stinging.
“Cricket, I’m right here, and I won’t let
anybody hurt you, I swear.”
“But he’s at the door, and he’ll beat it down.
He’s done it before,” I said frantically.
“Shh,
Babe. Are you afraid of me?” he asked softly.
“No.”I
assured him. “Then open your eyes and look at me” I slowly opened my eyes and
blinked several times through piercing pain. Then, I saw him, and I slid my
fingers through his jet-black hair.
“Oh
it’s you!”
“It’s
me,” he chuckled
“You
know, you with hair; you’ve never come to see me.”
“Cricket,
you're really here, and I’m really here with you. I’m not sure what you’re
talking about right now. But I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.”
“Huh” I asked him. I
couldn’t help it but I pinched myself. I felt the pain but I didn’t wake up.
There was another knock at the door, and Jyme got up from the bed. I really saw
him this time. His hair was loose and shoulder length. He wore jeans and a
t-shirt, and his feet were bare. I looked around and recognized everything. We
were in our room, and nothing had changed. The bedding was the same, and so was
the furniture. I looked out the window, and there were the boats all in the
water.
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About the author:
Phoenix Rayne
Phoenix Rayne was born in Federal Way Washington in a small community. Currently she resides in Nashville Tennessee where she is a student as well as a full time author… Phoenix is a published author that has several novels under her belt that she has penned with G-Street Chronicles. When not writing you can find her in a shoe store shopping or catching a good movie.
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My Thoughts -
3/5: Heels of Love is a intense, fast paced read. I enjoyed all of the characters and the adventures they had in this story. Cricket and Jyme are in intense pairing and can't seem to get enough of each other. Cricket is a runner. She runs from her problems and doesn't trust anyone enough to open up or be completely honest. Jyme has been burned and really is just looking for someone to love him. He's extremely dominant and into a few shady business dealings that might tear him and Cricket apart.
I like the pair together, but when Cricket freaks overs the size of Jyme's junk - I wanted to slap her. She's kind of rude and over exaggerates a lot. I do envy the job she got when she arrived in Seattle - dream job anyone? I did not like the Korean ending. I know it's a trilogy, but I do wish there was some bit of HEA. I do think some of the dialogue is a bit off and some of the wording of a bit stiff. I think the name of every meal they had together was unneeded, but other that that - great story. It's very fast paced, full of wicked hot lovin' and sure to make you want to find your own man on a reservation:)
