Review: Hot and Sexy Romantic Suspense!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 1, 2014
First Surrender Review:First Surrender by Katie Reus is the kick off novella to a new series titled The Serafina: Sin City series. It includes a couple of characters from Katie's Red Stone Security series. In First Surrender we meet Hayden, second in command for security at The Serafina hotel owned by Wyatt Christensen where his wife, Iris is head of security. We also meet Sierra, head chef at the restaurant in the hotel. Hayden and Sierra have been friends for a long time, but it takes an attack on Sierra to push them both over the line of friendship into lovers.First Surrender is sweet and passionate and a very, very quick read. Hayden really cares for Sierra and his protective instincts kick in after he learns Sierra is attacked. I thought that was sweet, especially since they kept their relationship pretty platonic with not touching, hugging. However, I was then surprised at how crude he could be in some of the language he used when describing what he wanted to do to her intimately. I was just taken back by it I guess since he knew she was so innocent and wanted to treat her well. Perhaps it was because the story just wasn't long enough to develop the characters or the plot as much as I would have wanted. I knew going it that it was a novella, so I wasn't completely surprised. I did like what little I learned about Hayden and Sierra in general and sure hope to see them in future books in the series.If you like short, quick stories and are not too worried about connecting too deeply with the story or the characters, I recommend First Surrender. If you plan to read Katie's new series, this is the novella that sets that up and is a recommended read.***Sensual Surrender Review:I just finished Sensual Surrender by Katie Reus and I am so glad I have found such an awesome romantic suspense author. I love that Katie can write both long and short stories with varying levels of suspense. Sensual Surrender was more about the characters than the suspenseful plot of the story. The story was laid out for us so there was not a lot of suspense, except for the little twist at the end. However, I enjoy reading different types of romantic suspense and this one fit the bill for a short, lighter romantic suspense story.Sensual Surrender is the second in The Serafina: Sin City Series and I really enjoyed it. There was a perfect balance of story and intimacy and fit the characters and plot well. Although this book is part of a series, it stands on its own. However, I always enjoy books in a series because I get to see what former characters are up to. It's like seeing old friends!Jay and Ellie are the main characters in this story and we see them a little bit in the first book of the series. In Sensual Surrender, Jay and Ellie are doing well in their relationship and Jay even wants to ask Ellie to marry him, until her ex comes into the picture and messes things up for them. Ellie feels the only way to keep Jay out of danger is to leave him. Boy was she wrong...***Sweetest Surrender Review:Sweetest Surrender by Katie Reus is the third book in The Serafina: Sin City Series and follows true to the other books in the series. The romance is a little more prevalent than the suspense, as the story is focused on the characters. If you like lighter romantic suspense with some very hot love scenes, this book is for you!Sweet Surrender is Vadim and Angel's story. Vadim is one of Wyatt Christensen's (Breaking Her Rules) security personnel and Angel works in the kitchen. They have been friends for awhile but it takes an "event" to push them into something more. I enjoyed the overall story, but not as much as I have some of Katie's other stories. I think I prefer her longer, full length novels to the shorter ones. The character and plot development are a bit stronger in my opinion.Katie always does a nice job with the intimate scenes. The characters are respectful and already in love (even if they don't know it) when it comes to that, which I like. The love scenes are always passionate when Katie writes them and appropriate for the characters. I thought Sweetest Surrender had one too many love scenes, but it didn't really take away from the overall story.It's always great to keep up with other characters from previous stories and Katie does a great job of weaving old and new characters into the story. I really like Roman, one of the security personnel that also helped Angel with some self defense training. I hope he has a story in the future. If you like your romance hot and the suspense light, I recommend you try Sweetest Surrender.