Hero: Jared Marshall. Lawyer. Baker. Band member. Needs to convince his worse enemy, the Red Queen, to join the family firm if he wants his freedom.
Heroine: Madlyn Robicheaux aka the Red Queen. Lawyer. Villian. Or is she? Her life has been spent protecting her family…but who will protect her when she falls?
He unclipped his seatbelt as she turned to demand to know why he’d stopped. Planning to warn her not to upset his parents, his mouth crashed into hers instead. Mint, cinnamon, and roses overwhelmed him. Madlyn tasted sweet and bitter at the same time. The pastry chef in him savored it, while the man in him drowned.
Startled at first, she didn’t move, but she didn’t resist him either. He pushed past those gorgeous red lips, through perfect white teeth, and slid into sweet hot wet that rolled through him like a narcotic. He invaded hard and fast before she could protest. She melted, her hands going to his shoulders, not to push him away but to hold on.
This was what he wanted.
This was what he could never get enough of.
He lifted his mouth, resisting the urge to shake his head to clear it. Black eyes flickered opened, staring straight at him in the darkness. Even darker than the night.
“You have thirty seconds to decide if you want it hard or sweet. That was hard.” He licked at her bottom lip. “This is sweet.”
He kissed her again, licking her, teasing her until she gave in to the playful tenderness as he lost himself in her. When he lifted his head, he was drunk on her, and the dazed look on her face told him she was, too.
“Sweet it is.” He moved to kiss her again, and she jerked back, twisting to get away. He tightened his hold on her. “Don’t.”
The anger in his tone surprised him and shocked her into stillness. She stared up at him, weighing her options. He needed her to understand that she didn’t have any when it came to his family. “You can shred me with those claws all day long. I’m even starting to like it. But that’s my family in there. They are good people. I’m not happy about bringing a harpy to dinner, but it’s not my call. One flip remark, one insinuation, and I will break you into so many pieces there will be no way to put you back together.”
Something rippled across her expression, and for a second, he thought she might kiss him. Then a familiar smile curved that dangerous mouth, and when she spoke, the venom almost burned him alive. “Don’t worry, I like to be alone when I play with my toys.”
The Fall of the Red Queen is Book 3 in the Southern Style Series. It releases 1/20/2016. My review will post 1/27/2016. While it can stand alone, it’s highly recommended that you read Sweetened with a Kiss first. Not a serial. Each book in the Southern Style Series features a different couple with standalone HEA. It’s category style contemporary romance told in the third person from the point of view of both hero and heroine. It has been professionally edited, copy-edited and proofed. Intended for mature audiences only.
He’s a pastry chef? One-click.