Shake Up

Motivations and tenacity collide in this passion-filled Edison Bay Romance by Joyce Palmer.

Shake Up is a contemporary love story packed with a myriad of emotion, plenty of sensual detail and an abundance of humor.

Lacey Parker's new position with the DEA earned her career independence. Will vocational freedom be worth the sacrifice of her former boss, the only man she ever loved?

Sheriff Jonathan Parker is less than thrilled with his wife's new job and the boundaries she's imposed upon him. He witnesses the danger she faces while trying to take down a brutal drug-dealing killer. He must resist the urge to protect his woman. A concept he finds almost unbearable.

While sexual compatibility alone is not the basis for a healthy relationship, the insatiable lovers struggle through their perspective emotional preconceptions to function as equal partners while an unstable admirer attempts to sabotage their delicate family foundation.

˃˃˃ A hero with a protector complex and his feisty, risk-taking heroine mix it up in this high-spirited love story.

Lacey, a gifted marksman and law enforcement professional, is tired of the sheriff (who happens to be her husband) assigning her to 'the safe zone'. Like most cops, she wants to see some action. It is obvious to her the only way that will happen is for her to change agencies, and that's exactly what she does. She never expected, though she should have, her overprotective husband's meltdown as a result of the deal. Fate intervenes, and for the sake of their family, the couple is forced to learn the meaning of compromise.

˃˃˃ There's plenty of trouble to be found in the booming beach-bordering town, Edison Bay.

Whether Lacey's out with her girlfriends at their favorite hangout, Barney's Pub, horny as all get out when John slips in beside her, or skinny-dipping at night on a public beach with said friends, and her husband shows up just as a bunch of randy cops are stripping down to join them, or at The Shoot Out, her father's gun club, when her undercover target crosses her path, the woman has no problem finding trouble.

˃˃˃ 4 hearts review from the original, 2010 version, before substantial revisions have been made.

Lacey and John are very much in love and I was rooting for them from the beginning. This book is really two stories that have been seamlessly woven together by the author. The DEA undercover operation to take down a killer is played out against the backdrop of John and Lacey's attempt to fix their marriage. Both stories are well done. The DEA investigation is tense and suspenseful. The secondary characters are well developed and I would love to see a few of them get their own stories. The Parker's efforts to reconcile their differences are touching and heartfelt. They make realistic concessions to try and preserve their marriage. John and Lacey's sexual encounters are scorching hot. Their sex scenes are explicit and steamy. Apparently, marriage doesn't have to dim the fire. This is a very enjoyable story and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Palmer.

April 19, 2011

Susan P.

For a fast-paced and entertaining read that will make you laugh and cry, and tingle in all the right places scroll up and grab a copy today.