Who knew a badass hitman needed me—a psychic with a flair for drama—as his bodyguard? Honestly, I can barely focus on staying alive when all my visions involve kissing that grumpy scowl right off his face.
Stone is lethal, broody, and definitely not used to being anyone's target. But when someone puts a price on his head, his mob boss decides he needs help. Enter yours truly, Serenity Jones—psychic, pain in the butt, and apparently his best chance at surviving.
Stone thinks this is a joke. I think he needs to take his shirt off more often. But as the assassin closes in, we're stuck together in close quarters—with zero personal space and maximum sexual tension.
Can I use my powers to save his life? Or will our sizzling chemistry be the real danger?
Bodyguard duty was never supposed to include steamy visions… or kissing.
A laugh-out-loud, steamy, forced proximity romance with banter, bullets, and enough heat to melt his icy exterior.
I'm not sure how to describe this book because it is a.......knock off, or maybe a spoof (?) on another series - The Shelby Nichols Series. It seems to have the approval of the author - Coleen Helme - so it is apparently okay.
I think if you have read and enjoyed the Nichols series - you will really enjoy this. Part of the original series revolves around a housewife/private investigator who is in the wrong place during a robbery and gets grazed by a bullet in the head and develops the ability to read minds. She somehow finds herself working for BOTH the police - with Detective Dimples - and a mob boss and his hitman Ramos.
Shelby is married and there is quite the bit of chemistry between her and Ramos (no, he is not her husband) but in the series, even though they flirt, she never crosses that line.
In THIS book, she still gets grazed by a bullet, but she develops a different ability - psychometry. (the ability to touch something and get images of who or where the item was last). And in this book, she is going through a divorce and has to work a case with - yep - you got it - the hitman, who in this book is Stone (not Ramos).
So, we get to finally see Shelby, who has a different name that I can not for the life of me remember, and Stone connect. It is just as zany, and funny with a pinch of steam. And for those of us who have read all 18 books in the original series, it was fun to see a different storyline develop between 2 characters who are never going to connect in the other series.
So Colleen Helme writes Shelby Nichols adventures, which are absolutely brilliant, by the way. In the books Jackie, one of the characters is writing a steamy novel using ideas from Shelby's adventures. So, this is that novel. I think it's an absolutely brilliant idea and the book is fantastic. Stone is the character Jocelyn has based on Ramos, and Serenity is the character based on Shelby. If you love this book, you really should read the Shelby books. You can thank me later. The hitman and the psychic is the love story we have all been waiting for.
This is one of those books that you could listen to on two levels. It is inspired by the events of the Shelby Nichols adventures as a book one of the characters there writes. So as a listener, I could choose to listen to it and look for all the winks to the parent series, or I could take it on its own merit.
In this story, Serenity has new psychic powers of psychometry, which is the ability to get visions after touching something. She is contracted to figure out who might be after hitman Nathan Stone, usually referred to as Stone. There are many close calls and scenes that would be great on screen. Helme is good at writing action. The sexual attraction is instant and so strong that I found it off-putting. Once we got into the story and the characters truly started to develop, it was more palatable.
Yes, the reader/listener can consume this book without knowledge of the Shelby universe, but there are a few fun references to it. A throw-away character's name, the mention of Serenity getting shot in the head (the event that causes Shelby's mind-reading in her set of stories). That was fun.
The narrator was new, but that makes sense, too. If Jocelyn Drake was a real person, she wouldn't necessarily have access to Helme's regular narrator. Plus, this gives Helme/Drake freedom to make more stories about Serenity/Stone if she wants to. She's already great at getting out a new Shelby Nichols book in less than 12 months and is going strong.
Now here's the thing that is definitely a "Your Mileage May Vary" for this book: On its own, the book is okay. I had a good time with it. It's solid. But I also know I wouldn't have sought it out as something that would normally be part of my reading.
Also, even though Serenity and Stone are substitutes for Shelby and Ramos (the steam we don't get to have because she's faithful to her husband in the main series), they are NOT Shelby and Ramos. For me, it didn't have that sizzle that the two have developed over a book series that, at the time of this review, has 18 full-length books, plus at least one Ramos-centric novella. A different reader might find it perfect, so understand your own expectations going in to reading this.
In conclusion: An enjoyable one-off. Note: I received a free copy of the audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Oh wow! So this book is slightly different in the fact that the author is fictional, this book came about because of the chemistry between two characters that can't be together, so a character in the Shelby Nichols series decided to write a book about the two of them and this is the result. And boy did I enjoy it. The characters have different name but it is so easy to picture the original characters that it is just a delight. There is a lot going on and it's worth a read even if you don't know the original characters. I wasn't entirely sure this was going to be my thing because I am a mystery girl at heart and normally roll my eyes at romance stories but as one of my favourite authors (the real one) wrote it and it is about Shelby and Ramos I just had to give it a go. So glad I did, okay it did get hot and heavy but there wasn't as much as I was fearing and actually it was a solid story with plenty of action coming from bullets and explosions. I liked that Serenity is actually a psychic, unlike Shelby who just uses it to cover up her real skills, there are other differences between the two series but both are great and entertaining and I really hope this is the first of many books to come in this spin off series.
Serenity is hired to protect a hitman when it turns out someone is trying to kill him. Stone can't see any he needs a woman tagging along as he tries to work out Who wants him dead. That is until she uses her gift and saves his life. The closer they get to finding who wants him dead the more explosive the situation gets, can Serenity keep him alive long enough for they to learn to trust each other? And get to the bottom of who's behind it all because somebody certainly wants him dead and there don't care who gets hurt in the process. I liked the narrator. The author decided to not go with her usual narrator for this series and while I love Wendy I think it was the right decision. She sounded different enough that I wasn't actually picturing Shelby, even though I was thinking about her and I think it would have been hard to totally separate the characters. Mallory did an excellent job of building up the chemistry between the characters. I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I've read all of Colleen Helme's books -- and that's saying a lot!
So when I started reading Hitman & a Psychic, I was struck with an intense sense of déjà vu. The characters felt almost identical, just with different names. Both stories feature Italian mob bosses, even down to the detail of the man having an apartment connected to the boss's office. The plots? Practically the same.
At first, I assumed this was a blatant case of plagiarism by a different author -- someone copying Colleen Helme's work. But then I noticed Colleen Helme listed as the second author on the book. That left me feeling confused and honestly, a bit disappointed.
Was this an intentional reuse of her own material, or something else entirely? I can't say for sure, but as a long-time fan, I expected more. Sadly, I'll be moving on from her work for now.
This book had it all. The action, the suspense, the mystery, the comedy, and the sizzling hot romance. I cannot remember how the character development was because I knew the characters from the Shelby Nichols series author Colleen Helmet. I recommend that series be read before reading this book. All your questions about the author of this book is revealed in that series as well as who the characters of this book are. You will not regret reading that series first! This book had my laughing out loud especially since each incident that happened I remembered reading a more detailed version in the original series. It was fun rereading summary versions of each book. Loved this book!
I absolutely loved "The Hitman and the Psychic"!!!!! If you've read the Shelby Nichols Adventures, you know that a character in the book, Jackie, Uncle Joey's love interest wrote a book based off of Ramos and Shelby and "published" it under the name Jocelyn Drake. This is that book! Thank you Colleen for writing a story where Shelby and Ramos can be together via Serenity and Stone! This was a fantastic read and I loved every moment of it! It was different enough that it stands on its own, but knowing that it's really a story within a story makes it even better! I wouldn't mind reading more adventures about Serenity and Stone! Wow!
I loved this book, for 2 reasons, it was extremely entertaining, and it gives fans of the Shelby Nichols books a taste of what could have been between Shelby and Ramos, if Shelby had not been married. A plus for using the name of the secretary in the Shelby Nichols books, who is a budding romance writer, as the author of this book. My hats off to Colleen Helme for giving her readers some romantic satisfaction that will never happen in the Shelby books.
If only Janet Evanovich had been clever enough to do this for those of us that have wanted Steph and Ranger get together and have a hea.
A great read, esp if you’re into the Shelby Nichols series!
Colleen,
I hadn’t paid attention to the name of the author when I was browsing for something to read.
I have read almost all of your Shelby Nichols series and I adore them. So of course, while reading this book I was so aghast that someone would copy your characters.
I was going to lambast this author for her audacity.
When I finished the book and read the excerpts about who Jocelyn was… I slapped my forehead!
Of course? It was Jackie’s book that was written about Ramos and Shelby. And to be honest, as I read it I was pretending that it was them.
Loved this newest offering from Helme. You don't have to read the Shelby Nichols series to read this, but it adds so much more if you have. I really enjoyed the storyline and the parallels and differences with Shelby's storyline. Fun read with spice. This is not a closed door romance. I'd give it a 3.5 on spice, but the characters chemistry is off the charts. Has a happy for now ending, no cliffhanger. I hope that Jocelyn Drake aka Colleen Helme does another in this alternate world.
Serenity is a private detective who has the power to get visions of the past and future from touching objects. She's also in the middle of a nasty divorce. She takes on the job of trying to figure out who is trying to kill Stone, head of security for Vanetti, a mob boss, and the most handsome man Serenity has ever seen. They flirt hard while dodging assassination attempts as they fall in love. The two characters had chemistry, they didn't play stupid games. Just lots of fun, sweet romance and saving each other's lives.
Oh, I get it...Jocelyn Drake is the main squeeze/executive assistant/romance author for Shelby's boss. Which might be why things seem so familiar, but very different in this book. I originally thought that, after the Psychics car accident, The Healer was the nurse that told her she would be okay when she died, then was revived. Either way, Coleen is a wonderful author, and this book would be great for pulling in first time readers. For those of us that know her work inside out, it was fun, and funny that Jocelyn Drake aka Jackie got published, and we read HER book.
This book brought all of the excitement you could ask for. Serenity and Stone are similar to characters in Colleen Helme’s Shelby Nichol”s universe but this time the female lead gets the handsome motorcycle guy! The only criticism I have (not really) is that while the story brought the romance I didn’t see any comedy I fully recommend this book and hope to see more of Serenity and Stone.
Počinje fantastično. Humor, akcija, iskre između dva glavna lika koje su prijetile da će zapaliti čitatelja.... I onda pred sredinom knjige sve nešto postaje dosadnjikavo. Imala sam osjećaj da je spisateljica napisala knjigu pa se vraćala dopuniti sa riječima jer je bilo premalo stranica, pa imamo besmislene razgovore i opisivanja koja se ponavljaju iznova (npr. ono sa vezivanjem kacige). A da ne govorim o izjavama ljubavi nakon čitava tri poljupca 🙈.
You have to read this book it is a page turner. Colleen Helms never lets you down every book is so exciting. It was a little steamy but hay with a man like Stone and the motorcycle you can't lose. It was not too steamy but would recommend 16 and up to read. Gosh I can't get enough of Shelby Nichols and Ramos but could like to see a little more of Stone and Serenity. All I can say is WOW!
This new series , written by Jocelyn Drake, (Colleen Helme), is surely going to take off. I can't wait for #2 in the lineup. Sexy and cute, these two characters, who are supposed to resemble two other characters by Colleen Helme, have certainly satisfied the type of attraction Ramos and Shelby have for each other. If you're like most of us readers who like a little spice in their mystery books, don't miss this one. Thanks Colleen!
I loved The Hitman and the Psychic. I couldn't put it down. Since I follow Colleen Helme's books, this really put the icing on the cake. We all know that nothing will come between Shelby and Ramos, so this kind of fits our imagination. It puts a different twist on Shelby's books. Keep up with this train of thought. I have started to reread Colleen Helme's books with Carrots since I've read them all. Keep up the wonderfully great work. I love you 🤟.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Packed with action, explosions and a twist of romance
Packed with action, explosions and a twist of romance, this is a great first book by Jocelyn Drake. I love the characters of Stone and Serenity, and their relationship had me laughing out loud many times. Highly recommended for all Colleen Helme fans, and for anyone who likes their action with a side of romance.
I loved this story. It has the physic (which I loved) thing but it wasn’t over the top and it has a hot security focused man for the physic. The plot was exciting and I loved the steamy bits which were not excessively graphic. This is a great read. I hope there are more books to create a great series. Highly recommend.
Im so loving these characters (kinda reminds me of my other favourite characters but im very happy with the difference.. IYKYK) and the plot was well done.. I enjoyed the journey reading this book. I can’t wait to read more of these characters.
Oh my gosh! What a fun story! It has mystery, action, romance, adventure what more could anyone want! Ramos as Stone, Shelby as Serenity, Manetto as Vanetti this was just a great read. Anyone would enjoy it, but if you’ve read the Shelby Nichols series you will love it!
Paranormal abilities are never cut-and-dried, but psychic abilities can be helpful.
A smokin’ hot mob enforcer (hitman?) is being targeted for elimination by persons unknown, and the Boss hires a psychic PI to scrye out the miscreants.
This was an excellent book. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions. Especially since I know who they are based on. This book adds a romantic flair that is the beginning of a most unique partnership both personal and professionally. Hopefully we'll have further adventures with this crew.
I enjoyed this story. The hitman was egotistical, arrogant and a boneheaded but for his character it was expected. The psychic I expected more fighting scenes. I felt kind of let down that she had skills but they weren’t shown when she needed them. I felt like she was more of a tool or a sidekick not a kickabutt heroine.
Colleen Helme's newest book, The Hitman and the Psychic, is as much fun as her Shelby Nichols series. If you read the series, it will be apparent the book represents the novel a character in Helme's Shelby Nichols series has been working on. I loved the idea--though it is spicier than the Shelby series. Romance, steam, and humor blend to make this a rewarding read.
I so enjoyed reading this book, I have all the Colleen Helme series and this was like a one off Christmas (Easter) Special and in some ways I would like Jocelyn/Colleen to do another.
Loved all Shelby's adventures. This spin off Was like Shelby and Ramos finally being able to get together With no cheating.😊 Hope there's more adventures with Serenity and Nate.
An excellent book, I loved it, a mob boss, gangs, murder, mayhem, romance and Serenity the psychic all jumbled together. I hope there will be more books. Well worth five stars.
Enjoyed this book. It has a fun story line but is filled with lots of steamy sexy romance. The story is really interesting but the sexual tension is pretty tiresome. I do recommend this book in spite of the silly sexual content.