Stripped

The Bad Girls Club #2

by Julie Leto

The power of lust! Detective Mac Mancusi had fallen under Lilith St Lyon’s spell. And the feeling was mutual. After all, what woman could resist having a scrumptious man like Mac dreaming of her every minute they were apart? But that was until their stormy break-up! Now divinely handsome Mac is back in Lilith’s life and he needs her help to solve a tough drugs case. Working together on the intense job could draw them closer, but is it enough to rekindle the magic?

Genres: Harlequin Blaze, Contemporary, Harlequin, Romance, Fiction, Paranormal Romance

Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Also Knows as Julie Elizabeth Leto

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julie Leto is the multi-published and award-winning author of over forty-five novels for publishers such as Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Harlequin who has now turned her attention to independent publishing. She pens the popular “Dirty” sexy suspense series starring kick-ass, ex-gang girl Marisela Morales and the sensual paranormal “Phantom” books, as well as the crossover series, “Dirty Dare.”
Julie lives on the west coast of Florida with her daughter, a brand-new Border collie mix rescue, a haughty Russian Siberian cat and a wide range of relatives all within driving distance. Readers can find her at www.julieleto.com, on Facebook and as @JulieLeto on Twitter.

Reviews

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lilith St. Lyon is a witch who has been stripped of her powers after using them for personal gain. She used her psychic and mind reading skills to get into the mind of Detective Mac Mancusi so she could become his perfect woman. When Mac realized her psychic abilities were real, he felt manipulated and broke up with her. Now the police, and Mac, are calling Lilith for her help with her psychic skills on a case they are working on. Lilith decides to help even though her powers are now gone, in the hopes that she might still be of some help, and maybe she can even win Mac back in the process by just being a regular girl.

This was such a fun story. Cute and sexy, combined with a touch of magic. I really liked Lilith and Mac a lot, and they had terrific chemistry. The story is set in Chicago, and along with the romance, the storyline involving the investigation/murder was really entertaining, too. Secondary characters Josie, Lilith's friend, and Rick, Mac's friend and fellow worker, made a cute pair and seemed to be starting up a romance of their own (to be followed up in Julie Leto's book Something Wicked). A very engaging read.

[Jo Reads Romance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gimmicky supernatural romance
2 stars

Detective Mac Mancusi cannot seem to forget Lilith St Lyon - despite the fact that they broke up months ago. Now she's back in his life and he's fallen under her spell once again.

Teaming up to solve a tough drugs case, Mac needs Lilith's psychic abilities even though they were the reason for the pair's fiery break up. But Lilith's gift has been removed from her and so the pair must now work together with no barriers between them.

With demons, warlocks, witches and a higher council, this book is very reminiscent of an episode of Charmed. Unfortunately it lacked the fun and attention-grabbing nature of the show.

Lilith wasn't a particularly engaging character and while Mac was a fair hero, neither were particularly well-rounded or developed enough to care about them or their relationship. There were sparks of chemistry but not enough to carry the book.

The supernatural element of the story wasn't in the least bit scary but I did find it really gimmicky and the romance really suffered as a result. The story was a little predictable and the final outcome in the story was a fairly obvious from early on.

This is not the kind of story that I would be looking for in a Blaze romance. It's a little predictable, gimmicky and not really a book that I can recommend. It's not badly written and isn't the worst story I've read but otherwise I'm sorry to say I just didn't like it. 2 stars.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is a fun romp with 'Janet Evonovich meets Charmed' energy. I was very invested in the awks relationship of the side characters. Lots of worldbuilding so kind of surprised the author has only one other connected story.

[Gjbates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lilith has her powers removed after she uses them to make Mac fall in love with her. She has helped with cases in the past using her "psychic" powers. When he found out that she used them to make her his ideal woman, he broke up with her. Now he needs her help again with a case. She doesn't know what she can do without her powers.
This was a pretty typical Harlequin Blaze book. It had romance, sex, cops and then added a little witchcraft.

[Rexanna Ipock-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concepts and lots of magical fun. Good romance and characters.