What do you think?
Rate this book
Dolphin Shore Shifters #4
Lethal Tide
Dolphin shifter Conley Nash began his second three-year mission armed with a kick-ass agenda and an attitude to match. Since their team leader was killed, the men in SBW field ops have lost their nerve. Determined to restore the hard line, Conley can't wait to show them how it's done, facing down a greedy oil company in Long Beach. Until Conley meets his new partner...and finds his powers of persuasion need work.
First-time shifter Betty Brett can't believe she finally made it into the male-centric field ops team. Since the first female agent was murdered, before Betty goes solo, she'll spend four months teamed with an experienced operative. But did it have to be Conley? No matter how temptingly handsome he is, Betty refuses to take grief from a trigger-happy male and certainly not one whose knuckles drag the ground.
When the oil company resorts to violence protecting its illegal fracking operation, Conley finds himself out-gunned. Either he and Betty compromise, fast, or they'll be dead before they can unravel the perplexing feelings they have for each other.
First-time shifter Betty Brett can't believe she finally made it into the male-centric field ops team. Since the first female agent was murdered, before Betty goes solo, she'll spend four months teamed with an experienced operative. But did it have to be Conley? No matter how temptingly handsome he is, Betty refuses to take grief from a trigger-happy male and certainly not one whose knuckles drag the ground.
When the oil company resorts to violence protecting its illegal fracking operation, Conley finds himself out-gunned. Either he and Betty compromise, fast, or they'll be dead before they can unravel the perplexing feelings they have for each other.
428 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2016
15 people want to read
About the author
C.J. Matthew
17 books61 followers CJ Matthew grew up in an Air Force family traveling and living all over the US and around the world. It proved to be the perfect experience for gathering ideas for future books. And for meeting real life heroes and heroines in uniforms and flight-suits. She spent her high school and university years in California, which inspired her love of marine life, and the Pacific Ocean.
A Major Seduction is the first book in CJ’s contemporary romance quintet titled The Colonel’s Daughters. Each book features one of the five sister’s story. Born in different countries around the world, when each of the daughters happens to return to her country of birth, she’s meets her true love, and is forced to confront her destiny.
In CJ’s paranormal romantic suspense series Dolphin Shore Shifters, the most current release, Toxic Tide is book 5. The series features a pod of dolphins living in the Santa Barbara channel off the coast of California, who are capable of shifting to human form. While posing as real humans, the dolphins work, through their oceanic conservation corporation, Save Blue Water, to protect their oceans at any cost.
Her romantic suspense series, The Paladin Group, launched with Deadly Reboot. The books are set in a small southern town, and star wounded air force veterans, men and women warriors turned civilian attorneys and investigators determined to continue their rescue work.
A member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), Georgia Romance Writers (GRW), and Kiss of Death, CJ lives and writes near a lake in the woods northeast of Atlanta. When she isn't writing or reading romances, CJ spends time with her two grown children, their spouses, a brilliant grandson and a feisty cat named Max.
Schedule permitting, CJ loves to travel, to discover new favorite places and to meet new friends in both the US and around the world.
Max flatly refuses to travel.
A Major Seduction is the first book in CJ’s contemporary romance quintet titled The Colonel’s Daughters. Each book features one of the five sister’s story. Born in different countries around the world, when each of the daughters happens to return to her country of birth, she’s meets her true love, and is forced to confront her destiny.
In CJ’s paranormal romantic suspense series Dolphin Shore Shifters, the most current release, Toxic Tide is book 5. The series features a pod of dolphins living in the Santa Barbara channel off the coast of California, who are capable of shifting to human form. While posing as real humans, the dolphins work, through their oceanic conservation corporation, Save Blue Water, to protect their oceans at any cost.
Her romantic suspense series, The Paladin Group, launched with Deadly Reboot. The books are set in a small southern town, and star wounded air force veterans, men and women warriors turned civilian attorneys and investigators determined to continue their rescue work.
A member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), Georgia Romance Writers (GRW), and Kiss of Death, CJ lives and writes near a lake in the woods northeast of Atlanta. When she isn't writing or reading romances, CJ spends time with her two grown children, their spouses, a brilliant grandson and a feisty cat named Max.
Schedule permitting, CJ loves to travel, to discover new favorite places and to meet new friends in both the US and around the world.
Max flatly refuses to travel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 14, 2017
I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.
This series is so much fun to read. Not sure what it is exactly, but every time I pick up one of these books I wonder why I didn't pick it up sooner as I always really enjoy them. Although this wasn't my favorite book of the series, that honor goes to book 3, it was still a very enjoyable read. I know it took me weeks to read this one, but I did enjoy every second spent reading this one.
CJ Matthew really knows how to write a good suspense book. This series if first and foremost a romantic suspense, the shifter aspect is present and important as well, but it plays a less big part. Romantic suspense is one of those genres I am slowly reading more of, partly in thanks to books like this. They don't shift to their dolphin form usually in the book as they stay in human form during their 3 year missions. I did like how some of their language and behavior hinted to their dolphin nature and their focus on saving the seas.
The suspense part is very well done here, I really like how we get the point of view of both a male and female shifter and then usually a point of view of one of the "evil guys" as well. It adds some tension and as the reader you know a bit more than either side, which really works. You know what both sides are planning, but aren't sure how things work out. I liked reading about how the shifters were trying to figure things out. There is some action, but also a lot of thinking and talking and trying to figure out what really is going on. And there are some great twists and surprises that come to light at the end. I just would've liked a bit more time at the end to have everything sink in.
This book is told from the point of views of Betty and Conley. I have to admit at first I had big doubts about these two. At some point I had almost convinced myself they would both get a separate romance as I just couldn't see those two together. So color me surprised when the author actually made it work between these two. They weren't my favorite couple, but by the end I did like these two. They did make for a good couple and made the other see their point of view and they both got a bit less extreme in their views. This is a bit of the opposites attract type of romance and there's a bit of enemies to lovers in there as well, as they argue a lot at first. But later on they start to appreciate the other point of view a bit more and it was interesting to see them both change their standpoint a bit, but not too much. It was very believable.
Conley was quite the unlikeable character at first, I couldn't stand him. He had some opinions that rubbed me wrong and was quick to draw his gun and only think later. We slowly see him change over the course of the book, while still staying true to his character. Some of those strong opinions he voiced in the beginning quickly disappeared, while his focus on action first think later changed a bit during the book. I liked how gradual that change was and how even at the end he was still the same character, just a bit more open to research as well. I did like how he was with Betty and how we was the first to admit he might feel more for her and wasn't afraid to tell her.
I did like Betty from the start as she preferred brains over action and liked doing her research. She seemed smart and capable, if a bit inexperienced with the action part of the job. I also liked we get some fun side characters, like River, Marina, Archer and even Seth. They all play a part and it was nice to see how they worked as a team and also befriended someone local. We also see a few characters from previous books, although these are only short appearances. This series can definitely be read as standalone, but as someone who reads this series in order I did like seeing the already familiar characters, like Gus, Rye and Libra. A few others are mentioned as well. I would've liked to see a bit more character depth at times and a bit more focus on the romance, but overall this was a very enjoyable read and I already am looking forward to book 5.
To summarize: this is such a great series. The focus is on the romantic suspense, but the shifter part adds a nice touch to the series. I liked how there's action, but also a lot of thinking things through and figuring things out. There were some nice twists and revelations at the end. The couple of this book are Conley and Betty and at first I really didn't see how these two would make it work, as they are almost opposites. But the author definitely convinced me and at the end I did think they made a nice couple. Conley was pretty unlikeable at the start of the book, but I liked how he slowly changed a bit and was more open to research and thinking as well, instead of just rushing in guns blazing. He had some well done character development. And I liked how Betty adjusted her attitude a bit as well. There's a nice group of side characters as well and those who read the series in order will recognize some characters from previous books. But this series works great as standalone books as well. All in all another solid book in this series and I hope I can pick up book 5 soon!
This series is so much fun to read. Not sure what it is exactly, but every time I pick up one of these books I wonder why I didn't pick it up sooner as I always really enjoy them. Although this wasn't my favorite book of the series, that honor goes to book 3, it was still a very enjoyable read. I know it took me weeks to read this one, but I did enjoy every second spent reading this one.
CJ Matthew really knows how to write a good suspense book. This series if first and foremost a romantic suspense, the shifter aspect is present and important as well, but it plays a less big part. Romantic suspense is one of those genres I am slowly reading more of, partly in thanks to books like this. They don't shift to their dolphin form usually in the book as they stay in human form during their 3 year missions. I did like how some of their language and behavior hinted to their dolphin nature and their focus on saving the seas.
The suspense part is very well done here, I really like how we get the point of view of both a male and female shifter and then usually a point of view of one of the "evil guys" as well. It adds some tension and as the reader you know a bit more than either side, which really works. You know what both sides are planning, but aren't sure how things work out. I liked reading about how the shifters were trying to figure things out. There is some action, but also a lot of thinking and talking and trying to figure out what really is going on. And there are some great twists and surprises that come to light at the end. I just would've liked a bit more time at the end to have everything sink in.
This book is told from the point of views of Betty and Conley. I have to admit at first I had big doubts about these two. At some point I had almost convinced myself they would both get a separate romance as I just couldn't see those two together. So color me surprised when the author actually made it work between these two. They weren't my favorite couple, but by the end I did like these two. They did make for a good couple and made the other see their point of view and they both got a bit less extreme in their views. This is a bit of the opposites attract type of romance and there's a bit of enemies to lovers in there as well, as they argue a lot at first. But later on they start to appreciate the other point of view a bit more and it was interesting to see them both change their standpoint a bit, but not too much. It was very believable.
Conley was quite the unlikeable character at first, I couldn't stand him. He had some opinions that rubbed me wrong and was quick to draw his gun and only think later. We slowly see him change over the course of the book, while still staying true to his character. Some of those strong opinions he voiced in the beginning quickly disappeared, while his focus on action first think later changed a bit during the book. I liked how gradual that change was and how even at the end he was still the same character, just a bit more open to research as well. I did like how he was with Betty and how we was the first to admit he might feel more for her and wasn't afraid to tell her.
I did like Betty from the start as she preferred brains over action and liked doing her research. She seemed smart and capable, if a bit inexperienced with the action part of the job. I also liked we get some fun side characters, like River, Marina, Archer and even Seth. They all play a part and it was nice to see how they worked as a team and also befriended someone local. We also see a few characters from previous books, although these are only short appearances. This series can definitely be read as standalone, but as someone who reads this series in order I did like seeing the already familiar characters, like Gus, Rye and Libra. A few others are mentioned as well. I would've liked to see a bit more character depth at times and a bit more focus on the romance, but overall this was a very enjoyable read and I already am looking forward to book 5.
To summarize: this is such a great series. The focus is on the romantic suspense, but the shifter part adds a nice touch to the series. I liked how there's action, but also a lot of thinking things through and figuring things out. There were some nice twists and revelations at the end. The couple of this book are Conley and Betty and at first I really didn't see how these two would make it work, as they are almost opposites. But the author definitely convinced me and at the end I did think they made a nice couple. Conley was pretty unlikeable at the start of the book, but I liked how he slowly changed a bit and was more open to research and thinking as well, instead of just rushing in guns blazing. He had some well done character development. And I liked how Betty adjusted her attitude a bit as well. There's a nice group of side characters as well and those who read the series in order will recognize some characters from previous books. But this series works great as standalone books as well. All in all another solid book in this series and I hope I can pick up book 5 soon!
June 28, 2016
4.5 stars (review request submitted by the author for an honest critique)
Dolphins are not the most popular shifters out there in the literary world, but CJ has once again constructed a story which is more memorable than most shifters stories I've read to date.
The SBW missions do center around hazards to our water sources, a topic not so thrilling, but CJ has made the journey to the final showdown far from boring.
It's mostly due to the great cast of characters and their interactions with each other.
A) River: the comedian. He had me in stitches in the scene with the cracked ribs. I know you'll be laughing when you read it, too.
B) Seth: curious little neighbor boy and honorary "agent". He earned his title because without his countless assists, they would've been up shit creek without a paddle.
C) Conley: Alpha dolphin/shifter who learned the value of teamwork. Yup, there's no I in TEAM.
D) Betty and Marina: two hot geekettes who proved guns weren't always the best weapon of choice. Nope, sometimes it's best to let your brain fight your battles for you.
There are many more characters but I'll stop there.
Memorable moments:
1.) Chapter 14 - sex in the shower: Sex in the ocean as dolphins. Sex in the shower as humans. Makes no difference to dolphin shifters. Water is sensual whether on or off dry land. Am I right? ;)
2.) Chapter 21: River went to Taco Bell where the lovely Kam was his server. This section absolutely, positively made my day. <3
I could keep going on about what I liked about Lethal Tide, or I could just end my review with 3 simple words......
Buy Lethal Tide!!
(See more reviews/ratings at www.superkambrook.com)
Dolphins are not the most popular shifters out there in the literary world, but CJ has once again constructed a story which is more memorable than most shifters stories I've read to date.
The SBW missions do center around hazards to our water sources, a topic not so thrilling, but CJ has made the journey to the final showdown far from boring.
It's mostly due to the great cast of characters and their interactions with each other.
A) River: the comedian. He had me in stitches in the scene with the cracked ribs. I know you'll be laughing when you read it, too.
B) Seth: curious little neighbor boy and honorary "agent". He earned his title because without his countless assists, they would've been up shit creek without a paddle.
C) Conley: Alpha dolphin/shifter who learned the value of teamwork. Yup, there's no I in TEAM.
D) Betty and Marina: two hot geekettes who proved guns weren't always the best weapon of choice. Nope, sometimes it's best to let your brain fight your battles for you.
There are many more characters but I'll stop there.
Memorable moments:
1.) Chapter 14 - sex in the shower: Sex in the ocean as dolphins. Sex in the shower as humans. Makes no difference to dolphin shifters. Water is sensual whether on or off dry land. Am I right? ;)
2.) Chapter 21: River went to Taco Bell where the lovely Kam was his server. This section absolutely, positively made my day. <3
I could keep going on about what I liked about Lethal Tide, or I could just end my review with 3 simple words......
Buy Lethal Tide!!
(See more reviews/ratings at www.superkambrook.com)
April 18, 2017
I received a free copy from the author via AXP.com; this is my honest review.
There is no point denying the fact that I really love this series. Dolphins shifters, or should I say a full pod of dolphin shifters is unusual in the written world. Matthew loves to create a whole picture of them in human form: what they eat, how they swear, how they fall in love. It's funny, sweet and sensual. Betty is the perfect mate for Conley; he's all brawn, she's all brains. If you like to chase bad guys but have fun in between, this is a good book to read. It comes in two POVs but they are really easy to follow along.
There is no point denying the fact that I really love this series. Dolphins shifters, or should I say a full pod of dolphin shifters is unusual in the written world. Matthew loves to create a whole picture of them in human form: what they eat, how they swear, how they fall in love. It's funny, sweet and sensual. Betty is the perfect mate for Conley; he's all brawn, she's all brains. If you like to chase bad guys but have fun in between, this is a good book to read. It comes in two POVs but they are really easy to follow along.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews