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Redstone Incorporated #9
Backstreet Hero
Silhouette Romantic Suspense #1539
He makes her uncomfortable. Edgy. But as strange accidents befall Lilith Mercer and Tony Alvera becomes her bodyguard, she realizes that her wariness of the street-rough, enigmatic, younger Redstone operative covers an all-consuming attraction. Soon, hiding her feelings becomes next to impossible.
No one could protect Lilith better than Tony. Maybe he'll never be good enough for the classy executive, but he trusts her safety to no other. Then one explosive night changes everything between them--and to save Lilith, Tony must go back to the streets and expose secrets that may forever set them apart.
211 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 2008
12 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Justine Davis
252 books216 followersAuthor biographies are supposed to give you all those statistics, books written, awards won, etc. and I will, I promise...but first let me tell you about this ornery little tomboy (back then, the boys had all the fun...) who was always the one to make up the stories the neighborhood kids would "play". For those who came of age in the computer game era, this is something that was done usually in the backyard, by any number of summer-bored children, with props where appropriate. (Did you know a 55 gallon drum tied to a picnic bench makes a very cool horse?) It wasn't until much later that this tomboy realized two things: A) not everyone made up stories in their heads all the time, and B) in real life, the boys that had already had all the fun now seemed to always be winning.
But I digress. I was born on a farm down in Iowa....well, not quite, but close; Boone, Iowa is in the middle of farm country, but I arrived at a hospital. In a snow storm. Make that a blizzard. My sister tells me she knew my destiny when I was very young, because when I first saw the Disney classic Old Yeller, I was apparently so upset that I promptly went home and rewrote the story. In my version, the dog lived, of course. Should have been a clue.
Possibly in response to that blizzard I was born in, I've been a West Coaster since before I was a year old, and intend to stay that way. I have a history of staying. I started my first full time job right out of school (well, there was a very brief sojourn at a place where they made, among other things, burial vaults, but I prefer not to recall that one...) and stayed for twenty-one years. I've been married to the same wonderful guy for going on two decades now. We lived in our last house for seventeen years. (I won't even mention how many dumpsters we filled moving after that long....)
Readers seem as fascinated by my first career as they are with my writing. My time in law enforcement was many things, exciting, nerve wracking, and irritating, but most importantly never, ever boring. It was fascinating enough that I didn't think about writing seriously for several years. I kept a journal, and wrote long letters, collected quotes, mentally rewrote movies, and still made up those stories in my head, but never dreamed of actually writing for publication. I was having too much fun helping to catch bad guys, and being continually amazed at the situations people get themselves into. And eventually I walked away with a wealth of background and story ideas, and knowing some truly great people who work very hard to keep all of us safe. I'm proud to have been one of them, and I'm very aware that I have had the great good fortune of having had two jobs in my life that I love. Many people don't get even one.
But now that I'm in the delicious position of being able to make a living telling those stories in my head, I promise my readers two things: A) I'm staying--I'll keep writing as long as you keep reading, and B) in my stories, the girl--tomboy or not--always wins!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And now, the official stats:
Justine Dare Davis sold her first book in 1989, and followed that up with the sale of nineteen novels in less than two years. Her first four books were published in 1991, and she saw all reach the finals for either the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award or the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA Award. She has since won the RITA award four times, along with several Reviewer's Choice awards and three Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times. At the 1998 national conference, Justine was inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame, making her one of a very select group of just eight writers. She also had four titles on the Romantic Times "Top 200 of All Time" list. Her sales now total more than 45, and her books have appeared regularly on best seller lists, including the USA Today list. She has been featured in several local newspapers and nationwide by Associated Press, has appeared on CN
But I digress. I was born on a farm down in Iowa....well, not quite, but close; Boone, Iowa is in the middle of farm country, but I arrived at a hospital. In a snow storm. Make that a blizzard. My sister tells me she knew my destiny when I was very young, because when I first saw the Disney classic Old Yeller, I was apparently so upset that I promptly went home and rewrote the story. In my version, the dog lived, of course. Should have been a clue.
Possibly in response to that blizzard I was born in, I've been a West Coaster since before I was a year old, and intend to stay that way. I have a history of staying. I started my first full time job right out of school (well, there was a very brief sojourn at a place where they made, among other things, burial vaults, but I prefer not to recall that one...) and stayed for twenty-one years. I've been married to the same wonderful guy for going on two decades now. We lived in our last house for seventeen years. (I won't even mention how many dumpsters we filled moving after that long....)
Readers seem as fascinated by my first career as they are with my writing. My time in law enforcement was many things, exciting, nerve wracking, and irritating, but most importantly never, ever boring. It was fascinating enough that I didn't think about writing seriously for several years. I kept a journal, and wrote long letters, collected quotes, mentally rewrote movies, and still made up those stories in my head, but never dreamed of actually writing for publication. I was having too much fun helping to catch bad guys, and being continually amazed at the situations people get themselves into. And eventually I walked away with a wealth of background and story ideas, and knowing some truly great people who work very hard to keep all of us safe. I'm proud to have been one of them, and I'm very aware that I have had the great good fortune of having had two jobs in my life that I love. Many people don't get even one.
But now that I'm in the delicious position of being able to make a living telling those stories in my head, I promise my readers two things: A) I'm staying--I'll keep writing as long as you keep reading, and B) in my stories, the girl--tomboy or not--always wins!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And now, the official stats:
Justine Dare Davis sold her first book in 1989, and followed that up with the sale of nineteen novels in less than two years. Her first four books were published in 1991, and she saw all reach the finals for either the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award or the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA Award. She has since won the RITA award four times, along with several Reviewer's Choice awards and three Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times. At the 1998 national conference, Justine was inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame, making her one of a very select group of just eight writers. She also had four titles on the Romantic Times "Top 200 of All Time" list. Her sales now total more than 45, and her books have appeared regularly on best seller lists, including the USA Today list. She has been featured in several local newspapers and nationwide by Associated Press, has appeared on CN
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 16, 2010
Ex-gangbanger, now Redstone Security operative, Tony Alvera, knows he’s in big trouble when he literally demands his boss put him on protective detail to a woman he’s been half in love with for the past two years.
Head of Redstone R&D department, Lilith Mercer, doesn’t think the two accidents (she was almost hit by a truck and then tripped over a wire almost resulting in a header down the stairs) are related. But her boss and friend, Josh Redstone, doesn’t believe in coincidence. She’s to have a bodyguard, but unfortunately it’s Tony Alvera, exotic, hot, sexy, younger Redstone operative that makes her tingle.
But is the threat to Lilith real or were the accident indeed just a funky coincidence?
Another good story in the Redstone, Incorporated series, but similarly to In His Sights I found the heroine’s age-difference complex rather annoying. But unlike its predecessor, the hero upped the ante with his different-worlds complex, resulting in annoying repartees (both spoken and inner-monolog-ish), making mountains out of molehills for nothing, really.
Still, this rather odd couple (she so golden, he so dark etc.) had enough chemistry and oomph to keep things interesting.
The suspense plot thickened with each page, easily "overpowering" the romance part, though somewhere in the middle, with the discarding of a suspect, it all seemed a little far-fetched, but since Ms. Davis is a master in misdirection, it all came nicely to a pretty satisfying end.
And let’s not forget the already famous matchmaking abilities of Josh Redstone and his employees. It’s not in the water, folks, it’s in the people sticking their noses into matters that don’t concern them. ;) But as long as we get a HEA out of it, I don’t really mind. I just hope someone will decide to play matchmaker for the big boss himself. It looks like his book is coming later this year (August). Can hardly wait!
Head of Redstone R&D department, Lilith Mercer, doesn’t think the two accidents (she was almost hit by a truck and then tripped over a wire almost resulting in a header down the stairs) are related. But her boss and friend, Josh Redstone, doesn’t believe in coincidence. She’s to have a bodyguard, but unfortunately it’s Tony Alvera, exotic, hot, sexy, younger Redstone operative that makes her tingle.
But is the threat to Lilith real or were the accident indeed just a funky coincidence?
Another good story in the Redstone, Incorporated series, but similarly to In His Sights I found the heroine’s age-difference complex rather annoying. But unlike its predecessor, the hero upped the ante with his different-worlds complex, resulting in annoying repartees (both spoken and inner-monolog-ish), making mountains out of molehills for nothing, really.
Still, this rather odd couple (she so golden, he so dark etc.) had enough chemistry and oomph to keep things interesting.
The suspense plot thickened with each page, easily "overpowering" the romance part, though somewhere in the middle, with the discarding of a suspect, it all seemed a little far-fetched, but since Ms. Davis is a master in misdirection, it all came nicely to a pretty satisfying end.
And let’s not forget the already famous matchmaking abilities of Josh Redstone and his employees. It’s not in the water, folks, it’s in the people sticking their noses into matters that don’t concern them. ;) But as long as we get a HEA out of it, I don’t really mind. I just hope someone will decide to play matchmaker for the big boss himself. It looks like his book is coming later this year (August). Can hardly wait!
January 8, 2025
Enjoyed the book
I enjoyed the whole book. I read this series because of the author (Justine Davis). Author of the Cutters Code series. I will read the rest of her books.
I enjoyed the whole book. I read this series because of the author (Justine Davis). Author of the Cutters Code series. I will read the rest of her books.
August 3, 2020
I didn't enjoy this as much as the first Redstone book I read, Deadly Temptation. I didn't like the main characters as much. I liked Tony in that and I didn't mind him in this. But I wasn't really a fan of Lilith. I'm not even sure why, she didn't do anything in particular to annoy me but I just didn't like her. The romance between the two was fine but it also irritated me - they were so swept up with their own issues and it just annoyed me. It certainly wasn't bad though - it was a good read and I enjoyed the book overall.
Read
January 9, 2010Amazon preorder
March 21, 2011
Slow buildup to the romance because of the age issue and little or no suspense but saved by a good ending.
August 6, 2011
A decent suspense plot. Redstone is an interesting company and the backstory for the characters is good. It's a quick read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews