Detective Pale Rysen, an Alpha, is determined to secretly rebuild the Wolf packs from the ashes of genocide. When a killer starts picking off young females looking for sanctuary, it’s his job to protect them. Forced to work with a hated enemy, he fears his cover will be blown.

Jade-Scarlet’s membership in the powerful Order of the Sibile has always been controversial. A half-wolf, Jade’s unstable psychic powers are a disappointment to her mercenary handlers. So when the Oracle commands her to work with Pale, Jade must prove herself…even if it means challenging the enigmatic shifter.

Yet Pale triggers more than her curiosity. He sends her into Heat, and the intense sexual attraction could mean losing control of her gifts—something she can’t allow. As the number of victims rises, so does the danger. A murderous darkness wants them both dead. But even if they stop the killer, how long can they fight each other?

Title: TEMPTING THE ENEMY
Author: Dee Tenorio
Series: Resurrection, book 1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Year of release: 2010, June 14
Format: eBook
Source: Received a copy for review from author

First line:
Shae trudged through the snowdrifts, her feet sinking nearly to the knee with each step.

Memorable Scenes:
- Jade trying to get Emmitt out of his shock > this scene had me swallowing back my tears, which I barely managed to do...
- the bonding scene > just wow... I have no words to describe what this scene did to me

Jade-Scarlet is an empathic Sibile with the gift of manipulating light and a half-breed Wolf shifter. She’s sarcastic, defiant, giving and loyal.

Pale Rysen is a homicide detective and Wolf shifter. He’s the Alpha of a pack he’s trying to build up after the humans tried to erase the shifters from the face of the Earth. He’s a dominant alpha in every sense of the word, broody and ruthless but also gentle and tender at times.

There are so many reasons Jade and Pale can't be together, yet with their instant and strong chemistry they give the trope of star-crossed lovers a new meaning. Their verbal battles and internal emotional struggles were awesome to read. Jade's defiance triggers Pale's need to dominate and Pale's alphaness grates on Jade's sense of independence, this made for wonderfully explosive interactions that also inadvertently built up the sexual tension between them. The love scenes were sexy and beautiful (I have no other way of describing them) and they matched with the characterization perfectly.

Wolf shifters, witches with special gifts, human law enforcement, a vile serial killer to be stopped and caught, I gobbled it all up! I loved that the world building was clear yet non-intrusive to the plot, characterization or romance. Subtly imbedded into the rest it's set up perfectly, not too much on the forefront and enticing enough to want to know more.

The prologue immediately set the tone. I was fascinated, wondering what was going on and my heart was pounding with excitement. Since I'm terrible at figuring out who the killer is (whether in books, movies or TV shows), this time again I was going back and forth between several characters not homing in on the right on till the very end. As with everything else in this book, I loved the suspense and how it was played out and wrapped up.

Dee Tenorio's writing is intense and packs a tremendous emotional punch. Whether it's character-driven contemporary romance, sizzling erotic romance or dark paranormal romantic suspense, it never fails to keep me enthralled in its emotional grip. I think the intensity also makes Dee Tenorio's books somewhat slow-paced and this is not a bad thing because even though I love reading fast-paced books, the intensity and slower pace give me room to savor her books to the fullest. And savor TEMPTING THE ENEMY I definitely did!

The fact that I added this book to my 2011 favorite reads list immediately after finishing it and the huge amount of favorite quotes I marked (but had to cut as to not make the quotes outnumber the review) should indicate how much I enjoyed this book. I'm so ready for the next installment of Resurrection! And luckily it's waiting for me on my TBR pile and I saw it's Tate's book. I adored the banter between the pack members, especially Tate and Ty caught my attention and I was beyond happy when I found out the next book in this series would Tate’s. He is so much more than met the eye in those short moments he was on the pages...can't wait!

If you're looking for an original and excellently written and refreshing take on paranormal suspense, look no further as TEMPTING THE ENEMY has it all: the heart pounding suspense, the complicated romance, the intriguing world building and the complex, three-dimensional characters. I highly recommend this book to readers who love a strong suspense element in paranormal romance and to readers who love a little (okay, a lot) of dominance in their hero.

Favorite Quotes:
A chair wheeled backward with a squeak, which meant Jorgensen was on the move. A little older than Pale, a lot friendlier and apparently everything women found attractive, Jorgensen rarely had to work to grab a woman’s grateful attention, so Pale knew it wouldn’t take long for this Sibile to become equally captivated. He waited to be relieved. All he felt was a decidedly strong desire to tear out the other detective’s throat and lay it at her feet for a gift.

“I always figured Pale’s mate a girl with as thick a beard as he has,” Tate said, because apparently silence was a fate worse than death. “Never thought he’d find someone as pretty as that.”
“She is pretty,” Ty agreed, “but I always figured his mate would have to be blind. Almost feel bad for her, looking at his ugly ass for the rest of her life. That’s just a damn shame.”

He traced her chin, running his fingers to her throat, watching them wander over the swells of her breasts to the line of the towel. His finger hooked the edge again.
“Pull and I’ll bake you alive.”
A crooked grin revealed one of his fangs. “Strength is a desired trait in a female. Makes a male want to dominate.”
And that grin made her want to be dominated. Her want tightened her throat, because she couldn’t have him knowing what she craved. “Good thing you’re above that kind of stupidity.”

But I have no idea what I am. There’s no magical voice in my head telling me the right thing to do. No idea how to give you what you want.”
“You are what I want.” Did he even know the way his eyes glowed when he watched her? That when his voice was so gruff, she could feel it and all the longing he had in it? That he was stealing parts of her heart with every word? “I want all of you. For always.”
(...)
“Then take me, Pale, because I’ll never want anyone else.”
(...)
He lowered himself onto all fours at the foot of the bed, slowly crawling toward her, gaze locked on hers.
His movements were sinuous, even with his hard angles and broad muscle. He settled on his belly next to her, then leaned onto his side. He set his head on one hand and lay there. Letting her look her fill as he picked up the ends of her hair and twined them through his fingers. His eyes smoldering, he said only two words. “Prove it.”