After a series of murders is discovered along the trail of the Shifter Underground, wolf soldier Jensen Tate is assigned to find and protect a missing stray. But Lia Crawford doesn’t seem to want his protection. When she eludes his watch and returns with mysterious injuries, Tate knows she’s hiding something. To discover her secrets, Tate will have to win her trust…and get closer to the woman he thinks may be his mate.

Lia has reasons to keep her distance. The killer is haunting her steps, determined to claim her. He will come after them both if he sees how drawn she is to Tate, though it becomes increasingly difficult to deny her attraction to him. Protecting Tate is vital—but will her deception cost her his love?

Title: DECEIVING THE PROTECTOR
Author: Dee Tenorio
Series: Resurrection, book 2
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Year of release: 2011, August 15
Format: eBook
Source: Received an e-ARC for review from author

First line:
The sound of her own breath—ragged, desperate gasps—echoed in the girl’s ears.

Memorable Scenes:
-the scene in the orchard where Tate and Lia meet for the first time > loved how Lia does not take crap from Tate
- the "mine" scene after Tate and Lia flee from an attacked safehouse in a car > this was a different Tate than I'd seen before, all masks are gone, and I loved it
- the shower scene > as hot as the one in TEMPTING THE ENEMY!



Aurelia 'Lia' Crawford is a Wolf shifter with a load of guilt on her shoulders. She has also been lied to, abused and manipulated by the shifters’ enemy. Lia is smart, cerebral, bold and used to taking care of herself. She’s a survivor and fighter, tough, stubborn, courageous and strong. And what I loved about this book is that Dee Tenorio showed me this all about Lia, in her actions, her interactions and her POV. This author has the mastered the show-don’t-tell craft.

Jensen Tate is Wolf shifter and lawyer. Tate is a hunter and tracker and has a protective streak a mile long (and wide). In a Twitter convo with the author she described Tate as Mr. Complicated and that was a quite accurate (well duh, she wrote him) way to describe him. He's not a hero you can just put into a box and complications follow him around as he'll never take the easy way. He is also persistent and unapologetic about who and how he is. He's a layered character and I enjoyed peeling away those different layers to get to the real Tate.

I most adored the verbal sparring between Tate and Lia but as they are both shifters the tension between them is different from Pale and Jade's in TEMPTING THE ENEMY. I would have liked more romance but the suspense was so good I didn't mind so much. Besides, all lovey-dovey wouldn't have fitted Tate and Lia's characters.

As the story concentrates purely on Lia, Tate and the intriguing and well set up suspense there are very little secondary characters. Some new one are introduced, one of them being Betha, a stray mountain lion shifter and Tate’s ward and I loved her. Loved her! Some secondary characters I met in the first book did not make an appearance, to my slight disappointment but I have been promised they will be getting prime time in their own books.

As I said before the suspense was more prominent than the romance in this book (at least it was for me). And let me tell you: The suspense, OMG the suspense! I thought the plot in TEMPTING THE ENEMY was scary as hell but the one in this was easily just as scary and mind blowing, if not more. The descriptions of the killer put images in my head I'd rather not have there, especially while reading before bed. And yet once stuff started to be revealed I couldn't be anything but fascinated and glued to the pages to find out what was going to happen and why. Very soon in the story you know who the killer is. The suspense turns out to be in finding out why and if Lia is able to keep Tate and herself alive and what the connection between her and the killer is.

With the first book in this series I got a first taste of Dee Tenorio’s paranormal voice and it tasted like more. DECEIVING THE PROTECTOR fulfilled my expectations in that aspect fully. The interactions/dialogues are awesome! They form the base for the humor that seeps through the nail-biting suspense and the intriguing world building. Speaking of world building, shifters aren’t a fresh trope in paranormal romance, it’s been done numerous times. Yet with this Resurrection series I dare to honestly say that Dee Tenorio does bring a fresh and unique world to the table. With these two first books we have only scratched the surface and I’m utterly convinced there’s so much more awesomeness to come.

As with the first book in this series the prologue was breathtaking, I was literally holding my breath, and suspenseful. Dee Tenorio knows how to write openings that reel you in and keep you hooked. One minor thing that took me out of the flow of the stories was the flashbacks. At first they threw me but once I figured out they were flashbacks the story flowed smoothly again for me.

I've mentioned the slower and more intense pace of her writing before in reviews and while reading this book I was once again struck by a realization. Even though I utterly enjoy the book it's hard for me to read them in one sitting because they are intense and I need time to absorb everything that goes on to the fullest. This is a good thing!

DECEIVING THE PROTECTOR is another awesome installment in a series that's speeding to the top of my favorite paranormal romance reads. Though lighter on the romance and more focused on suspense, it was another excellent combination of suspense and raw emotions that held me in its grip from start to finish! I can't wait for Resurrection, book 3!

Favorite Quotes:
Shit, this wasn’t going well at all. He raised his hands, letting her see that his claws were sheathed. “You don’t have to worry, okay? My name is Jensen Tate. I’m from the Underground and I’ve been looking for you. I’m here to help.”
“I don’t need help.” She might smell like spring, and all that golden skin and hair might look like summer, but the cold hiss of her voice was pure winter. Deep winter.

(Lia to Tate) “You deaf or you just like people yelling at you?”

Oh yeah, this one was a ray of f#cking light. “You could stand to work on your manners there, Sunshine.”
“That’s not my name.” She kept walking.
He glared at the back of her pack. “How about sweetheart then?”
“How about you kiss my ass?”

It had been so long since she’d viewed males as anything other than something to avoid. In some cases, to hate. Or pity. But this one…this one she had a feeling she could look at for hours on end. At least until he spoke.
“How long have you been on the road, then?”
Lia swallowed a sigh. If she sighed, it would only encourage him, and this was not a man who needed encouragement. So far, he’d asked about her family, her history, her health, her future plans, the age and durability of her shoes, and whether she had a particular affection for the letter X. She hadn’t said a word in response, but that hadn’t stopped him from filling in the answers for her, each one of them more ridiculous than the last. If it kept up much longer, she was going to find a rock large enough and stuff his pretty mouth with it.

“Don’t you ever shut up?”
“Of course not. I’m a lawyer, I’m trained to talk for days.”

A strange thing had happened while he’d coaxed her into letting him past her guard. She’d gotten past his. Under his skin. With every shy smile, she’d made him feel a hundred feet tall, and every time he’d managed to draw the woman behind the controlled surface out, she’d only burrowed deeper. She’d sacrificed herself for him, facing her greatest nightmare for him.

His mouth was on hers, swallowing her words and scrambling what few of her synapses were still connecting. His tongue found hers, taking advantage of her open mouth, stroking over it even as he pulled her flush against him. Hot. Skin like heated marble slid against hers, the water sluicing between them, over them. She melted. From the inside out, she simply softened into a puddle for him to hold.

His teeth snapped in response. “You don’t protect me. I protect you.”
“Says who?”
“Nature. I’m stronger. I’m faster.”
The utter bullshit of that response made her lip curl over a surprisingly descended fang. “If you say you’re smarter, I’m throwing the lamp at you.”

(Lia and Betha) “Ooookay. Well, the way it was explained to me, when a boy bee-shifter meets a girl bee-shifter—”
“If you say anything about stingers, I swear, I’ll kill you with your own gun.”
Betha’s eyes widened, then, slowly, a sly smile replaced her surprise. “Oh, you’re going to do nicely.”

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.”

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Thirteen stories up. Two broken hearts. One last chance…

Surgeon Grant Sullivan’s once-perfect life lies in ruins. His daughter is gone—lost in a tragic accident he dare not allow himself to remember—and his beautiful wife now stares at him from across a legal table, insisting she wants nothing from him.

Julia Sullivan lost everything, especially her illusions about her marriage, after the accident. Her grief only seemed to drive Grant further into his emotional shell—except for the nights he turned to her in silent, furious passion. Unable to live like a ghost in her old life, she’s packed up what’s left of her broken heart and is ready to move on. Alone.

Determined to break their stalemate, Grant follows Julia onto the elevator just in time for an earthquake. Trapped for hours in a building pressure cooker of unspoken pain, he’ll do anything to remind her what she’s leaving behind, as deliciously as he can. But giving her what she needs to save their marriage is the one thing that could destroy his soul.

Title: Shaken
Author: Dee Tenorio
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Year of release: 2010, October 19
Format: eBook, short novella
Source: Received for review via author
First line: God, she’s beautiful.
Memorable Scenes:
-The first sexy times scene in the elevator > hot with a hint of emotional urgency
-The flashback to the accident scene > so heartbreaking and awfully sad I was sobbing while reading it

A car accident that cost them their daughter left Grant and Julia Sullivan devastated. When Julia doesn't find the emotional support she needs from Grant she files for divorce as she can no longer live with a man who seems incapable of mourning his daughter and only interested in the sexual side of their relationship. Grant does mourn the loss, however he's not one who expresses his feelings easily and prefers to use his desire for his wife and the solace he finds in their physical bond to push away the pain. Now at opposite ends of the negotiation table they seem further apart than ever, until an earthquake not only shakes up the building they're in trapping them in an elevator but also they are forced to face their emotions and grief together.

Normally I always tell something about the main characters and though this story was centered on Grant and Julia, the real focus was on them working through their traumatic experience and trying to save their marriage and the feelings that bind them together. And while their personalities play a big part in that, they were not what caught my attention while reading this book, at least not as much as the effect of their emotions did.

My heart broke for Grant and his loss, not only the physical loss of his child but also the emotional loss of the woman he loves profoundly. It also broke for Julia, a woman alone in her pain and grief, desperately trying to find an emotional connection over their mutual loss with the man she loves deeply.

SHAKEN is an emotional powerful novella in which Dee Tenorio delves into feelings of loss, guilt and grief which such rawness and sincerity I was truly moved, not to say shaken, by this short story.
And next to the emotional punch this story also more than delivered in the erotic department with some hot and sexy love scenes.

From the very first page this book put a lump in my throat with its intensity, heartbreak and emotional need that spoke from every word, sentence and page. If you’re looking for a read that touches you in that deep, dark place in your heart where loss resides once you’ve suffered losing a loved one, this book is it and you should definitely read it, and make sure you keep the tissues close by.

Favorite Quotes:
She shook her head and looked away. “Why can’t you just let me go?” (...) Because he needed her, because his entire world failed without her. Because being with her was the only way he could keep the pain at bay, even if he didn’t deserve a single minute in her presence. He’d failed her when she’d needed him the most. He didn’t deserve to be in this room with her right now. But still, all he wanted was the chance to—if not make it right—make it better.

Her hands found purchase on his shoulders and their gazes locked. Everything locked. Neither of them moved but for their panting breaths. His need was raw in his eyes. More than sex. He needed her. To touch him back. To give as much as he was giving to her. To make this more than an act of desperation; two bodies meeting while their hearts took different paths. As if he had no idea that her heart beat in his chest.

“I need you, Jules. Every minute of every day, I need you.”
“No you don’t.” If he’d needed her, he wouldn’t have pushed her away when she tried to comfort him. Back when she’d thought his silences held secrets and pain instead of indifference.
“Yes, I do. I can’t even breathe anymore without you.” Down. She felt him drawing them both down to the floor. She went, her body flowing into his, over his. He lay back on the carpet, pulling her with him, fitting her mouth to his, not to kiss, but to breathe her in. “You’re air to me, Julia. You’re the f#cking air.”

Make sure you come back Friday (22nd) when I welcome Dee Tenorio as a guest here on Pearl's World of Romance