Today is the start of the last leg of my Bandicoot Cove Experience (a feature on the Blog beween August 19th and and September 21st with Previews, ARC-reviews and Guestposts from the authors Vivian Arend, Lexxie Couper and Jess Dee). I am sad to see this experience coming to an end (for now). I had a blast reading the books and hosting the authors with their posts. Three awesome authors, each in their own way, with their own writing styles and personalities. I feel honored to have been given this opportunity!

It's Jess Dee's turn to share a few teasers from her upcoming contribution to the series, ISLAND IDYLLE and I will add a snippet of my review and a few of my own favorite quotes to the mix. Bear in mind that this is just a selection of the quotes I had, the others are included in the upcoming review.

Coming up next:

• ARC-review of ISLAND IDYLL – Monday September 19th
• Jess Dee’s Guestpost – Wednesday September 21st

Please help me give a warm welcome to Jess Dee. Take the mic, Jess ;)

Tuesday, the 20th of September is a day I’ve been anticipating for almost a year now, Why? Because it’s the day Island Idyll, the final novella in the Bandicoot Cove Anthology, finally releases.
This book was written mostly between the hours of midnight and 2am, when the rest of the house—heck, the rest of Sydney—slept. So when Pearl asked if I could find a couple of quotes from the book I particularly liked, well, I got a little nervous. C‘mon. Have you ever reread stuff you’ve written in the wee hours of the morning? Admit it. More often than not, it doesn’t make much sense the next day.
Fortunately (or with thanks to my editor), I managed to find a couple of quotes that not only made sense, but they kind left me smiling. I hope they have that same effect on you.

:D

Jess

QUOTES

1) Was that a dolphin?
Uh, not likely, unless the dolphins living in this water were white, and Josh knew for a fact they weren’t. He’d swum out to a pod frolicking off the island just yesterday afternoon, and their sleek skins had been obviously grey. Varying shades of grey, yes, but still grey.
He blinked, looked again, and this time focused properly.
Ah, person. Not dolphin.
Woman, to be more specific.
Wha—? Wait. Naked woman!
Naked woman, wading through the water and…whooping?

2) Sienna had only had a crush on him the entire way through high school. She’d have shed her good-girl image in a second if even once he’d shown her any interest. Hell, she’d have tossed her much-cherished virginity aside in a heartbeat for just five minutes with him.

3) Ben was the only man she’d desired in eight years. Eight long years. She still desired him. That was a hard, unrelenting fact she couldn’t deny.
Yet sitting this close to Josh, with the salty, ocean air filling her nose and nothing but crystal water stretched out around them, her belly flipped from one side to the other. Hunger and lust coursed through her veins like an incoming tide. She wanted him. Wanted him with a fierceness that shook her.
Not Ben. Josh.

4) Don’t blush. Do not blush. “Know what I used to call you back in school?”
“Josh?” he hazarded.
“Nice try.” She rolled her eyes. “But wrong. I called you Josh Lie-With-Me.”
The eyebrow lifted higher.
“Because all I freaking wanted to do was lie with you. Even for just five minutes.”
He threw his head back and laughed out loud, the first genuine emotion he’d shown since he’d begun telling her his sorry story. “See, princess. That’s why you and I could never have worked. You and your angelic ways. You had a crush on me for five years, and all you wanted to do was lie with me?”
“No, you moronic halfwit. I had a crush on you for five years, and all I wanted to do, even if it only lasted five minutes, was fuck your brains out.”

5) God, Ben. He felt so damn good. So damn real. He was there. With her. The man she’d loved her entire adult life. Her best friend. Her lover. Her fiancé.
Her throat clogged with emotion. She’d missed him. Every minute of every day. His absence had left a gaping hole in her life. A bottomless pit of loneliness, and now he was there. With her. Again.

6) She ran her hands over the thick muscles in his arms, up over his shoulders. So broad. So secure. She’d always felt safe, protected when leaning against those massive shoulders.
She still did, although not quite so safe as she once had. The trust and the security had been ripped away. Finding it again, in its wholeness, would take a while.
What wouldn’t take a while was her utter sexual surrender to him. She could never refuse Ben. Never wanted to. Physically, she couldn’t wait to give herself to him. Emotionally…they’d have to see.

So those were Jess's teasers...Having read ISLAND IDYLLE I have quite a few quotes of my own to add to the mix, but first a snippet from the review that is coming Tuesday...This book totally blew me off my socks!

ISLAND IDYLLE is a more than worthy addition to the Bandicoot Cove series. With its own unique approach to the ménage theme it was definitely my favorite of the 4 books so far. It’s a perfect combination of explicit, luscious eroticism, heartbreaking emotions and awesome writing skills. It was an awesome, almost perfect, story that just checked all the right boxes with me. It moved me to tears, it aroused me to combustion and it resonated deeply, even after having finished reading it!

Some of my Favorite Quotes:

Of course she was swimming naked. Anyone with a body quite so bountiful and beautiful should swim naked. It should be written into Australian federal law. She should have the political right to display that body to every red-blooded male in the country.
Er, hell, no. She shouldn’t.
She should only display that body to him. And only ever in private, away from the prying eyes of any other hot-blooded male anywhere on earth.
Okay, so he wasn’t so close he could make out details like cup size and freckles, but his view was clear enough that his dick stood up for a look as well.
“Down boy,” he growled quietly. “No way I can run with a woody.” (Josh)

Sienna had been primed and ready for Josh. The idea that he might indulge in a little secret play in public had thrilled and excited her. True, it was Ben who’d taught her about the thrill of hiding in plain sight, who’d introduced her to the danger, the risk and the incredible exhilaration. But it was Josh whose touch she’d expected tonight. She’d responded readily, happily when he’d embraced and caressed her. And she’d felt comfortable, right in her response.

“You mistook me for another man?” Ben asked with a strange hollowness to his voice.
Sienna gaped at him. “You’re not supposed to be here. You’re not supposed to be holding me. Touching me.”
“And he is?” Ben asked with a soft snarl.
Yes! The answer was on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back. Her answer was not his concern. Once it would have been his concern. Now? No.
Didn’t mean his presence wasn’t making her heart pound a gazillion miles an hour. Didn’t mean she wasn’t breathing him in greedily, committing his scent to memory once again, shaking violently from his mere presence. His physical proximity had always affected her like this. Always made her want him so badly her muscles weakened.

“You want to go back to him? Then go,” Josh said. “I won’t stop you. I won’t get in your way. But you have to take those steps. You have to walk away from me in order to get to him. Can you do that?"
Without waiting for her response, he kissed her. With the full force of his Josh Lie-With-Me mouth. His lips consumed, his tongue seduced and his body molded to hers, reminding her of every delicious pleasure they’d shared that afternoon. Every mind-blowing orgasm, every titillating tease. Every laugh he’d wrung out of her and every tear she’d held inside upon learning about this childhood.

A jerk pulsed through her when a pair of hands settled on her hips. While Ben’s mouth devoured hers, the taste of chocolate rich and sweet on her tongue, Josh tugged gently, pulling her ass backwards by mere inches, until it rested against his pelvis, his erection pressing between her butt cheeks.

He straightened his legs, still standing behind her, but he kept his distance. If he brushed his dick against her ass, even once, he’d lose control and come in his damned pants.

Damn it, he could barely breathe as he looked at her. As he considered sharing her. Love for Sienna welled in his chest, constricting his lungs and his heartbeat.
She’d lost weight, felt different in his arms. But she still smelled like the woman he loved. Like roses in summer. Like a breath of fresh air. With her he felt like a whole man and not the hollow ghost he’d become after she left. (Ben)

In her entire life, Sienna had never been more aroused, more alive. She had never experienced such bone-deep pleasure. Had the world ended right then, Sienna would die a contented, happy woman.

Buy links: Samhain | Amazon |Barnes & Noble

Vivian Arend | Lexxie Couper | Jess Dee | Bandicoot Cove
Paradise Found | Tropical Sin | Island Idyll | Exotic Indulgence

Today my Bandicoot Cove Experience (a feature on the Blog beween August 19th and and September 21st with Previews, ARC-reviews and Guestposts from the authors Vivian Arend, Lexxie Couper and Jess Dee) continues.
Today Lexxie Couper shares a few teasers from her upcoming contribution to the series,TROPICAL SIN and I will add a few of my favorite quotes to the mix.

Coming up next:

• My ARC-Review of TROPICAL SIN by Lexxie Couper – Monday September 5th
• Lexxie Couper’s Guestpost – Wednesday September 7th

Take it away Lexxie,


Being a True Blue, fair dinkum Aussie (translation: a proud and patriotic Australian citizen), I may be a little biased when I say there’s nothing as sexy and seductive as a smolderingly hot Aussie hero. But then again, maybe I’m just speaking the truth?

That being the question, are you ready for more Aussie heat from Bandicoot Cove Resort?

He looked up at her, his jaw square, his expression unreadable. He’d been her best friend since before she had her first boyfriend. He’d been her rock, her anchor. Her voice of reason when her journalist’s mind got carried away with her. She didn’t want him upset with her. She needed him with her on this.
He studied her with those deep, direct eyes of his. Eyes that missed nothing. Eyes that seemed to see nothing in the world but her.
A soft flutter constricted in McKenzie’s sex, unexpected and just as eager as her earlier response to Blackthorne.
She hitched in a silent breath and let his arm go, a lump forming in her throat. “Please,” she muttered, looking everywhere but at the man sitting before her. “Please come with me, Aidan.”
“Fuck it,” she heard him grumble, half a second before his chair scraped over the polished bamboo floor and he stood.



*****
“He said no.”
“No?” She scrambled from her chair, her heart beating harder. Faster. “How could he say no? How could anyone with a pulse say no to you?”
Aidan’s face became still, a small muscle twitching in his jaw. “I don’t know, Mack. How can you?”
McKenzie’s heart didn’t just thump harder in her chest. It tried to smash its way out of her chest cavity. She looked up at him, lost for a thing to say.
“Ah, fuck it.” The words were almost a guttural growl. In two steps he destroyed the small space left between them, pressed his large hands on either side of her face and took her lips with his.



*****
Without a word, Aidan removed the scarf from Nick’s hand, stepping behind McKenzie, towering over her.
Nick took his place in front of her, his gaze holding hers as Aidan slid his hands over her shoulders and down her arms, the scarf held loosely between his fingers, caressing her skin as he reached her wrists.
“You trust him, don’t you?” Nick’s balls rose at the concentrated want in McKenzie’s direct blue eyes.
He saw Aidan become still, his head bent, his body pressed close to McKenzie’s back, as if he needed to hear an answer he already knew. Perhaps, with Nick there, he did.
A small smile pulled at the corners of McKenzie’s mouth. “I trust him.”
Nick’s balls throbbed and he took a step closer, letting his denim-clad thighs brush her naked ones. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” She drew in a deep breath, the action causing her nipples to graze the front of his shirt and his balls didn’t just throb, they ached. “I do. Besides, I know Aidan will break you in two if you do anything to hurt me.”
Nick chuckled. “True.”
Aidan’s gaze flicked up to his. “True,” he said softly just as McKenzie’s gasp filled the room and her body stiffened.
Nick’s pulse thumped harder in his chest, her reaction telling him exactly what Aidan had done: tied the scarf around her wrists. Bound them together. Rendering her vulnerable.
Fuck, yes.

So, what do you think? Sexy and seductive? Or am I just a tad too biased? ;)

Bandicoot Cove awaits you. Where Paradise can be Found, the Island is Idyll and the Tropical heat makes for pleasurable Sin…

So those were Lexxie's teasers...Having read TROPICAL SIN I have a few quotes of my own to add to the mix, but first a snippet from the review that is coming Tuesday...

TROPICAL SIN is a novella filled with heat, humor and unrequited love turning into a wonderful match of soul mates. If you need something to heat up a cold night, just read TROPICAL SIN and central heating will not be necessary!

Some of my Favorite Quotes:

Aidan’s low grumble played over her senses and she started, her stomach tightening again. And not just her stomach this time, but all sorts of other parts of her anatomy: parts of her anatomy that had no right getting tight over Aidan Rogers.

Aidan pulled McKenzie—still squirming in his arms—harder to his body. It was a bad idea, of course. The way her toned backside kept rubbing against his dick, the way her full breasts kept pushing against his forearm, he was going to be in a rather stiff situation any second now. Better that, however, than Blackthorne taking a swipe at the tabloid journalist bugging him on his holiday. If that happened, Aidan was likely to do something very foolish. Knocking out the world’s most famous musician wasn’t on his bucket list.
(...) Just get her outta here, Rogers. Take her as far away from him as you can. Now. Before she bites your hand or you come on the small of her back.

“I came to ask…” Nick paused, rubbing at his mouth with a hand before raking it through his hair; hair, Aidan couldn’t help but notice, much more messy than it had been at the bar. “I wanted…” He let out a harsh breath, shaking his head and stepping backward. “F#ck,” he muttered, turning his face away, “where’s the cool f#cking rock star when I need him?”

“Arousing,” Nick growled, and it was a growl. Guttural and barely controlled, it was the horniest sound Aidan had ever heard a man make. “So damn arousing.”

“Was it good?” Kylie gushed, her excitement thrumming through the connection. “Tell me it was good. Tell me it was amazing. Oh, my God, tell me you’re going to do it again. And again. And again.”
With a small, lopsided smile, Aidan reached out and took the phone from McKenzie’s fingers, raising it to his ear. “And again,” he said into the mouthpiece, his voice a deep rumble that sent a shard of wet electricity into McKenzie’s core. “Now excuse us, will you Kylie? There’s somewhere I have to take Mack. And something I have to do to her. Again.”

Buy links: Samhain | Amazon |Barnes & Noble

Vivian Arend | Lexxie Couper | Jess Dee | Bandicoot Cove
Paradise Found | Tropical Sin | Island Idyll | Exotic Indulgence

As part of the NEVER ENOUGH Blog Tour I will not be offering a review, a (character-)interview or guestblog by Lauren Dane. I've decided to go for a Quotes-Post (thanks Leontine! You set off the light-bulb moment). It will be slightly different than the Quotes-Posts I've done earlier because this time I also asked the author for her favorite quotes, since I love hearing from others what lines speak to them, and I'm even more fascinated to know from the authors themselves.

Turns out that combined Lauren and I had 34 favorite quotes! Lauren sent me 9 and I marked 25...Yes, 25!
Of those 34 we have 2 exactly the same and I've decided to add 7 of mine to this post to match Lauren's other 7. But first let me offer you the blurb of this wonderful book. I devoured this book in almost one sitting and it will be given a 9.4/10, Adrian and Gillian blew my socks off! (My review will follow later this week).

ALL THE RIGHT NOTES…

Gillian Forrester spent most of her life running from who and what she came from. Until Miles came along. From the moment she held the tiny newborn her older sister didn't want, Gillian stopped running and began to build a life for herself and her adopted son. Now, thirteen years later, as Gillian's sister lay dying, she reveals the father's identity and makes Gillian promise to find him.

Adrian Brown is the epitome of the successful rock star. He's seen and done it all, with few regrets. It takes a lot to shock him but the bombshell that he has a thirteen-year-old son rocks his world. And Adrian is even more surprised when the buttoned-up, elegant woman who's raising Miles snags his erotic and romantic attention.

The last thing Gillian expected was to find herself getting hot and heavy with a person like Adrian. But as much as she wants to open up and give herself fully to this amazing man, she's afraid the secrets of her past and Adrian's problems with trusting people may keep them apart for good. If love isn't enough can they find the trust they need?

And now the quotes:

Lauren Dane's and my Favorite Quotes in common:

Miles skidded into the kitchen and looked from his mother to his father and chuckled. “You’re in big trouble, mate. When she starts sounding like an episode of EastEnders I usually just run for it. Protect your junk.” And with that, he turned and bolted from the room. p 208

Adrian Brown laid waste to her reserve. Barging in and taking up residence inside her. In her heart and head and damn it, it felt good. And right. He understood her, darkness and all. p 212

Some of Lauren Dane's Favorite Quotes:

And just like that, she stood. “All right then. Clock’s ticking, Adrian Brown. Dazzle me and I might just give you an A.” (p 81)

Some American things were simply undoubtedly better. Button-down jeans were one of those things. A zipper was sexy enough, yes, but that sound as the metal button cleared the denim seemed to mainline straight to her clit. p 104

"I know we’re sort of like the Borg, sweeping in and taking over with our bright colors and loud voices.” p 140 (Erin to Gillian)

One brow slid up as if it could not believe his audacity. Which only made him more audacious just to poke at her and bring out her English. p 153

“So fucking nothing. Stop being so defensive. It just means you’re having to work for it. Welcome to the real world where the rest of us have to rely on our wits instead of our guitars to get women.” p 180 Cope to Adrian

“Your mother makes me nervous. In a good way,” he amended quickly.
“She doesn’t bring men around. She doesn’t date much. She lets you get away with stuff she’d shoot someone else in the face over.”
“Christ, she’s going to kill me when she hears you say that. Stop with the shooting-in-the-face references.” p 206 between Adrian and Miles

She was his family. The mother of his son. And it meant so much that he’d have loved her just for that. But there was more because she was his. That’s all he could say to himself that felt most true. He’d looked at her and his entire being had gone taut and he’d thought, Mine. p 229

Some of my Favorite Quotes:

Brody opened his front door. “Why’d you knock? You have a key.”
Adrian moved past his brother and kicked off his shoes in the hall, hanging his jacket on the way.
“It was late. I didn’t want to just walk in. You and Elise could have been doing all manner of things and my fragile psyche can’t handle that.” (p.34)

His speech had a cadence to it, slow and honeyed. Not southern, but something similar. As if he liked to roll his words over his palate before he gave them up. (p.39)

She got a pretty good feel of what he was packing when she’d been against her hallway wall, his body pressing against hers with just the right amount of pressure.
She shivered. A dominant kiss from a laid-back man. (p.73)

“He loves the ladies, does our Alexander.” Erin cocked her head at her son, who blew her a kiss. “I’m afraid he’s just as terminally charming as the rest of the men in this family. Luckily, we’re a hearty bunch of womenfolk and can whip them into shape.” (p.138)

He touched her just right. Keeping her on the edge of climax as he filled her over and over.
And when it broke, it hit her hard, shattering all around her, pulling at her composure, threatening to unravel her.
So she threw herself into it. Into that very moment as desire ran wild through her veins as orgasm turned her inside out. (p.142)

He laughed again. “Do you know I think I laugh more with you than I ever have before, and I laughed a lot as it was.”
“I bet you’re agitated a lot more too.”
“Yes. Can’t deny it. Also can’t deny it makes me hot. So be it, I’m a weirdo. I can accept it. Your prickly, buttoned-up-to-the-neck thing works my libido hard.”
She sniffed delicately. “I may have noticed. It’s a good thing for us both. Not many men have a bitchy woman fetish.”
“I do believe you just made me guffaw with that one. They do say there’s a lid for every pot. You’re my lid, Gillian. Bitchy and all.” (p. 265)

She eyed his hand and then his face again, narrowing her gaze. He wiggled his hand again and she sighed. “You’re very bad for my constitution. I find myself breaking all sorts of personal Gillian Forrester rules for you.”
“From you, this is a great declaration of love.”
“Hm.”
“There she is.”
She sighed. “Really, if you’re a beast and you call me to tell me mean things again, I will carve your bits off with a rusty spoon I’ve sharpened against the pavement.” (p. 291)

So those were the quotes!
Be on the lookout for my review coming Friday...and check out Leontine's Beefcake Interview with the man himself, Adrian Brown!!

Now for the giveaway. Yes, there's a giveaway...


=====GIVEAWAY=====GIVEAWAY=====GIVEAWAY=====


Lauren Dane has generously offered a bound galley of NEVER ENOUGH for one of my commenters.
To enter the giveaway just tell me what one of your favorite quote is. This might be from a romance novel or other novels or from a famous person. Your prerogative! If you don't have a favorite quote, tell me which one of the NEVER ENOUGH quotes above you liked the most.

Good to know:
This giveaway runs from today until Sunday August 28th. Winner announced August 29th!
Giveaway is open internationally
If your email is not available through your profile, please leave it in your comment or email it to me if you don't want to leave it on the Blog (see the Contact-tab in the menu above)

Yesterday my ARC-review of EXOTIC INDULGENCE kicked off the Bandicoot Cove Experience, a feature on the Blog beween now and and September 21st with Previews, ARC-reviews and Guestposts from the authors Vivian Arend, Lexxie Couper and Jess Dee.
Today Vivian Arend tells us a bit about her upcoming contribution to the series, PARADISE FOUND, with teasers and I will add a few of my favorite quotes to the mix.

Coming up next:

• My ARC-Review of PARADISE FOUND – Monday August 22nd
• Vivian Arend’s Guestpost on PARADISE FOUND and the series – Thursday August 25th

Take it away Viv,


Looking forward to some Down Under Heat?
---


This coming Tuesday a very special place in the world opens its doors to you. Take a trip to Bandicoot Cove, where the exclusive resort provides a place for more than just fun and relaxation. It’s somewhere you’ll find the perfect setting for passion, lust and falling in love.


Three linked novellas will be released August and September—stories that stand alone but intertwine with each other as well. And just to get you in the mood, there’s a free short story prequel, Exotic Indulgence, that gives you a glimpse of the resort and just how hot things really can get down-under.


I’ll tell you more on Thursday, but here’s a few teasers from my book PARADISE FOUND, both out next Tuesday.

The feather duster wasn’t nearly as intriguing as the five-inch heels gracing her long legs. And when she walked, her ass wiggled from side to side in time with the lusty song she sang. Dirty words, nicely in tune with the thoughts running through his brain. Oh, she could take it off if she wanted to. He’d have no complaints.
Bloody brilliant woman.
Trent pushed the door open and stepped into the entranceway. Paige twirled and straightened with a gasp, her long black braids flying as one hand snapped up to cover her mouth like some old-fashioned modest heroine. The laughter and smoldering heat in her eyes said there was nothing modest about what she wanted.

~~~
Oh God, she could kiss. All his plans to start a more serious discussion evaporated as she kissed her way up his jaw line to his ear and teased with her tongue.
“Damn it, woman, that drives me crazy.”
She nipped at his earlobe. “I know. That’s why I do it.” The words whispered past Mason’s ear, and he chuckled.

~~~
Paige shrugged the soft blouse from her shoulders, letting it flutter to the floor before reaching for the snap on her skirt. Trent swallowed the rest of his words as lust raced over his face, his gaze glued to her fingers.
Powerful. There was nothing on earth comparable to holding two passionate men in the palm of her hand like this.

So those were Viv's teasers...I have read PARADISE FOUND and I have a few quotes of my own to add to the mix, but first a snippet from the review that is coming Tuesday...

...From the first page Vivian Arend doesn't let down on the heat. A luscious hotel room and a little maid/guest roleplay was just the start for some scorching scenes. Just the kissing scenes set me on fire, let alone all the rest of it...

...PARADISE FOUND is explicit, so if you're looking for sweet non-smutty romance without words like c#ck, f#ck or p#ssy...turn the other way because it will not be for you. However if you're okay with explicitness and ménages (like I am) you will gobble this one up...

Some of my Favorite Quotes:

“Touch yourself.”
Paige instantly covered her breasts.
He rumbled with laughter. “That’s not what I meant.”

Mason picked her up and returned the squeeze as he attempted to ignore the soft swell of her breasts peeking above the low scoop of her top. Tried to refrain from grinding his half-hard c#ck against her body and rutting on her like a sex-crazed maniac. It was tough considering the moment her knees left the mattress she’d swung her legs around his hips and now clung to him, an erotic body wrap. The wet heat of her sex sat directly over his dick, and things were not getting any less impressed below his beltline.

Paige snatched his wrist in both her hands and actually bounced with excitement. “We’re going to the water slide. You want to come?”
Jesus. No . Sliding with his c#ck the size of a cricket bat he was liable to put out an eye.

Trent’s jaw swung open. “Holy fuck, are you hitting on me?”
“No! Bloody hell, I mean with Paige. I see no reason why we can’t both be with her, for good. If she wants a marriage license to make it official, that’s fine with me, but I don’t care if it’s your name on the piece of paper next to hers, or mine. There’s enough room for me to care for her, and you—in a totally nonsexual way—and I just…” Mason trailed off. The look of amusement on Trent’s face pissed him off a little. “What?”
Trent sniffed dramatically. “My first marriage proposal. Mason, I’m touched.”

Mason leaned in on her right, resting his chin lightly on her shoulder. He stared at her legs before giving a low growl. “I’m so going to strip those stockings off with my teeth.”

Buy links: Samhain | Amazon |Barnes & Noble

Vivian Arend | Lexxie Couper | Jess Dee | Bandicoot Cove
Paradise Found | Tropical Sin | Island Idyll | Exotic Indulgence

As promised I'm trying to keep up with my Quotes Posts and this time I have a yummy one of a book that is coming out Monday at Carina Press.

Friday I posted my ARC-review of COMING CLEAN and if you've read it you must have noticed that A) I loved the book and B) there were quite some quotes already mentioned in the review...but I had so many more marked so what better to do than make another Quotes Post of it.

But before I start the Quotes let me treat you to a gem of a quote Inez Kelley gave me on Twitter when she read my review of COMING CLEAN:

Inez Kelley (@Inez_Kelley) 8/25/10 17:09 @Pearl_828 I may not have gotten your M/M cherry but I had my fingers in your panties, at least

As COMING CLEAN is an ebook I do not have a picture of the post-it markers to show so I'll just continue with a pic of the cover, blurb and the quotes.



Coming clean never felt so good….

Grant and Vivi Michaelson share everything in their marriage: love, commitment—and their wildest sexual desires. But their relationship is tested when Vivi admits she wants a threesome with Grant’s old friend Cade, proposing their annual trip to the lake as the perfect opportunity to fulfill her fantasy.

All three of them are aroused by the idea. Vivi and Cade have long felt a smoldering attraction to each other…and Grant and Cade have hidden an illicit desire for decades. Going through with the ménage will test their boundaries, reveal old secrets…and maybe tear them apart. After all, there might be room for Cade in bed, but is there room for a third in their marriage?

Grant and Vivi during sexy times
Forbidden erotic sensations coursed through him, and he poured every drop of lust into his hips, driving inside her.

Examples of Inez Kelley's amazing writing
*The beat of his racing heart nearly drowned out the sexually tinged melody.

*Fear mixed with dread and was fed by guilt.

*Jealousy swelled like a tsunami before common decency tramped it back down.

Grant and Cade discussing the possibilities:
“Are we seriously talking about anal sex in baseball analogies?”

Vivi thinking about what she wants
This was going to be fine. It would be a sexual experiment, a tasting of forbidden fruit and an erotic adventure, but nothing would rock her marriage or their friendship. It could only make both stronger.

Cade feels guilty over almost kissing Vivi in front of Grant
*Betrayal soured in his mouth. He’d crossed a line no friend should ever cross. Since fourth grade they’d been blood brothers, buddies, the guy you couldn’t call to bail you out of jail because he’d be sitting in the cell with you asking “Man, what the hell did we do?”

When my heart broke for Cade
Like every other person on Earth, he wanted to fall in love with someone who accepted him at his worst, loved him at his best and craved his company in between. He wanted someone to tell his dreams to, his fears, his fantasies. Someone who could finish his sentences and turn his insides to jelly.

Grant finally broaches the subject with Cade
“She wants the three of us together…all parties involved equally.”

Grant and Cade are nearing point of no return
“You okay?” Grant asked.
“Yeah, tired I guess.” Surely his voice wasn’t that thick with longing, was it? He must have swallowed some BBQ smoke that left his throat scratchy, that was all. He took a hasty but long sip of his beer to soothe his voice. The icy brew did nothing for his increasing internal heat.

Cade and Grant and Inez Kelley's wonderful writing again
*A soft command husked with gravelly texture. “Tell me what you’re thinking right now.” His sultry tone slithered across the air, shedding a skin of doubt and revealing scales of lust and promise.

Golden-brown brows dropped to a shrewd evaluating level. The stare danced over Grant’s skin, and each individual hair stood and twitched at the perusal. His gut tightened in anticipation of the questions he saw forming.

The grazing kiss barely touched their lips but Cade didn’t try to return it. This was Grant’s exploration and he allowed it, unhurried and uncontested. His heart jackhammered, pummeling his ribs. The desperate need to deepen the light peck scoured through him but he refused. He would not let loose the famished need inside him too quickly and fuck this up.

Grant definitely liked kissing, and each lick and nibble pumped more yearning through Cade. His control cracked, and he had to pull away before he moved too fast or tried to give more than Grant might be ready to accept.

No explanation needed
Cade, Grant and Vivian were a triangle. Three sides of equal strength, joined together.

(The ones with the * made the official review)

It's been a while since I posted a Quotes-post...*goes to check when the last Quote-post was* To be precise tomorrow it'll be a year since the last Quote-Post...hmmm coincidence much?

I've decided to revive the Quote-post Feature as once in a while there are books that are just so quotable that I it's very, very hard to stick to the 2 or 3 I usually use in my reviews, and I'm not even talking about the times I sneak in an extra few on top of the 2 or 3...

I'm kicking it off with quotes from a book I had the honor of reviewing for Fiction Vixen Book Reviews...When I saw it on the list for reviews I first hesitated to put my name up for it, but then I saw it was romantic suspense and everyone knows by now, my weakness is romantic suspense so I put my name in, waited for the book to arrive and left in on the shelves until on the evening of August 10th, when I suddenly was brutally reminded of the fact that Fiction Vixen was expecting my review of SHADOWS AT MIDNIGHT on August 15th and I hadn't even cracked the spine yet. So I got my behind in gear and opened to the first page that same evening and totally unexpected was blown away by this book.



Fiction Vixen has my review up so you can read HERE why I gave it 5 stars...

A LOST SOUL
Claire Day’s promising career as a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst comes to a shattering end in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Laka, West Africa. For more than a year, Claire has been rebuilding her life and her confidence when she suddenly remembers the man who tried to protect her, and who might hold the key to the mysteries haunting her nightmares

A LOST LOVE
Former Marine Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Weston believed Claire was dead. But the woman he grieve for has just come back into his life seeking to reconnect with her past, unaware of the feelings he has for her. Determined not to fail Claire again, Dan vows to help her heal.

A LOST TRUTH
Together, they begin to unlock Claire’s lost memories only to uncover a conspiracy that puts them –and any future they might have together– in deadly danger…

And as I didn't want to deprive you all of the wonderful quotes I found while reading this book, it has the honor of being the first Quote Post on the Blog again since a year. I hope you all enjoy the quotes as much as I did the book!

Dan's thoughts when he sees what's going on outside the embassy. It was a serious scene but the QT on crack remark made me smile:
Shit.
It was a Quentin-Tarantino-on-crack-scene.
Hundreds of screaming soldiers, firing their weapons crazily in all directions, pouring into the city

Several "smell" quotes from Dan's POV, the sense of smell was used a lot in this book:
*He could smell individual bits of her and they all smelled wonderful. Freshly shampooed hair, some lemony lotion on her hands and something fresh and springlike that he imagined was the smell of her skin. Jesus, he’d like to smell all that up close. Just put his nose next to her neck and inhale, even though he doubted she’d like him pulling a dog imitation on her.

Dan looked away for a moment, trying to get back into his own head. He definitely needed to go out and get laid, asap, if holding a woman's hand briefly while looking in her eyes nearly overwhelmed him.

He forced himself to smile into her eyes instead of closing his, leaning down to her and sniffing her like a dog.

Claire about to sleep with Dan for the first time and citing the reasons why she wanted to:
He wanted her and she wanted him right back, but for all the wrong reasons. Because he was so hot he melted the icy chill that surrounded her. Because he had strong hands that wouldn't let her fall. Because he was completely, gloriously sane and she was...she was slightly loony on her best day. Because he was a Marine and was guaranteed to make her feel safe when she woke up at three in the morning, alone and terrified with the echo of danger and voices clamoring in her head.
Those were not good reasons to take a man to your bed.

Clair has a "smell" quote too, she's dressed in Dan's T-shirt after a shower:
She sniffed at the material but all she could smell was detergent. She'd been hoping for the smell of Dan. His smell would be embedded in the deepest recesses of her brain to the end of time.
Oh, God. A mixture of soap and musk and man. Intoxicating. Enthralling (...) The smell of him , musk and male, the taste of him, salt and spicy, the feel of him, hot and amazingly hard all over, the sound of him, breath heaving in and out of his lungs(...)

Dan's fear for Claire's life described while he hugs her after an ordeal they go through:
Dan hung on for dear life, sweating and shaking, completely undone. Later when he could think straight, it would astonish him.
He was known for his cool under fire (...)
But now he was shaken to the core, the adrenaline of the escape coursing through his system like poison and the only antidote was Claire, safe in his arms.

Claire asking Jesse to buy her and Dan supplies while they go into hiding:
"(...) And buy me a parka." She narrowed her eyes on him. "Can you buy women's underwear?"
His eyes rounded and he took a step back as if she'd asked him to French-kiss a rattlesnake. "No ma'am."
Claire sighed. Pity. Though God knew what he'd choose. She was fanatic about nice underwear, but sending Jesse into a La Perla store would probably give him a heart attack.

Another Dan quote that made me smile:
He forced himself to take his clothes off normally, not in a frenzy like last time. Sweater off, placed on the chair he'd been sitting in. He didn't fold it. There were limits to what a man could do but at least he didn't rip it off and toss it over his shoulder. His shirt seemed to have a million buttons, all tiny. He was never going to buy a shirt ever again, not with Claire around. Maybe he'd just wear one of those Arab thoubs, go commando underneath, pull it up and off and there you were.

Claire ogling Dan:
Naked he was an extraordinary sight. Broad, heavy shoulders, tapering down to a narrow waist, smooth buttock, hard hairy thighs with the muscles very visible as he walked.
If I can admire his ass, I'm feeling better, she thought.
Walking back, he was even more admirable.
(...)
"Thanks I feel much bettter"
"I know." He leaned over to kiss her forehead. "You were checking my butt out. Then my package."
That earned him an elbow in the ribs, which he took like a man.

Dan and Claire, hot and heavy and emotional:
"Can I use my hands now?" He asked quietly.
She nodded, unable to speak. The feelings in her were so intense she felt as is she could hardly contain them. (...)
"Dan, I--"
"Sh." He put a finger over her mouth. "I know."
Kissing her deeply, he turned them over and entered her, a long, slow, tender penetration.
He lifted his head and looked down at her, wiping the tear that had escaped with a rough finger. "You're mine now," he whispered.

Another example of Dan's protective feelings:
* He’d made love for hours to Claire, as if joining his body to hers could create a magical aura of protection, as if the more time he spent inside her, the safer she’d be. If he could have, he’d have tucked her right into his own body and kept her there.

Sweet, disarming Dan:
Dan sighed and she turned around, her face lighting up when she saw him.
Oh man.
He rubbed his chest. When she smiled at him like that his heart just gave this enormous thwack inside his chest, even after (...CAN'T QUOTE THIS PART AS IT IS SPOILERISH) . He should maybe see a cardiologist.

(The ones with the * made the official review)

Crap! I forgot to take a picture of the book with the markers still in it! Ah well, you'll have to do with a "naked" picture of the book then. *smile*



July, especially mid -> end of July was a period of great books for me! After Seduce the Darkness by Gena Showalter which is now Quotes recold holder, came Victoria Dahl's Start Me Up and though the record still stands.

After the Quote-posts of Whisper No Lies and Atlantis Unleashed it's time for another Quote-post!!



This time the honor goes to Seduce the Darkness by Gena Showalter. I'm a sucker for Gena's books and these quotes show why. I love her writing style and her characterization. Her books make me laugh, swallow lumps away and chew my nails, all in the space of 300-400 pages!

At the moment Gena Showalter's SEDUCE THE DARKNESS holds the Quote-record, with 17 quotes. It'll be tough for other books to top this! But hey I thought that with the other Quote-posts too so who knows...

Hope you enjoy these quotes as much as I did! But be warned...the quotes may contain spoilers so read at own risk!


A youthful Devyn lusting over a maid, which got him in a lot of trouble:
When her lush, pink lips had curled in greeting, his heart had nearly beaten its way out of his chest. He'd wanted to rush to her, put his hands all over her body, lick her and kiss her and thrust into her the way a prince was only supposed to thrust into his wife.

Bride's thoughts when she first encounters Devyn
Clearly, he was an otherworlder, though which race, she didn't know. Whichever one, she had to wonder if they were all like him: perfection wrapped in dazzling and sprinkled with every woman's fantasy.

Devyn and Bride:
"I smell like a woman, hmm?
"Yes."
"Well, you smell like sex." He leaned down as if he intended to share a secret with her, moonlight caressing him as though it couldn't help itself. Maybe it couldn't. "The dirtiest kind of sex, at that. Which happens to be my favorite.

Dallas and Devyn's loving banter:
"You're scary, you know that?" Dallas said with quiet affection.
"I know. It's hardly far to others that I am a triple threat. Pretty and talented."
"That's only two, moron."
"I'd thought it would be rude to mention my c#ck."

Mia, Devyn and Dallas:
"So, you've actually met one? Other than this Bride person?" Mia asked him (...). "A f#cking bloodsucker?"
He shrugged, downed the last bit of the Scotch. "If by met you mean bedded, then yes."
Dallas rolled his eyes. "Is there a race you haven't bedded?"

Devyn when he and Bride are negotiating kisses in exchange for questions answered:
"Don't worry. I'll be keeping score inside my head, and I'm very good at math. Example: Devyn plus Bride minus clothes plus a hard, flat surface multiplied by roaming hands equals greatest pleasure ever. When shall we begin?"

How Devyn and Bride discuss things:
"Do you want to see (name of a person I won't mention due to spoiling) or not?"
She bit her tongue, probably drawing blood. To keep from biting him? "You know I do. And if you've hurt her, I swear to God I'll cut off your balls and feed them to you."
"Kinky."

Another bout of Dallas and Devyn banter (Devyn has just "disabled" a landlord who was bugging Bride):
Dallas had his arms crossed over his chest.
"What?" Devyn said, all innocence. "He annoyed me."
"So nearly killing him was necessary?"
"Completely."
A roll of his friends baby blues. "Are you sure you're not in loooove with Bride? 'Cause, dude, you're like a knight in crotchless armor right now."

Devyn's seductive moves:
He shrugged. "You don't have to worry about giving in to my wicked advances. Not yet. Right now, you're going to strip and shower, and then we're going to talk."
She raised her chin. "Like hell."
You will. I'll force you if necessary. And Bride," he said, his voice dipping huskily. "I hope it's necessary."

Push-and-pull mating dance by Devyn and Bride (Bride is under the shower and Devyn wants in):
"Invite me in."
"Beg."
"Invite me in, Bride."
"I told you. I will when you beg."
"I don't have to beg for a woman."
She grinned sweetly. "Then you'll never have this one."

The moment my heart broke for Devyn:
Her uncertainty reminded him of the boy he'd once been. The boy who had put on his best clothes and snuck into his mother's wing of the palace to give her a birthday present. The boy who had knocked on his mother's door, hoping, praying for a smile, even a hug, when he gave her the picture he'd drawn for her. The boy who'd had to throw the gift away, because his mother had looked at it, thanked him, and placed it back in his hands before shutting the door in his face.

Devyn to Bride:
"You confuse, fascinate, irritate, and delight me." he said, "and I swear to God the only thing I was thinking about while tasting and touching you was you."

Devyn watches Bride take a real shower (with water, not the futuristic enzyme showers):
Never had Devyn see a more beautiful sight. She was an angel, a siren, a goddess, all wrapped in Temptation's skin. Her joy was palpable, and he had given this to her, he thought, his pride intensifying.

Devyn's thoughts:
He needed to feel her, to know she was here and that she wasn't leaving him. Yet. He needed her goodness to mute his darkness.

Bride and Devyn:
"Nothing you do to me is shameful, swear to God. Well, besides letting me suffer from withdrawals. You gave me a taste of you, then took it away."
He gave a hoarse chuckle. "Well, the first taste is always free. You have to pay for the rest."
"Name your price."
"You. Just you."

Devyn's feelings for Bride:
You're...you. You make me hot, you make me laugh, and you make me angry. You look at me with those emerald eyes, and all I want to see is happiness inside them. You confuse me, you arouse me, you make me want to be better.

The moment it clicks in place for Devyn:
Variety was no longer what drove him. Bride was. (...) She had shown him what his life was missing. Then, with her smile and her touch, she'd patched him up and made him whole.

A little background may be useful for new comers who aren't familiar with my reading and reviewing habits. While reading I am always taking notes for the reviews I write for my blog and for ROOB. Many times while reading I come up with the greatest paragraphs for my reviews and then when it was time to sit down and write the actual review, my mind would go completely blank and I wouldn't remember them...So I decided to write everyting down that pops up in my head while reading. The same goes for quotes. I would read something worth quoting and by reviewing time I wouldn't remember where I had read it exactly. Since I started reviewing books in February 2007 I have filled 4 notebooks with reviewing notes.

With quotes, I used to write down page numbers and some keywords in the notebook and when writing the review I would look up the quotes in the book again and decide whether to use them or not. But ever since I discovered the colored sticky markers I have changed my ways and it's a lot easier now: I find something that moves me, makes me laugh, sends me into awe-mood or is just typical for a character in the book and WHAM! a sticky note is slammed on the page.

Normally I find about 3-5 possible quotes in a book and the choice which to use is pretty simple. But since last week I have started with what I am now calling "my Quote-posts" when I had more Whisper No Lies Quotes than I could include in my official review and the choice was terribly difficult as to which ones to cut and which ones to keep. I thought that with 12 quotes I had set a pretty decent record. Well, I thought wrong! Because while reading Atlantis Unleashed I noticed that more and more markers were appearing and the result was the 18(!!!) markers below.

When writing the actual review some of those 18 didn't make the cut but still a new record has been established with the following 14 quotes that made this post. Read them at own risk if you haven't read the book yet because although I try to keep my reviews as spoiler-free as possible, with quotes I cannot always guarantee that. After all, what isn't a spoiler for one person could very well be one for the next.

Enjoy!!

Justice when he's with Anubisa:
The burning red of her eyes deepened until they glowed, and then she freaking sniffed him, inhaling his scent like a beast, and his skin tried to crawl off his body.

Keely about Ven:
The one Liam had called Lord Vengeance laughed, and his laughter changed him from forbidding warrior to pure, potent male.

*Justice and Keely when they first see each other:
"You are her. You are Keely."
"Yes," she replied, voice barely a whisper. "I am Keely."
He smiled a slow, dangerous smile, and the whiteness of his teeth was almost shocking in the darkness of his face.
"We are Justice," he said. "And you are ours."

*Justice when he thinks he will be trapped in the Void forever:
And then in an act of courage beyond any he'd known in all of his centuries, he raised his head to take one last look at Keely. He drank in the sight of her (...) "Remember me, my lady, that is all I ask of you for this or any lifetime. Remember me, although you never knew me, for I feel that I have known you for all eternity and hungered for you for even longer, still."

When she spoke, the liquid cadence of her voice caught at something deep in his soul. In both his souls.

Keely and Justice in the cavern:
"Rest? Rest?" She heard her voice rise into a near shout, but couldn't seem to help it. "Are you kidding me? You've just (...spoilers...), you kidnapped me, your talking about yourself in the plural again, and about claiming and baser impulses, and you want me to take a nap?"
(...) "If I ever get out of this, I’m buying a switchblade," she snapped. "Or maybe a Taser. Or a gun. There is no napping. There is no resting. There is only you, getting me out of here."
========
(...) the primal male warriors she'd sometimes seen in her visions, when she'd touched certain artifacts from ancient civilizations, simply didn't exist in modern times. They certainly didn't show up in the academic offices at Ohio State. But she wasn't in Ohio anymore. The hard, muscled male proof of it was climbing out of the water, stark naked and dripping wet, not a dozen feet away from her. Keely had never thought of water as an aphrodisiac before, but the drops that clung lovingly to Justice's body might qualify. They caressed him in all the places she suddenly found herself wanting to touch. With her tongue.
========
No way she would respond to him. Nothing in her background of fiercely independent personality would make her the type to be turned on by some naked, alpha-male throwback to the days when men were men and women were possessions.
(...) "Cut it out," she snapped. "Stop staring at me like I'm the spoils of your own personal war, and get dressed (...)"

Keely trying to rationalize her attraction to Justice:
Nobody knew better than she did that sanity was a spectrum of relativity. Anyway, it had been so long since she'd been naked with a man that maybe she needed to lower her standards. Crazy? No problem, so long as he had great hair.
========
He wasn't Prince Charming; he was Prince Tall, Dark, and Deadly. Justice was no perfect plastic prince, but a very real man with a very damaged psyche.

Keely tries to convince Justice to let her join him in a dangerous situation:
"If there's any chance that it can help you --both of you-- I'll take that risk," she said softly. "I don't really understand it, but you've become pretty important to me in a very short period of time. There aren't many people who are important to me, Justice. Please don't ask me to be a coward when a little bit of my courage might mean an awful lot to you."

Alaric about Quinn:
It was the force of her personality, a fervor and charisma that shone out at him with all the strength and glory and brightness of her soul. Her soul called to his so powerfully that she was a beacon in the darkness of his existence.

Keely finds it hard to resist Justice:
Keely gave herself a mental slap and nodded briskly. "Right. Shade. Ahead. Great."
(...)"Is there any reason you seem to have lost the use of verbs? The low, husky tone of his voice sizzled across her nerve endings, and suddenly the jungle was a whole lot hotter than before. "I have a strict 'no verbs in jungles' policy, of course. If we stay here much longer, adjectives will go by the wayside next," she said, flashing an innocent smile. The kind of smile that said "nobody here wants to rip your shirt off and lick your bare chest. " She hoped.

Justice and his Nereid soul:
Keely's smile, though tremulous, held a wealth of trust that humbled him. "Tell him...no. Let me tell him--tell you both. I want you. All of you. You don't need to be rough or overpower me. Just make love to me. Please.
The Nereid's angry, driving need faltered, turning into confusion. How can she want me? Even you, who are the other half of my soul, do not want me.

Better to be surprised than to have to live with the anguish of shattered expectations.

*Alejandro's bartering skills:
Alejandro stood up, leveling his shotgun at the vamp's head. "I propose a barter," he said calmly.
The vamp barked out a chilling burst of laughter. "What barter could you--"
The shotgun bucked and roared and exploded the vamp's head into acid chunks of skull and meat. Justice shot a look at Alejandro, who shrugged as the vampire's headless body fell to the ground, dissolving in a flood of slime. "My shotgun shell for his head. Seemed fair to me."

(The ones with the * made the official review)

As I was reading Whisper No Lies I soon noticed that the colored markers of quotes I would love to use in my review were almost starting to take over. Every few pages I would either laugh-out-loud, be touched or just melt at something said, thought or done by either Crystal or Johnny.

As I was writing my review I was already starting to panic because I didn't know which three I was going to pick for my review. As may or may not be known at ROOB there is a sort of rule that the reviewers don't include more than 3 quotes in the reviews.

As you can see: I had marked a lot more than three:



Because I didn't want to leave the ones I didn't chose for the official review out, I decided to dedicate a whole blog post to the quotes from WHISPER NO LIES (Cindy Gerard). It's one of the longest reviews I've ever written and the book in which I marked the most quotes ever. Even more than in my Lora Leigh and Lorelei James reads...And really, that says a lot!!!

*Crystal's newly adopted motto was: Men. Can't live with 'em. Can't tie 'em to a train track and wait for Amtrak to do the deed.

Crystal and Wong Li after the proposition:
Did you understand that my answer is no?"
"Mr. Yao understands your response but respectfully rejects your answer."
She blinked. "He said that?" She hadn't heard a word.
"Mr. Yao is quite taken with you. He expresses regret that you are reluctant to allow him the opportunity to get to know you better but must insist on your cooperation."
"No, seriously. Is he like texting you or something because I never saw his lips move."

Crystal when Johnny comes to bail her out when she's arrested:
Jesus, would you look at him. Hair too long and too blond. Eyes too sexy and too blue. Body too buff, ego in danger of lift-off. Standing there in his tight faded jeans, painted-on T-shirt, and snakeskin boots, he looked like God's guilty gift. Trouble was, he knew it.

Johnny after watching Crystal sleeping in only a towel:
"Down, boy," he muttered as his hair-trigger dick rose to the occasion.
He rolled his tongue back into his mouth, sucked in a bracing breath, and headed straight for the shower where he seriously considered a little hand-to-dick combat to arrest the situation.
"What? Are you friggin' thirteen?" Disgusted with himself, he stepped into the shower.

Johnny and Crystal arguing about Crystal going along on a rescue mission with him and the others:
"When pigs fly."
"Yeah, well, seems to me they already did the day I dropped you on your ass."
(...)
When he didn't deny it, Doc broke into a grin. "A girl? An itty-bitty girl got the drop on you, macho boy? Hell, maybe you'd better sit out this op, Reed, 'cause you're obviously slippin'."

Johnny and Crystal in the shower:
He groped for and found the showerhead. Then he pressed her against the shower wall and hung on for the rest of the ride as she took him down the path to perdition. Yeah. He was destroyed. Utterly. Irrevocable. Blissfully. Tinkerbell had taken him down. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do or wanted to do about it.

Crystal realizes she's fallen for Johnny:
(...)because when she played --not that she played very often-- she played it the same way they did. That's how it started with Reed, after all. Fun and games.
Now...well, the door to Heartbreak Hotel yawned wide open again.
She watched him move about the room, gathering his things, all buff and beautiful and capable and thought, So help me God, if he lets me down, I'm going to slit my wrists --right after I cut off his dangly parts.

Tension between Johnny and Crystal on a high during chase scene in Jakarta:
"Step it up."
Step it up? She'd been stepping it up, down, inside out, and sideways all the fricking day long. And she had had it with his drill sergeant edicts.
She put on the skids. Glared at him when he spun around to see what was holding her up.
"You know. I'm about this far from the end of my rope." She pinched her thumb and forefinger together and shoved it under his nose. "So don't be ordering me to step it up." (...)
"Why don't you shriek a little bit harder? I don't think the nice policeman over by the exit with the automatic rifle heard the waspish American shrew throw her fit (...)."

Crystal about Johnny:
There was more, so much more to the man than hot looks and flirty smiles. Last night...well, last night she'd been falling apart. He'd put her back together with tenderness and compassion and a strength of character that she suspected surpassed that of any man she'd ever known

Johnny and Crystal blowing off some steam after they leave Jakarta:
She giggled: "You're not taking me seriously."
He reached for her hand, guided it to his lap. "It doesn't get more serious than this, darlin'."
She laughed again, because he made her want to laugh. He made her want to do so many things. But most of all, he just made her want.

*Johnny gets the jitters when things start to turn serious:
He needed to think. He needed to think really, really hard. And he needed to do it without the distraction of a certain green-eyed pixie who glanced up at him and smiled a smile that made him melt and want to swallow her whole and get out the old vampire cross at the same time to ward her away.

*Johnny and Crystal go on a date:
The cowboy cleaned up good.
Johnny Reed wearing faded jeans, bed-head hair and a scruffy beard was enough to give a woman heart palpitations. But Johnny Reed in a suit and tie, blond hair perfectly styled, and clean-shaven was cause for a full-blown heart attack.

Those marked with an * are the quotes that made it into the official review.