GOING DOWN HARD - Tawny Weber
Harlequin Blaze #472
ISBN: 978-0-373-79472-0
May 2009
Contemporary Series Romance

California - Present Day

Sierra Donovan has experienced the hard knocks of life, but now everything seems to be going right...until she starts getting pictures depicting her in various forms of nudity from a mysterious sender. What the sender wants out of her isn't clear, but the message is: someone is out to get her. She tries to hide the nasty pictures from Belle, her partner at Eventfully Yours, who urges Sierra to hire someone to investigate and act as a bodyguard when she catches on. Belle's suggestion: Reece Carter. A few weeks ago, Reece and Sierra had a stormy relationship that ended when she walked away. No macho investigator will control her.

Reece thinks Sierra is a spendthrift woman who only wants a man for sexual pleasure. But when he learns someone is threatening Sierra, he doesn't hesitate to jump in and help. Why, he doesn't dare explain to himself. Maybe it's because he still finds her attractive and suddenly vulnerable. Like a white knight on a horse, he's riding to her rescue, even if the fair lady doesn't want his help. When Sierra and Belle's upcoming presentation for a big client is jeopardized, Reece makes the decision to protect Sierra 24/7, and it ends up turning the heat on between them.

Add some suspense to a sizzling romance and readers are in for a treat with GOING DOWN HARD. Sierra has worked hard to get where she is, and now someone is threatening to take it away from her. She doesn't want to admit she's scared, and even provides a hardened exterior to Reece. But he senses her fear, and his protective instincts kick into high gear. Of course, like a male circling a female he wants to claim as his own, any other male is suspect. Readers will watch Sierra and Reece go toe to toe over suspects and the reasons why someone is after her. Is it due to her past? The more deeply they get involved, the harder Sierra pushes him away. Getting too close means revealing too many of her secrets.

Reece planned to stay in southern California only temporarily, but with his cousin marrying Belle, he's been lingering around. Perhaps it is due to his underlying feelings for Sierra? He's a tough man, and no one will hurt Sierra if he has any say in the matter. He digs into her past, which only serves to have her put up a wall. Can he bridge that barrier and make her trust him so that he can find the person responsible for sending the vulgar pictures, because it appears someone just might be trying to kill her? It's up to Reece to stop them before it happens. Meanwhile, he's finding himself falling for Sierra, even if there appears to be no future for them.

Scintillating suspense and a couple not looking for romance but finding one-highlight GOING DOWN HARD by Tawny Weber. Even as readers fan themselves over the scorching love scenes, one will be trying to piece together the clues as to who the bad guy is. Sierra comes across as hardened at first, but she soon becomes a character you'll sympathize with and love. Add in a plot that is riveting and compelling, and readers are in for a page-turning treat.

Be sure to not miss GOING DOWN HARD and put it at the top of your book buying list before it's off the shelves.

Patti Fischer