Twosome Tuesday - Carter Reed by Tijan

Synopsis:

Emma decided to skip the gym and went home early. It was the last easy decision she made because she found her roommate being raped by the boyfriend. She had two choices. Call the cops and be killed by his family's mafia connections or kill him first and hope to survive. There was no choice to her. She killed the bastard first and went to the one person who could protect her. Carter Reed. He's a weapon for the rivaling mafia family, but he's also Emma's secret. Not only was he best friends with her brother, but she's the reason he became that weapon in the first place.

Purchase links:

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Teasers:

Reviews:

Heather's Review:

4.5 Bad-Ass Smooches

CARTER REEEEED!!!! AHH! I am in love with this mobster! Carter Reed is a whole lotta sexy! Who doesn't dream of a badass mafia man going around popping caps in people's asses on their behalf? Okay, so maaaaybe I didn't dream about this before, but it is certainly topping the fantasy list now!

Emma finds herself in a very precarious position when she comes home early from the gym to find her best friend Mallory's boyfriend brutally beating and raping her. Not knowing what else to do, she grabs a gun and shoots him. Mallory's boyfriend was a member of the mafia. The same mafia that killed her brother years ago, the same mafia that Carter went after to avenge her brother's death, and the reason for Carter being in the mafia today. Emma has just written her own death sentence.

Emma is scared… freaking out. She and Mallory run to their friends Ben and Amanda to hide. She can't shake the memory of her brother telling her to go to Carter if she ever needed anything.

"You don't trust anyone, no one except Carter. Go to Carter. He'll take care of everything. He'll take care of you, Ems. I promise."

She hasn't seen Carter in 10 years but Emma has kept up with him through the media and goes in search of him at one of his clubs.

He had sculpted his body into a weapon. He had done it on purpose. Shit. He was perfect. And he was a killer.

Carter agrees to protect her and Emma becomes part of a whole new world. Oh, being with a mobster has its perks; money, connections, protection, and of course Carter Reed, himself. But, Emma has to deal with guilt over leaving her friends behind, constantly looking over her shoulder, and worrying over the mobster she has lost her heart to.

As he turned off the light and shut the door behind him, I was left with my heart constricting in fear. I didn't want him to go, that was the bottom line for me. I wanted him with me.-Emma

"…it feels nice to have someone worry about me. I'm the one people are scared of, not scared for."-Carter

Death becomes the norm. Carter has devoted his life to her and Emma has given her heart to Carter. She can handle anything... but losing him. Even if it means losing everyone else...

When his eyes caught mine, darkness flashed in his depths. That was when I knew that she wouldn't get the chance to go to the authorities. Carter would ensure my safety, no matter the cost. I turned back to Theresa and hoped against hope that she would let it go because if she didn't, she was going to die.

I LOVE this book and it was almost perfection! I have two gripes, and they are not major, but must be noted. Carter is HOT and the sexual tension between he and Emma is something fierce. When the figurative itch was finally scratched, it left me wanting. It was not bad. I just expected more from my mobster. I wanted him to BLOW.IT.UP, in the bedroom and well, it didn't happen. Gripe number two, where is my epilogue??? Please, please tell me there will be more. I did not get enough!

This is the first book I have read by Tijan and I.AM.A.FAN! It was original and kept me engaged. Carter was OMG delicious... and Emmy... I loved seeing her progress from a frightened victim to a bad-ass biotch! I look forward to reading more by this author. Hopefully more about Mr. Carter Reed????


Selene's Review

4 Shoot 'Em Up Smooches

This book officially holds the record for giving me the quickest "holy shit!" moment. The "holy" happened on first page and the "shit!" quickly followed on the second. Hypothetically speaking, if I had balls, this book would have grabbed them from the beginning and never let go.

Emma is on the run from the mob. Backed into a corner, she has nowhere to go so she turns to Carter Reed, her brother's childhood best friend, for help. Carter Reed is now a rich and successful mafia higher up … he is ruthless and has been dubbed the Cold Killer.

"He was gorgeous with striking cheekbones, blue eyes that reminded me of a wolf, and dark blonde hair. All of that plus a six feet two lean build with muscular shoulders."

After reading that description, my mental Carter Reed was played by the gorgeous Paul Walker and his face was the one I saw throughout. Just when I thought this book couldn't be any hotter, LOL!

Emma walks away from her friends to protect both them and herself and into Carter's world. The more time she spends with Carter, the more she desires him and vice versa.

"His eyes had darkened as he watched me. Lust filled them, but there was more to his darkness. There was danger in them as well."

Emma struggles with her feelings for Carter. On one hand, he's the boy she grew up with, the boy she's been told to trust with her life but on the other, he's a cold-blooded killer.

"A different look settled over him, a cold mask covered his face. He was no longer the Carter I knew, the one who held me and kissed me. This was the one who killed, and as that sunk in, everything changed. Time slowed until every second passed in rhythm with my heartbeat."

So while she wants to implicitly trust him it's hard … he'll disappear for days and then turn up and keep secrets from her. She struggles to reconcile the two Carter Reeds in her life.

ACK! There's so much more I want to say but I don't want to give anything away …. there's no shortage of suspense and so many twists to keep things moving. It's fantastic and I don't want to spoil anything!

As much as I loved this book, there is one thing I wish was different. You know when you get a free version of an app and it's called "lite" because it's really just a teaser for the full blown version? Well …. that's how I felt about the sex scenes in this book …. it was just "sexy lite." I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing …. I mean I've read lots of books and enjoyed them with PG sex scenes (although I'm an R / NC 17 girl personally). The thing about this book that left me feeling robbed is the fact that everything building up to Carter and Emma's sex scenes are seriously hot … their tension is off the charts but then when they FINALLY have sex (and it takes a while) it's just "eh." I was left feeling like, "that's it? That's all we get?" The way the foreplay scenes are written and the way the sex scenes are written just don't jive.

"As soon as we get home. You won't walk for a week."

I mean you just CAN'T say something like that and not be specific about what he does when they get home! That's my only complaint though. The book is still fabulous!

This is the second "mafia book" I've read and let me just say that all mobsters are not created equal. Carter Reed is in a class by himself. And let me just say that Tijan's writing is in a class by itself. I really enjoyed this book! There were a couple of times when I had to put it down .... the suspense was getting to me. Even though I wanted to know what was going to happen I wasn't ready for it, LOL! Love a book that keeps me on the edge of my seat!

Housewive's Commentary!