Dirty by Megan Hart
Spice is one of those lines that I'm trying to understand and when I saw the description of this book, I decided it was time to take another look at Spice. I expected to read an unusual story and Megan delivered. When I finally reached the end of this book, I was sad because I know a lot of people will pass up a such moving story simply because of the raw sex it contains. This book isn’t really about sex, but about learning to cope with the past. If you think you can get past the sex, then I know you’ll enjoy this story.
Details: Spice, January 2007
Excellence Rating: Great
Steaminess Factor: Inferno
Raised in secret by the CIA, Risa Remington used her superhuman skills to read other people’s thoughts. Six months ago, an accident erased Risa’s abilities and then the CIA cast her aside like a broken piece of equipment. Risa was completely unprepared for life in the real world; she didn’t understand basic concepts like friendship and love. When CIA began to wonder if Risa had really lost her powers, they dispatched Daniel MacAlister to evaluate the situation. Unfortunately, the merest touch by Daniel triggers Risa’s powers for the first time since her accident. Now Daniel must decide where to love Risa or clean up the CIA’s problem – permanently.
The formula for the latest nerd book starts with one psychology student named Amanda Rykowsky whose life consists of work, school and more work. Then it adds one stockbroker named William Sloan, who’s a hunk of the first degree. It combines them with a lady psychologist specializing in extreme sex therapy and a villain who’s idea of romance involves leaving anonymous naughty Valentines, stalking Amanda at work and home, and using sleeping gas as preparation for making love. Then it simmers the mixture using the heat between Amanda and William as William pretends to be her boyfriend to catch the stalker. Assuming that Amanda survives her boss and the stalker, will she choose to make her pretend relationship, permanent?
Waking up and realizing she and her baby had been kidnapped, Maggi Sanger-Stuart tried to remain calm while her billionaire husband arranged for her release. Maggi learned that Simon Adriano didn’t want her husband’s money, instead he kept her baby as a hostage and ordered her to retrieve some tiles that once belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, along with some more tiles held by some friends of hers. It wasn’t until she found her friends that she learned about Simon’s sinister plans and the modern Marians. Now can Maggi and the Marians succeed in stopping Simon and rescuing his hostages or will the world face its ultimate destruction?
Nadia Bishop looked at herself in a magazine photograph, but the accompanying article described the life and death of someone else. Realizing that the talented photographer was the twin sister she’d been seeking for years, Nadia decided to use her MI-6 training to find twin’s killer. But soon, Nadia discovered her killer was a member of the Adriano family – the same family as her ex- lover. Now can Nadia avoid the Adriano’s wrath and discover her sister’s hidden secrets before the Adriano’s can or will her ex-lover use their former relationship to seal her doom.
Tru Palmer gift for finding things hidden in the ground led her to the middle east where her company was looking for oil. There she met an old woman named Efra who was the first person who truly understood Tru’s gift. Efra assumed the role of teacher and Tru began to learn the story of the people now known as Marians. Then a member of the Adriano family attacked Efra and stole the tiles she had sworn to protect. Efra explained that the village was doomed to die in seven days unless the tiles where returned. Knowing that she has no other choice, Tru sets out on an impossible quest to find where the thief had hidden the tiles, retrieve them and return them within next seven days. Will Tru succeed or will an entire village die, including the one person who can explain the true meaning of her gift.
Dr. Eve St. Giles has a gift for healing. Instead of working in a research lab, she uses her gift in the field to help identify strange diseases that are threatening the population at large. So when a deadly flu virus decimates the population of a small Swiss town, Eve is dispatched to the scene. She’s surprised when her ex-boyfriend, Nick Petter, shows up representing the firm that was researching the virus. He explains that the chief scientist on the project disappeared, so they join forces to track down the rogue researcher. Their search uncovers that the scientist has some powerful allies and everywhere he goes death follows, leaving only Eve and Nick stop the scientist before he strikes again.
While Aubrey de Lune aka Dr. Ginny Moon stole priceless treasures from all over the world for the Adriano family, she secretly searched for an item that was stolen from her years ago - an item that documented her heritage. Though her last assignment nearly killed her a dozen times over, Aubrey knew the price of failure and managed to acquire the latest treasure for Simon Adriano despite the odds. What she didn’t realize was that object she acquired for Simon was the one he who stole from her years ago and now Simon plans to destroy it. Can Aubrey find the strength to recover the item or will Simon destroy her heritage along with her life.
When the phone call interrupted Ana Reisner’s visit to the Opera, she was amazed that her boss assigned her to a case involving attempted murder and theft. Even though Ana is an police officer with Interpol, her job is cataloging catalog art treasures not solving crimes. When she protested the assignment, her boss said she was specifically requested by the President of France. After meeting the victim, Ana accepted the job and dropped her protests. While searching for the for the missing object, she bumps into Robert Fraser, a convicted art thief. Soon, the couple are running for their lives. While gathering clues, they learn the object is tied to the Black Madonna cult and if the object falls into the wrong hands, France may be destroyed. Now can Ana find the object and save France, or will she die trying?
After falling into a hole opened up by an earthquake, Catrina Dauvergne, a curator for the Musée Cluny in Paris, finds a some old artifacts, including a mysterious key that she’s compelled to recover. With assistance from her associate, Rhys Pritchard, she manages to recover most of the artifacts, but soon she finds herself part of a ancient struggle. Driven to protect the artifacts, Catrina and Rhys begin their research and learn that the key is tied to the legacy of the Marian priestesses, also known as the Black Madonnas. The Black Madonnas represent an ancient force who’s power rivals anything available to mankind today. But the Black Madonnas have an enemy who craves that power and is willing stop at nothing to control it. Now can Catrina protect the Madonna legacy or is Paris and the world doomed to complete destruction.
Making a living by teaching yoga and belly dancing is nothing new to Skye Wright, who refused to take a normal job like her normal sister. In fact nothing about Skye’s life was normal, including her mother and four year old daughter. When Sheriff Nathan Thornton pulled Skye over for speeding, she was dressed in a harem costume and on her way to the local high school to teach a yoga class to the football team. Convinced she was going to teach the high schoolers more than just yoga, he takes her back to the station in handcuffs. While Skye finds Studly-Do-Right yummy and definitely worth a roll in the hay, he’s too uptight for anything long term. But when someone starts making threats against Skye, Nathan’s willing to do anything to protect Skye, even if it means he has to spend the night as her bodyguard. Now Nathan must decide whether to act on his feelings for Skye or lose the best bad-girl he ever met?
Julia Wright lives in a quiet small town, where she’s finally happy with her life. But when bad boy Luke Maguire rides into town on his Harley, librarian Julia Wright can’t help but notice. Though the last thing Julia wants in her life is an irresponsible guy. The only reason Luke returned to his childhood town was because someone needed to run his father’s bar after his death, but the hot looking librarian offered him a challenge he just couldn’t resist. Julia’s life then goes bad to worse when her mother and bad-girl sister arrive in town along with all of their problems, leaving Julia no place to turn for comfort other than Luke. Now can Julia finally get past her fear of bad-boys or will she find herself running away yet again?
Merry Olson understood what it was like to grow up without a mother, so when her friend Charlie Ross died leaving his eleven year old daughter alone, Merry immediately left Minnesota and headed for Virginia. What Merry didn’t expect was that Charlene is having serious trouble adapting to life after her dad’s death. Fortunately Merry was able to turn to her next door neighbor, Jack Mackinnon a divorced hunk with two sons for parenting advice. While Jack finds Merry’s form pleasing to the eye, he finds the way she does most things to be a bit strange. Still, he can’t help but feel sorry for both girls, so with his son’s encouragement, he finds himself becoming more involved in their lives, despite his desire to remain single after his bitter divorce. Now can Merry find a way to balance her need for Jack with her new role as single parent or will she lose them both forever?