Running a tech company that brings down the ugliest criminals makes trust impossible.
My focus is on keeping my family safe in our small town and protecting my life’s work.
That was easier before Ava came to live on our land. The spunky winner of our hacking contest isn’t who she says she is. But the more time I spend with her, the more I’m blinded by the sunshine in front of me.
Ava is talented, quirky and joyful. She’s a pair of long lean legs stuffed into sexy Doc Martens, shaking her peachy backside around our land like it’s the first time she’s danced.
She’s a lot younger and my employee. She’s not my friend… or anything else. But her cute quips and natural brilliance have me spiraling out of control— right toward her.
When her secrets catch up with her, I know she’s not just hiding who she is; she’s running from it. The danger chasing her is worse than I imagined, and I’ll sacrifice it all to keep her safe.
But her past promises to destroy us both.
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My first read by Sienna Judd and I’m happy I started at the beginning of a new series.
This book was a slow burn and if I’m being honest it was slower than I’d normally continue with but the intrigue and characters had me engaged and I wanted to keep reading!
Ava’s backstory was not good to the point she felt she needed make a desperate escape, where part of Enzo’s story had been traumatic but he had the ability to try to change his future.
I really liked that Ava had been so interested in his work prior to turning up at the ranch but even better that they had a spark that neither knew what to do with. Enzo had been so focused on growing his company and getting some kind of justice that he was mainly all work and no play. These two were a pair of nerds. Sexy, want to make the world a better place nerds and I was down with that!!
Ava had so many secrets and Enzo had so many questions but he didn’t get to where he was without being able to figure things out (to a point)
I had a hunch as to the twist, I just couldn’t figure out the why. Even with expecting certain things to happen I was still itching to finish the book and see how things played out and if our main characters could get a change at a HEA!
I’m looking forward to the rest of the series and to what we find out about Enzo’s brothers!
Meet Sienna Judd
Sienna Judd is a small town, contemporary romance author who lives for all the spice. She thinks kitchens are for dancing, is a self-professed hype girl and might be known for talking too loudly.
Like every respectable woman she also loves drinking champagne and eating half of every chocolate in a truffles box.
Title: Cold Spite Series: Cold Justice – Most Wanted #5 Author: Toni Anderson
Genre: Romantic Thriller/Suspense Tropes: Second Chance/Tortured Heroine Band of Brothers/Law Enforcement Release Date: October 14, 2024
BLURB
A disgraced former Navy SEAL is looking for revenge in the next Romantic Thriller from New York Times bestselling author Toni Anderson.
When FBI Agent Delilah Quinn survives an attempt on her life, she pretends to be dead in order to outwit her attacker. There is only one person she can turn to for help—a man she never wanted to see again…a man who abandoned her five years ago and left her heartbroken. A man definitely on the killer’s hit list.
FBI Hostage Rescue Operator Cas Demarco lives with the burning regret of choosing to join HRT and leaving Delilah behind. News of her death devastates him. Then she calls him out of the blue and he can’t help but seize this one last chance to make things right.
With both Delilah and Cas targeted for death, a task force is set up to catch their would-be killer, who they believe is a disgraced former Navy SEAL they helped convict of drug trafficking. Out of prison and on a ruthless quest for retribution, the former SEAL is eliminating everyone who wronged him—without leaving a shred of evidence behind.
Can Delilah and Cas prove who’s responsible for the attempts on their lives and have a second chance at a future together? Or will the rogue ex-SEAL double-down on his promise to destroy them both?
All the books can be read as standalone novels. For fans of Laura Griffin, Karen Rose, Sandra Brown, and Nora Roberts.
Toni Anderson writes gritty, sexy, FBI Romantic Thrillers, and is a New York Times and a USA Today bestselling author. Her books have won the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense, Readers’ Choice, Aspen Gold, Book Buyers’ Best, Golden Quill, National Excellence in Story Telling (NEST) Contest, and National Excellence in Romance Fiction awards. She’s been a finalist in both the Vivian Contest and the RITA. Her books have been translated into five different languages.
Best known for her “COLD JUSTICE®” novels, perhaps it’s not surprising to discover Toni lives in one of the most extreme climates on earth—Manitoba, Canada. Formerly a Marine Biologist (Ph.D.), she still misses the ocean. Her greatest achievements include raising two kids, mastering the Tokyo subway, climbing Ben Lomond, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, and surviving eighteen (and counting) Winnipeg winters.
Toni loves to travel for research and was lucky enough to visit the Strategic Information and Operations Center inside FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. She also got to shove another car off the road during pursuit training at the Writer’s Police Academy in Wisconsin. She hopes not to get arrested for her Google searches.
Ten years is a long time to be infatuated with your former best friend, especially when she’s dating your brother. So, when a wedding invitation with his name embossed on the front comes in the mail, it feels like a fastball to the heart. But when I discover my unrequited crush isn’t the blushing bride, all bets are off because I’m ready to take my shot and this time, I’m playing for keeps.
Readers who enjoy hate-to-lovers and unrequited romances will consume Make My Heart Malt by Gia Stevens, a standalone sports romance.
Blurb
A sizzling hate to lovers, unrequited crush, standalone sports romance by romantic comedy author Gia Stevens…
Dessa should have been mine… until my brother kissed her first.
Ten years is a long time to be infatuated with your former best friend, especially when she’s dating your brother. So, when I receive a wedding invitation with his name embossed on the front, it feels like a fastball to the heart. But it turns out, my unrequited crush isn’t the blushing bride after all.
Now’s my only chance to make amends for my past mistakes and give her the kiss I’ve desperately been holding onto. Unfortunately, she thwarts my efforts with each drink she throws at me.
When we find ourselves locked in a storage room, we’re forced to hash out the real reason I left town—and it wasn’t for baseball. Turns out, there’s a fine line between anger and passion and it doesn’t take long for her to scream my name.
Even after hitting third base, she still hates me. However, I’m determined to prove I’m not the man who ghosted her all those years ago. This time I’m not walking away.
My last game ended in a devastating miss—costing us the world championship, but this is one game I refuse to lose.
Because when it comes to Dessa… I’m playing for keeps.
He links his fingers behind his head. “I didn’t want her. I wanted you. So fucking bad. You were supposed to be with me. Because,” his hands drop to his sides as if he’s holding lead weights, “I had feelings for you for so long. And you—”
“What?” I step closer to him, preparing for a fight. “What did I do?”
He blows out a breath. “Left with Tony.”
“Because you blew me off! All night I was giving you signs. Touching you. Moving closer. And you ignored all of them.”
“Those were signs? We’d always been like that.”
“Exactly! I wanted to kiss you. I was so excited when you invited me to the lake because I wanted alone time with you. And you blew me off like you didn’t want me!”
He steps closer so we’re toe-to-toe. “I wanted to kiss you so bad that night. It was eating me up inside.”
I bump my chest against his, getting in his face. “And I wanted you to kiss me!”
His nostrils flare as my jaw clenches. Seconds tick by as we stare at each other. My chest rises in time with his. Like a vacuum all the air is sucked from my lungs, and I can’t breathe. After years of built-up tension, a fireball of heat and passion bursts through me. I’m surprised I don’t spontaneously combust. There’s only one thing that can extinguish the flame. I clasp his face between my palms and smash my mouth to his. The brim of his cap stabs me in the forehead, but it’s the least of my concerns. I inch closer to him until the front of his cap pushes off his head. Hops and mint linger on his lips. I’m already addicted. His arm wraps around my waist, desperately clinging to me like if he lets go, he’ll lose me again. All my thoughts are consumed by Garrett. Kissing him. Him kissing me. Having our bodies flush. It’s dizzying.
I jerk away. My chest heaves as I work to collect my breath. His eyelids rise to half-mast. His normally green irises are almost black with desire.
“Fuck,” he whispers.
“Double fuck,” I murmur.
About Gia Stevens
Gia Stevens resides in Northern Minnesota with her husband and cat. She lives for the warm, sunny days of summer and dreads the bitter cold of winter. A romantic comedy junkie at heart, she knew she wanted her own stories to encompass those same warm and fuzzy feelings.
When she’s not busy writing your next book boyfriend, Gia can be found binge watching TV shows that aired five years ago, taking pictures of her cat, or curled up with a steamy romance novel.
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