Tami Hoag - Cry Wolf

All attorney Laurel Chandler wanted was a place to hide, to escape the painful memories of a case that had destroyed her career, her marriage, and nearly her life. But coming home to the peaceful treelined streets of her old hometown won't give Laurel the serenity she craves. For in the sultry heat of a Louisiana summer, she'll find herself pursued by a gorgeous stranger whose carefree smile hides a private torment...and by a murderer who enjoys the hunt as much as the kill.
With his sexy Southern drawl and brazen bedroom eyes, bestselling horror writer Jack Boudreaux has seduced half the women in Bayou Breaux without even trying. And now the notorious bad boy has turned his easy Cajun charm on Laurel. But even as she responds to Jack's reckless passion, a serial killer who's terrorizing this sultry Southern town commits a fourth brutal murder...and suddenly Laurel knows that in the face of temptation, she must keep her head to track down the ruthless killer who may have already won her heart.

Comment: This is the second I read by this author. After reading the first one I was curious over the fact there might be a sequel and I wondered if it was with a protagonist somehow related to one or both the main characters in Lucky's Lady.

Cry Wolf is the story of attorney Laurel, she's attempted to give justice to some children who were abused but she failed to gather the necessary evidence to conviction and her image and career have been crushed. She's returned home, to Louisiana and tries to keep the end of her reputation out of her mind, however she soon gets herself in a tangle and her career is her most wanted asset.

Jack Boudreaux is a horror writer and uses the swamp as his inspiration. He also has a past in law but got away from it after his wife died. When he meets Laurel, he thinks she's just a pretty girl who's after him because of the dog he claims not owning, but troubles begin and they don't seem to be able to stay away from each other.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I think it was a very good story and perfect to spend some time with. I pictured myself already sitting by a window (like the three brothers in the end of that Minority Report movie) reading this book without a care about the world outside. I think the author was quite successful with the way she build up the environment in the story, the descriptions of the swamps, the bayou, the people, the bar, the simplicity of some scenes was quite the catching tidbit.

The plot was interesting although I have to say at some point we can't help but be suspicious of the guilty one. It's not obvious but many clues start pointing at that character and foe me it wasn't a surprise its identity. I was more surprised over the reasons behind everything. They seemed too easy you know.

There's a romance in the story too. Both main characters had things to deal with from their pasts in order to admit their feelings. I think we were told enough about it for the getting over to be believable. There's plenty of sexual tension, which makes the romance more alive and real. It's such an effective way to make the couple more into each other, to make the relationship more credible, I don't know why more authors don't use it, I guess it's a matter of taste and talent in the end.

The story was great, I think. I wanted to know more things the more I read and I wanted to see the ones I cared about happy. Some things were a surprise not because they happened but the way it happened; in this the author was very intelligent.

The book ended up with a HEA, and I'm so glad to have seen it. It's said this book is related to Lucky's Lady, like I said before but the only connection it's a short mention of the previous couple and future in this book and I don't think it was such a link that needed to be said it's past of a series...I expected to know more or to see the previous couple making an appearance and that didn't happen.

In the end, this was a good book, one I loved reading and now I got more curious about the rest of the author's work. I'll do some research and one day I might read more.

Tami Hoag - Lucky's Lady

As wild and mysterious as the Louisiana swamp he called home, Lucky Doucet was a dangerously attractive Cajun no woman could handle. His solitary life left no room for the likes of elegant Serena Sheridan, but Lucky couldn't deny her desperate need to find her missing grandfather. He would help her, but nothing more--yet once he felt the lure of the flaxen haired beauty, an adventurer like Lucky couldn't resist playing with fire. Serena felt unnerved, aroused, and excited by the ruggedly sexy renegade whose gaze burned her with its heat, but did she dare tangle with a rebel whose intensity was overwhelming, who claimed his heart was off limits? Deeper and deeper they traveled into the steamy bayou, until with one electrifying kiss her resistance melted into liquid desire. And the devilish rogue found he'd do anything to make Serena...

Comment: This book was one of my Christmas presents. I was quite surprised to get it because the author never meant much to me besides the word thriller. But the friend who gave it to me said it was because I like books that aren't romance per se but have romance in it (and I do like these).
Although after having read it, I think that this book is more of a romance than anything else, it is centered too much on the inner struggle of both protagonists to be something else.
Lucky is a man with some issues, namely the expectations others have of him and the things he has done in his past. He doesn't seem to believe he has good qualities.
Serena is used to secure things and the swap where she grew up is definitely not one of them, so only really strong family ties make her return there. She requests Lucky's help to find her grandfather but she finds out more than she expected.
The story is about Serena's returning home and all the problems this means to her sister, Shelby, and her husband because they want a politic career for him and selling the house where they live would mean that, but Serena's grandfather doesn't want to sell and counts on Serena's sense of responsibility to avoid exactly that.
I liked the pace of the story and how slowly things were happening. To be honest, the suspense part in the book didn't catch my eye that deeply and although I was curious to know who was behind some bad things I wasn't worried that part of the story would steal the protagonism from the romance growing between Lucky and Serena. their story is romantic in a way, because they end up knowing each other for what they both are and that seemed the best part.
I can't say bad things about the book but it didn't rock my world either, so I think this is a safe story, you know, safe to read and know it will end up well and safe that won't challenge anything and does reinforce your ideas of what a HEA is supposed to be. For this alone it's worth reading and I'll treasure it but it's not the best book I've read.