[Blog Tour Review]: "Illusions"

Illusions by Kacey Hammell
Publisher: Decadent Publishing Company, LLC (February 26, 2012)
Series: The Arms of the Law, 1
Genre: Erotic Suspense/Paranormal/Contemporary

Summary (Amazon.com):

Protection. Adventure. Love.
It’s all found within The Arms of the Law....

Detective Isabella Knowles, a tough-as-nails cop, lives by the law, and knows what she wants out of life. And it doesn’t include marriage or all that comes with it. Everything Isabella has ever known seems like an illusion when a new relationship makes her feel more alive than ever before. She isn’t happy about it and fights it every step of the way.

Burned by his fianceé years ago, seer and P.I., Brady Jacobs never wants another commitment in his life. But his bachelorhood and heart are threatened when he has one of his visions and see a killer striking too close to the woman he has recently come to love.

Danger lurks close to home and neither Brady nor Isabella like that they can’t control every situation…especially matters of the heart.

Where to Buy*:

Kindle | Publisher | AllRomance

More Info:

Author's Site

My Review:

Isabella Knowles has more or less followed into the family business of putting away the scum bags of the city. She's tough and believes that she can be Superwoman, defending the innocent all by herself. She doesn't believe in love—or at least doesn't want to ever be in love. To her, love means pain and loneliness should something happen to dissolve a HEA. And as a cop, she's not guaranteed a HEA. So all her relationships are purely for one thing—to scratch an itch. No strings attached, no deep emotions, nothing. Should be every guy's dream woman, right?

Not for Brady Jacobs, fellow P.I.. Oh, sure, at first the thought of friends with benefits was the best news he'd ever had. But now... well, his heart has become involved, and not only does Isabella not want emotional ties, but what man wants to admit to having them? The sex is great—spectacular even—but he finds himself wanting more from their relationship.

When a murder/rape case comes up, and a character close to both of them becomes involved, Brady tries to protect Isabella. But in the end, will his lies lead to her never forgiving him? Or even worse, will it lead to his own death—before he can tell her how he feels?

I liked Illusions, it was a pretty good (and steamy) novella. But it had a few flaws that kept it from reaching book perfection.

First, it seemed like a lot of details were missing—I'd come across something in the book and had no idea where it came from. It made for a bit of a rough story, one that could have been smoothed off a bit more to make it an easier journey.

Although Brady and Isabella both seemed like nice enough characters, I didn't get much from them, especially Brady. In fact, other than his visions, I can't tell you one thing about him, his personality, or any quirks he had. Isabella was much the same, a bit too flat for a main character. I need more than what I got to fall in love with a character.

I also wanted to hear more about the paranormal element to the book. In fact, it was so minute, I pretty much wrote it off. Brady's visions are mentioned only a few times, briefly, and not in great detail. For all intensive purposes, this was basically a straight contemporary—and again, I was left wanting more.

The sex was definitely there, and quiet steamy, but even great sex isn't enough by itself to make a book a top pick.

^Favorite “Sweet” Quote:

"I know we started out with no strings attached, no commitments, but damn it, I love you. I fell in love with you hard, fast and forever. Don't let me go. Don't throw what we have away. I'll always take care of you. One night will be a distant memory to all the new ones we'll make.” --Brady

3 STARS! Sexy, with a hint of danger, Illusions is a nice book to read when you want something quick. I'm interested to see what Kacey Hammell has to offer us next, but I can only hope that if it is a paranormal, it actually has more of said paranormal themes in it. While I was left wanting on many levels after reading this book, it was a good no strings attached book—light, quick and sexy!

^Quote belong solely to the author. I do not claim it in anyway.

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I received this e-book from Goddess Fish, in addition to joining the blog tour for this author. In exchange, I agreed to give my honest opinion on the novel.

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Enjoy!



Until Next Time,

*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!