Explosive by Beth Kery

Publisher: Berkley Heat
Pages: 336

From the Cover:

His touch would consume her—if it didn’t kill her first…

Dr. Sophie Gable wasn’t expecting her peaceful getaway to be shattered by the arrival of a half-dazed, dead-sexy guest. Thomas Nicasio has obviously been traumatized, and Sophie thinks she knows by what. There’s something about Thomas’s father that he can’t—or won’t—remember. Something that could get them both killed. Still she can’t resist Thomas’s electrifying seduction—or her instincts to help him…

An ex-Navy explosives specialist, Thomas has never felt this type of volatile need for a woman. Even while he’s grieving the deaths of his brother and nephew, something in Sophie makes Thomas want to overtake her, and each time he does, her willing submission makes him want her all the more. But danger is lurking close by, and if he can’t face the demons of his past, he and Sophie could be the next victims in a pattern of meaningless violence…

Dr. Sophie Gable has watched Thomas Nicasio from a distance, though the sexual tension between the two is palpable. He is a temptation she is willing to investigate, existing in her world through friend and colleague, Andy Lancaster, who is treating his brother, Rick. But when tragic strikes, it's the last thing she excepts to find, Thomas on her doorstep.

Thomas has also kept Sophie on his radar. As an ex-Navy explosive specialist, he's always hyperaware of his surroundings, including the pristine doctor whose visage has entrapped him. Her conservative business dress and creamy pale skin capture his attention, but is she as staid as she appears to be? Or is there more to this doctor than meets the eye?

When Thomas's world is thrown into disarray, he seeks out the one person he feels will understand his pain, Sophie. His adoptive father, Joseph Carlisle, is being investigated for mob connections. Rick, an investigative journalist, has stumbled upon this story involving his own father, and all his sources indicate his guilt. Suddenly, Rick and his ten year old son, Abel, are killed sending Thomas's world crashing down. Suspicion surrounds his adoptive father, but surely he isn't cruel enough to kill his own son? Then, Thomas listens to a tape that Rick left him, and he wonders... is his whole world a lie? As he careens out of control, Sophie becomes his lifeline, connecting his past and his present, the one thing left untouched by doubt in his life. But, will it be enough to save him?

Explosive by Beth Kery is a tale of love and hope when a life spins out of control. Thomas Nicasio's life becomes that of a haunted and hunted man. Haunted by undeniable facts he can no longer face, hunted by the past and the present, one destroyed his childhood life, the other wants to take his adult life. Is the man Thomas has called father for the past twenty years who he seems to be? Or is he the animal the FBI has painted him to be? Into his life walks Sophie Gable, someone untouched by the trouble and doubt in his life, and he wants that cleanliness, he needs it, craves it. When he comes to her Lake Haven home, lost and dazed, she can't deny the help or love he needs. He vanishes the next day, and Sophie sets off in her own dazed condition to figure out what is going on...what has happening in his life. She discovers a man lost to himself, amnesia has taken his short-term memories...even those involving Sophie.

Explosive is exactly as the name describes, explosive as dynamite. It's an intricate tale of suspicion, with twists and turns, confusion and denial. Beth Kery has a way with a tortured hero, alpha males used to demanding and getting their way who find themselves in need of another, like they've never been before. Thomas Nicasio is magnetic, unrelenting. Sophie Gable is his perfect match, ready to heal and soothe, in anyway she can. She can save him, if he'll let her, but first he has to learn to trust all over again. This is a sensual story, with scorching hot love scenes, lite bondage, submission, and sex play. If sensually told erotica isn't your cup of tea, you'll be missing out on a great love story. Excellently told contemporary romantic suspense. Highly recommended for the romance connoisseur. 5 out of 5 fairy kisses for this reader.

I received my copy of Explosive as a contest prize from the lovely Ms. Kery. All opinions expressed are my own.