I’m very happy to have Kacey Hammell here today to talk about her book Illusions (In the Arms of the Law, Book 1).  I had the opportunity to review this book before Kacey stopped by.  So without further ado, let’s take a look at the book, I will give you my thoughts, and then we will meet Kasey!

BLURB:

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 fiancé 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.

EXCERPT #1:

“What’s this? A party and no one told me?”

At the newest addition to the conversation, Isabella’s pulse accelerated double-time. She looked toward the door.

Man, I don’t need this today.

Brady Jacobs walked—no, sauntered—into the office and heading toward Ethan, spared her not a glance.

Black denim jeans encased his firm, shapely ass like a second skin and a black T-shirt with sleeves rolled over his beautiful biceps. He looked good enough to eat. A flood of heat coursed through her body. Brady was a man who was confident in himself and when he entered the room, there was a ripple effect. Everyone sat up to take notice of him and women practically swooned, eager to catch his eye. But Brady rarely gave any one woman the time of day. He was adamant about keeping his personal life private, and his no-commitment rule was always in full force. Something he was always upfront about with the ladies.

“Hey, pal. Great game this morning.” Brady slapped Ethan on the back.

“Shit, Jacobs. You kicked my ass and then some.” Ethan chuckled. “My head just wasn’t in it today.” Isabella could see Ethan’s gaze move again toward the newspaper on Alicia’s desk.

If it wouldn’t be obvious, I’d snatch it and run to burn it.

“Morning, Ms. Alicia. How’s my sugar-girl today?” Brady headed over to Alicia’s desk, ruffling her hair as he stepped behind her, as if she were his little sister.

Leave it to Brady. Always make the ladies feel special.

“Get lost, Jacobs. I’m sick of seeing you around here,” Alicia said flippantly.

She must really be pissed about the photo. Isabella let out a frustrated sigh, causing three sets of eyes to look her way.

“Morning, Brady.” Isabella smiled, hoping she looked like a woman with not a care in the world. “What brings you to the precinct this early in the morning?”

Brady’s gaze held hers for seconds longer than she would have liked.

“Actually, I came to see Alicia. I need to go over the Vaughn case with her. I had another vision last night.” He spoke without hesitation.

Trenton’s finest P.I. had become the city’s favorite after his first vision had saved the Walker twins eight years ago. The twins, then seven years old, had wandered off into the woods behind their family home one afternoon. When they didn’t return to the house for dinner that night, their frantic mother had called the police, begging someone to help her find her missing boys.

Within hours, an Amber Alert had been called and hundreds of citizens and every cop available had combed the Walkers’ woods, looking for the boys. After six hours without success, exhaustion had set in with many of the volunteers. Everyone had worked tirelessly, but when there seemed to be no hope in sight, Brady showed up, at a frantic near-run, and charged into the woods. Within thirty minutes, he came back out with a boy tucked under each arm.

Only after the Walkers had been calmed, the boys tucked into bed, did Isabella and Connor question Brady. With much resistance, Brady confessed to his ESP, the visions that had begun during his stint in the Marines.

Most times, out of nowhere—Brady could be sleeping, driving, taking a shower—and a vision would claim him. In the eight years since the Walker incident, Brady had probably saved more lives than most cops.

While he didn’t have visions for every beating, murder, kidnapping, or mugging in New Jersey, high-profile incidents seemed to find a channel in Brady.

With each high-profile case solved successfully, Trenton’s citizens claimed him as a favorite son. If a child ran away, parents would hire Brady to assist in bringing them home. If there were a murder, police at a dead end would call Brady in.

No one thought anything unkind about him or his visions.

It made his P.I. business a huge success and he took it all in stride. Isabella admired him for it.

“Damn, Brady. Why didn’t you call me immediately?” Alicia growled in a disgruntled voice.

“I am telling you, Alicia. I had to get the whole thing in order before contacting you.” Brady shook his head and headed for the window overlooking West Street, the one she had just moments ago been staring out of.

“Well? What have you got for me?” Alicia demanded.

With a chuckle, Brady turned back to Alicia. “Impatient damn woman, aren’t you? Just like your cousin. Always impatient for more.”

Isabella felt her cheeks burn and prayed Brady wasn’t being an ass on purpose to start further questions running through Alicia’s mind. She didn’t need them from her.

“If people would deliver, Brady, I wouldn’t need more,” Isabella declared with some satisfaction. His eyes turned a darker grey than their normal silver color.

Don’t mess me with me and think you’ll win, big guy.

BUY LINKS:

Amazon (Kindle Edition) – http://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Arms-Law-ebook/dp/B007E3FBDW/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330450661&sr=1-2

Decadent Publishinghttp://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=489&osCsid=534ladib313mjfmjbr83bc7e47

Smashwordshttp://www.smashwords.com/books/view/136898

 MY THOUGHTS – 4 out of 5 stars:

I really liked Brady and the paranormal twist that was thrown in with his special ability.  I liked that Isabella was tough, and that she fit right into the “man’s world” of a police department, although her tough as nails attitude sometimes grated on my nerves a little bit, as well as all of the guilt she carries at the end of the book.

The book was non-stop action.  There was never a time during reading the book that I wanted to skip over paragraphs because of boredom.  The book held my attention from beginning to end.

I felt this story could have been longer.  It seemed hurried, and some of the scenes seemed to get wrapped up way too quickly for my taste.

But speaking of scenes, the sex scenes were HAWT.  Very nicely done.  I had to reread the “door scene” to make sure I was picturing everything right.  <Whew!>

Brady and Isabella’s relationship start out as nothing but sexual, and both begin to have feelings for each other.  I would think that those feelings would bleed into their lives and we would see some tender moments, but we really don’t until all hell breaks loose.

Overall, I enjoyed this story very much.  It was a quick, fun read, and I would definitely recommend it!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Canadian-born author, Kacey Hammell is a self-proclaimed book-a-holic, who began reading romances at a young age and became easily addicted.  As a Mom of three, Kacey has made certain that each of her children know the value of the written word and the adventures they could escape on by becoming book-a-holics in their own right.

A decade ago, while working for multiple review sites, Kacey quickly discovered that she was developing the writing bug. Thanks to the encouragement of her own beloved hero husband, she decided to try her hand at writing.

With a love of contemporary settings, modern day romances and the happily ever after, as well as the excitement of suspense, Kacey creates stories in genres she’s familiar with and that she loves most. She also loves vampires who nibble the necks of the heroines, ghosts who can’t leave a loved one, shape-shifters who are sexier than hell and the thought of her very own werewolf or were-cat to tame makes her tremble!

 Where to Contact Kasey: 

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