The second in the Outlaw Ridge, Texas series works perfectly as a stand-alone...the characters have an explosive chemistry, the story is not predictable, yet heartwarming...if there was ever a HEA I was rooting for, this is this one.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

This book has some surprises that I didn't see coming. The relationship was romantic, strong, and heartwarming This had some romance, suspense, and just all around fun. This was my maiden voyage with this author, and I will definitely be reading her in the future.

Ohh !! This book had me alert and attentive right from the get go ! Some plots are just amazingly fast paced, just add some military lingo into it and I'm sold ! I've not read the first book in the series, but this book is amazing all on it's own.

Sabrina Snow is bad-ass ! She is smart, sexy, suave, seductive,combat-trained (didn't I say bad-ass??) and yet soft, sensitive, vulnerable at the same time. And as far as John is concerned, doesn't Navy Seal say it all ? Yah, his name is a little traditional, but that man is packed with moves, in action and in love !

As I already mentioned, the book had me at 'Sabrina stocking herself up with weapons'.

She thrust her feet into her hiking boots, and grabbed her Glock from the the nightstand. Her combat knife was in it's Kydex sheath above her right ankle. A spare knife, along with a double-stack magazine for her Glock, was on a webbing waist around her waist.

Hot damn ! This woman was born ready !

Right, so the books starts with Sabrina escaping from hit men sent to capture her and she realizes she is going to need help if she is going to survive the man who's chasing her, Shaitan. Her heart and mind have no doubt that only John can help her. But, she is not sure if he will. Because they had a sexy, almost love affair, and it ended messy and hurtful. So, she decides to surprise him at his current residence at an isolated place in Texas. Damn, this lady is slick ! She knows how to break-in the property and lies in wait for it to get darker. I loved to read how John immediately knew someone was trespassing. Their chemistry was phenomenal ! So, they push and pull, throw some blame (only John does), you know the usual mating ritual..till they are right on the bed, and John realizes that there is more to it than what Sabrina is willing to share.

John then comes to know of a message which Sabrina was hiding in his house, in case she does not survive Shaitan. That secret raises the stakes in this game of cat and mouse, and suddenly Shaitan has the upper hand. John enlists his brother's help and gathers all intel on the situation which Sabrina has found herself in. Though I must say, I expected more from Shaitan at the end, there was some action, but things ended pretty easily for the villain.

Ofcourse, there is all kisses and roses from here onward, family reunions, getting to know the family etc etc. I would have given it a 5, but the end of Shaitan was a little bland for me, for all the hoopla around him being ruthless and being able to track her anywhere, he sure seemed unplanned and unprepared in the final encounter.

Thank you NetGalley and Season Publishing for generously sharing the ARC in exchange for my honest review

A fiery lady with a whole lot of trouble and sass, she would go all out to protect the ones she loves, this time situation got too much for her and what she needed is some serious help, that is where her past came face to face with the present. A treacherous, action-filled compact book with an absolutely great storyline and really cool characters, that brought the story to life. A book that keeps you hooked until you reached the end, not a fan of obscene language in books or explicit sexual contents but this book was divine I liked it, truly a masterpiece, in my opinion, the storyline was captivating and pack filled with intrigue, a must read folks.

Accurate rating is 3.5*

Dead Heat started out really good for me, there was action on the first page. As I progressed through the book, some parts didn't flow for me, it felt like the author was dumping a lot of info on me in one go. My least favorite scene was where John was deciphering the letter, I found that I skimmed over those few pages.
The little twist near the end was unexpected, I liked that.


**ARC provided by NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for my honest review**

This book has some surprises that I didn't see coming. The relationship between Sabrina and John was romantic, strong, and heartwarming This had some romance, suspense, and just all around fun Thank you for allowing me to read this and write about it.

Well that was an exciting opening scene.

That poor girl! She did the right thing freeing her.

Her sons are adorable. And so smart!

I really enjoyed this story - it would be a great "beach book" or "airport book" when you need something captivating and fun!

Dead Heat by Joan Reeves was well written and from the start, I was rooting for the main characters to sort their stuff out and resume their relationship. The plot was a little predictable, but it was still very entertaining. I give this 4 stars out of 5.