Book Review and ARC Giveaway: Taste Me by Tamara Hogan

This story has great chemistry in the fast pace setting of a paranormal rock and roll world.

Taste Me by Tamara Hogan

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402246013
• ISBN-13: 978-1402246012

Genre: Paranormal Romance
My Rating:  4.25 of 5.0

Product Description:
He wants her so badly he can taste it…
Ever since their tempestuous fling years ago, incubus Lukas Sebastiani has known that siren Scarlett Fontaine was meant to be his. But when you’re a sex demon with an insatiable desire, relationships are…complicated.

Her siren song brings men to their knees…
Rock star Scarlett Fontaine desperately needs a break after a grueling tour. But with murder and mayhem surrounding her band, and Lukas guarding her body, life is going to be anything but peaceful.

Every encounter between them creates more turmoil—and heat—until Scarlett pushes Lukas to the boiling point, and unleashes forces that go way beyond anything she can hope to control…

Review: If you like a fast, hot beat - this is just your drum beat! (Well I tried to tie it in to music.)

Lukas is an incubus who is big, tough and swamped with multi responsibilities.  He is head of the security firm whose duties include protecting the Counsel who governs the group of unacknowledged beings on earth: incubi, Sirens, vampires, Valkyrie, and Werewolves. Lukas has special skills with his incubus nature - he can taste the emotions of others so he helps the police by tracking scents at a crime scene.  That skill includes waking him joltingly at night when he tastes lust, fear and other emotions, and a lingering taste of ashes.  Now he just has to wait for the police to call him in for his help to find a killer.

Scarlett is a petite, red-headed Siren. Her mother is on the Counsel and dating Lukas’s father, the head of the Counsel.  Scarlett is gorgeous but it is her voice that sings men into adoration.  She is a hugely successful rock star even though she doesn’t always sing the emotional songs she wrote herself. Those songs make her hurt too much as they remind her of her first love.

Lukas and Scarlett had one explosive night of love but Lukas walked away the next morning with no explanation; no goodbye.  Scarlett has worked herself to exhaustion trying to forget him.  Lukas wants her but is scared he will hurt her again so he thinks he is protecting her from himself.

When a daughter of one of the Counsel members is brutally attacked, Lukas is called upon to be the personal bodyguard for Scarlett.  He wants to protect her but this really puts him in a tense spot. Their attraction may be too much to resist.

The police and Lukas have no clue to the identity of the killer who succeeds in completely fooling them with the second attack.  Will the killer slip back to kill the first victim in the hospital and can he be stopped before Lukas has to taste the death of another victim?

The sexual tension is high and the chemistry is hot. Needless to say the book is full of sexual relationships considering it is full of vampires, incubus, sirens, weres and Valkryies.  It is expected in this story and I did not find it offensive under the circumstances. I enjoyed the heavy romance as well as the murder mystery.  I did wonder that there was so little forensic evidence to help find the killer but it helped build the tension.

There were lots of interesting characters and I enjoyed this fast, intense and rocking read.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are sequels for other characters.

xxx

Thank you to Sourcebooks for this book to read and review.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR THE ARC COPY:

1. Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you found there.
Please leave your e-mail!

2.  For fun and an extra entry - tell me which being you would pick to be of those in this story:
incubus/succubus, Siren, Valkyrie, vampire, were or human?  I think I'd love to be a Siren cause I sure wish I could sing better than I can... of course attracting men wouldn't be bad either. LOL

3. For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

4. For two extra entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

(Five total entries possible.)
It is not necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.

* This contest is open to US and Canada only.
* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.
* This contest will close 10:00 PM (Central) on March 25, 2011. The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.