Winner! Best Mystery/Suspense from the eFestival of Words Independent Book Awards!5-Star Review“Dangerous Embrace is the perfect kind of romantic thriller. There was plenty of suspense, but the evolving relationship between Sarah and Mark is what really made me love the story.” ~New York Times Best Selling Author, A.L. Jackson5-Star Review“Dangerous Embrace is the perfect blend of suspense and … Embrace is the perfect blend of suspense and romance, so if you like either one, you’re in for a treat. The writing is crisp and direct, the plot solid with a few surprises that’ll knock your socks off, and the pacing is perfect, never letting you go for one second.”
~Nancy S. Thompson, Author of The Mistaken and Leverage
5-Star Review
“Dangerous Embrace is high paced action/suspense/romance! I had a hard time putting my Kindle down!”
~Tobi, Forget the Housework, I’m Reading…..
Sarah Jennings wants nothing more than a quiet life–alone.
Raised by an eccentric mother, their life on the road only taught her how to run away from hard times. When she finds herself in an abusive relationship, this lesson serves her well.
Eight years later, she’s settled back in her hometown and less fearful then she’s ever been in her life. She’s a first grade teacher, and with few friends and less family around, she has what she wants, a quiet life under the radar where she can be free of her past and live quietly. Until one night and one brutal act of violence changes everything.
Injured and afraid, Sarah wants to run again, but Mark Summors refuses to let her go.
Mark was born and raised in Santa Rosa. He married his high school sweetheart and never questioned his life, until he found his wife with another man. Now divorced, he wants something more. He’s passionate about his job, he wants to protect people, and he devotes his life to it. This time he’s protecting more than just another client, he’s protecting his future; at least, Sarah Jennings will be his future, once he convinces her she loves him.
When Sarah agrees to let Mark help, she doesn’t anticipate just how important of a role he’ll play in her future or how the violence in her past will come back to threaten them both.
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Once I dug into Dangerous Embrace, discovered the characters, got entwined in their lives and the intrigue of the story, I was a goner. You know that feeling you have when you’re snagged by a good story, and all you can think about is getting back to it? Yeah, that’s what Dangerous Embrace did for me. And let me tell ya, that’s rare for me. I put a lot of books down and never return to them. But not this one.
Author Dana Mason does a great job of immediately pulling the reader into the maelstrom. Her protagonist, pretty thirty-year-old elementary school teacher, Sarah Jennings, is viciously attacked one evening in her school’s parking lot. She fights back against her would-be rapist and is saved by a man who seems just too good to be true, former cop and security company owner, Mark Summors. And not only does Mark save her, he refuses to leave her side, fearful she’s now a target for the madman who’s become obsessed with the one who got away.
Complicating the situation, Sarah has a past that continues to haunt her, and all she wants to do is run away. It’s her go-to answer to everything and has always worked in the past, but Mark makes that more and more difficult everyday as they grow closer and she comes to depend on him. And may I say, Mark is seriously dreamy? Oh yes, he is! If only there were men like this! And yet, Mason makes him totally believable.
Dangerous Embrace is the perfect blend of suspense and romance, so if you like either one, you’re in for a treat. The writing is crisp and direct, the plot solid with a few surprises that’ll knock your socks off, and the pacing is perfect, never letting you go for one second. You’ll like the characters, too. They’re terrifically matched, and I loved they way they never faltered into the clichéd situations so many other books fall victim to. That was more refreshing than I can say!
Overall, this book is not for the faint of heart. It deals with and throws the reader into some pretty dark, horrific, and violent scenarios. But it all feels very real and is brilliantly pulled off by the author.
A great start to the “Embrace” series. I liked the two leads. Sarah is real fighter who’s had to survive several major traumas in her life, and that’s made her retreat into a shell that she thinks will keep her safe–both from the man who’s obsessed with her and from any future entanglements that would jeopardize her carefully maintained isolation. Mark is an all-around good guy with a strong protective streak and a bruised heart from his prior marriage.
These two come together when Sarah is attacked after work one night. Mark helps her out afterward and becomes attached to her, even though she does her damnedest to push him away. I got frustrated with Sarah a few times because she kept running away from Mark, though I did eventually understand her fears to some degree.
The action sequences where Sarah and/or Mark are attacked were all among the highlights of the book–both terrifying and well-written.
At the end of the book, we meet Johnny Rhay (that’s not a spelling error), the hero of Precious Embrace, and he looks like he’s going to be a lot of fun.
I look forward to reading the rest of the series!
This book starts off with pulse pounding action, and keeps the momentum going through til the end. With an intriguing story, and strong characters, this is a story well worth reading. There is something for everyone from mystery, suspense, and romance. This is a series I look forward to reading more of.
This began with action and end with it, what a great read full of suspense that keeps your heart beating fast what a thrilling read I could not put down. It is a romance with suspense, action, and thrills but it is so much more the author gives you a wonderful story of strength, fears and overcoming them along with courage to stand up and be accounted for as well as starting over, learning how to trust and love again. It is about an abusive relationship, running for your life, learning to live again and start over.
As the story starts Sarah is being attacked, she gets away only to run Mark who becomes her hero and her bodyguard. Sarah show so much strength, being abused is never easy, getting out even harder. Sarah pulls into her enter self showing how strong she is, she truly became my hero. It is very easy to like her as you are pulled into her world. She has a long road ahead, I so enjoyed walking it with her as she takes back her life. Mark can be a little overprotective, some might think overbearing. I liked him a lot but if I had to deal with him I most likely would not care for him much. I do things for myself so having someone watch my every move, tell me what to do would be hard. That is not to say it is a bad thing some women need this, those who are abused really need it. There comes a time when you can break the chain of an abused victim or you can take over as the controller. It is a fine line but if the right person comes along they can build you up and make you stronger than you ever thought you could. So knowing this it wasn’t hard to really like Mark and all he stands for. We all need a shoulder and someone stronger than us at some point in our lives. He was so devoted to Sarah, with tons of patience, I thought he was a wonderful character.
I thought this was very well written, loved the plot and the way the author laid it out. I was in the authors palms from the first page to the last. It really was a book I couldn’t put down giving me a thrilling suspenseful read that I crave. I had no problem picturing the scenes in my mind watching the attack, feeling her fear and terror was not something I will forget anytime soon. This is a story that will stay with you long after you put the book down.
DNF