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REVIEWS for The Blonde Bomb Tech

5 Kisses: "The connection between Sabrina and Jake is so intense that it jumps off of the pages and practically grabs a hold of your naughty bits and sets them afire. Sabrina’s brazenness is exciting as is Jake’s immediate reaction. The fact that Jake’s such a gentleman only made the scenes hotter as Sabrina took what she needed that he willingly gave her. I challenge any woman (and many men) to not fall completely in love with Jake by the end of this book. He is the epitome of honor, trust, faith, and super-hot calendar pin-up, all rolled into one.
     The Blonde Bomb Tech is packed full of intrigue and suspense that had me poised on the edge of my seat during the entire reading. I was so engrossed in this latest release from Lara Santiago that I found myself reading it from cover to cover in one sitting, not even noticing the passing of time. The Blonde Bomb Tech is a definite must-read that you'll want to find room for on your keeper shelf!" —Kerin, Two Lips Reviews

5 Angels: "The Blonde Bomb Tech by Lara Santiago is an erotic suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat, page after page. You can’t put the book down, the danger and love in this story keeps you involved until the end. Sabrina Donavan doesn’t like men; her past has jaded her against them. I love how she meets Jake in this story. Ms. Santiago not only writes a great dangerous story, but her erotic scenes sizzle right off the pages. I enjoyed the power struggle between these two, I couldn’t get enough. The ending is something any reader will enjoy. Thanks you Ms. Santiago for this great story, I’m certainly a big fan. I can’t wait to see more." —Becky, Fallen Angel Reviews

5 Kisses: "From page one the countdown began. The Blond Bomb Tech kept the pages turning for me. The intense heat from these characters burned right through the page. Although they fell in love rather quickly, it was a deep and sincere love. Sometimes love will do that for you. This story is fully charged and had me ignoring people so that I could finish it. Don’t deny yourself this reading pleasure; pick up this book. You won’t be sorry." —D. D. Blackman, Romance Divas

4.5 Stars: "The Blonde Bomb Tech has a cast of characters that kept me turning the pages in order to dive more deeply into their lives. Sabrina's character is absolutely fabulous. It is not often that she relaxes enough in someone's presence to reveal her soft mushy side. However, for some reason Jake brought that side out of her. Reading of how Jake comforts Sabrina in her time of need gets me all sentimental. Even the sub-characters and villains are interesting. The plot turned many times causing my eyes to stay glued to the screen. Jake and Sabrina spend a lot of time expressing their feelings for each other through intercourse. Personally, I think this a great idea on the part of Lara Santiago. The combination of sex and climatic drama brought adrenaline into my system at a rapid pace. I found The Blonde Bomb Tech highly entertaining and a definite fast read. Ms. Santiago weaves a fantastic tale. Bravo." —Suni Farrar, Just Erotic Romance Reviews

4 Cups: "This is a totally engrossing novel from the first exciting scene. Sabrina is far from the ice princess that she presents to the world, but few see her softer side. Being raised in an orphanage, then dumped by her fiancé when he learned she might not have children, she learned to hide her feelings. Jake is warm and strong, and it is a good thing he is stubborn because he needs to be with Sabrina. Sabrina's sister Suzanne, adopted as an infant, was luckier than Sabrina; in her you can see who Sabrina could have been, given better circumstances. But this reader would not change her; her difficulties give her her strengths. This story is full of suspense and unexpected twists and turns, and the bomber is truly evil. This is a great story!" —Maura, Coffee Time Romance

"The Blonde Bomb Tech is a character driven story. It is fast paced, which adds to the excitement. The romance is hot, and the way that Jake treats Sabrina is fantastic. Jake is the typical Alpha male, with a heart of gold, and Sabrina is a strong character. The way she is confident in her work, she knows what she wants and she goes after it. It is also lovely to see the flip side to Sabrina, her emotional side, her legitimate fears and insecurities. I applauded Lara Santiago for making Sabrina and Jake so realistic and so believable. Because I think every person can see a little of themselves in either Sabrina or Jake. I loved The Blonde Bomb Tech; I wish it had been longer so I didn't have to finish it so soon. I would be the first in line if Lara decided she wanted to write this book as part of a series. The secondary characters are all solid and could easily be further developed, plus we would get to see a glimpse of Sabrina and Jake. I adored The Blonde Bomb Tech. The story and the sex are both hot. When can I get more?" —Vanessa Costa, Romance Reviews Today

"The Blonde Bomb Tech is a well-paced intense story of cat and mouse between Sabrina and the bomber with the addition of sexy Jake to change Sabrina’s focus to a personal life she had been missing. Lara Santiago’s creative thriller brings to attention the real life dangerous jobs and the people who do them. An excellent read I really enjoyed." —Rosemary, Joyfully Reviewed

EXCERPT

Sabrina’s entire body shook as glass and flying debris flew into the air from the detonation. The bomb she’d been working on had gone off. The ensuing explosion ripped through the quiet summer morning. She was the bomb technician. She was supposed to have stopped the bomb, but it had blown despite her best effort. How could that have happened?

With no answer forthcoming from the assembled emergency teams cowering down around her, Sabrina panicked.

The bomb nightmares she’d had for most of her life flew through her mind. Then she lost complete control of herself…which never happened, either. Not ever.

“Oh, no! No!” Sabrina sobbed hysterically into the crisp, clean collar of the fireman who covered her body protectively with his own.

The thought of someone having to protect her from the bomb she’d failed to stop made her cry harder. She heard herself babble nonsensically as she turned her face into the fireman’s rough, whiskered cheek. He smelled safe and good. She needed to check out for a few minutes to get herself together.

Sighing, Sabrina burrowed her cheek further into his throat scented with a musky cologne. Her lips connected with his skin as she inhaled his delectable scent. Her senses reeled as she clung to him. In her trance-like, panicked state, he was her only lifeline. She tasted the salt of her own tears.

“Shh, don’t cry. It’ll be okay, I promise,” the man holding her said, his voice honey-smooth. His breath tickled the loose hair next to her ear when he spoke. Booming noises continued to burst from the building. The comforting words from him intruded into her consciousness. She opened her eyes and was surprised to find her mouth still pressed to his neck, her lips rubbing sensuously along the male skin. Her fisted hands clutched both sides of his open jacket, securing him in place. She wanted him to say something else in that seductive voice.

She’d had a moment to appreciate the warm, male body covering hers, and then her panic set in again. Sabrina stopped kissing him. She loosened her fingers from the death grip she had on his protective yellow and black jacket.

The bomb had gone off—the bomb she’d tried to defuse, the very reason for her existence. She’d been a bomb technician for nearly five years. Until today, she’d never failed to diffuse a bomb.

Never.

Her worst nightmare had exploded with a burning vengeance all around her. She huddled under the firefighter, her body shaking, and with his whispered words of comfort, she bawled like a five-year-old after a bad dream.

She’d never lost control of her cool demeanor before today’s debacle. The iron-hard bitch façade she’d built over these last several years for protection had slipped off as if the bomb itself had blown it from her.

At long last, the explosions subsided, replaced by the acrid stench of burnt plastic. Sabrina felt the man above her shift to lift his body off her.

Time to get it together. Too bad the girly, lonely, emotional side of her brain would not cooperate. She’d put that part of herself on the back burner for far too long. Now that it had been released, it wasn’t giving up without a fight.

The fireman lifted off her slightly. She put a hand over her face and wiped away her tears without being seen. She hoped.

“Are you going to be all right?” he asked quietly. She slipped her fingers down far enough to see him. The sexy voice was attached to the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. Sabrina shook her head no and sniffed a couple times.

No, I’m not okay. A bomb just went off, and it’s my fault.

“No?” he asked, starting to smile. Perhaps he’d expected a different answer. People usually answered with a polite “Fine” even though they never meant it.

She felt tears scalding her lower eyelids and running down her face again. Sabrina sniffed and uttered a very unladylike hiccup. She couldn’t catch her breath. She couldn’t wipe the tears away fast enough. Panic attack alert.

“Don’t let anyone…hic…see me like this…hic. Please!” She noticed a few flashes of yellow with black stripes from the other firefighters beginning to stir around them. She desperately swiped at her eyes now, trying to force her tears to end, but nothing could stop them quickly enough. She willed the emotional side of her mind to get a grip, suck it up, and go hide on the back burner again.

“Don’t worry. You have a minute or two. I won’t leave you yet…I promise.” He tipped his large brimmed fireman’s hat down to shield her face as she wiped her eyes again.

“Thank…you,” she stuttered between hiccups.

“No problem.” He studied her face, his concern for her still evident in his gorgeous, emerald green eyes. She looked away first, closed her eyes, and took several deep, soothing breaths. Calm down. There was no need to let anyone on the bomb squad see her crying.

Instead of thinking about the horror of the bomb, Sabrina focused on the feel of the fireman’s body against hers. His rock-hard thighs still pressed solidly into hers. She quivered in response to the intimate connection. Eyes still closed, she moved her face again closer to his and took another deep calming breath. With it came the fireman’s spicy delectable scent. She inhaled again and forcibly restrained her hips from lifting upwards to encourage a deeper contact. She also resisted the sudden, visceral urge to place her lips on his whiskered cheek and take a lick—to taste him. The sultry shape of his mouth beckoned her with the promise of tactile pleasure.

It had been so long, she had forgotten how incredible it felt to have a man pressed this close, this intimate. The pain she associated with her past relationships had also forced her to abandon her physical needs. She ignored the longing her body endured in the silence of her chaotic and lonely life. Up to now, no one had tempted her. Right now though, she was very tempted. She wanted to melt into the fireman and immerse her body into his warmth. What would be the worst thing that could happen?

She could think of worse things than having a gorgeous fireman connected to her intimately…or almost intimately. The long-neglected part of her body below her waist was another item on a substantial list of ignored things in her lonely life. She wondered if the fireman currently scorching her lower half was enjoying it as much as she was. What would he do if she lifted up and ground her hips into him? The vision of this fireman naked, sweaty, and impaling her repeatedly with his no-doubt impressive cock skated across her consciousness. Whoa! Sabrina’s mind literally skidded to a stop.

“Hey, Earth to bomb technician,” his voice intruded. Her eyes popped open in surprise as her hips twitched in regret. She searched his fiery green gaze and wondered if he could read her mind. Would that really be a bad thing?

“Huh?”

“We’re going to have to get up, or people will start talking about us. You ready to show your face, yet?” he asked.

She stared at him and fought her libido as her sex-starved body reached upward as if protesting the imminent separation from the vibrant, male body. He squinted his eyes slightly as if in question. Had he read her thoughts? What was wrong with her? She never entertained salacious daydreams about the men she encountered.

Sabrina sighed, and her breath caught twice, whether from her vivid sexual thoughts or her emotional outburst, she didn’t exactly know. She blinked and looked away, breaking their trance-like eye-lock.

“I guess so,” but she wasn’t exactly convinced she was ready to face her lonely world.

He smiled at her as if for encouragement. Then he lifted to his hands and knees, finally breaking their body contact.

Pity, oh, such a huge pity!

“Hey, Jake, are you finished saving her yet, or do you need to do some more mouth to mouth?” Another firefighter next to them laughed.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just jealous.” Jake looked down at her and winked.

Oh, good Lord! He was gorgeous.

He held out a gloved hand and she took hold. Sabrina shook off her surely inappropriate, lust filled reverie, knowing a future with him wouldn’t go anywhere. She didn’t date firemen. She didn’t date anyone.

Sabrina stood with Jake’s help, readying herself to face the music. She turned and immediately caught sight of a blazing, angry pair of blue eyes drilled in her direction. They belonged to William Murphy, her bomb technician partner. He glared at her from where he stood near the bomb squad’s primary disposal truck. Once her eyes connected with Murphy’s glare, he strode in her direction, anger punctuating his every step.

She’d been in communication with Murphy through several line of sight spotters when she was inside the building. He warned her to get out when the timer read ninety seconds, but she’d convinced herself she could defuse the bomb. She wanted to at least try because she had never failed before. So, she pushed the edge of the envelope this time. The same as she always did.

She’d signaled the guy in her direct line of sight to get out when the timer hit sixty seconds. She knew Murphy would be screaming for her to get out at the same time, but she waited until the last possible second.

The lowest timer reading she ever got to was five minutes, fourteen seconds. She thought a lot about her record as the bomb had ticked off down to a minute even. She didn’t lose faith in her abilities until the timer hit twenty…nineteen…

She ran and counted down from eighteen seconds.

She’d blown through the building’s front door as her internal count down hit ten. She’d run flat out as fast as she could by the time she hit the barrier perimeter…and the muscular fireman.

It was too bad she hadn’t worn her obligatory Bomb Technician t-shirt, which stated: I am a bomb technician. If you see me running, try to keep up. Not that she would have taken the time to look and see if anyone was trying to keep up. It was just the first time it ever would have applied.

“Sabrina!” Her partner bellowed as the sea of yellow-garbed firemen parted to bring her face to face with a furious Murphy. She was about to pay the price for her blatant arrogance. She bore up to take what was coming when Jake suddenly stepped in front of her.

“Get out of my way!” Murphy barked.

“No, you calm down and get that murderous look out of your eyes first,” Jake responded in a low, threatening tone.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I’m the one who just saved her from falling debris. I didn’t do that so you could take her apart limb by limb.”

“Oh, yeah? So, what did you save her for…your own personal agenda? Jesus! Trust me, pal, she ain’t interested. Now, get out of my way.”

Sabrina put a hand on Jake’s shoulder to pull him to the side. He didn’t budge. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest in the universal stubborn, male position. Murphy and Jake were now locked in an angry staring contest. She had to walk around and step in between them. She tucked in close enough that the back of her thigh rested against Jake’s. He jumped at the touch of her body, but he didn’t back away. It gave her strength…and another momentary thrill.

“Murphy, it’s my fault, not his, so direct your anger down here,” Sabrina stated clearly.

“What the hell were you thinking?” His gaze shifted to hers. “You could have been killed! For God’s sake, you’re an expert at defusing bombs, but you’re still not able to withstand the blast of one.”

“I didn’t want to fail, Murphy. I thought I was almost…hic…there.” Her voice hitched in the middle of her sentence as if she weren’t quite over her crying jag. Damn it!

The look Murphy sent her was priceless. He’d never seen her crumble, not once in the four years they’d worked together on the squad. He looked at her as if she’d grown another head. She cursed her emotional side for trying to emerge.

“Save it for the review board, sweetie,” Murphy said under his breath, his voice softening. He looked back at Jake with a small amount of respect. Perhaps he sensed the protective streak Jake exhibited on her behalf was warranted. Murphy had never seen her needing any protection from anyone in the years they worked together.

Murphy shook his head and looked back at Sabrina. He winked at her, then his eyes traveled over her shoulder to where Jake stood. This was usually the point where she flayed a guy for daring to protect her. Coming onto her was an open invitation for death by scathing words.

“Come on, Sabrina. Let’s go brief Hennessey.” Murphy stepped back a pace to give them meager privacy. He sported a smug smile as he patiently waited for her to cut Jake down to size for the audacity of being interested enough to stand up for her. This was maybe Murphy’s zillionth show. He crossed his arms and waited to be entertained. Sabrina did have a reputation to uphold, but found that the need to eviscerate her protective fireman didn’t materialize.

“Thank you, Jake, is it?” Sabrina turned to him and held out a hand. Jake quickly removed his gloves before taking her hand in both of his. His touch was warm, and it sent an electrical vibration up her arm. Her heart started pounding madly. Who was this man? Why did he make her all tingly inside with a mere touch? How did he manage to make her weak with desire and lust for his warm, muscular body?

She didn’t want to tell him off. He had kept everyone else present from seeing her cry. That was worth quite a lot to her.

“You’re welcome. It isn’t your fault, you know. It’s the crazy who put the bomb there in the first place who’s to blame,” he said as one of his thumbs caressed her palm. Bolts of electric sensitivity drilled from her palm up along her arm down her body to zap her right between her legs. He made her wet and weak with needs, needs she hadn’t acknowledged in—literally—years. She took a deep breath to calm herself, but his musky scent filled her.

“I’ll try to remember that when I get the enormous bill for this building.” She tried to joke as the vision of them rolling on the floor naked, sweaty…

Stop it!

Jake’s piercing green eyes sparked with interest. “Is it true?” he asked in a low, conspiratorial voice. His thumb burned a hole in her hand, and she wanted to keep holding onto him. If she took a half a step in his direction, her breasts would brush the front of his jacket. Her nipples hardened at the thought of being touched. She felt herself gravitating towards him.

“Is what true? That I’ve got to buy a building? I hope not.” She laughed lightly.

“No. That you…ain’t interested in me.” His intense gaze touched her deep inside. It was an I-am-definitely-interested-in-you gaze. She was entranced. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat but failed.

“I…um…I wouldn’t say that…exactly,” she managed to stammer.

“Good. Then I’ll call you later.”

Sabrina cleared her throat. She didn’t go out much—okay, ever—and never with men she came across in a work-related environment.

The Heathton law enforcement grapevine was wide and far reaching. Every day, she overheard snippets of gossip from those she worked with in every department detailing confidentially—yeah, right—those who cheated on spouses, those who were fucking someone they shouldn’t be, and those who just broke up with so and so because the cheating bitch or bastard fucked someone deplorable. Sabrina refused to add fodder to the ever-continuing daily soap opera at work. So she didn’t date. Anyone. Ever.

Now, this man wanted to call her for a date?

“I don’t know about that,” she said. Damn! Where was the iron-hard bitch façade? Apparently, it ran off to hide. Her girly, emotional side wanted a date and had kicked the hard bitch to the curb.

“Come on. You don’t want to go out with me?”

“I don’t go out with…firemen.” But her voice didn’t even sound convincing to her own ears. Her girly, emotional side wanted her to bat her eyes in flirtatious invitation, but the hard bitch returned protectively.

He still had a hold of her hand, his long, lean fingers lightly caressing her knuckles, not boldly, just gently. Her heart skipped a few more beats. She tried to pull away, but he held on.

Jake gave her a wicked little smile and leaned in to whisper in her ear...

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