Mastiff (Beka Cooper #3)

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce is the third book in the Beka Cooper trilogy. Pierce has many book in the land of Tortall. This series takes place two hundred years before the original beginning of the Tortall books with Alanna's story.

Beka Cooper is a Provost's Guard, or police, sworn to uphold the law and hunt down the bad guys. She is partnered with a scent hound, Achoo, who is the best there is at tracking a smell.

Beka is awoken in the night by the Lord of the Provost's Guard and told to pack for a Hunt. She is not given any details of what happened. Her human Guard partner, Tunstall, meets her at a fast ship to begin their case.

Beka, Tunstall, and Achoo will be joined by two others in an attempt to stop a plot to overthrow the rulers of Tortall. Lady Sabine, a knight, and Farmer Cape, a mage, will help them to track down the plotters. They will face terrible odds and have to travel across the whole country in order to save it.

Pierce's books are Tortall are fantastic! Whether you start with Beka (chronologically) or start with Alanna, these books will draw readers into a well-developed world that will keep you hooked for as long as she is writing them.

Pierce, Tamora. (2011). Mastiff. New York: Random House.

Forbidden

Forbidden by Suzanne Brockmann is one of her earliest works of romantic suspense – as opposed to romance alone.

Kayla Grey goes to Asylum, Montana to find her best friend’s brother. Her friend, Liam has been dead for two years – killed in a bus bombing on a small island in Central America. But now Kayla has information that Liam is not really dead.

Being unfamiliar with how quickly the weather can change in the mountains of Montana, Kayla gets lost in a storm. The man, Cal Bartlett, who rescues her is instantly drawn to her and is more than willing to meet her in town the next night for dinner as a thank you. Before he can meet her the next night he finds out that she is the woman his brother asked to marry him. He is upset that she lied to him – if only by omission since she did not know who he was – and feels guilty for being attracted to his brother’s love.

When she convinces Cal to travel with her to Central America to find out what really happened to his brother, but is will be one tense trip where his battle between lust and guilt fight for his attention.

Brockmann, Suzanne. (1997). Forbidden. New York: Bantam