Waitin On A Hero

Getting the girl might not be as hard as keeping her alive.

Finley Gallagher is hot and tired. Tired of the endless heat wave. Tired of pretending she isn't interested in her sexy next-door neighbor. And really tired of everyone's endless talk about the city's mysterious vigilante who puts criminals in their place.

But when Finley is attacked and her apartment vandalized, she's forced to rely on the two men she'd rather not have anything to do with. One hides who he is, unleashing her deepest fantasies from the shadows; the other proves how wrong she was about him with one devastating smile after another.

Plagued by visions that let him glimpse the future, Trace Fairbanks is determined to do whatever it takes to keep the streets safe, even if it means leading a double life. He's also determined to prove to Finley that he's not the playboy she thinks he is.

Too bad Finley is completely turned off by his alter ego- or is she?

Warning: No masked hero will save you from this book's adult language and graphic crime-fighting violence. Be prepared for sweltering summer nights, fantasizing about two men, dangerously sexy encounters in dark stairwells and bite-your-pillow sex scenes.

Oh my damn! Sydney Somers has finally floored me!

There's a vigilante running loose in the city where Finley lives. But being the cynic realist that she is, Finley is just waiting for the guy to get hurt. While all her friends are busy fantasizing about the mysterious hero, Finley's dreams revolve around her next door neighbor.

Trace isn't as 'rationally challenged' as he thinks he is, but ever since his near death experience when his car went into a river, he's been having visions. And he's the type of guy that's going to help someone if he can. When his best friend Gary talks him into assuming an alter-ego for his heroism, all seems well and good. Until the media deemed 'Night Watcher' ends up saving the one woman he's fallen for and ends up in her fantasies.

“You’re not crazy,” Gary pointed out. “I think they call it ‘rationally challenged’.”
Trace snorted.
“And if your mother wasn’t the sweetest woman on earth, I’d say to hell with the disguise crap. Sooner or later people would have to realize you know what you’re talking about.”
“Before or after someone reserved me a padded room?”
Gary shrugged.
They’d had this conversation a hundred times since the accident. There hadn’t been any light at the end of the tunnel for Trace when he nearly drowned after his car plunged into the river. And when they had resuscitated him, he’d come back with something a little extra.
“Maybe tonight was a sign that you’re supposed to hook up with Finley.”
Trace scoffed.
“Where are your balls, dude? You have no problem playing hero with only your nifty tranq darts to save your ass from getting kicked, and you can’t even step up to the plate for the girl you have the hots for? Some Night Watcher you are.”
“I do have black belts in Karate and Judo. I just like the gun.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
He reached for the beer he’d abandoned. “For one thing, her friend is a journalist. And two—she doesn’t like me.”
“You wouldn’t be dating her friend, and maybe you just have to give Finley a reason to like you.”
Trace thought he had, and more than once. “Are you listening to anything I’m saying?”
“Fine.” Gary stuck his nose in the air. “Forget I said anything.”

Finley has her own perceptions of Trace, what with the constant flow of gorgeous women coming and leaving from his apartment and doesn't want to fall for a player. She doesn't want to fall for the mystery man behind the sunglasses and trench coat either. Doesn't stop her though.

I loved it! Oh my damn, I loved it. It's hot. It's real (which, woah, I was shocked to find that) and, and, and, and - the one thing I hate about these girl-falls-for-same-guy-via-alias stories *didn't happen*!

When she realized her feelings for Trace were becoming something real, she stopped anything from happening with the Night Watcher. She even felt guilty when a fantasy played out in her head where both men starred together.

But also what got me... the girl's got spirit. She knows how to put a man in the dog house. Of course, Trace, damned good character that he was, was way too good at getting out again.

And who'd have thought being trapped in a burning building would bring out Finley's comical side?

The suspense, the humor, the sex... so hawt I want to read it again!

“That night on the roof… You overheard Avery and I that afternoon, didn’t you, heard me mention the Night Watcher?”
There wasn’t any point in denying that whatsoever. He nodded, but quickly added, “I hadn’t planned on what happened.” Hadn’t planned on his feelings for her growing so quickly. Hadn’t planned on being so damn scared to tell her about the visions. He’d been half shot when he’d worked up the nerve to tell Gary. This time the stakes were much higher, and he’d be a fool to let himself think otherwise.
“So you only decided at the last minute to take advantage of something said in private?” Hurt and anger glittered in her eyes. “It wasn’t about having a good time, a perfect opportunity to test the water to see how far I’d go? How wild I’d get? Was taking my picture like that too? Just for fun?”
“What happened between us was not like that.”
“No? I was one step away from having sex with a stranger—a half-crazy stranger—in a dark stairwell. Tell me you didn’t wonder what else I might be willing to do after that?”
“I can’t.”
She averted her gaze, but the glimpse of painful resignation in her eyes made his gut clench.
“I can’t help but wonder because I love that about you,” he said softly. “I love that you don’t hold back with me, that you aren’t afraid to live out a fantasy. But,” he added, waiting until she looked at him to continue, “that’s just one of the things I love about you, and if you were never that inhibited again, I’d still want to be with you. But if you’re asking me to regret any of it, I can’t.” Not when those nights would be forever imprinted on his memory.

Last thing... someone tell me what the heck is on the cover of this book. Bottom right. It looks like a gorilla to me.