Sandy M’s review of Riding Wild by Jaci Burton
Erotic romantic suspense released by Berkley Trade 5 Feb 08

I’ve had an on-again, off-again love affair with erotic romance over the years. I am definitely on again after reading this book. Wild rides are to be had every which way with some good mystery and a lot of fun thrown in for good measure.

Right from the start we learn that Mac is going to be a man we’re going to love as much as Lily does when she does some reminiscing about him. It’s been ten years since she’s seen him and she’s still fantasizing about his love making. She’s also still broken hearted over the fact he just up and left her life with no explanation. But she’s gotten over him, continued on with her life with what she wanted to do instead of living the life her father wanted for her, and she’s about to put some security guards’ butts in a sling for slacking on the job at a local Chicago museum. That’s when Lily’s past roars right back into her life and she starts truly living again, even if she doesn’t realize it for a while.

Lily is a kick-ass former police officer turned private eye, not the young innocent who wouldn’t stand up to her father that Mac knew back then. Even though the old feelings for Mac come back with a vengeance, she’s not sure if she can trust him because of his past, but every time he looks at her and touches her it’s like they were never apart. These two sizzle like you wouldn’t believe. Besides the great sex, however, is the ride Lily gives Mac at every turn trying to get away from him to do the right thing instead of continuing to run toward uncertainly because Mac isn’t being straight with her.

Mac is thrown for a loop when Lily holds him at gunpoint as he’s sneaking off with an artifact from the museum. Knowing he can never reveal why he’s still thieving after all these years, he hates like hell keeping Lily from doing her job and having to lie to her all over again. What hurts even worse is knowing he has to leave her all over again too. She’s with him now, however, and he’s going to have a time of it for both of them.

The sex between them is still hot all these years later and not even the guilt he feels can make him keep his hands off Lily as they try to outrun whoever is attempting to take Mac’s ill-begotten gains from him and kill them in the process. Mac is sexy, sexy, sexy. No doubt about it. As much as he wants Lily in his life, he can’t go back on his oath he’s made to his employer, which means she’ll never know he’s changed, he’s not the same man he was in his youth. I liked his loyalty, but I also wanted him to be honest with Lily. Can’t I have it both ways? I wanted him to have the job he loves and the woman too, but he’s a stubborn man.

Their wild ride on motorcycle across several states is fun, dangerous, and sexy. There’s that word again. The mystery that follows them keeps us on our toes, and payback truly is a bitch when the truth is finally revealed. I was caught up in every word of this book. Mac and Lily are the epitome of a strong hero and heroine, and the secondary characters along their travels keep things quite lively. Riding Wild is fun, dangerous, mysterious, romantic, light hearted, and…

Sexy.

Grade: A

From the back cover:

     He’s a Harley-riding ex-thief working undercover for the government. She’s a gun-toting ex-socialite hired to protect a valuable museum exhibit. But in her attempt to stop a heist, she never anticipated having her breath and her heart stolen…

Mac Canfield was the last man Lily West expected to see again, never mind aim her gun at. But here he was, the bad boy who’d broken her heart years ago-still a thief, this time high-jacking a priceless artifact–and it was all she could do to push aside the memories of how it felt to have his perfectly chiseled body next to hers.

Mac was no less shocked to see the beautiful girl-next-door all grown up, threatening to shoot him on the spot. Little did she know she was blowing his cover-and now he had to figure out how to get her out of harm’s way without succumbing to his crazy desire to take her on a hot trip down memory lane.

Unfortunately, Lily has no intention of going anywhere with Mac. Which means he has to resort to kidnapping. Unless, of course, she agrees to let him take her for the kind of ride destined to drive them both unbelievably wild..

Read an excerpt.