{Review} Last of the Red-Hot Riders by Tina Leonard (with Excerpt and Giveaway)

Something had happened. From her perspective, the earth had pretty much moved.


He leaned back in the booth, gave her a slow wink.


Her heart stopped. Clearly he thought—knew—that she was attracted to him.


Which she was, in the worst way, so there was no denying that. She’d been denying the attraction for months under the guise of determined newcomer to town, but her impulsive kiss tonight had blown the lid off that ruse entirely.

Her sudden slip in control was embarrassing. But it was a slip that had been coming on. He was probably the sexiest man alive, or at least she thought so, and that was a bad sign in itself, since it wasn’t like she hadn’t come across sexy men before. But none like this: none with the battle-hardened edge to him that kept his handsome, square-jawed face set in sexy lines; none with dark, chocolate eyes and long, ebony hair that always lay crushed under a variety of well- worn cowboy hats. She didn’t even want to think about the body, always dressed in worn jeans, boots, and western shirts, showcasing a body made of steel. She’d seen Saint without a shirt, a few times at pool parties at the mayor’s, a few times when he was changing out of sweaty, dirty clothes after training. There were a few photos around his house of him, Declan, and Trace when they’d been stationed in different parts of the world, and one photo had the three of them in fatigues, no shirts, wearing headbands and grins the size of the Grand Canyon, not even bothering to try to look tough, despite their location. And that’s what made the photo so sexy— they were badass, and they didn’t have to prove it.

Cameron sneaked a fast peek over at Saint, glancing away when she caught him looking at her. His dark eyes crinkled around the edges when she dared to look his way again—trying to appear nonchalant, as if she hadn’t been dying to drink him in—and she had the sudden idea that maybe he was laughing at her. Blinking, she wondered what he thought was so darn amusing about a kiss.

It hit her that he thought she’d kissed him to manipulate him into training her out at Rory’s. Horrified, she realized that was exactly what was in his mind. That was the way the Outlaws thought—that the few women in the town always had a plot going (witness Mayor Judy with her endless plans, or Ivy across town with her “business” parlor of bad girls that everyone recognized was all but a pleasure establishment). Cameron couldn’t believe Saint would suspect her of using womanly guile to get what she wanted, but she suddenly knew it was exactly what he did think. Especially as she was sitting right next to the master strategist herself—Judy—who had dragged her over to the booth by the arm, marching her right back to Saint and ruining her exit. The same Judy who had put Ava up to “working” Trace around to her point of view about training the Hell’s Belles. Ava hadn’t liked it—but new to town as they all were at the time, Ava’d made herself be a little nicer to Trace than she might have been otherwise. Under normal circumstances, she might have slapped the pigheaded Trace into the next county, even though it wasn’t exactly his fault: It just so happened that he and Ava had both fallen into Judy’s matchmaking scheme.

But Cameron wasn’t after Saint.


“You can quit grinning,” she told him, deciding to defend herself in some small way.

“Men who get kissed usually grin.” His grin widened.


“Kissed?” Judy said as her chicken potpie was served to her. “Who got kissed?”


“No one.” Cameron wished she could edge out of the booth, but Saint was blocking one end and Judy the other. Declan sat like a chunk in the center, enjoying the new line of questioning.

Saint raised a brow. Cameron raised her chin in a silent standoff, daring Saint to bare her indiscretion.

He winked again. Cameron turned her head, which made Saint laugh, a rich sound that had the other patrons in Redfeather’s glancing toward their booth. Her face burned as Judy looked at her speculatively.

“What’s the joke?” Judy asked. “Clearly something’s going on that you two aren’t sharing.”

“Nah.” Saint got up. “Nothing’s going on. I think I’ll head over to the sheriff’s, see if I can get him in trouble.”