Customer Reviews

Skin Game (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kyra Marie Beckwith has been a con artist for as long as she can remember and she is good at it, very good. So when her father dies at the hand of a very powerful man she burns for revenge, and she gets it, big time. Only, to ruffle the feathers of a powerful man such as Gerard Serrano means he wants back what he considers his, and restore his pride at the same time.

To get what he wants Serrano hires the best man for the job to hunt her down, get his assets back, and bring Kyra along for him to deal with. The best man for that job is Porfirio Ten-Bears Reyes, a.k.a. Reyes, and he catches up with Kyra as she pulls a con in a small town bar. From there a road trip commences that becomes more dangerous with each passing day. Danger is something Reyes is used to dealing with, feeling increasingly more torn between his budding attraction for Kyra and his highly valued work ethics however is something new to him.

I heard many raving voices about the novels of Ava Gray's alter ego; Ann Aguirre, and after a while I still had not read any of her work. It was the moment where I read a blogpost on this author's blog that I took my chances in winning an ARC of Skin Game. I entered, and lo and behold I was one of the winners. I lost my Ava Gray cherry to the story of Kyra and Reyes and I am slowly descending from a romance high. Not only did she court me as a reader with well paced action, storytelling and sultry sensuality. Ava Gray introduced me to a set of characters who had me at their hello.

The instant Kyra and Reyes meet it is spontaneous combustion between them which doesn't diminish in any way, shape or form throughout the story. There are some wonderful opposites; he is a health nut and she needs her junk food, he has learned his skills, she steals them from others. There are also some similarities, they both like rough love between the bed sheets, they are both very good in what they do and both do it for reasons that meet their own moral standards. From the get-go their personalities grabbed my attention, I instantly liked them and I just loved the quirks that went with these two.

If there is one thing I learned from my first experience with Ava Gray's work it is that she is an author who knows how to bring compelling characters to life. It is a certain elemental magnetism emanating from the characters, whether friend or foe, that captivates me. The way they live, love, feel, fight, work through their inner turmoil's, it all enriches and works with the other elements in this novel. The romance is what ensnared me so in Skin Game. Gray gave me such an in-depth portrayal of both Kyra and Reyes that I understood both their emotional triggers for their individual decisions.

Kyra is a bit paranoia at times, she is also fierce, sensual, intelligent, a bit pragmatic and comfortable in her own skin with her ability, though it often also has less desirable side effects. Reyes is lethally dangerous, virile, skilled, commanding, keeps himself unattached and is not expecting anything from anyone. Together they make the verbal sparring and body language sizzle through the pages and such a pleasure to read. At times their passion and feelings were raw and demanding and at other times it was caring and gentle and I just gobbled it up like it was my next Ben and Jerry's fix.

I was immersed in their romance and for quite a while it felt the suspense factor was in a supportive role and almost subservient to the character/romance development of Reyes and Kyra. I got to meet Gerard Serrano who fills the bill for an unforgiving and cruel enemy and if there was one secondary character who profiled himself in Skin Game then it was Addison Foster. I still remember the page where all my red flags went up in utter want of finding out more about this character. He is neither fully good or bad but in a grey area that keeps me on edge what he will do. With highly intriguing aspects regarding Foster, Ava Gray created a man who has all the right character traits to become quite the dark tormented hero.

After a well paced build up of first time encounters, revealing conversations, passion, and growing trust something happens that shot my feelings straight in to a range of shock and raw intensity. From there the suspense had twists and turns and I almost got to feel pity for Serrano...almost. The only thing that had me puzzled at times was the paranormal factor in this book, because save from Kyra's ability there is not much paranormal to be found. Okay two things had me puzzled; I also would've liked an explanation in how Kyra's ability was canceled out with a certain person, now it just appears to be a convenient solution. Upon closing Skin Game I noticed I read this novel in the blink of an eye and this is largely due to Ava Gray's writing style which effortlessly held my attention. An easy flowing style yet fraught with all the rich emotions from the characters and a good dose of suspense from the plot.

Ava Gray wined and dined me with the best elements I love in a novel; beguiling but flawed characters, high-voltage sensuality, great dialogues and a suspense that held my attention from cover to cover. Skin Game was an exhilarating way for me to lose my Ava Gray cherry!

Kyra Beckwith has screwed over a dangerous man and she did it on purpose as payback. The man in question is casino owner and small time mobster Gerard Serrano who had Kyra's father killed. She made him fall in love with her. He even wrote her poetry and was going to ask her to marry him. But Kyra got the last laugh and was able to steal a good chunk of his money right under his nose. Now Serrano is out for her blood and hires Reyes, a hit man, to retrieve his money and get rid of Kyra permanently.

Reyes may kill men for a profit, but he's not comfortable killing a woman like Kyra, especially when he sees her in action hustling a pool game. Kyra is a hustler, a con artist who travels from dinky town to dinky town in her Mercury Marquis looking for the next score. Krya lives for the action, much like her father did. But it got her father killed and Kyra is not sure how much longer she can stay in the game. When Reyes comes to her aid, she decides to take him along for the ride. She thinks they will have one hot night together in a squeaky motel room bed and that will be it. What she doesn't know is that Reyes is a hard man to outwit and he won't allow Kyra to skip out on him.

When Reyes tracks down Kyra again, she is wary but there is something about him that makes her want to keep him. Not only can she touch him without draining her energy because of a secret, special ability she has that helps her with her cons, but she feels safe around him. She decides to make him her partner until she has had enough of the game and wants to drive off into the sunset. As Reyes gets to know the enigma Kyra is, he wouldn't mind going off in the sunset with her also. He just has to figure out a way to keep her alive as well as find a way to tell her he was hired to snuff her out.

Talk about a book where you can feel the heat coming off the pavement! Skin Game is a thrilling read with a touch of paranormal, suspense and a steamy romance that will have you panting. The chemistry between Reyes and Kyra is hotter than hot. I knew things were going to be oh so good the moment Kyra asks Reyes what he wants with her and he thinks how great it would be to have her up against a wall.

Because Ava Gray has such a talent writing great character interaction, Skin Game excels in so many ways. The majority of the time the reader is witness to Kyra and Reyes on the road driving, playing their cons or just eating. This may seem boring, but because Ava is able to expand on these actions, the reader can't help but stay interested. She brings out such interesting quirks in regards to these two such as Kyra's love of fast food and Reyes desire to protect Kyra and make sure she finds happiness in such simple things such as him making a homemade meal for her. There is nothing sexier than a man that can cook.

Even though Reyes and Kyra have made such an impression on me, there are other secondary characters to take note of. Serrano is a sad man so obsessed with power that it almost ruins him. He doesn't realize that he is being played and played well by Addison Foster, the security chief for his casino. Foster is one of the biggest mysteries in Skin Game. He has deep rooted secrets and may or may not have an ability much like Kyra has. His ambiguity will have readers wondering what his reasons are for the things that he does. Foster's story, Skin Tight will be out next summer, where he battles wits with Kyra's dearest friend Mia Sauter, who is also introduced in Skin Game and has some interesting interactions with Foster.

For those who don't know, Ava Gray is also known as Ann Aguirre who writes outstanding science fiction as well as urban fantasy books. Her skills at writing a taut masterful tale have become well known, and as Ava Gray she has definitely done that here with Skin Game.

Katiebabs

STORY BRIEF:
Kyra has a talent. When she touches someone, she gains their strongest ability, and they lose it (temporarily). She keeps their ability for one or more hours, but she can`t predict how long she will have it. Examples of the talents she gains are pool player, dart thrower, martial arts fighter, and piano player. If she touches two or more people within the same evening, she will get severe headaches - overload. Using her talent, she makes a living hustling people. She has never had a relationship with a man due to the touch problem. She was raised by her father who was a small time con man. They lived on the road. One day, her father tried a con at a casino. The casino owner Gerard had him beaten to death. For revenge, Kyra conned Gerard into falling in love with her. She publicly humiliated him by using the engagement ring he gave her to win $3 million at his gaming tables. She then flaunted in front of a casino camera that she was leaving him. Someone put the video of her taunt on YouTube. Gerard was in a rage and wanted her dead. He had his chief of security Foster hire a hit man to find her, find the money, and then kill her. Foster hired Rey. Rey pretended to be a drifter and helped Kyra in a couple of cons. The first time she touched him, she gained his martial arts abilities. But subsequent touching had no effect. For the first time, she could touch someone without consequences. She offered him a job helping her with cons, and he accepted.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I wasn't chuckling or laughing, but it was good, solid writing. I liked Kyra's talent. It's different. I've not read anything quite like it before. I enjoyed how she obtained and used the powers. Don't expect a lot of paranormal in this book. Her talent was the only paranormal element, but that wasn't a problem for me. It was good. There was wonderful character and relationship development with Kyra and Rey. My only disappointment was that Kyra held a grudge too long and didn't forgive Rey when I thought she should have. He clearly showed trustworthiness and love, but she wouldn't buy it. I think the author wanted to prolong their conflict for awhile. I didn't like it, but the rest of the story was good. Very feel good ending.

Toward the end of the book I found myself fascinated with the character Foster. I wanted to know his back story, why he did what he did, and what he would do next. I was hoping to get some answers before the book was over. I did not get those answers. But I was ok, because I learned the story of Foster and Mia is in the sequel "Skin Tight" (available in June, 2010). A preview of "Skin Tight" is in the back of this book. I hope the sequel goes in depth with Foster and satisfies.

DATA:
Story length: 294 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious words. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 6. Total number of sex scene pages: around 18. Setting: current day mostly various places in the U.S., plus St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Budapest, Hungary. Copyright: 2009. Genre: contemporary paranormal romantic suspense.

Holy Cow!

I bit my lip. I squirmed. I may have panted. I thought I was having a hot flash til I remembered I'm not in menopause. That's when I set the book down and stepped into the freezer. When I thawed out my pork chops and whole kernel corn, I started reading again.

The paranormal concept is fresh and a much welcome change from vampires and were creatures. I needed something different. This is different.

Lemme tell you that SKIN GAME totally SUCKED me IN. OMG. The story line, the paranormal element, the romance and the suspense sent me into the throes of ecstasy. SKIN GAME also has me now panting for the next book in the series, SKIN TIGHT. I would consider giving up Blue Bell ice cream for SKIN TIGHT. Y'all. That's saying something.

If you like your books to be unique, sexy and ohmygosh delicious, you'll adore SKIN GAME .

"Skin Game" is an awesome book that is entertaining, fascinating and very sexy.

Reyes is a hit man and this time his job seems to be pretty easy. Find con woman Kyra, discover where she hides the cash she has stolen from casino owner Gerad Serrano and kill her. But when he meets Kyra, Reyes is fascinated by her right from the start. She is not the selfish murderer he expected but a woman who is alone in the world and who has sought for revenge for her father's death. After one sizzling and hot night there is no going back and Reyes decides that he needs to know more about Kyra and her past before he can continue with his job.
Kyra is also fascinated by Reyes and soon feels like she can trust in him. But how will she react when she finds out that the goal to kill her brought them together? In the end they have to fight together to survive the attempts on their lifes and Reyes has to hope that Kyra will be able to forgive him.

I had "Skin Game" in my TBR pile for some weeks and now I wonder why I waited so long to read it. The book and the characters are very special and you have to be open-minded to accept an assassin and a hustler as hero and heroine. I enjoyed that Kyra and Reyes weren't perfect and that they actually both liked their jobs.
The chemistry between them is over the top and some scenes are very hot and sexy. I liked that it took some time until they started trusting in each other. I also enjoyed their journey across the country because it gave them a chance to get to now each other without too many interruptions.
Some parts in the book are brutal but it fits to the story and the characters so I had no trouble with it.
I loved reading about the secondary characters Foster and Mia and can't wait to read more of them in "Skin Tight".

I could go on and on with gushing about "Skin Game". I recommend this book to everyone who likes hot contemporary romances and strong, extraordinary characters.

These protagonists were pretty unique. The hero is an assassin and the heroine is a con artist. Both are totally fine with their choices and don't wish to change. That right there is a rare quality. Usually if a character like that is written they secretly hate themselves for what they do or are forced into it and at the first opportunity they'll change their ways. That is not the case with Kyra and Reyes, thank God.

Kyra is on the run. She pissed off a very dangerous man and now he wants her dead. She's making her way through the US biding her time until she can get a hold of a friend. Along the way she can't resist conning the suckers in the towns she stops in. Not only does she want to earn money to pay her way, she finds what she does fun. What makes her so good at her con is that in the beginning she's honestly a bad player. It's only when she decides the time is right that she uses her "gift" to increase her skill.

Along the way she meets up with a guy, Rey, who helps her out of a tight spot. One thing leads to another and she winds up enjoying a very hot night of sex. She parts ways and doesn't give their meeting another thought. Unfortunately for her, things are not what they seem. Reyes is on her tail and plans to stay there until he gets what he wants.

I liked the details we learn about Kyra's talent. Until I read this book I never would have thought of that sort of talent as a bad thing. I didn't think about the fact that she couldn't pick and choose who she took from. Anyone who touched her gave up something. What a lonely life that would turn into. Also, when you think of "best" skills you usually think of that as a good thing, or at least I do. I never thought that someone's best talent could be something so horrifying.

Reyes was an interesting character. He had a lot of issues, not the least of which were due to his past.

***SPOILERS***
At one point he thinks about how close he's gotten to Kyra and realizes that he'll have to change how he plans to kill her. He'll now have to kiss her one last time and then snap her neck so it's quick and painless.
***END SPOILERS***

Now, that's totally in keeping with his character, but I found it a bit disturbing. The thing that made the romance work for me is that they both were messed up. If Reyes would have been paired with someone else who was sweeter or nicer I wouldn't have been able to see how it would work out. Fortunately for Reyes, Kyra has as many issues as he does.

The sex was hot, and I liked the insight into both their characters. The glimpses of their pasts and the little quirks that made them tick were nice. I appreciated that they weren't static characters. I require a bit more depth than that to really get into the story.

There were a few things that bothered me, although it was easy for me to ignore them and concentrate on what I liked about the story.

***SPOILERS***
Kyra trusted Reyes a little bit too easily. I can see it happening, but I wish she would have suspected a little before he ended up telling her. Also, when we find out that Kyra had Mia's cell phone number the whole time I was a little pissed. Why didn't you try her from a payphone earlier? It just seemed illogical. Also, why exactly did Kyra's talent stop working on Reyes? Yes, it makes it easier for the romance to work, but no explanation was given for it. It just ended up looking way too convenient.
***End SPOILERS***

The author did a good job creating interesting secondary characters. I'm intrigued by Foster's actions in this book and want to understand what's driving him. I can't wait to get my hands on Skin Tight.

Kyra is a con and a thief, but not in the usual sense. She possesses a unique supernatural ability that allows her to steal her mark's best abilities for a period of time simply by touching them. She then uses the marks own talents to take their money. Bent on avenging her father's death, she seduces Gerard Serrano, the casino owner responsible for killing him. Not only does she manage to get him to fall in love with her but she steals a fortune in cash, and publicly humiliates him in the process. In turn, Serrano hires a hit man to find her, find the money, and bring her back, dead or alive.

Reyes is a hit man who always finishes the job. His professional reputation is everything to him and he'll stop at nothing to complete his contract. He is also the tall, dark and broody type with a side of ruggedly sexy, and he wants Kyra in more ways than one. When he begins to have feelings for her, he realizes completing this job may more difficult than he thought. In fact it may be impossible.

From the moment they meet, Kyra and Reyes' chemistry heats up and holds tight throughout the book. Ava Gray creates incredible sexual energy and an amazing love story that keeps the reader on edge and sometimes fearful that Reyes just might follow through in his intention to kill Kyra to fulfill his contract--in love or not.

Let's talk about Foster for a minute. He is Addison Foster, head of security to Casino owner Gerard Serrano. At his introduction we meet a man who is cold, calculated and whose behavior is designed to make those around him take a step back in his presence. As a secondary character he is superb. Never the main focus but a still character that commands attention and leaves the reader with lingering doubts as to his true nature.

Skin Game is not your typical paranormal romance. The only obvious paranormal twist to the story is in Kyra's ability to steal personal skills from people. The focus is more on relationships, action and suspense. However, being the paranormal romance fan that I am, I wanted to know more about the origin of Kyra's power. Growing up, Kyra's father seemed to be more inclined to exploit her power rather than suppress it, which leaves me to wonder if her paranormal ability was not an anomaly but something he had dealt with before. Perhaps it's genetic and something he knew about before Kyra inherited it? Since this is first in a series I'm hoping there will be some answers to come.

Ava Gray brings it with Skin Game! It's fast paced, exciting, at times violent, and super sexy. She has created powerful enticing characters, interesting relationships and intriguing secondary characters that will leave you wanting more...NOW!

Kyra is a woman on the run and a con artist with an edge. With a touch, she can steal your best skill for a short time. When a con in a pool hall starts to go south, she encounters a man who wants a ride and won't take no for an answer. Reyes is the man hired to kill her. But first he must find out what she did with the large sum of money she stole from his employer. In order to do that he must get close to her, earn her trust. But as he gets to know her, he realizes he has been misled about her. What started out as a job for him and a good partnership for her turns into so much more. Will she trust him with all her secrets as well as her heart? Or will she leave him when she finds out that she isn't the only one with secrets?

I can sum this one up with one word: intense! The story sucks you in and doesn't let up. Reyes is so closed down, so lonely. It is sometimes a little scary to see inside his head. But he has a code of honor which makes him a character to root for. Who doesn't want to cheer for the assassin who only kills people that need it? Kyra is vunerable and at the same time, hard as nails. She is a very smart and endearing character. I didn't want to see her in pain so when it happens, you can't help but feel for her. About halfway through, things really start to crank. I kept saying to myself, just one more chapter and I will put it down. Five hours later I had come to the end. And what an ending it was! Ava Gray, other wise known as Ann Aguirre, has been compared to Linda Howard and I can't think of a more apt description. Hot, steamy sex and violence are a powerful combination. Several times I found myself saying, WOW!! I didn't see that coming, which I can't say very often. I loved this book and I am so glad it is the start of a series. I can't wait to see what Ms. Gray has in store for us next.
Originally reviewed at Night Owl Romance

The book arrived in very good condition and within a reasonable amount of time. Very happy with my purchase. The book was in the condition it was advertised in. I had purchased the 2nd and 3rd book in series, but was unable to locate the beginning book. I was glad it was offered on Amazon.

This book is hard for me to review. It never really grabbed me.
I haven't read a romantic suspense novel in quite a while. I got sort of burned-out on them but when I read the synopsis of this book I was immediately interested and wanted to read it right away. I like darker, grittier stories with less than perfect characters. The plot's original; it's tight and executed well. I liked the shades of gray in the hero and heroine's character and I thought it added to fleshing them out as real people.

There's nothing I can pinpoint as to why the book never really held my interest. I think that perhaps I'm stilled burned out on romantic suspense and my mediocre rating stems from myself and not from any short-comings of the author. I probably would have loved this book a few years ago.