Sins of the Flesh (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Caridad Piñeiro (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Caridad Piñeiro is one of the most gifted and talented paranormal writers we have. I can't WAIT until the next Caridad Piñeiro novel comes out! She is on my automatic reading list! No one creates a page turner like Caridad Piñeiro!" (USA TODAY bestselling author Lindsay McKenna )

"Sins of the Flesh explodes on the page with page-turning action and sizzling love scenes as only Caridad Piñeiro can deliver!" (New York Times bestselling author L.A. Banks )

"If you're feverish for a chilling scientific thriller with a sharp edge of romance, I prescribe Sins of the Flesh as a sexy, satisfying cure!" (Award-winning author Jessica Andersen )

"A fascinating, adrenaline-fueled read! I could not stop turning the pages!" (Debra Webb, National bestselling author of Everywhere She Turns )

"Cutting-edge scientific conspiracy gives 'paranormal' a fascinating and believable new edge in Caridad Piñeiro's exciting romantic thriller. A man and woman, each labeled 'rogue,' must make extraordinary efforts to stop a species-threatening scheme. Piñeiro's characters generate plenty of heart, heat, and heroism to defeat clever and brutal killers." (Carole Nelson Douglas, Award-winning author of Vampire Sunrise )

"In Sins of the Flesh, Caridad Piñeiro has written a sexy adventure with a luscious hero and an amazing heroine. Mick is a delicious Alpha Male, and Caterina has guts, intelligence and courage. The plot is fascinating, and the romance is delightful. I couldn't put it down!" (USA Today Bestselling author Angela Knight )

"Sins of the Flesh is engaging from beginning to end. A very enjoyable book with enough twists and turns to keep me interested in the story and want more. I will be looking for more books by Ms. Pineiro." (JoyfullyReviewed.com )

"I can hardly wait for the next in this exciting new series to come out. This is as good as paranormal gets!" (Romance Reviews )

"This has all the makings of a great paranormal romance -a beautiful heroine, a dark, sexy and protective hero and a compelling and relevant subplot." (RT Book Reviews )

"Caridad Piñeiro never disappoints, and her new series looks to be a winner in every possible way. No author is better at crafting novels which explore the paranormal than Caridad Piñeiro." (SingleTitle.com )

"Readers will root for these two characters as they battle the bad guys to find a future together."

(Bookpage )

"Sins of the Flesh is a wild ride from start to finish that leaves you wanting more...[It] is the best romantic suspense novel I¿ve read in years... If you read one good book this fall, make it Sins of the Flesh by Caridad Pineiro." (American Chronicle )

"Caridad¿s strength lies not only in her writing, but in the incredibly real characters she creates." (American Chronicle )

Product Description

Caterina Shaw's days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment-a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body-and she's been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run.

Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he's hunting down is far from the vicious killer he's been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she's a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Forever (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446543837
• ISBN-13: 978-0446543835
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #191,541 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting and Suspenseful Romance, October 27, 2009

By	Book Fanatic "Lea" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

World famous cellist "Caterina `Cat' Shaw" consents to undergo risky experimental gene therapy at "Wardwell Biotech", to treat an inoperable brain tumor. She is considered a terminal case. Caterina is under the care of physicians "Dr. Raymond Edwards" and "Dr. Rudy Wells", co-founders of the Wardwell program. When Dr. Wells is found brutally murdered in the Wardwell laboratory, and Caterina is nowhere to be found she becomes the number one suspect and is hunted by authorities.

Dr. Edwards hires mercenary "Miguel `Mick'Carrera", well known for his success in solving client's `problems' by completing assignments discretely through whatever means necessary. Mick has developed a thick skin, the eldest son of a close Hispanic family who endured tough times; he honed his special skills through years of military training and experience providing private security. Despite the nature of his current work, as a reader I knew early on that Mick possesses an inner sense of integrity and honor. When something doesn't quite ring true for Mick with respect to Edwards' story about Caterina Shaw, a seeming delicate, demure cellist being a cold-blooded murderer, the red flags begin to fall.

Caterina Shaw is terrified, weak, and desperate. She has escaped confinement and her tormentors but her thoughts are muddled, she is experiencing difficulty focusing, remembering. Lost in a forest, naked and alone, one memory does surface, a place where her music brought her peace of mind. With what little reserve she has left she strikes out for this destination.

Through careful investigative work Mick tracks Caterina to the Academy of Music and what he finds completely unnerves him. Another mercenary hired by Edwards has found Caterina first and wounds her. Mick discovers bright droplets of yellow-green phosphoresced liquid along a corridor in his search for her. Further inspection reveals the liquid is blood, and when he does find Caterina, all that is visible is the clothing she is wearing, and her eyes when she opens them. Caterina, you see, is like a chameleon, in times of stress, her skin turns the same color and texture as whatever she is next to.

Mick takes the wounded, obviously abused and malnourished woman to his `safe house' and enlists the help of his physician sister "Liliana" to treat her. Liliana is an orthopedic resident at the local hospital and through connections is able to have Caterina's unusual blood secretly analyzed.

Along with the obvious signs of abuse on her body it is also discovered that Cat has a significant genetic DNA abnormality, and she has been pumped full of medication that induces disassociative behavior, hallucinations etc. At this point the alarm bells are screaming in Mick's mind with respect to the good Dr. Edwards and Wardwell Biotech.

Mick is a strong, handsome man with an air of danger that attracts the kind of woman who enjoys a quick affair and moves on. He has never been involved in a long-term relationship and given his line of work, he compensates by telling himself it's probably a good thing. Mick convinces himself that `Cat' is his `mission', `captive', `target', even to point of subconsciously referring to her as "Shaw".

However, as the days go on and the drugs wear off enabling Caterina's true personality to emerge, Mick cannot deny his developing feelings for her. Caterina Shaw is a beautiful, sensitive, delicate, refined musician who has been used in a medical experiment which has given her unusual "powers", at a huge cost. She also possesses a determination and strength that belie her other qualities.

In the setting of danger and suspense Caterina and Mick's unusual relationship develops into a deep love. The love scenes in this story are special and sensuous but not erotically graphic.

"Sins of the Flesh", is a fast paced page-turner, the narrative packed full of action and suspense with number of surprising plot twists. Ms. Piñeiro also developed strong supporting characters including some pretty nasty antagonists.

The one thing that niggled me is Liliana, Mick's sister. There is a sub-plot written into the story concerning her abusive relationship with staff physician "Harrison Edgar Williams". While it showed Liliana's strength of character in her management of Harrison's abuse, and reinforced Mick's love of his sister I didn't quite understand its necessity. I also felt Liliana being a physician was a little too convenient. However, the story was riveting and I was therefore able to overlook these small issues.

"Sins of the Flesh", is the first of a series Ms. Piñeiro is writing and I will look forward to reading her next book "Stone Cold Sins".

My Rating: 4.5 stars

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars action-packed thriller, October 29, 2009

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Musician Caterina Shaw is dying from brain cancer. She agrees to be a guinea pig in genetic experiments conducted by Dr. Raymond Edwards in a hope this may save her life; she has no other prayer. The experiments work, but also have a side effect. She has super human skills and lost much of her memory. When she is accused o murder, Caterina flees needing to learn the truth and how to control her new abilities.

Raymond hires mercenary Mick Carrera to capture and bring Caterina back to him so he can continue his experiments on her; he prefers her alive, but dead is acceptable. However, when Mick catches up to Caterina he finds he wants to help her; as he rejects the idea she could be a psychopathic killer. Instead he takes her to his sister vowing to keep his Caterina safe; unaware that diabolical Raymond has other less ethical operatives working the extraction.

Sins of the Flesh is an action-packed thriller that never takes a breath once Caterina accepts the radical experimental treatment. The story line is faster than the speed of light, but though Caterina is fully developed, Mick is not so the audience never fully understands his motive to become a mercenary (especially once we meet his family) or to not bring her in even if he likes her. Caridad Pineiro provides another one of her super romantic suspense thrillers as the heat is on.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ., October 27, 2009

By	Mary J. Gramlich "The Reading Reviewer" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Caterina "Cat" Shaw was a fighter to the tips of her toes and nothing was going to knock that out of her. She had overcome a painful childhood to become a concert cellist and was determined to recover from the brain tumor that had left her blind and unable to play. The fight would be a tough one but she trusted the doctors who offered the cure but when the treatment turned into a drug induced, experimental nightmare it was the fighter in her that saved her from doom.

A terrible accident at the lab she was being held at resulted in Cat being accused of murder so she started running. She ran for her life with only a minimum of herself functioning and found herself being chased by the police and the doctors' hired mercenaries. The police want to find out what happened that night and the other doctors want her back to eliminate her as evidence but evidence of what even Cat is not sure. The cure turned into an experiment which resulted by making her a person that can blend into her surroundings literally by her skin color taking on that which situation she finds herself. While this helps her stay alive the doctors' mercenary, Mick Carrera is very, very good at his job and only a few steps behind her. Before long Mick has located Cat but within a heartbeat he decides something is not right with the story he was told about her and before he turns her in he will find out what that something is. Cat is physically damaged and mentally not logical so Mick brings her to his safe house and calls upon his sister, Liliana, a physician herself to help him get to the bottom of all this mystery and help Cat recover, if they can. Mick tries to remain impersonal but there is something about this beautiful woman is calling him deep inside and the only answer seems to be to let himself believe that she is not the killer and could be so much more if he let her. But there are a number of distractions including Mick's nemesis who has nothing but revenge in his plans for Mick and Cat.

Cat soon discovers so much pleasure can be derived from such pain and Mick is providing all the pleasure she can handle. What a wonderful surprise to discover that he may be tough on the outside and all muscle and firm talk but inside he has the soft heart of poet that is warming her up with a fever from love not infection. They share an Hispanic heritage and come to discover that there is so much more to life than just the few pieces of happiness that can be had - what an amazing eye opener for two people so different yet so much alike when it comes to trying to find the other half of their soul.

What a wonderful story and a great book for not only the paranormal genre but also a touch of mystery as well as suspense. You may think you know what is going on and who the bad guys are but turn the page and discover that nothing is as it seems and the people that you were convinced were the evil doers may just not be after all.

Mary Gramlich ("The Reading Reviewer") [...]