Copyright © 2008, Mila Ramos
Published by Whiskey Creek Press LLC

Reviews For TORRID TEASER Volume 44 by Mila Ramos

Mila Ramos writes a heart-gripping tale in Smoldering Ember. Cassie is rightfully hurt and torn. She doesn't know if she can forgive the unforgivable. Ethan is torn as well. He's in a difficult situation and is unsure how to get out of it. The emotional depth of the characters will keep you coming back for more.

Mila Ramos once again brings vibrant characters to life in Touch of Fire. Kat's a fiery woman. She has learned to be strong, but still has her softness. I found myself really admiring Kat a lot. I would want her as my friend and fear her as my enemy! Ben is an FBI agent you will want to be trapped in a room with. Oh please, I want to be in protective custody! Yum.

These stories are part of the Torrid Teasers and are truly HOT! You will definitely need new panties if you pick up this book!

TwoLips Reviews

In her Torrid Teaser duo Mila Ramos uses a deft pen to tell two outstanding tales about love lost and rediscovered after personal trials.
In Smoldering Ember, Ms. Ramos allows us to feels Cassandra's pain over Ethan's alleged infidelity, and the heartbreak of their subsequent split. This is a very emotional story, however the author does a very good job of balancing the light to remind us this is after all a romance novel.

In the final story in the duo, Touch of Fire, Katherine O'Brien is a part of the Witness Protection Program when she finds herself once more targeted by her ex-boyfriend Jared. As we see, Kat has trust issues being a victim of domestic abuse. Ms. Ramos is very adept at handling such a sensitive subject, without being overly dramatic or heavy-handed.

Torrid Teaser 44 is an entertaining novel, both stories able to provide the reader with hours of enjoyment.

~Simply Romance Reviews

Sample Chapter For TORRID TEASER Volume 44 by Mila Ramos

Smoldering Ember
Cassandra Vance stared at the invitation several times and checked inside the envelope. After reading the invitation one more time, she checked the four-by-nine envelope again. If she looked very carefully, she knew she could find traces of the crack that the envelope was laced with. It had to have been laced with something, or at least the sender was on some new experimental drug. She looked at the arrangement of lilies and orchids that came with the card. All of it came from the one person she never thought to hear from: her ex-husband, Ethan.

She just received an invitation to her ex-husband’s inaugural building ceremony. Ethan sending an invitation wasn’t the strange part, it was the fact he signed the bottom of the card asking her to please show up because he needed her there. Ethan needed her? Why would he need her at his building opening? Why her; wasn’t he seeing a new bimbo this month?

Cassandra stared at the penmanship as the first flutter in her heart escaped. They had been divorced for almost five years, and the time without him was miserable. As many times as she told herself she wanted him back, she knew she had to stand her ground. They were married when they were twenty-two years old and were college graduates. Ethan wanted to continue his degree in architecture and she wanted to start medical school. For those years, three wonderful years in their marriage, they were inseparable. He spent late nights helping her study for exams, or she would help him with his design portfolio. It seemed perfect, until they were driven apart by one person: Stacey Williams.

Stacey Williams was Ethan’s new boss when he decided to work during the day full-time and go to school at night. There were signs; she should have known when things were slipping away. Instead of confronting the issue or questioning Ethan, she submerged herself in schoolwork. Ethan no longer came home with his portfolio, no longer asked for help with his day-to-day tasks. Each letdown brought heated arguments, long walks, and more distance. Ethan then began taking overnight trips followed by weekend trips, and then eventually weekly trips. Toward the middle of their fourth year of marriage, she didn’t recognize her husband anymore. His mood changed, as did his temperament on everything, including the things he used to love about her.

With the constant criticism, and his irritation with her schooling and work, Ethan Vance was no longer the man she knew. Though she managed to dismiss his behavior as the stress of his occupation, she would never forget the day her heart broke. Ethan had informed her that he would be out of town for an architectural conference. She missed him in his absence, but had to work a forty-eight-hour shift at the hospital. Unexpected news shortened the very long day. Let out earlier than expected, she came home to romantic music and the smells of dinner cooking in the kitchen. With the naïve hopes of a wife thinking her husband returned to his old self, she walked into the kitchen ready to shower Ethan with kisses. The image greeting her was a woman’s worst nightmare. Standing in the kitchen was Ethan, her husband of three years, boyfriend of four years, having sex with another woman.

Ethan was engrossed in the act. She stared at the couple, for they were oblivious of her presence. Ethan’s strong arms were holding, touching, and caressing this stranger with a more tender touch than he held her. The soft, full lips she loved were nibbling and kissing a stranger with more compassion than he had given her in the past year. Tears streamed down her face as she watched him thrust his cock into the other woman. The only man she had ever loved ripped her heart from her chest and smashed it.

Stepping back, she retreated in silence and walked upstairs to their bedroom to pack her things. She didn’t know what possessed her to pack, and not yell and scream at Ethan. The only thing she knew was that she no longer would be Ethan Vance’s wife. She took what clothes and small belongings she had and left Ethan a short note which stated everything she needed to say.

I’ll send the divorce papers in the morning. Goodbye, Ethan.
Afterward, she tried the dating scene, but after Ethan’s betrayal, she couldn’t bear the thought of it happening again. Besides, some things were much more important than social get-togethers.

Almost five years later, she was staring at an invitation from the only man she would ever love. The invitation said she could bring two people with her, and she knew precisely who to ask.

Thud.

“Aw sh— That’s gonna leave a mark.”

Jumping on one foot, Kat saw the culprit. The deep mahogany oak table, known to take its aggressions out on her, had managed to sneak from its current location and move to a new one. This elusive plot was executed through a long, drawn-out process, and resulted in another stubbed toe. That wasn’t the surprising part. Not only did this table do the stealth operation with fast and efficient ease, but managed to get Murphy’s Law to call her at that exact moment, especially when the phone was located fifty feet away in the receptionist area and didn’t have an answering machine attached to it.

“Kat, are you going to get the phone?” her business and dancing partner, Adrian Jackson, yelled from the back of the studio.

She rolled her eyes and hobbled closer to the phone. “No, I’m going to wait for you to do it, Adrian!”

As she made her way to the receptionist area, the pain doubled. “Thank you for calling Dancing Spirits; how may I help you?” The voice of her long-time friend and confidant distracted her from the swelling toe. “Hi, Cassandra, what’s up?”

“Kat, sweetie, are you busy?”

“Yeah, Cass. Remember, I have that benefit performance?”

“That’s why I’m asking; Noah wanted to bring you food before the performance.”

“That’s so sweet. Tell that angel of course he can.” Her godson, Noah, was too precious for words. “I’ll be here for a few more hours before heading out.”

“Okay, we’ll be down soon.”

“Bye, Cass.”

Kat placed the phone on its receiver and hopped up on the counter to better examine the site of pain. Focused on her task, she didn’t notice Adrian entering.

“My goodness, woman, I’m amazed you have feet.” Adrian chuckled as he filed the papers in his hand. “We should get beepers on your toes—ear-piercing shrills any time you come close to a corner. Then again, knowing you, you’d actually hit those walls with the intent of destroying those shoes.”

Kat stuck out her tongue and continued checking her foot. “At least I don’t walk into walls.” Wiggling her toes, she flexed and pointed her foot in various degrees.

“Okay, I was drunk those times and you know that, Katherine!”

Well over six feet, with russet-colored hair and soft chocolate eyes, Adrian’s good looks, combined with a sarcastic and quirky sense of humor, made rough times bearable and years of friendship special. In this case, though, his complaining made her laugh.

“Tell me again how you met Evelyn.”

Adrian rolled his eyes. “Dammit, you always bring that up.”

Kat grinned from ear to ear, waiting for the story. “C’mon, Adrian, tell me.”

Adrian shook his head and moved to the back office. Kat followed with a slight limp that gradually improved with each step. “No, Kat. I’m not telling for the umpteenth time how I met Evie.”

“C’mon, Adrian, please!” she begged.

“You already know! She’s your twin sister for goodness sake!”

“Please!” she continued, hands clasped with a huge smile on her face.

“I don’t know what the hell fascinates you about that damn story so much,” Adrian muttered under his breath.

Kat leaned in closer, her fingers bringing her ear forward. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear. You were muttering.”

Adrian glared at her and let out a deep breath. “I said that I was trying to pull a prank on you and confused you and Evelyn. I walked up to Evie instead and asked what it felt like to have a god in her presence, and then she punched me and I hit the wall.”

Laughter broke out even before Adrian finished his sentence. Kat leaned forward, holding her sides. Adrian playfully swatted at her. “Shut up, Kat. When it’s your turn, I’ll make sure your humiliation is broadcast on national TV.”

“You say that with such tender conviction, Adrian.” Wiping the tears from her eyes as the door chimed indicating a visitor, Kat scanned the two gentlemen waiting in the receptionist area. Both men, dressed in dark business suits, casually perused the area and admiringly observed the photos on the walls.

“Hello, gentlemen, welcome to Dancing Spirit Studios. How many I help you?”

The man who had stared at the photos approached and flashed three letters of his identification, and with them years of peace vanished.

“I’m Agent Donald Wyatt of the F.B.I. We are looking for a Katherine O’Brien.”

Kat nervously tucked the strands of her curls behind her ears. “I’m Katherine O’Brien. May I ask what this is about?”

The second agent, who idly drummed his fingers on the countertop, stepped forward and lowered his sunglasses. “Agent Clive Bloch, Miss O’Brien. Are you the same Katherine O’Brien who testified against Jared Malloy, drug mule for the Roman family?”

Kat locked her jaw. Her stomach rolled and turned. The soft pastel colors welcoming visitors to the comforts and professionalism of Dancing Spirit disappeared. The two federal agents, who moments before stepped through unheard by her, stripped the joy she had made out of her life with three letters. Those important yet powerful letters sent her spiraling back to the bleak and cold day she decided to regain control of her life.

It marked the beginning of legal action, court appearances, and convictions spanning state lines that directly connected an influential drug family on the upper eastern coast. When Jared was placed on death row, she thought she could live again. She thought she had left that life of danger, that time, behind her. Adjustment didn’t come without its problems, manifested in the form of nightmares and various fears. She hadn’t been able to forget, but it was Jared’s promised retribution which she had somehow forgotten over time.

“Yes, I am the same Katherine O’Brien. May I ask what this is about?”

Agent Bloch stepped forward. “Ms. O’Brien, I regret to inform you that Jared Malloy has escaped prison.”

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