Men Out of Uniform by Maya Banks, Karin Tabke and Syliva Day

Men Out of Uniform Anthology


Maya Banks, Karin Tabke and Sylvia Day


Book Blurb:
They may enforce the rules, but when men in uniform are off duty and under the covers, they're experts at breaking them. In this searingly sexy anthology, popular authors Maya Banks, Sylvia Day, and Karin Tabke present men in uniform-unzipped..




Soul Possession by Maya Banks 
M/F/M story


I am a big fan of Maya Banks so I was excited to dive into this anthology. I have to be honest and say, out of the 3 stories, Soul Possession was my least favourite. 


Poor Jessie had a rough night. Fired from her waitress job after being accused of stealing, her bum knee acts up, she is whisked away from the bar by two gorgeous cops for a threesome and the next day is brought into the station under the suspicion of murdering her former boss. Now that's a heavy duty 24 hrs!


The two hot detectives Rick and Truitt have been drooling over Jessie for a long time. They have flirted mercilessly with her and both have fantasied about her. But since they both want her, they are interested in a threesome. As much as I love reading menage, this group seemed a bit off. I think it would have been more plausible if Rick and Truitt were bi-sexual rather than two very alpha type males willingly and openly share Jessie. 
I understand that the story is an anthology so it needs to be quick but I just didn't fall for the quick love and openness of the relationship. Even the intimate scenes seemed way too fast for me. I've read outstanding menage by Maya Banks before so I know how spectacular her scenes can be. 

Wanted by Karin Tabke

M/F
I have a Karin Tabke book on my shelf somewhere and now after reading Men Out of Uniform, and Wanted, I need to go dig it up and read it. Excellent writing.


The first chapter starts off with a F/F/M threesome with Colin but that is only to set the reader up with the type of cocky bugger that Colin is. Couldn't have asked for a better set up. 


Colin is going deep undercover with no police back up to bring in the ex-wife of a notorious gangster to testify against him. Turns out that Sophia is really Colin's one and only early love from high school, Maria. Prior to her being forced to marry a mob boss, Sophia/Maria gave her virginity and a night of passion to Colin and that memory has held her together through all the years of abuse. 


Colin and Sophia's first meeting starts off in an adrenaline rush as the mob is out to get Sophia for testifying. Guns shooting, diving in cold water and barely escaping with their lives, Colin and Sophia don't even realize at first who they to each other. 


I liked them playing dumb and neither admitting who they are from each other's pasts. A lot in the way of appearance have changed over time since high school.  


Colin is all "I'm going to protect you" and Sophia is all "don't bother I'm going to die".  As they are dashing across the country to make it back in time for her to testify, Colin and Sophia become reacquainted and that means some smoking hot sex scenes for the reader. 


The only thing that I didn't like about this story is I really really, yeah really hate in stories where the heroine decides to do something really stupid and not logical. Sophia does that in this book and when she did, the story fell a rating notch for me. So that is why I am only giving a 3.5 instead of a 4. 

Taking the Heat by Sylvia Day
M/F
Taking the Heat would have been so much better as a full story. I liked this couple enough that I wanted a full story. 
I adore when the protagonists have a past together. They are some of my favourite reads. So when Taking the Heat has Layla and Brian having a past relationship dating back to when she was 16 yrs old and he was 22 yrs old, I sat back ready for a good read. It did not disappoint. Taking the Heat was my favourite of the anthology. 


Layla and Brian have been separated for years and their reunion is an explosion. Okay I mean literally. The SUV she is about to climb into with the officers assigned to protect her while she is in the witness protection program explodes. Brian (who is a special secret undercover cop) dove on top of her and sheltered her from the flying debris. They both barely escape with their lives and an across country trek leads them from divey motel to motel. 


I really liked Layla. She has some really great lines and I adore her snark. She has the ability to make the big bad cop Brian squirm and I loved it. 
There are some excellent steamy scenes as Layla and Brian rekindle their love for each other. There are some heart warming forgiveness conversations for making wrong early decisions in their relationship. It made the love more real and the conversations were genuine.  


Of all three stories this one tugged at my heart the most and I connected with the Layla and Brian. I really enjoyed their journey. I was sad when I was seeing that Taking the Heat was coming to an end because I wanted more of the pair. I was a tad disappointed with how quickly the story ended. It just seemed to drop off and end.