BOOK REVIEW: Sex, Lies and Mistletoe By Tawny Weber

Harlequin Blaze   November 15, 2011

224 pages By Tawny Weber

BLURB ON BACK OF BOOK:  

Undercover DEA agent Caleb Black is home for the holidays—possibly to bust his own father. But maybe Caleb's con-man dad isn't the one running drugs through the small town of Black Oak. Maybe it's the green-eyed goddess who runs the New Age shop and has Caleb under her sultry spell.Pandora Easton saved the family store with two words: sex sells. And her delectable aphrodisiacs really work, as she's proven with notorious bad boy Caleb again and again and again.
Little does she guess that, in the end, her most potent potion will be the truth….
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I have read a few of Tawny Weber's Blaze books, they always deliver light. frothy and sexy fun and Sex, Lies and Mistletoe is no different.

Caleb Black is a burnt-out DEA agent who has seen and done plenty. When he hears from his FBI buddy that a new drug has cropped up in his hometown of Black Oaks and the prine suspect is Caleb's estranged father, Tobias, Caleb in none too happy. Caleb decides to take the time off his boss has been nagging him to go on, and while he is at it also check out what is going on in Black Oaks. Nose around without drawing suspension.

 Pandora Easton is back in her hometown of Black Oaks after her life just collapsed in pieces courtesy of her scamming boyfriend who not also stole from her but mired her in his illegal internet scheme. Pandora is licking her wounds after also losing her job in the process. She takes a job in her family's generations old store, Moonspun Dreams. Business is not great so Pandora comes up with an idea, 'sex sells'. She opens the Moonspun Cafe and offers delicate and delectable foodstuffs containing aphrodisiacs. It certainly stirs up the gray-hairs in town and soon her business is a success.

When Caleb walks into Pandora's shop, she is sure he is a walking aphrodisiac as she has an immediate reaction and vice versa. Little does Pandora know she is on Caleb's radar-for the possible drugs activity in town.

Before you know it, Caleb and Pandora are sharing a piece of seven layer foreplay cake and they are off and running. Is the hot sex they shared because of the cake, or is there more going on here?
While I found this story sweet and sexy in its way, it lacked any real emotional depth between the hero and heroine. For a burnt out DEA agent, I didn't get any sense Caleb was tortured or had that many internal conflicts. However that said, Caleb is imminently likeable and charming in his standoffish way.
Subplots abound with a 'dipwad' sheriff who is sniffing around Pandora in a sexual way and who Caleb knew from school as the arrogant quarterback. Also I did like the scenes between Caleb and his father, is Tobias behind the rash of drugs flowing through Black Oaks?
The Christmas backdrop is not really relevant to the story, but adds to the family theme of the book.
All in all, this was a good read, it delivers a solid sexy story.


3.5 out of 5  heat level 4  (Posted at The Season)