Mine To Hold Wicked Lovers book 6 by Shayla Black

A friend’s duty.
Tyler Murphy was an LAPD detective, single and happy—until a near-fatal tragedy crippled his friend, fellow detective Eric Catalano. While Tyler supported Eric, he also became a shoulder for Eric’s wife, Delaney, to lean on. But with one naughty suggestion from Eric, a drunken night with Delaney spilled into erotic abandon. Before it was over, Tyler saw his best friend’s wife as a woman and yearned for more. When Eric struggled to deal with the aftermath, Delaney begged Tyler to leave. Crushed, he fled to Louisiana, hoping to escape his longing for the one woman he could never have again…and unaware of what he’d left behind.

A lover’s desire.
After two years of living with regret, Tyler finds Delaney on his doorstep, her husband having abandoned her long ago. She’s protecting a shocking secret and desperately needs refuge from a stalker determined to see her dead. As they fight to stay alive and catch the killer, they struggle to resolve the guilt of their past pleasures. But they can’t deny that what was once a spark is now a flame burning out of control. To possess Delaney—body and soul—Tyler must heal her pain and thwart the evil that’s a mere breath behind her…

Note: You won’t be lost if this is your first Wicked Lovers book.  

I don’t know how Shayla Black (SB) does it. Maybe she found a crossroads and made a deal with a demon to be one of the best at writing erotic fiction, maybe not. Whatever she did, she is making her way to the top of my list. After reading the excerpt, I couldn’t help myself and I started reading MTH at work. Bad idea; it literally set my office chair on fire. Smoke was coming out of my ears, out of my monitor, everywhere. I was forced to close the book and promise to return to it once I was at home with more free time.

I must be honest and admit that I was completely disgusted by the main male character’s promiscuity. Tyler was the definition of a man-whore. He slept around so much it made my head spin. I was not dissuaded from pursuing the story, but it was firmly implanted in my head that if he wanted Delaney he was going to have to prove his poondog days were over. I had self-elected myself as Delaney’s protector. To be fair, I’ll admit that the ease with which Delaney jumped into this life-threatening article was pretty irresponsible. In my opinion, she didn’t fully think through the idea of being the whistle blower on the corrupt Assistant District Attorney. If Carlson was as dirty as she thought he was than common sense would say he wasn’t going to go down nicely. But that’s just my opinion.

This book is number seven in the Wicked Lovers series. I have read one or two of the books in the series so I was somewhat familiar with the side characters. I have to admit, as is the case when reading any book in a series, you appreciate the characters more when you know their history together. With that being said it was nice to see characters I had previously been introduced to. I was able to catch up with their lives since their stories were told.  If you are an existing SB fan then MTH is not a disappointment and if it’s the first time you have read her it is the perfect introduction. SB gives you a nice dose of reality in her writing. SEMI-SPOILER ALERT!!! When Delaney’s husband first proposed the idea of Tyler sleeping with Delaney and he watching I literally had a WTF moment. I already knew that would not end well and sure enough, it didn’t. In reality, I didn’t see how a married couple could get past something like that when it was more than obvious that there was an attraction between the wife and the best friend. Smh Any-who, moving on…. I was able to side more with Delaney when she made it obvious she wasn’t just going to jump back into a relationship with Tyler. She knew, better than most, what kind of man Tyler was when it came to sex and women.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the sneak peeks into their past, I enjoyed the closure Delaney/Tyler got from Delaney’s ex-husband and I definitely enjoyed the villain getting his comeuppance at the end. Each conflict was settled and if you prefer HEA’s, surprise you get one.