Sacrifice of Passion by Misa Ramirez / Melissa Bourbon Ramirez.
Audience/Genre : Adult/Romance, Mystery.
Publication : June 15th 2012 by (Dead Sexy)Entangled Publishing.

A tall, dark, single dad Texas rancher finds himself facing more than his stubbornly silent son when the chupacabra, a supposedly mythical blood-sucking beast, starts killing his livestock—and stalking the town’s newly returned veterinary assistant, the sensual woman who ran from the altar and broke his heart twelve years earlier. Determined to purge his sizzling memories of her from his all-too-vivid imagination, he seeks her help to get to the bottom of the disturbing animal mutilations, only to have her break through to his sullen son…and rekindle the love he’d thought was lost forever.

But her refusal to share a terrible secret sends her running straight into the lair of the chupacabra, plunging her back into her worst nightmare, and forcing them both to confront the wrongs of the past in order to stay alive for the future they desperately want.

Wow. This is one of those times when I don't even know where to begin.
I've known Misa for a while now as the awesome, super nice publicist from Entangled Publishing and ever since I found out that she's a writer as well, I've literally been dying to get my hands on one of her books. Sacrifice of Passion definitely didn't let me down.

The story begins in a ranch where one of Vic's goats is killed and drained of its blood. Understandably, he calls the cops but no one has any clue about what happened and they have nothing to go on except the ramblings of an old woman named Esmeralda, who's known as a witch among the locals, claiming that it was the work of a chupacabra. She also mentions one more thing; Delaney was back in town.

Sacrifice of Passion entirely different from what I expected, in a seriously good way. I thought it'd be a predictable romance with some sort of fight/history stopping the hero and heroine from getting together but this book went way beyond my expectations. Vic and Delaney have a past; they were in love when they were 18 and planned to elope but things didn't work out. That night went really wrong for both of them, each unaware of what really happened to the other. Now it's 10 years later - Vic is a single father and Delaney has intimacy issues.

So many things drew me in about this book! I loved the romance between Vic and Delaney; it's the kind that's flawed, bruised, faced betrayal and shows that there's still hope. The chemistry/passion and history between them was intense and powerful. Delaney and Vic are quite honestly, two of the most real characters I've ever come across, they're both imperfect and yet you can see what makes them special. I couldn't help but admire Delaney's strength through the entire novel, sure she has her weak and scared moments but she shows that you can make your way back from anything.

Misa couldn't have written this in a better way; I felt the emotions right alongside the characters in the book and the mystery/storyline kept my intrigued the entire time. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I like my stories with a touch of darkness, they're the ones that really give you a happy ending and what's better than overcoming a scary beast and emotionally damaged protagonists? I wasn't aware of chupacabra(s) until this book and the legend completely fascinated me while also spooking me out a bit.

Misa's writing is witty and so engaging. Maybe it was just me but I highlighted so many conversations between Vic and Del, the ones at the beginning were especially amusing, she threw in some humor in between a serious story and made it work.

'He still hadn't gotten over the fact that Zach had named the potbelly after his mother. Sheila had to be cringing, even six feet under.'

Oh and in case I didn't say it earlier - Vic is HOT. I love his attitude/cockiness. He oozes sexiness, believe me.

'She narrowed her eyes. "You work here?"
"I own here. With Ray." '

It's probably just me but I loved that line.

I don't know what else to say about Sacrifice of Passion except that it's definitely one of the best adult romance-mystery novels that I've read so far. If you're a fan of romance with a hint of paranormal, you'd enjoy this for sure.

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