Don't Play With Odin: A Grumpy-Sunshine Romantic Suspense

Cynthia Eden

Jul 2021 · Trouble For Hire Book 2 · Hocus Pocus Publishing, Inc.

About this ebook

A grumpy-sunshine romantic suspense with a former military hero...

Big, bad, and currently out of his element...

Odin Shaw thought he’d spend his life on a battlefield. But fate had other plans, and now the former Special Forces operative has just landed a new job at his best friend’s PI office. It’s one hell of a life change, and the giant “Viking” is trying to adjust, fast, but then she walks into his life.

Delicate, beautiful, and hunting a killer…

Maisey Bright has been following the news. She knows that the small PI firm just helped track a killer and get the perp locked away—so Maisey figures that the towering man sitting behind the massive desk will be perfect solution for her current predicament. The cops don’t believe her story, so Maisey has no choice. She wants to hire Odin. The job in question? Well, she needs him to help her find proof—irrefutable evidence—that her next-door neighbor is a serial killer.

The gorgeous ones are always a little bit crazy…

Odin figures the case will be a snap. He’ll prove that Maisey’s neighbor is most definitely not a serial killer. He’ll do it in record time, and he’ll score some extra cash for the PI firm. Maybe he’ll even score some points with the lovely—but obviously way too crime-enthusiast-obsessed—Maisey. Piece of cake.

It’s not a piece of cake. It’s a freaking nightmare.

When Odin steps into Maisey’s world, things seem off from the very beginning. Her neighbor is suspicious as hell, and when Maisey is nearly kidnapped after leaving her job, Odin realizes there is much more to the case than meets the eye. A whole lot more. He stays at Maisey’s place to protect her—and to keep an eye on her neighbor. But the close proximity to the maddening Maisey stirs a fierce desire inside of Odin. Maisey is smart, off-beat, sexy…and when he kisses her, Odin is a goner.

But first, the killer…

Odin and Maisey set off to uncover the truth about her neighbor, and as they dig deeper into the disappearances of three women, Odin begins to suspect that Maisey may be dead right. He also realizes that he is falling for a woman who now seems be the target of a killer. Looks like it might be time for Odin to go to battle once more. Because there is no way—no way—that anyone will hurt Maisey. 

Author’s Note: Calling all true-crime enthusiasts! Maisey is your girl. She spends her nights listening to podcasts and sleuthing, but when she suspects that a killer is living next door, Maisey knows that she needs a professional partner…so Odin Shaw enters the picture. Odin has muscles for days, and he doesn’t even blink when he faces danger. He’s just the PI that she wants. Danger, romance, twists—time for their story to begin. 

Ratings and reviews

4.25⭐ As soon as five foot five Maisey Bright walked into Trouble for Hire and declared in a delightfully awkward way that she wanted to hire the ridiculously tall, godlike, gorgeous, one word answering Odin to investigate her neighbour who she suspects is a serial killer. I knew this story was going to be good, and boy was I right. As Don't Play With Odin hit all the right notes, and was a fun filled, sexy, suspenseful caper to boot. And with new characters introduced and a big surprise at the end this really was an enjoyable and hard to put down story; and I'm excited to read Jinx's story next. Would recommend.

DON’T PLAY WITH ODIN is the second instalment in Cynthia Eden’s contemporary,adult TROUBLE FOR HIRE romantic, suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for, or are connected to Trouble For Hire private investigators. This is former ex-Special Forces solider Odin Shaw, and college history teacher/ crime podcaster Maisey Bright’s story line. DON’T PLAY WITH ODIN can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. Told from several third person perspectives including Odin and Maisey DON’T PLAY WITH ODIN follows the search for a possible killer. Maisey Bright believes her next door neighbor Clay Prescott is a serial killer, and one of the victims may be her friend from college, a young woman missing for over a month. Having amassed a large amount of information and clues including the identity of three missing women all connected to her neighbor Clay, Maisey seeks out private investigators Trouble For Hire, in an effort to locate her missing friend. Enter ex-Special Forces soldier turned PI Odin Shaw. What ensues is the search for a killer and the missing women, and the potential fall-out as Maisey becomes the target of a twisted mind. Odin Shaw knows death and destruction first hand but Maisey Bright is not what he expected when he partnered with his friend Warren Channing. With War on his honeymoon, Odin is reluctant to take Maisey’s case as everything is currently circumstantial evidence from the mind of a wanna-be detective with her own crime podcast but the further Odin is pulled into Maisey’s web, the more he is convinced that there is definitely a ring of truth to Maisey’s story. Maisey Bright is certain her neighbor and psychology professor Clay Prescott is a killer but when all of her information and her laptop go missing, Maisey has no proof, and worries that Odin will drop the case, and never look back. The relationship between Maisey and Odin beings as a contracted assignment but quickly turns into something more. Odin knows to get involved with a client may divert his attention from the job at hand but something about Maisey pulls Odin in the frenetic pace that is her life, a life that quickly spirals out of control. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. We are introduced to Maisey’s neighbor Professor Clay Prescott, bar owner Ramsey, as well as the return of ex-Special Forces soldier and Odin’s friend Jinx, and IT specialist Ali Carter. Ali and Jinx’s story is next in Jinx, You’re It. DON’T PLAY WITH ODIN is a story of secrets, lies, betrayal and obsession. The premise is engaging and intriguing with a twist that comes out of left field- a little bit of a red herring. There are a few humorous moments that warrant a giggle or two. The romance is seductive; the characters are colorful and energetic but saying that Maisey Bright is often a little TSTL, placing herself in the direct line of fire, refusing to remain out of the direct line of fire.

A super fun, sexy and suspenseful romp in Cynthia Eden's second Trouble For Hire novel! Odin is the big, sexy, gruff, don't-always-say-the-right-thing-or-is-even-real-talkative hero that will make a reader drop her panties and pant while Maisey is the kind of heroine any girl would love to have as a best friend. She is smart, sweet, bold and awesome and I thought she really was a terrific fit for Odin. I was so very happy with Don't Play With Odin. The book had a lot of humor, smoking hot chemistry and a plot that keeps you flipping the pages to the very end. There is danger, hot sex, good friends and a mystery that needs to be solved. I LOVED IT and honestly, it had me craving more. The book flowed so perfectly and I really liked that there was a lot of action and sexy times, but moments that made me laugh out loud. This new series is turning out to be a real treat!

About the author

Cynthia Eden is a New York Times, USA Today, Digital Book World, and IndieReader best-seller. Cynthia writes sexy tales of contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and paranormal romance. Since she began writing full-time in 2005, Cynthia has written over one hundred novels and novellas.