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Available 4.15.24


The Love Thieves

The Love Thieves, April 2012
The Fortunate Buddha #1
by Heather Long

Author Self-Published
Featuring: Anya Swift; Maxwell Sauvage
206 pages
ISBN: 1452451389
EAN: 9781452451381
Kindle: B007UQJSHI
e-Book
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"Max moves heaven & earth as he attempts to keep Anya safe and show her that he's playing for keeps."

Fresh Fiction Review

The Love Thieves
Heather Long

Reviewed by Cheryl Beal
Posted September 14, 2012

Romance Suspense

Anya Swift is a recovery agent for International Art and Antiquities Recovery -- she returns art to its rightful owners; sometimes decades after it went missing. Her job allows her to indulge her adventurous adrenaline junky while still saying on the "right" side of the law. Anya's work with the IAAR is a secret however; and most people just know her as a thief.

Maxwell Sauvage was born into a life of privilege and is extremely bored. He works as a security consultant to the rich and powerful, pitting himself against their security systems to see if he can break them.

Max and Anya have crossed paths several times in the past and every time they do, the sparks fly. For the past couple of months, Max has been setting traps in the security systems he works on, hoping he can catch Anya. Their paths cross on a job Anya is doing on New Year's Eve; but Max's trap has unexpected consequences. Max moves heaven & earth as he attempts to keep Anya safe and show her that he's playing for keeps.

THE LOVE THIEVES is a fun, fast-paced romp through the art scene of Europe with great character development and sizzling hot sex scenes! Heather Long never fails to deliver and THE LOVE THIEVES is no exception. Do not miss this book!! The follow up, The Taming of the Thief is also out now.

Learn more about The Love Thieves

SUMMARY

Set in Morocco, London and Switzerland, The Love Thieves takes Anya and Max on a powerful journey full of passion and chemistry that sparks on the page from their first dance to their last.

Maxwell Sauvage was born into a life of privilege…and boredom. As a “security consultant” to the powerful, he enjoys pitting his wits against the most intricate of security systems for business and pleasure.

Anya Swift is a woman with high-class tastes and a high- octane need for adventure. As an operative for International Art and Antiquities Recovery she stays just on the ‘right’ side of the law, while satisfying her desire for the finer things and her thirst for adventure.

When a high tech camera catches Anya taking The Fortunate Buddha from the French Ambassador’s vault, Max is eager to help the provocative thief for his own reasons, not the least of which being that he set the camera. But after one stunning night of passion, Anya disappears. Now Max must find Anya before the Ambassador’s men and claim the thief for his own, but they are running against a clock, danger and deception.

Excerpt

The rope would hold. Her timing ran perfectly even under the clock for the bag, tag and replace. High above, the Ambassador’s guests celebrated the New Year’s Eve ball. The music of the orchestra penetrated the reinforced shaft walls. Hovering five feet above the pressure sensitive floor of the Ambassador’s private vault, Anya Swift – recovery agent extraordinaire – flipped on the rope, tightening her abdominals, so she hung upwards rather than upside down.

The change in position made the ascent easier and reduced the chance of nausea. Shimmying up the rope, excitement skittered through her belly. The sweet scent of the vanilla lotion she’d applied earlier mingled with the saltier tang of sweat.

Hush.

Never get too excited before a job finished. Her butterflies would have to stay in their cocoons until the Fortunate Buddha could be returned where he belonged. Five minutes before her absence at the party could become an issue. Clearing security, as a disheveled guest may be overlooked, clearing security after a prolonged absence with a valuable stolen object in her possession invited trouble. One did not tempt the hands of Fate, for Fate possessed a mean right hook.

The weight of the idol pressed against her spine. Crafted of gold, the religious icon wore a ruby solitaire in its belly button. The value of theFortunate Buddha lay not in precious stones or metals, but the legend of good luck it brought to temple visitors who prayed while rubbing its ruby-studded belly. True or not, Anya’s job meant retrieving the Buddha from the hands of the thieves who’d removed it from the Taiwanese temple.

I am so taking next week to spend time working on my tan.

The inane thought might seem out of place under more ordinary of circumstances, but the inane kept her sane. The strong, tensile cord coiled into a compartment in her belt as she ascended. If not for the sound sensors, she’d whistle.

I can work on my tan, eat at the cafes on St. Ville Riches and maybe even read Mom’s last manuscript. I told her I would read it last week but it was Moscow and then Tel Aviv and then back to Morocco and, silly me, I left it at home–I am so…

The fuel spurring her inane thoughts sputtered out on an empty tank of shock. Halfway up the shaft, strung between the hatch and a hard place, she stared right into the lens of a slender, flat cam pressed into the wall. Casual surveillance would call it a rivet in the structure, but up close, the lens glowed with a faint red light.

An undocumented camera.

In the vault.

Staring right at her.

Anya considered her options. Slide back down the rope and put the Buddhaback or continue up and leave the party as swiftly as possible. Her watch vibrated a warning. The loop on the security cameras lasted forty-five seconds. Not enough time to descend, replace and ascend again.

The red light stared at her unblinkingly,

I am so screwed.

She could spare just five seconds for the mental debate. The memory of Max’s familiar face drifted across her mind’s eye. She’d seen him at the party earlier, but she came to Morocco for a job, not a flirt. Now she would have to combine both.

Anya continued her ascent, barely clearing the access hatch and closing it with the borrowed code before her watch signaled the loop ended. Every camera below recorded live once more.

Ready or not, Max. Here I come.


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