Every city needs a hero, but Detroit’s white knight just might be a villain.
A rough childhood branded Jasper Storm trouble. A bad boy. Not worth a damn. His love of cars was the only thing that could battle his delinquency. With the need for speed in his blood, he overcame his wayward ways. Mostly. All grown up, the broken city of Detroit hails him their shining star. And the man behind a new cutting-edge automobile is ready to turn this bankrupt town around.
Everything he does in life is fast. He talks fast, f*cks fast, and drives fast. But when one reckless turn brings him face-to-face with the childhood he has tried very hard to forget, he finds himself on the edge of wondering if he shouldn’t slow down.
Charlotte Lane was the tomboy who lived next door. She was his best friend. He was her protector. Then tragedy struck and she disappeared, forever—or so he thought.
Jasper has many reasons to hate Charlotte and keep his distance, but she’s infiltrating his every thought and he can’t stay away. Back in town with an agenda of her own, she should push him aside. Make him turn around. Walk away herself. Yet she can't.
With the past lurking between them, they proceed with caution. That is until one sex-filled night leads to murder. When Detroit’s biggest ally suddenly becomes suspect number one, will Charlotte—the girl Jasper once kept safe—be the one to save him?
Set the Pace
Excerpt
© 2016 by Kim Karr
Charlotte Lane
Buzz. Buzz.
Startled, I jump and quickly place the frame back in its place.
Buzz. Buzz.
It’s the call button from the lobby. I’m not sure what to do. I should probably ask Jasper if he is expecting anyone before I let whomever it is up.
The hallway he disappeared down is fairly long and at the end are two doors. Both are slightly ajar. I can hear the shower running and music playing. I try to place the song. Just as I go to knock, I pause, and then grin, it’s Led Zeppelin—the same music that used to blare from his garage when he was out there with his father.
Somehow in my absentminded quandary, my fingertips have nudged the door open just enough that I can see inside the bathroom. Perfectly. In my direct line of sight is a huge glass wall and he is just beyond it.
My pulse is beating so hard I can feel it pounding at all my pulse points. I should leave. I don’t need to bother Jasper. Whoever it is buzzing to come up can just come back later. Yet, I can’t move. Or maybe it’s more like I don’t want to move.
Steam hovers in the air but there’s not nearly enough to obscure anything. And there he is, naked in the water, head bent as it sluices over him. His eyes are closed. One hand is on the wall. The other slides slowly down his belly and lands between his thighs.
Oh, God.
Now I really can’t move. I’m frozen in place. His hand is on his cock. I swallow the noise my throat tries to make, but I’m sure I don’t do a good job of it. Thank you, Jesus, he doesn’t seem to notice. No, he definitely doesn’t notice because oh, my God, now he’s stroking himself. Slowly. Deliciously. Up, then down, and a twist of his palm around the head of his cock.
I shouldn’t be watching this, and yet I can’t look away. This is private. For him only, and yet I have to wonder if it’s because of me. Is it his attraction to me that made him step back just moments ago? Made him have to relieve the desire he was feeling? Then why did he say he wouldn’t kiss me again?
When he moves his wrist faster, I have to stifle my sudden harsh breath with my hand. My eyes are glued to his body and although I should leave, I can’t. I just can’t. Jasper, doing this to himself, is the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen in my life. The only thing stopping me from reaching between my own legs is my perverted fascination with wanting to watch him come. Oh, and of course the terror of getting caught.
His mouth opens, water filling it and overflowing when he tips his face into the spray. I want so much to be in there with him, share the water, and feel that mouth on my body, but I’m not sure that’s ever going to happen. We seem to be dancing around the attraction we feel for each other. Like both of us are afraid to take that leap from a two-decade-old friendship to intimacy. Afraid perhaps of where it might lead, or maybe where it won’t.
I can’t be sure.
Then again, it could be that the ghosts that accompany us are just too strong to bear.
Soon he’s fucking into his fist with a deliberation that makes me weak at the knees, and I watch. I watch the way his muscles cord in his arms, the way his cock moves within the confines of his fist, the way his face contorts into pure pleasure.
Looking at Jasper, watching him about to come, it opens up something within me. The feeling is hard to describe and I can only think of one word that is fitting—primal.
His cock disappears inside his curled fingers and this stroke seems somehow more determined. Up, down, a twist around his crown, and then another twist. This time his head dips down, and then lowers still.
I press my thighs together to ward off the ache of arousal that is flooding me. I can’t hear him, but I wish I could. I know what he’s feeling, though, because I can see his mouth open and his face contort with satisfaction. He’s close. I can tell. And then soon enough, his taut belly strains, the muscles in his legs bunch, and then it happens—his desire jets out.
Never in my life have I wanted to make myself come like I do right in this moment. No, that’s not true. Never in my life have I wished for a man to take me the way I wish for Jasper to take me right now. Still, this is all kinds of wrong. I shouldn’t have watched him. I know this. Chiding myself, I lick salt from my upper lip and slowly, cautiously take a step back.
“Is there a show going on that I wasn’t invited to?”
That voice. I know that voice. The cynicism behind the tone.
Oh, God.
No. No. No.
Jasper, partnering with his friends, want to start their own automobile company to rival that of Ford or GM, and they have the talent and ingenuity to do it. However, thing start to happen that could throw a kink into their plans, and all evidence is starting to lead towards Jasper.
Charlotte has come back to Detroit for a job with a blog, one that is now covering the journey of Jasper and his friends as they build their own car company. She knew Jasper when they were kids, but after the plant that her father co-owned blew up causing multiple deaths, she disappeared and abandoned her best friend. Now he doesn’t trust her, but he can’t deny the sparks between them and everything is set to combust. Getting over their past, they are able to be together, but what if something in their past is trying to rip them apart?
This book pulls you in and you find yourself hard pressed to put it down. I give it 4.5 stars and recommend it to everyone. If you like romance, intrigue, mystery, etc., this is the book for you! Get to one clicking!
A huge fan of Kim Karr's Connection Series and The Tainted Love Duet, I was super excited that she had a new series coming out, The Detroit Love Duet, with the first book Set the Pace! I was eager to read what I knew would be an intriguing story, with twists and turns that you never expect, because that is just the amazing author that Kim Karr is! This book was no exception to the rule, it had me wondering as I turned each page, trying to solve a mystery even though I knew, anything I could have thought would be oh so incredibly wrong. This book was a 4 star read for me with one hell of a cliff hanger and I cannot wait for the next book Turn It Up so that I can find out what happens!
Jasper Storm is so close to achieving his life long dream of the production of his very on automobile, one that he has been designing since he was a teenager in his head and with the help of his best friends it is now within his reach. In his hometown of Detroit, he knows that building his assembly factory anywhere else wouldn't do the Storm or him justice for the past. What should be a night of celebration for the accomplishments turns out to be dirtier than anyone anticipated leading the characters into a whirlwind of "what-ifs" and "how's" that they are desperate to figure out before it is too late.
Charlotte has been away from Detroit since she was a young girl, her family name being associated with so much pain from the past. When the blog that she works for begins working on a story surrounding the Storm, the last place she wants to be is within feet of her childhood protector Jasper Storm. Once Jasper recognizes Charlotte as the girl who he protected and cared for when he was young, his best friend, all bets seem to be off. But the closer they become the more unexplained dirt is dumped in their laps.
Can Charlotte and Jasper actually put the past behind them? Can the city of Detroit do the same? Will the series of events that cause a halt to Jasper's dream be revealed for what they seem to be..sabotage? You will need to read this intriguing and mysterious story to find out. I promise if you one-click this one you won't be disappointed!
Set the Pace is a wild ride that has so many unknowns and twist and turns it will leave your mind spinning in circles. Kim Karr is brilliant and I should have guessed this book would mess with me just as much as her other books. I would give this book a 4.5 stars and definitely recommend to others, but be warned this book has quite the cliffy but it will leave you wanting and panting for more! Jasper and Charlotte are quite the pair in this book and there relationship is frustratingly fabulous.
Charlotte has one purpose when she returns to her home town, find out the secrets of the past. She knows this will come with a price because it will include her long lost friend Jasper. When she takes an assignment to be apart of Jasper's life she finds herself in quite a predicament when all hell breaks loose around her when Jasper finds out she is in town....
Jasper has worked hard to make a life for himself, he doesn't need any distractions. When he finds a stranded woman on the side of the road trying to fix her car his world will get turn upside down when he realizes who this woman is.. Charlotte... he never thought he would see her again and it sends him in a tailspin of emotions...
Will these 2 ever become friends again, or will it be so much more?
Just when Jasper's career starts to take a turn for the win, his life will come crashing down when a tragedy happens and this time he want to save Charlotte from getting involved with the fall... but can he? Or will she be in too deep already?
Go get this book now! This will be my highly anticipated sequel of the year no doubt... I can't wait to get my hands on Turn It Up the conclusion of this adrenaline-filled whirlwind explosion. Thanks for a great ride!
Strap in for the ride of your life!
From the very first page to the end, I could not put this book down. I tried to pace myself and do some adulting in between but I kept coming back. As a warning, this book is a cliff, and a mother of one at that. Gah! Seriously, I need book two like yesterday!
Jasper Storm is trying to succeed in his life, in a town that is more destitute than prospering but he is trying to change that. To breathe life back into it. He doesn't deem himself a white knight, he is just trying to make things better in the city that he loves. As her nears his finish line a series of events lead to major hiccups.... one such hiccup is Charlotte Lane.
Charlotte Lane was run out of this town because of supposed actions her father participated in. She is determined to prove them all false. At first Jasper pushes her away. You see, once upon a time they were best friends and next door neighbors and he felt abandoned by her sudden upheaval.
But these circumstances were not of her doing and she is trying to right the wrongs of the past. Jasper wants to help but they are met with serious, life altering, road blocks.
Someone does not want them to succeed.
What happens? Buckle up and go find out!
From the very first page to the end, I could not put this book down. I tried to pace myself and do some adulting in between but I kept coming back. As a warning, this book is a cliff, and a mother of one at that. Gah! Seriously, I need book two like yesterday!
Jasper Storm is trying to succeed in his life, in a town that is more destitute than prospering but he is trying to change that. To breathe life back into it. He doesn't deem himself a white knight, he is just trying to make things better in the city that he loves. As her nears his finish line a series of events lead to major hiccups.... one such hiccup is Charlotte Lane.
Charlotte Lane was run out of this town because of supposed actions her father participated in. She is determined to prove them all false. At first Jasper pushes her away. You see, once upon a time they were best friends and next door neighbors and he felt abandoned by her sudden upheaval.
But these circumstances were not of her doing and she is trying to right the wrongs of the past. Jasper wants to help but they are met with serious, life altering, road blocks.
Someone does not want them to succeed.
What happens? Buckle up and go find out!
Reader * Writer * Coffeelover * Romantic
Kim Karr is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She is a daydreamer. So much so that if daydreaming could be a hobby it would be her favorite. It’s how her stories are born and how they take root. An imagination that runs wild is something to be thankful for, and she is very thankful.
She grew up in New York and now lives in Florida with her husband and four kids. She’s always had a love for reading books and writing. Being an English major in college, she wanted to teach at the college level but that was not to be. She went on to receive an MBA and became a project manager until quitting to raise her family. Kim currently works part-time with her husband and with the rest of her time embraces one of her biggest passions–writing.
Kim wears a lot of hats! Writer, book-lover, wife, soccer-mom, taxi driver, and the all around go-to person of her family. However, she always finds time to read.
She likes to believe in soulmates, kindred spirits, true friends, and Happily-Ever-Afters. She loves to drink champagne, listen to music, and hopes to always stay young at heart.
