A Pride Christmas in Brooklyn — Shelly Laurenston

What do you get when you cross a lion who is an ex-navy man with an ex-marine who is also a New York cop? A rip-roaring, fang-gnashing good time.

Mace Llewellyn is out of the navy and hungry. He returns to his old hunting grounds to find the woman who won over his heart a decade ago. She's turned into a sexy siren with a refined edge that makes him want to drag her back to his lair. But the lady of his dreams is playing hard to get.

Dez MacDermot has finally achieved her life goal. As a detective, she has her pick of cases, and her current one could make or break her career. When one of the Brooklyn pride is murdered, all leads point to Missy Llewellyn. Dez is ready to put her childhood antagonist in a cage she can't escape when she gets an eyeful of a grownup, sexier-than-satin-sheets Mace.

Laurenston blends humor and great secondary characters in this this story of a lion so in love with a mortal he will walk her dogs. A hot and tender love scene -- in which a naked and handcuffed Mace destroys Desiree's bed -- and the battle of the lion pride and the wolf pack against the hyenas also add spice.