This book started out so promising but the predictable ending really killed things for me.

Kyra is on the run from a man she spurned, he's a powerful man in Vegas and has the money to send goons after her. One of those goons is Reyes; a tall, dark, and dangerous man that might just be someone that Kyra can't outsmart. It's a good thing for her that he falls for her, hard.

Kyra has a really neat ability; when she touches someone she steals their best ability and leaves them temporarily handicappe More...

Kyra Beckwith has screwed over a dangerous man and she did it on purpose as payback. The man in question is casino owner and small time mobster Gerard Serrano who had Kyra’s father killed. She made him fall in love with her. He even wrote her poetry and was going to ask her to marry him. But Kyra got the last laugh and was able to steal a good chunk of his money right under his nose. Now Serrano is out for her blood and hires Reyes, a hit man, to retrieve his money and get rid of Kyra permanentl More...

Sexy.

This is the sexiest book I have read this year. From the first line, "Kyra held the guy's balls in the palm of her hand. Literally." I was hooked. Ava Gray, aka Ann Aguirre, has written a book that blends romance and action into the sexiest thing out there.

Kyra is a con artist that can steal people's best abilities. Take the first quote from above for example. She is at a bar playing pool and not doing well, and that is not a lie, she truly sucks at pool. However, she walks by the man who i More...

Great characters and super plot made Skin Game a pleasure to read. The setting ranged from Las Vegas, Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota and a few other stops (Louisiana). Initially, I felt the author was geographically challenged. It was odd, but I re-read it and from Las Vegas to Louisiana, then to Texas and New Mexico. That would have worked had they come from Atlantic City, so who knows what happened. Other than that, nice writing, fast moving plot--until the end that was bogged down with munda More...

Ever watch a movie and wonder, 'What if the villain ran off with the femme fatale?' Then you might like this book. I sure did. I love dark romance. Sometimes I ask myself why I enjoy seeing the dark side of this genre, not depravity and kinky deeds, cheating heroes, and bickering, but heroes and heroines who are more like antiheroes and villains, who find love and their happy ever after. I think it's my unassailable belief that love does conquer all. Like Fox Murder, I really want to believe.

Av More...

Ok.
I found this book hard to rate, because there was a lot I really loved about it, but somehow now that I've finished it I still feel hungry for something more.

Ann Agguirre (I'm firmly against authors using pen names when they aren't disguising the fact that they are the same person. And definitely in situations like this, where I can't really see a reason for the need of another name - but I'm derailing), Ann Agguirre writes great characters.

Just like in the Sirantha Jax series, which is a fav More...

Oh hells yeah. A fantastic, FUN read....

This book had a perfect balance of just about everything...sweet romance, mystery, action, suspense, and of course good ole' hawt lovin! There are about 4 different perspective threads that are followed...the hero and heroine (assassin Reyes, and his intended target Kyra), mysterious dude Foster, and Foster's ruthless employer (and guy-who-wants-Kyra-dead) Gerard Seranno.

Sometimes with books that have multiple plot threads featured by multiple "voices" the More...

Insanely delicious. That is what comes to mind when I think of Skin Game. I couldn't put the book down and when I had to (because life gets in the way sometimes), all I could think about was what was going to happen next with Kyra and Reyes. When I was about 100 pages away from the end, all I thought about the whole entire day was this book! I had left off at a bit of a cliffhanger and when I was finally able to pick up where I left off and finish, I felt complete.

Kyra is a sexy, self sufficient More...

Original premise and a nice amount of steam, makes for a captivating read in Gray's first foray into paranormal romance

Though Kyra's keeping the scams small now, it's the flashy con Kyra pulled against the Vegas casino owner Gerard Serrano, her ex-'fiancé', as revenge for killing her dad which may get Kyra killed. Having suffered a loss of face, Serrano takes out a hit against the women who stole his money and his heart. It doesn't take assassin Reyes long to find Kyra, but since the Serrano wa More...

Wow! This one has it all: Contemporary, paranormal, suspense, and romance. All thrown in together, agitated and laid bare for your enjoyment.

Contemporary: Kyra is a top-notch con artist who travels the back road bars plying her skills.
Paranormal: Kyra's special gift is the power to steal the most prominent ability of any person she touches. (It reminds me of Rogue from the X-Men.) Unfortunately, the acquired ability only lasts for a short time and Kyra never knows how long that will be.
Suspense: More...

This book started so slow it was almost a DNF for me, but since I'm a pretty stubborn reader, I stuck with it. Boy am I glad I did, because it turned out pretty great.

I love me some darkness in my books, especially when it comes to the hero. And an assassin as a hero is as dark as it could get. I love the fact Ms. Gray made him a noble assassin, killing only those that deserved it, but he was still an assassin and as far away from the noble hero as possible. And I absolutely loved him for it. Al More...

4,75 stars

I won this ARC on Ann Aguirre’s (Ava Gray’s alter ego) blog and I think it’s safe to say that it’s the best win of this year, even if we still have 2 months left to go. I can’t imagine another book having the impact on me this one had. Despite having the books by Ava Gray’s alter ego on my shelf this was the first taste of her writing for me and it definitely tastes like more. If I were asked to describe SKIN GAME in one word, it would be: compelling. It’s the first word that came to m More...

I enjoyed this first book in the Skin series. Kyra has a unique talent, if she touches someone she steals their particular skill for a short time, which makes for some exceptional cons. When she makes a fool of Serrano, a very rich owner of a casino, amongst other things, in vegas, she becomes his number one enemy. His unsavoury life puts him in connection with the best contract killers in the business, the best being Reyes. When Reyes catches up with Kyra his plan is to get her to trust him so More...

I read the summary and immediately thought that I wanna read it, but when I started the book I thought the story would be different. I thought we would read exactly about Kyras coup against Serrano, but we started directly with Reyes getting close to her. To be honest I was skeptical , because I wasn't sure how you could fill so many pages with him getting close to her. Well, it was a bit too slow for me how the story progressed, but it didn't bore me as it usually does when a book appeared to s More...

To have a romance between a con artist and a hitman is a daring choice, but from all the buzz I've been seeing about this book, I'm not the only one this really works for. Kyra and Reyes are delightfully human and wonderfully strong characters, and both of them try to make sure they use their skills according to their morals, only hitting targets who deserve to be taken. Even better, it's a lot of fun to watch them work both with and against each other, since they're pretty evenly matched and ha More...

I found the link to Ann Aguirre's romances under her pseudonym of Ava Gray on Aguirre's website, and thought I'd just take a little look to see what they were like. After reading the somewhat more genre-typical free short story on the Ava Gray site (which I found nonetheless enjoyable--most especially due to the refreshing lack of the ubiquitous simpering virgin), and reading the blurb on this book, I came away with the impression that they would be more along the lines of the standard kind of f More...

wow what a fantastic read!!!...i loved the previews and synopsis..dunno y it took me so long to start this. Now i dun give 5 stars lightly and even lesser books make it to my best books ever shelf but kudos to Ms. Gray for delivering such a refreshingly dark and different book with the same assasin hero plotline so many othr books have. The difference hre was the plot with the hint of super natural...the mysterious intriguing and oh so intresting secondary chracters and the Heroine. Fantastic he More...

Ann Aguirre is one of my favorite urban fantasy/science fiction authors so I was pleasantly surprised to learn she also writes paranormal romance under the pseudonym Ava Gray. Skin Game is the first book of the Skin series and thankfully there are others already published so I do not need to wait around. I'm already waiting on 2 Aguirre series and when I break down and read Enclave, it will be three series by one author, so I am understandably happy about not having to wait around for the next t More...

Hooked me right from the first sentence! Not only is this book hot and steamy, but it's non-stop action. Okay, so the summary definitely doesn't do this book justice...if I hadn't read a first chapter preview from another book, I would have thought it was just another one of those all sex and sucky storyline erotica. Well it's definitely got a great storyline, though it does have a predictable ending.

Kyra has a special ability, which enables her to siphon anyone's best talent/skills with a touc More...

I picked up this book because of the cover. I was looking for some scorching sex scenes with just enough plot that I didn't feel like I was reading a Porno... BUT that was not what I got. Not at all. Don't get me wrong there are some very hot sex scenes in this book, but the best part is the story and the characters. It was like a paranormal romance for those who are done with Vampires, Werewolves, Fae, and Happily Ever After. I really liked the concept of the main character (Kyra) being able to More...

Wonderful character and relationship development. There was only one paranormal talent in the story, but it was good.

STORY BRIEF:
Kyra has a talent. When she touches someone, she gains their strongest ability, and they lose it (temporarily). She keeps their ability for one or more hours, but she can‘t predict how long she will have it. Examples of the talents she gains are pool player, dart thrower, martial arts fighter, and piano player. If she touches two or more people within the same evening, More...

When a book starts off with the heroine holding a guy’s crown jewels literally in her hands — and not the way that you are all probably thinking – I knew I would be in for a real memorable treat of a read. And throughout my marathon reading session, I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

Kyra Beckwith is a con woman and is on the run after publicly fleecing and conning a dangerous mobster, Gerard Serrano, in Las Vegas. Kyra acted in revenge for her father’s murder, which Serrano was responsible, and fo More...

ok, i LOVED this book. i want this book to reproduce itself and create 1,398 other books just like it. seriously. that said, i recognize that this book is NOT one size fit all.

the hero and heroine are not "good" people. they each have a code of honour, absolutely, but they do bad things without a hint of guilt. so if you are uncomfortable with your heroine being someone who would kill in revenge (which she does) then do not purchase this book.

but, if like me, you enjoy imagining living life on More...

I'm not sure who recommended this book to me, and that is too bad because I need to get more of their recs!

I'm a sucker for hot assassin, so when I picked up this book I had all kind of expectations. I was hoping it would turn out well, because there is nothing worse than dashed hopes, right? Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. The characters in Skin Game are all well drawn, fleshed out, and interesting. No two dimensional place holders in this book, everyone has a purpose and is given a p More...

I found it easy to set aside this book. Overall, it was an okay read; it just wasn't for me. I prefer the books by the author's alter ego, Ann Aguirre.

I think Gray did acheive what she set out to do in this book: she created criminal characters who most readers will want to read about and root for. Very Bonnie and Clyde-ish. I just don't like wanting good things for bad people. Kyra, the heroine, is a con artist who is able to steal a person's best talent. She uses this ability to work cons - wi More...

Erster Satz: Kyra hatte den Kerl bei den Eiern.

Aus einem bestimmten Punkt komme ich gleich zum Punkt: Gefährliche Berührung ist ein gutes Buch das sicher sehr viele Leser mitreißen wird. Der Schreibstil ist flüssig, das Buch lässt sich schnell lesen und zum Ende hin wird es immer spannender.

Mich konnte es leider nicht mitreißen oder begeistern. Im Gegenteil, ich war froh als ich endlich durch war, was keinesfalls daran liegt das der erste Skin Game Band schlecht wäre. Er war nur einfach nichts More...

My first book of 2012 and I wasn't disappointed.

Kyra is a con artist, and she loves what she does. She has been groomed for it by her father ever since she was a little girl. One of her greatest assets is her ability to absorb another person's abilities for a short time by mere touch. Her biggest coup was making the powerful and rich casino owner, Gerald Serrano fall in love with her before she relieved him of three million dollars and humiliated him professionally and emotionally. Now he's mad More...

4.5-5 stars. I really liked this book - it was dark, edgy, and hot. I'm actually surprised by the relatively low GR rating (less than 4?!) - I guess a romance about two criminal types (one a professional con-artist and the other an assassin for hire) just doesn't appeal to everybody... but hey, I figure even bad guys deserve a HEA.
While Kyra and Reyes aren't your typical hero/heroine types, they weren't inherently evil - merely a product of their respective upbringings and what life had thrown a More...

I decided to buy Skin Game when I started hearing buzz about the upcoming release of Skin Tight. I was not disappointed. Kyra has a gift. She can steal people's abilities with her touch. Even though Kyra has a supernatural ability, I wouldn't classify this book as a Paranormal Romance. In Skin Game, Kyra is the only character with an ability. So does that really make it PNR? I don't know. I'm no expert but I felt that this book was more of a romantic suspense with a hint of paranormal.

Skin Game More...