Read for BioB's Spring Clean week.

*This is book three of the Love series, and the characters of Zander and Jake are seen as secondary characters in the other two books. This book, while written afterwards is set in a time before the other two. You really do not need to read the others to read this one.


This is the third book I have read by the author, so I think I get a feel for his writing style. His focus is on fairly well adjusted and happy individuals who are very good at communicating and expressing themselves both inside their heads and to each other.

He likes a happy ending and the focus is always on the relationship, which both things I really like in a story. In this book, his voice reminds me of a Julie Garwood suspense book. A lighter look at criminals, the law, and the FBI. But there were a few things that distracted me from enjoying the suspense part of this book:

1. I am pretty sure the FBI does not work this way. If it was really this corrupt, then both men's houses, cars, and phones would have been bugged and they would never get as far as they did. There is no way that Luke would have lived either.

2. There was a little paranormal action put in this. Either a book is all paranormal or not at all. When you go just a touch here and there it just distracted me.

3. Too much head jumping, including some of the bad guys. It was so severe that it telegraphed a twist way too early. Show me and let me figure it out on my own, don't tell me.

4. There really was not a relationship conflict because both men were exactly alike: they never fought and were way too good at expressing their emotions. This is great in a relationship, but it really lacks any significant tension within the development. Our tension was then placed on the suspense, but that did not quite hit the mark.

5. These characters clearly did not watch any Bourne movies. There were so many times when they used their credit cards, talked on the phone, or really did anything publicly that I had a hard time believing the reality. The lack of knowledge of the law that Jake had was not realistic for a FBI agent, considering many of them have law or criminal justice degrees before they apply.

---------

All of this being said, I still enjoy reading this author. He has a very pure voice and I know that the story will contain a lot of heart and will make me smile. I think the problem is, that this book dealt with the topics of conspiracy, law, and violence and I really don't think the two tones melded that well.

I still enjoy the author and will continue to purchase his books, I just did not enjoy this one as much. ( )

My favourite. The stories felt very 'samey' in formula, though. ( )