Review: Leave Me Breathless by HelenKay Dimon

Posted February 17, 2010 by Holly in Reviews | 4 Comments

Holly’s review of Leave Me Breathless by HelenKay Dimon

PERMISSION TO APPROACH

According to Judge Bennett Walker, trying to kill him is a dumb idea. They might make him wear a big black nightgown to work, but it covers a lot of muscles, and he’s definitely packing beneath it. He’s also an ex-prosecutor and an ex-GI Joe. So when his brother brings in Callie Robbins to protect him, Ben has a few issues. First, he doesn’t need a bodyguard. Second, she’s a 130-pound girl—more smoking hot than smoking gun. And third, what if his body wants her guarding the night shift?

Callie has no problem brushing aside Ben’s disbelief. She left the FBI to escape the boys’ club, but she can be deeper undercover and twice as lethal as any beefy John Doe. As for whether someone’s after Bennett or not, the death threats and car bombs look pretty convincing to Callie. Of course, she might get distracted, sitting inches from the sexiest judge in DC for ten hours a day. Keeping him safe is no picnic. Keeping it professional—that might be impossible.

When I picked up this book and realized the hero was a judge I have to be honest and tell you it gave me pause. None of the judges I’ve met in my day have really struck me as the romance novel hero type. Apparently I’ve been looking in the wrong courtrooms, though. Because Ben? He was smoking. This is a two-for-one romance, featuring stories about brothers Mark and Ben. While Ben’s story takes the forefront for much of the book, Mark’s page time isn’t too shabby.

You get the gist of the story from the blurb: Ben is a circuit court judge who has been receiving threats lately. His older brother Mark, who is an HSA agent, decides he needs a bodyguard and hires Callie for the job. She’s former FBI and damn good with a gun, but she’s also got a smart mouth on her. Ben doesn’t think he needs a bodyguard and fights tooth and nail against having Callie there.

Callie is used to chauvinistic men who underestimate her, so dealing with Ben’s issues aren’t really a problem for her. She just needs to show Mark she can do her job so he might offer her more in the future. Of course Ben doesn’t make Callie’s job easy. Not only do the two exchange some major insults, but the sexual attraction between them nearly sizzles.

I loved the dialogue between the main characters. My husband and I have a very sarcastic relationship. I call him an idiot or a dork, he lashes back with “you’re stupid” or “shut-up, I hate you” and then we make kissy faces at each other. To the outside observer it might seem like we really hate each other, but the truth is we just like to verbally spar. Callie and Ben were the same way. For them, their sparring was almost a form of foreplay. I loved that Callie stood up to Ben and wasn’t afraid to say what was on her mind, but even more I loved that Ben respected her and her smart mouth.

Looking at this story on a superficial level it really worked. I loved the banter between the hero and heroine and their chemistry was off the charts. Once you scrape the surface, however, there were some issues. While Callie initially comes off as a strong, kick-ass heroine, I felt her character fizzled in that regard the longer the story went on. It seemed she really knew how to handle herself, but she made small mistakes throughout the story that seemed out of context with the kickass FBI agent she was supposed to have been.

Ben, too, had his share of problems. He’s former military, but doesn’t see the need for personal security? He kept insisting he could take care of himself, but it didn’t make sense since he sits behind a bench all day. What’s he going to do if someone comes at him while he’s hearing a case? Things like that rubbed me the wrong way.

The mystery behind the threats wasn’t much of a mystery at all. It even seemed kind of silly in the end. We were thrown a few red herrings, but it wasn’t hard to see past that to the real culprit. I’m surprised it took everyone else so long to figure it out. I also thought the villain’s reason for acting the way he did seemed overly cliched.

The second part of this story has to do with Mark and Emma. Mark is Ben’s older brother and Emma is another judge and Ben’s best friend. Ben, Mark and Emma grew up together and have major history together. For the last year or so, Mark and Emma have been having an affair. Emma has been in love with him for years, but he hasn’t even shown a willingness to commit. She even went so far as to get engaged to someone else, but broke it off when she realized she wasn’t being fair to herself by being with someone other than Mark.

Because of the tragedy in their past, Mark and Ben are both emotionally unavailable. Mark more-so than Ben. Eventually Emma realizes she can’t continue to pretend their casual fling is enough for them and stands up for herself. I had kind of expected Emma to continue on with the “I can love him enough for the both of us” thing, so I was pleasantly surprised when she stood up for herself.

I was somewhat disappointed in the backstory for them. We eventually learn about their childhood and we know about Emma’s failed engagement, but there’s a large gap in between that was left open. I would have liked to know more about them during that time, as I think it would have helped clarify some things about their characters.

Despite the issues I had, I was able to set that aside and just enjoy the story. I didn’t think too hard or look too closely and was able to set aside my issues to enjoy the story.

The excellent dialogue, emotional connections and sizzling chemistry made this a fast and enjoyable read.

3.75 out of 5

This book will be available from Zebra February 23, 2010. You can pre-order it here.