Lightning Reviews: Various

I don’t generally like making New Years resolutions. Big resolutions lead to big disappointments. This year I decided to make a relatively easy resolution: keep track of all the books I read. How hard could it be? I keep the spreadsheet on my work laptop, which I (unfortunately) have to take everywhere. Keeping track for 15 days and I’ve already noticed how the # of reviews and the # of books read are getting farther and farther apart. Then I thought that I’d just do lightning reviews at the end of each month for all the books I didn’t review. There’s one problem with that. My memory is shit. So waiting until the end of the month doesn’t really work b/c by then I would forget everything except for the plot. Maybe not even that.

Why did I feel the need to explain that? I’m not sure. I think part of it was explaining it to myself.

This book was eerily similar to I’m Watching You by Karen Rose. Not just the title, but the plot as well. I could have handled the fact that the heroes in both books were cops. A lot of heroes are cops when it comes to romantic suspense. What I didn’t like was that the villain, while definitely dangerous, was really trying to “help” the heroine. It was exactly the same in Karen Rose’s book.

There was also too much going on. In the end, the villain ended up saving the heroine from a secondary villain who was even more evil than the 1st villain. If that doesn’t make your head spin, well, good for you. *g*

I did like the heroine. She was very likable for the most part. I just thought she should get over her relationship hangups. While she had a past that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, she got help before it ruined her. So I just felt that she didn’t resolve her relationship with her husband in the manner I would expect from a personality like hers.

Every time I read a Beverly Barton book, I continually have to remind myself that she’s southern. Every time the heroine bursts out with “Oh Mercy!”, I think of my grandmother. I got several chuckles as I was reading.

As I was reading (in between giggling), I kept hearing the theme song for the Small World ride at Disneyland. “It’s a small world after all. It’s a small world after all. It’s a small world after all, it’s a small, small, world“. Yes, I am crazy.

See, 10 years ago when Lexie was a journalist, she was covering a story in the Middle East. While she was there, a group of mercenaries assassinated the newly elected President, the story which she was covering. She took a bullet in the back and was paralyzed (not plagiarized). Whose shot her? You guessed it…Deke. Now does the “Small World” reference make me seem a little more sane?

This is typical Barton fare. Southern woman who is independent seeks bodyguard to protect her body. Sex optional. Danger, danger, danger. Fall in love. Deny, deny, deny. Kill bad guy.

The end.

I love Anthony Dante. How can you not love a hero that has no qualms about taking a lawn chair and going to his wife’s grave to talk to her? Every single Sunday?

So overall, I think this was a good book. There were many different elements that made it very amusing. I wasn’t really feeling Anthony and Vivi, though. While the French-born Vivi was the polar opposite of Ant’s wife, she was almost too French. I enjoyed the sparring between the two of them. I enjoyed how Vivi constantly messed up American slang and sayings. I just didn’t like them together romantically. I also thought Vivi was too naive considering her childhood. It just wasn’t believable.

Without the comic relief that Michael, Ant’s brother provided, this book wouldn’t have been nearly enjoyable. There was also “Insane Lorraine” who had a big crush on Anthony and didn’t have any problem with letting him know how she felt.

While I enjoyed this book, it didn’t wow me like some of her previous work.