Reviewer: Holly And Able by Lucy Monroe
Series: Mercenary Trilogy #3
Also in this series: Willing
Publication Date: 2006
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 342
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Series Rating:
Claire Sharp suddenly finds herself involved in the fight for her life. She enlists the help of Brett Adams and the attraction is immediate. Claire struggles with her undeniable attraction to Brett though her logic warns her to stay away. Meanwhile, Brett is determined to not only to help Claire but to seduce her into a passion she has never known before.
And Able is the final book in Lucy Monroe’s Mercenary Trilogy.
Brett “Hotwire” Adams is a former merc turned security expert who’s not too keen on the commitment thing, but is very keen on getting into Claire Sharp’s bed. He’s been avoiding her, but when she’s attacked in her home, he’s forced into her company. Which isn’t very good for his self control. Aside from his attraction to her, the protective alpha-male needs her to be safe. Trying to discover who’s after her isn’t easy when he’s always got sex on the brain.
As for Claire, she can’t figure out what an ex-merc with the body of a Greek god wants with her. She understands that they have a love of all things computer in common, but as far as she can tell, that’s the only thing they have in common. She certainly doesn’t understand why he’d be attracted to her. She does know, however, that she trusts him to keep her safe. So when he informs her that he’ll be staying with her until things are resolved, she reluctantly agrees. She’s not sure she can handle being in close proximity to him all the time, but she doesn’t doubt he’ll keep her alive. As the story unfolds, and certain truths come to light, Claire leans on Hotwire more and more, both emotionally and for safety.
I think this was a great end to Monroe’s trilogy. Hotwire was everything I expected him to be: Charming, amazing to look at, an excellent lover and lethal when protecting Claire. I thought he was a bit of a moron for taking so long to realize his true feelings for Claire, but I didn’t begrudge him his thick-headedness. How could I, when he was putting another thick head to use so well? (har har)
Claire was a great heroine, too. One of the things I love best about Monroe’s heroines are how grounded they are. Claire knew she wasn’t qualified to handle the threats to her life alone, so she trusted Hotwire to do it for her. That isn’t to say she just turned a blind eye and didn’t help where she could, but she didn’t rush head first into danger to prove she was tough, either. She kept a level head and did what she could to help, but stood back and let Hotwire handle the things he knew how to handle best.
Their arguments over her being a Pacifist had me snickering. The suspense plot took a backseat to the romance, which worked here.
I found myself irritated with Hotwire several times, like when he refused to see what he really felt for Claire and hid behind a promise he made to a dead woman, but he was redeemed in the end. I just love how once he made a commitment, that was the end of it. There was no going back and forth, wondering if things were right or not. He realized his feelings and that was that.
I was very disappointed that we didn’t hear anything about Wolf’s sister Daisy, or any of the other characters from her Three Brides for Three Bad Boys anthology. I realize that this series was simply a spin off of that one, but I would still have loved to hear about how things were with them.
The series isn’t without its flaws, but I enjoyed it.
4 out of 5
This book is available from Kensington. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
This review was originally published at Sanctuary’s Finest
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