Jen’s review of Flirting with Disaster (Jackson: Girls Night Out #2) by Victoria Dahl
There’s no hiding from sizzling chemistry…
Artist Isabelle West has good reasons for preferring a solitary life. Tucked away in a cabin in the woods, she has everything she needs . . . except a red-hot love life. That is, until a hard-bodied U.S. marshal threatens to unearth secrets she’s spent years protecting. But giving in to the sparks flying between them can only lead to one thing…disaster.
Tom Duncan lives by the letter of the law. But no one has tempted him—or confused him—more than free-spirited Isabelle, who arouses his suspicion and his desire. As their connection grows, and their nights get hotter, they find their wild attraction might shake everything he stands for—and expose everything she has to hide.
Isabelle West is an artist living in the country outside Jackson, Wyoming, where Dahl’s series is set. Isabelle has a big secret, though, and when US Marshal Tom Duncan comes poking around she’s immediately on edge. Tom is in town helping protect a local judge who’s been receiving threats before a major trial. Isabelle’s skittishness rouses Tom’s suspicions, but on the surface she checks out, and he really likes her, so he strikes up a flirtation with her. The more time he spends with her, the more he likes her, but the more concerned he becomes that she really is hiding something. Eventually he discovers the truth while investigating, but he’s afraid to tell Isabelle for fear she won’t trust him. Worse, his snooping sets in motion a series of events that end up threatening Isabelle’s peace.
I really enjoyed Isabelle and Tom. Tom is a decent, hard working, normal guy. He had a family tragedy in the past that’s given him a bit of a savior complex. He wants to fix everyone’s problems, even if it costs him personally, and it’s what gets him into trouble with Isabelle. He can’t just leave it alone, has to keep digging because he senses she might need help. It’s an admirable quality, even if I didn’t love how it played out. Isabelle is fantastic, too. She’s so comfortable with herself, with her body, with her life (aside from her secret). She’s in her mid-thirties and has realized she doesn’t need to apologize for herself. She’s ballsy and says what she means, which includes being forthright about sex and about what she wants from Tom. It knocks Tom off his feet (literally, as you’ll see below), and it sure charmed me. She’s also got a surprising amount of vulnerability underneath that only comes out as her secret does. As usual, Dahl’s characters have sexy chemistry, and their dialogue is sharp and funny.
“Well, I don’t travel, but I’m not lonely. I have my work, my friends and my home. And internet porn. Life is good.”
Tom tripped over a snowdrift and nearly fell flat on his face. Isabelle laughed as he dusted snow off his knee.
So much for her reserve. “If you said that to shock me, it worked,” he said.
“I said it because it’s true.” She grinned over her shoulder as she kept moving. “Try to keep up.”
This book has hints of suspense, which you would think would make me, a romantic suspense junkie, happy. However, I wasn’t really in love with the suspense elements. There are no action scenes or any real danger. I know this is a good thing–this is at heart a contemporary not a suspense, and it wouldn’t have made any sense to add too much–and yet, I felt unsatisfied. I guess I’d prefer authors either go all in or just avoid suspense all together.
I also really, really didn’t like the lies in the book. Isabelle is lying about who she is and why she’s in Jackson. She has good reasons for it, and yet I still didn’t like that she lies to Tom and all her friends, or that she withholds a key piece of information till the end. It’s probably hypocritical because it’s the kind of lie I could overlook in other books, but here it felt out of place and uncomfortable. Tom’s lies were even more problematic. Again, he has great reasons for it, and I truly did believe he was trying to do the right thing, but it left me feeling unhappy. He gets involved even when he knows he shouldn’t, and he keeps sleeping with her even after he learns her secret. He could have told her, and the fact that he’s in law enforcement even gave him a legit reason for prying, but he still holds out. And then at the end, he has to do something really, really humiliating to Isabelle. It was for her own good, and it was likely the only decent option, but I hate that it happened. It left a bad taste in my mouth about the book and it made me question whether Isabelle and Tom could really start fresh after all the mistrust.
Great characters, an interesting setting, and a steamy relationship did hold my interest, but not so much that I could get the unhappy parts off my mind after I finished the book.
Grade: 3.5 out of 5
This book is available from HQN Books. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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