Genres: Romantic Suspense

Casee‘s review of When a Man Loves a Weapon (Bobbie Faye Series, Book 3) by Toni McGee Causey.

Living single in her trailer was great for a time. But now Bobbie Faye’s officially engaged to, and has purchased a home with, the hottest FBI agent on the beat: Trevor Cormier. Even though she still has no idea what he really does on the job, Bobbie Faye has never been happier…until Trevor gets called away on an urgent assignment and leaves her in the care of body-guard slash babysitter Riles.

As it turns out, Bobbie Faye could use a little extra security. The man she helped put in behind bars, the murderous Sean MacGreggor, has escaped from prison…and is dead-set on revenge. With still no word from Trevor—who was only supposed to be gone for three days—Bobbie Faye finds herself reluctantly turning to her detective ex-boyfriend Cam for help. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect Bobbie Faye…so long as Trevor stays out of the picture. For good.

Though this book had it’s light moments, it was much, er, deeper than the previous two. Bobbie Faye and all who know her have accepted that disaster follows her wherever she goes. The disaster that follows her in this book comes close to killing her and the man she loves.

When Trevor gets called away on assignment, he leaves a “bodyguard” with her for her own protection. Sean MacGregor, the man that blames Bobbie Faye for his demise has escaped from prison. Given his sick obsession with her, Trevor is sure that Sean will come after Bobbie Faye. Bobbie Faye doesn’t agree, but she’s willing to humor Trevor. It will only be for three days–max.

When day three comes and goes, Bobbie Faye really starts worrying. When she nor Riles (the bodyguard) can get any information from the FBI on Trevor’s whereabouts, Bobbie Faye decides to go looking herself. To do that, she enlists the help of her ex-boyfriend. Now that Cam has decided he wants her back, it is more than uncomfortable for Bobbie Faye. But she knows she can trust him and she also knows that he will help her.

One of Bobbie Faye’s biggest issues is trust. After her childhood, there is almost nothing she values more. When she finds out that Trevor has been keeping something from her, it devastates her. When she finds out who her best friend Nina really is, she’s floored. The only person that seems to be the same is Cam.

I commend TMG for writing such a great love triangle. It’s clear from the beginning who Bobbie Faye will end up with, but it’s hard to read b/c they are both such great characters. I really hope that Cam gets his own happily-ever-after.

One thing I liked about Trevor (and have since the beginning) is that he doesn’t try to change the type of person Bobbie Faye is. Not only does he accept her, but he appreciates and loves her for who she is. While Cam would like to wrap her up and put her away where she can’t get hurt, Trevor accepts that she will never be happy if he constantly tries to stifle her true character. I loved that about him.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble Bobbie Faye gets into next.

4.25 out of 5.

This book is available from St. Martin’s Press. You can buy it here.

Other books in the series:

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Casee‘s review of Girls Just Wanna Have Guns (Bobbie Faye Series, Book 2) by Toni McGee Causey.

Bobbie Faye Sumrall just landed in a mess of trouble. It started when she agreed to help her diva cousin, Francesca. Turns out Francesca’s mom, Marie, swiped a fortune in gems from Bobbie Faye’s uncle, who’d swiped them from someone else. Now there’s a hit out on Marie, and Bobbie Faye is racing to find her—and the jewels.

Plenty of people would shoot Bobbie Faye for a stash of diamonds. Hell, some would pay for the privilege. But now Bobbie Faye has other distractions—including Trevor, the drop-dead-sexy FBI agent who may or may not be the real deal, and Cam, her steamy (and steamed) detective ex-boyfriend who’d do anything to keep Bobbie Faye out of harm’s way… and get her back into his arms…

Charmed and Dangerous was book one of the Bobbie Faye series. I read it even though I was hesitant since it seemed there might be a love triangle. Not being a fan, I really didn’t want to invest myself in a series that had a love triangle. I emailed Toni and she put my fears to rest. While there isn’t a love triangle, Bobbie Faye isn’t torn between one man and another. She just has feelings for both men. In the second book, it’s quite clear who she will end up with. What makes it hard to read is both men are great characters.

As we learned in CaD, Bobbie Faye will do anything for her family. When her cousin, Francesca, comes to her asking for help, Bobbie Faye can’t turn her away. The whole plot is very convoluted, but somehow it all makes sense. Which sounds weird, I know. Francesca needs Bobbie Faye’s help to find diamonds that her mom stole before her mom is killed. Francesca is sure that Bobbie Faye can help her.

As soon as Bobbie Faye agrees to help, everything starts going to hell. Someone starts shooting, her crazy cousins are shooting back, and then she runs into Trevor. Right after she sees him, she’s kidnapped not once, but three times. Driven around the block, threatened, Bobbie Faye is pretty much fuming by the time she is dropped off for the last time. There are three different groups that want the diamonds. All three groups think she knows where they are. Bobbie Faye isn’t about to let her aunt die and with Trevor, starts hunting.

Cam returns to the series and is forced to confront his feelings for Bobbie Faye. Each time he thinks she’s died he feels things he shouldn’t be feeling. His feelings are so obvious to everyone but him. When he actually breaks protocol to help her, that’s when he realizes that he still loves her.

The whole suspense plot was outrageous and oh-so funny. I can’t tell you how many times I laughed throughout this book. Anything bad you can think of happening to Bobbie Faye, happens. Again, the town of Lake Charles rallies around Bobbie Faye. They will give her a hard time all they want, but they’ll never turn on the Contraband Days Queen. Then it appears that Bobbie Faye might have killed someone in cold blood. While it’s hard to believe, it’s hard to refute since it’s on video.

Toni writes great dialogue. The following scene is between Bobbie Faye’s brother and sister. Her sister is in rehab. Every day, Bobbie Faye calls and Lori Ann hangs up on her. So when Bobbie Faye doesn’t call, Lori Ann gets worried.

“Well what am I supposed to do about it?” Lori Ann knew that Roy would be about as enthusiastic about finding Bobbie Faye as a mouse would be to snuggle up to a python. “I want you to start asking around and see if she’s okay.”

“No way. I might find her. I kinda owe some people some money and I think they got it from her, and I don’t have it to pay her back, yet.”

“Roy,” Lori Ann sighed, staring at the graffiti on the wall above the pay phone, “let me put it like this: I have learned everything I know about annoying the living hell out of someone from our big sister, and I’m sober with nothing else to do but concentrate on you.”

He swore, hesitated a moment, and finally said, “I’ll look for her. But it’s your fault if she kills me.”

“I can live with that.”

The romance is definitely amped up in this book. There was a lot of sexual tension between Trevor and Bobbie Faye in book one. One thing I love about Trevor is that he doesn’t try to change who Bobbie Faye is. He accepts and loves her and wouldn’t change her for anything.

I can’t wait to read When a Man Loves a Weapon.

4.25 out of 5.

This book is available from St. Martin’s Press. You can buy it here.

Other books in the series:

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Casee‘s review of Charmed and Dangerous (The Bobbie Faye Series, Book 1) by Toni McGee Causey.

Bobbie Faye is looking forward to the Lake Charles Contraband Days Festival with balloons, booze and babies in pirate costumes. Instead, her trailer’s flooded, her no-good brother’s been kidnapped, and the criminals are demanding her mom’s tiara as ransom.

Soon Bobbie Faye is committing (unintentional) bank robbery and (fully intentional) carjacking to retrieve her family heirloom. Along comes the hard-muscled, impossibly sexy Trevor, the guy whose truck she just took hostage. Luckily, Bobbie Faye knows how to outsmart angry bears, drive a speedboat, and handle a gun. As for handling Trevor? No gun-shyness there. Now, if only that pesky state police detective, who also happens to be a pissed-off ex-boyfriend, would stay out of her way…

I read the back cover of this book at Borders, checked to make sure it wasn’t in first person and decided to try it out. I’m not a Janet Evanovich fan (it’s mostly b/c I can’t stand love triangles), but the potential romantic comedy of this series appealed to me. Still, I wasn’t sure what I would think of a heroine named Bobbie Faye.

Charmed and Dangerous was a roller-coaster ride that started on page one and didn’t stop until the end. Just thinking about living Bobbie Faye’s life srsly gives me a headache. The poor woman can not catch a break. The morning she wakes up to her trailer flooding, all she wanted to do was make a good impression on the social worker that can take away her niece. What she ends up doing should surprise her, but she has ceased to be surprised at the crazy turns her life can make.

If there is one think that Bobbie Faye takes seriously, it is family. After her boyfriend arrested her sister (even rightfully so), she left him without hesitation. There is something to be said for loyalty after all. So when her brother is kidnapped, she doesn’t hesitate to retrieve a family heirloom in exchange for his life.

One of the things I loved so much about this book was no matter what Bobbie Faye did, the citizens of Lake Charles, Louisiana are fiercely protective of her. So while they don’t mind giving her a hard time within the town, they will never turn on the Contraband Day Queen.

When Bobbie Faye goes to the bank to get the handmade (and monetarily worthless) tiara, what ensues is almost even too much for Bobbie Faye. When the bank is robbed as she’s leaving it, the tiara is taken. Bobbie Fay is thus forced to take a man hostage so she can follow the robbers. She’s reluctantly drawn to her strangely compliant hostage, then figures it’s just her luck that she would be attracted to him.

Toni has started what promises to be a hilariously funny yet romantic series. There was not one page that was from Trevor’s POV, but the book was so well written that there was no question of what he thought. He’s the calm of the storm that is Bobbie Faye. And while he may be her perfect match, there is also Bobbie Faye’s ex. The cop that happens to be after her for robbing a bank.

If something has gone wrong in Cam’s life, the reason is usually Bobbie Faye. He still hasn’t gotten over the fact that she left him for doing his job. The relationship between Cam and Bobbie Faye is complex. Cam is determined that she won’t suck him into the craziness of her life. Bobbie Faye thinks he never loved her and has no idea how wrong she is.

So while there seems to be no apparent love triangle, the subtle yet intense relationship between Bobbie Faye and Cam definitely exists. It’s that along with the hilarity of that which is Bobbie Faye that makes this book as good as it is. I know I didn’t expect to like it nearly as much as I did.

4.25 out of 5.

This book is available from St. Martin’s Press. You can buy it here.

Other books in the series: