On Vox: Two Quick Harlequin Intrigue reviews
Manhunt in the Wild West (Harlequin Intrigue)
Jessica Andersen
Manhunt In The Wild West by Jessica Anderson (Bear Claw Creek Crime Lab): Chelsea Swann, medical examiner at Bear Creek gets kidnapped by escaping prisoners from nearby prison, ARX Supermax. The four escapees are 3 terrorists and undercover operator Jonah Fairfax. Jonah manages to keep Chelsea alive and both must work together to stop the terrorists from an evil plot.
Overall: Rather one dimensional bad guys (the leader was named Al-Jihad, which amused me), a hokey plot involving many law enforcement professionals not following procedure, and I didn't really buy the attraction between the two main characters. I felt irritated by the continual repetitions of Jonah thinking of Chelsea as being "sweet", and seeing her as a representation of all that is good about America (apple pie, picket fences, the American Dream), and of Chelsea taking note of Jonah's piercing blue eyes. There was also a weird back story where Jonah's first wife cheated on him and died during a miscarriage, which Jonah remembers as a "betrayal" which pushed him into his current loner state. What? She's DEAD now you know! What I did like in this book was the eventual backbone and self-awareness that Chelsea develops through the book. I'd give this book an "Eh". ALSO: He never wears a cowboy hat in this story!
Around-The-Clock Protector (Harlequin Intrigue Series)
Jan Hambright
Around-the-Clock Protector by Jan Hambright (Intrigue's Ultimate Heroes): Carson Nash saves Ava Ross from russians in a mission mission with his team (a CIA rescue operation). He's shocked to find that Ava is who he rescued because she was supposed to have died in a plane crash 4 months ago. Now she's alive, with little memory of the last 4 months, and pregnant - with HIS baby!
I swear the model in this cover is the same guy as the model in the cover above!
Overall: OK. I believed more in the romance between the two characters here and saw more reasons for their attraction. There was more showing then telling there and I liked Ava in particular. I was somewhat annoyed at the "raging" lust Carson keeps feeling for Ava though, even when she's unconscious and beaten and he just rescued her. Time and a place buddy. There were also big plotholes (or maybe I missed something and was just confused), like exactly how Ava wasn't on the plane when it crashed and how she had amnesia and didn't know who she was but walked around free without going to the police? I feel like I missed something? Did I? Ava talks about getting up to go to the lavatory on the plane, but that didn't make sense as an escape from the crash. Finally - I didn't like this sentence: "Ava relaxed, letting the total-man-dominance thing sweep her into ecstacy". Total-man-dominance thing...
Originally posted on janicu.vox.com