Category / Suspense

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Smash Cut by Sandra Brown

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Series: Standalone
Hero: Derek Mitchell
Heroine: Julie Rutledge
Date of Publication: August 11, 2009
Started On: November 29, 2009
Finished On: December 1, 2009

Sandra Brown has always been a favorite author of mine. With her first book ‘Relentless Desire’ which was published in 1983, she started off her career as a romance book author as most of my favorite authors. Later with the book ‘Slow Heat in Heaven’, she started on the genre of romantic suspense, some of which have been pretty great stories. Smash Cut, her latest such thriller is no exception to this rule. With two great characters and a complex plot with enough twists to keep us going, Smash Cut delivers on all fronts.

Derek Mitchell is a criminal defense lawyer with a reputation well-earned for preventing society’s scum from ever having to see the walls of a prison. Julie Rutledge, the mistress of millionaire Paul Wheeler, is the owner of an art gallery who witnesses the murder of her lover right in front of her.

Entering the story that unfolds of course is the slightly off-balance family that every rich guy leaves behind. Paul’s brother Doug and his wife Sherry with their son Creighton Wheeler who is very rich in his own right without having shed a drop of sweat to show for it and spoiled rotten to the core has a passion for movies unlike anyone has ever heard of.

From the start, Julie accuses Creighton of plotting and executing the well-laid out plan of murdering Paul, as Creighton was the sole beneficiary of Paul’s will, though the motive seems to be a weak one in the face of all the millions that Creighton has already inherited from another set of his grandparents.

Derek is hired by Creighton’s father, in case the need for a defense lawyer arises, though Creighton has a rock solid alibi for the day of the murder. Julie, wanting to prevent Creighton from walking free of this heinous act, tries to prevent Derek from being Creighton’s lawyer, which somehow in the end backfires on her.

Creighton’s evil streak is slowly revealed, while Julie and Derek join forces to out run the brilliance of a plan well laid out by a master of evil planning, to free Julie from the knot that slowly seems to tighten around Julie, pointing all fingers at her for the murder of Paul.

Ultimately in the end, Creighton is caught in the act of ‘tying up one of the loose ends’, and with a huge surprise in the end, which I am not going to spoil for everyone here, ties things up.

Although this book is of the genre ‘Romantic Suspense’, there is actually very little romance involved, but rather a great story of how pure evil can thrive in the minds of people society never thought capable of.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Kill Me Twice by Roxanne St. Claire

Format: E-bookn167206
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: The Bullet Catchers, Book 1
Publisher: Pocket Books
Hero: Alex Romero
Heroine: Jasmine Adams
Date of Publication: September 7, 2005
Started On: November 12, 2009
Finished On: November 16, 2009

I found about Roxanne St. Claire whilst browsing through books on Amazon.com. I was surprised to see that her Bullet Catchers series has been quite well received by readers, in fact all her books in this series has got a reader rating of at least 4 or 4.5 stars. So I decided to check out this series that has got such a good reaction from readers of romantic suspense and I would have to say that Roxanne St. Claire does spin a good tale.

This introductory book in the series stars Alex Romero as the bullet catcher with side characters Max who is the lead in the next book of this series and Dan. With Lucy Sharpe as  the owner of this elite team of body guards who serve ultra-rich clients, Alex is handed an assignment which he considers to be in league with baby sitting when he has to protect Jessica Adams, a famous news reporter in Miami who reportedly has a stalker after her.

Alex turns up at Jessica’s place and is surprised to find himself with Jasmine, Jessica’s identical twin sister, from whom Jessica has asked to cover for her whilst Jessica pursues a hot lead in a story which will propel her career to the national fronts. Jasmine or rather Jazz, being fiercely independent resents the presence of Alex at first, but quickly comes to realize that Jessica may in fact be in danger and with everyone of Jessica’s acquaintances acting weirder by the moment.

The story is good, the romance between Alex and Jazz sizzles and the twists in the novel surprised me at the end and although I finished this book in 4 days time due to lack of available time to read it, this is the kinda book you can read in one sitting.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Cry No More by Linda Howard

Cry no More

Format: E-book
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Piatkus
Hero: James Alejandro Xavier Diaz
Heroine: Milla Edge
Date of Publication: November 4, 2003
Started On: November 9, 2009
Finished On: November 12, 2009

This powerful story by Linda Howard is one of her most outstanding pieces of work. Both Milla and James are two wonderful characters and their story is one I guarantee that no one can really put down without seeing it through.

The story starts with Milla married to Dr. David Boone, a surgeon who with a group of other doctors opens up a free clinic in Mexico for a year. Milla gives birth to their son Justin whilst in Mexico, who is snatched away from Milla whilst she is left bleeding to death from the attack. In the midst of it all, Milla however manages to leave her mark on one of her attackers, finding the man with the scar becoming her life goal once she recovers enough to look for her son.

Ten years on, divorced from David, Milla runs an organization known as Finders that deploy volunteers who help in missing children/adult cases.Through all that time, Milla has never once given up hope that one day she would find her son and her resolve to do this finally leads her to James Diaz, whom at first Milla thinks to be involved with the kidnapping of Justin.

To Milla’s surprise, James turns out to be the only one who can find the answers to all the questions Milla has been asking all those years. What Milla doesn’t know is that it is those that she is closest to who have ulterior motives, who do not want her to find out the truth related to the disappearance of her son. And once Milla does find Justin, the sheer act of bravery that she performs would forever be etched onto my heart because I do not know of anyone who could have done what she did for her son.

Cry No More is a book that has found a permanent place on my favorites and keepers shelf. Whenever I need myself a Linda Howard fix, which is often, I find myself craving some James Diaz for some reason and I always end up either skimming through the delicious parts or just re-reading the whole thing all over again. Cry No More is a book that deals with a heartbreaking issue, the raw pain that Milla goes through towards the end just reaches something deep inside of you until you are ready to howl from the sheer agony of it all.

And through the stormy days that follows, James proves his unwavering love for a woman whom he considers his in every way. The way he completely takes care of Milla’s every single need makes you want to lay yourself down somewhere and offer yourself to James to do as he pleases. He is the strong, silent and lethal warrior type of hero who would have zero qualms about killing when it comes to protecting the ones he loves. His utter focus and the dangerous vibe that always surrounds him is what draws me to his character every.single.time. that I read this book. And I am sure I would keep coming back for more of him in the near & foreseeable future!

If I could give this book more than 5-stars, I definitely would. Because Cry No More is a jewel of a novel, that indeed deserves high praise for  the masterpiece that Linda Howard seems to have spun with this one. Very highly recommended!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Mercenary by Cherry Adair

Format: E-bookmercer
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: T-FLAC, Book 1
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Marc Savin
Heroine: Victoria Jones
Date of Publication: February 1, 2008
Started On:  November 2, 2009
Finished On: November 7, 2009

This was my favorite kind of romance novel. Throw in a strong alpha hero, a heroine who doesn’t get on the reader’s nerves and a bunch of bad guys who could just topple everything over for the blossoming romance between the hero and heroine, I would say that makes for a pretty good read.

Previously I have read other books in this author’s T-FLAC series and I would have to say this would have to be one of the best novels in the series. Victoria Jones leads a spinsterish life when her twin brother Alex, who is a T-FLAC agent goes missing during a mission and is declared dead by the T-FLAC organization.

Marc Savin, who brought Alex into the organization, trained him and was his partner for a couple of years, now lives a secluded life on a ranch looking after horses in Mexico. Betrayed by the woman he loved once who turned out to be working for one of the terrorist organizations that they were investigating, Marc doesn’t trust any woman to get close to him.

Victoria and Alex share a telepathic bond which allows her to know that her brother is not dead, but being held captive by one of the terrorist organizations that the T-FLAC was investigating, and seeks Marc’s help to bring her brother back to safety. Astounded at first to know that Alex even has a twin, and reluctant to believe anything Victoria was saying, Marc decides to drag Victoria along to find Alex and bring him back home.

Hiding in a cave in an island controlled by terrorists, Marc finds that he is not immune at all to the lady by his side. The romance and the exciting adventure that unfolds makes for a great read. Of course, happy endings always makes a book worth reading especially when a hero has to grovel his way back into the heroine’s graces, which is hard to come across in novels these days.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to readers who love a good romance novel with a bit of adventure tossed right into it.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: You’ve Got Male by Elizabeth Bevarly

Format: E-bookyouvegotmale.jpg
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Spy Quartet, Book 1
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Dixon
Heroine: Avery Nesbitt
First Published on: October 1, 2008
Started On: October 2009
Finished On: October 21, 2009

Being the first book that I have ever tried from this author, I would have to say that it was a pretty good read.

Avery Nesbitt, the heroine is this genius computer buff who created a virus that would have halted all cyber traffic across the world, and this too when she was a teenager by accident, her motive being to teach her cheating boyfriend a lesson he would  never forget, ends up doing time in jail. Her family, the overly wealthy Nesbitts, cut her off from that day onwards. After 2 years, being released from prison, Avery sets up her own techie firm and has been living alone with her cat, and suffers from agoraphobia i.e. the fear of being out in open spaces. Then she meets Mr. Supposedly prince charming online, whom she finds to be cheating on her again.

Unknown to Avery, Dixon, who works in this un-nameable organization set in the US government after 9/11, has been tracking her online activity without much success, because the one agent who went rogue on them is actually the Mr. Supposedly Prince Charming that Avery has been in contact with. Avery is taken into custody, a deal made with her, so that Dixon and Avery has to work together to bring this rogue agent to justice by luring him to meet Avery out in the open.

The story that follows is pretty charming and romantic as well. I got to learn a lot about this new phobia (since there are so many, one can never keep track of all of em’). Dixon is the super sexy type of hero that any heroine would fall in love with immediately. And throw into the mix the crazy Nesbitt family, you’ve got a hell of a novel on your hands.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBookMall | iTunes

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick

Format: Hardcoverslightly
Read with: Hardcover Edition
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Lavinia Lake and Tobias March – 1
Publisher: Wheeler Publishing
Hero: Tobias March
Heroine: Lavinia Lake
Published on: May 2001
Started On: September 2009
Finished On: October 2009

This is the first book that I have read of this author; Amanda Quick an alias used by Jayne Ann Krentz. This book starts off in Rome, when Tobias barges into the antique shop that Lavinia and her niece had established in order to get by, after being cheated off by the lady with which they had made the journey from London.

Her antique shop shattered on the accounts from Tobias that the shop was being used by a vicious criminal organization for communication amongst their members by hiding messages in the antiques in the shop Lavinia and her niece finds themselves sent off to London and these two meet once again when Lavinia upon being blackmailed by someone, finding out who the blackmailer is, comes to his place to find that someone had murdered him and in the process finds Tobias at the scene who is in search for the diary that the blackmailer was using.

Then begins the rather fascinating journey these two embark upon after forming an uneasy alliance to find the diary before it reaches the wrong hands once again, with Lavinia changing her profession to become a private investigator like Tobias. Desire, passion and love takes a backstage in this novel, which had me laughing at the quirky dialogues between the two and the really funny situations that these two found themselves in at times.

The story ends with a rather unique twist, which I would say that I didn’t really foresee coming.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBookMall | iTunes

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Wild Orchids By Karen Robards

Format: E-bookwild
Read with: MS Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Warner Books
Hero: John Roberts “Max” Maxwell
Heroine: Lora Harding
Published on: January 1, 1994
Started On: September 2, 2009
Finished On: September 2, 2009

For those who have read my last review (Island Flame by Karen Robards), I mentioned that the most favorite book of mine by this author is Wild Orchids which was the second book of this author that I tried. Writing the review for Island Flame and thinking about the book Wild Orchids, which I had previously read twice, made me stop the book Sea Fire in the middle (the second book  in the Pirates series) to read Wild Orchids once again, and sigh… I wasn’t disappointed! So here is my review for this special book, which most probably, I would end up reading AGAIN sometime in the near future.

This book starts when Lora, who is on vacation in Mexico, finds herself kidnapped at gun point by Max who is on the run for his life from the Mexican authorities. Max married previously, fought in the Vietnam war, and carries the emotional baggage of a war that turned pretty ugly. Lora, a teacher in a quiet town, engaged to a Mathematics teacher at her school, had been nursing her paralyzed mother for ten years or so, and was trying to enjoy a long awaited vacation after her mother dies of pneumonia leaving both her children with a bit of money, allowing Lora to splurge a bit on herself for a change.

Max, a strong alpha hero, from the moment he kidnaps Lora, who gives as good as she gets, has his hands full. Desperate attempts to escape which are thwarted at the last minute by Max, exasperates him endlessly, whilst Lora and Max start to feel the first stirrings of an attraction to one another that won’t be denied. The witty dialogue between Lora and Max never fails to amuse me.

Halfway through the novel, Max releases Lora to return back to wherever she came from, advising her not to go to the cops, when Lora just does the opposite and finds out that she really doesn’t want to turn Max over to  the authorities a moment too late and finds herself locked up. Max and his buddies rescue her from jail and in a harrowing chase, ends up on the plane which was to take them away from the hell hole. However, fate had different plans, when the plane crashes in the midst of the thick jungle, leaving one of Max’s buddies dead, and the other Tunafish (Theodre) with a broken ankle.  Max finds out that who loaned him the plane had double crossed him, and in fact the plane was full of millions of dollars worth of dope.

The story that unfolds is fast paced, filled with action, humor and moments of glorious passion between these two strong willed characters which you can’t put down till you have read the last line. My only peeve with this book is even the first time that I read this book, I thought that Lora didn’t make Max suffer enough before succumbing, which is a problem with most of the romance books. Maybe my ultra feminine side doesn’t like the fact that the heroine suffers so much throughout the novel, and in the end the hero just has to crook his finger in the “come to me” motion and the heroine just forgets every little thing that the hero puts her through and swoons on the confession of ultimate love, desire and marriage. However, even though the ending may not satisfy me 100%, I still love this great book and would continue to re-read it from time to time.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBookMall

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Doomsday Conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon

Format: Paperbackdoomsday
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Warner Books, Incorporated
Published on: December 1, 1992
Started On: October 2006
Finished On: October 2006

This is a book that I reviewed during 2006 on an old blog of mine. Just thought that I would post it here since a visitor to the blog requested for a review of one of Sidney Sheldon’s novels. This is one of my absolute favorites from the author.

The story was written at a time where U.F.O sightings were becoming a common occurrence throughout the world and where stories of government cover ups were becoming quite the norm. The story centers on such an incident where a U.F.O craft crashes into Switzerland and is witnessed by a busload of tourists.. The main character of the book a trained official of the CIA is given the task of finding all who witnessed this crash on the pretense of “warning” them not to talk about what they have witnessed. The official who is handed over the task has no idea that the what they had witnessed had been a U.F.O crash but rather a highly secretive military aircraft of some sort.

So thus begins his journey in locating all these witnesses.. as soon as he finds them and reports them to his superior they are killed in mysterious ways.. so as not to arouse any suspicion… The story continues with snippets from the past to show to the readers that the hero was so in love with his ex-wife that he hadn’t been “whole” ever since she left him for another man.. the reason being that the agent didn’t have any time for “them” anymore..

The story does make an interesting read… and leads onto a climactic ending that leaves the reader stunned with disbelief..

The author ends this book by giving a whole lot of information on the extensive interviews and research that he had carried out before writing the book… It hints of the possibility that such an incident is not so far from being the truth.. He further goes onto such “coincidental” deaths of scientists who were involved in the investigation of such actual incidents that had taken place all around the globe..

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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