Ingrid Weaver

These days I don't read a lot of romantic suspense. I have a few favorite authors I still read, but I rarely pick up a new-to-me romantic suspense. My problem is I think too much to read and enjoy RS. I can't get over the "Super Security Specialist does nothing Super to protect little womenz from threats because he's too busy humping her leg every 5 seconds" trope. Or the "we're in the jungle with bad guys surrounding us with guns but OMG I NEED TO DO YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW" trope.

Even more than that, though, I can't get over the little, tiny, seemingly-unimportant details no other readers seem to notice. Like common sense things or police procedural things or OMG WHY ARE YOU SO FREAKING STUPID things.

So it was with trepidation that I picked this one up. I honestly only meant to skim it a bit, and before I knew it I was halfway through. Luckily not much of the above mentioned happened here. Since the mystery wasn't really the focus of the story, that wasn't my focus either.

The pace of the novel was pretty quick and I enjoyed the paranormal aspects. The idea that two kids could connect mentally after a near-death experience and maintain that connection for life was interesting. The way they connected and the experiences they had mentally were also interesting.

Less interesting was the way the hero decided to "punish" the heroine for using him. That would have made sense to me if she actually new she was using him, but she thought he was a figment of her imagination (which he knew) so...his actions just seemed skeevy. I was also bothered by how sweet, naive and perfect the heroine was portrayed to be. She was just so nice and so sweet and so willing to forgive and move on. This really bothered me.

There was a lot here that bothered me, but for all that I enjoyed much of the story. I look forward to reading the second book.… (más)

It's at this point I'm kicking myself. I bought this Silhouette book and [b:Snowbound With The Bodyguard (Wild West Bodyguards)|2941682|Snowbound With The Bodyguard (Wild West Bodyguards) (Silhouette Romantic Suspense #1521)|Carla Cassidy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267386431s/2941682.jpg|2971113] at this little book store in Vermont for two dollars each. There were a ton of others on the shelf, too, but I only bought the two. I wish I had taken the time to get more.

I loved this one, too. Actually, I loved this one much more.

Right off the bat I was worried because it's a 215 page book and the plot seemed quite ambitious. Brilliant scientist Dr. Eva Petrova has found out something terrifying and devastating about the work she has been doing for mentor Burian Ryazan in a secured complex deep in Russian territory. She has brokered a deal with the American government: the information on his program for protection and a new start in America (she's actually an American citizen but she's been raised in Russia since the age of four). The majority of the book is her extraction from Russia with the help of Delta Force's Eagle Squadron. What the men of Eagle Squadron don't know is that Eva isn't alone. She's a package deal with her three-month-old daughter Katya.

That's a lot of plot for a little book.

Believe it or not, there's even more plot that pops up in the last 15/25 pages. It might be predictable to some the second the basis of the plot is revealed, others may pick up the clues along the way. While I picked up the clues, I was confused on some of the aspects of the virus, so I wasn't totally sure of the cause.

This book, of course, doesn't escape the cliched or predictable but it has the benefit of being surrounded by a compelling story with mostly likable characters.

Eva can be abrasive as hell, but when you think about it you can understand why. Terror and fatigue will do that to a woman. Not to mention a new mother. Still, it could be annoying. The only issue where I absolutely didn't understand her position was on why she kept her daughter a secret from the government, thus keeping the extraction team in the dark. It was a needless risk. Once she settled down some I liked her a lot more.

Jack Norton is your typical romance novel Special Forces alpha male. Out of the five or so other men on the team he ends up being the one to take care of Eva and her baby, particularly when they have to split from the others. He is drawn to Eva's beauty, intelligence, but especially her strength. He tries to fight what he's feeling for the Doctor because she is his mission and it's inappropriate – though he doesn't do a greatest job of it. At a certain point I was considering stealing Rameau's Inappropriate Erections bookshelf. Thankfully, though, neither he nor she forgot that their lives were in peril. He also wants to fight his feelings because of his childhood and his perceived defective commitment genes. In spite of his efforts he can't fight it and risks everything for her.

The biggest problem I had with the two of them, and really in the entire book, was that they were walking a very fine line of sexualizing her breastfeeding. I get they were feeling some things and he saw some things but then they both dwelled on it so. freaking. much. It started to make me uncomfortable. I get some people have that kink but I certainly don't. And I don't really believe that was the author's intention. I think it might have been a misguided way in which to introduce sexual tension.

I loved how front and center Katya was throughout the story. She wasn't cast off to the side and ignored, rarely a factor, or barely an inconvenience like we see in so many romance novels with children. Especially romantic suspense. The problems an infant would pose in a life threatening situation were present. This baby actually cries and they are actually worried about people hearing her. She needs to be fed, changed and protected. Jack doesn't completely melt at taking care of Katya, but by the end he obviously adores "the pipsqueak."

The final conflict was resolved pretty much exactly the way you think it will be. And the very end even more so. I didn't appreciate how quickly the relationship moved in general, but I was reading a Harlequin novel so it's not like I didn't know exactly what I was getting into. While I think it was too smushed up in those twenty or so pages it was still mostly satisfying to me.

I enjoyed reading this. I kind of want to knock down the rating of Snowbound with the Bodyguard to reflect the difference.… (más)