Juliana (philippaj) - reviewed on 8/7/2011 + 136 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

~ A STANDARD MCKENNA STORY; THEY'RE ENJOYABLE WHEN NOT READ ONE AFTER ANOTHER (3.5 stars) ~

I read this right after having read EXTREME DANGER, Book 5 in the series, and I definitely think that one needs to space out books by this author, because there are a lot of similarities.

You've got the ...
(some of these are kind of spoilers, but they're general and if you've read any other McKenna books, these will come as no surprise)
* crazy, psycho villain
* very weird and dangerous situation that compels the two main characters to be together
* heroine who is sweet and vulnerable, yet strong, and gives and gives and gives to the hero and takes all of his BS and mistrust and freaky stalkerish I'm-planting-tracking-devices-on-you-without-you-knowing in stride
* hero who is a total alpha with mad skills in bed and some type of law / military / security background who has always been the love 'em and leave 'em type until he met (or sketchily stalked/spied on) the heroine and then he can't help but be dazed by her beauty, sweetness, etc. etc.
* misunderstanding which makes the hero think the heroine betrayed him and so he confines / imprisons her because he wants to protect her even though he thinks she's been lying to him
* entire plot and love story that happens within the period of a few days and always ends with a wedding ring despite the unbelievably short amount of time they've known one another
... You get the picture.

They're enjoyable though, and when the heroes are sweet they're definitely swoon-worthy. Seth is the standard alpha who had a rough childhood and puts everyone off by being gruff but actually has a heart of gold underneath and is just lonely and grieving and needs the heroine to realize life can be amazing and he wants a home, a white picket fence, and children. ... Hmmm, did that sound too snarky? Sorry! ;-) Honestly, I actually did like Seth and found his complete lack of social skills quite endearing. (Quote #1 below is a perfect example of how Seth is utterly clueless but also hysterical).

I enjoyed the subplot in this one a lot more and I really liked that aside from the super-evil villain, other characters are murkier and you're not sure whether they're good or bad and kind of see they're a mix of both. In both books McKenna brings in some secondary characters' POVs and while in EXTREME DANGER I found it somewhat annoying and was a little bored by them, I liked it here and found Victor very interesting.

Raine was ... okay. I didn't dislike her, but never really got into rooting for her. It also *completely* bugged the heck out of me that she finds out Seth has been spying on her in the privacy of her own home for three weeks without her having any clue and her reaction is: "Oh, okay. Well I hope no one saw us have sex." Really?! Like ... really?!?! No: "You're kind of a psycho and really, really sketchy" or "Wow, think you could have told me that before I completely trusted you and we started sleeping together?" or even "I understand you were doing this for your undercover operation, but I'm still kind of pissed you stalked me for a few weeks and stared at me naked, so you're sleeping by yourself tonight"?!

I think I probably would have given this book 4 stars (and might still change the rating) if it hadn't been for the fact that it felt so similar to the book I had just read in this series. I'm interested in reading other McCloud books, but will be spacing them out from now on.

FAVORITE QUOTES:
"Lovers do things together! They rent videos, they ride Ferris wheels, they go out for pizza, they play Scrabble. They . . . they talk!"
"Talk?" He lifted his head and frowned, his eyes puzzled. "We talk all the time, Raine. I've never had such talkative sex."
"That's just it!" She wiggled, flailed, but couldn't budge him. "Two minutes alone with you, and I'm flat on my back. Every single time!"
A slow, knowing grin spread over his face. "Is this your way of telling me you want to be on top?"
(p. 184)

She was a fairy-tale princess out of his comic book fantasies. She glowed like a star. He hated it. It made his jaw clench [...] It made him want to wreck something, punch walls, hurl plates. He wanted to drag her into a corner and rip off her glittering veil of illusions. Remind her that she was his beautiful wild animal, not this remote, perfect being. She was earth and sweat and blood and bone, she was hunger and need and howling at the moon. Just like him. Part of him.
(p. 253)

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