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Dangerous
By: Patricia Rosemoor
Releasing January 6th, 2015
Loveswept
Fans of Linda Howard will love
Dangerous, the story of a driven female cop who teams up with an irresistible
ex-con to bring a killer to justice—and discovers that breaking the rules is
hotter on the wrong side of the law.
Chicago
homicide detective Camille Martell will stop at nothing to track down “Angel,”
a sexual predator who has already butchered two young victims—even after her
off-the-books investigation leads to her suspension. But when her relentless
attempts to contact Angel online puts her teenage neighbor in mortal danger,
Camille’s worst fears are realized. Panicked and overwhelmed with guilt,
Camille needs help—even if it comes from the one man she swore she’d do
anything to forget.
After
serving time for a trumped-up charge, private investigator Drago Nance doesn’t
trust cops. Nothing will change that, not even the steamy weekend with Camille
that burned itself into his memory. But with an innocent girl’s life at stake,
Drago can’t ignore the need in Camille’s eyes, or the heated promise in her
touch. He agrees to help—if she’s willing to play by his rules. He just never
suspected that seducing his partner could be just as thrilling as chasing a madman.
4 Stars
This was a well thought
out story. It was pretty intense from time to time, but that is to be expected
considering the subject. There were a few things that got in the way of my
truly getting into the book, but overall, definitely 4 stars.
There were only two
things that bothered me and kept this from being a 5 star read. For one,
Camille puts her unwanted attraction to Drago on the same level guilt level as
letting her neighbor be kidnapped. She even mentions that she doesn’t know
which she is more worried about. Well, that should be a no brainer. The second
was a small part of the plotline. While it is common for killers and sexual
predators to have an initial trigger, someone to punish through their victims,
it’s made clear to the reader far too early in the story. Also, the villain is
not even always aware of who has flipped that switch in them, and in this case,
he was blatantly aware. While not at all unbelievable, it might have added an
element of suspense and a little more depth to the book. But, despite these
things, I really did enjoy the read.
Camille is a tough chick.
She’s a by the books, life is black and white, kind of cop. Until she is
assigned a case that turns out to be a murderer and sexual predator. Due to a
childhood trauma, and her duties as a homicide detective, she gets way too
involved in the case. When her superiors take it away from her, she decides to
continue investigating on her own. While admirable, there is a reason that cops
aren’t supposed to do that and a simple mistake on her part puts her 14 year
old neighbor in the hands of the man she is hunting.
Due to her actions, she
is officially suspended. But, as we’ve learned Camille is dedicated to this
case, so she contacts an old mentor who is now a private investigator. He
assigns her to work with his brother. And, here’s where the sparks begin to
fly. Four years prior, after an accidental meeting, Camille and Drago spend a
passion filled weekend together, and both are surprised at the bond they feel
between them. However, after the weekend was over Drago promised he would call,
and never did. Now, there is a hostility between them, on top of the raging
attraction that they still have for each other.
Drago spent 6 months in
jail on a trumped up charge for an incident when he let his temper get the
better of him. He grew up in the hood and still lives there. Having grown up
near where the story takes place, I can assure you, it’s a dangerous, dangerous
place to live. There are places that even cops won’t go at night. It’s things
like that, that have caused Drago to walk the line, and also the mitigating
factor behind his misdemeanor. In all reality, Drago is a standup guy with a
bit of a hero complex. He dedicated his life to staying out of the gangs and
helping others to do the same.
The personalities of
these two characters are well thought out and the author backs it up through
their experiences. Camille is stubbornly holding on to her guilt for the deaths
of a friends and two women, and now her neighbor. Her outlook is very black and
white, there is now gray, which means Drago is a criminal and his methods,
though effective, are also unacceptable. The thing is, she’s already crossed
that line and she doesn’t seem to get that it’s the same thing. To add fuel to
the situation, she doesn’t understand the details of Drago’s arrest, and passes
judgment about it, without investigating the circumstances. This is again, an
example of how not looking at the grey areas of life can be detrimental.
Drago is a confident guy,
but for some reason, he can’t see himself as good enough. Of course, her
attitude certainly doesn’t help. He’s dealing with bitterness over the hand he
was dealt as a child, toward his brother for not getting him out of jail, and
toward Camille for not seeing beyond what she thinks he is.
The storyline was clearly
well plotted and researched. It did not feel overdone, as so many suspense
novels can. This was a well written book and I would read more from this author
in the future.
With 90 novels and more than seven million books in print,
Patricia Rosemoor is fascinated with "dangerous love" – combining
romance with danger. She has written various forms of romantic and paranormal
romantic thrillers, even romantic horror, bringing a different mix of thrills
and chills to her stories.
Patricia has won a Golden Heart from Romance Writers of
America and two Reviewers Choice and two Career Achievement Awards from RT
BOOKreviews, and in her other life, she teaches Popular Fiction and
Suspense-Thriller Writing, credit courses at Columbia College Chicago. Three of
her Columbia grad students and two students from other venues are now published
in novel-length fiction
Thanks for spotlighting Dangerous and for the good review.
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