Customer Reviews

Bad Attitude

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

J.D. Steele is in jail serving 25 years in an Army prison for shooting at his commanding officer. Considering that his commander is still alive, he should count his lucky stars because Steele is one of the best snipers around. He doesn't miss unless it's on purpose! Now he has an opportunity to use the "Get Out of Jail Free" card but there is a catch. He needs to help find and disable a fellow sniper before he kills a powerful politician. The clock is ticking and time is running out.

BAD agent Sydney Westbrook is a no-nonsense agent whose luscious curves and Angelina Jolie-like looks make it difficult for her to be taken seriously. Now she has a chance to make her case and save the world from chaos by working with Steele. All they have to do is stay alive, fight their physical attraction and find the other sniper before it is too late.

BAD Attitude is the first full length BAD novel by Ms. Kenyon. It has non-stop action and suspense mixed in with some hot attraction and sex appeal. Steele is a hardened man who has pretty much lost everything. He is basically expendable because no one will miss him if he fails. I can't imagine living alone with no emotional support, but I admire his dedication to Sydney and his friend Jake. Steele is a strong man who just lost his way, but this assignment helps him to at least find himself again and open himself to the possibilities of love.

Sydney is a rather unconventional agent who seems to bumble the assignment, causing Steele more problems than what it's worth. She just doesn't get that sometimes life doesn't always follow the book. I didn't like how she totally dismissed Steele's opinions or thoughts. However, I do believe that Sydney brought out the good inside Steele. He came alive when he was with her. The secondary characters play a very important part in their story, not just on the assignment, but helping to shape their relationship. The twists and turns in BAD Attitude made it difficult to put down. I couldn't even figure out who the other sniper was and was honestly shocked when the person was unmasked. I truly enjoyed BAD Attitude and I can't wait to read Sherrilyn Kenyon's next installment in the BAD series.

Lee

Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Ms. Kenyon's full-length effort "Bad Attitude" is bad in a very good way! This story was really a page turner with two very strong leads which at times can be overwhelming but here played perfectly.

Josh Steele former Army sniper is cooling his heels in Leavenworth after letting his temper get the best of him. So life for him is now peeling carrots and potatoes with a spoon. That is until BAD comes and waves a "get out of jail free" card. Only Steele doesn't want to pick up a rifle again and the concept of going blindly into a situation with the intel he's forced to use does not sit well with him. When he's told that he has to have a partner on his mission he wants to refuse but he can't. Sydney is not your average partner or lady. She's something special but will Josh figure that out before it's too late?

Sydney learned the hard way that men lie and cheat and can't be trusted. That's okay though because her work as a BAD agent doesn't leave room for romance. So why is it she can't think of anything else when around tough guy Steele? Will these two wounded people be able to help each other find the light at the end of the tunnel and abort an assassination or will they fail?

Sydney and Josh were compelling characters that were strong and not willing to back down all that often. This may put off readers but I recommend that they stick with the story, as they will be well rewarded in the end. Old friends as well as new ones are introduced over the course of this read. Ms. Kenyon truly knows how to weave a story and I don't think it's possible for her to pen a dud. If she has...I haven't read it yet.

America's leaders know that if they just follow the rules, lives will be lost--American lives. That's why they've created the Bureau of American Defense--B.A.D. Headed by John Q. Public, BAD specializes in bringing in rule-breakers who'll do whatever it takes to make things happen. When they get information on the planned assassination of a foreign leader on American soil, BAD decides they need ex-Army sniper J. D. Steele to infiltrate the private security company that serves as a world-class murder-for-hire organization. Steele has plans of his own--plans that don't include working for anyone, but the possibility of getting sprung from his 25-year term in the Army brig, and the pure sex-appeal of BAD agent Syd Westbrook, just might make him re-consider.

Since eco-terrorists killed her brother and nephew in an attack on lobster boats, Syd Westbrook has hated extremists, even though she knows doing so turns herself into one. She swears she won't be attracted to another agent, but Steele is the kind of guy who makes her want to break the rules. Although she's not a one-night-stand kind of girl, Steele is persuasive.

Author Sherrilyn Kenyon takes the two in a thrill-packed adventure of chase, kookie sidekicks, and strange plot twists. Kenyon's strong writing kept me reading this story despite a number of problems that would have led me to toss aside the book were it written by a less capable author. Unfortunately, these problems still detract. First, Kenyon couldn't quite make up her mind whether she was writing an adventure or a comedy. Many of the names (B.A.D, John Q. Public, and The Thi Ho), Steele's pet names for the foreign nation (Oompa-Loompas), the back history with lobster terrorists (really!), and Syd's Toyota that supposedly can go from zero to sixty in 2.2 seconds (compare to 5.0 seconds for a Porshe 911 Targa or 4.5 seconds for a Maserati 3200 GT and you get the idea how silly a 2.2 second figure is), all point to humor. And the over-the-top willingness to violate American Law for the protection of the American Way points to a certain irony. But the setup, adventure, and writing are anything but comic.

Major editing blunders also weaken the story. (Warning--possible spoilers). At one point, Syd realizes that Steele has not fired a shot--a strong moment in their relationship arc--except that he had fired several shots. Steele's statement that he'd never broken a promise was another relationship moment, contradicted by the fact that the opening scene was about Steele breaking a promise to his late spotter's wife. Finally Steele's conclusion that the suspected assassin was too unimaginative to have left a false name at a bed and breakfast strains all credibility.

BAD ATTITUDE required more suspension of disbelief than I expect in a romantic suspense, but Kenyon's writing is strong enough to propell the reader through the story.

This book was terrible. To Ms. Kenyon's credit, I don't think she wrote it beyond the first 50 pages or so. It reeked soooo badly that I have to keep it in a ziplock bag in my freezer to keep the half-baked characters, tedious and completely unbelievable plots from jumping out and infecting my other books. (Actually, not that bad, but I hold her up to a much higher standard.)

Characters -- she does a good job with developing the male character...at first...and then just drops off. Hardly any building of the female character at all, beyond that she has a, well, BAD attitude and everyone comments on how much she looks like Angelina Jolie only fatter wherever she goes. Unlike other Kenyon novels, you don't give a rip about 'em, either one, even by the end of the book. They could get married or break up, you don't care.

Plot -- REALLY far-fetched. Relies on cops not knowing the face of the most-wanted escaped criminal in the US, and looking right at him and saying dopey things like "don't I know you from somewhere?". Relies on terrorists hiring assassins they don't need because they already have one. Steele doesn't trust government intelligence anymore so what does he use instead for live-or-die information? A one-sentence comment from a guy he had never met, in a bathroom. Who had all the reason in the world to say just that, even if it wasn't the truth. Sheeesh. The ending was just too much. I won't ruin it, but terrorists get life in prison or the death penalty or something, Sherrilyn. Look it up.

That's all I'll say. Skip it, but read her other books -- even the other BAD books were OK to pretty good and worth buying.

I have read the Dark Hunter Series by Ms Kenyon. While those books were very good, the premise was getting old. I think she has come up with a winner compromise.

Josh Steele goes to prison after nearly killing his superior officer. While the reasoning was believable, the action was not. However, it was the basis for the rest of the book and it was a really fun read. The Sydney character was a good foil and the repartee very good.

My only complaint: this book should have been a paperback and I will get the next one from the library.

This is the first book I've read in the BAD series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, but it probably won't be the last. It wasn't the most interesting story or the most logical, but it was fast-paced and I finished it in only 4 hours.

Sydney Westbrooke, known as Syd Vicious around the office, works for the government agency Bureau of American Defense. Her job in this novel is to find a sniper to help her take out an assassin who is out to murder a foreign diplomat on American soil. The sniper they find for her is J.D. Steele, or Steele as he prefers to be called, an ex-Army sniper in jail for his bad attitude and refusal to follow orders.

Overall, I could have done without Syd's "woman in charge at all cost" mentality, which I found both annoying and implausible in equal measure. However, Steele provided a nice balance for it that made me able to get through the book without being totally angry. Kenyon's love scenes sizzle even if her characters don't. Like I said, I'll give her another chance even though this one was just so so.

This book is a continuation of the series introduced in Sherrilyn Kenyon's anthology "Born To Be Bad" but can be read as a stand alone. BAD is an acronym for a shadow agency that employs misunderstood? anti-heroes. Anyone who enjoys Ms. Kenyon's Dark Hunter series can expect the same great sexual tension in this book. The action was well written, and the male dialogue believable. If bad language isn't your thing, beware, there is lots of it but it lends credibility to Jason Steele's persona who also employs a lot of glib sarcasm which personally appeals to me. Great book and another keeper.

THIS BOOK WAS STIMULATING AND EXCITING AS ALWAYS SHERRILYN DELIVERS THE GOODS. THIS BOOK WAS HOT AND WORTH READING AGAIN AND AGAIN. GREAT PLOT HOT ACTION. I BOUGHT MY BEST FRIEND A COPY SO I DIDN'T HAVE TO LOAN OUT MINE. THIS BOOK IS A KEEPER.

For the most part I don't read contemporary romance novels. They just don't do it for me. I like the fantasy and magic and the complete absence of anything that even remotely reminds me of real life. But, once in awhile I like something like this. This book was good, I think her paranormal stuff is better, but this was good. It just didn't feel like her whole heart was into it though.

The story was solid, a little corny on some of the dialogue, but well crafted otherwise. The ending was a little rushed for me though.

I just don't personally care for the gentlemen of BAD just yet. I need a little something more to make me watch out for these guys. This book is an improvement over the earlier ones in the series though so I have hope. The characters are developing and becoming more complex with each story. I just can't say for sure that this is worth what they are asking for the hardcover price. That is for you, the potential reader to decide.

Sydney Westbrook is an agent for the Bureau of American Defense (BAD). She must find an assassin to foil the plot to kill the President of Uhbukistan. If the President is killed the consequences could lead to a grave terrorist attack.

Josh Steele a military sniper is in prison for shooting at his senior after his friend and collegue was killed in battle due to a bad command. He is offered a deal to be free of prison if he agrees to be BAD's assassin to stop the President of Uhbukistan being killed. Josh agrees to gain his freedom and is teamed up with Sydney.

This book is hot and Josh is drop dead gorgeous. The chemistry between Sydney and Josh sizzles off the pages. Together they save the day and get hot and bothered involved with each other on the way. Miss Kenyon delivers a fast paced thriller with hot steamy sex between the two main antagonists.

Lea Ling Tsang