Customer Reviews

Close Up (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Virginia Kantra always has edgy characters and scary stories, but now the gloves are off. The religious cult made me feel sick and the situations Lexie and Jack were in always went from bad to worse. As someone who likes a fast paced, suspenseful read, I enjoyed it, but I felt relieved when it was over. This is not a novel for unwinding over after a stressful day.

Virginia Kantra created a tension-packed romantic suspense about a woman trying to escape a cult in the woods of North Carolina, and a suspended cop who helps her, to the detriment of his own agenda--saving his sister from her husband who is one of the cult leaders. This one is a page-turner. You won't be disappointed.

Close-Up is exciting, suspenseful, romantic, sexy, and emotional.

Lexie Scott and Jack Miller meet in the woods outside a survivalist compound. She escapes while he's watching and getting ready to rescue his sister. Jack's a cop who was suspended for beating up a suspect, and he can't tell Lexie the whole truth because he believes she's an abused woman running away from her abuser, and his experience tells him that she'll end up going back and telling the abuser everything. Lexie is the daughter of the director of the FBI who'd been kidnapped to teach her father a lesson, and she can't tell Jack the whole truth because if he notifies her father, his sister will be in even greater danger.

Yet they have no choice but to trust each other, and working together to elude the pursuers and to try to rescue Jack's sister makes them develop respect and admiration for each other, in addition to the physical attraction they feel.

Close-Up is a definite page-turner. Don't start this one late at night, because you won't find a good place to stop and put it down until morning. It's full of non-stop action, sexual and emotional tension, and a very believable developing romance.

One thing I always look for in a romance is an equal relationship, and Close-Up delivers. Jack may have the edge on Lexie when it comes to training and physical strength, but Lexie holds her own with brains, guts, and determination.

Character growth is another aspect that pushes a book over from just good to excellent, and Close-Up has that, too. Both Jack and Lexie learn that there's more to them than they thought there was. Jack's been beating himself up for his loss of control, but he learns that his real strength is in his ability to care. Lexie's lived all her life in the shadow of her strong-willed parents, always being the flexible one and going along with things, but she learns she has emotional strength of her own.

I highly recommend Close-Up, and will be looking for more of Virginia Kantra's books.

This was an ok book. I enjoyed the main characters and their personalities. I was expecting a little more action and suspense considering it's labeled as such, but there just didn't seem to be a lot of it. It's a decent read, just don't pay full price for it. Won't be going in my permanent collection.

LOVED this book. Everything about it was great: the characters, the plot, the drama, the pacing. All great stuff! I really recommend it, even if you're not usually a suspense fan. This one might just turn you into a suspense reader.

This was a great debut for her first single title! Lexie and Jack were a joy to read. The suspence didn't over take the romance which was a nice. Now and auto-buy author for me!

I recently discovered Virginia Kantra and have been purchasing back titles to catch up on all I may have missed. Ms. Kantra is on my list of keepers.

I picked up this book because of the reviews. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I thought Lexie should have been more up front with her history sooner. But it all took place in a weeks time. A good part was the epilog. The author did a good job letting the two know each other and letting Jack get his life together before stepping into more adventures.

Lexie was believable with her innocence and overbearing parents. The author did a good job writing that for us to see. Over all well written. Jack was cool. I like him.

This was my first Virginia Kantra book & I loved it! This book had two great lead characters, a good storyline & some humor. I really enjoyed Lexie & Jack. I look forward to Ms. Kantra's next book!

Lexie's reason for not telling Jack who her father was plausible - at first - but I soon asked why Lexie couldn't reveal that to Jack early in the story. She could then add that she did not want her father to know about her kidnapping as a Waco-style debacle was likely to follow. Since going along with a plan to save Sally and the other members of the cult was what Lexie did, Jack would have seen she did care about his sister and the other people caught in the cult.

Of course, if Lexie had been forthcoming right at the start, the book would have only been ten pages! Well, maybe fifteen. As it is, it is 300-over pages too long. Jack is also one of the weakest heroes in terms of character development and all I came away with where Lexie is concerned is that she is small and blond. I did not mind that they fell in love after only a few days but closed the book concluding that they will be happily ever after only because both H & H are a rather mediocre couple and unlikely for one to outgrow the other.

Suspense-wise, Close Up was also rather bland with caricaturish villains. In most books, at least one character stands out. Sometimes, it's not even the main protagonists - like Suzanne Brockman's Jules from her Team Sixteemnseries or Gennita Low's Jed McNeil, T and Alex. Or even villains I found myself sympathetic towards like Louis Ronsard from Linda Howard's All The Queen's Men.

No one stands out in Close Up. It isn't a terrible read. Just not a terribly good one either. I have Home Before Midnight but am in no hurry to read it after Close Up.