Customer Reviews

Cutting Loose

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After eight years deep undercover as a Central American drug lord, Zach Prade has been pulled out and returned to the US. His first assignment is to retrieve a bracelet with top secret information that fell into the hands of a documentary filmmaker. He soon discovers that this won't be a quick snatch job when he notices a couple suspicious men are also following Lily. All hell breaks loose when the henchmen show up with guns and to Zach's surprise, Lily kills one. They go on the lam to return to the safety of the Steele Street gang in Denver, but not before another person after the bracelet identifies them as the killers along with the very identifiable car Zach chose for surveillance - a rare cherry red 1968 Shelby Cobra Mustang. As they spend more time together, Lily's reluctance to get involved with a man she believes to be a drug dealer melts away. Can they get to Denver before the rest of the bad guys catch up with them?

As I scratched my head wondering who all these people in this very overpopulated book were, I discovered that this is the eighth book in a series. And unlike many series romances, this one really doesn't stand alone. The central couple only appears in a third of the book. The rest of the book is needless romantic build up for future novels, techno geek gadgetry, and far too much with secondary characters that really don't move this particular story along. Zach and Lily have scorching chemistry but their relationship was underdeveloped. I would have liked far more time spent with the two on the road, and more interaction with Bayonne and Kitten. When they finally meet, it is such a let down. Perhaps I would have liked it better had I read the other seven novels, but doubt I'll bother since this one was pretty average.

Zach Prade was one of the original chop shop boys who called Steele Street in Denver home. He was picked up as a teenager and found a home with the other Chop Shop boys Dylan, Creed, Hawkins, and JT. For the past eight years, he has been in deep cover as Alejandro Campos, a drug lord in El Salvador. In the last book, On the Loose, he meets Lily, a schoolteacher from New Mexico who is there to do a documentary on nuns. Instead she runs into trouble as she is a witness to murder, conspiracy, and espionage. He helps her get out of the country back to the US. From the first moment they met, there is a chemistry there that under the circumstances they cannot pursue. What do a drug lord and school teacher have in common?

Fast forward three weeks and Zach (aka Campos) is no longer undercover. He is back with the CIA. There is a problem in that Lily may have a bracelet given to her by the dead pilot she met in El Salvador that holds the key to valuable encoded files. Everyone is after this bracelet and will not stop at anything to get it including kill Lily.

Zach goes after Lily along with Charlotte, the Harlot, a suped up red Shelby Mustang that Zach helped rebuild when he was chop shop boy. They have to get away from New Mexico and back to Denver where Dylan and the SDF crew can help them. Along the way, they give into the hot chemistry they felt for each other since they first met.

As the second book in the Loose series and the continuation from her Crazy series, Janzen gives us an exciting romantic suspense adventure in the world of espionage, terrorists, and the men sworn to protect. Lily is no shrinking violet and is the daughter of a Montana sheriff and a past sharpshooter champion. Zach is looking to start over and begin a different life. He goes back to the only place he has ever called home, Steele Street.

The characters from her past books are involved in the story as well as new additions. Dylan, the head of Steele Street, his wife, Skeeter, the tech agent, and Red Dog are involved. Cherie Hacker is one of the newer characters and is a one of the tech agents associated with Steele Street and owns her own firm. Gabriel Shore is introduced as well and is Red Dog's brother and works for the government. These two computer nerds definitely have chemistry and potential for a future storyline.

I can't wait for the next book in this series which comes out in Nov 2008. Until then, read Janzen's Crazy series and the 1st book in the Loose series, On the Loose.

Lily, a school teacher, first met Alejandro Campos in El Salvador about a month ago. She was there filming a documentary about the nuns at St. Joseph when all hell broke loose, she watched an American pilot die and before he did he gave her a macramé bracelet. She managed to flee the chaos and end up at Alejandro's estate. The notorious drug lord was a friend of the sisters.

The immediate attraction between these two in On the Loose (Steele Street, Book 7)was palpable, but a case of the wrong place and the wrong time. After the 'war' was over, Alejandro flew Lily back to New Mexico. That was three weeks ago. Now he is back in the states and going by his given name of Zach Pride. The government in which he works for has given him an assignment... Get the bracelet from Lily.

Once again Zach/Alejandro saves Lily and the two of them hop in is 68 Shelby Cobra Mustang and are on the run. There are people out there looking for Lily, the bracelet and looking for Gillian, aka Red Dog. The two purposes collide bringing the Steele Street guys and gals into the mix.

This was a book that had something going at all times, never a dull moment. While getting us involved in this current story Ms. Janzen has a fabulous way with introducing characters and making us long for the next. Lily and Zach make an unlikely couple if you look at their backgrounds, but the chemistry between them, the attraction, is so real and believable, you can feel the heat.

I don't remember Dylan Hart, the Steele Street boss, being so funny, but man he had me laughing out loud in this book. His comments about Cherie and Red Dogs brother, Gabriel, were hysterical. This is a fantastic read and I eagerly anticipate Loose and Easy, coming in November 2008. Enjoy!

I love Tara Janzen's spin-off series to her Crazy... series! When she released On The Loose in October, I was thrilled. But I'm even more so with her newest release, CUTTING LOOSE. Now that I know what happened to the final missing Steele Street chop shop boy, the Crazy...series is complete on my Keeper Shelf!

After eight years deep undercover handling drug dealers, El Salvadoran guerillas, and threats to American interests, CIA agent Zachary Prade's come home to face his biggest challenge yet...a sexy schoolteacher from New Mexico who trails disaster in her wake. Three weeks has passed since he first laid eyes on Lily Robbins, when she landed on his plantation doorstep steps ahead of an angry band of guerilla's wanting more than the pistol and jeep she stole from the band's leader. The documentary film she'd taken captured a lot more than the plight of the nuns in the area! Now, it seems Lily's left Central America with the key to an encoded file several governments would kill to get their hands on. Zach knows he's the only one who can protect Lily and bring the key in out of the cold. But keeping Lily close is no way to protect his heart!

Lily trusted Alejandro Campos, the drug lord she'd met in El Salvador, even though she knew she shouldn't. He saved her from certain death in that Central American jungle. In fact, she can't put the delectable man out of her mind once he returns her home to New Mexico. But that trust is shaken when he shows up unexpectedly using another name, drags her out of her house in the middle of a gun battle with two assassins, and demands a key she doesn't have! Forced to race for safety with Zach in Charlotte, the Harlot, a 1968 Shelby Mustang Cobra GT500KR, she ultimately discovers all she can trust is her heart.

Janzen hit her stride quickly with the second book in her series. Cutting Loose is fun, action packed, steamy hot, and chockablock full of delicious heroes, intriguing heroines you can relate to, and a muscle car some might consider trading for their firstborn. Throw some of my favorite guys and gals from Steele Street into the mix, as well as introduce some new, intriguing faces, and this reader is ready to run to the nearest bookstore for Janzen's next exciting novel in the series. Can't wait!

I love this newest release. First and best Dylan and Skeeter are in it!!!!--NEVER ENOUGH DYLAN AND SKEETER!
The main story with Zach and Lily is really wonderful. They are now my second favorites behind D&S. If you have read Tara before and had become disappointed around the time Crazy Sweet(not) came out then you MUST read this book. Its GREAT! Loose bring us up to date with all the chop shop boys AND it provides a lot of previously unknown backstory for them!
I highly recommend this book to any fan of the CRAZY series.

CUTTING LOOSE is by far Ms. Janzen's best of the chop-shop boys. Until today, my favorite was CRAZY WILD, which won Romantic Times' Best Intrigue of 2006. This is better. For fans of Steele Street, this book brings us up-to-date on all of the chop-shop boys (and girls) and lets us know that once their "story" is finished, they are not forgotten, but still a large part of the Steele Street family. For readers who have never read any on Janzen's work, this is a great stand-alone book, but will have you racing back to the store to buy the rest of the series.

I've always said that Janzen had the perfect ingredients for a book: cars, guns, and sex (not necessarily in that order). These ingredients are being so well blended that her recipe is nearing perfection.

You will fall in love with her characters, main story and minor ones as well! I can't wait for her next developments.

Alejandro Campos came to life a few chapters into On The Loose. He and his world were so compelling he took over the book. Campos in On the Loose is angelic looking yet ruthlessly dangerous, an El Salvadoran drug kingpin with an old vicious scar down one side of his face, unusually fine manners, and a penchant for Armani suits. Having been in deep cover for 8 years in this character and in Asia for years before that, he was tasked with helping the 2 main characters of that book recover sensitive government information. He meets Lili Robbins, a side character who stumbled into danger at a convent with her video camera, and you hope for a sequel.

Fast forward to Cutting Loose, and the title is exactly what Alejandro Campos does throughout the book, ditching his Campos persona and becoming his real identity, Zachary Prade. Gradually we learn his background as one of the original Denver Steele Street Chop Shop boys who has been working 12 years deep cover for CIA. He follows orders to go after a loose end that ended up on Lili Robbins' wrist, a macrame bracelet. Everyone is after that bracelet. Zach and Lili get chased by Chechen, Brit and Las Vegas bad guys from Albuquerque up through New Mexico and finally to Denver and Steele Street. Lots of action and fun, and and fast Shelby "Bullit" cars. And as usual Janzen introduces yet another couple to each other, Cherie Hacker and Gabriel Shore -- maybe they will have a book of their own. We see Dylan Hart and Skeeter Bang-Hart again (Crazy Love).

All 3 of these books -- On The Loose, Cutting Loose and Crazy Love -- are on my keeper shelf. I consider them the top books in the Steele Street Series which is saying something because it's a damn fine series. I find them worth re-reading every so often.

Cutting Loose was much better than the previous book in this series that I read, On The Loose. The main reason was that it was easier to understand what was going on as the story developed and the setting - America rather than El Salvador - felt rather more convincing.

The hero of this story is a man that we met under the name Alejandro Campos in the previous book. Despite him being a drug runner, he was portrayed there as a good man. In this book we discover why.

The heroine, Lily Robbins, found herself in the middle of an incident worthy of James Bond in the last book, watching an American pilot die as he pressed a macramé bracelet into her hand. She thought little of it, but when someone tries to kill her, and she is rescued by Campos (who wants the bracelet), she realises there is rather more going on than she thought.

Campos, going by the name of Zachary Prade, has to flee the area with Lily and as they start a six hour road trip he finds he has support that he hadn't previously expected. But can he and Lily keep themselves safe from the several groups who are after the bracelet, and can a rootless agent find his roots with Lily?

This was a good story and I liked both central characters. Their relationship was believable and the events in the story also seemed plausible. As before, the author has set up some subsequent stories in this one and I found the side-plot of Cherie getting lost underground a bit unlikely, plus her nerd mating ritual seemed rather too stereotypical, but this was a big improvement from the previous story.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2010

I read the Crazy series out of order and I must say, it's better if you start from the beginning! Only then can you truly appreciate the subltle build up to the satisfying reveal that Cutting Loose offers. The female lead, school teacher Lily Robbins, whom we met in On The Loose, has returned home from her near disastrous Central American sabbatical with way more baggage than she knows. Strange things have been happening since her return, and the arrival of an anonymous package with an enticing offer, kicks her daydreams of her outrageously handsome, seriously flawed, dangerously sexy and dubiously employed, Central American host/savior, Alejandro Campos into over-drive. Imagine her surprise when he seems to appear out of thin air...in her house, uninvited, in the wee hours of the morning (with her in her jammies!) To make matters worse, he's not her only early morning visitor! He encounters a couple of goons who are most definitely not dropping in for tea and crumpets! They're ALL shocked to find that HOT LEAD is the ONLY thing Lily's serving up with her semi-automatic Colt 45! Campos takes matters and Lily into his own hands and for a wild ride in his "Bullit" car. He's convinced she has what he came for and he'll do whatever it takes to get it. Before it's all over, he realizes she has what he needs and he'll do whatever it takes to keep HER.

As always, there's a story within the story (maybe two stories, in this case) as we finally meet Cherie Hacker (mentioned in previous books) and Gillian's brother Gabriel. These two are a departure from the usual Steele Street characters. Their geeky presence amongst such hi-wattage action figures, adds depth and a lttle comedic relief (Dylan's reactions to them especially). Gillian's humanization continues and more is revealed about her benefactor during her "Missing 30 days." Ms. Janzen is a master at introducing new characters by cultivating backstory and gradually revealing the history of our beloved Chop Shop Boys and the women who love them! What may seem like the offhanded mention of a name, a fond memory or a brief encounter shared, could prove to be the beginning of brand new adventure with new characters to love!

Personally, I'm still hoping that a story will come of the often mentioned (in Crazy Hot) "uncanny resemblence" between Creed and Travis. But, wherever or however the next story unfolds, there will probably always be just enough left untold to keep us wondering what if and what's next?!