A Dangerous Woman (Love Spectrum Romance) [Paperback]

J.M. Jeffries (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Genesis Press (September 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585711950
• ISBN-13: 978-1585711956
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,226,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J.M. Jeffries is the award winning writing team of Miriam Pace and Jacqueline Hamilton. Authors of romantic suspense and romantic comedies, they can't decide if they like killing people more than they like making them laugh. Miriam and Jackie have been writing together for eleven years, though it seems longer on occasion when they are on deadline. Miriam thinks Jackie is a master manipulator. Jackie knows Miriam is a bulldozer. Miriam has a deep and passionate love for shoes, amber jewelry and purebred cats. Jackie collects red lipsticks, Animaniacs memorabilia and steals pens.

Together they've written over twenty-two romance novels including the award winning Cold Case Crime Unit series for Genesis Press and the critically acclaimed Cupid series for Amber Quill books. They have also appeared in three anthologies.

Miriam and Jackie live in Southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid this Turkey, January 2, 2007

By 

lawlady (Lexington, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dangerous Woman (Love Spectrum Romance) (Paperback)

I do not know what book the other reviewers were reading or what they read into this book but I would have to advise anyone out there to avoid this dud. If you must read this book, go to the library or the used bookstore. Do not pay the full price. Normally my Indigo Love Spectrum books stay on my keeper shelf but this one is already marked for the used bookstore trade-in.

Odessa Ripley, a CIA assassin, takes vacation from her CIA job and comes to Phoenix to do a secret investigation into her police detective father's death. Apparently, her father was involved in a dangerous investigation right before he died. She meets up with Detective Wyatt Earp Whitaker and he helps her with the investigation. Along the way they have a romance.

Well, the romance part is the first issue with the story. There is none. Whitaker starts talking about how hot Odessa is almost from the beginning but there is no chemistry between the characters and they do not even kiss until well more than halfway through the book. Even then, they only kiss and then have sex because she is feeling her "needs" and she wants him to do something for her.

The sex scenes were skimpy and what there was felt forced because I could not feel any passion between the characters. Odessa repeatedly said that she used sex as just a way to exercise and take care of her needs not for any emotional connection and you could see that she meant it. There did not appear to be any true feelings between them even while they were supposedly having this mind blowing physical relationship.

The second thing that I did not like was the inconsistencies in the story. Odessa is a covert CIA agent who is concerned about her superiors finding out what she is up to. Also, she is supposed to keep her CIA job a secret. Yet, by 1/4 of the way through the book, everyone in the book knows that she is a CIA assassin. That is the worst kept secret. Also, she continually involved her CIA associates in the investigation. And, she is working with the Phoenix police even though she is not a law enforcement officer and has no legal right to be involved. Everyone just assumes that it is A-OK for her to be in the middle of the investigation and questioning witnesses and carrying and shooting a gun. This is so unrealistic as to be scary that this author wrote this thinking that there was any shred of realism or credibility.

Now normally I love a tough, "I can handle myself" type of heroine but this book just went over the top trying to establish her. On the first page of the book, we see her doing her job and taking out a double agent so we know she is tough but I think that this is over-emphasized and it becomes tiresome. Even the main character, Whitaker, expresses some distaste for Odessa's tough chick persona. I felt that there was just too much.

One thing that also puzzled me was why the author even bothered to make this book an interracial romance. There was little issue about the characters' race. Their racial difference was rarely discussed and did not appear to be any sort of issue between them. The crime that the father was investigating was a possible hate crime but that is the only place where race really entered the issues. The few times that race came up, it was more like an afterthought and not a serious concern.

Lastly, the pictures on the cover do not come anywhere near the description of the characters inside the book. Not that this matters to the story at all. Just an observation.

All in all, I guess that it is apparent that I did not like this book. I gave it one star because I could not go lower than one but I do want to say that unlike the rest of the Indigo Love Spectrum books, this one did not have any grammatical and/or editing errors. This would have warranted another 1/2 star if I could have given such a number.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Read, November 23, 2006

By 

beebee0120 "beebee0120" (TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dangerous Woman (Love Spectrum Romance) (Paperback)

I enjoyed this story which involves government assassin, Odessa. She's out for revenge against the persons responsible for the death of her father. Odessa takes a trip to Phoenix, the place where her parents lived and where the murder occurred. While there, she meets Wyatt Earp (No, not the one you think). This one is somewhat of a not so old, good ole boy who happens to be a cold case detective working the case. Wyatt is trying to run interference (He tries desperately to keep Odessa out of trouble)while at the same time help Odessa find the killer(s). That's where the fun begins. They start falling for one another, which adds another interesting element to the story for they are so much fun to watch. Yes, I felt as though I was watching instead of reading about them. I really loved the constant banter between the two of them. There were more than a few really funny lines. I'm looking forward to seeing there story continued in the future, I hope.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good read., November 20, 2006

By 

Louisiana Lady (Louisiana USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dangerous Woman (Love Spectrum Romance) (Paperback)

Book Description: Rogue CIA agent Odessa Ripley is back home in Phoenix on a mission of vengeance. To find her father's killer teams up with hotshot good-ole-boy detective Wyatt Earp Whittaker of the Cold Case Unit, and what looked like a random shooting turns into a conspiracy that reaches deep into the Phoenix Police Department. While digging for evidence against a prominent Phoenix citizen, she finds her need for Wyatt becoming more important than her need to avenge her beloved father's death. Upon meeting the brash CIA agent, Wyatt has met his match. Odessa plays by her own set of rules; she's as tough as she is beautiful, and as sexy as she is cynical. He's falling in love with a woman he might have to arrest for murder. Even as Odessa is determined to discover the truth about her father, Wyatt is just as determined to capture her heart and preserve justice. He refused to jeopardize their growing love, their lives and their very souls. Odessa is faced with the choice of a lifetime. Will she sacrifice honor for love and vengeance for happiness?

This was my introduction to this writing team so I didn't expect much. I noticed early on that the cover art did not match the author's description of the heroine and hoped this was not a sign of things to come. I was pleasantly surprised however, enjoyed the story, and went on to purchase several related stories previously released.