16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome, December 2, 2009
This review is from: If Looks Could Chill (Berkley Sensation) (Mass Market Paperback)
Fantastic, awesome read. 4.5 stars all the way. Nina Bruhns does it again with If Looks could Chill. State Trooper Tara Reeves stumbles on dead bodies of animals in the Louisiana bayou and its up to sexy Storm agent Marc Lafayette to distract her before she ruins his op to catch a group of terrorist bent on bio warfare on U.S. soil.
This was one hot Cajun all the way. Tara didnt have a chance against that wonderful accent and the sensuality that poured off of him.
Bruhns did a great job blending the suspense in this romance and as in her previous novel, Shoot to Thrill, there is a parallel storyline running through this. Marc and Tara team up to stop the terrorist plot as the main plot and then we are given follow up glimpse of Gina (Rainie's best friend from the previous book) as well as another secondary romance. Bruhns is seamless in her transistions and this book reminded me of Suzanne Brockmann's style. There is constant action and so much going on that you have to pause and take a deep breath to absorb whats happening so you can stay on top of it. There was one point where I was frustrated and its only because the author does such a great job of leaving you wanting to know everything at once. Like Brockmann, the characters in this trilogy have clay feet but it just makes you love them more. Tara and Marc end up with a great HEA but I'm hungry for more and need to know what happens to the other characters that were so vital to the story. The secondary characters are more than interesting enough for me to hope that she writes a story for everyone beyond the trilogy that this novel is a part of.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top of the Game Series!, December 3, 2009
This review is from: If Looks Could Chill (Berkley Sensation) (Mass Market Paperback)
I would give this book 10 stars if I could! Superb book. I read everyday and lots of books (mostly romantic suspense) but this series is so much more than your average romantic suspense read. Chills and Thrills throughout in a well developed storyline, along with dynamic characters and dialogue that grip you from page 1. This series by Bruhns is as good as it gets for me. I simply was unable to put this book down. "Shoot to Thrill", the first book was fabulous but as the plot thickens and more characters are introduced, the second book steps up a notch. Beware - there are cliffhangers and you'll be left with unanswered questions until the third book comes out in April 2010. For those of you who require a HEA at the end of your books, you'll get it -- along with so much more!
One of the best new series I've read this year -- definitely a keeper series!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Okay but Lacks Something, December 8, 2009
This review is from: If Looks Could Chill (Berkley Sensation) (Mass Market Paperback)
This book was okay, But... According to the back cover, the book was supposedly about Marc Lafayette and Tara Reeves but there were so many characters that their story was not given justice. Not even a third of the book, I would guess, was about them. It was difficult to say whether the book was about Marc and Tara or Bobby Lee and Darcy or Rebel and Wade or Alex.
There were too many abrupt scene/character changes. You were just getting into one aspect of the story when you were jerked into another persons story. Lots of minnie cliff hangers, I guess to make you keep reading. There was never enough time given to a character to really delve into their motivations. I didn't feel that I ever really knew where any of the characters were coming from other than brief stereotypes. For example Bobby Lee grew up poor. Marc has 5 sisters. Tara's father was a stern military type who convinced her she had no worth and her mother died of pollution caused cancer and for some reason Darcy feels unlovable. That's about it for background and there was little description of the characters. Also, inexplicably Alex stays in his engagement with Helene when he seems to want Rebel, etc. Other reviewers mentioned Alex and Rebel as an item but I didn't care about Alex in conjunction with Rebel. As the situation is presented, he needs to man up. Cloudy unexplained motivations all around. I believe the author is trying to write a series similar to Suzanne Brockman's where characters and story line carry over from book to book which is fine but I need to know the characters a little more in depth in order to care.
The supposed heroine, Tara is a bit too wussy. She's a state trooper supposedly good at her job, (which we never see her doing at all), but she lets herself be pushed around. Also, she has sex with the hero less than 24 hours after she meets him (in a bit of a demeaning scene which made me cringe, where she basically lets herself be treated like a piece of meat) and is madly in love within 3 days. This didn't ring true for me which might have been why I liked Bobby Lee and Darcy's story much better since they had known each other for 5 years.
Finally as to the terrorist threat that the whole story supposedly revolved around, there was no real sense of urgency. The author told us we should care but the suspense was just not there.
So final verdict is that I didn't hate it, didn't love it. May or may not pick up the next one. Might flip through another one to find out what happens with Rebel and Wade. Might not. But I won't be giving it to my sister and reading buddy as a must read.
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