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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
...This Is The Masochist's Risk, That The Game Gets Out Of Hand.-Esme Alden, September 9, 2008
This review is from: Loose and Easy (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the ninth book in the Steele Street series.
Johnny Ramos is a Ranger and he just got back from Afghanistan and his third combat tour. Johnny is now home and hoping to become part of an underground governmental Special Forces team known as SDF. He's trying to enjoy a beer when he recognizes the hooker hobbling down the street as his high school crush and class Valedictorian. He can't believe his eyes so he follows Esme to see what she is up to. Turns out, she's up to a lot.
I have always liked Johnny from the glimpses we have gotten of him in the previous books. His friendship with the colorful Skeeter Bang always enhanced his appeal to me. This book had the usual fantastic characters, hot cars and non stop action. But what made this book a little different is that almost the entire book covers the events of one single day; it really helped put me in the book.
Johnny and Esme make a great team and when the trouble she is in snowballs, they only get better. As always Ms. Janzen does a good job of introducing new characters, like Dax Killian, and giving you enough info to get you curious about the next story. She has me counting down the days until the next book and to kill the time I might revisit some of my favorite Steele Street books. This is a great edition to one of my favorite series.
Crazy Hot
Crazy Cool
Crazy Wild
Crazy Kisses
Crazy Love
Crazy Sweet
On the Loose (Steele Street, Book 7)
Cutting Loose
Cherise Everhard, September 2008
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast-paced, Non-stop Action Joyride!, August 28, 2008
This review is from: Loose and Easy (Mass Market Paperback)
Just when I'm certain Tara Janzen has written her best book ever, she surprises me with another one that's even better. Or it's just different. Or it's just that she's that talented. With her release of LOOSE and EASY, the third in her spin-off special ops series my Keeper Shelf is becoming crowded.
Bad boy, Johnny Ramos, newly returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan is waiting for his new assignment to Special Defense Force, SDF, an elite group of operatives based in Denver and deployed out of the Pentagon. He's come home to Steele Street, his days of running wild through the city long behind him. That is until he sees the valedictorian of his graduating class, the good girl who'd left him panting, strutting her barely-there miniskirt and fishnet hose into a hotel. Esme Alexandria Alden doing tricks? He follows her right into trouble, and is soon running wild through the mean streets of his youth trying to stay one step ahead of the law and the bad guys chasing them.
Seattle P.I. and art-recovery expert Esme Alden has this job planned out down to a gnat's eyebrow. Impersonate a local dominatrix, fleece her client of a stolen painting, return it to its rightful owner, take her fee and pay the ruthless bookie threatening to break her father into small pieces. She doesn't plan on her gorgeous high school crush crashing the party and changing all of her plans.
LOOSE and EASY is a fast-paced, non-stop action joyride, with Esme and Johhny chased in his 1968 Mercury Cyclone GT every step of the way. Staying ahead of their pursuers isn't their biggest challenge; it's staying ahead of their memories and passion for each other. Their race to the finish line and into each other's arms is one of the most satisfying reads I've had in a long time. Janzen never fails to amaze!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Agonizing "Thriller", March 10, 2009
This review is from: Loose and Easy (Mass Market Paperback)
Johnny Ramos has just returned home to Denver after his third tour of duty in Afghanistan when he sees the girl of his dreams apparently turning tricks. He can't believe Esme "Easy Alex" Alden, class valedictorian, has sunk so low, so he abandons his beer and follows her. He finds out the hooker appearance had been a ruse from her real job as a private investigator, but it's not much of an improvement. Her work still has her consorting with lowlifes and criminals, and her current caper is fraught with nothing but danger, which makes Johnny determined to stay by her side. Before the night is through, he saves her from a kidnapping, helps her broker a stolen art deal, they escape a crazed bookie's thugs using the "double dog dare," and they also manage to rekindle their old flame from high school, only this time it burns a whole lot hotter.
Sounds good, doesn't it? Unfortunately, it's not. The author has a roundabout delivery that reminded me of an excited kid telling a story: going around and around in circles repeating the same details while the plot barely moved along at an agonizing pace. This was further punctuated by a profusion of italicized exclamations (geezus! dammit! crap!) seen so often I began to believe they were there to fluff up the word count. Adding to the annoyance factor were numerous mentions of the Blue Iguana, which served no purpose but to get the clever name Blue Iguana in print a few zillion times. Some readers may also be bothered by the high level of profanity that seemed just a bit excessive for the book's target audience and could cost it some much needed fans. Other readers might be disappointed that this "hot" romance didn't deliver any sex until past page 300.
I actually liked the characters. Esme was capable and down to earth, and Johnny was a rock-hard Latino hottie with skills. What dragged the story down was an abundance of associations with characters with goofy monikers and everyone's obsession with their high school memories. The cars all seemed to have names, but since I think vintage muscle cars should, I'll let that one slide. There was actually much to like in this book, but the plot dragged slower than a hot summer day spent at work, and I simply could not stomach the author's roundabout method of meandering over to the point. Others may enjoy this chatty, chick-lit style, but it left me cold. For the kind of book that actually delivers what this one promised, I recommend Susan Andersen.
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