Customer Reviews

Loose and Easy

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

 

 

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

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!

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.

In Denver bookie Franklin Bleak informs art recovery private investigator Esmee Alden that her father Burt owes him over eighty thousand dollars in gambling debts that is due now or else. She knows what or else means to someone as bleak as this vicious bookie is. So the story of her life repeats itself with "Easy Alex" risking everything to bail her dad out of trouble.

Since she does not have that amount of money, she finds a source. Multi-millionaire Isaac Nachman is offering a reward that will cover the debt, her expenses and more. She must retrieve the 1910 Jakob Meinland "Woman in Blue" Expressionist masterpiece painting from Otto von Lindberg and give it to Nachman. Masquerading as a street hooker, Esmee begins her quest only to have her almost high school lover Johnny Ramos, back at home after his latest military tour in Afghanistan, recognize her. Shocked as she was the valedictorian at East High, he needs to know why. Soon after he challenges her, the pair finds themselves in double and triple crosses with the only persons to trust being themselves.

This is a fast-paced romantic suspense thriller that never takes a breather as Esmee fails to live up to her nickname; nothing goes right on this tour of the streets of Denver except for Johnny. The story line is filled with action although there is some repletion for the benefit of understanding (in terms of the reader and not the cast) as information is reiterated. Still Tara Janzen provides an exhilarating tale as Esme with Johnny at her side takes on a horde of thugs from seemingly all sides of the Mile High city.

Harriet Klausner

If you've never read the other books, don't attempt this one. I did, not realizing, and it was mistake. Too many characters from prior stories, too many storylines all at once, too many people involved, and it all takes place in 24 hours. It's 90% inner dialogue and boring to boot. You feel like you came in 3/4 way through the story and never quite catch up. I won't read this author again.

If I hadn't read all the other books in the series, I would have disliked this book immensely. So, for those of you who've just discovered Tara Janzen, read the other books in order, then go back to this one.

That said, this book really wasn't that good until the 29th chapter, page 336, but it's important to read it simply because it's part of the package, so to speak.

Johnny and Esme weren't the problem. They were great but their storyline was one-dimensional and not interesting enough to base the entire book upon.

Throughout the book all the other characters from the series were mentioned by name or nickname, which for first-time readers of Janzen had to get annoying after a while, because none of these fine people ever appeared in the story, with the exception of a few operatives at the very end.

Johnny Ramos has just returned home after spending time in Afghanistan only to find himself following good girl Esmee Alden and she is not exactly doing something a good girl should do, unless you count pretending she's a street walker only to end up tying up a German visitor and stealing whatever it was the guy had good. Johnny has never forgotten the pretty little Esmee and this new side of her intrigues him. Perhaps a little bit too much.

Esmee is working hard to fix the mistakes of her parents okay, her father. As a PI she's in a perfect place to do just that. And then she runs into bad boy Johnny Ramos, her high school crush to enter her life and once again make her think naughty bad thoughts. High school is long over but the lust she feels for this man is anything but high school. Too bad her plans don't include falling in love with him. What's a girl supposed to do when life throws you a hunk?

I have enjoyed all of Ms. Janzen's titles and Loose and Easy delivers! This is a fast paced, sexy read with dynamic characters that the reader will be able to relate to. A sweet walk down memory lane with high octane passion and plenty of action. Readers will be left satisfied with this story!

I loved this book. Tara Janzen is a terrific writer. She puts so much action into her books that keep the reader excited and interested in what is going to happen next. I can not wait for the next book to come out.

I absolutely love Tara Janzen's books -- like my favorite TV show, "24", there's lots of action happening in a short period of time and many simultaneous story threads. I have read and re-read her Steele Street series multiple times and have enjoyed the earlier books in the new "Loose" series. This one, not so much.

Here's what I liked: the main characters are well-developed, flawed and believable. Their dialogue was crisp and the story line was intriguing. I also liked the secondary characters, even the bad guys, and the opportunity to see some old friends like General Grant, Loretta and Suzi Toussi.

So here's the problem I had -- this is the first Tara Janzen book that seemed to leave more loose ends than it wrapped up. I've read it twice, to make sure I just didn't miss things the first time. One example is a key incident in the story line -- the carved tatoos on two of the characters -- it jumps into the boat and flops around without resolution. And then there's the sudden and inexplicable PTSD event in the cave. It literally came out of nowhere and seemed to serve no purpose to further the story along. And that darn envelope that seemed to cause Johnny such emotional turmoil that it was noted TWICE, in detail -- was given about 20 words of explanation. Ugh.

Net-net, I'm still a Tara Janzen fan and I'll absolutely purchase the next book. But I have to rate this "three stars" since, even after two readings, I have a hard time remembering the plot.

Esmee Alden ran her own investigations company out of Seattle with her partner, Daniel "Dax" Killian. She is an expert at art-recovery. When her father, Burt, owes his bookie, Franklin Bleak, eighty-two thousand dollars, it is Esmee he calls. Multi-millionaire Isaac Nachman's reward will cover the debt. All Esmee has to do is recover a Meinland painting (done on copper), retrieve the reward money, and pay off Bleak. So Esmee is in disguise as a street girl reporting to a client (who has the painting). It should have been easy, just like her nickname, Easy Esmee.

Johnny Ramos has just come off his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan and is stunned to see Esmee trolling the streets of Denver. He went to school with her and cannot figure out how the smartest girl in school could end up selling herself. Since Johnny has not come down from his last deployment, all his instincts are still razor sharp and on high alert. Good thing too, because Esmee has no idea how many bad guys are after her.

***** Drama, drama, drama! That is what readers get in this suspense filled story. There is some unneeded and repeated information, but the constant action and drama is in no way broken due to it. I enjoyed every second my nose was buried within the pages of this exciting tale. Splendid entertainment! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.