Customer Reviews

Operation: Reunited (Harlequin Intrigue)

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4 star:		(1)
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Linda O. Johnston finally gets it right in her third Intrigue, "Operation: Reunited," easily the best book she's written for the line. Two years ago, the love of Alexa Kenner's life, government agent Cole Rapaport, was killed in an explosion. Since then she has been trapped in a sinister plot by a dangerous man, forced to cooperate to save her parents' lives. There is no one she can turn to. Then a familiar stranger arrives at Alexa's mountain inn. He reminds her of Cole and makes her feel the way only he could. Does she dare hope this stranger is the one man she knows she can trust?

That's not really much of a question. Johnston tells us from the very beginning who the stranger is and the title is a dead giveaway. What matters is that Johnston takes this well-used plot hook and delivers a wonderful tale of romantic suspense.

"Operation Reunited" is a clear improvement over the author's previous Intrigues, the plodding and predictable "Alias Mommy" and the mediocre "Marriage: Classified." First and foremost, this is Johnston's first Intrigue to have an actual romance, one with all the passion and emotion the genre demands. While the characters in "Alias Mommy" had no chemistry and behaved like brother and sister and the leads in "Marriage Classified" were so underdeveloped that it was hard to care about their romance, the characters in "Operation Reunited" are placed in the kind of highly dramatic situation that is made for an emotional romance. That is exactly why this plot device has been done so often. Few that I have read have managed to do it this well.

The hero and heroine's relationship is passionate and has the feel of a couple who are meant to be together. This adds to the suspense. They can't show their feelings for each other because it would put their lives in danger. They also can't deny the attraction between them. Johnston uses this to add a high level of tension to her tale. Alexa is faced with a terrifying dilemma, the stakes are high and the villains are truly evil. I love this kind of story, where the characters are faced with insurmountable odds so the reader is really wondering how they will get out of it. That is suspense.

The story takes a number of unexpected twists toward the end that caught this reader off guard since, after reading enough Intrigues, you tend to believe things are going to happen a certain way. Instead Johnston keeps her story gripping to the finish. Alexa is a strong heroine. Although the hero's distrust toward the heroine grows tedious, it does have a worthy payoff. Frustrated readers should keep going. The destination is worth it.

The only thing that keeps me from giving this book five stars is a small one. I simply found the basis for the intrigue to be too far-fetched. Even after we've experienced terrorist attacks on American soil, the plot in "Operation: Reunited" is so big and elaborate and over the top in its intentions and execution that I couldn't make myself buy into it. The story is effective when it sticks to Alexa, "John" and their personal dilemma, but less when it gets into the conspiracy at the heart of the suspense plot. Other readers may not have this problem.

"Operation: Reunited" is an excellent Intrigue, with pulse-pounding romance and suspense in equal doses. This gripping read will pull you in and not let go until the last page is turned.