Customer Reviews

Revelations : Count on a Cop (Harlequin Superromance No. 1228)

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This book is well above the average for the Superromance series. There are a few echoes of one of Johnson's earlier books, _Woman in Blue_, but only in a few sentences about the relationship of Renee Patton to her deceased father in the earlier book and the relationship of Ann Caldwell to her late father in this one. Otherwise, the plots of the two books are distinct, granted the overall requirement that the hero and heroine of a romance need to fall in love. This plot, especially the unveiling of problems within the department in which the two cops work, is fresh and original.
One minor distracting aspect is that there are some things the proof-reader should have caught ("different than" rather than "different from"; "until death do they part" rather than "until death do them part"). The sense that the ending is rushed causes the reader somewhat more difficulty. The author set up several scenes that then were not written, possibly because she was running against the word limits for the series.
Those minor nits aside, both the working relationship of Juan Diaz and Ann Caldwell as partners and their growing personal relationship, as it complicates their work, strike realistic notes. The background characters (family, friends, co-workers) are genuine rather than caricatures. Caldwell and Diaz, who also appeared as minor characters in Johnson's earlier book _Mommy Said Goodbye_ deal with complexities.
It's a worthwhile book, above and beyond the romance genre.

Major Crimes Detective Ann Caldwell attending the funeral of a cop who died in an accident reflects on her deceased father, a former cop. Ann wanted her father to be proud of her, but failed; her mom did nothing for her. Thus Ann finds relationships difficult to accept. She works especially hard to gain respect from her peers as she tries to prove to her partner Juan Diaz that she is as good as any man.

When other cops die in accidents, Ann begins to believe coincidence aside, a serial killer is rampant. With Juan's help she begins to investigate. As they work the case, the partners fall in love, but he has kids to consider and she does not believe in relationships as none ever worked for her.

This super series can be counted on by police procedural romance readers to provide a strong tale, which in this case starts at a funeral that sets the tone for an exciting story. Ann is an intriguing protagonist as she tussles with herself in her personal life even as she falls in love, a girly girl thing to do that goes against her need to prove she is as good as any male. Juan is a fine counter to his partner as he believes she can be a woman and a good cop without compromising either. The who-done-it is well written, but takes a back seat to the deep look at a cop with demons to battle.

Harriet Klausner