Customer Reviews

Matters Of Seduction (Harlequin Intrigue #844; Matchmakers Underground #3)

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This trilogy is based loosely on Max Tripp's Investigative Service - his service puts together a profile on the woman of some rich man's dreams.

Two agents from his service was engaged in this story - 1 got killed.
Was Clare McDonald, an up and coming lawyer being profiled?

Special Agent John Cahill, 39 was a legend among his colleagues but he couldn't protect his own daughter, Jessie.

Special Agent Prudence Dunlop, 28 was the daughter of Charlie Dunlop, the past head of the Agency. Her big dream was to work for Cahill, not fall in love with him. Between him and a serial killer she could have her career ruined.

Special Agent Tim Sessions was a colleague of Pru - and he was good at what he does.
John Allen Styles was a convicted serial killer - Sid Zellman was his new lawyer and Greg Oldman was Zellman's assistant.
All three seemed to be involved with the recent murders.

Tiffany Beaumont was Clare's best friend and upset when Pru wouldn't pull strings for her. Yet what should she have remembered?

Then we have the Houston Police Department in the form of Sergeant Janet Stryker and Sergeant Barry Reed. Is Stryker trying to gain all the glory in cracking the case?

Great fast moving plot with the inclusion of Pru's mother and Cahill's ex-wife - A neat who-dunnit that is intrigueing - Cahill is a weary, burned-out man that tries to explain to Pru the dangers of the job.

Definitely Recommended -PMS - with a little sex for the hussy

I realize that I am not the target audience for this book. That said...

I'd like to review the book "Matters of Seduction", by Amanda Stevens. I found it 3 days ago in the kitchen where I work. It was being offered for free alongside "Fortran 90" and a few other "classic" technical manuals. The physical book itself has seen better days. It was bent awkwardly, as if it had been stored on its side, underneath several other (better) books.

"Matters of Seduction" was published by Harlequin Press in 2005, as a part of their "Harlequin Intrigue" line of novels. This book is actually the 3rd in a series of 3 books that Amanda Stevens wrote that she has dubbed her "Matchmakers Underground" series. The cover features a young woman in a dark and sultry room looking at a laptop screen. She appears to be shocked by what she sees. The cover also boldly states that this book features LARGE PRINT, which I found appealing.

Let me just say up front that this book is not very good.

Our story follows Special Agent Prudence Dunlop, FBI, and her work on one of the toughest cases the Bureau has seen in years. Prudence (aka, "Pru") is a 28 year old FBI agent with big ambition (and the legs to match!). She has just landed her dream job working for SKURRT, the Serial Killer Unit Rapid Response Team, a crack team of FBI agents that specializes in understanding the minds of the psychotic... profilers, if you will. The SKURRT team is being led by Special Agent John Cahill, a legend among his colleagues, this "G-Man" has his own demons to battle, but with eyes you can get lost in!

The first page is a handy "Cast of Characters", where each of the main characters is listed with a small blurb describing who they are. I found this quite handy, as whenever a new character is introduced, you can check if they are on the list. If not, you can pretty much ignore them. You can also flip back here to remind yourself who people are if you forget.

Our story opens with our heroes trying to solve a new string of connected murders. Each victim is a woman who is holding a single red rose when she is found. They appear to be lured to their doom by a "Casanova". They think they've found the man of their dreams, but it turns out to be a nightmare! The murders match the "MO" of a convicted serial killer who's already in prison, John Allen Stiles. Are we dealing with a copycat killer? Does John Allen Stiles' deadly reach somehow extend beyond the prison walls?

The book then takes you on a wild ride of intrigue, romance, action/adventure, and a little sex. A web of interconnected characters emerges... the creepy lawyer... the ex-cop who's now a PI... the local ball-buster cop, Sergeant Janet Stryker... and many more. We follow our main characters as they become entwined in murder, fighting demons of their past, and .... love? It all leads up to a conclusion so shocking you will close the book and go to sleep after you finish it.

"Matters of Seduction" is like a bad episode of NCIS + Twilight - the all the vampires.