Customer Reviews

Undercover Bride (A Year of Loving Dangerously) (Silhouette Intimate Moments, 1022)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was such an unexpected good read that I found myself reading in planes, cars, anything to finish it and pass it along to a friend.

Caleb Carpenter is the leader of the Brotherhood of Blood, a racist, bigoted organization that seeks power for the white race. Recently, it has been suggested that for the BoB to be more attractive to families, Caleb himself should form a family, and he is interviewing potential candidates from all over the nation.

Rachel Grunwald, daughter of a white supremacist and now SPEAR agent, is enlisted and sent to Caleb for a 30-day trail application. If Caleb likes her, he will marry her, if not, Rachel can at least find out about Simon, a mysterious arms dealer. Rachel is instantly drawn to Caleb, and it's difficult for her to see in the man she wants, the evil man she has come to destroy. Caleb, meanwhile, wants Rachel, but he's got deep secrets that could potentially destroy everything.

Wow, after Sharon Sala's first installment, I expected the 2nd book in the SPEAR series to be a let down, but if anything, I liked this book better. Rachel is smart, brave, courageous, great at her job and vulnerable when it comes to Caleb. Caleb, meanwhile, is darkly seductive and although we know he is the hero of the book, there are times where he leaves no doubt as to who he is in the Brotherhood.

Fabulous book, I can't want for either the next SPEAR book or Ms. Brant's next book.

SPEAR agent, Rachel Grunwald, infiltrates The Brotherhood of Blood as Caleb Carpenter's prospective bride. Her mission is to investigate the nature of the white supremacist organization's relationship with a man called Simon. A man set on destroying Jonah, the head of SPEAR.

But when Rachel meets Carpenter she senses that he is a man who possesses many secrets and is not entirely true to the image he projects. In fact, Rachel is almost certain that the "venom-spewing racist" is much more than what he seems. While her heart tells her Caleb possesses an inherent decency which is at odds with his plans as a white supremacist leader, her keen mind is determined to take him and his organization down in addition to finding out more about Simon.

Brant does an excellent job of building and sustaining the edgy quality of this story. Both Caleb and Rachel are intriguing characters and strong individuals. The author successfully illustrates Rachel's personal stake in bringing down supremacist militia groups as the daughter of one. In addition, Brant gives us veiled glimpses into the emotional side of Caleb's characterization as he struggles and deals with the development of his love for Rachel. This allows Brant's audience to realize that Rachel's suspicions about Carpenter are correct without giving away his secrets. By doing this, Caleb is truly presented as a three-dimensional character and the story's conclusion is believable as well as rewarding. Kylie Brant picks up this mini-series where it left off last month and, in my estimation, it keeps getting better.

If you've read everything by Kylie Brant, as I have, you've come to expect a certain level of excellence. Brant exceeds expectations with Undercover Bride. Rachel Grunwald goes undercover, posing as a candidate for Caleb Carpenter. Carpenter is the leader of a white supremacy group with plans to take over the country. Rachel finds that not only is Caleb a threat to the country, he also is a danger to her heart.

Rachel is a wonderful character. She's strong, brave, and witty. Brant allows us into Caleb's point of view enough to see him falling for Rachel, but not enough to figure out just what the man is up to. The reader is kept guessing up to the last few pages. And that final scene, I thought, was hilarious!

This book's biggest strength and its biggest weakness are its premise. Rachel goes undercover as the chosen bride of a white supremicist leader. She finds herself falling in love with him even tho she thinks he's this evil racist. Some people had a problem with the idea. I don't see why this premise is any more offensive than books where the heroine doesn't know if the hero is a murderer or a serial killer. Nobody gets mad about those. We know he'll turn out to be innocent in the end and any reader should know how this book will end. The day Silhouette prints a book where the hero is a murdering racist is the day they go out of business. I was bored because the writer let the secret go on too long. There was zero suspense because we know there is more going on than it seems. It would have been better if she found out the truth earlier. All the wondering was boring because I wasn't wondering too. Also the reasons for everything Caleb was doing seemed unrealistic to me. There wasn't enough story to keep me interested.

This romance has it all--suspense, heart stopping emotion and a love story to die for! Undercover agent Rachel Grunwald infiltrates a white supremacy movement with the goal of destroying its leader, Caleb Carpenter. But once there she begins to suspect there is much more to the man than she thought. Is there more to Caleb than meets the eye? Or has she finally lost the famous objectivity that makes her such a great agent?

This was my first novel by Kylie Brant, and I've already started buying her backlist. I'm not going to want to miss a single one of her books!

If you've read everything by Kylie Brant, as I have, you've come to expect a certain level of excellence. Brant exceeds expectations with Undercover Bride. Rachel Grunwald goes undercover, posing as a candidate for Caleb Carpenter. Carpenter is the leader of a white supremacy group with plans to take over the country. Rachel finds that not only is Caleb a threat to the country, he also is a danger to her heart.

Rachel is a wonderful character. She's strong, brave, and witty. Brant allows us into Caleb's point of view enough to see him falling for Rachel, but not enough to figure out just what the man is up to. The reader is kept guessing up to the last few pages. And that final scene, I thought, was hilarious!

Rachel works for the SPEAR agency. She goes undercover to be part of a militia group called The Brotherhood of Blood. Her assignment is to become the wife of Caleb Carpenter.

Sexual content: moderate. Copyright: 2001. Genre: romantic suspense.

#2 in a Year of Loving Dangerously.

Rates a plus for the scenes -- a hanging cliff? secret rooms - hidden agendas -- a minus for the cover [should have been Kevin Spacey]

General Caleb Carpenter [grin] probably enough said - great character. Did he portray a strong, powerful man?
Rachel Grunwald shows enough intellegence and the requisite waryness of an agent [grin] and ingenuity. As usual the hormones got in the way for both of them.

Colonel Sutherland probably should have been a lot more underhanded and Tommy?

SIMON is connected to The Brotherhood of Blood but still remains a shadow. This leaves Jonah still searching for his quarry.

Highly Recommended --? seems to be getting better. [grin] can't stop now!

On to #3 in the series - NIGHT OF NO RETURN by Eileen Wilks -- Oh, oh, just took a peek - looks like East Kirby is back with Alex Bok.

This romance has it all--suspense, heart stopping emotion and a love story to die for! Undercover agent Rachel Grunwald infiltrates a white supremacy movement with the goal of destroying its leader, Caleb Carpenter. But once there she begins to suspect there is much more to the man than she thought. Is there more to Caleb than meets the eye? Or has she finally lost the famous objectivity that makes her such a great agent?

This was my first novel by Kylie Brant, and I've already started buying her backlist. I'm not going to want to miss a single one of her books!

As a fan of Kylie Brant I can always count on a great read but this book made me feel emothions most romance novels don't. I was complelled to dislike the hero, who is a the leader of a racist community, but at the same time was drawn to him by his underlying goodness. I found myself reasoning in my mind how he could be a racist and care for anyone but himself. It was an emotional rollercoaster. The heroine is wonderful! I felt connected to her instantly. She believes strongly in right and wrong and goes to the wall to defend what she believes in. When she finds herself attracted to a man who stands for things she is sworn to oppose, she digs deeper then her assignment calls for to find the man behind the racist speaches. I won't give away the ending but it's marvelous! The tension, danger and sensual all combine to make "Undecover Bride" a fantastic read!