Customer Reviews

White Heat (The Men of T-FLAC, Book 11)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Cherry Adair is an author on my automatic buy list. If you are into Romantic Suspense, you can't go wrong with her. She delivers fast paced adventure and White Heat is no exception. The book starts off with a bang and holds your interest for the duration of the story. The plot is original and although it is slightly unbelievable it is still fun to read. Max Aries is one sexy hunk of man-flesh! One of my favorite reasons for reading Adair novels is her ability to create hot alpha males. I know I'll never be disappointed in the heroes she fabricates.

Max and Emily's chemistry and their love scenes fell a little flat for me. It seemed Emily had to be constantly rescued. I also thought that some of Max's inner monologue regarding Emily was rather cheesy but hey....he's still hot! I wished the situation with Savage had been handled more directly than indirectly. I kept expecting her to show up in the story. All in all it was a fun read and one that I would recommend. I did enjoy her last novel Hot Ice more, but White Heat did not disappoint me and I may reread it in the future.

I haven't been a fan of Adair and thought her T-FLAC books poorly-written despite my being such an action-romance junkie. I decided to but Hot Ice last year and found it better than the other T-FLAC books so I bought White Heat expecting Adair's latest would be as good, at least. I was wrong and found nothing to hold my attention in White Heat. Not the boring protagonists nor the action scenes. Emily was unattractive and Max Aries...well, I really expected much more from a T-FLAC hero. White Heat came across surprisingly amateurish in tone - too much repetition about how hot the H & H found each other. I kept saying, "Okay, okay, we know. Now let's move on, shall we, children?". In the end, I could not even finish this plodding book and have no desire to buy another T-FLAC. For more sensual, sophisticated romantic fiction featuring covert ops heroes, Gennita Low is a much better choice as well as Lora Leigh's Tempting SEALs series. If more action and espionage with the romance as a backdrop your preference then go for Amy Fetzer.

This book was really, really bad! The plot was totally improbable AND illogical--the author didn't even bother to try to make sense until the villain's denouement on page 268. Even then it was an insult to my intelligence. The main characters had no personality -- more like a romance between a Barbie doll and a G.I. Joe doll than in real human beings with personalities. The whole art restoration thing was totally unlikely. (It would be nice if the author had bothered to interview some real artists or art restoration specialists in researching this novel.)

I kept reading all the way to the end hoping it would get better, but it didn't. I have read other novels by this author and liked them, so I would suggest trying one of her earlier T-FLAC novels and skipping this one.

In between assignments, T-FLAC team lead Max Aries is in Florence to settle the estate of his recently deceased father. The two weren't close; he referred to dad as a "sperm donor" in fact. When he arrives at the villa of his former lover (and protégé of his artist father), Emily is being attacked by an armed intruder. Max jumps into the fray, only to get clocked with a frying pan and kicked in the jewels for his efforts. Emily specialized in reproducing great works of art for a wealthy man who donates his paintings to churches but still wants their likeness hanging in his home. When other artists that have duplicated paintings all die under mysterious circumstances, Max is convinced that Emily is a target and that a rogue T-FLAC agent is responsible. But she is adamant about not getting involved with Max again, as he broke her heart the last time he was in town.

The great thing about Cherry Adair is she combines great action with really sensuous storylines. She also incorporates recurring characters - but their appearance is there to move the story along. Her heroines tend not to be wallflowers, and for the most part, Emily falls into this category. But be warned - this one is much gorier than any of her earlier T-FLAC novels - plenty of blood and guts - but it works within the context of the story. One drawback is that the rogue agent, Catherine Savage, was never in the foreground of the story - everything related to her character was handled off line- just seemed odd. I found her to be an intriguing character that I wanted to get to know. Even so, this is a well rounded novel - the 11th in the T-FLAC series - but can easily stand on its own merits and its not necessary to read the first ten to get the gist of the back story.

I usually love to read Cherry Adair's books. That was till she decided to write thrillers. But her second thriller (after Hot Ice) is even worse than the first one.

That is because it looks to me that Ms. Adair can't come up with a logical well thought through plot. It was one illogical scene after another. I don't want to spoil the `plot' but one example I think I can give is that we are supposed to believe that the villainess is under T-FLAC surveillance but manages somehow to get away and murder everybody in a safe house. Right. And that's only so the writer has a reason why Emily has to stay with Max. Also the villain appears pretty late in the book and though Cherry Adair tries to build a mystery around who the villain is, its almost like there are neon light arrows pointing on him screaming `I'm the bad guy'. All in all I have to say that I was so disappointed by the plot. I understand that a writer wants to develop his- or herself and wants to get away from the same old predictable good guy / bad guy plot but if you cant come up with an intelligent plot please stick to what you can. I would enjoy a well written logical plot that is predictable more than a well written illogical forced plot.

Another reason why White Heat is not as good as the previous novels are the characters. Emily is one of those TSTL (too stupid to live) heroines. She gets in one dangerous situation after the next one and has to get rescued by Max. On the other hand the reader is supposed to believe that Max loves her though he can't get away from her fast enough on a couple occasions throughout the book. And what bucked me the most was that he is not even man enough to tell her goodbye every time he leaves. He just takes the easy road and disappears. Emily of course takes him back with open arms when ever he decides to show up again. I'm sorry but I would rip his face off if he would do that to me. I don't care if he saves the world on a daily basis he could at least tell me that he is leaving. There is a fine line between being alpha and being a jerk, and he was a jerk.

The reason why I still gave that book 2 stars is because I enjoy Cherry Adair's style of writing. She has a good way of describing the surroundings and situations and that makes her books a fun read.

I'm a big fan of this author, but I found myself reluctant to read this novel; it took me twice as long to read it than usual. It didn't capture my interest as her other books have done. I read Adair more for the adventure content than the sex, and I found myself flipping pages to get to the end of the sex scenes and on with the story. As others have said, it was also a bit predictable. When I finished the book, it was with a sigh and a yawn.

I have been reading Cherry's books since her first Harlequin, Mercenary and have loved all of them.
White Heat does not disappoint!

Max Aries had an affair with Emily Greene the year before when he was on an assignment. His father, who he is estranged from, was her mentor and it looks like he's been murdered. Emily has had three attempts on her life and she and Max are on the run.

White Heat is a terrific romantic suspense. It's a non stop thrill ride through the world of art restorers, Europe, the U.S. and of course T-FLAC.

The chemistry between Emily and Max sizzles and the twists and turns of the story will keep you on your toes.

Great book! I can't wait until the next one!

I have enjoyed all the T-Flac books but this one was different not only the adventure you come to expect from Cherry Adair but there was that little something extra that made you root for Max and just want him to find what he was looking for It also didn't let yiu down in the romance part either all up a great read

I recently discovered this author. I enjoy the mix of suspense and romance. If you haven't read her earlier books in this series I highly recommend doing so. I like how she introduces her next main character in each book. You can't help but feel happy things worked out in the end (as always) and look forward to what is going to happen to the next T-FLAC man! My imagination runs wild.

This book was a fun read. I loved Max's charactor, reminds me of the everyday bad boy who holds his intimate feelings inside. The charactors in this book built a great connection as the book went on. A nice read, suspenceful and intimate.