The Romanceaholic

Expected Release Date: August 30, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin
Imprint: Mira
Author’s Website: http://brendanovak.com/
My Source for This Book: Netgalley
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 2, Bulletproof series
Series Best Read In Order: Works well as a standalone, but read Inside first anyway.
Steam Level: Steamy

Official Blurb:

They’re back…

Laurel Hodges has changed her identity twice. She’s been on the run for the past four years, trying to outdistance the gang members who blame her for the death of one of their own. She’s finally found peace and stability in the small town of Pineview, Montana. But just when Laurel thinks she and her children are safe…the nightmare starts all over again.

The Crew, a ruthless prison gang with ties to Laurel’s brother, will never forget and they’ll never forgive. And now that they’ve finally tracked her down, they’ll stop at nothing.

Sheriff Myles King, who happens to live next door with his thirteen–year–old daughter, appoints himself Laurel’s personal guardian. His growing attraction to her could change his life—Myles is beginning to picture marriage and family. But it could also end his life. If he can’t save her, everything he’s built, everything he wants, could be destroyed. In seconds…

Laurel Hodges has been on the run for the past four years.  Having been hunted by members of a ruthless street gang, The Crew, in order to exact revenge on her brother, Virgil, she entered the Federal Witness Protection Program (WITSEC), hoping that they would be able to protect her and her two young children.  When a corrupt official leaked her location, she was attacked and barely escaped with her life.  Abandoning WITSEC, she has once again changed her identity and moved her family to the small, idyllic town of Pineview, Montana.

Always careful to never reveal too much about her past, or to leave trails that could lead The Crew to her or her brother, she now exists as Vivian Stewart, and has finally begun to rebuild a life for herself and her two children.

Sherrif Myles King, Vivan’s handsome and widowed next door neighbor, has been strongly hinting that he wants to date her, yet Vivian is still too wary about becoming involved when she knows that she and her children may have to pick up and leave at any moment.

Just as she gives in to her longing for companionship, however, her past comes roaring back into her life when a gruesome murder shocks the small community.

Knowing that she cannot risk putting Myles in danger, she attempts to distance herself from him, but Myles refuses to stand back and let something amazing slip through his fingers. When The Crew brings the fight to their front door, Myles and Vivian team up to make their final stand.

What Worked For Me:

• A big fan of the first novel in the series, Inside, I loved that Virgil, Rex, and Peyton play such a large role in this novel.  It was great getting updates on them, and I swear my heart stopped a time or two where they were involved.
• There’s just something about ruthless gang members bent on revenge that is scarier to me than, say, a serial killer, because this seems so much more realistic. It’s also a lot more intense because it’s not just a single person that has to be stopped, but instead an entire organization whose members embrace the idea that they could die from their lifestyles.
• The suspense was incredible.  While it took a little while for things to really get intense, as there was some back story and new characters to introduce, I was literally clenching my teeth and sitting on the edge of my seat towards the end. There were a few occasions where Mr. Romanceaholic even looked at me and asked if I was okay because I “looked really worried”, and kept muttering under my breath, “no no no no no no!”.
• I really liked that the love scenes weren’t “perfect”.  Vivian/Laurel has so much baggage between her abusive relationship with her ex-husband, her failed relationship with Rex, and the stress of having to live under a false identity, that it made so much sense that she wouldn’t allow herself to truly enjoy things, because she needed to remain in control over her life. Add to that the knowledge that she would very likely soon have to leave everything, including Myles, behind and start over yet again, and their relationship just felt so wonderfully real.
• On the same note, I really liked that Myles wasn’t a hundred percent sure that he wanted to pursue something with Vivian, even before the absolute truth of her identity was revealed.  Still grieving for his beloved wife who had passed away three years prior, and stressed over being a single father to a teenage girl, he wasn’t certain that he could risk his heart again, especially to someone who could be hurt, killed, or could simply disappear without a moment’s notice.
• One of the things that I love about these books is that the bad guys, with very few exceptions, are not truly evil. Instead, the vast majority of them are simply dealing with life’s challenges in the only way they know how.  Just as Virgil had joined The Crew in order to survive when he’d been wrongly convicted of murder, some of the villains from In Seconds were also painted in shades of gray.

What Didn’t Work For Me:

• I was disappointed that Rex is not the hero of this book. When I first read the blurb, I actually ran back to my copy of Inside to double check the epilogue, since it indicated that Rex and Laurel might be hooking up.  It wasn’t to be, however.  While I was okay with it by the end of this story, I was still disappointed to find out that the next book does not feature Rex as a hero either, and since it’s a trilogy, there’s a chance he won’t get a HEA after all.

As much as I enjoyed Inside, the first novel in this series (which also RECEIVED A 5/5 STAR RATING FROM ME), I think I may have actually enjoyed this one even more.  Despite my intense disappointment that Vivian/Laurel didn’t end up with Rex as her hero, I quickly fell in love with Myles and realized that Rex never would’ve made an ideal mate for her. I was also thrilled with the way Rex’s situation was handled, and that he wasn’t made out to be a bad man. I’d fallen in love with him myself over the course of the first novel, and sincerely hope that he will feature heavily in the next novel, In Close, due out in October.

Ms. Novak has an incredible skill for allowing you inside of her character’s minds and motivations, and never makes things purely black and white. All of her characters, even ones who seem that they should read as though they had no depth, are painted in a wide array of shades of gray, making you care about people that you normally wouldn’t think twice about, and rooting for characters that by all rights you should absolutely hate.

The love scenes were fairly tame in terms of detail, but the emotion behind them helped to create a very strong sense of eroticism, and most importantly, you could feel the romance behind every action, even when the characters themselves were resisting it.

The suspense was incredible, with several surprising twists, including some revelations about various characters that have played a part throughout the series thus far.

Overall, I simply could not put it down.  The suspense, the action, and the romance all sucked me in from the very beginning and would not let me go until the very last page.

Don’t forget to CHECK OUT THE AUTHOR’S WEBSITE as well! If you purchase this book before September 7th, send her the receipt and she will send you a free autographed copy of Inside, the first book in the series!  This is an incredible opportunity, because as I mentioned, while this book might work well as a standalone, I do suggest you read Inside first not only because the main characters of the first book play such a large part in this one, but also because it was such an amazing book to begin with.

Even better, however, is the fact that the Kindle version is only $4.10 at the time that this review is being published, and both digital and print formats (with the exception of used copies) are included in this promotion! So, you can get the kindle format of this book AND an autographed print copy of the first book for an insanely low price, so long as you snag In Seconds before September 7th, 2011.

With both of these novels ranking very high up on my favorites list this year, this is an opportunity that you should not let pass you by.

Recommended for fans of abused heroines on the run, of small town law enforcement taking on big-city criminals, and of allowing yourself to love again despite all the obstacles life tries to throw at you.  5/5 Stars

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