The Romanceaholic

Expected Release Date: June 28, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin
Imprint: Mira
Author’s Website: http://www.brendanovak.com
My Source for This Book: Netgalley
Part of a Series: Yes – Bulletproof Book 1
Series Best Read In Order: N/A
Steam Level: Steamy

Official Blurb:

Dangerous to know…

Virgil Skinner served fourteen years for a murder he didn’t commit. He’s finally been exonerated, but he can’t escape the gang he joined in order to survive. They’ll do anything to keep him from telling what he knows. And if they can’t get to Virgil they’ll go after his sister and her kids.
The California Department of Corrections needs someone to infiltrate another gang, one that’s taking control of the state’s most notorious supermax. Virgil agrees to do it under an alias—in exchange for his sister’s protection.
Chief Deputy Warden Peyton Adams is opposed to having Virgil in her prison. How will she protect him if things go bad? Besides, she’s far too attracted to him; she might even be falling in love with him. That makes her all the more desperate to keep him safe—and it gives him someone else to lose.

Holy wow. This book was absolutely fantabulous!

What worked for me:

• The action and anticipation of this novel made it so that I literally could not put it down. I found myself reading it in line at the grocery store, on the car ride to pick my son up from school, and even while cooking dinner. It was that good.
• I adored Virgil, despite his unfortunate name.  This man was the epitome of a tortured hero.  Wrongly convicted of his step-father’s murder, he’s spent his entire adult life behind bars, where he was forced to do whatever was necessary in order to survive.  He doesn’t feel as though he deserves Peyton, but because he’s a realist, rather than being self-pitying.
• I loved how the romance between Peyton and Virgil blossomed quickly, but didn’t feel rushed.  Both of them felt an alarming attraction to the other, but knew that it was best to not get involved. And yet, they simply couldn’t resist falling for each other.  Of course, the UST was delicious, and while the love scenes weren’t overly explicit, they certainly turned up the heat.
• The corruption inside the prison was wonderful. Even though we readers know who is dirty and who is one of the good guys, never knowing when someone was going to be betrayed added an incredible amount of tension to the read.
• I loved the small-town mentality surrounding the prison. The simple fact that everyone made it their business to know everyone else’s business made it much more difficult for the plan to flow seamlessly, and once the threads started to unravel, it was only a matter of time before things got completely out of hand.
• I loved that even the villains were fairly well-developed characters, and that even some of the minor characters had multiple layers.

What didn’t work for me:

• The ending seemed to come rather abruptly. Sure, everything was tied up neatly in the epilogue, but going from heart-stopping action to “18 months later…” was a bit of a let-down.
• I was very disappointed by the epilogue. For one thing,

  SPOILER ALERT	SelectShow Spoiler
  if Virgil was in WITSEC, there would be no way that Peyton would be with him unless she too had taken a new identity. Working in the penal system, even under a different name, is too closely connected to her true identity to fly in Witness Protection, so I’m not buying it.

Pulse-pounding action, police corruption, a spurned lover, and deadly gangs out for revenge, all paired with a delicious romance make this a novel that can’t be missed. Despite some concerns I might have had with the epilogue, this is hands-down a must-read, and I gladly give it a very solid 5/5 Stars.

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