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kcoleman's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great book! The heroine is tough and no nonsense, and the hero is her match in just about every way. Great story too, I had no idea who the bad guy was until the end! Definitley worth being sleep deprived (because I stayed up all night reading) to have read this book.
jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Was a bit wary at first of the serial killer going after sexy/promiscuous women deal -- worried that all women who indulged in sex, including our two heroines, would become targets because of this, implicitly conveying the message that women who express their sexual desires are automatically, and always, in danger. But Sorenson successfully walked this fine line, keeping the killer's motivation from unintentionally infecting the sex scenes in which our protagonists engage. Perhaps because when we're in the killer's POV, we're rarely asked to watch along with him as he stalks girls and women. Instead we're with him when he kills a man, never when he kills a woman. And his background helps us see that his neuroses are just that, aberrant behavior due to appalling abuse, not the "women are always in danger because they are women" feel that many suspense novels draw their kicks from.
Our adult heroine isn't rescued by her love interest, true, but she does make an awful lot of mistakes, and she is rescued by another man at the novel's climax -- points off for this.
But extra points for depicting teenage sex in a sensitive, positive way. The two romance storylines worked well.
Our adult heroine isn't rescued by her love interest, true, but she does make an awful lot of mistakes, and she is rescued by another man at the novel's climax -- points off for this.
But extra points for depicting teenage sex in a sensitive, positive way. The two romance storylines worked well.
books4biana's review against another edition
I am very unhappy with this book and I'm intentionally not rating it. Yes, because I'm unhappy with it. Call me petty if you wish, but I'm going to make my "voice" heard, even if it's just a squeak.
This is a cliche type of story, one that you probably have seen on any tv cop show or read in any cop story. I'm fairly certain there was an episode of CSI Miami that was nearly this, and I'm sure Agatha Christie wrote something (albeit more time-centric to her era) to start the cliche. (She was the murder mystery trend setter).
There is a serial killer and they are murdering women in a horrid fashion. Young, beautiful, super-good-at-self-defense FBI agent goes into the region to determine if Handsome Surfing Legend, now Quiet Father and Widower, is a suspect. Guess what? They fall in with one another, love, lust, romance, whatever you want to call it. Only...gasp...she's been lying. And of course, he's not the killer but someone close to him is and he (and his daughter) are (oh no, don't say it) in danger.
I'm not mocking the plot (well, yeah I totally am. But I'm good with cliches that work). That part of the book was as to be expected and was acceptable. What I'm CHEESED OFF about is the lack of warning. Pretty much everything in this world of privilege and litigation, we have warnings on them, prominently displayed (remember explicit lyric warnings on all our CDs?). Coffee is hot, blinking lights can cause seizures, don't eat the play-dough, whatever. Now we are starting to see Trigger Warnings for emotional reactions. "Warning, the following podcast contains details of child abuse that might trigger emotional responses in some listeners" And yet, no such thing exists in literature.
Without that MPA rating we see on movies and tv shows and video games....I ran smack into soft porn. The kind that says things like "she opened her blouse one more button and imagined his gaze caressing her pert young...." yeah. She can't even DO HER JOB without imagining some aspect of coupling. She's a skilled FBI agent and she's reduced to a puddle. But no worries, so is he. And guess what? So is his daughter, and her boyfriend. I mean, for daggum sake, I don't want to read about their detailed sex lives!!! Any of them.
Yes, I self censor, you bet. Skip page, flip, flip, flip...nope, keep going. I don't want to have to do that. And I'm not saying These Types of Books should be burned or locked up, heck no! We love a little racy romance now and then, and I'm one of those admirers. But when I don't want it, I really don't. And that's why I'm angry at this book. I got caught up in the mystery and I wanted to see how long it took them to find out who the killer was (I already figured it out, of course) and yeah, I wanted to know how they worked out the relationships. And I kept running into soft porn. More soft porn. And yet again with the soft porn. Oh yeah, while I'm sitting in the lunch room at work. Don't mind my blush.
Grr.
This is a cliche type of story, one that you probably have seen on any tv cop show or read in any cop story. I'm fairly certain there was an episode of CSI Miami that was nearly this, and I'm sure Agatha Christie wrote something (albeit more time-centric to her era) to start the cliche. (She was the murder mystery trend setter).
There is a serial killer and they are murdering women in a horrid fashion. Young, beautiful, super-good-at-self-defense FBI agent goes into the region to determine if Handsome Surfing Legend, now Quiet Father and Widower, is a suspect. Guess what? They fall in with one another, love, lust, romance, whatever you want to call it. Only...gasp...she's been lying. And of course, he's not the killer but someone close to him is and he (and his daughter) are (oh no, don't say it) in danger.
I'm not mocking the plot (well, yeah I totally am. But I'm good with cliches that work). That part of the book was as to be expected and was acceptable. What I'm CHEESED OFF about is the lack of warning. Pretty much everything in this world of privilege and litigation, we have warnings on them, prominently displayed (remember explicit lyric warnings on all our CDs?). Coffee is hot, blinking lights can cause seizures, don't eat the play-dough, whatever. Now we are starting to see Trigger Warnings for emotional reactions. "Warning, the following podcast contains details of child abuse that might trigger emotional responses in some listeners" And yet, no such thing exists in literature.
Without that MPA rating we see on movies and tv shows and video games....I ran smack into soft porn. The kind that says things like "she opened her blouse one more button and imagined his gaze caressing her pert young...." yeah. She can't even DO HER JOB without imagining some aspect of coupling. She's a skilled FBI agent and she's reduced to a puddle. But no worries, so is he. And guess what? So is his daughter, and her boyfriend. I mean, for daggum sake, I don't want to read about their detailed sex lives!!! Any of them.
Yes, I self censor, you bet. Skip page, flip, flip, flip...nope, keep going. I don't want to have to do that. And I'm not saying These Types of Books should be burned or locked up, heck no! We love a little racy romance now and then, and I'm one of those admirers. But when I don't want it, I really don't. And that's why I'm angry at this book. I got caught up in the mystery and I wanted to see how long it took them to find out who the killer was (I already figured it out, of course) and yeah, I wanted to know how they worked out the relationships. And I kept running into soft porn. More soft porn. And yet again with the soft porn. Oh yeah, while I'm sitting in the lunch room at work. Don't mind my blush.
Grr.
star_tbr2020's review against another edition
4.0
My first book by the author and definitely a good intro. It was a bit strange because this is the first book with settings that I personally know. I've been to Torrey Pines high aka the rich kids school LOL. I've been to the beaches mentioned here. Ah....the joy of Southern California :)
Ok, back to the book. This is also my first book with a surfer hero. I loved that. Was a nice change from the other books I'd read before it. I felt the meeting between the h/h was believable enough. I loved the background of the beach and the characters felt like real people. My main issues were mainly about Sonny. I know she was undercover but I felt like she never checked in with her boss. It was supposed to be a nightly call but I think there was maybe 1 or 2 calls in the course of the book. I kept thinking, when the hell is she supposed to update the bossman about the case? The second issue I had was the reveal of who her father/family was. I felt like that was such a stretch and didn't really add to the story. Aside from those two things, I really enjoyed the book and would definitely read more by this author.
Ok, back to the book. This is also my first book with a surfer hero. I loved that. Was a nice change from the other books I'd read before it. I felt the meeting between the h/h was believable enough. I loved the background of the beach and the characters felt like real people. My main issues were mainly about Sonny. I know she was undercover but I felt like she never checked in with her boss. It was supposed to be a nightly call but I think there was maybe 1 or 2 calls in the course of the book. I kept thinking, when the hell is she supposed to update the bossman about the case? The second issue I had was the reveal of who her father/family was. I felt like that was such a stretch and didn't really add to the story. Aside from those two things, I really enjoyed the book and would definitely read more by this author.
ccgwalt's review against another edition
3.0
3.5* This was almost a 4 star book for me. The suspense plot, although fairly standard fare, was nonetheless written with enough complexity, secondary characters, and red herrings to make it satisfying if not original. The sex scenes were decent although I wasn't comfortable with the secondary relationship between the teens. It's not the moral implications, but the fact that "spying" on the teens' love life feels voyeuristic to me since they are underage. Aside from that issue, the novel is a good effort, even if some of the writing is clunky and the transitions are sometimes jarring.
One of my issues with the novel is strictly personal, although I think any writer ought to keep up with the times and strive to cover their biases. On page 60 Sorenson has this: "Her heart gave a funny little twist. Only religious wackos and lowlife dropouts had homeschooling."
First, one doesn't "have" homeschooling. This phrasing, used several times in the book, shows a complete lack of knowledge of the subject. You can't "have" home school any more than you "have" public school. A student is home schooled, or may refer to himself as a homeschooler. Secondly, home schooling is almost mundane it's so common, and a significant percentage of students in this country will be home schooled through some part of there education. Home educated students continue to compete well at all levels of education, and the first large group has entered the work force and are raising their own families. Home schooling is now undertaken as often for other reasons as it is for religious beliefs. While there will always be some "wackos and lowlifes" around, they are as likely to be attending public and private schools as they are being home schooled.
***Ms. Sorenson commented on my Amazon review to clarify that these opinions are from the character's point of view, and don't represent her own view of homeschooling.
One of my issues with the novel is strictly personal, although I think any writer ought to keep up with the times and strive to cover their biases. On page 60 Sorenson has this: "Her heart gave a funny little twist. Only religious wackos and lowlife dropouts had homeschooling."
First, one doesn't "have" homeschooling. This phrasing, used several times in the book, shows a complete lack of knowledge of the subject. You can't "have" home school any more than you "have" public school. A student is home schooled, or may refer to himself as a homeschooler. Secondly, home schooling is almost mundane it's so common, and a significant percentage of students in this country will be home schooled through some part of there education. Home educated students continue to compete well at all levels of education, and the first large group has entered the work force and are raising their own families. Home schooling is now undertaken as often for other reasons as it is for religious beliefs. While there will always be some "wackos and lowlifes" around, they are as likely to be attending public and private schools as they are being home schooled.
***Ms. Sorenson commented on my Amazon review to clarify that these opinions are from the character's point of view, and don't represent her own view of homeschooling.
mfred's review against another edition
4.0
"Fine," he muttered, telling himself he was doing it for Olivia, for Carly, and even for Lisette. Not because he had any interest in spending time with Special Agent Sonora Vasquez, or getting wrapped up in her strong, slender arms again.
Do you smell that? That is the smell of subversion, burning up the pages of the romance genre! The hero wants to be wrapped up in the heroine's strong arms.
Here's some more:
Ben's mouth made a thin, hard line. "Where is he now?"
"Why? So you can find him and beat him up?" She laughed, shaking her head.
"I feel protective of you, and you think it's funny?"
"No. What's funny is that you assume I need a protector. That tough-guy avenger crap is more about you than me, and it's insulting. You want to make him pay for ruining your good-girl fantasy, for turning me into a real person with a lot of sexual hang-ups."
Wait, what? The heroine just called the hero on his alpha male bullshizz? She just put him in his place, with no coy sexual innuendo, fluttering eyelashes, or tittering laughs?
Too Stupid to Live (TSTL) heroines everywhere just spontaneously combusted!
Sorenson killed me with this book. Just killed me. On one hand, she does so much-- Sonny, the heroine, is tough and smart, and never looses her skills. She can beat up guys bigger than her in the beginning of the book, before our hero Ben Fortune shows up, and she can do it again later, after Ben is in the picture. In fact, she can even kick the crap out of Ben himself. She is always intelligent, even when she is lusting for Ben or struggling with her own dark past. When push comes to shove, she STAYS as smart as she is written to be, and it never once deterred from the romance.
And Ben-- oh, Ben. He's no beta to Sonny's alpha; physically strong, and deceptively intelligent, he's skilled but not in your typical romance-novel ways. He never magically develops the ability to win every fistfight he enters, neither is he able to beat Sonny at the things she is supposed to be skilled at. Sorenson allows Ben to be realistic and still heroic!
Honestly, there were times I guffawed while reading this book. Not because it was so astoundingly unbelievable. The exact opposite! Sonny, who has never had kids, been married, or been in a serious relationship, does not meet Ben's troubled teenage daughter and suddenly become her best friend/mother figure. In fact, she keeps her distance! Because she has a crime to solve! Exclamation! A woman in a romance novel who is not automatically World's Best Mom?! Guffaw!
And yet... Here's the part that really hurts. While Sorenson hits these incredible high notes with characterization, the plot is not quite there.
A romantic suspense novel has to work on two levels-- the character-driven romance, and the suspenseful action, but the mystery and thrills were not quite there for me. Also, some of her writing choices were a little baffling-- POV-hopping into secondary or tertiary characters like Sonny's mom. You never see her again, she's not really integral to the plot, so why break the rhythm of the novel to introduce and then dismiss her?
I almost wish whoever edited Sorenson was a little tougher on the book. Take out some of those adjectives and adverbs, tighten up the prose so that the plot is focused, and most of all, let the characters lead. Sonny and Ben could have told this story perfectly, if Sorenson had stepped back a little and let them.
Four stars for incredible characters, great dialog, and great romance.
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