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tita_noir's review
3.0
A very quick read.
Eric is an undercover cop who under the name Dele has infiltrated a biker gang known as the Demons in order to gather evidence of murder, drug running and other assorted crimes. As the book begins he finds himself in rather a pickle. The leader of the Demons, a knuckle dragging neanderthal named Rez has given Dele an ultimatum since he is the low man on the totem pole: find and restore a mysteriously missing stash of heroin or get dead.
Since Dele is so deep undercover and is constantly being watched he finds it difficult to communicate with any backup so he is racing against time to save his own life and to find the last bit of real evidence he needs to take the gang down.
But just when it seems things can't get any worse -- they do. Nailah Madsen unwisely decides to take umbrage with the fact that the noisy bikers caused her to drop her newly purchased and highly anticipated barbecue rib dinner (...oh, honey, I know!). So as not to lose face at a rib-throwing woman, they snatch her off the street to teach her a lesson. Dele maneuvers it so that she is considered his 'property'. So now he has to keep not only himself alive but keep Nailah safe as well, not just keep her alive but from fates worse than death.
This is the first book by this author that I have read and I must say I thought the level of writing and storytelling was excellent. I liked that we weren't bogged down with huge amounts of descriptions or incongruous moments of lust. What I got was a highly charged, tense story filled with suspense and danger.
What I didn't get, though, was a convincing romance. The story takes place over just a few, very intense days. Dele is constantly thinking, trying to out-maneuver Rez and keep both himself and Nailah safe. The thrust of the story is the hostage situation Nailah finds herself in and the anticipation of how she and Dele get out of it. While the two do spend some time alone together and do actually consummate their relationship, it feels almost perfunctory. I didn't get a real sense of intimacy or deep connection between them. The story simply did not give them enough time to build it.
So for a thriller/suspense/action story this was great. As a romance, not so much.
Eric is an undercover cop who under the name Dele has infiltrated a biker gang known as the Demons in order to gather evidence of murder, drug running and other assorted crimes. As the book begins he finds himself in rather a pickle. The leader of the Demons, a knuckle dragging neanderthal named Rez has given Dele an ultimatum since he is the low man on the totem pole: find and restore a mysteriously missing stash of heroin or get dead.
Since Dele is so deep undercover and is constantly being watched he finds it difficult to communicate with any backup so he is racing against time to save his own life and to find the last bit of real evidence he needs to take the gang down.
But just when it seems things can't get any worse -- they do. Nailah Madsen unwisely decides to take umbrage with the fact that the noisy bikers caused her to drop her newly purchased and highly anticipated barbecue rib dinner (...oh, honey, I know!). So as not to lose face at a rib-throwing woman, they snatch her off the street to teach her a lesson. Dele maneuvers it so that she is considered his 'property'. So now he has to keep not only himself alive but keep Nailah safe as well, not just keep her alive but from fates worse than death.
This is the first book by this author that I have read and I must say I thought the level of writing and storytelling was excellent. I liked that we weren't bogged down with huge amounts of descriptions or incongruous moments of lust. What I got was a highly charged, tense story filled with suspense and danger.
What I didn't get, though, was a convincing romance. The story takes place over just a few, very intense days. Dele is constantly thinking, trying to out-maneuver Rez and keep both himself and Nailah safe. The thrust of the story is the hostage situation Nailah finds herself in and the anticipation of how she and Dele get out of it. While the two do spend some time alone together and do actually consummate their relationship, it feels almost perfunctory. I didn't get a real sense of intimacy or deep connection between them. The story simply did not give them enough time to build it.
So for a thriller/suspense/action story this was great. As a romance, not so much.
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