Lhate to the Pahrty
Some of us take longer to catch on than others, and many might accuse me of being queen of th' aforementioned "some."
For instance, first time a friend told me a series 'bout a band of studly vampire warriors would be the Next Big Thang, I agreed to check 'em out, then closed the first tome at chap 2, unable to take another mohment of extrhaneous Hs.
Upon second reading, I got over that qhuirk - and m'self - and for some time became addicted like much of the romance-loving free world to the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
Never one to learn from my mistakes when mortification borne of repeated blunders might be enjoyed, I also failed to jump on board in a timely manner the bandwagons hitched to the bright stars of Jaci Burton's Wild Riders, Sabrina Jeffries' Royal Brotherhood of Bastards and, oy, my greatest humiliation, Suz Brockmann's Troubleshooters to name just a few among the myriad times I've been late to the party.
Recently, H2H viewer Princess Bumblebee's comments here and at Unabashedly Bookish reminded me I probably, um, mislaid my invitation - yeah, that's it! -- to one of the hottest bright-star events in the romantic-suspense series universe that's been going on for, well, a couple years. That'd be the supernova that is Tara Janzen and her Loose series.
Janzen's rom susps have everything a girl could want: hot government operatives who love sleek rides and who also have heroic-yet-varied pasts; don't-wanna-be-on-the-wrong-end-of-her-weapon-in-a-firefight heroines who're as vulnerable as they're sexy (just, you know, not until the firefight's over); well-written tales of intrigue, spy vs. spy change-ups and thrilling, hang-on-for-dear-life action. All of these things - plus the ultra sexy emotional push/pull Janzen sets up between her heroes/heroines - make the reader breathless with anticipation for the next bits of danger and adventure, and subsequent books in the series.
In Janzen's newest, "Breaking Loose," a the possibility of scoring immortality lures super-bad guys toward a supposedly magic ancient artifact, one that the U.S. government has sent sultry sometimes-operative-and-arts/antiquities-expert Suzi Toussi to Ciudad del Este, the evil armpit of humanity, to make a grab for.
Suzi's got reasons to make the quick take including using the money she'll receive to fund her side gig of saving women from "white" slavery. Yet Suzi doesn't count on the job going to crap from jump, or reluctantly being rescued by Dax Killian, the hottie-secret-agent-guy type she stood up months ago, but whom she's not forgotten.
Yet Dax knows Suzi doesn't trust him, and for good reason; if she found out whose team he's on, she could blow his cover, his game and his chances for saving the free world - even if he's kind of going around the bad-guy block to get next door. Still, a man could give up a lot for a woman as hot as Suzi, especially after she stood him up, and all...
Most folks say, "Learn from your mistakes." I suggest it's always easier, and less work, to learn from others'. Consider mine a cautionary tale: Friends don't let friends miss out on great reads.
What are the great books you missed out on, then got hooked on when you finally gave 'em a shot? What do you love about Tara Janzen's reads? What do you dig about spy vs. spy romances?
Love erotic romances? Find out about the biggest erotic-book hoax in publishing history, and why erom lovers still deserve more respect than they're given. Check out "The Sexual Convolution" at Unabashedly Bookish.
