Breaking the Rules by Suzanne Brockmann

I was so excited to see who the lady's man Izzy Zanella would end up with because he is such an awesome character but... I was a little disappointed. I know that Brockmann plays with relationships, but having a character so young (Eden's only nineteen) is a little disconcerting. 

Izzy has had rough times with Eden's brother Danny who is a member of Seal Team Sixteen. The man thinks that Izzy seduced his sister, got her pregnant, and then left her. The truth is, Izzy helped Eden through a hard time, fell deeply in love with her, and has been trying to get back in touch with her ever since. Eden doesn't want to be with Izzy. Not because she doesn't love him, but because she's always been told she's worthless, even by Danny.

Danny is hurt in action at the beginning of this story. Izzy uses his own blood to save Danny's life and almost dies in the process. That doesn't make them besties by any means. 

Eden is in Las Vegas trying to rescue their brother Ben from her mother and the latest boyfriend. See, 

Ben is gay and the parents are trying to send him to one of those extreme Christian camps that supposedly "straightens" kids out.

So, Danny comes back to the States with his girlfriend Jenn (whose name Eden uses when she becomes a stripper.) They think that they can get custody of Ben. Of course, Eden and Izzy, having been married for a year (did I mention that?), are really going to look better if they have to go into court. 

There's also a girl who has escaped from sexual slavery. Ben sort of befriends her but she seems to only be in as a plot device so that Jenn and Eden can be in danger later.

Brockmann uses multiple plotlines in most of her books so that wasn't really annoying, but... I really missed the regular run of characters. Only Danny, Izzy, Jenn, and Eden were from previous series. I think I may have also had high expectations because Izzy has been so involved in other books in the series. Will re-read to see if it gets better. (It did, I think because I knew what to expect)

Three stars

This book came out March 22, 2011

Follows Hot Pursuit

Followed by Headed for Trouble

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Hot Pursuit by Suzanne Brockmann

Not my favorite of the Troubleshooter series but interesting in that there are no real happy endings here except that the two kidnapped women are rescued in the end.

Troubleshooters are summoned to the East Coast to help protect a woman, running for Senate, who has been receiving death threats. There is also included a cop with an attitude and Danny Gillman hooking up with "the ugly friend." I do like that Brockmann has unconventional romances and in this book she concentrates on a type of woman who isn't usually the heroine in romance novels. A little overweight, she's not at all beautiful and Gillman picks her because she'll be easy to get into bed and she won't be upset when he leaves, because she'll be expecting it. Not a sympathetic character, is Gillman, but true to life. I liked Jenny and, while Danny isn't a very nice person, we do get to see some of why he is the way he is.

Four stars

This book came out July 29, 2009

Follows Dark of Night

Followed by Breaking the Rules

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann

I'm really on a roll with the Brockmann books and forget how much I enjoy them until I read them again. I don't know why, but the story of Tracey and Decker is compelling. I think it's because both characters have been revealed in depth in previous books. Not sure if this would be quite as good a book if you hadn't read the other 13, especially since the sub-stories are all connected to previous books as well. It's really interesting that Brockmann sets up Dave Malkoff as a James Bond type character. It's pivotal to the plot of him hooking up with Sophia. I'm glad that she's finally happy though it is interesting that Brockmann didn't have her hook up with the man that she was lusting after for so long. But that is beautifully explained and the other hookups all make sense. I also have to say that I enjoy the little commentaries that Brockmann includes about her own writing, including a comment about a previous book when Tracey has a somewhat critical thought about a friend hooking up with a guy the friend had only known for a few days.

Four and a half stars

This book came out January 7th, 2009

Follows Into the Fire

Followed by Hot Pursuit

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Into the Fire by Suzanne Brockmann

When Vinh Murphy's wife was killed in book six of the Troubleshooters series, I didn't think we'd ever see him again. But his story is actually very good. It wraps up the story line started about the Freedom

Network. See, everyone thinks that Vinh has executed the leader of the Freedom Network to avenge his wife's death. Even his best friend Hannah isn't sure about him. She's a retired cop who left the force when she was shot and an infection caused her to become deaf. The two of them work together to figure out what really happened while falling in love.

The subplot of this book is that of Izzy Zanella and Eden Gillman. Izzy has been prominent in several of the earlier books and it's in this book that he meets the woman who might be his match. Although, that's hard to tell since Brockmann likes to mix things up and even characters that seem to be in love through many books don't always end up together. We'll see how the rest of the series shapes up. Anyway, Eden is gorgeous, the sister of one of Izzy's SEALmates (Danny Gilman who hates Izzy's guts) and nineteen. She shows up early in the book, running away from home, a troubled teen. Then, six months later, she returns, pregnant. Danny thinks that Izzy is the father, and though that's an impossibility, Izzy marries the girl so she has insurance and a place to live. He's uber-attracted to her, it might even be love. But, though the book ends with Hannah and Vinh going on to happily-ever-after, the fate of Eden and Izzy remains in doubt.

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 22, 2008

Follows All through the Night

Followed by Dark of Night

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

All Through the Night by Suzanne Brockmann

Suzanne Brockmann is one of my favorite authors simply because she write with a one-two punch and started writing gay romance before just about any other "mainstream" author. Her books might be fairly traditional but her characters are always outside the box. In this book, the main story revolves around Robin Chadwick and Jules Cassidy, a gay couple whose wedding is the central story. We've seen their story grow from when they met and were immediately attracted, through them being pulled apart by age and distance, then having Robin work through his addiction to alcohol and both of them coming out and how it affected their careers. While this would still happen today, a lot of this would have been even harder almost a decade ago when only one state was acknowledging that gay marriage = marriage. 

We get to see all of the characters from the series as well as meeting one new couple. The subplot of Jules and Robin's assistant falling in love with a reporter who accidentally got Robin smeared in the press.

Short, but very cute.

Four and a half stars

This book came out October 30, 2007

Follows Force of Nature

Followed by Into the Fire

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann

Mark "Jenk" Jenkins has been in many of the previous Seal Team 16/Troubleshooters books. He is a SEAL  with an incredibly boyish face. Lindsay Fontaine is also often mistaken for being much younger than she really is. When they meet, Lindsay is instantly attracted but Mark is entranced by a high school crush who he just got a job as the receptionist at Troubleshooters. So Lindsay holds off. But the two are assigned to work together to set up a training mission for the two groups. As they work together, Mark starts to realize that he really doesn't know Tracy, the receptionist, and isn't really that attracted to her. But Lindsay, Lindsay is someone he could spend the rest of his life with. However, Lindsay is only looking for one night and freaks out once they finally get together.

The first training op goes well when Lindsay, playing the kidnap victim, sneaks past both the SEALS and the Troubleshooters so both teams lose. 

They set up another training session in New Hampshire with Tracy as the victim. But when the SEALS go wheels up in the middle of the session, Tracy goes missing. Great subplot about catching a serial killer.

Four stars

This book came out April 15, 2006

Follows Breaking Point

Followed by Force of Nature

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Some Kind of Hero by Suzanne Brockmann

Suzanne Brockmann, in the past, has been at the forefront of contemporary authors; revamping tired cliches, showing that protection is sexy, and creating stories for the current day. And this book continues that trend. A diverse (but not forced) cast of characters come together in a story that is on the lighter end (sometimes there are some DARK themes) of the Brockmann spectrum.
I missed the novella that introduced Lieutenant Peter Greene so I did feel a little behind on the story, but that may have been because I'm used to having so much history on previous heroes and  heroines. He's struggling. Like, a lot. This isn't a secret-baby story because he knew he had a daughter, he just didn't get to spend a lot of time with her until her mother died. She's sullen and withdrawn but he doesn't realize that might be out of the ordinary until she disappears.
Shayla Whitman is a divorced romance writer (LOVE THIS CHARACTER) who is sort of peripherally aware of her SEAL neighbor but doesn't really connect with him until he's standing in the middle of the road trying to get someone to pull over and help him.
A lot of action and sexy times. A REALLY fast story and an epilogue that didn't need to happen. Overall, a highly enjoyable book that Brockmann fans will adore.

Four stars
This book comes out July 11, 2017

Follows Headed for Trouble

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread in June 2022

Do or Die by Suzanne Brockmann

Image linked from Goodreads

When the book opens, Ian  Dunn is in charge of a highly specialized, off the book team hosts are in currently trying to retrieve Nazi art from some typical bad dudes. Ian is in a hotel room and needs to get out and we get to see you little bit about how his team functions.
When chapter 1 begins Ian is now in jail. Two lawyers are trying to get them out one is Phoebe Kruger and the other is Martell Griffin. For a while I couldn't figure out how these were connected to Brickmann's earlier series though Martell tugged at my memory. Finally, he mentions his friend Ric and the light bulb went off, "Forces of Nature," the book that introduces characters who eventually open the Florida branch of Troubleshooters, Inc.
Neither Ian nor the reader knows why they are there. Even Phoebe isn't really sure. She's just filling in for Ian's regular lawyer at a law firm she joined last week (or some other really short period of time.) but Martell wants to offer Ian a deal, a commuted sentence in exchange for help saving two children.
Of course, there's more to the story and more to the reason Ian is in jail but it's a fun ride.
I actually read this book a few weeks ago but totally forgot to review it. I still have good feels about it though. The more I think about it the more layers I remember, this being a typical Brockman where the more you read the more you discover about each of the characters. It's amazing that even within a larger ensemble cast on Brockman is able to bring each character alive and give them each a rich and complex back story.

I wish that Shelly had been a woman. We already know that Brockmann excels at writing a rich and realistic m/m romance so it wasn't really a shock (at least for long-team Brockmann readers) that he was actually "Sheldon". We've seen that in many of her other books. I can tell you it's because I finished "Lean In" really close to when I read this book and I was super-excited that we might see a dynamic with a strong, working mother and stay-at-home dad (Brockmann also excels at strong women who are work/home equals with their guys but I can't think of a story where the woman is the bread-winner and the dad stays home). I haven't seen this much in secondary characters and Brocmann is the author I most associate with taking on romances that other authors tend to ignore.

Headed for Trouble by Suzanne Brockmann

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...<quick pause for breath> ...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Okay, my perception of this book may have been colored by the fact that I got it for free from NetGalley. The description of the book is rather misleading (i.e., doesn't mention that a lot of the stories are repub) and I don't always remember to check stories before I buy books, my own fault I know, but it doesn't lessen the disappointment.  If I had paid for it and not known that a lot of the stories were repeats from the end of other books, I may have been less favorable, like, maybe only three stars instead of five.
But this is Suzanne Brockmann. One of my go-to-authors and there was a lot of added content like author commentary about how she wrote stories or where ideas came from. There were quite a few new stories including one I particularly enjoyed about Sam, Robin, and Gina being stuck with three kids and the flu in a country that has been hit by a terrorist event.
A great collection of stories and a must read that sent me back to my library to re-read the entire Troubleshooters from "The Unsung Hero" (Troubleshooters 1).

Five stars

This book came out April 28, 2013

Follows Breaking the Rules

Followed by Some Kind of Hero

Opinions are my own

Reread in June 2022