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

The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa

Following "The Worst Best Man," this story follows one of Lina's cousins, Solange. It's not like Solange was even supposed to be at that wedding but Lina needed help. Solange didn't want to see the bride in the stairwell with another man nor did she want to hear him telling the bride not to marry the groom. Yet, both things happened. She certainly didn't mean to speak up during the ceremony but... she sure did that too. And the bride went scurrying down the aisle.

The man left at the altar, Dean, is disappointed but not heartbroken. He and Ella were more or less a business arrangement so that he could finish checking off his list of life ambitions. But it's a problem when his law firm wants to woo a potential new partner whose father is a billionaire of some sort. But she has a partner and the managing partner in charge wants someone who's in a relationship. So Dean quickly mentions that he and Mia are now dating. It's fraught because there is another man picked to help show her around as well and he is Dean's major opposition for a partnership. 

For her part, Mia and her closest cousins were raised by their single mothers. A conservative (and rather judge-y cousin is coming to town and Mia's mother panics and says that Mia is in a relationship. So, lots of reasons for the two of them to pretend to be together. Of course, all that time together exacerbates the feelings they already have for each other. 

Parts of the story were a little too much cringe (this is a fake relationship; of course parts will be annoying). And I wish the reveal had come about a different way because it was from a character we didn't get to see very often nor did we get to see the afterward of their relationship with the couple. This was a really enjoyable read and the characters were quite well-rounded.

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 5, 2022

Follows The Worst Best Man

Borrowed as hard copy from library

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

A Question of Inheritance by Elizabeth Edmondson

The second in a trio of books, we again see Hugo, a secret agent for the crown, his young teen sister Georgia, and Freya, the cousin of a newly discovered earl. But there's a problem with this earl, it seems like somebody is trying to kill him. This is not exciting for him, nor for his two daughters who have also traveled from America. 

It's Christmas, which is going to be a hard one this year since the earl was only recently discovered to be the heir and his half-sister, who expected to inherit, is less than happy to welcome a new sibling to the family. 

There are family tensions, stolen paintings, and a body that ends up in the family hothouse. It's a lot but it built off the first book nicely. You don't have to have read the first book but it really wouldn't be as enjoyable.

Four stars

This book came out October 27, 2015

Follows A Man of Some Repute

Followed by A Matter of Loyalty

Borrowed from Kindle; listened as audiobook

Opinions are my own