A Touch of Minx by Suzanne Enoch
This is the fourth (or fifth if you count the short story in Twice the Temptation) novel in the continuing adventures of Samantha Jellicoe, retired cat burgler and Richard Addison, international mogul and part time British lord. The locale has returned to Palm Beach, Florida, the playground of the rich and famous.
It’s been a year since Sam and Rick met and began living together. Sam’s still trying to make the straight life work outside of the world of crime, but she’s finding the life of a Security expert boring and without her normal adrenaline filled former occupation, she doesn’t know what to do. But she knows she loves Rick and so she is working hard on staying the straight and narrow.
Rick is taking time for himself and relaxing for the first time in a long time, leaving his business wheeling and dealing to his subordinates, which leaves him extra time to worry about what Sam is or isn’t doing with her struggle with her former life of crime. Ricks got something else on his mind as well, since he’s decided to ask Sam to marry him and he wants to do it without scaring her off since she’s always been a transitory person.
All this is tangled up with a missing elementary science project and a retrieval job for some 15th century Japanese armor and swords. Sam uses all her former cat skills for these two jobs and tries not to freak out when her former fence and father figure Stoney goes missing, Rick wants her to put down more roots and she figures out what Rick really means (marriage) by putting down roots.
As this series has gone along, thing have gone from steamy, to hot, to scorching, to dear lord people really have that good of sex all the time?!?!? I wish I was having scorching hot sex with a gorgeous British billionaire peer. There were definite times when I had to stop and fan myself and I wondered if smoke was coming of the pages.
Yep, it’s a pretty hot book.
But character-wise, there seems to be a bit of rehashing of some things. Sam is a commitment-phobe. She’s having problems adjusting to a crime free life. For some reason being out there like a “normal” member of society has attracted a number of psychos to follow after her. At least there wasn’t a dead body in there. But there was some growth on Sam’s part in this one. She starts putting down literal and figurative roots with Rick, and she includes him in some of the shadier things she does to keep her adrenaline fix up.
Rick ran a bit hot and cold between allowing Sam some independence and letting her do her thing without his questions or watching her every move because he thinks he’s the one who’s going to keep her out of trouble. He’s also scared that if he pops the question she’ll leave for good. But he’s learning what he needs to do to keep everyone happy and he wants to keep those he cares about safe. And he’s some definite man candy.
Though some of the character flaws seem rehashed and overused, there was enough freshness and some good growth of Sam and Rick that brought me back around to liking and rooting for them as characters. And, of course, the secondary characters and story lines were fun like looking for the science project and what to do about Stoney, who disappeared.
Though it has some flaws, Enoch delivers another sexy, steamy and character driven story that will have me asking when the next in Sam and Rick’s story comes out.
Grade: B
