ShannonC’s review of Private Maneuvers by Denise A. Agnew
Romantic erotic suspense ebook released by Samhain 1 Apr 08
Private Maneuvers is the third book in Denise A. Agnew’s Hot Zone series. It follows Male Call and Unconditional Surrender although you don’t need to read either of those to understand what’s going on. (And I say this as the type of reader who, when reading series, absolutely has to stick to reading order.)
Unfortunately, the fact that I was able to follow this story without having read the rest of the series is among the few things that did work for me about this book.
The plot goes something like this. Marisa was attacked while in Mexico by some thugs, including a guy named Ramon. I think this must have happened in the last book. She is rescued by a contingent of Army rangers, including Jake Sullivan, whom she is inexplicably attracted to. But, oh noes! Jake’s a military man, and Marisa doesn’t do military men. Jake, meanwhile, is also inexplicably attracted to Marisa, so he decides that the way to win her heart is by working as a bouncer at her uncle’s bar. He figures he’ll take the temporary job during a 30-day vacation, get to know Marisa in the Biblical sense, and get her out of his system. But Marisa is getting strange and disturbing phone calls, so there is a distinct possibility that she is in real danger.
I had two major problems with this book. First, none of the characters particularly resonated with me. They didn’t have any traits that were uniquely Jake or Marisa, and they were just bland. A lot of that could be the word count–there’s a reason I don’t typically read novella-length ebooks. I want more of a sense of the characters, the setting and the plot than can be provided in something like 150 pages of text. And because I didn’t have that, I just didn’t really care about either of these people. I did think Jake was a nice enough guy, despite his blandness, but I didn’t understand Marisa at all. The woman had some angst and issues in her past, but again, they just didn’t especially resonate, and they read to me like they were thrown in to provide needed conflict. I also felt like I’d read about these two characters in countless other books before them, and so much of what happened followed a sort of paint by numbers pattern.
My other major issue with this story was the suspense subplot. To whit, there wasn’t enough of one, especially given that the book is billed as romantic suspense. I do like contemporary romance, but if I’m reading a romantic suspense story, I want to feel like my protagonists are in danger. In fact, to be honest, I thought the villain was really, really lame.
I know that Ms. Agnew is a prolific and popular ebook writer. I just think she clearly isn’t for me.
Grade: D
Blurb:
A woman craves. A man wants. Their collision pitches them into the hot zone.Hot Zone Book 3
Sometimes a woman craves what she shouldn’t want… Marisa Clyde wants nothing to do with the soldier acting as a temporary bouncer in her uncle’s tavern, even though the stoic, six-feet-of-smoldering hunk rescued her during a tour gone bad in Mexico. While those few short moments sent their sexual tension screaming off the charts, a devastating hurt in her past now blocks her willingness to surrender to him. He’ll only be in town a month. If she can just wait it out, he’ll soon be out of her life.
Sometimes a man wants more than a woman is willing to share… Jake Sullivan watches Marisa like a hawk, well aware his need to protect is messing with his mind and making him care way more than he should. Priding himself on clinical detachment in the game between man and woman, he figures once he’s slept with her, she’ll be out of his system for good. But that’s before he experiences her at a deeper level—and learns she just might be in danger again.
Warning: Beware of sizzling sexual tension and extreme emotional connection between hero and heroine. Sex, when it finally happens, is enough to blister.
You can read an excerpt of this book here.
Read more from ShannonC on her person blog Flight Into Fantasy.
