Sandy M’s review of Deal With This (The Goddard Project, Book 2) by Lucy Monroe
Contemporary Romance published by Brava on 1 Dec 07

I discovered Lucy Monroe in 2005 and have loved everything I’ve read of hers so far. It’s her heroes and the slow, sexy, sensuous way she tortures a reader on the way to some great love scenes that keep me coming back time and time again.

This book is no exception. Alan is one of those tall, handsome, sculpted men who had a bad relationship and has vowed to never allow himself to get involved so emotionally with a woman ever again. He’s a former FBI agent now with a covert agency that even the U.S. government doesn’t know exists. His ex-fiancee ended up marrying another agent, so Alan knows it’s not necessarily the job that women can’t live with. He’s happy with just sex and with a job that takes him wherever he’s needed. Alan’s contentment is about to get a huge shake-up. His current assignment includes a cover as a freelance reporter infiltrating the entertainment business to find the person responsible for stealing unknown technology to sell to the highest bidder. He’s to rent a room from Jillian Carlyle, an actress and a suspect, a beautiful redhead who keeps him hot and bothered night and day.

Jillian also is one who doesn’t believe in love, has an ex-fiance, and has rules to cover just about every aspect of the man-woman relationship. Her career is the most important thing to her, she doesn’t need a deceitful man in her life. Enter Alan and all of Jillian’s good intentions and her rules are right down the drain. Oh, she tries very hard to stick to her guns, but Alan’s personality and sexuality chip away at her defenses one by one. The teasing, hot scenes between these two last a good long while until both you and they can’t stand it any longer. They burn up the pages every which way before they finally get down to the deed. But the deed itself is even that much sweeter by this time, and they are both lost afterwards and they both refuse to admit it, to acknowledge the feelings and the sparks when they’re together. It’s like they’re not sure what to do with all this sudden emotion, so it’s better to go on pretending this is a short-term fling and they’ll go their separate ways in the near future. However, after analyzing, a life without the other in it doesn’t sit well with either of them. After a lot of soul searching, they begin to talk and to see all they need to do is compromise and life and love will take care of itself and them.

I really like how Alan accepts Jillian’s friends with no questions asked and no prejudice — three are gay men, each confident in their sexuality and the kind of man Alan has never known before. He gets to know the men inside, the person each of them is and doesn’t judge their lifestyle. Monroe’s characters are always three-dimensional and getting to know them is a joy. But it’s Alan and Jillian’s relationship that makes this book. Considering their pasts and their jobs, they’re as honest as they can be with one another, they revel in each other, and they understand the other’s emotions and reasons for being so hard headed about love. But they each come around in their own way, they work together, and you can’t have a better happily-ever-after than what you get in Monroe’s books every time.

This series is loosely related to Ready (Kensington, Jul ’05), Willing (Kensington, Jan ’06), And Able (Kensington, May ’06), which are my three favorite Monroe books. If you read romance for the heroes and a fulfilling, loving, and sexy romance, you have to read Lucy Monroe.

Grade: B+

From the back cover:
     Alan Hyatt could do his job in his sleep, and when the Goddard Project sends him to investigate a case of high-tech espionage in the Vancouver film industry, he finds a perfect reason to work in bed. But sizzling actress Jillian Carlyle also happens to be his landlady, and she’s got a hard-and-fast (so to speak) rule that keeps her from dating her renters. While Alan’s cover as a reporter gets him close to all the suspects on the set of Jillian’s sci-fi show, playing a background actor at her suggestion to get his story? Well, that’s something else–but he’s not about to turn down a red-hot redhead, even if she keeps throwing him curves…

     Jillian just can’t understand it. Sure, Alan is six-feet-something of chiseled ruggedness with gray eyes and an irresistible growl in his voice. But hello? She doesn’t do relationships–even of the casual kind–with men who impact more than her senses. No one is getting a chance at her heart. Especially not one of her renters. Still, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying Alan from afar–but not too far, or she wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate his rock-hard abs when he’s working out in the home gym. If only he didn’t make her feel safe and oh so right when they touched…

     Read an excerpt.