Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of His Secret Agenda by Beth Andrews
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 13 Oct 09

It’s often overlooked thanks to the dopey titles Harlequin likes to slap on their books, but I strongly believe that some of the most interesting, innovating, and compelling stories are often told in the category format.  I can practically hear your disbelief over the telecommunication wires.  Yes, amongst the amnesia, secret baby, tycoons and virgin secretaries – writers publishing with Harlequin are churning out interesting, challenging stories featuring interesting, challenging characters.  No one is demonstrating this more for me right now than Beth Andrews.  With only her third book for Harlequin SuperRomance, she’s already shown that she’s a writer willing to take some risks.

Allison “Allie” Martin used to be a criminal defense attorney working for one of the most prestigious firms in Manhattan.  Then something happens (cue Big Secret music), she quit her job, and moved back to her hometown of Serenity Springs, New York.  She bought the local bar, and has been running it ever since.  What Allie hasn’t stopped doing is rescuing people from themselves.  She can’t seem to help herself, and it’s her attraction to strays that has created a small problem for her business.  She keeps hiring unreliable bartenders.  When Dean Garret walks into the bar for an interview, she takes one look at the Texas cowboy and says no thank you.  Sorry to waste your time mister.

Dean is not an easy fellow to brush off.  He needs the job because he needs to snoop (cue Big Secret music).  He’s been hired to do a job, and his instincts tell him that Allie Martin has the answers he’s looking for.  So he does a bit of a two-step, pulls a few strings, and Allie has no choice but to hire him.  In other words, she’s desperate, he can mix drinks, and his cowboy hat is practically charming the panties off her female customers.

The reason authors keep going back to the Big Secret plot device is because when it works – it really cooks.  It makes for a compelling read.  In this instance, both Allie and Dean are hiding something.  Allie hasn’t even told her family why she quit law and decided to run a bar for a living, and Dean isn’t about to come right out and tell Allie what he’s really doing in Serenity Springs.  He needs answers, and to his way of thinking, if he comes right out and asks Allie, all she’ll do is dodge and lie to him.

These secrets, and the minor suspense sub plot, keep the story humming along.  Dean is suitably charming and sexy – not to mention a little sneaky.  He’s also got the requisite baggage required of most romance novel heroes (he’s estranged from his family).  Allie is a nice girl, although one would think her years working as an attorney would have helped dim her rose-colored view of people.

Her character worked fairly well for me, but I can see her not working for other readers.  Allie has made some rough choices, and her work as a criminal defense lawyer probably isn’t going to endear her to some readers (in my experience, people have very strong opinions about lawyers who represent the accused).  She’s paying a price for some of those choices she made, which is probably why I expected her to be more jaded.  Instead she seems downright determined, bordering on naive at times, to believe the best in everybody.  Which is probably why Dean is so successful at hiding his true mission from her.

At the end of the day though, I did enjoy this return visit to Serenity Springs.  There is definitely an unresolved thread at the end of this story, and one suspects it is going to be mined for the author’s next book, which is due out in May 2010.  While it wasn’t a perfect read, I still enjoyed it quite a bit, and Beth Andrews has safely moved into my autobuy category.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Dean Garret is about to break the number one rule of undercover work. And it’s all because his new “boss” is as pretty as a professional cheerleader and has a do-gooder’s heart. Who can resist that combination? Still, Dean suspects Allison Martin is hiding something behind her dazzling smile. That something being the runaway mother and son he’s been hired to find.

To get the job done, he needs to gain Allie’s trust. Only, the lawyer-turned-bar-owner isn’t cooperating. But she can’t remain immune to his good ol’ boy charm and sexy drawl forever. Because Dean never fails. And he’ll do anything to solve a case. Even if it means he has to break all the rules.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: