Sandy M’s review of The Loner (Men Out of Uniform, Book 3) by Rhonda Nelson
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Blaze 1 Jun 08
How I love finding an author who can make me laugh out loud. There’s not many out there who can do it and do it well. Rhonda Nelson is a new author to me and, just based on her humor alone, I will be buying more of her books in this series. In the everyday stress of the job and just life, I need a few laughs and Ms. Nelson gives them to me in spades.
As the book opens, Lucas Finn, a.k.a. Huck to his military buddies for obvious reasons, is in the middle of the realization that he’s up the proverbial creek when he wasn’t paying attention and ends up off course in his parachuting exercise, crashes into a few trees, dislocates and breaks a couple of things. Career over. All thanks to a father he’s never known and has been on his mind lately. Angry and embarrassed at his rookie mistake, Huck leaves the service to become a PI with other ex-military men, who promptly assign him to guard the socialite from hell. He takes the job good naturally, thinking maybe it’s an initiation of sorts. How can one rich, spoiled debutante be so much trouble?
He finds out very quickly, of course. Sapphira has her own life to lead, but her father has other ideas since her brother killed himself four years ago and now letters are being received threatening her life. Bodyguards are her father’s answer, but Sapphira has a secret life her protective parent knows nothing about and to insure the secrecy continues, she has to make sure the bodyguards don’t report to her father her comings and goings as far as her work is concerned. The only way to do that is to make sure she irritates and bores them to death with girly, uppity, and mundane things. And Sapphira does it beautifully. Until she comes face to face with Huck.
The dialogue between Huck and Sapphira is some of the funniest I’ve read and it kept me laughing page after page. They’re both sharp-witted and intelligent, but with Sapphira acting the dumb blonde on a shopping spree, everything is that much more hilarious. There’s also great banter between Huck and his new employers, who are featured in their own books in the series. When Huck turns the tables on Sapphira and places her under house arrest – something the other bodyguards failed to think of – we get more laughs from Huck’s point of view. Then when you add in the attraction between these two characters, you’re chuckling at their predicament to ignore those hot and steamy feelings or you’re hot and steamy yourself when their lovin’ takes over.
I had fun with this book. I left behind the stress of the day and just went with the flow, ending with an airiness and sense of calm to enjoy until real like took over again. I’m hoping the other books in the series have the same humor and lighthness about them. I’m looking forward to finding out!
Grade: A-
Summary:
Lucas “Huck” Finn is thrilled to join elite Ranger Security- until he learns his new assignment is to babysit heiress Sapphira Stravos, a doggy-toting debutante who’s driving everyone crazy. Still, he can’t help but feel there’s more to Sapphira than meets the eye. And what’s meeting the eye is damn hard to resist….
Thanks to a few stupid threatening letters, Sapphira Stravos is having her style cramped, big-time! How is she going to look after the charities she secretly supports? Although she’d managed to ditch her former jailers, this guy isn’t budging. Still, having a guy as hot as Huck around has its perks. After all, if he has to guard her body, he might as well get to enjoy it, too….
Read an excerpt here.
Other books in this series:
