Veena’s review of Locked and Loaded (US Marshals, Book 5) by Mandy Baxter
Romantic Suspense published by Zebra 27 Sep 16
All Mason Decker needs to do in order to realize his dream of becoming a US Marshal is to betray his childhood friend and gather evidence to help close a case. His assignment gets even more personal and complicated, if that’s possible, when his boss, Charlie Cahill, gets swept up into posing as his girlfriend and diamond fence. Poor Mason has to keep them both alive while she hobnobs with the enemy. This is a fast-paced and fun read that blends danger, intrigue, and romance in just the right doses.
Mason has always been different with his calling toward law and order, while his criminal father adopts another young man who’s eager to follow in his criminal footsteps. Mason and Kieran become brothers despite having opposite leanings. Mason puts his friendship on the line when he agrees to use his relationship with Kieran to break into the criminal group that the US Marshals are working to overturn. Kieran puts Mason through the paces and then some as he tests his disbelief that Mason would cleave to a life of crime.
The mixture becomes even more volatile when Charlie is added into the brewing cocktail of suspicion between Mason and Kieran. Competitive Kieran wants to win Charlie on his side, little realizing that she’s a US State Attorney who would love to make her reputation by putting him away. Charlie is magnificent as she quickly comes up to speed on her undercover role and explores the criminal underbelly of Southern California with her two companions, even having the balls to tell a crazy Russian mobster with a gun in her hand that the huge diamond ring this mobster is wearing is a fake.
Kieran’s stories about Mason have the opposite effect on Charlie as she starts to see the real person behind the chip on his shoulder. It’s inevitable that their hot chemistry soon has them indulging between the command performances demanded by Kieran. As Mason and Charlie get closer to the truth, they’re putting their lives on the line to bring the criminals to justice. The truth behind the identities of the criminals and the mastermind of the plot will astound you.
The emotional connection between Mason and Kieran, who are brothers without being brothers, lifts the story out of the ordinary to make this a quick and very enjoyable read.
Grade: B
Summary:
With a rock-hard body and steel blue eyes, Mason Decker is about to become the U.S. Marshals’ newest recruit. But one last undercover job with a straitlaced attorney will test him to his limits . . .Charlotte Cahill intends to take down an infamous diamond smuggler on the FBI’s Most Wanted list—and she intends to do it by the book. That won’t be easy with the cocky new temporary deputy on her task force. Mason Decker feels like trouble, especially when his cool gaze wanders across her hot body . . .
After his time as a Customs officer, Decker has enough experience hanging out with criminals to know that working undercover means following your instincts, not the rules. It doesn’t take long for him to lock horns with Cahill. But when the sexy assistant U.S. attorney is accidentally dragged out of her orderly world and into the turn-on-a-dime tension of Decker’s deceptive games, she’ll find that nothing is as seductive as playing a new role . . .
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