Recent Read

Dangerous Secrets by Lisa Marie Rice

Why this one: I’ve just recently discovered this author and I’ve loved all her books so far. So when this one came out it was a given that I would read it.

Steam Level: Whoa Mama – this one is steaming

Amazon Blurb: Small-town librarian Charity Prewitt never dreamed she'd meet and fall in love with a man like Nicholas Ames. The handsome, rich, charming, sexy-as-hell millionaire blew into tiny Parker's Ridge, Vermont, and immediately rocked her world. Powerful, sensual, the perfect man, Nick knows all the right words—and all the right spots to touch, sending her soaring to dizzying new heights of ecstatic abandon. Never before has prim and proper Charity leapt into bed with a perfect stranger—and now that she's there with him, nothing is going to drag her away!

But Nick Ames is not who he claims to be. In truth, he is Nicholas Ireland—the one they call "Iceman." A former Delta Force operator, now a high-level undercover agent, he will do whatever his government asks of him—lie, seduce, betray . . . even kill, if necessary—for the sake of the mission. And this time his mission is Charity Prewitt.

Suddenly one woman has broken down his chilly restraint and ignited his passions completely. And before the erotic dream turns into a nightmare, will Charity be able to melt the Iceman's cold, cold heart?

My Thoughts: I think I could copy Katie’s review and paste it here ‘cause we are pretty much in agreement on this one. LMR writes alpha heroes like nobody’s business. Nick was an alpha to die for and so protective of Charity. His nickname of Iceman was blown to smithereens when he is assigned to infiltrate and get to ‘know’ Charity. Her very good friend who unbeknownst to her, was a real leader in the Russian Mafia. Now he was an interesting character. Mad as a hatter he was but when reading why he turned out to be the soulless villain he was, one couldn’t but help feeling bad for him. It didn’t make him any less evil, but it’s not often you find yourself almost sympathizing with the bad guy. But back to Nick and Charity. Nick is totally thrown off his game plan by Charity. He’s not known as the Iceman for nothing. She ‘gets’ to him like nobody ever has before. He’s used sex as a tool to get information before and it meant nothing or less than nothing to him, but with Charity he feels things. There is one scene that is quite amusing. He is following her home from her job as a librarian while talking to one of his very few friends on the phone. His friend, a financial wizard has just told him he’s worth a million dollars but all Nick can do is bitch about what he thinks is Charity’s lousy driving. I did feel that Nick could have felt a little worse for lying to Charity, though he does do everything to protect her.

Charity was alright as a heroine. She didn’t stand out that much for me, but she was good. She was a little on the naïve side and I found her caving into Nick a little too easily.

While I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as Dangerous Lover and the Midnight series, still, overall I was quite a happy reader while reading this one.

Grade: 4 out of 5

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It will also stand out for another reason. It was while reading this book, I came fully out of my romance reading closet. I was sitting reading it at the picnic table at lunch one day when someone came and sat beside me and asked what I was reading. I had a split second to either hide it away or come out totally. So I quickly thought ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’. I don’t really understand that expression but that’s what ran through my brain anyway. So I held the book out to her. She asked if there was sex in it and I replied ‘Oh yaaaaa, there’s a lot of that in here’. It actually felt quite freeing! She replied she didn’t read romance or that kind of book, but she wasn’t snotty or anything about it – and she is one of the most cynical people I work with.

So, I also have to thank Lisa Marie Rice for making me finally taking a stand. I still haven’t stood up on tables and yelled out ‘My Name is Kristie J and I read Romance Novels’ but who knows – maybe I will do that sometime.