Pine Lake by Amanda Stevens

Title: Pine Lake
Author: Amanda Stevens
Series: Stand-Alone
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue; Original edition (October 1, 2017)
Source: NetGalley
Rating: ☕☕☕1/2

Synopsis: SLEEPWALKING WITH DANGER  

The murder of security expert Jack King's girlfriend has haunted him for fifteen years. Returning to Pine Lake, Texas, where the townsfolk still consider him suspect, might not be the smartest move, but a killer seems to be holding up a mirror to his past. The same witness to this new murder was also present the night Jack's girlfriend dieds…but both times, she was sound asleep…

Sleepwalking has gotten Olive Belmont into some sticky situations. Being the witness to both murders may have put her on the killer's list. Even so, she doesn't think the killer is Jack and is willing to help him. But will putting his past to rest ease her mind or leave her with even greater nightmares?

My Thoughts: A good suspense book from a great author.

The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else: While I feel the suspense of this book was top notch I would have loved for the book to be longer. A longer book would have been really able to capitalize on the feeling of suspense. The length of book is pretty typical of a category romance and in most cases it always leaves me wanting more. This book in particular. I wanted the romance to have more time to develop naturally as well as wanting longer suspense. The book takes place in a matter of days so a viable romance really doesn't have time to develop but luckily there wasn't insta-love. Yes the characters had a connection but thankfully there were no I Love You's at the end. So that was a plus for me.

The mystery part was expected but with a twist so I liked it quite a bit but would have liked a more hidden motive rather than the one explained. There were also a couple episodes of a sleepwalking incidents that felt off to me. I don't know a lot about sleepwalking but I did have a friend who did sleepwalk who said she had to have a lock on her bedroom door because while she was a sleepwalking she was unable to have the dexterity to unlock doors. Of course sleepwalking could be highly different from one person to another. As I said, I don't know a lot about it.

The characters could have been fleshed out more but there is a basic understanding of both Jack and Olivia and what makes them tick. I liked Olivia but found she was a bit of a Mary Sue. I also liked Jack but his complexity was just glossed over. Stevens gave us just a taste of what Jack was all about and, not to beat a dead horse....where did that saying come from anyway?....it's pretty morbid, but had there been the option of a longer book Jack might have ended up worth of Book Boyfriend status.

In a Nutshell: This was a good book on the verge of being great. This author knows her stuff and is really capable of penning a thrilling book. This is my first book by her but not my last as I have tons of her Intrigues on my shelf.

Sharpshooter by Cynthia Eden

Synopsis: Two years ago Gunner Ortez saved Sydney Sloan's life on a mission gone wrong. And ever since then, he's been watching her back. Now a hostage-rescue mission is about to blow the Elite Ops agents' lives apart once again.  Working side by side back in the jungles of Peru, the heat between Sydney and Gunner is hotter than ever-and so are the threats to their lives. With the danger escalating, Sydney knows Gunner is her only hope at successfully completing their assignment. But the ex-SEAL who arouses passion she'd only dreamed about also poses the greatest risk to the secret she carries in her heart...and in her belly.

My Thoughts: I used to read the Harlequin Intrigues exclusively, loving the mix of romance and suspense, but over the years I've neglected my gianormous stack(s) of Harlequins in favor of longer more main stream romances. It's quite unfortunate that the Harlequin/Silhouette category romances just don't get the word of mouth advertising and acknowledgement that other books do because many of these short thrilling Intrigues turn out to be quite good. I found that to be true with Sharpshooter, the third installment of Cynthia Eden's Shadow Agents series.

What Worked For Me: The passion between the hero and heroine was sizzling and the tension of the, well, intrigue, of the case that the Shadow Agents found themselves in was believable. Both the hero and the heroine were part of the Shadow Agents which gave me a totally kick butt chick to root for and a mysterious-can kill you with a paperclip-hero to worship a little bit. The hero was well fleshed out and it was easy to empathize with him throughout the book and the secondary characters Mercer and Cale were noteworthy.

What Didn't Work For Me: The heroine, Sydney, was just not as fleshed out as her counterpart, Gunner. We learned about Gunner's childhood background but learned virtually nothing of Sydney apart from a brief look into her relationship with Slade. In addition to the lack of character building of Sydney both the hero and heroine went on a mission and had quite the groan worthy faux pas. They had a TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) moment. While in the jungle on a rescue mission they stopped doing their job (in a highly hostile environment I might add) to argue about  their relationship. Say What?!?!?!?! Why would two extensively skilled special agents of a secret organization where they only hire the best of the best do this? How did they survive so long if they couldn't compartmentalize their feelings?

In a Nutshell: Despite a few issues I had with this book the overall experience was very good and I'll actively seek out the newest release Glitter and Gunfire (released August 20, 2013) because it's Cale's book (yahoo!) and also go back and read the first two books in this series. I would recommend anyone who likes a good romantic suspense to give this book a go.

The Dream Wedding by MJ Rodgers

The Dream Wedding by MJ Rodgers

A Harlequin Intrigue #445 Fortune Cookie mini-series.

Decription compliments of Shelfari.com:

Handsome psychiatrist Michael Sands specializes in patients' dreams, but he falls into a dream of his own when he finds beautiful Briana Berry sleeping under the Dream Institute's office Christmas tree late one night. Answers to the many questions that arise from this discovery--how she got there, why she's dressed in an expensive wedding gown, and what her real identity is--pose a giant mystery, one Michael has to solve.

As he struggles to maintain a patient-client relationship with Briana, he's painfully aware that he has fallen in love with the fascinating mystery woman. As Briana searches for the memory that eludes her, she falls more deeply in love with Michael. Why can't Briana remember what she's really like? Why does she remember a childhood far different from the one her mother describes? Why does she feel threatened by the man who insists he is her new husband? 

My Thoughts....

Although when it comes to plotlines in some of the older Intrigues (this one was written 12 or more years ago) have been done to death (amnesiac woman has to depend on a hunka hunka man to try to remember who she is) I thought it was pretty good. It almost lost me at the beginning though when said woman was kissed awake by said man after he found her deep in sleep under his Christmas tree at his office (which happens to be The Institute of Dreams). She had the nerve to kiss him back....um hello....if I fall asleep and wake up with amnesia and a man I probably have never met has me in a tongue wrestling match I would totally come up swinging not kissing.

But anyway....I digress. As I mentioned, this book is pretty good. Connecting with the characters was pretty easy. The author did a great job of giving all her characters depth which is not always easy in category romances because the length of the books tend to not allow for the development. So 3 dimensional characters....check.

Believable storyline....well, maybe half a check. When Briana discovered she didn't know how she got to the institute she said something along the lines of missing 3 hours of her life. Later in the book this was proven to not be the case. It was even worse. So when that little zinger was discovered I had that ominous music playing in my head....dumdumDUUUUUUUUMMMMMM. Even later in the book the new development was proven to not be the case. It was again worse and once again the ominous music played in my head but more of comedic flair (picture the movie Clue with Tim Curry and you'll get what I mean.)

Despite the crazy plotline and a couple other "issues" that are more about personal taste then anything I give it 4 Stars. This author is one I will definitely seek out among my hundreds of Harlequin Intrigues to read sooner rather then later. After all Rodgers did a masterful job of answering the question that I didn't know I had. "What happens when an amnesiac has amnesia about the time she had amnesia but remembers everything else?"