Bodyguard

Rating:
Summary: Romantic Times Review
Review: At 27 years old, Alessandra Lamont is a divorced trophy wife. To be honest, she is happy to be rid of her husband Griffin for it now allows her to try to adopt a special-needs baby. Unfortunately Alessandras dreams are placed on hold when she finds that not only has Griffin mortgaged everything, he also stole money from alleged mob boss Michael Trotta.

When Griffins murdered body turns up, Alessandra really starts to worry. Michael Trotta and his henchmen believe Alessandra knows where the missing money is located. She is given a deadline to return the money or else.

FBI agents Harry ODell and George Faulkner have been after Michael Trotta for a long time, and now they see an opportunity to nail him. Alessandra wants nothing to do with the FBI or the mob. She is determined to find the money, give it back and go on with her life.

Things dont go as planned, as someone tries to kill Alessandra despite her return of the money. Alessandra is taken into protective custody by Harry, but there is still danger lurking.

BODYGUARD is the fabulous follow-up to Suzanne Brockmanns first single-title release. Romantic suspense is obviously Ms. Brockmanns forte and she proves it at every turn. (Dec., 360 pp., $5.99)

-Jill M. Smith

Rating:
Summary: An oldie but goodie
Review: Maybe it should be pointed out that this is a reprint of a 1999 book.

Rating:
Summary: A KEEPER
Review: Peter Falk is definitely not who I picture as Harry. I prefer to think of a brown-eyed Mel Gibson. Mmmm... Remember in the Lethal Weapon series how reckless and suicidal Mel's character was? Also, it is far more appealing to think about Mel in jeans and a T-shirt. I may be naive, but I found it disturbing the way these government agents thought nothing of "pillow talk" to obtain information. Harry's profanity seemed realistic to me. Any cop that deals with these mob types isn't going to talk like Prince Charles. Did anyone else think that Baby Jane Doe had actually been adopted by the mob guy? Whew, glad I was wrong.

Rating:
Summary: RITA Winner! Best-Seller! . . .Read this book anyway
Review: She won a RITA (ooo, two!) and she's selling a gazillion books. None of that changes the fact that Suzanne Brockmann is a great writer who lives up to this hype. This is not Heartthrob II. This book stands solidly on its own merits: strong plot, believable characters, great dialogue, each page moved. This book seems a bit edgier than other romance faire, and despite the mob boss set-up, the grittier aspects involve Harry's redemption in his relationships. Brockmann's characters make pure, tough choices that are sometimes hard to like, but it is a relief to read a book that wasn't device'd to death.

This book fails to get five stars only because a secondary character should have received a whole lot more comeuppance, and the epilogue, unlike the tone of the rest of the book, was a little too Barney for my taste ("And what did you learn today, Timmy?") Brockmann has written a book that takes the romance novel to previously unscaled heights by combining extraordinary circumstances with realistic character responses. P.S. If Detective Harry O'Dell's rumpled suit makes you think of Peter Falk, try substituting George Clooney. Worked for me. Very well, actually. And anyway, seeing Peter Falk is not enough reason to stop reading a well-crafted book. There are too few out there these days.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling suspense
Review: Stop reading the reviews and read the book! These characters behave as their flesh and blood counterparts would. You feel what they feel, you crave what they crave. Ms. Brockman is superb at creating a realistic relationship from an improbably thrilling plot. She does it again. Can we please have a 4 1/2 star rating?

Rating:
Summary: Hit and Miss
Review: Suzanne Brockmann is hit and miss with me. I honestly think I'd like her writing more if she'd work on cleaning up her swinging POV. That being said, Brockmann has a good feel for humor, for dialogue, and the absurd, which can often save a book for me. If you go into Body Guard with the assumption that this will be a formulaic romance, then you're going to be disappointed.

There is a romance, but I think Brockmann delves a little deeper than most superficial romances are used to. There's also the fact that the characters in this book are deeply flawed--in other words, a huge mess.

Alessandra Lamont has never really had to think or do for herself. She went from her parents' home to marriage at 19 with a control freak with mob connections. Her catch of a husband divorces her after 7 years of marriage when she learns she's unable to have children. The biggest surprise is yet to come--the death of her husband and the fact that he's stolen a million dollars from mobster Michael Trotta.

Then there's Harry, an FBI agent who has seen better days. When he and his partner George cross paths with Alessandra Lamont, all Harry can think is that she's just another pretty, useless trophy wife. He's not far from the truth at this point in Alessandra's life.

After a couple of twists and turns, Alessandra and Harry go on the run together, and it's a learning experience for both of them. Harry's burned out and he's yet to deal with the death of his teenage son and ex-wife nearly two years earlier. The only thing he and Alessandra have in common is that the same mobster who wants her dead is responsible for the death of Harry ex-wife and son.

Harry and Alessandra are forced to examine themselves a bit closer, and it's only then that they begin the process of living. Harry is bitter, obsessed with Michael Trotta, and so afraid and ashamed of his weaknesses that he can't face his two remaining children.

Alessandra is in control of her life for the very first time, and she's discovering that she's not as useless as she's always thought. She's thinking for herself, and she's making some tough decisions when it comes to Harry.

Readers of traditional contemporary romances likely won't like this book as it falls far outside formula. For starters, Harry isn't tall, dark, and handsome. If Alessandra wears heels of any size she's an inch taller than Harry. Harry is a mess, has no clothes sense, really bad hair, and an even worse attitude that is liberally sprinkled with sarcasm.

Alessandra is so naive and empty-headed at times that I wondered how she survived as long as she did. Mess or not, these two mesh well, and when they start on the road to recovery, it's believable.

If you're looking for formula, stay away. If you like your romance with a bit of sweet and sour, dive in, the waters just fine.

Rating:
Summary: Its not a 5 because.....
Review: The book is very fast-paced, never a moment of boredom. Never a dull moment. The romance between the protagonists wonderful. However, the relationship between the secondary protagonists, George and Nicole remains unfinished, and I can't help but thinking about them. I mean, it's obvious that they're still in love with each other even if they're divorced. They just can't get over their differences because there's not enough communication between them. They just look for ways to hurt one another. He was even sleeping with an exact duplicate of her, apparently fell in lover with HER, a pale copy of the real thing, and then left her because she'd betrayed him. I really didn't like that part. And still, when he left her, he still couldn't see past his ex's front the love beneath. I don't know about you, but when I read a romance novel, I like the good guys to be happy. I like everything settled and finished. It's still a very good book, though. Lots of heartfelt moments. Just a bit of unfinished business.

Rating:
Summary: The perfect love story
Review: This book is the perfect love story, Harry and Alessandra, both having their own problems, family, money, etc. but when they met because her husband was from the mafia and Harry was an FBI agent their story begins.
The story of the mafia is almost relative, all the time you want to know what would happen to Harry and Alessandra, it doesn't matter if they are in danger or what is happening to the other people of the book. If you read this book as a perfect love story you will like it, if you read the book as a police book, you will not like it because are many things in the investigation that you don't know where they come from.

Rating:
Summary: great story
Review: Unlike the other reader in this review, I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that the hero, Harry, was having a difficult time emotionally with the loss of his son and he felt a tremendous amount of guilt. When someone cannot identify with this type of emotion, they have not dealt with the pains of losing someone very close. I was glad to see that he finally realized he "needed" somebody. Certainly our heroine's emotional being grew also. I think Suzanne does an excellent job in not only telling a great story, but also in developing her characters along the way so that in the end you never forget them. In fact, George shows up again in Out of Control.