Publishers Weekly
★ 11/28/2016
Jackson (A Man’s Promise) continues her contemporary Grangers series with the sizzling, fast-paced tale of a driven bodyguard and the wealthy heiress he’s hired to protect. After Margo Connelly serves on a Virginia jury that convicts a powerful criminal, her life is in danger. Enter Lamar “Striker” Jennings, a bodyguard with a checkered past hired by Margo’s wealthy uncle. Though at first she’s reluctant at first to have a bodyguard, other jurors are being killed, and she recognizes protection is not optional if she wants to stay alive. As the tension ratchets up, so does the passionate sexual chemistry between Striker and Margo, and he puts his life and his heart on the line. Jackson’s deft plotting and effective red herrings keep the suspense high as her multidimensional characters command the reader’s attention. Intriguing subplots, including one involving a psychic investigator, add texture to the story. The only flaw of this first-rate, satisfyingly sexy tale is that it ends. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"The only flaw of this first-rate, satisfying sexy tale is that it ends." -Publishers Weekly on Forged in Desire (STARRED review)
"Leave it to Jackson to take sizzle and honor, wrap it in romance and come up with a first-rate tale." -RT Book Reviews on Temptation
"Brenda Jackson is the queen of newly discovered love... If there's one thing Jackson knows how to do, it's how to pluck those heartstrings and stir up some seriously saucy drama." -BookPage on Inseparable
"Welcome to another memorable family tree created by the indomitable Brenda Jackson, a romantic at heart." -USA TODAY on A Brother's Honor
"[Jackson] proves once again that she rocks when it comes to crafting family drama with a healthy dose of humor and steamy, sweaty sex. Here's another winner." -RT Book Reviews on A Brother's Honor, 4½ stars, Top Pick
"This deliciously sensual romance ramps up the emotional stakes and the action.... [S]exy and sizzling." -Library Journal on Intimate Seduction
"Jackson does not disappoint...first-class page-turner." -RT Book Reviews on A Silken Thread, 4½ stars, Top Pick
"Jackson is a master at writing." -Publishers Weekly on Sensual Confessions
Kirkus Reviews
2016-11-22
An heiress in peril, a bodyguard with a heart of gold, and villains of every stripe populate this romantic thriller.When wedding-dress designer Margo Connelly and her fellow jurors declare a man guilty of murder, they find themselves in the cross hairs of his paid assassin. Enter Lamar "Striker" Jennings, an elite bodyguard hired to keep Margo safe—and does he have his job cut out for him! In addition to being targeted by a killer, Margo is being harassed by at least three other parties: a cheating ex who wants to get back together, his former associate who nearly got arrested for helping stalk her, and her wealthy uncle's mercenary girlfriend who sees her as a threat. In this spinoff from her Grangers series, Jackson (A Lover's Vow, 2015, etc.) packs in a little too much action to be believable. The novel's strengths are the propulsive courtroom scene in the prologue and the episodes that bring out Margo's and Striker's personalities and pasts. Readers of the previous series may also enjoy cameos of characters from the earlier books. But the plot drags in the middle, and the many lovemaking scenes interspersed with two-dimensional bad guys and a bitchy villainess don't quite lift it to the pace demanded in romantic suspense. It even takes a couple of climaxes for the multiple threads to be tied up. Notable for an ex-con hero who's earned professional success despite having been dealt an unfair hand and a heroine who stops ignoring a fatal threat before the final shootout—unlike many "too stupid to live" heroines in the bodyguard-romance subgenre.
