Sunday, October 3, 2010

Review - - The Spy Who Saved Christmas

The Spy Who Saved Christmas
By Dana Marton
Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue
Release Date: October 12, 2010








Undercover government agent, Reid Graham is in a race against the clock to bring down a home-grown terrorist cell before a planned Christmas attack so he’s none too pleased when he comes face to face with former lover, Lara Jordan while he’s trying to obtain critical data from a snitch. Reid works alone and avoids entanglements but, two years earlier, while working undercover as a baker next door to Lara’s butcher shop, he broke his “no entanglement” rule with a single night of passion then, to keep her safe, let Lara believe he had been killed in a fire that burned both of their shops.

For the past two years, Lara has grieved for the “bad boy” baker who died without knowing he had fathered her twin boys. But now, when she’s finally about to move forward with her life, she’s shocked to see Reid, alive and well, in a New York City restaurant. She calls him by name, blowing his cover, and before she can blink the woman with him is dead at the hands of the terrorists and Lara finds herself and her babies stashed in an FBI safe house with one of Reid’s fellow agents. But the house isn’t as safe as they thought. The terrorists attack while Reid is away from the house, injuring the agent and Lara and kidnapping the babies. When the FBI refuses to negotiate with the terrorists, Reid and Lara are forced to take matters into their own hands, working together to stop the terrorists and rescue their sons before it’s too late.

The Spy Who Saved Christmas is an emotional, action-packed roller coaster ride that I could not put down. Marton plunges the reader into the action from the very start of the book and maintains the pace until the heart-stopping conclusion. In today’s world, the realistic premise of this book could happen to any of us, which only escalates the breath-stealing intensity of the story. The characters are fully developed and faced with situations to which I could easily relate, especially the terror, then anger, and finally the steely determination of a mother whose children are in the hands of killers and a reluctant father who finally comes to understand the importance of love and lives that are shared only to face losing the family he's just found if he’s unable to get to them in time.

This was my first book by Dana Marton and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I was also delighted to discover that she has an extensive Harlequin Intrigue back list that I’m now itching to read. If you enjoy heart-stopping romantic suspense, I highly recommend Dana Marton and The Spy Who Saved Christmas.

~PJ

7 comments:

  1. PJ great review and I love the sound of this one I need to find a copy so as I can read it

    Have Fun
    Helen

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  2. Hmmm, a bad boy baker -- sounds like something I could sink my teeth into ;-)

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  3. Helen, stop by the blog this Tuesday (Oct. 5th). Dana Marton will be blogging with us and she's giving away a copy of The Spy Who Saved Christmas to a random commenter.

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  4. Hmmm, a bad boy baker -- sounds like something I could sink my teeth into ;-)

    LOL @ Buffie! Conjures up all sorts of interesting images, doesn't it? *g*

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  5. I like the sound of this one, PJ! I will have to find a copy this week.

    LOL@Buffie! Sounds good to me, too. *g*

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  6. I enjoy Harlequin Intrigues. They have a lot of good authors putting out really good books. I don't think I have read any of her books, but am going to check my stash of Intrigues for them.. I checked her back list and there are a few I really want to read. This one sounds good.

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  7. Sorry to be late to the party, but when I see Dana Marton's name, I have to respond. She's hands down one of the best romantic suspense writers out there these days, category-length or otherwise. Another of her books I highly recommend, if you can find a copy of it, is Tall, Dark and Lethal. Fantastic thriller of a book.

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