PJ here. I'm delighted to welcome Manda Collins today, not in her role as a published author but as a book reviewer. Manda will be joining us from time to time to share her thoughts about books in one of her favorite romance sub-genres: romantic suspense. Today, Manda is reviewing the newly-released Watch Your Back by Karen Rose. Welcome, Manda!
Watch Your Back
By Karen Rose
Publisher: Signet
Release Date: February 4, 2014
I've
had mad love for Karen Rose ever since she happily autographed her entire
backlist for me at a RWA conference some years back. It's rare that an author
even gets her most recent book, let alone her entire backlist to sign at the
RWA publisher signings—so her publisher must have known just how good she was!
But
what really tipped me over the edge to fangirl was her writing, and her latest
WATCH YOUR BACK is easily one of her best.
On medical
leave from being shot in the previous book, Baltimore cop Stevie (Stefania)
Mazzetti has been going through her
former partner's cases with a fine toothed comb in her down time, looking for anything
untoward. You see, her former partner was in the pay of a very powerful man who
paid to see to it that his enemies were punished while his friends got off scot
free. And Stevie wants to right the
wrongs he committed, in part because she feels responsible for not having
realized he was dirty.
But Stevie has more issues than just a gunshot wound to deal
with. She's also still recovering emotionally from the seemingly random
shooting deaths of her husband and small son some years ago. And that has left
her terrified to fall in love again. So much so that when former Marine turned
Private Investigator Clay Maynard tries to turn their sizzling attraction into
a relationship she turns him down flat. But when a sniper takes a shot at her
on the anniversary of her husband and son's deaths, then tries again later at
her house, she'll have to deal with Clay's presence in her life whether she
wants him there or not. He's in protective mode and it will take more than
Stevie's protests to keep him from doing what needs to be done to keep her
safe.
What
follows is a twisting, turning tale of betrayal, sins of the past, and an arch
villain who will stop at nothing to see to it that no one discovers he is the
mastermind behind years of terror. As is her usual MO, Karen Rose has created a
world in this Baltimore setting that seems so real you want to visit there.
There are several threads of plot that carry over from the previous books in
the series, and though I think it could be read as a standalone, to get the
full effect it would be best to read those first.
One
thing that is especially fun in any Karen Rose book is playing spot the
walk-ons from other series and books. In this case, it's Stevie's friend and
self-help guru, Emma , and her husband Christopher, who were the stars of
Rose's novella "Dirty Secrets" from the anthology Hot Pursuit. And of course we get to see
the couples from the previous books in the series, and various other secondary
characters that populate her Baltimore world.
Overall,
I think this is one of Rose's strongest books, and I hope this won't end her
time in Baltimore. I've grown to love these people and their friendships and
loves and I will be sorry if we don't get to see more relationships develop
among them. But knowing Karen Rose, even if she does decide to move the main
action of her books somewhere else, we'll see these characters again someday as
walk-ons in someone else's romance.
~Manda Collins
http://mandacollins.com
Manda Collins writes smart, sexy historical romance laced with a touch of mystery. Manda still lives in her native coastal Alabama where she works as an academic librarian at a small liberal arts college. Her most recent book, Why Earls Fall in Love, the second in her Wicked Widows trilogy, was released by St. Martin's on January 28, 2014. You can find more information about Manda and her books at her website and connect with her online at Facebook and Twitter.
