Back in Black [Mass Market Paperback]

I have all of Lori Foster's books. She is an auto-buy for me. That being said, she really went off her usual course in this one.

I have come to rely on a strong Foster heroine - one with strong values. Gillian doesn't measure up. Drew keeps attributing fine values to her but I don't see'em. She is sent to help him clean up his public image - especially as that image relates to his language about and to women.

He is incensed, of course, that he has to deal with this so what does he do? He tells her that he will work with her if he is allowed some, er, physical interaction with her. He isn't demanding sex at this point but Gillian is aware that that is what he wants. In true Foster tradition, both the heroine and the hero fall into raging lust immediately upon meeting. That's fine. Gillian, however, says "OK" to the demand. I have words for women who sell physical services. That meant that I wasn't impressed by Gillian from the start. I didn't get truly disgusted - I was just bored - until about page 150 or so (halfway through the book). Gillian has a light-bulb moment. She says to herself something like "Hey. I'm a woman. If he talks about women that way, he's talking about ME."

Well, duh.

So - you'd think she'd do something about it, right? Wrong. Some minutes later as a result of watching Drew deal with a crisis, she thinks something along the line: "Poor baby. People just don't know him and understand him."

Hello??

Every time she tries to talk business with him, he seduces her. She never calls him on this! We are told that he is a changed man but I didn't see it. Keep in mind that I didn't really object to Drew. The point is that Gillian DID object to his behavior and her career was riding on being successful in changing that.

Foster didn't convince me that Gillian's turnaround was valid. Frankly, I wasn't too interested in either of them. I much preferred the secondary storyline about Brett and Audrey. In one way, I was very disappointed that this relationship finished completely in this book. I was kinda hoping that another SBC title featuring Brett would follow.

Sigh. 2009 was an awful year for Romance, IMO. I hope that Back in Black isn't an omen that 2010 will be just as bad.

Love all Lori's books and have really enjoyed all books in the SBC series. Drew and Gillian are hot together and the Brett and Audrey story was a sweet addition to the book.

All of the SBC fighters are strong and somewhat stubborn, but are endearing in their respect to the opposite sex. Gillian enters to work on Drew's somewhat abbrasive behavior. Drew isn't thrilled to learn his bosses feel he needs to "clean up his act", but is interested in the prospect of working more closely with Gillian. The sparks fly quickly and the action doesn't slow down.

Brett meets Audrey as she campaigns against the SBC, so he doesn't reveal he is a fighter right away. Audrey respects Brett once she learns more about his past and the hard work he has put in to become as successful as he is. Brett doesn't pressure Audrey into giving up on her beliefs just points out the two sides to every story.

It was nice to "see" some familiar faces from past SBC books and would have enjoyed having any of their recent stories explored, but never disappointed in Lori's work.

Let's start this way, this latest release by Lori Foster, Back in Black, about her beloved SBC fighters and organization is truly a 180 in my opinion from My Man Michael, no doubt about it. With that being said I don't think that it was her best, in my heart that space is reserved for Hard to Handle. In Back to Black I was anxious to read about Drew Black and watching him meets his match. Lori Foster really made a gem when she created Gillian; she is smart, witty and sharp. No matter what the situation her reputation as the best in PR most definitely holds up against the prongs of people and activists who would love to see her AND Drew fall, and fall hard. No matter the fact that inside she was shaking in her boots, she had a never let them see you sweat attitude and the only one to even shake it, although not all the time was Drew! Trying to get his reputation under wraps was a full time job for her and I found their immediate chemistry hot and exciting. Always waiting to read what their next interaction would be. There is a group of women, WAVS (women against violent sports), who constantly protest Drew and the SBC, but now lives are being threatened and it's no longer a war or words. I loved the re-visit of some of the much loved characters and two new ones in Brett & Audrey. Although their story was running parallel for a while you knew at some point their stories would intersect, which was well done because I was so sure at the beginning that I was NOT going to like Audrey at all. Through and through a solid story, predictable but entertaining. It was obvious midway who the villain was but I still wanted to see the action unfold. Not one of her best, but Foster created a truly honest, raw and real character in Drew that I knew I wanted to see it out until the end. I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't in awe either.