Into The Crossfire: A Protectors Novel: Navy SEAL [Mass Market Paperback]

Lisa Marie Rice is one of my favorite steamy romantic suspense writers, but you'd never know it by this book. Closer to 2.5 stars than 3, Into the Crossfire is about as cliche ridden a book as I've seen lately. I realized in the first 7 pages, after reading how breathless former SEAL turned security specialist Sam Reston was each time he saw the 'most beautiful woman in the world', Nicole Pearce, I was in for a real disappointment, but I kept hoping. Pages and pages of hero and heroine with pounding hearts, the loss of coherent conversation, and, well, breathlessness. Never have I read a more overwrought opening chapter for a romantic suspense novel. It was classic old-fashioned bodice ripper stuff, only worse.

Unfortunately, the first third of the book could easily have been shortened by 60 or more pages to create a more tightly written story line - or at least one that had the kind of suspense and action one expects in romantic suspense. All that breathlessness and so little story made for dull reading. There was the typical sex scene where - I'm sure you'll be shocked - they were breathless and neither could speak due to all that chemistry and .......... probably oxygen deprivation from all that breathlessness.

The story finally gets moving, sort of, in the last third of the book. Unfortunately, time is past for developing the kind of thrills a romantic suspense novel should have. Heroine is saved, hero is well, heroic, bad guys are foiled, but chief bad guy goes to England to try again. Predictable. Character and relationship development is pretty much non-existent.

Into the Crossfire read like a book outline heavily padded with melodrama. Suspense was in short supply, kind of like breath. A real disappointment from a usually reliable author.

I have been waiting impatiently for LMR's newest book and was a little disappointed. It was a great plot, great couple but she seemed to spend way too much time on background information and not enough on the characters falling in love or even interacting together. They seemed to only speak twice and the love affair wasn't developed. When they first hooked up romantically I looked down and half the book was already read. I like great dialogue that shows a connection between couples and LMR has ALWAYS delivered. I hope that now that she used 3/4 of this book to set up the plot the next two books will focus on the couples interacting together too.

Security company owner Sam ogles Nicole the owner of the translation company across the hall. Nicole's company is sent an encrypted email warning of a terrorist attack. Bad guys try to hunt down the email and silence Nicole. Sam must save her.

Pros: I love the way Rice writes. Her books are well-paced and involving. This book has a better plot than most and the terrorist sub plot is very interesting. The characters are typical: beautiful heroine with family baggage paired with alpha-male hero from a bad upbringing, with an elite military background, and with an enormous hard-to-control Johnson at the mere thought of the heroine. This hero also has a clear disregard for expensive lingerie. It's a formula, but it works for me because I love the internal dialog Rice applies to her heroes. Her heroines are, um, easy, to put it nicely, and succumb to the intense sexuality of the hero on the first date -- though she's never done anything like that before, of course not. (Hey, they only have 300 pages to get it on, she can't be too coy.) In this book Nicole runs out while Sam is sleeping after the first time and then avoids his calls. This leads to some really good writing as Sam tries to figure out what turned her off and how to get her back.

Cons: It was a really good plot until the TSTL* moment when Nicole delivers herself on a silver platter to the bad guys without leaving any breadcrumbs for Sam to follow. The cop Mark doesn't behave like a trained cop when he goes along with Sam on his rescue mission.

Overall this is a fun read. Again, it follows a formula, but it's one I'll read over and over again because I love this author's voice and there are enough subtle differences in plot and character to trick me into thinking I'm reading a different book. Highly recommended 4 stars.

*TSTL--To Stupid To Live. The moment at which an intelligent heroine loses her brains and does something so incredibly stupid you can't relate to her anymore. (Imagine Michelle Obama bored at a state dinner suddenly starting a food fight to liven things up. Wouldn't happen.) Sometimes used as a plot device to quickly achieve dramatic tension, the heroine does something dumb putting herself in danger so that the hero can save her. A TSTL moment is when it backfires on the author and you say, "Oh, come on," and close the book.