The Loner [Mass Market Paperback]

Lucas "Huck" Finn was a former Army Ranger who had chosen to quit his military career after a botched parachute landing that left him with an injured knee. As the new employee in Rangers Security, the company created by the 3 previous heroes in this 'Men Out of Uniform' series, Huck is assigned to protect Sapphira Stravos, a supposed pampered and spoiled heiress who had received some disturbing letters. Those letters were not exactly threatening but her father was concerned enough to hire Rangers Security. Naturally, Sapphira was anything but pampered and spoiled, she only pretented to be that way in order to fool her father and keep doing her secret charity work. Why that had to be a secret, I'll never know. Anyway, it didn't take long for Huck to see what a good and caring woman Sapphira was and, less than 48 hours after their 1st meeting, they were in bed and "in love" with each other.

Okay, I admit I've bought this kind of fast paced falling-in-love beat before but not so much this time. There were too many "flaws" in the story, and they were distracting:
1. Sapphira's "need" to keep her charity work a secret made no sense at all. Why was she so afraid of her father? He was cold and distant, but he wasn't a bad man and there was nothing to support her behavior. In the end, his reaction when she finally told him her secret just proved how unreasonable she had been.
2. The mystery around the "threatening" letters was almost insignificant - I didn't see Huck spending any hard time trying to ID the "stalker", which made him a very bad secureity expert, IMHO - and the final resolution was just meh.
3. Huck's search for the father he never knew seemed like filler to me. The fact that I was "told" about the resolution to this and didn't get to see him talking to his mother and learning who his father was, well, that just about let me know how unimportant the whole deal was.
4. No matter how hot those guys at Rangers Security are, this book made me question how smart they were. Besides the aforementioned lack of hard work on Huck's part - well, having mind-boggling sex with Sapphira could be considered hard work but that's not what I mean, LOL -, their investigation skills needed improvement considering how they missed Sapphira's connection to the charity organization she owned. Shouldn't that have been discovered during the preliminary investigation they did when they were hired? They also needed some basic lessons on computer security. They used Huck's nickname "Falcon" as a password, and ANY security expert should know that you never, ever use personal info as your password. That's a hacker's dream come true.

Regardless, Huck and Sapphira were likable and funny, the sex was hot, and the story was easy to read. Nice, but forgettable.

For oh-so-long finding a contemporary romance writer was a daunting task. Many of my past favs have left me wanting, so it was by sheer luck that I stumbled on Rhonda Nelson via Harlequin's website and their promotion of The Loner. Of course when I wanted to get it, the book wasn't even available and I wound up discovering Rhonda Nelson via another book (but that's a totally different review - Feeling the Heat). By the time The Loner fell into my hands, I was both optimistic and a little afraid that the book wouldn't live up to my expectations. But it did!

Lucas "Huck" Finn blew apart his life with one fouled up parachute landing that blows out his knee, and winds up working for Nelson's previously introduced (and hot!) ex-Rangers turned private security/bodyguards. The fit is fabulous, but Lucas' first gig -- protecting the high society, pampered, spoiled, mini-dog toting heiress Sapphira Stravos isn't exactly the kind of assignment a guy like Lucas had in mind. But there's more to Sapphira than meets the eye. She's smart, funny, sassy, and is leading a secret double-life that Daddy can't find out about.

The whole mystery stalker/threatening note writer element is light throughout the plot, but Lucas and Sapphira's relationship is always center stage. The book is full of laughs and lust, and you like both of the characters. The attraction and sexual tension is established instantly and keeps sizzling through each and every page.

The only slight negative I'd mention is that Nelson has a tendency to summarize moments (like Lucas finally talking to his mother about who his father is or the conversations when Lucas finds out what Sapphira is *really* doing with her time) and then just kind of fold it into narrative as a sidemention. It doesn't detract from the reader's enjoyment of the story, but in this one, I was left thinking, "Man, I'd have liked to see that conversation..."

Nelson delivers solid characters, hot heroes, spunky heroines, and definitely sexy sex in The Loner, and she will be one author I'll definitely keep my eyes open for at the bookstore... in fact, I'll be looking this August (2008) for The Hell-Raiser!

3.5 stars. When I first started this book, I didn't think that I would like it. The heroine's secret and reasoning left me frowning at the pages, plus I was just told how good a Ranger Huck was, I never really saw it. For me the premise came off contrived and I never got why Sapphira was afraid of her father nor how Huck was looking for a father of whom he had no name. I mean-what name was on his birth certificate? Still, the love story between the characters was captivating because the author clearly is talented. The love/sex scenes were hot, but again the over all plot left me wanting.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 5 reviews  3.8 out of 5 stars