The Fifth Profession (Paperback)

I'll start off with the biggest disappointment, the heroine Tess. She was one of the weakest, most helpless, and most clueless romance heroines I have ever come across and I have more than 200 romance novels under my belt. For example, her entire time in captivity, she was more worried about getting physical with her captor than she was about trying to figure out a way to escape. Her actions during this part of the novel were not actions any woman with any common sense would take.

My biggest problem with Tess was that she constantly needed saving. About every 25 pages or so, Dallas/Grey would have to come running in and save her from some bad guy, or some disaster. It happened over and over and over again and got very old. I found myself wishing that Tess could manage to save herself for once, but she never did.

I was also disappointed with their romance in general. Normally, a good romance will have the characters build up to the point where they realize they are in love with each other. The author never lets us know why they love each other, or how it developed; suddenly, they're just in love for no apparent reason. I felt that the characters were just confusing strong physical attraction with love. I never felt throughout the entire novel that they were ever in love with each other.

As others have said, the plot had a lot of holes, more than most romances do. However, romance novels typically have a lot of plot holes so I was expecting it.

This novel contained two of my biggest pet peeves with contemporary romance novels. The first is 25+ year old virgins. Nobody in this day and age, male or female, in the Western world makes it to their late 20's still a virgin unless that person- 1. Has strong religious convictions 2. Is very physically unattractive 3. has a disability or 4. Has serious personality problems. None of these really apply to Tess and I found myself rolling my eyes in disgust when she announces her virginity. I really wish contemporary romance authors would quit making their supposedly very attractive heroines virgins. It just doesn't fly anymore.

SPOILER

My second pet peeve in contemporary romance is accidental pregnancy. As a rule, I find it tends to distract from the romance between the main characters. This novel is worse than most with this because the unborn baby becomes a major character in the novel. The baby is mentioned what seems like 5 times a page for the second half of the book. Also, the romance between Tess and her unborn baby seems stronger than her romance with the baby's father. I found the baby's presence in this book to be a total turnoff. Please Authors, keep the pregnancy in the epilogue where it belongs!

With the right heroine, this book could have been a winner. I am really disappointed for Dallas/Grey, I think he was a good character and he deserved a better woman than Tess.

Dallas Haynes aka Grey Thomas has spent the last two years of his life undercover. What was originally thought to be a three month assingment turns into something bigger when the FBI realizes they have a chance to bring down one of the biggest drug lords in South America. With only yards to the finish line, Grey risks it all to keep Tess safe. There was something about her from the moment he saw her stranded that called out to him. He was not only attrached to her body and her model looks, but to her pride and her sweetness. He vows to himself that when everything goes down, he will find a way to tie Tess to him for the rest of her life.

The chance comes sooner than Grey thinks. When two of the gang escape from prison, Grey takes Tess and goes on the run. He knows that there is a leak somewhere in his office and until it is uncovered, Grey promises Tess that he will protect her and the baby they made together. Meanwhile, Tess is trying to reconcile her feelings for Grey. She doesn't know if she really loves him, or if she loves his hero complex since he saved her life more than once.

Lone Rider is a story of finding love in an impossible situation. Tess and Grey turn to each other in a time of need and danger. Together they beat the odds, protecting themselves and each other and finding love.