Romance Books Reviews & Treats

Chief warden (heroine) of a high-security California prison has no choice but to ascertain the safety of recent ex-con Hero who’s about to infiltrate a high-level prison gang in her prison by pretending to be a prisoner there. Hero and his sister and her kids get new identities in exchange for participating in the prison operation. Hero & heroine’s attraction is instant but they have a secret affair due to their part in the prison operation. Hero’s identity gets leaked into the current prison while his previous gang affiliates are out looking for him and threatening her sister’s life. Heroine’s boss becomes jealous of her r/s with Hero and may endanger the freedom and new life promised to Hero.

Now this is what I call an exciting book! From the first page, my attention & emotions were captivated. Novak’s writing and her romantic-suspense storyline kept me on the edge of my seat. How could a recent ex-con & a prison warden have a life together? Was Hero ever going to escape death or being trapped in prison? There were so many people & situations going against Hero’s freedom & their romance. Tension increasingly escalated at about 2/3 of the book. I couldn’t put it down! It took me no time to finish this book.

The emotional & sexual buildup in Hero & heroine’s romance was gripping. It was sexy & endearing. Hero was an honorable ex-con who had some insecurities about his worthiness with heroine. I liked how frank he was about his attraction & feelings towards her. Heroine was also honest & assessed things carefully before she made her decision about Hero. I could feel their love as well as their concerns for each other just by their nonverbal behaviors…that look, that light touch, heroine’s wearing Hero’s medallion. I love it when authors can convey the main characters’ emotions nonverbally.

The ending wasn’t what I expected as far as the action-suspense part. It seemed just a tad unbelievable that the culprit who was working in the prison system would let Hero free that easily instead of letting him take the fall for the operation screw-up. The epilogue also focused more on Hero’s best friend & heroine’s sister when I would’ve liked a more thorough focus on how Hero & heroine managed to start a life together against all the odds.

Recommended.