~REVIEW of Nina Bruhns' A KISS TO KILL~

A Kiss to Kill (Passion For Danger, #3)

Opening Line: “They were using her as bait.”

Oh I liked this one and I agree with others that this is the best of the Passion For Danger trilogy. Its like Bruhns finally got the formula right here with each character getting just the right amount of page time, an exciting but not over-the-top storyline and the perfect balance of action/suspense to romance. It could also be said though that I’ve gotten used to her style and didn’t expect to read exclusively about just one couple. I actually enjoyed the multiple romances taking place this time around and since I’ve read these back to back (thanks to advice from other reviews) I was also seriously invested in the characters and seeing them through to their HEA’s.

 All in all this was a great read that I was sad to see come to an end. Theres some excellent action scenes; Rebel and Alex diving the “Allah’s Paradise” wreck during one of his flashbacks (yikes) and quite a few LOL funny moments including male bonding “fist bumps” and the continued witty banter between agents. The love scenes remain heartfelt and super steamy with just the right amount of alpha maleness thrown in.

I should mention that in order to fully appreciate the back story and romantic build up involved here this series should be read in order, as almost all of the characters stories began in book #1 SHOOT TO THRILL and are only now are seeing through to their conclusions.

Pegged as Gina and Gregg’s book -although as I said all the couples receive equal page time, this couple met eight months ago. Back then scientist Dr Gina Cappozi and black-ops agent Gregg Van Halen were (fantastic) lovers until Gregg committed the ultimate betrayal, turning Gina over to the hands of the terrorists. Tortured for several months, while they utilized her bio chemical talents to perform acts of terrorism Gina was rescued in the last book A KISS TO KILL and has now made it her mission to kill the man she once loved. Of course that wouldn’t be any fun especially now that she’s being targeted by kidnappers again and it seems that Gregg is the only one who can help her. Even if he is slightly controlling, in and out of the bedroom.

This is however only one of several ongoing plotlines we also; Alex and Rebel who have finally gotten it together, although he has a few surprises about why they can’t stay that way and newcomer detective Sarah McPhee and rebound specialist Wade Montana. Hmm, more secrets there too. While all the love is going on the agents are still running around trying to discover the identity (didn’t see that coming) of the person responsible for the terrorist attacks and also to stop “the trigger” from killing the president. All these subplots blend well this time into a fast paced romantic thriller. Cheers

~REVIEW of Nina Bruhns' IF LOOKS COULD CHILL~

If Looks Could Chill (Passion For Danger, #2)

Opening line: “She seems young"

Another great addition to the Passion For Danger series, I sure do like Nina Bruhns style of writing, it’s filled with clever often witty dialogue, tons of action/suspense and to die for alpha heroes. This time around we even get a heartbreaking, Cajun, spouting enough Creole French to charm the pants off of just about anyone.

 Thankfully with this addition the storyline is more grounded then it was in Shoot To Thrill (book #1) and doesn’t require such a suspension to of reality to get through. It does however give us too much of a good thing when it comes to secondary romances and I found myself bogged down by the over abundance of characters, subplots, and evolving 3rd and 4th party love stories. All of whom are vying for attention.

At times I lost track of our main couple who in the midst of things get completely forgotten about while we follow Quinn & Darcy (loved them) and Alex, Rebel &Wade. Of course then there’s also Gina’s evolving drama. All of this was just too much and subsequently nobody got the page time and character development they deserved. I am however now completely invested in this series and can’t wait to see where things go next for… (This is where I’m supposed to say Gina and Gregg) the H/h from A KISS TO KILL but I have a feeling it will also be a multiple storyline read so I’ll just say for everyone. Cheers

Louisianna Bayou fishing shack

Louisiana state trooper Tara Reeves is on the hunt for the cause of the mysterious animal deaths that have been plaguing the Louisiana bayou. She thinks she might be onto a meth lab but what she finds is even scarier. A foreign terrorist cell is plotting an attack on US soil and they’ve been testing their deadly anthrax/bird flu agent with catastrophic results. Their next target is for sure going to be human. Enlisting the help of local (supposed) swamp guide Marc Lafayette the pair enters the murky waters of the bayou. In the cramped quarters of this Cajun bad boys kayak it isn’t long before they can’t keep their hands to themselves and Marc’s guide ruse is so busted. He’s got an agenda of his own and is actually part of a covert special ops team sent out to destroy the terrorists. Now he’s also going to have to baby-sit an interfering, beautiful cop. Non merci.

This is of course only one of the four running plotlines. We also have Gina who’s been kidnapped by the terrorists, Agents Bobby Lee and Quinn who until now had been having a strictly sexual relationship… (Yikes the L word) and Rebel and Alex who kind of like each other more then the people they’re involved with.

~REVIEW of Nina Bruhns' SHOOT TO THRILL~

Shoot to Thrill (Passion For Danger, #1)

Opening Line: “It was their shoes that gave them away”

I liked this, I really did but...

SHOOT TO THRILL is a roller coaster ride in more ways then one. This 1st in a trilogy takes us from Manhattan to the Sahara and starts out with huge potential. A sexy tortured hero on the run, action filled storyline, smoking hot love scenes and some seriously funny dialogue. And except for the H/h’s names (Kick and Raine really!?) I wondered how I’d managed to miss author Nina Bruhns until now? Unfortunately though as the book progressed things kinda fell apart. Granted the whole story requires a huge suspension of reality (in a Romancing the Stone sort of way) but still, there’s a fine line between going along for the ride and the ridiculous.

Kick Jackson is a junkie on the run. This former CIA spec-ops sniper has had enough of being owned by “Zero Unit” and all the bloodshed. In fact if it hadn’t been for his little addiction to painkillers (developed after the last mission went bad) chances are the Unit wouldn’t have been able to find him at all. As it stands though they’ve offered him a deal he can’t refuse; identify and take down a known terrorist and they’ll tear up his contract… one last mission. Yeah right. The problem is he’s going to be going through withdrawal pretty soon and that’s where the kidnapping comes in. Nurse Raine Martin will do nicely, one last affair before he ships out (and more then likely gets killed) and a safe place to detox. The thing Kick hadn’t counted on was Raine getting thrown into the deadly international spy game or that he’d end up caring.

One of my biggest problems here was with the heroine who while remaining TSTL throughout also manages to transform from wimpy, useless and agoraphobic to (in the author’s words) a warrior; able to wield a knife, carry a gun, detonate bombs, kill and generally save the day while still having childish arguments. It was too much -I kinda hated her. Then there was also the issue of our couple having sex at the most inappropriate times, like outside of a terrorist compound in the Sahara sand dunes while trying to rescue a POW.

Anyways I won’t be too harsh because there’s a lot to like and with several of the storylines continuing throughout the trilogy I know I'll be continuing on. I really enjoyed Bruhns’ style of writing, filled with witty dialogue and fantastic sub plots and secondary characters. “Pig’s” sporadic POV was heart wrenching and intriguing as I tried to figure out how he fit into everything. And I absolutely adored Gina and Van Halen. However in saying that, because their storyline was so combustible (jeez the sex on the table scene!) I also found myself disappointed when we returned to the main storyline. Kick and Raine paled in comparison to those two, and when your secondary couple outshines your main it isn’t a good thing. Cheers people!