Sexy/Dangerous by Beverly Jenkins

COPYRIGHT: 2006
SETTING: Contemporary
TYPE: Romantic Suspense
PAGES: 341
SERIES: No, not as far as I can tell. Jenkins does have a new book coming out in November titled Deadly Sexy.

SUMMARY: [from Amazon]

Wearing her shades, a black Stetson, and snakeskin cowboy boots, security agent Maxine "Max" Blake is the baddest thing walking. Ex-marine, ex-cop, and a whole lotta 'tude, Max doesn't have time for anything but her job. Her latest assignment: to protect Dr. Adam Gary. Her problem: he doesn't want her there.

Adam wants to focus on his work, not to be distracted by this tall, sexy woman. A foiled kidnapping attempt may have forced him to take an undercover agent into his household, but no one said anything about the agent being a woman, or that she'd be beautiful, or that she came with two monster rottweilers. How is he supposed to concentrate on his top-secret project that could revolutionize the world when all he can think about is her smooth, coffee-colored skin and those long, lean legs?

But as danger nips at their heels, love may be a distraction neither of them will live to enjoy . . .

REASON FOR READING: Rosario and KarenS both raved about this book and that's enough to send me to the bookstore.

THOUGHTS / OPINION: The title of this book describes the heroine in a nutshell. Maxine "Max" Blake is the most kickass heroine I have read since probably Eve Dallas. Over 6 feet tall, an ex-Marine, tough, and completely self-confident, she epitomizes how a strong heroine can be portrayed in a romance without compromising her femininity. She's strong throughout without the soft wimpy insecurities that some authors use to characterize their supposedly strong heroines. She comes from a loving family with no traumas or deep secrets to cause inner turmoil. When Max is assigned to guard Adam she brings along her "team" of two trained rottweilers to the government house where he is living and working on his top secret project. I'm not a fan of this breed of dog but Max adores them and I was completely won over by their personalities.

Adam is also an excellently drawn character. He's intelligent but stops shy of being portrayed as nerdy and is very secure in his masculinity to let Max be the strong woman she is. And he's a hunk but doesn't try to out-alpha her when the situation becomes dangerous. He also has issues with the dogs from a bad experience in his past that he works through it realistically.

The first half of the book is rather slow with very little action or suspense. But it was fun to see how Max comes into Adam's house to renovate and make it livable and install security measures. The woman knows how to get things done . I need someone like that around my house. When the action and suspense finally go into high gear I had a hard time putting it down and stayed up too late trying to finish it. The villains were obvious and not very clever, but I loved the high speed chase scenes with Max driving. How many car chase scenes have you read that feature an accomplished woman driving. Woohoo, go Max. She was wonderful. All the other characters were fairly well drawn and the sex scenes were pretty spicy.

I also liked the ending and how Max made the decision she did without pressure from Adam. All in all, an enjoyable read with an unusual heroine.

GRADE: B+