Reviewed by Desere
I have many times heard the expression"being married is not always all it seems to be". And in this book from best selling author Catherine Mann I as reader was shown just one of the reasons as to just why all is not as it seems.
Jayne has been separated from her husband for three years, a man she will always love but could not fully trust as during the four years they were together he would disappear for weeks and never reveal where he was or what he was up to. I did not blame her one bit as I am sure all of us would get a little suspicious and start thinking really bad thoughts. What I found a little hard was that she thinks he is like her father who had a second family in the background. For me based on the level of love that she and Conrad shared before the break up, as so beautifully and powerfully laid out by the author, should have let her know that Conrad is not the kind of man her father was.
But of course I am sure you would agree there would be no spice or drama to the book, so yes this time around I would say it was a interesting touch, and also gave the character of Jayne that level of insecurity needed to make her more vulnerable. And the only reason for me saying so is purely based on the intensity of feelings the author described between these two,it just shouted "She should have known better".
The real mystery of course is what exactly Conrad gets up to when he does go AWOL on poor Jayne when she needs him around. When the truth is revealed it is a real wow moment, it had me as reader immediately thinking " Wow this author is good, she came up with something new and fresh and so not the kind of plot I am use to in books but rather on screen".
The characters both main and secondary were fantastic and so well written I truly felt as if the author was connecting me to them on some emotional level. The whole secrets are better left untold element added flare, mystery and good old fashioned action to the book. Which I have come to learn are always a given in a Catherine Mann book only this time she really pushed it up a notch and the book took on a real life espionage feel,with so much action and emotion it had me acting like a over the top action junkie yelling and shouting at the characters to do this or not do that!
What I simply loved about the book was the message of communication is a so valuable and so very needed in any relationship, you need to trust the person your with, revealing your deep dark secrets will not always mean you get what you want but then again life is a gamble and sometimes you win and sometimes you loose.
The author also incorporated more alpha brothers that for me as reader is so important for when I get to the next book it is never any fun to start reading about a character from a previous book that now has his or her own book, as it always makes me think that I missed out on some valuable bit of information about him or her. So yes loved that the author gave me just that little bit of a heads up, letting me know that is more to come.
The backdrop setting was one of glitz and glam at one point,which gave the book the James Bond feel but also that of Africa where I got to see the worth and strengths of both characters truly revealed.
This was truly a passionate, romantic, action packed, mystery and suspense filled read. Writing at it's best!
Excellent work Catherine,keep them coming!
5/5 star review
"Gambling for love with a sexy twist"
