A lot of hot sex plus an exciting, suspenseful and sometimes scary story that kept me up late.

STORY BRIEF & REVIEWER’S OPINION:
Shannon McKenna does it again. I am amazed that she continues to come up with excellent stories with new and surprising ideas. This is one of her best and it’s her eighth book (that I know of and not counting anthologies). For some reason I thought of James Bond when I read this book. The two main characters Val (hero) and Tam (heroine) are a romance writer’s version of James-Bond-type characters. They are both super smart and talented at lying, spying and killing. They each have and use high tech gadgets, not as many as James Bond uses, but there is a similarity. Tam can outsmart anyone and has what it takes to never be found, but because she is taking care of Rachel, a 3-year old orphan, Tam is vulnerable. For example, when on the run she has to carry Rachel with child supplies. There is also the potential of kidnapping Rachel to get to Tam. I thought this was well done by the author. The bad guys can get to Tam, not due to stupidity on her part, but due to her caring for Rachel.

Tam has been one of my favorite characters in the prior books. She creates jewelry as weapons. She can taser, poison and stab people with her jewelry. Tam is a sharp, prickly and contentious hellcat who starts to soften due to Rachel. Val’s weakness is Imre, the frail old man who befriended him when he was a scared, hungry kid abandoned on the streets of Budapest. A bad guy now holds Imre hostage to force Val to bring Tam to him.

MORE REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I laughed out loud several times, not due to comedy, but due to my surprise and delight at some of the great lines, great conversation and how strongly I was affected emotionally. The conversations are rich, twisting me around emotionally. Tam hits, slaps and fights Val physically and verbally. His reactions are unexpected. The conversations are heated, wild, angry, entertaining and amazing. They battle before, during and after sex. The sex scenes were wild, tremendous, powerful, sensual, and fabulous. I actually stopped reading a couple of times to do something else, catch my breath and calm down.

My only complaint is that the author occasionally used Italian phrases. I believe that most were terms of endearment, compliments or food. I just skipped over those words, but I wondered what they meant. I wish the author would put the translations immediately afterward in italics or parentheses. I don’t want to miss a single thought when I read these books. My second choice would be to put a glossary in the back of the book, but flipping back and forth is inconvenient. Granted, Italian words sound beautiful but cause frustration when used without explanation.

DATA:
Story length: 426 pages. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 12. Length of sex scenes: 2 short scenes (1 page or less) and 10 long scenes (1.2 to 12 pages). Total number of sex scene pages: 42. Setting: current day Seattle, Washington area, Hungary, and Italy. Copyright: 2008. Genre: romantic suspense.

OTHER BOOKS:
To date, I’ve read the following Shannon McKenna books.

McCloud Series Novels:
Although not necessary, I recommend reading the McCloud novels in order. For example, Tam played small but important roles in certain prior books. Ultimate Weapon is Tam’s story but it starts where the other books left off.
5 stars. Behind Closed Doors. Copyrt 2002. Review Date 2/03/07.
5 stars. Standing in the Shadows. Copyrt 2003. Review Date 2/03/07.
5 stars. Out of Control. Copyrt 2005. Review Date 2/03/07.
5 stars. Edge of Midnight. Copyrt 2007. Review Date 1/04/08.
5 stars. Extreme Danger. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 2/02/08.
5 stars. Ultimate Weapon. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 11/15/08.

Other Novels:
5 stars. Return to Me. Copyrt 2004. Review Date 2/03/07.
5 stars. Hot Night. Copyrt 2006. Review Date 1/19/07.
4 stars. Tasting Fear. Copyrt 2009. Review Date 8/3/09.

Anthologies:
5 stars. Something Wild (in anthology All Through The Night). Copyrt 2001. Review Date 3/25/07.
3 stars. Touch Me (in anthology I Brake For Bad Boys). Copyrt 2002. Review Date 2/14/07.
5 stars. Meltdown (in anthology Bad Boys Next Exit). Copyrt 2004. Review Date 2/14/07.
3 stars. Anytime, Anywhere (in anthology Baddest Bad Boys) Copyrt 2008. My 4 star review for the anthology was posted 5/17/08.
5 stars. All About Men. Copyrt 2007. No review posted. This anthology includes 3 short stories previously published in other anthologies listed above. The stories are Something Wild, Touch Me, and Meltdown.