The book in which the paths of FBI Agent Jules Cassidy and movie star Robin Chadwick first cross. It’s all due to Robin’s sister, writer/producer Jane, who’s receiving death threats because of the movie she’s making (and in which Robin stars). The main love story is between Jane and her bodyguard (ha…yeah, cue the Whitney Houston), a Navy SEAL who’s earning some extra money while he’s on leave to take care of his injured mother. Jane and Cosmo held my interest for maybe a third of the novel, mostly for the portion where they still didn’t like each other; once they start owning up to their attraction, I got bored, a feeling that wasn’t helped by all the “big strong man protecting his woman” clichés. The damsel in distress storyline does NOTHING for me.

However, I went into this knowing I was mostly reading for Jules and Robin. Robin is at this point deeply closeted, and his flounderings with his sexuality were sort of interesting, if not entirely believable. I also wasn’t crazy about Brockmann’s need to state for the reader things that to me seem very obvious: if you’re gay, it’s ‘cause you were born that way! It is not icky and disgusting! A gay man can totally kick ass! This novel is frequently as subtle as an exploding truck of bricks! However, I am aware that I am really not Brockmann’s intended audience. She’s not writing these books to titillate slash fans; she’s including queer romance in books meant for a market of readers who may not be already comfortable with this sort of thing, and hopefully she’s making some of them think about perceptions and prejudices and whatnot. So fair play to her, on that count.

Also, Jules is awesome, and that’s not to be discounted, either. I spent a while thinking about what’s so appealing about him, and I finally decided that it’s in large part the fact that he’s so very comfortable with himself. Most characters I read about or watch on TV—and especially, most of the ones I come to love—are plagued with self-doubt. Not Jules. He’s like the anti-John Sheppard. He has problems, but he’s secure in himself; he knows who he is. I find that quality, especially in a hot kickass gay FBI agent, extremely refreshing and very appealing. In short: Jules rules.