What do you think?
Beckett #2
Innocent
All Jessica wants is a home and a family. So how did she suddenly find herself falsely accused of a felony and then kidnapped by a hit man?
Jessica Beckett loves her job teaching high school algebra. That is until Coach Brinley makes her life miserable because she actually has the audacity to fail his three staring football jocks. Maybe if they’d done their homework they would have passed. She refuses to be intimidated. He on the other hand refuses to admit defeat and manipulates the boys into accusing her of sex in exchange for passing grades.
Gabriel Despain loves his job as FBI agent. But falling for his partner’s sister has complicated a great partnership. It would be a lot easier to ignore his feelings if Jessica hadn't found herself in trouble. Now he must keep her safe. And if he can't remain objective, they both might get killed.
Jessica Beckett loves her job teaching high school algebra. That is until Coach Brinley makes her life miserable because she actually has the audacity to fail his three staring football jocks. Maybe if they’d done their homework they would have passed. She refuses to be intimidated. He on the other hand refuses to admit defeat and manipulates the boys into accusing her of sex in exchange for passing grades.
Gabriel Despain loves his job as FBI agent. But falling for his partner’s sister has complicated a great partnership. It would be a lot easier to ignore his feelings if Jessica hadn't found herself in trouble. Now he must keep her safe. And if he can't remain objective, they both might get killed.
346 pages, Paperback
First published August 3, 2012
About the author
Mary Martinez
31 books267 followersMary lives in Magna, a little town west of Salt Lake City, Utah. Together with her husband, she has six grown children, and six wonderful grandsons and five beautiful granddaughters. She loves to spend time with family and friends--she includes good books as friends!
Mary writes mostly romantic suspense, romance, women's fiction, and she has just begun to dabble in young adult mystery. During her writing career she has been a conference coordinator, workshop presenter, and chapter president for the Utah Chapter of Romance Writers of America. In 2007 she was presented with the Utah RWA service award in acknowledgment and appreciation for outstanding service.
Mary and her husband love to travel, especially to the Caribbean for relaxing, and Italy for the wine. And most recently she discovered she was Irish and Scottish, of course they had to visit Ireland and Scotland. Mary fell in love with both, but the green hills of Ireland felt like home. With the experience from the exotic places she has visited, she is able to fill her books with colorful descriptions of cities, painting a colorful backdrop for her characters.
They are avid concert ‘Ho’s’! Yes, they pretty much want to do them all. They love outdoor amphitheaters the best and attend as many during the warmer months as possible.
Mary and her husband are also enthusiastic college football fans. They have season tickets to the UTES, University of Utah Football and they tailgate every game. They love tailgating so much, that they were married at a tailgating in 1999.
GO UTES!
Mary writes mostly romantic suspense, romance, women's fiction, and she has just begun to dabble in young adult mystery. During her writing career she has been a conference coordinator, workshop presenter, and chapter president for the Utah Chapter of Romance Writers of America. In 2007 she was presented with the Utah RWA service award in acknowledgment and appreciation for outstanding service.
Mary and her husband love to travel, especially to the Caribbean for relaxing, and Italy for the wine. And most recently she discovered she was Irish and Scottish, of course they had to visit Ireland and Scotland. Mary fell in love with both, but the green hills of Ireland felt like home. With the experience from the exotic places she has visited, she is able to fill her books with colorful descriptions of cities, painting a colorful backdrop for her characters.
They are avid concert ‘Ho’s’! Yes, they pretty much want to do them all. They love outdoor amphitheaters the best and attend as many during the warmer months as possible.
Mary and her husband are also enthusiastic college football fans. They have season tickets to the UTES, University of Utah Football and they tailgate every game. They love tailgating so much, that they were married at a tailgating in 1999.
GO UTES!
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 19, 2017
I found it hard to enjoy this book because there weren’t many things that drew my attention. The one thing I did enjoy was the legal battle that Jessica had with her three students and their coach. I could have enjoyed all the suspense about Jessica’s kidnapping too if it was done differently but I didn’t like the fact that the hit-man's point of view was added. In fact, I think the book focused way too much in other character’s point of views and that didn’t help with the flow of the story. It probably would have been better if the book was focused on the two protagonists.
*Some spoilers ahead*
Also, for a romantic suspense book there is clearly a lack of romance, Jessica and Gabe are single for the entire book and only towards the very end they are finally together and that still doesn’t mean that we get to see how they are in their relationship, instead we only see them have sex.
Gabe’s thoughts about how he loved Jessica but had to stay away to protect her, became repetitive and tiresome really fast and I didn’t like the fact that he brought a date in Jessica’s house just so he can purposely hurt her. That incident was never addressed at all by the two main characters and we don’t really see how they both handled it, Gabe just briefly thinks a few days later that his plan backfired but doesn’t explain how exactly that happened. Plus his reasons for not wanting a relationship with Jessica and doing all that to push her away didn’t seem logical to me.
Jessica’s attitude about Gabe also didn’t seem healthy to me, she kept chasing Gabe and gave the impression that she is one of those people that don’t understand the word “no”. Her family members and she herself were all convince that it was her job to keep chasing Gabe and make him want a relationship instead of respecting his decision, I didn’t like the fact the she tried to find ways to manipulate him mostly by having sex with him, believing that somehow if they had sex he would change his mind about commitment.
All that, plus some things that I found hard to believe they would happen in real life led me to give this book 2 stars.
I voluntarily reviewed the free copy that i received via Reading Alley
*Some spoilers ahead*
Also, for a romantic suspense book there is clearly a lack of romance, Jessica and Gabe are single for the entire book and only towards the very end they are finally together and that still doesn’t mean that we get to see how they are in their relationship, instead we only see them have sex.
Gabe’s thoughts about how he loved Jessica but had to stay away to protect her, became repetitive and tiresome really fast and I didn’t like the fact that he brought a date in Jessica’s house just so he can purposely hurt her. That incident was never addressed at all by the two main characters and we don’t really see how they both handled it, Gabe just briefly thinks a few days later that his plan backfired but doesn’t explain how exactly that happened. Plus his reasons for not wanting a relationship with Jessica and doing all that to push her away didn’t seem logical to me.
Jessica’s attitude about Gabe also didn’t seem healthy to me, she kept chasing Gabe and gave the impression that she is one of those people that don’t understand the word “no”. Her family members and she herself were all convince that it was her job to keep chasing Gabe and make him want a relationship instead of respecting his decision, I didn’t like the fact the she tried to find ways to manipulate him mostly by having sex with him, believing that somehow if they had sex he would change his mind about commitment.
All that, plus some things that I found hard to believe they would happen in real life led me to give this book 2 stars.
I voluntarily reviewed the free copy that i received via Reading Alley
August 14, 2017
Enjoyable
Innocent is a delightful mix of romance and mystery and suspense; it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the pages. I thought the main conflict of the story is done really well and quite believable.
I love Jessica; she's so strong in the face of adversity and it makes me really root for her. However, I do think there could be more romance to strengthen her relationship with Gabe. That said, I'm looking forward to reading more of Mary Martinez's works.
Reviewed at Reading Alley
Innocent is a delightful mix of romance and mystery and suspense; it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the pages. I thought the main conflict of the story is done really well and quite believable.
I love Jessica; she's so strong in the face of adversity and it makes me really root for her. However, I do think there could be more romance to strengthen her relationship with Gabe. That said, I'm looking forward to reading more of Mary Martinez's works.
Reviewed at Reading Alley
August 28, 2017
Innocent
I thought Disappear was good then I read Innocent and the series keeps getting better. I'm excited to continue the series.
I thought Disappear was good then I read Innocent and the series keeps getting better. I'm excited to continue the series.
September 3, 2013
'Innocent' is book #2 of the Beckett Series. If you missed reading the first one you missed out on most of the foundation of the characters of this series. They are described briefly here but you miss the full effect.
This novel leaves off at the last of Book #1 then delves into the traumatic experiences of Jessica (youngest of the Beckett family). Being a High School teacher, you wouldn't think there would be that much to fear. Unfortunately, in today's society, that is not the case. (I really admire High School teachers who actually try to teach.)
In this second of the series, several of the characters in the first series reappear. Some who were more in the background are now in the forefront. Jessica is "tried" almost to her limit of self-control. The strength and independence, inherent in the characters if this Beckett family, is truly challenged. Will Jessica "pull through'? Can she stick to her integrity without losing everything? Will her stubbornness win or will the tenacity of other's win?
This story is very realistic. It progresses in a steady flow. There are very few areas it lulls at all. This is unbelievably better than Mary's first book. CSI could get a great plot idea from this.
'Innocent' portrays strong family bonds and trust. There is much suspense and mystery. It keeps the reader not really knowing what the outcome will be. Will everyone turn against Jessica? Will her family continue to support and believe in her? These are strong questions as the book moves along. Will the best friend/partner of her brother "throw in the towel" on her case? This story portrays the need for occasional sacrifice to accomplish future tasks.
These are just few main topics of the story.
There is some sex scenes and way too much profanity for me. However, these are my standards and not to be forced on others.
This book receives a very strong Four Stars rating on overall content.
The author generously sent the series to me for an honest review, of which I have given.
This novel leaves off at the last of Book #1 then delves into the traumatic experiences of Jessica (youngest of the Beckett family). Being a High School teacher, you wouldn't think there would be that much to fear. Unfortunately, in today's society, that is not the case. (I really admire High School teachers who actually try to teach.)
In this second of the series, several of the characters in the first series reappear. Some who were more in the background are now in the forefront. Jessica is "tried" almost to her limit of self-control. The strength and independence, inherent in the characters if this Beckett family, is truly challenged. Will Jessica "pull through'? Can she stick to her integrity without losing everything? Will her stubbornness win or will the tenacity of other's win?
This story is very realistic. It progresses in a steady flow. There are very few areas it lulls at all. This is unbelievably better than Mary's first book. CSI could get a great plot idea from this.
'Innocent' portrays strong family bonds and trust. There is much suspense and mystery. It keeps the reader not really knowing what the outcome will be. Will everyone turn against Jessica? Will her family continue to support and believe in her? These are strong questions as the book moves along. Will the best friend/partner of her brother "throw in the towel" on her case? This story portrays the need for occasional sacrifice to accomplish future tasks.
These are just few main topics of the story.
There is some sex scenes and way too much profanity for me. However, these are my standards and not to be forced on others.
This book receives a very strong Four Stars rating on overall content.
The author generously sent the series to me for an honest review, of which I have given.
January 11, 2017
Enjoyable romantic suspense
I very much enjoyed this book. Mary Martinez is obviously an author who does her research; the way the legal case against Jessica was covered in particular was very well done and detailed, completely believable that it could go down that way. There was more focus on the 'suspense' than the romance in this book, and perhaps that was a little to the detriment of the story. There is one (very brief) sex scene, and while there didn't need to be more for the plot, I felt that the characters' physical attraction to each other was often 'told' to us, rather than shown to us by the writing.
On occasion the story got a little long-winded, and some tight editing could probably have cut the length down by a few dozen pages, making for a bit more of a page-turner. Things did start to feel a little stagnant here and there.
While this is the second in a series, the author states that it can be read as a stand-alone; that's quite true (I haven't read the first and it all made perfect sense), but there is a large cast of characters involved and plot points that were clearly set up in more detail in the first book.
The last chapter moves away from the main couple to focus on what is clearly the setup for the next book of the series, which I felt was unwise. Better to add a 'teaser' chapter for the next book after this one had finished, because we really didn't get to see the end of Jessica's story - did she sue Coach Brinley for defamation? Did she win? Maybe we'll find out in the next book. Who knows.
From her name I'm assuming Ms. Martinez to be Hispanic and I admit that I was also a little disappointed not to see a more diverse cast of characters. This is set in Brooklyn and surrounding areas of New York, one of the most diverse cities in the world, and everyone was painfully white and heterosexual, where they were described at all. I'd have liked to see more explicitly spelled-out representation.
Four stars for a good read, but a little slow in places.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book for review through ReadingAlley.
I very much enjoyed this book. Mary Martinez is obviously an author who does her research; the way the legal case against Jessica was covered in particular was very well done and detailed, completely believable that it could go down that way. There was more focus on the 'suspense' than the romance in this book, and perhaps that was a little to the detriment of the story. There is one (very brief) sex scene, and while there didn't need to be more for the plot, I felt that the characters' physical attraction to each other was often 'told' to us, rather than shown to us by the writing.
On occasion the story got a little long-winded, and some tight editing could probably have cut the length down by a few dozen pages, making for a bit more of a page-turner. Things did start to feel a little stagnant here and there.
While this is the second in a series, the author states that it can be read as a stand-alone; that's quite true (I haven't read the first and it all made perfect sense), but there is a large cast of characters involved and plot points that were clearly set up in more detail in the first book.
The last chapter moves away from the main couple to focus on what is clearly the setup for the next book of the series, which I felt was unwise. Better to add a 'teaser' chapter for the next book after this one had finished, because we really didn't get to see the end of Jessica's story - did she sue Coach Brinley for defamation? Did she win? Maybe we'll find out in the next book. Who knows.
From her name I'm assuming Ms. Martinez to be Hispanic and I admit that I was also a little disappointed not to see a more diverse cast of characters. This is set in Brooklyn and surrounding areas of New York, one of the most diverse cities in the world, and everyone was painfully white and heterosexual, where they were described at all. I'd have liked to see more explicitly spelled-out representation.
Four stars for a good read, but a little slow in places.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book for review through ReadingAlley.
June 10, 2015
Next book in the series is about Jessica Beckett and Gabriel Dispain. Jessica is a high school math teacher getting ready to flunk 3 players from the football team. She sets up meetings with the parents, the counselors and the football coach. She loves teaching and wants these boys to succeed. The problem is the coach feels she should give these guys a pass. She stays after school to tutor kids in her class. 2 of the boys are making progress but the coach steps in to yank them out. She flunks them and sends the grades to the principal and the school district. The next day she is arrested for having sex with a minor. Her sister Christine becomes her lawyer. Now Gabe with the rest of the family is in shock. They know that this is not possible. Yet the boys are not backing down. They even testified at the trial. In the middle of all that, Jessica is receiving crank calls. Not only from parents but also from the man who killed the hit man. He wants Kiera. Another shocker comes after that. At the end Gabe shows up but he still feels they can't have a relationship. Only this time Jessica has a plan. Gabe has no chance.
June 1, 2013
Loved the way two story lines come together in this wonderful story of family, school issues, the legal system, and intrigue. This is a page turner, and I didn't suspect the twist until nearly the end. I now want to read more of Mary's Beckett series:)
September 24, 2013
This was a really great story to read. Definitely full of mystery and suspense, kept you turning the page for more answers. Plus you get a little romance too. You can definitely read this without reading the other books in the series. :)
February 20, 2025
Innocent (Beckett, #2) is well-written. Mary Martinez did a great job of describing the criminal case and what happened throughout so a layperson can understand it. I'm a paralegal, and she nailed it. The one issue I had with this book is that there were several sentence fragments, though it was hard to tell if that was done on purpose, so this book still gets 5 stars.
One issue with the characters--the teen boys--at times, it seemed as though they reverted back to 10-year-olds, and then, in the next minute, they were speaking as adults again. Some reviewers stated that there wasn't enough romance in the book. Granted, there could have been more, but it really wouldn't have fit with this book, so I think it was enough.
On to the third book!
One issue with the characters--the teen boys--at times, it seemed as though they reverted back to 10-year-olds, and then, in the next minute, they were speaking as adults again. Some reviewers stated that there wasn't enough romance in the book. Granted, there could have been more, but it really wouldn't have fit with this book, so I think it was enough.
On to the third book!
January 15, 2019
Unfortunately this book was really hard to enjoy. The whole premise was interesting, but the story was just so unbelievable! Why would the FBI be interested in a small town police case, so much that they invest several of their officers to working undercover.
September 4, 2012
I read Mary Martinez's first book "Disappear", and I was very excited to read book #2 of this series. This book was a little different when it came to the suspense...but it still kept me on the edge, turning pages like I couldn't get enough.
Jessica is a school teacher who cares about her students, but when she doesn't allow three football players to pass because of flunking grades, their coach decides he's going to make her pay. Jessica gets arrested and thrown in jail for a crime she didn't commit...yet is there enough proof to free her? She enlists the help from her sister who is an attorney, yet things happen that makes Jessica's future look grim.
FBI Agent, Gabriel has loved Jessica for awhile now. He knows she wants to marry, but he's not ready for that kind of commitment. Still...he can't let his feelings for her go. When she's thrown in jail, he will do anything in his power to help her - even if it might get him killed.
Will he be able to save her from a lifetime in prison? Find out by reading this awesome story!
Jessica is a school teacher who cares about her students, but when she doesn't allow three football players to pass because of flunking grades, their coach decides he's going to make her pay. Jessica gets arrested and thrown in jail for a crime she didn't commit...yet is there enough proof to free her? She enlists the help from her sister who is an attorney, yet things happen that makes Jessica's future look grim.
FBI Agent, Gabriel has loved Jessica for awhile now. He knows she wants to marry, but he's not ready for that kind of commitment. Still...he can't let his feelings for her go. When she's thrown in jail, he will do anything in his power to help her - even if it might get him killed.
Will he be able to save her from a lifetime in prison? Find out by reading this awesome story!
April 19, 2013
This review can be found at RomFanReviews
Want to Read
May 29, 2013Amazon freebie 5/29/13
April 28, 2017
Jessica is a young, sweet math teacher who still lives at home with her parents. Gabe is an FBI agent who spends his nights (and sometimes days) operating undercover – often in disguise as a homeless man. Their wildly different lives merge with a few different odd twists of fate and friendship, and romance follows in INNOCENT by Mary Martinez.
Well…kind of. I mean, there IS romance. And a lively adventure with an outstanding bad guy I thoroughly enjoyed, a couple bad kids that seemed like an afterthought and a creepy football coach. All fun things…but I expected far more romance than there was. This was more of an adventure/suspense book with some romance, than a romance book with some adventure in it. At times, it felt like the author was trying to find reasons to push Jessica and Gabe together, when really neither of them wanted it. Well, Gabe didn't want it. I almost felt sorry for the poor guy. It was like a kindergarten playground when giggling little girls try to chase hysterical little boys around and steal kisses. Throughout most of the book Gabe kept saying no, and everyone blissfully ignored his protests and brushed them off. THEY knew better.
While the characters had some issues in my opinion, they were still fun characters to get to know. I enjoyed the tight family bonds of the Beckett family, and how they close ranks when one of their own was in danger. The plot machinations they found themselves a part of were believable and well written. Not too extreme, but enough suspense and excellent pacing to keep any reader on the edge of their seat. The only time I thought it got a bit bogged down was in explaining some of the legal aspects of the story, but if I was not so familiar with the law anyway I probably would have welcomed the explanations. Even then, the explanations are well concealed in dialogue.
This is a standalone book (which I like), there is no question about that. But I might have been able to bond with the characters better if I had read the first book. And near the end of this one, it is pretty clear that the characters for the next romance book in the series are being set up. As a matter of fact, there were a LOT of characters in this book. More so than I usually see in romances. It got a bit confusing at times but was never a big issue since they were not main characters.
My favorite parts of the book? The main bad guy! He was awesome! And the whodunit twist – I won't give it away but I never saw it coming! This was a fun, entertaining book to read, but I am still somewhat skeptical of calling it a "romance" book.
Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.
Well…kind of. I mean, there IS romance. And a lively adventure with an outstanding bad guy I thoroughly enjoyed, a couple bad kids that seemed like an afterthought and a creepy football coach. All fun things…but I expected far more romance than there was. This was more of an adventure/suspense book with some romance, than a romance book with some adventure in it. At times, it felt like the author was trying to find reasons to push Jessica and Gabe together, when really neither of them wanted it. Well, Gabe didn't want it. I almost felt sorry for the poor guy. It was like a kindergarten playground when giggling little girls try to chase hysterical little boys around and steal kisses. Throughout most of the book Gabe kept saying no, and everyone blissfully ignored his protests and brushed them off. THEY knew better.
While the characters had some issues in my opinion, they were still fun characters to get to know. I enjoyed the tight family bonds of the Beckett family, and how they close ranks when one of their own was in danger. The plot machinations they found themselves a part of were believable and well written. Not too extreme, but enough suspense and excellent pacing to keep any reader on the edge of their seat. The only time I thought it got a bit bogged down was in explaining some of the legal aspects of the story, but if I was not so familiar with the law anyway I probably would have welcomed the explanations. Even then, the explanations are well concealed in dialogue.
This is a standalone book (which I like), there is no question about that. But I might have been able to bond with the characters better if I had read the first book. And near the end of this one, it is pretty clear that the characters for the next romance book in the series are being set up. As a matter of fact, there were a LOT of characters in this book. More so than I usually see in romances. It got a bit confusing at times but was never a big issue since they were not main characters.
My favorite parts of the book? The main bad guy! He was awesome! And the whodunit twist – I won't give it away but I never saw it coming! This was a fun, entertaining book to read, but I am still somewhat skeptical of calling it a "romance" book.
Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews