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The Man Behind the Cop
Being a big-city cop and being in control means everything to Bruce Walker. He knows how destructive a man can be when given the chance. That's why he's vowed never to get involved.
All that changes the moment he meets psychologist Karin Jorgenson. The connection between them is instant, intense…something he's tempted to explore. Regardless of how Bruce feels, though, he can't let go of everything he knows. His control is even more important now that they're involved in a domestic violence case. Karin insists he's a different man than the one he sees in the mirror. But can he trust her— and himself—enough to open his eyes and see it, too?
All that changes the moment he meets psychologist Karin Jorgenson. The connection between them is instant, intense…something he's tempted to explore. Regardless of how Bruce feels, though, he can't let go of everything he knows. His control is even more important now that they're involved in a domestic violence case. Karin insists he's a different man than the one he sees in the mirror. But can he trust her— and himself—enough to open his eyes and see it, too?
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2008
About the author
Janice Kay Johnson
278 books196 followersJanice Kay Johnson is the author of over a hundred books for children and adults. Her first four published romance novels were coauthored with her mother, also a writer who has since published mysteries and children's books on her own. These were "sweet" romance novels, the author hastens to add; she isn't sure they'd have felt comfortable coauthoring passionate love scenes!
Janice graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in history and then received a master's degree in library science from the University of Washington. She was a branch librarian for a public library system until she began selling her own writing.
She has written six novels for young adults and one picture book for the read-aloud crowd. Rosamund was the outgrowth of all those hours spent reading to her own daughters, and of her passion for growing old roses. Two more of her favorite books were historical novels she wrote for Tor/Forge. The research was pure indulgence for someone who set out intending to be a historian!
Janice is divorced and has raised her two daughters in a small, rural town north of Seattle, Washington. She's an active volunteer and board member for Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter, and foster kittens often enliven a household that already includes a few more cats than she wants to admit to!
Janice loves writing books about both love and family — about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. Her Superromance novels are frequent finalists for Romance Writers of America RITA® awards. Along with her books for Harlequin, Janice has written the Cape Trouble series of romantic suspense novels, and is about to launch a new series, Desperation Creek, set in rural eastern Oregon.
Janice graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in history and then received a master's degree in library science from the University of Washington. She was a branch librarian for a public library system until she began selling her own writing.
She has written six novels for young adults and one picture book for the read-aloud crowd. Rosamund was the outgrowth of all those hours spent reading to her own daughters, and of her passion for growing old roses. Two more of her favorite books were historical novels she wrote for Tor/Forge. The research was pure indulgence for someone who set out intending to be a historian!
Janice is divorced and has raised her two daughters in a small, rural town north of Seattle, Washington. She's an active volunteer and board member for Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter, and foster kittens often enliven a household that already includes a few more cats than she wants to admit to!
Janice loves writing books about both love and family — about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. Her Superromance novels are frequent finalists for Romance Writers of America RITA® awards. Along with her books for Harlequin, Janice has written the Cape Trouble series of romantic suspense novels, and is about to launch a new series, Desperation Creek, set in rural eastern Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 11, 2022
Psychologist Karin Jorgenson and cop Bruce Walker meet when Bruce teaches a self-defense class to the women that Karin counsels who are victims of domestic violence. After the class, one of the women (Lenora) is attacked in the parking lot and almost killed by her abusive husband. When it’s discovered that the husband is on the run with their two young children, Karin and Bruce work together to discover his whereabouts and to find the children before he harms them. There’s also another subplot concerning a young boy who Bruce takes under his wing whose mother has disappeared and whose father has a history of being an abusive alcoholic. This book had a lot going on in it. It was very entertaining with interesting characters, a mix of romance and suspense, and some pretty dark themes.
April 10, 2012
Rating 4.5
There is something about the author's style that pulls me in, there are no billionaire's or sheikhs, just normal people with baggage and their journey towards a better future while dealing with what life has dealt them. I really like the simplistic way in which this author writes, it pulls you in.
The way the hero, a cop who comes from an abusive house-hold is able to voice the fears of battered women and give them hope really touched me. His words were just so powerful when he was teaching them moves to defend themselves.
The hero could never help his mother since she never wanted his help so he has made it his life's aim to help those he can, so he gives back by being a big brother to a 12 year old Trevor with a troubled home life(abusive alcoholic father who his mother kicked out & an addict mother) and now teaching self-defense to women (at a clinic called A Woman's Hand) who have been raped and battered. It is there he meets the heroine Karin who is a psychologist there.
Karin came from a normal childhood, no major traumas in life, working with these women for the past five years have made her a bit cynical about men and she tries to help her patients the best she can. After the session is over, she witnesses her patient Lenora being attacked by her abusive husband who she just left and she freezes, luckily the hero is not that far away.
The book has two plot-lines one about Lenore who is put in a coma and her husband absconds with her two young children and the search for them and Trevor, whose mother disappears and the re-occurrence of his father who claims to have turned over a new leaf, sober and given custody of his son.
Along this runs the relationship between the hero and heroine, standing in the way is the hero's belief that he doesn't want to tempt fate by committing to anyone. Their first intimate experience is raw, scaring them both in its intensity after that they tone back stuff. I enjoyed the relationship a lot, it was great and what I loved especially was the heroine making the hero see that he did want to be the father (re:Trevor) and that people could change and reform (re:Trevor's father).
I especially loved the moment that the hero was pushed to the limit and saw his true mettle. All in all I loved the book.
There is something about the author's style that pulls me in, there are no billionaire's or sheikhs, just normal people with baggage and their journey towards a better future while dealing with what life has dealt them. I really like the simplistic way in which this author writes, it pulls you in.
The way the hero, a cop who comes from an abusive house-hold is able to voice the fears of battered women and give them hope really touched me. His words were just so powerful when he was teaching them moves to defend themselves.
The hero could never help his mother since she never wanted his help so he has made it his life's aim to help those he can, so he gives back by being a big brother to a 12 year old Trevor with a troubled home life(abusive alcoholic father who his mother kicked out & an addict mother) and now teaching self-defense to women (at a clinic called A Woman's Hand) who have been raped and battered. It is there he meets the heroine Karin who is a psychologist there.
Karin came from a normal childhood, no major traumas in life, working with these women for the past five years have made her a bit cynical about men and she tries to help her patients the best she can. After the session is over, she witnesses her patient Lenora being attacked by her abusive husband who she just left and she freezes, luckily the hero is not that far away.
The book has two plot-lines one about Lenore who is put in a coma and her husband absconds with her two young children and the search for them and Trevor, whose mother disappears and the re-occurrence of his father who claims to have turned over a new leaf, sober and given custody of his son.
Along this runs the relationship between the hero and heroine, standing in the way is the hero's belief that he doesn't want to tempt fate by committing to anyone. Their first intimate experience is raw, scaring them both in its intensity after that they tone back stuff. I enjoyed the relationship a lot, it was great and what I loved especially was the heroine making the hero see that he did want to be the father (re:Trevor) and that people could change and reform (re:Trevor's father).
I especially loved the moment that the hero was pushed to the limit and saw his true mettle. All in all I loved the book.
January 30, 2012
Karin Jorgenson is a psychologist who works primarily with abused women. To say that she has issues with trusting men is an understatement. Believing that there are some good men around is hard. But seeing an abused woman starting to trust herself, when she decides to escape makes up for it.
Bruce Walker is a big city cop. He's a homicide detective and the stuff he sees don't help him sleep. He's had a bad childhood, mainly because of his abusive father. Unfortunately, his mother never got the confidence needed to escape. His greatest fear is that he will become his old man. So he refuses to love anybody. When you don't care enough, you don't get angry and hit them.
I really liked the book. Both Karin and Bruce are awesome. True, Bruce has his issues, but with Karin's help he deals with them. Seeing him start to believe that just maybe he could break the abuse cycle is heartbreaking. He's so tough and strong, but so gentle and understanding with the women from the shelter is incredible.
And when he finally admits that he loves her... *sigh*
I liked the suspense part as well. But just a warning - both Karin and Bruce have "dark" jobs. That is to say, there are some pretty dark stuff in here, it's far from a lighthearted romance. Although, most book in the Superromance line are that way.
All in all, one of the better Superromance books I've read lately. On to finding some more. :-)
Rating:
4.5 stars
Bruce Walker is a big city cop. He's a homicide detective and the stuff he sees don't help him sleep. He's had a bad childhood, mainly because of his abusive father. Unfortunately, his mother never got the confidence needed to escape. His greatest fear is that he will become his old man. So he refuses to love anybody. When you don't care enough, you don't get angry and hit them.
I really liked the book. Both Karin and Bruce are awesome. True, Bruce has his issues, but with Karin's help he deals with them. Seeing him start to believe that just maybe he could break the abuse cycle is heartbreaking. He's so tough and strong, but so gentle and understanding with the women from the shelter is incredible.
And when he finally admits that he loves her... *sigh*
I liked the suspense part as well. But just a warning - both Karin and Bruce have "dark" jobs. That is to say, there are some pretty dark stuff in here, it's far from a lighthearted romance. Although, most book in the Superromance line are that way.
All in all, one of the better Superromance books I've read lately. On to finding some more. :-)
Rating:
4.5 stars
September 2, 2018
Janice Kay Johnson’s The Man Behind the Cop is a smart, well-plotted romantic suspense that I didn’t quite like, but really wanted to love.
We open the book as Karin, a therapist, is helping one of her patients, Lenora, come to the determination that it’s time to leave her abusive husband. Karin runs a mental health clinic that caters especially to abused women and children. Aside from therapy, her clinic also offers self-defense classes. This is how Karin meets Bruce, a homicide detective—he’s volunteered to teach the class. Yet on the first night of the class, Lenora’s husband attacks her in the parking lot, leaving her comatose. Now the husband is on the run with their two toddlers, leaving a string of dead bodies in his wake. Naturally, Bruce and Karin team up to care for Lenora and apprehend her husband.
As is, I believe, typical with this author, The Man Behind the Cop skews more towards a mystery/thriller than a romance. Which is fine, because Johnson is good at what she does. The suspense here is solid, and the way the book follows the manhunt for the abusive husband kept the plot fast-paced and engaging. And even though it maybe wasn’t as big a focus as I would have liked, I have no complaints about the connection between Karin and Bruce. Their personalities were well-developed and they each had good backstories populated with realistic friends and family.
Yet in spite of this...I felt like something was off about this book.
For one thing, I was honestly a tad bit uncomfortable with how stereotypical Lenora’s story seemed. She’s Hispanic, a recent immigrant from Mexico. Her husband is poor, abusive, and barely speaks any English. He has obvious Mommy Issues. The author makes sure to emphasize how he’s a cruel sociopath with no redeeming qualities. Now I am aware that domestic violence disproportionately affects people who are low-SES, and that people who are low-SES are disproportionately minority members. But come on, man. In a book by a white author featuring white protagonists, did our only examples of brown people really have to be a battered woman and an abusive psycho?
I also did not really enjoy the last few lines of the book:
Uh, no. Very much no. I assure you that you did need therapy my man. Karin’s vagina might be excellent, but it’s not a magical fixer for your rampaging Daddy Issues. Don’t try to sell me that snake oil.
So yeah. The Man Behind the Cop had some problems. Clearly.
Reading Janice Kay Johnson is such an interesting author, in that she’s so evidently talented I enjoy her in spite of everything else. I didn’t necessarily like this book. But oh boy could I tell that it was well-written, tightly plotted, and emotionally nuanced. Johnson is a phenomenal author, and she knows what she’s doing. The entire time I was reading The Man Behind the Cop, I just kept thinking to myself that it was tragically unfair that an author who so clearly knows her stuff had fallen prey to so many traps.
Damn it, I really want to love this author.
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We open the book as Karin, a therapist, is helping one of her patients, Lenora, come to the determination that it’s time to leave her abusive husband. Karin runs a mental health clinic that caters especially to abused women and children. Aside from therapy, her clinic also offers self-defense classes. This is how Karin meets Bruce, a homicide detective—he’s volunteered to teach the class. Yet on the first night of the class, Lenora’s husband attacks her in the parking lot, leaving her comatose. Now the husband is on the run with their two toddlers, leaving a string of dead bodies in his wake. Naturally, Bruce and Karin team up to care for Lenora and apprehend her husband.
As is, I believe, typical with this author, The Man Behind the Cop skews more towards a mystery/thriller than a romance. Which is fine, because Johnson is good at what she does. The suspense here is solid, and the way the book follows the manhunt for the abusive husband kept the plot fast-paced and engaging. And even though it maybe wasn’t as big a focus as I would have liked, I have no complaints about the connection between Karin and Bruce. Their personalities were well-developed and they each had good backstories populated with realistic friends and family.
Yet in spite of this...I felt like something was off about this book.
For one thing, I was honestly a tad bit uncomfortable with how stereotypical Lenora’s story seemed. She’s Hispanic, a recent immigrant from Mexico. Her husband is poor, abusive, and barely speaks any English. He has obvious Mommy Issues. The author makes sure to emphasize how he’s a cruel sociopath with no redeeming qualities. Now I am aware that domestic violence disproportionately affects people who are low-SES, and that people who are low-SES are disproportionately minority members. But come on, man. In a book by a white author featuring white protagonists, did our only examples of brown people really have to be a battered woman and an abusive psycho?
I also did not really enjoy the last few lines of the book:
Maybe she was right. Maybe he hadn’t needed therapy to alter some vital part of him so he was able to feel love. He’d just needed Karin.
Uh, no. Very much no. I assure you that you did need therapy my man. Karin’s vagina might be excellent, but it’s not a magical fixer for your rampaging Daddy Issues. Don’t try to sell me that snake oil.
So yeah. The Man Behind the Cop had some problems. Clearly.
Reading Janice Kay Johnson is such an interesting author, in that she’s so evidently talented I enjoy her in spite of everything else. I didn’t necessarily like this book. But oh boy could I tell that it was well-written, tightly plotted, and emotionally nuanced. Johnson is a phenomenal author, and she knows what she’s doing. The entire time I was reading The Man Behind the Cop, I just kept thinking to myself that it was tragically unfair that an author who so clearly knows her stuff had fallen prey to so many traps.
Damn it, I really want to love this author.
📌 . Blog | Review Database | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
January 17, 2010
Possibly the most depressing romance novel I've read. It was very well done, and the romance was realistic and it didn't flinch from their issues like many do - this really dug in. I wonder if the author was a psychologist before writing? But all the domestic abuse and murders and terror! It fit with these characters' lives, to be sure, and I appreciated her showing the slow road of people struggling to change, but it wasn't exactly pleasant before bed reading. Still, I'll continue to look for her books.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews