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The Marine Next Door (Mills & Boon Intrigue) (2012)

by Julie Miller(Favorite Author)

3.89 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Mills & Boon Intrigue

series

The Precinct: Task Force

review 1: I had two major issues with this story. The first that the author spends way too much time telling instead of showing, which makes the book very slow & tedious at times even though it's just over 200 pages. A character sits in their car and thinks about the past. Or sits in their office and goes over the past. Or stands in their kitchen and thinks about the recent past...etc. It gets old very fast. When the H and h finally have their "first date" we don't read about it as it happens. Instead we get the heroine sitting around after the fact basically telling the reader what happened.My other issue is how incompetent the heroine is as a cop & how dumb she is as a person. It made it hard to sympathize with her. At one point in the middle of the story her abusive ex publicly v... moreiolates his parole & she could easily have him sent back to jail thus ending her troubles. Of course that would also end the story. Instead she repeatedly does stupid things in order to keep the plot going. On the other hand, maybe the author also just doesn't know enough about police procedure.I also have an issue with a character we're supposed to view as tough, who's independent and who's taken charge of her life after being victimized by a man - who then turns to another man to save her. She actually does next to nothing for herself. It's all left up to the hero to fix everything, which he does purely because of how she looks (she's a stranger who's not particularly nice to him) and because his own need to take care of the world. In contrast, she is a basket case from page one. Maybe if the author had shown her as together & competent at other times the impression would be different. Sadly, we don't see that.This is one of many cases where I think an author can only write what they know. Throughout the book it seemed the heroine was very good at being codependent and playing a victim. But boundaries, toughness, or actual self-reliance did not exist in her world. Case in point - one minor character who could easily be viewed as an entitled heiress having a bridezilla fit is instead called out as projecting the persona of a strong, powerful professional woman. The reader knows she's not exactly a bridezilla. But that the author seems to think having a breakdown at a bridal parlor & just taking off is how you project power, strength, and professionalism is rather telling.Oh, and stories where a couple spend all of a few days together and it's happily ever after always make me roll my eyes. Here it's worse since a child is involved. This being a romance, of course the child instantly picks the hero as his new dad.
review 2: This is probably one of my favorite books from the Intrigue line. The heroine had suffered a great deal in her life but she has managed to come out on top. It's understandable that she still has a sense of fear & weakness concerning her ex husband but she still manages to hold her head high through the fear. Enter the sexy hero, hero being a very appropriate term. Just reading the description had me drooling! He's my perfect man rolled up in a delicious package. 6'5", retired Marine, ex firefighter, intelligent (has to be in order to evoke an arson investigator), muscular, protective, & slightly broody....definitely high in the yum factor. There are obviously escapees from Crazytown in this book & they seem to flock to Maggie like flies to honey. I'm excited to read the rest of the books in the series. I'm curious to see who the Rose Red Rapist is (I have a feeling it's someone we've already been introduced to) & wondering if I'm right as to who is gonna hook up with who from the task force. Definitely enjoyable so pick it up if you're looking for something quick, entertaining, & intriguing. My one gripe about this story is pretty much the same as most romance novels. It takes the span of like 3 or 4 days & "love" is just being thrown around, which I just don't find believable. less

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