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Thursday, November 9, 2017

ARC Book Review: Law & Disorder by Heather Graham

Book Title: Law & Disorder (Finnegan Book 1)
Author:  Heather Graham |Website| TwitterFacebook|
Publisher: Harlequin
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller/ Romantic Suspense
Series/Standalone: Series Beginning
Format: Ebook, Mass Market
Cost: $6.50
Pages: 256
How I got it: Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound (Independent Booksellers)
Publication Date: Jan 2017
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Synopsis:
Trust the enemy? Desperate to escape her kidnappers, Kody Cameron can turn to only one man…and he's holding a gun. Outnumbered and trapped in the deadly Everglades, she has little recourse, but something in this captor's eyes makes her believe she can trust him. Does she dare to take the risk? Undercover agent Nick Connolly has met Kody before and knows she might very well blow his cover. Though determined to maintain his facade, he can't let Kody die. He won't. And his decision to change his own rules of law and order are about to make all hell break loose. The Finnegan Connection
For the first time in a long time, I have to say that I can't recommend a title by Heather. And I almost wish I could but I really can't love this one.  I was so bored and it wasn't really a romance, it didn't have anything spooky the way the cover suggests, it felt like an older title that they attempted to modernize and it really didn't feel like a Heather Graham title at all.  I went into this one blind, just off the brand of Heather's unique stories and knowing how captivating she is, and this was just not for me.

You know you're in trouble when the villain has more personality than the main characters.  I actually remember more about Dillinger than I do about the main characters, like I had to look up their names to write this review meanwhile I remembered the criminal's name no problem.  I felt like I kept waiting for something paranormal to happen and when it was done and it hadn't I was severely disappointed.  This villain came prepared and at the same was a complete idiot.  He took the time to have back up plans, contingency plans, by kidnapping the child, had escape routes all planned out and yet he was still looking for unverified buried treasure. Like who really does that??

The female character Kody kept acting stupid, because let's be real the men with the guns make the rules, they don't have to do shyt you say.  She felt like two characters were being mixed together and we weren't quite sure which one was supposed to come out on top.  She's attempting to be an actress in NYC while working as a bartender and also working at the historic home that's in her family, she out of everyone knows the history the best and had the villain just grabbed her and threatened her family he would have gotten better results than the ridiculousness of grabbing an entire hotel of people and staff.  Just too unrealistic to believe but then again truth is stranger than fiction.

Nick is an undercover cop and we learn that in a few minutes of the home being on lock down.  The two characters met briefly as she was walking out the door while he was walking in to the bar she works in NYC over a year ago, and I'm supposed to believe that's enough of a connection that they remember each other and begin to fall for each other while he's lying about who he is and she's being held at gunpoint.  Yeah ok.  Even though Nick does his job well while trying to keep the body count low and the federal crime list from climbing; Kody mouths off to the leader who has a gun and has proven he's willing to make people bleed.  She has way too many too stupid to live moments within the book and each and every single time I'm like girl what?? the man has a gun and is crazy. Shut up and do what he says, you have one job and it's not to get me killed.

Even though I learned that even in Florida there are crocodiles which I had to stop to google before I finished reading, and I fell in love with the landscape and the description of the Everglades to be honest almost nothing else about this story made much sense.  The romance took a backseat to everything else and then when it finally had center stage it felt rushed, dry and wasn't as passionate and fun as Heather's other romances have always been for me.

The story revolves around the hidden treasure, the kidnapped child and romance.  However,  the romance wasn't really believable because they only spent like a week together while he was someone else, not much to build something on.  This book truly felt like it was written years ago and then they brought it back out and modernized it somewhat, just the mannerisms, the lack of reliance on cellphones or any modern tech just branded it as odd.

I did love the Everglades and the historical information that got dumped throughout the story but beyond that, this story wasn't very believable   the ending was a bit predictable however how Dillinger got caught wasn't and I learned a new nursery rhyme for when I'm in Florida.

If you're looking for good romantic suspense then I recommend Heather's other books, and of course Julie Garood's Buchanan -Renard series.  I'm not sure I will follow the rest of this, after all I have plenty of the paranormal romance from Heather to catch up on.
 ★★
Have you read this?? Share in the comments wheat you thought so we can discuss.  


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