A black market kingpin. A Costa Rican scandal. Her undercover mission can’t hide from love… investigating of her own, Poppy connects with a group of animal rights activists and she’s soon hot on the trail of the kingpin. With the help of her new van-surfing friends and a one-armed monkey, Poppy plunges into the sordid underworld of black market wildlife trade, facing venomous snakes and deadly rapids. She’ll risk her badge—and her life—to exact her own kind of justice. But when Agent Dalton learns what she’s been up to, the sparks fly between them and the real trouble begins.
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This is the first book in the Poppy McVie series, and if you’re looking for a fast-paced suspense with dashes of humor and romance, this is it! I adore Poppy, an intrepid and sometimes reckless wildlife agent who is always willing to risk her life for the animals. I’ve read all the Poppy McVie books, and I eagerly await the next one.
A smoothly written action adventure to kick off the series.
A little too frantic for me. While I have no problem with Poppy’s ability to physically perform her duties as assigned, I felt she was to “off-the-cuff” and jumps from one partner or plan to another to be taken seriously.
Kimberli writes exciting prose. Her portrayal of fish and game officer, Poppy McVie is realistic and exciting. While Poppy does some outlandish things, she seems to be learning. The stories are well thought out. Author, Kimberli is articulate and passionate. I hope to spend time in more of her books!
This is the first book in a series that introduces us to Special Agent Poppy McVie, a determined young woman with smarts, sass, and enough spunk to get herself into hairy situations. She’s thrust into a promotion of sorts when an undercover agent in Costa Rica is in need of a young, ditzy wife. The goal is to identify the leader of an illegal animal trafficking operation, and Poppy hits the ground running with her new husband, Agent Dalton. Told in first-person, Poppy is an engaging character, if not a bit impetuous, who dodges dangerous situations while balancing a romantic triangle. Ms. Bindschatel’s passion to stop the buying and selling (and inevitable abuse) of black market animals is front and center, and the story will not only entertain—it will educate as well. An added bonus is that you’ll feel like you’ve taken a Costa Rican vacation. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This was a good book and the two reasons I gave it 3 stars instead of 4 (I rarely give 5) was the token same sex romance scene (two women holding hands). It didn’t really make any difference to the story (the characters or the hand holding). Also, in this book the main guy, the heroine’s partner, had a sexual relationship with someone he was working with on the job. I’m not sure that would be permitted in an undercover assignment. Plus he is obviously attracted to the heroine. The rest of the book is pretty realistic so it didn’t go with the story. The story and writing are good. The suspense kept me turning the pages to see what was going to happen next. The second book is even better.