THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IS THE ONLY ONE SHE WANTS… Stanton Rourke lives life on the edge. The steely mercenary is a menace in every way…especially to Clarisse Carrington’s heart. She and Rourke were playmates as children, but she’s not the innocent girl he once knew. When tragedy robbed Clarisse of her entire family, her life was changed forever. Besides, she’s a grown woman now, and there … woman now, and there are secrets that hold her back from succumbing to her pursuer.
As she struggles to keep her distance, sparks as hot as a Texas summer fly between them. But danger is following Clarisse, leaving her no choice but to rely on Rourke, even as the old wounds lying dormant between them flare up again…
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I am a Diana Palmer fan; I’ve read many books by her and always enjoy them (even if they are a little predictable at times). So when I saw a deal on this one, I decided to buy it to read. Bad decision. This is one of the most poorly written stories I’ve ever read by her. The characters are some old friends from prior books, which I liked, but here they seemed so two-dimensional. Why did all the characters need to be filthy rich? Why did boy push girl away based on a lie then with no problem suddenly be on the verge of marriage to same girl? Memory loss- really? Bad guy after girl and handled easily? This book felt like it was a rush job and the dialogue was so stilted and cheesy in places. Very disappointed in this one – don’t bother!
One of my Dad’s favorite sayings (and he said it a lot) is In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. So I had the giggles going into this as the hero is a one-eyed, tangoing, black ops sniper with retrograde amnesia.
Did Tootsie’s big reveal inspire Diana Palmer’s plotting?
Things that happen…
* Possible incest
* Death by piranha
* Death by mosquito (actually mosquito is the weaponized method preferred by the deposed South American dictator with a long memory and revenge needs)
* A one-eyed Jack hero that shoots to kill and tangos and is overwhelmed with lust and love
* Slut-shaming
* Amnesia
* Slut-shaming – Part II
* A secret baby
* An older sterile husband
* Mucho murder
* A move to the metropolis of Jacobsville
* A dance off
Just another day with Diana Palmer
Plot:
The couple fell in love when she was 17, but her mother put a stop to it when she told the playah H that he and the heroine were half-siblings.
Instead of telling her, “Darling, it turns out we are half-siblings and since we aren’t Pharaohs or even ancient Egyptians, we’ll just have to be very good friends,” he decides that slut-shaming her vociferously and publicly for eight years is the better option.
When he gets the exciting news that they aren’t related because the impregnator impregnated HIS mother instead of hers(he doesn’t blink his one eye about his mother’s infidelity to the man he knew as father) he then professes his love and lust to the heroine. He truly is a besotted H, and he seduces the heroine and they make immediate plans to marry.
He has to leave the day before the wedding for some espionage stuff only to come back with amnesia. He starts up the slut-shaming even worse then before and since no one tells him the truth he gets revenge engaged, and the h marries another man to protect her sainted dead mother’s reputation in the small town of Manaus, population 2.2 million, since the heroine will soon be an unwed mother.
The heroine moves to Jacobsville since a mega criminal with revenge is after her and her baby.
SPOILER [In an epic fail by the mighty military men of Jacobsville, they hire the very individuals who are trying to kill the heroine and her baby as her bodyguard and maid. End spoiler)]
It’s all over the place, literally and figuratively, but the H is genuinely in love with the heroine unlike most of DP’s heroes who barely figure it out later. The hero, despite being uber cruel, takes the honors having all the personality. I think the heroine is in a state of PTSD shock given that her father and sister were recently eaten by piranhas, and this latest round of back and forth protestations of love and devotion then slut-shaming/vitriol just shuts her down. Luckily the women of Jacobsville take up her cause, do the dirty work and shun the H back.
Despite my snarkiness, I do recommend it as angst junkies will l-o-v-e it, and the hero is tortured by his love for the heroine. I would have scored higher if the heroine had any gumption.
The Cyclops:
Rourke felt as if Christmas had come. He let her move away, but his one good eye was brimming with joy, with exultation.
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Clarisse could still see the expression in Rourke’s brown eyes, because it was before he’d lost one of them,
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Rourke leaned forward, his one pale brown eye narrow and intent.
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She bit her lip because Rourke’s one good eye started flashing fire at her. “Sorry.”
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His one pale brown eye glittered with an emotion he couldn’t quite conceal.
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He let her go. His pale brown eye went down to the sleeping baby.
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He indicated it on the floor beside the rocking chair, and his one brown eye was glittering with fury.
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His eye closed on an inward groan.
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His pale brown eye was tormented as it met hers. “