Carole Mortimer, $2.99, ISBN 978-1-910597-22-4
Romantic Suspense, 2016
Lissa Forsythe and Asher Knight don’t like one another.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Miss Pissy Forsythe.”
“And if it isn’t Mr. Asshole Knight.”
Am I the only one that misread “Pissy” as something else at first and did a double take?
Anyway, while Defying Asher is the first entry in Carole Mortimer’s Knight Security series, these two already have a past history that involved one night of passion and a lifetime of tension. That part may or may not have been touched upon in some other story. I don’t know. I’m just passing on the message.
Of course, with this being a super sophisticated romantic suspense story, we have the super original premise of Lissa now needing Ash’s protection because that is the best way to get a romance going.
Of course, the early part of this thing is dedicated to showing off the 65 men that will have their stories next in the series, and Lissa and Ash start lusting super hard as lust vibes drive the scary bad people away.
Meanwhile, don’t expect scenes of actual danger and drama, as everything fun happens offscreen and is narrated to the reader via tedious “Does anything speak like this in real life? Why is everyone speaking so much when they can just look up the details for themselves?” exposition dump by various characters.
In other words, this is another so-called romantic suspense where the suspense part is actually beige wallpaper that is barely noticeable unless various characters launch into monologues about how someone got killed somewhere and nobody cares because characterization is paper thin and the “plot” is basically “something something protection, now boink”.
Mind you, the fact that this is not the worst “romantic suspense” I’ve read, not even by a longshot, is a scary testament as to what a farce that genre can be. Really, we may as well rename the genre “protection as an excuse to boink stories” or something.
Indeed, the writing is clean, and while Lissa and Ash can be childish and silly for the so-called adults that they supposedly are, there are some pretty nice chemistry and sexual tension going on to keep things from being too much of a flaccid bore.
Nonetheless, it is what it is — a so-called romantic suspense with poorly-developed plot, existing solely to sell a “protected by the hot agent” fantasy and only that fantasy. If that’s what you are here for, then help yourself.
If you want something that has more well-made suspense, action scenes, and procedural drama, however, this one will definitely defy your expectations.
