Book 39: Seduced by a Spy

TITLE: Seduced by a Spy
AUTHOR: Andrea Pickens
STARTED: July 25, 2008
FINISHED: August 3, 2008
PAGES: 358
GENRE: Romance

FIRST SENTENCE: The wind whipped against her cheeks, a hard, biting cold that cut down to the bone.

SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] Hot-tempered and a warrior to the bone, Shannon is the most daring of "Merlin Maidens." Her assignment: stop the fiendishly cruel assassin who is targeting a top British ballistics expert's family. Marshalling her intelligence, fighting skills, and weapons is easy. Being forced to work with the rakishly handsome Russian spy she loathes is something else.

Witty, resourceful, and notorious for his rakish charm with women, Alexandr Orlov tempts Shannon's fierce reserve and lithe body to win her trust. But in the remote Scottish castle where they are sent to protect the innocent, their games of parry and thrust could end in death. A ruthless enemy is watching...and planning to turn their passion into the most dangerous weapon of all.

THOUGHTS: Man. I was really looking forward to the pairing in this book. They had such chemistry when they were introduced in the first book.... chemistry that was nowhere to be found in this book. My problems with the plot of the book (bad guy? what non-existent, until he starts blowing shit up bad guy?) are completely overshadowed by the fact that the lead characters just did not work together. He's too cocky. She's too "I'm scared but I need to do this to prove that I am a strong woman"y. Yeah. Annoying.

The writing and pacing were fine, but I was too disappointed with the lead characters to actually care.

RATING: 4/10 [An "okay" book]