A Kiss to Kill Book

3 1/2 stars

Based on the previous books in the series, I had no doubt that suspension of disbelief was a must if I wanted to enjoy this read. As expected, this book had several eye-rolling moments, but I was braced for them so I had fun with all the OTT action. It was exciting and entertaining, so I won't complain about it. As I mentioned before, I like the suspense part of this series. Ms. Bruhns has the knack for writing thrilling action scenes, there's no question about it.

Unfortunately, it was the romance part that fell flat in this book - again... There were too many couples and storylines going on at the same time, and one got in the way of the other. I might as well repeat what I wrote in my review of the previous book (with a few adjustments, since some of the couples changed from one book to another): I'm sorry to say, the romance didn't work that well for me. It wasn't the lack of it; on the contrary, there were three romances going on in the book: Gregg/Gina, Alex/Rebel and Wade/Sarah/Rebel/Gina/a mysterious affair from his past. Wade's story was a mess, as I couldn't figure out who he cared for. It was all too much and none of them had enough "screen time" to be developed the way they should have been. Based on the book description, Gregg and Gina were the H/h, but that's not the impression I got while reading the book because the other romances had as many pages/scenes as theirs. The way it was, Ms. Bruhns couldn't make me connect with any of the characters.

Besides the three romances, there was also the "main" storyline that glued everything together: the search for the Government mole(s) who had betrayed the country and might be planning a new terrorist attack. That was the book's saving grace, as I really enjoyed the several plot twists and turns and the final showdown. Great stuff there!

Overall, this was a better than average read to me, but not enough to make me bump my rating to 4 stars. Like the previous books, it was too busy and crowded, which prevented me from getting to know and understand the characters well enough to love them, but it was fun.

Note on the series: These books must be read in order, preferably back to back because more than one storyline begins in the 1st book, is developed through the 2nd, only to end in the 3rd. You won't be lost if you start the series in the middle because Ms. Bruhns gives enough info to help you through the journey, but take it from me: I found it hard to connect with the characters and I knew them from the start; I can only imagine how I'd feel about them if I didn't.