Reviews for Rule Breaker

The average rating for Rule Breaker based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-05-01 00:00:00 Kent Cope "Passion in the First Degree" by Carla Cassidy is Harlequin Intrigue #379, published in July 1996. The front cover, with its couple in bed image surrounded by a bright pink border, is almost guaranteed to ensure that no male reader would ever be caught dead with a copy. I'm a curious sort, though, and found the swamp setting in the prologue to be intriguing and kept reading to the end (though not all in one sitting... I'm a slow reader and so it took me around a week). The plot revolves around two sets of murders that may or may not be related: the killing of random denizens of the swamp by a serial killer who the townspeople have dubbed "the swamp serpent," and the recent murder of a man and woman who were close to Billy, the novel's hero and a resident of the swamp. (Don't worry, it turns out that he's also rich, despite appearances, as with so many romantic heroes.) The murdered man was Billy's best friend and the woman was his estranged lover. Were they having an affair and then killed by a jealous Billy? That's what many people in town suspect, including the cops, who eventually charge Billy with the crime. Billy brings in an old flame, lawyer Shelby Longsford, to defend him. I won't say more without giving away the plot, but I will say that I was surprised by reveal(s) at the end. As I got to the last few chapters, I was sure that someone else was going to be revealed as the killer and I was happy to be proven wrong. The novel is a well-written mystery that is also a romance, a true romantic suspense. It's well-written, a real page turner, with memorable characters. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The only reason that I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I save that highest rating for my particular favorites. I enjoyed this novel a lot, enough to make me want to read more books by its author.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-02-05 00:00:00 Keg Griffee 3 1/2 Stars ~ Growing up in a dysfunctional family in a small Louisiana town, Shelby felt more comfortable in the swamp with an elderly woman called Mama Royce. At 18, when she witnessed something horrific in the swamp, she went running to Mama Royce but she'd passed away earlier that night and only her grandson Billy was there. Billy was the one who'd taken Shelby to Mama Royce when as a child she'd gotten lost in the swamp. In his arms, sharing his tremendous grief, Shelby sought to comfort him and awakened a passion so intense that it consumed them both. And when their passion ebbed, Billy brutally rejected her. Shelby vowed that one day he was going to need her, and Billy equally vowed, when hell froze over. The next day Shelby went to live with her aunt in Shreveport Plagued by nightmares of monsters in the swamp, her feelings of fear got jumbled up with her hurt feelings with Billy. It's been 12 years since Shelby left Black Bayou. Now a successful defense attorney, she received a call from Billy, hell has frozen over. He's about to be charged in a double homicide, his wife and his best friend. Returning to her family home, she finds little has changed. Her father and eldest brother still have political aspirations her other brother has become a priest and her sister has recently married a man who can continue the status she's accustomed to. For the town it's as if time had stood still, the towns people still shun the swamp people. Billy, now a man, is even more devastatingly attractive. Everyone thinks Billy killed his estranged wife, Faylene and best friend, Tyler in a jealous fit. Shelby knows Billy is not a murder, and the more she digs the more she's certain that it was Tyler that was the target. A journalist, Tyler had been secretly working on the serial killings of swamp people that had started when Shelby had left Black Bayou. As Billy and Shelby get closer to the truth, they learn that the killer could very well be someone in Shelby's family. With the return of her nightmares, Shelby's certain that somewhere in her memory is the identity of the killer. Though not Ms. Cassidy's debut, this is her very first Harlequin Intrigue. In the prologue, Ms. Cassidy introduced Billy and Shelby's history and set a dark tone of evil that lurks in the swamp. This who-dunnit takes a few twists and turns with a few red herrings thrown in. Suspicion was cleverly cast on several characters, but it was not until the end of the book that the true killer is revealed. Billy and Shelby have sizzling chemistry that complemented the tension from the murders and kept me turning the pages to read what would happen next. All in all, I enjoyed this story very much.