I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Feel the Heat
by
Cindy Gerard
romantic suspense in a paperback edition that was published by Pocket Star on September 29, 2009 and has 372 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Deadly Promises, Show No Mercy, Take No Prisoners, Whisper No Lies, Risk No Secrets, With No Remorse, Last Man Standing, To the Edge, To the Limit, To the Brink, Over the Line, Under the Wire, Killing Time, The Way Home, Running Blind, Taking Fire
Fourth in the Black Ops, Inc. romantic suspense series revolving around the BOIs and their futures. The primary couple focus is on Raphael “Choirboy” Mendoza and B.J. Chase with a secondary focus on Stephanie Tompkins and Mean Joe Green.
My Take
This was cute. A totally reluctant woman pushing the hunky Rafe away. Guns and bombs? Bring it on. Possible relationship? Watch her run like hell! Then there’s the treat of a pair of women foiling the bad guys and doing it well.
Too cute when Raphael meets up with B.J. again. B.J.’s trying to figure out why she didn’t shoot him when she had the chance and he laughs that she can wound a man without firing a shot. The tension really ratchets up though when B.J. has to pose as Rafe’s fiancée in front of the family he hasn’t seen in fifteen years.
It’s a nasty situation for B.J. Too much casual touching. Too much emotion and love going around. And, damn, this girl is just sooo defensive. Although, I’d’a thought the same as her when the BOIs start talking about eating and B.J. is just gearing up to tell them not to expect cooking from her! Talk about a surprise! Yet more surprises for our not-girly girl. Johnny Reed has lots more experience than B.J. does in dressing to look like a gold digger and our B.J. spends more time tugging at hems and necklines. But when the time comes, our girl mans up. It was embarrassing!
I do love the joking around and teasing these guys do. They so crack me up!
Whoa. We get a whole lotta background on Raphael’s childhood and teen years. The whole time they spend in Colombia with Rafe’s family reunion just had me on tenterhooks! And who knew that Stephanie could be so forward with Joe?
Awww, Sam can’t stay to celebrate — Abbie’s having the baby. Bryan Samuel Lang.
The Story
Rafe Mendoza just keeps getting in B.J. Chase’s way, tripping her up work-wise and heart-wise. He never thought he could fall for a woman like her, but there’s just something so hot about a woman like her.
The Characters
B.J. Chase is an agent for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) via the army and she can definitely handle herself. I’m wondering how long it takes before she gets co-opted into the BOIs. Janine Chase is her alcoholic mother who has been hating her father forever. Ever since Frank Chase was killed in action. Dale Sherwood is her immediate boss. Ben Brommel is a friend who works at the Pentagon.
Raphael “Choirboy” Mendoza (Ranger) loves to sing and he loves the ladies. Until he meets B.J. And she just ain’t his type. Cesar Munoz is Rafe’s uncle and Emilio Garcia’s banker. Munoz’s sons, Felipe and Rodrigo, are both in the family business while his Tía Aliria has some unexpected depths.
Sam Lang (Delta) is still retired from Black Ops, Inc. and married to the pregnant-again Abbie. But Stephanie means too much to this former BOI and he steps up. It’s pure luck that Ann and Robert Tompkins are hosting a pre-wedding party for Johnny Duane Reed and Crystal Debrowski or the BOIs wouldn’t be so opportunely placed. The rest of the team includes Nathan Black, their CO; Gabe Jones with his journalist wife Jenna; Luke “Doc Holliday” Colter (SEAL and team medic); and, Wyatt “Papa Bear” Savage and Mean Joe Greene are both former CIA.
Stephanie Tompkins is the daughter of Ann and Robert Tompkins and Bryan’s little sister. All grown up, she’s now working at the National Security Agency (NSA) as a cryptanalyst. Alan Hendricks is her boss.
Zach Loeffler is an assassin who just received his orders. Alex Brady works for the same person on a more regular basis. Emilio Garcia is a Colombian drug lord working the middle between the traitor and the terrorist, Sheik Abdul Azeem.
The Cover and Title
The cover is is an almost opaque red veiling a truly buff nude male torso. Don’t look too close at his right forearm, though. It looks like he morphed BJ’s body part on to replace his own…eeek.
The title is all about what BJ and Rafe experience between themselves. Oh, yeah, baby, they definitely Feel the Heat in this story!
