Alex Romero is the hottest "Bullet Catcher" in the business. Tall, dark, and deadly if necessary, this high-priced bodyguard's got the muscle and the moves — especially when it comes to the ladies. Alex can keep his beautiful clients out of danger, but sometimes they can't keep their hands off of him. Now Alex has one last chance to prove he belongs among the elite force known as The Bullet Catchers, but his assignment is stacked...against him.
WATCH YOUR HEART
Private investigator Jasmine Adams is fiercely independent and fearless under pressure — she doesn't need some hunk-for-hire's help to catch the creep stalking her twin sister. But when Jazz uncovers bigger forces targeting her sister for death, she's glad to have Alex's brain and brawn handy. From the steamy streets of Miami to the sultry beaches of Key West, Alex and Jazz try to fight temptation as they race to keep a madman from fulfilling his promise to kill not just once, but twice. And some temptations are too powerful to resist....
Comment: I had this book in the shelf for several years. I recall a friend saying this was a good romantic suspense story, more or less similar to some books by Sandra Brown, who is an author I tend to appreciate. Well, I think this isn't a bad story, but it didn't wow me...
Jasmine "Jazz" Adams is identical to her twin sister Jessica, who has risen to become a known TV presenter and reporter. Recently, she has been working on a case and now it seems she isn't answering her phone and Jazz decides to impersonate her, since she is a private detective, believing this will confuse whomever might be behind her sister' disappearance. At the same time, Alex Romero, also a PI, is sent by his boss to be a bodyguard to Jessica, who has been receiving threats and has a stalker. When Alex meets Jazz, she pretends to be Jessica but Alex quickly realizes who she is and, reluctantly, they decide to join forces and look for Jessica, while trying to deal with the attraction between them. The problem is that someone is very determined to keep them away...
This book was published in 2005 and, reading it now, I couldn't help but feel it was certainly a little dated. It's the style, it's some things the author includes, it's the kind of way the investigation is done... This doesn't mean the story isn't good or the that the process is done realistically, but I have to say that after a while, it starts to be something so glaring that I've started to skip a few sentences.
The plot is not complicated, actually, and when we learn who the bad guy is, it's both obvious and clever. I just got the feeling that the suspense part isn't that much of a thriller because the secondary characters didn't feel fully developed to me, and I didn't feel that emotional investment that would convince me of the characters' actions. Since the writing style is fluid but not very surprising, some parts became a little too stagnated to me and I don't think the author was able to fully convey that anticipation sensation one should have when reading this type of novel.
Jasmine is a fascinating character and I think she was easy to read, but she shares some of her decisions in life and some things felt like they happened too easily for her. I also think that while she and any other heroine should be applauded to say her mind and be confident in what she wants, my romantic side was a little disappointed how quickly she decided to seduce Alex after knowing him for such a short amount of time... the romantic part of the novel didn't feel very strong to me and if they had ended up as friends, I wouldn't have minded.
Alex felt a little more complex to me in a way, because he is Cuban, he has the background of worry for his family and his goals of helping them back home while he is in the US was a subject that certainly felt more noble. I think his personality was, again, not developed as well as it could be, and secondary characters speak about him in a way that made me wary of liking him. His actions clearly proved this wrong, for he is a good man, but I can't say that his relationship with Jasmine was that amazing...
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