Finally! Lucky's story! LOL - I say that like I've been chomping at the bit to get to it. Brockmann herself referred to books 7-9 in her Tall, Dark and Dangerous series as all being "Lucky's story" and this is book 9, where he finally finds his match. This is a hard book to find, and I ended up getting it from the library. Maybe it's because of the awful cover? Lucky is supposed to be the most handsome, attractive, good-looking SEAL in Team Ten's Alpha Squad, so how in the world did the art department at the publisher get away with a drawing of the Pillsbury Dough Boy?? The cover model is a porky-faced pudgy fellow, not a movie-star-handsome guy!!
It's another fun story in the series (thank goodness, because that last heroine... arg!) although our heroine, journalist Sydney, does almost get to that TSTL level. Syd has a brush with danger when she literally runs into a big fellow who apparently just beat up and raped her neighbor! When she helps her neighbor get the police, she learns there is a pattern here - a serial rapist that hasn't been reported - and she's a reporter! But there's a couple of caveats - the perp may be a Navy SEAL and the police are concerned that if there is any publicity, he'll use his covert training to go underground. So she gets an exclusive to write the story - as soon as he's caught.
This means she insinuates herself into the task force as her trump card - and has to work closely with a few SEALs, a couple of FInCom agents and the police. Enter Lucky - who has to miss a SEAL expedition anyway because his younger sister's getting married in a week. Since he's available, he's drafted to serve on the task force as well.
The old standby plot conceit: Lucky and Syd must pretend to be in love to lure the rapist to go after Syd while she "lives" with Lucky. It seems there is another pattern to his attacks: all are women who have a relationship with someone in the Navy during a particular period of time, making most of the Alpha Squad's women targets. Of course, they haven't exactly gotten off on the right foot - she assumes he's a vacuous one-night-stander; he assumes she's a meddling bitch. Or something like that. As well, she in no way fits his usual date: she's slender/flat chested and dresses in oversized mannish clothing that hides her petite cute body, instead of the lush bimbos who show it all he is usually seen with.
Still, it's a fun read in spite of the well-worn plot - both thinking the other isn't really attracted, and so each keeps his/her feelings in check as much as possible. There's a tiny bit of misdirection - several potential perps - it is a short book, so not too much detail outside of the relationship between Lucky and Sid. It fits my Serial Readers Challenge and the A To Z Challenge. I gave it 5 stars because that's what the others rated - loved reading it, but it's not really a keeper.
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