Crazy Kisses by Tara Janzen

This is a well written book. Very well written. Well plotted. All the strands coming together. Furthermore. You know what. I thought this was quite a serious book. Unusually for Steele Street.

Choices and decisions. Is what this novel is about. I suppose. So much time is not spent in the bedroom. Plus. Actually. The main couple don’t spend enough time together. He’s always running away from her. Because he feels angst over what the consequences of his job are for her. They tend to meet in crowded situations. Or when they are alone together they don’t really communicate. But I got tired of it all. Honestly. Too little happiness and joy. This is also a romance where the guy keeps thinking ‘I’m not worthy.’ Over and over again. And again.

On the other hand. This is the best ‘virgin’ romance I’ve read in ages. And definitely the best ‘tame fiance’ romance I’ve ever read. Where the lame-duck fiancé is actually a very nice guy…and talented. Just a teensy shame the author wrote him in a wheelchair. Because as everyone knows nowadays. People in wheelchairs have sex too. Although. I’m not sure that Peter was aware of that fact.

I hate to admit it. But. Quite early on. I got bored. Mainly with all the descriptions of the artwork. Plus. There were over a hundred kids hiding in the old theatre. As if that could work. What with the hundreds of people at the art gallery showings. And another coupla hundred at the club. To say nothing of the warring gangs and tons of cops. Just too many people in 1 novel for me I guess. All in all. This novel was brim-full of eccentric characterisations. Urchins, models, gangstars, drug-barons, transvestites and of course artists. Probably the Bhagavad Gita has fewer people in it.

Not a patch on the highly personal interactions between Katya and Superman. The trouble is. Peter sees Nikki as being so perfect. Superman saw all Katya’s imperfections and loved her anyway. Also. I didn’t see much effort on Nikki’s part ever to help Peter in difficult situations. Kat helped Superman a lot the second time around. When I thought about it. It seemed Nikki was much more of a precious american princess than even Katya. A week in a yurt in exchange for a year in Paris is not an equitable bargain.

Finally. I need to say it. Although I have realised this isn’t really a lightweight series I wish J.T. hadn’t had to die that horrible death. Crazy Love managed perfectly well without constant references to it. And it didn’t really ring true that Superman would have accepted being a bodyguard to the Prom Queen if he had truly wanted to avenge J.T’s death.

Also. Explain this to me. Why would a black ops guy doing dirty business in Colombia check into a Bogota hospital using his real (yes, his home id) name. Is that mofo dumb or what?

But whenever a person gets into a series. Some you love, some are just ok. Like this one was for me.

Did I mention that the cover is just as horrible as all the others?