Dangerous Passion by LMR v2

Some things need to be said...

First. This book is a total scam. Despite the title no way is it part of the 'Dangerous' series. As far as I know, both Dangerous Secrets and Dangerous Lover were original stories. There is nothing original about Dangerous Passion. It was published previously under the title 'Secluded' in 2003 as part of the Red Sage 'Secrets' anthology. So it was written before Midnight Man which is the story it most closely resembles (particularly in length)....except that MM is the better story even.

What I liked about DL, DS and even Woman on the Run was that as well as all the hotness all 3 books contained a mulitiplicity of fantastic themes. Like...great driving skills. Like...transforming a dying small town. Like...the human cost of mineral mining in a completely different country. Also. In each of the above novels the females do something heroic. Julia agreed to testify against a mobster; Caroline gave up normal living in order to nurse her brother; Charity also gave up her hopes and ambitions to care for elderly relatives but still didn't hesitate to risk her life to
gain incriminating evidence against a delusional russian gangster. Even Suzanne in MM makes a stand against a criminal. All of the above named females showed they knew Right from Wrong.

There is none of that in DP. Grace does nothing for anyone. In fact she brings death to her elderly sponsor. I'm particularly annoyed about the hero. Why is he presented as Drake when his name is in fact Viktor? So basically this is the story of a gangster and his unthinking (but talented) moll. That is very different from 99% of LMR's other erotic novels. Why does 'nice' Grace give up living legally so easily? There are arms dealers who sometimes feature in newspapers. They claim they are respectable businessmen. None of them seem to go in fear of their lives like Viktor. So just what has he done that is so terrible? I'm with another reviewer who questioned why Grace so readily accepted Viktor's affirmation that he'd never dealt in drugs. And anyway. There's equally horrible trades to drugs and arms going on in the world.

This story was probably retitled and brought out purely to cash in on the author's growing popularity. Unfortunately going by Lara Adrian, Laurell K and JR, I don't suppose it'll affect sales. But I mourn the passing of a talent that was able to transform a lightweight genre into something outstandingly pleasureable to read.

I'd have liked to have realised what was being perpetrated before I paid out dollars. So in my public service capacity, I am letting everyone else know. I thank you.