Special Agent Booker
by Mimi Barbour
Kindle Edition, 392 pages
Published December 14th 2016 by Sarna Publishing
Goodreads synopsis:
Suspense lights up in every page of this fast-paced blockbuster of thrills!
When Sloan Booker’s father dies tragically, he has no other option but to give up his job as an FBI agent and take over his family’s vehicle restoration business in Oahu, Hawaii. Giving up his badge is difficult but having Homeland Security and his old boss request the use of his house in a stakeout, spying on his Muslim neighbors who they suspect are terrorists, is just too damn much for a man already frazzled. It makes no difference that they’ve offered him a partner to be in charge of the surveillance… until he meets the gorgeous divorcee.
Special Agent Alia Hawkins might look more like a model than a cop but looks can be deceiving. Not only does she rescue street kids, fights their battles and transports them to safe homes, but since she lived many years in Pakistan and speaks their language, she’s a sought after agent. So far, she’s kept her personal life and job separate. But when Alia’s slimy ex-husband threatens to steal her eight-year-old son, she has no choice but to bring him along on her latest undercover assignment – living with a hotshot, sexy as hell agent as his long lost stepsister. Her life suddenly takes some drastic swerves and she wonders if things will ever slow down.
***
2.5 Stars
I wanted to love this book. Romantic suspense is my jam, my guilty pleasure. But there were too many things that didn’t line up in this. Too many inconsistencies.
For instance, Alia was totally against getting together with a co-worker because it was too messy. But almost after she steps in the door she is ready to bed down the dude.
The character’s motivations were all over the place. This almost felt like it wasn’t written in chronological order and when they put all the pieces/scenes together they all didn’t mesh right. Alia would go from one scene being totally put off by Sloane and they would never be together, then almost the next scene, she is drippy in love and they were made for each other.
I am all for insta-love when I know beforehand it’s on the table but that motivation didn’t seem to ring true here. This book doesn’t happen over a long stretch of time and I thought their instant love/happily ever after wasn’t quite believable.
The entire plot was based on two Muslim siblings, related to Sloan’s neighbor’s were coming into the country to visit. So the FBI sets up a surveillance based on these two kids visiting. Then in the end we learn that the covers the two kids were using, family members of the neighbors, were fake and the FBI had the brother’s family in protective custody THE ENTIRE TIME! So, why not just nab the kids at the border for trying to enter the country with fake passports? This just negates the entire surveillance scenario where Alia comes to live with Sloan. The entire plotline was a colossal waste of time.
All the inconsistencies, the jumping around in time motivations and the surprising revelations about Alia’s and Sloan’s father’s who “just coincidently” have been living with Sloan the entire time.... The whole shebang was completely unbelievable.
Like I said, I wanted to love this book but it just didn’t live up to the hype.
I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.
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