Review: Decent read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 10, 2014
Reviewed by Deltafor TheRomanceReviews.comJust how many times can a man deceive a woman before he ruins her trust forever? The characters do a good job at offering up an answer in this erotic suspense novel from Linda J. Parisi, DAMMED IF YOU DON'T.Even though he is hotness personified and they spent an enchanted night together in bed, Dr. Morgan Mackenzie has got to lose Jackson Kent...quickly. Cellular kineticist Morgan is on the run from her former employer after the weight loss drug she was working on turned deadly. Morgan has no idea that Jack has been sent to find her, seduce her and haul her in, but once he starts to question the allegations against her, he has second thoughts. Something isn't adding up, and he and Morgan go on the run...this time together.The pair find themselves in a deadly game of cat and mouse, where the good and bad aren't exactly black and white. Morgan will have to find it in herself to forgive Jack for his deception, especially since they are fighting a losing battle against their attraction. Trust comes difficult for them both, but they can only rely on each other to bring an end to this deadly game.DAMMED IF YOU DON'T starts off with the suspense right away, developing a decent plot and resolution along the way. The action in the book was decent, if a bit anticlimactic. I was surprised by the villains and enjoyed the twists and turns and red herrings Ms. Parisi throws out there. I'm still not sure how I feel about who wound up being the bad guys, just as I'm uncertain about the good/bad actions of some of the secondary characters.Unfortunately, the main characters were disappointing at best, and the cheesy dialogue factor was a real maddening calamity in this book. It was incredibly irritating to me that Morgan was so furious over Jack's betrayal during a large portion of this story. Yea, he lied about who he was during their one night stand, but jeesh, he saves her ass, takes on her case and goes on the run with her! No explanation is good enough, no apology is fully accepted. I felt like reaching through my ereader to scream at Morgan, "GET OVER IT!" and to scream at Jack, "MAN UP, SPANK THE ATTITUDE OUT OF HER AND QUIT APOLOGIZING!" That thread became exhausting very quickly and didn't endear me to either of the main characters.Additionally, the cheesy sex dialogue just didn't resonate with me, nor did Morgan's constant referral to their relationship in high school "nerd" and "football captain" terms. You are a grown woman, a doctor...move on! The sex in DAMMED IF YOU DON'T was very erotic, though I felt like the sex scenes were born out of anger, frustration and lust, not the real "enchanted" feelings the couple proclaimed.Overall, DAMMED IF YOU DON'T is a decent erotic suspense story even if the characters left a lot to be desired.