Review: Found the Hot in Red, Hot & Blue
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 30, 2010
This is the the third novella of the Red, Hot & Blue group.  What's not to love--hunky/hot black op type military dudes finding, ahem, love.  And love it is (apparently).  Oh, and be warned, in a good way, it is back to being HOT in this story.  Not COMPLETELY sizzlin' or we would have been treated to the full shower scene, but some not-to-be-confused-for-anything-else ADULT action.  Yup, that was there.  Hmm-mm.  Check.  Present.  Okay, where is my fan?Jimmy's story starts 6 months prior to the events of Trey, but finishes off after picking up at the end of Jake's story.  A consistent issue I have had with all of the series is how some things are compressed (presumably to fit the novella format) that just don't actually squish well.  Here,  love is declared quickly, recovery from terrorist torture occurs relatively fast (and off screen, so maybe that's why it seems so fast) and family is confronted.  I also went a little nuts about the how the psych was specifically chosen by the commander to do his evaluation of Jimmy.  Really?  Commanders don't usually get to do that, even if it is 'just the local VA hospital', not to mention that whole interaction was not very realistic--an off the record ending to a psych evaluation before sending a black ops type back to full duty --yikes!  As a series, suspension of belief is required of the reader over some of these details.As novellas, these are light on details and are great for a fun, easy read.  Not too dark or serious, though the premise is such that a full length novel, while delving into the angst would be welcome.  In my opinion a truly awesome novella (5 stars) tells you the full story of what is being laid out (so to speak) and at the end you feel the story is complete.  A good story in novella form can make you feel like something is undone and more would be better, yet the whole thing was enjoyable (3 and 4 stars types).  Mediocrity starts when the incomplete bits overpower what is actually there (2 stars).I consider this one in the reasonably good category (why oh why can't I just give split star ratings....).  Overall, an enjoyable/good read, but the story feels a like there is more to be said.  I will err on the side of the 4 stars as I did have fun reading, just wished for more depth and attention to detail.  My review is focusing on what bothered me, but really, it was fun, and if she decides to write more about the boys I'm sure to pick them up.  I plan to check out her novels and see if that format is more suited.JTG