Review: Relationship Adrift
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 1, 2014
After reading Books 1 through 6 in this series in five days, I finished FATAL MISTAKE with a sense of sadness.  It`s not because there isn`t a seventh book immediately waiting to be purchased, it is somehow that Nick has become such a minor character.  In fact, Nick and Sam`s whole relationship is a minor element.Nick worries on a daily basis that Sam will be injured or killed.  Sam belittles his concerns by refusing to have protection except when it is mandated by her bosses.  The one time that Nick could potentially be in the slightest danger, Sam is reduced to a quivering lump and would prefer that he not participate in the opportunity of a lifetime.It seems that Nick loves Sam more than she loves him.  Certainly he spends much more time thinking about her and planning things to please her.  Nick purchases a home on the same street has her father and step-mother.  She is in charge of whether or not they will have a baby and even makes a major birth control decision without him.  He rearranges his schedule and limits campaigning to have more time with her. The greatest opportunity of his political career involves speaking at a national political convention.  Only when someone reminds her of the event, does it occur to Sam that she would "have to" attend. While Nick supports her career path, she does very little to be involved or supportive of his career.  On the rare occasions he asks her to attend an event, he seems never sure if she we even show up and it seems like a huge sacrifice when she does.Then we are presented with the fact that Nick won`t even tell Sam what the possibilities are for him, because he knows it would involve changes to her life.  If the roles were reversed, female readers would be gagging.I love a strong female character.  The idea of two strong people who love their careers dealing with a relationship is appealing.  Sadly, though, there is very little to their relationship in this book except meeting up to have sex.  I understand that Nick is much more romantic and demonstrative, it would just be a better romance if Sam put a little more effort into the relationship (other than deciding what type of sex to have with Nick).To top it off, we have Agent Hill lusting after our uber-alpha heroine just to add to Nick`s stress.  At some point, I felt like asking "why her"?  What about having a female in Nick`s world who shows the same kind of desire for him?  In the six books, readers know that all women love Nick, but we only meet one female from his past.  I think Sam needs a little competition to step up her game.Then there is poor Scotty, the orphan they get custody of, but is destined to spent more time with Shelby than either of them.  For the few days that Nick is away, Sam realizes she has to make Scotty more of a priority.  I am curious about why they repeatedly refer to him as "the boy".  It seems odd.  If they were giddy about having a child and called him "our boy" or "our son" instead of his name it would make more sense.How would you like to be Shelby, hoping to go for coffee with Agent Hill once he has finished dialing down his feelings for Sam?