Review: Absolutely Wonderful  Book!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 5, 2011
My Review:Okay, it is no secret that I loved the first book in this series, Man Law. In fact, I was a little worried when I picked up this book to read it, that my expectations would be too high and I would hate it. This so should not have been a worry with this book. OMG, it was so freaking good.In fact, as I was reading it, I kept having to put the book down and reflect on Adrienne's amazing skill as a writer. There are some really heavy emotional undertones to this story: hero, Peter, is on the verge of having a breakdown after two of his friends die on missions; heroine, Isabelle is dealing with scars from childhood sexual abuse. Both horrendous, horrible issues, but the book remained fun and funny ALL the way through even when they were dealing directly with these issues. And honestly, I still don't see how Adrienne did it, because she is dealing with these issues head on throughout the entire story...not making light of them, but the book never got sad and loaded down by that emotional upheaval. Like I said....just amazing writing in this book!!!Okay, back to the review. I am getting sidetracked. Peter/Monk...OMG, I love this guy, esp. as he keeps attacking his mother's potted tree. This is a guy who grew up in Jersey with TONS of money and in the society that involves. He NEVER fit in there, so he quit Yale and enlisted in the Navy at 19, much to his mother's horror. You would never guess that he grew up in society...he lives in cargo shorts and combat boots and usually has a do-rag on his head. He is home because Vic (hero from book #1, Man Law) has put him on a forced vacation to get his head back on straight after the death of two of his friends. Peter is on the verge of cracking and needs some downtime.Isabelle is a lawyer and a friend of Vic's. Her cousin is home and because of a sketchy past with him, she is feeling nervous so she calls Vic to help get her an alarm system installed in her house. He sends Peter to help her out since Peter is in the area. Isabelle is a tough, self-assured, independent lawyer. She had a wretched childhood, but has let that mold her into a seriously strong woman...both physically and mentally. She can kick ass in her own right and is religious about keeping herself prepped for anything. Because of her abuse, she has learned that sex is purely a physical act, and as a gorgeous woman and a lawyer, has learned to use that to her advantage. This is not a person who can be intimidated in any shape or form, unless maybe you want to form an emotional attachment, like Peter eventually does. That is a danger area for her and scares her to death.There is a LOT going on in this book. On top of everything else, there is a fantastic suspense story line. I had a pretty good idea where it was going, but it was still really good and I loved the addition of Billy (one of Monk's fellow operatives) when he joined the story. I cannot wait for his book. You get to see a bit of Vic again with his irreverent sense of humor...so funny! A surprising character that I really enjoyed was Peter's mom. She has some amazingly funny lines in this book.I feel like this review has been all over the place, but honestly, this is just one of those books that I truly loved. Adrienne writes AMAZING alpha heroes. But what I really love about them is that they are not bigger-than-life kind of guys. Yes, there is no doubt that they are alphas, but they are so real. They have a guy-next-door kind of feel to them that I love with their irreverent quips and jabs. Just really fun guys and I am so anxious to read the next installment in this series.