Review: A Touch of Minx by Suzanne Enoch

Finally, I get to write some reviews :) Let me start with this one:


A Touch of Minx by Suzanne Enoch
published by Avon Romance in October 2007

Samantha Jellicoe and Rick Addison have been together for a year and Rick is ready to propose to Sam, but fears she's not ready to commit and run off instead of saying yes. Meanwhile, Sam - who is bored of installing security cameras and systems - is looking for a several hundred years old samurai armor. See, this is a museum-lost-item retrieval job and if she gets it done, she'll get many more jobs which will give her the thrill and adrenalin that have been missing ever since she stopped her career as cat burglar.

Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Sam and Rick, Book #4

Why I got this book: Because I read the first 3 books and I like cat burglar storyline. In addition, Casee's review at Book Binge made it sound better.

My first impressions? Many have in the past compared this series with the In Death series. Samantha and Rick are like Eve and Roarke in reverse... Rick and Roarke are both incredibly handsome, rich and speak with an accent. The difference is that Samantha is the one who has a criminal past instead. Anyway, I have to say that between this series and the In Death one, the In Death is better. See, the problem with this book was that Sam and Rick are still at the starting line... basically, I thought this book was boring.

The Characters: For those who haven't read the series so far, basically Sam was a cat burglar on the verge of retiring. She met Rick during one of her adventure, fell in love and completely retired... However, she misses the adrenalin and thrill of her previous job and this worries Rick. Also, many situations in the previous books had made it impossible for Sam to completely severe the ties with her past, to Rick's chagrin. Anyway, both are still working out their relationship. My problem is I don't really see a difference between the Sam from this book to book 1 and ditto with Rick. Sure, all their compromises are talked about, but seriously, when you really look at it, it feels empty. Deep down, Sam still wants to B&E, even if it's not to steal, just for thrill... and Rick gets angry as soon as she threatens to leave... and dang, he's never happy with whatever she decided to do. On the outside, they both look good and attractive, but on the inside, they're empty... and their chemistry is not great... it especially pales in comparison to Eve and Roarke. I know I shouldn't compare both series, since they're quite different, but it's quite hard not to... and I think most ppl would agree with me.

The Story: This book was busy... On one hand, you have Rick who wants to propose, but is afraid of how Sam will react. On the other, you have Sam trying to investigate the whereabouts of the samurai armor... and also, an anatomical man - requests from Rick's niece. I thought there were a lot blabla that could have been cut short. It just made the book seems so long. Overall, the plot wasn't bad... but it's the way it was written, made it sound long... and made it tedious to read.

One of the thing that annoyed me was Sam and Stoney, her fence, relationship. Stoney is like a surrogate father to Sam and when she retired, he retired too... the problem is that he doesn't enjoy his life, he doesn't like to work in the security business. Sam doesn't seem to care and I find she takes him for granted. Also, Rick doesn't like Stoney and can't stop making disapproving sounds. I find both Rick and Sam a bit too selfish. I mean, Stoney did give up his lifestyle in order to stay with Sam... at least, Rick and Sam could be more understanding.

Grade: C

I'm not sure about this series anymore. I haven't enjoyed the last couple of books, so I'm considering stopping it. Even if in the end, Sam agreed to marry Rick, I feel like their relationship is still going nowhere. I also have difficulties to read Suzanne Enoch's books... I don't know if it's her style or the font, but most book, I found it long to read and end up skipping a couple of pages, not even skimming... just skip.

Oh, and the cover, not very nice in my opinion. The pair of hands? Also, why the bracelet?

Howdy?

Hey everyone :D

Wassup? My day didn't start really well: 1) the weather is crap, 2) my sis stayed in my room till 4.30am this morning to work on her project, so I didn't get good sleep, 3) she needed my helped this morning with her poster, so I ended up late and jammed in traffic, 4) I wanted to be smart and skip work so I could stay home and work on my project - yeah, presentation is at the end of the month, and since I didn't have that much work, I thought, well why not? Why not? Because my father took the day off to go to a doctor appointment and he's like: no way, you can't stay home because you don't have much work at work... only if you're sick... (he was pretty angry, cos he thinks I'm lazy - I didn't tell him about the presentation, cos he'd be even more on my back... Then, 5 minutes later, he came back to me and he was like: Did you get lay off? Answer: Of course no!) 5) Spent an hour in traffic, came to work and guess what... yep, I don't have any compounds to screen... even worse, I have less. Urgh.

by the way, love my dad :D He's the sweetest guy on Earth, but sometimes, he worries too much :P and even sweet guy can hit a nerve sometimes.

so that's my life ^^; and it seems that I'm slowly catching the reading slump (pls someone, save me!)...

anyway, here are what I've been reading for the past 3 days...

Hot Toy by Jennifer Crusie: 3.25/5

So I thought that I was catching the reading slump-syndrome and to avoid it, I bought this anthology, thinking that a Jennifer Crusie is what I needed.

On Christmas Eve, Trudy Maxwell is stucked in a toy store looking for an action figure, sorreh, can't remember the name, that is able to spit toxic waste :) Unfortunately, the action figure has been sold out since Thanksgiving, but Trudy is not giving up. She absolutely needs to find one for her nephew, Leroy, because his bastard father has not kept his promise and Trudy and Leroy's mother, Courtney, don't want Leroy to be disappointed. So she starts looking in other aisle for the action figure. Unlucky for her, Nolan Mitchell shows up... Nolan is a chinese literature professor and has stood up Trudy a few months ago. Still angry at him, Trudy tries to ignore him and lucky her, she finds the action figure that she was looking for, only the previous generation... But what's weird is that suddenly, everyone is after her action figure...

Okay, so this is a novella and it's short. I knew that, but still I find it disappointing, cos well, it was too short. By the way, did Trudy Maxwell ever showed up in Crusie's previous books? The name doesn't ring a well, so I wonder, but it seems like I was supposed to know her. Anyway, I like Trudy and Nolan :D The only thing is that well, the story is a bit far-fetched... but I guess that's okay :) It wasn't hilarious, but still pretty fun (as in, I did laugh out a couple of times)... Anyway, I'm still waiting for a full Jennifer Crusie book (and her only, no co-writing)... It's been 2 years since Bet Me.

Winterset by Candace Camp: 2.75/5

Reed Moreland had a dream where Anna Holcomb seemed to be in danger. Although it's only a dream and even if Anna has turned him down, Reed sets out for his Winterset estate to make sure that the love of his life is all right. Ever since turning down Reed's proposal, Anna knew that she'd never be happy, but she could at least be content with her life. However, Reed's return is making it difficult to be content... At the same time, the Beast, who've been responsible for murders decades ago is back.

I thought the book was long. The beginning was quite entertaining, but near the middle, it started to seriously drag. Anna, if you cannot marry, then stay away from Reed. I know, if they stayed away from each other, there wouldn't be a story... but after the third eps. of Anna and Reed kissing or starting to get intimate and then, Anna stepping back and saying that she can't and running away, I was seriously bored. Anna and Reed were all right characters... I guess that I would consider Reed as a beta male... as for the reason why Anna couldn't marry Reed, I thought she should have told him, not just drive him away. Anyway, characters were all right, story was okay, but a bit draggy.

Billionaires Prefer Blondes by Suzanne Enoch: 4/5

The best book I've read since the week-end... This is part of a series, after Flirting with Danger and Don't Look Down. Although the last book bored me, I still decide to give the series another go and I think this one is the best so far.

Samantha Jellicoe is an ex-cat burgler... Yep, she's retired after hooking up with British billionaire Rick Addison. Now, she owns a security company... but troubles still follow her. It starts with the reapparence of her father, who supposedly died 3 years ago, followed by the robbery of Rick's latest art acquisitions... then, Sam is in more trouble than she'd wished for. Stuck between Martin, her father, and Rick, her lover, Sam is in an impasse... but she has to make a choice.

Lots of ppl have compared this series with the In Death series by J.D. Robb where basically, Sam is the equivalent of Roarke (seedy past) with Rick/Eve as the moral compasse. Although I don't think that this seires come close to the In Death, it is still rather enjoyable. I like Sam's character... she's bold, sassy and sexy and she knows her stuff when it comes to burglary. Rick is well, the richissism guy that's found his soulmate, you know, he's a bit cliched, but what can you do? Those are the ones readers swoon for. I guess what this series lack is good secondary characters. Anyway, I think that the three books happening on a timeline of 5 months is also a bit exaggerated... It would have been better if the story would've been spaced out a bit. The storyline was quite good, the action continued... the story flowed well and the pace was good. The characters were in-characters and still entertaining. So no major complaints except for the fac that the characters kept thinking: it's been 5 months we've been together and I'm still in lust and combust automatically. Hello, so what if it's been 5 months? 5 months is nothing... Of course, if you've changed months for years, than yeah, I would have understood why the characters were surprised... but again, 5 months, *insert roll eyes* that's nothing. So why keep repeating it? Also, I've always been a sucker for father-daughter happy reunion, but this one wasn't, so I was kind of bumped out. But definitively worth reading if you enjoy the previous 2 books.