ARC Review: Dangerous

Dangerous

by Jax, Jacquelyn Frank (Goodreads Author)

Blurb:

A body that won't quit
Clothes that are barely there
Eyes that openly invite him to take what he wants
Devon Candler is nothing like the helpless, vulnerable woman Liam expected when he agreed to provide security for her secluded Catskill Mountain estate. Yet her life is at risk. Her enemies monsters. Her secrets devastating.
Liam Nash is a trained killer who takes no prisoners, fears no man. But to him this woman is seductively, devastatingly. . .
Dangerous.

Review:

Being only the second novel written under the pseudonym Jax, Dangerous was one of those novels that could leave you a bit confused if you weren't easily adaptable to new rendition of the classic genre motifs.  I thoroughly liked the first book by Jax and would have liked a continuation of that series but this book on its own was very Frank,  There was certainly some new and interesting world building and intriguing new characters to get to know. I was in no way disappointed and look forward to whatever new quirky books come down the line from this author.

Set in a strange alternate future, where scientific experiments have gone wrong creating a new race of humans, basically a vampiric race with some very interesting new special skills. Devon is in need of protection from this new terrifyingly strong race of man and she turns to the one man she knows can do the job.  Liam Nash is the only human in the entire world who figured out the Achilles heel of these vampires.  Devon’s trying to make the world a better place and having Liam's protection is the one way she knows to get her plan to work.  But then Liam explodes into her life and she begins to understand that living just for her dreams of making the world a better place has left a whole in her life that only he can fill. 

Liam is blown away when he finally meets Devon Chandler in person. He takes this job expecting a straight-forward protective detail, but he never imagined just how complicated it could possibly get. Her sexuality and intelligence blow his mind and leave him floundering to understand the effect this woman has on him.  He’d always been fully controlled and untouchable to the women he encounters. When things get even more complicated between Devon and Liam, his world is completely turned upside down and he can’t decide if meeting Devon was the beginning of the end or the best thing that ever happened to him.

The heat between Devon and Liam was palpable from the second she enters his life and only becomes more intense as time goes on. When they are together you can feel the emotions behind the passion developing as they find themselves faced repeatedly with the possibility of their deaths. The chance that they could lose each other at any moment forces a more immediate development of their love, but you can see that it will be a deep and lifelong love.  Devon is an intensely sensual character, with deep passions for the man in her life and the goals she has for herself and the world. Liam is a bit of an enigma, deeply passionate but fully controlled.  He is the perfect example of the saying “still waters run deep”.  When Devon brings that passion out and embraces it fully, Liam finds that there is no stopping it or slowing the progression of his feelings.

Though the world building was a bit spotty, lacking a bit of the explanations I’d come to expect from Frank, the descriptions of the new species and how everything came about gave us enough information that we aren't left completely confused. It was certainly a unique take on the vampire myth and one that I am looking forward to learning more about (hopefully). There was also the intriguing point of the developments and changes of the bit cities that are the most popular in the US. Having those cities overrun by the “vampire” populations and leaving the human population to begin life over elsewhere was pretty cool for my country girl mind to witness. There was an amazing amount of action and physical danger as well, as Devon and Liam are repeatedly attacked and come face to face with vampires, killer assassins and the uncovering of scary secrets.

With an intriguing new take on an old myth, intensely sensual characters and the sexiest connection between two people that can be imagined, Dangerous is a wonderful read, with action, drama and the embrace of mortality to keep things from being too simple.  The amazing connection between Devon and Liam is almost too intense to read, but you are unable to put it down for a single second.  The new world you find yourself immersed in is one that could be reality so easily. Jacquelyn Frank is one of my go to author and I have never read one of her novels I didn’t like, but her new voice as Jax is one that I am having mixed feelings about.  I like the characters and the overall storylines, but I am not developing as deep a connection as I would have expected.  I’m going to have to say the jury is out on this new author’s voice.  Book three will be a deciding factor for me for sure.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Rose Rating:  

*eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.