Love Me to Death

Interesting read. I haven't read any of the previous story and was still able to follow along. Brennan's character sort of reminds me of J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas...in a much softer, muted way. Brennan is no J.D. Robb. Maybe eventually, but not at the moment. ( )

What I Loved: Allison Brennan is guaranteed to give me chills. I go into one of her books expecting it. She didn’t disappoint! I think the best part of the book was that there were two unknowns, so my mind was unable focus on one or the other. While I had an idea of who the big bad guy was, I didn’t actually know who he was. All I had was a profile.

I fell in love with Lucy when she first made her appearance. I’m as proud of who she’s become as I would be a real person. Sean Rogan is just what Lucy needs. He’s smooth and suave, protective but able to let Lucy make her decisions. I really look forward to finding out how they’ll work together.

What I Could Have Lived Without: If you haven’t read a Brennan novel before at least read this first: Almost all of Brennan’s novels contain some form of sexual abuse/sexual assault/rape. It is not gratuitous! These parts of the plot line are necessary for character development. I can read it. Yeah I get that bad crawly feeling and my stomach may drop but to me it’s all part of the ride. If you absolutely cannot read these things or don’t want to, maybe look for a spoilerish review to decide if it’s really worth passing on. Otherwise you may miss a wonderful romantic suspense.

Recommended For: Romantic suspense readers who enjoy a chilling read…with a happy ending of course! :)

Avoid If: You cannot or do not want to read a book that has sexual abuse in it. ( )

Six years ago, Lucy Kincaid was attacked and nearly killed by an online predator. She survived. Her attacker did not. Now Lucy's goal is to join the FBI and fight cyber-crime, but in the meantime, she's volunteering with a victim's rights group, surfing the Web undercover to lure sex offenders into the hands of the law. But when the predators she hunts start turning up as murder victims, the FBI takes a whole new interest in Lucy.With her future and possibly even her freedom suddenly in jeopardy, Lucy discovers she's a pawn in someone's twisted plot to mete out vigilante justice. She joins forces with security expert and daredevil Sean Rogan, and together they track their elusive quarry. (Desc. by Fantastic Fiction)

This is the first book I've read by Allison Brennan and I really enjoyed it. Romantic suspense is one of my favorite genres so I'm happy to have a new author to read. "Love Me to Death" is the first book in the Lucy Kincaid series. Luci and Seth have family members who appear in previous novels by Brennan, but this is their first book together. The novel has good character development, taut pacing and plenty of suspense. Highly recommended for romantic suspense lovers. ( )

With sheer determination, Lucy Kincaid has beaten the odds. A one-time victim, she’s worked tirelessly to rebuild her life, focusing on her goal of joining the ranks of the FBI despite the lingering anxiety ingrained from a brutal attack and kidnapping six years prior. She survived and in a fitting twist of fate, made certain that her attacker didn’t. She’ll do what it takes to never be a victim again and try to help those that unwittingly step into predators' paths.
While waiting for word on her FBI application, Lucy spends her free time volunteering at a victim’s rights group and surfs the web undercover to smoke out re-offenders. But as in any good story, the best laid plans never go smoothly. When Lucy discovers that the criminals she’s entrapping become murder victims themselves, the FBI takes a brand new and very different look at Lucy. Now everything’s in jeopardy, family, her future, maybe even her life.
With her freedom and future now in peril, she joins up with Sean Rogan—daredevil and security expert—and they work to track their slippery prey. Now here’s a guy we’d love to meet. Street smart and facing unfamiliar territory as he discovers that he wants Lucy to be his, he doesn’t see the damage that she feels deep inside and he’ll do anything for her. However, someone is watching them both. A cold-hearted killer has his violent eyes on Lucy. Her only means of escape? Perhaps another fight to the death.
Three circling threads braid this story together: Lucy's past, the vigilante-murderer of parolees and the stalker. With so much evil surrounding her, it’s a sad state of affairs when the good guys begin to appear suspicious.
A fan of Allison’s for many years, you always know what you are getting…a great story with love ‘em or hate ‘em characters and perfectly placed plot twists in every book.

Reviewed by Shannon Raab for Suspense Magazine ( )

Review: I received a review copy of this novel from TLC Book Tours. Many thanks to Lisa for providing me with a copy. I was really excited to receive this book, as I have been wanting to read something by Brennan for quite awhile. I had a really mixed reaction to this novel.Let's start with what I liked.

I enjoyed Brennan's writing style. It was really easy to get into the story because her writing style was very inviting. Brennan is very skilled at creating detailed settings that sprang to life in my mind.

So, what didn't I like? As I said, I've never read anything by Brennan before, and I know the description states that Love Me To Death is the first book in the Lucy Kincaid series, but I got the distinct feeling that I had dropped into the middle of a series, or at least that these characters may have been in other books that I haven't read. I don't know that that is the case, but it definitely had that feel to it and here's why.

There was an abundance of back story regarding Lucy's kidnapping and rape. At the same time, none of her ordeal got any page time in this book, so I felt like I missed something or that this back story may have been a part of a different novel. This was bothersome to me.

Additionally bothersome was the shear volume of characters. There was Lucy, her 3 or 4 bothers, her sister-in-law, an ex-lover, a private investigator team which was made up of several siblings, Lucy's boss, many FBI agents, and about 10 bad guys and victims. Because of the volume of characters, I had trouble keeping who was whom straight and this prevented me from totally engaging with the story.

The plot itself was interesting, but with Lucy's back story and the present plot, I felt a little lost. I felt lost because I felt like I didn't have all the details on Lucy and the current plot seemed very tied to that back story.

Overall, this book ended up just being OK for me. I really did enjoy Brennan's writing and will definitely pick up something else by her. If you are a fan of Brennan's then you will most definitely enjoy this book. If you are new to Brennan, like I was, I wouldn't recommend this book as a starting place. ( )