Merline Lovelace

I loved this book just as much as I did the first one in the series. We met Dawn, Brian and Tommy in the first book "I Do" ... Take Two!. Dawn was in Italy with her two best friends, Kate and Callie, on a long awaited trip. Kate unexpectedly reunited and reconciled with her husband Travis, leaving Callie and Dawn to continue by themselves (though with the help of some new friends). Brian was there on business that involved Travis and others. He had also brought his young son along, but ran show more into problems when his nanny fell and broke her leg. Dawn and Callie stepped in to help, and by the time the trip was over, Dawn had bonded strongly with Tommy. She'd also developed quite an attraction to Brian. He's attracted also, but she's nothing like his late wife, and he's not so sure he approves of her. But he's desperate for help, and asks Dawn if she'd fill in as Tommy's nanny until he can hire a new one.

The sparks fly between them right from the beginning. Dawn is cautious about any kind of relationship, as she's been engaged twice and both have ended in disasters. She adores young Tommy and though Brian seems a bit uptight when she first meets him, it's obvious that he loves his son. As she settles into her nanny job, she and Brian connect over Tommy's care and discover they have more in common than they thought. At the beginning, Brian isn't so sure that Dawn is a good influence on Tommy, but he can't deny that she's good with him. It's his own reaction that has him spooked and he's determined to find a replacement as fast as he can. I enjoyed his interview attempts, and his realization of what he really wants. Still emotionally cautious because of the death of his wife, he considers offering Dawn marriage as a way to keep her in their lives. His proposal was pretty funny in its awkwardness, as he managed to mess it up several times. Fortunately, Dawn has a sense of humor about it, and they agree on marriage. No word of love has been spoken, but their attraction has been given a green light.

With Dawn bailing on her first two weddings, Brian is understandably a bit nervous. Dawn also has the occasional twinge of nerves. Through it all their feelings continue to grow. I loved the openness of the discussion between Brian and Dawn about his first wife. Dawn's sensitive and accepting attitude toward her was really sweet and went a long way toward Brian realizing that he loves Dawn. I loved the differences in Dawn's feelings toward this wedding and confidence that it is right. As it comes down to the wire, thanks to issues with her parents, Dawn gets really stressed. The wedding day arrives and suddenly the bride is missing. I loved Brian's confidence in their love and how it stood strong. There were some really fun spots as Brian and the others tried to find out what happened to her. I loved Brian and Dawn's reunion and how he handled her fears. The ending was great, especially the scene at the fountain.

I loved Brian's son Tommy. He was quite a handful at times, but really a good kid. There were some pretty funny things that came out of his mouth. I especially loved his comments about marriage.

I liked seeing more of Kate and Travis and how their reconciliation is progressing. I also enjoyed how the support that the three women give each other continues. Kate and Callie are there for Dawn as she works through her feelings for Brian. Kate and Dawn are also there for Callie as they discover just what has had their friend on edge for the past several weeks. Their new friend Joe, also from the first book, plays a part in that. I'm looking forward to Callie's book, as I expect that Joe has plans for her. I also loved seeing Carlo again. His playboy ways are still there and it was fun to see him try to use them on Dawn and Callie. I also enjoyed seeing him use them on Dawn's mother.

I liked the Washington DC area setting for this book. As it is home for me, I recognized a lot of the places mentioned. This made the whole story feel even more realistic for me, as I pictured the characters in those familiar places. show less

Good entry in the Code Name: Danger series. Rafe is on the trail of an international thief with some stolen information when he encounters Dr. Nina Grant. Nina is on a forced vacation after her staff threatened to mutiny if she didn't take some time off. She meets Sebastian Cordell when her car breaks down, and Rafe is quick to use that chance meeting for his own purposes.

The book starts with a tension filled scene and the intensity never really lets up throughout the entire book. We are show more dropped right in the middle of the op, as Rafe and company are watching Cordell. He is suspicious of Nina's arrival on the scene even after it appears to check out as innocent. Thanks to who she is and what she does, he feels that she would be the perfect accomplice to help him get closer to Cordell.

I liked the initial meeting between Rafe and Nina. There are sparks between them from the beginning, and Nina briefly contemplates the idea of a vacation fling. That is until Rafe blackmails her into helping him with his mission. Though it makes her angry, it doesn't do much to reduce the attraction. Once she hears the reasons that Rafe needs her help, she is all-in for doing whatever she can, including having Rafe pose as her former fiancé.

I enjoyed the development of their relationship. Rafe is a loner who has avoided ties and entanglements throughout his career. He is attracted to Nina more than any other woman he's known. He knows he should keep it professional, but his body and heart have other ideas. When the need arises to make their relationship look even more genuine, he has no trouble doing so. He is surprised by the depth of the protectiveness he feels for her, and the way his mind and heart tell him he wants to keep her in his life. Nina is drawn to the strong and sexy Rafe, but wary also. She recently ended her engagement when she discovered her fiancé stealing proprietary information from her computer. She's not sure how much to trust Rafe or her growing feelings for him. But the intensity of their situation and the danger they are in makes them realize just what they have. It was pretty sweet to see the tough guy have a little trouble expressing his feelings at the end, but he did manage quite nicely.

The suspense of the story was good. Rafe needed to find Cordell and stop him before he could sell the information to the highest bidder. Cordell is smart and slippery which is why he hasn't yet been caught. His interest in Nina was because of her business and what he could do with it. Rafe's determination to succeed caused him to go a little overboard in his methods of recruiting Nina, but she eventually understood why he did it. I was impressed with the way that Nina handled herself throughout the whole thing. Though she started out unwillingly, by the end, she was quite coolheaded. The danger to Nina increased as the sale time grew closer. The final confrontation was very intense. I loved that it was Nina who figured out where the disc was and saved the day. show less

I loved this book. Kate and her husband have planned their ideal Italian getaway for years. But between her career and his, and their frequent separations, it never happened. And all those separations have seen them grow apart. So Kate has filed for divorce and come to Italy with her two best friends. She never expected Travis to show up, determined to win her back.

I loved the honest look at what frequent deployments can do to a military marriage. Kate and Travis loved each other, there was show more no doubt about that. But with so much time apart, they felt that they didn't know each other. There was also a bit of trouble instigated by someone else that drove Kate's decision to end their marriage.

I really liked both Kate and Travis. They are each strong, intelligent and determined. When Travis shows up, wanting them to take this chance to see if their marriage can be saved, Kate isn't sure she wants to risk her heart being broken all over again. But she can't deny that she still loves him. I loved Travis's determination. He isn't going to let them go down without fighting for their marriage.

It was really sweet to see the effort that Travis put into making their time together as perfect as he could. With the help of his two friends, he was able to provide some really romantic settings for his courtship. I also liked the way that he owned up to the mistakes he had made in the past and that he needed to make some changes. I also loved the pride he had in her achievements. Kate is a bit of a control freak, but I loved seeing her let go enough to give Travis the chance that he asked for. She has always been very proud of what he does, but the stress of their separations and of not knowing whether he's safe has become too much.

The passion is still there between them and that gives them a starting point. I loved seeing them getting to know each other again and share the beauty around them. It was great to see how they were able to talk honestly to each other about what had been happening. I wasn't terribly surprised about Travis's solution to their issues. The biggest hurdle was Kate facing her guilty feelings over her part in that decision. A bit of danger at the end cemented their feelings for each other.

I loved the big parts that Kate's and Travis's friends played in the book. Kate and her friends, Dawn and Callie, had known each other for many years. They have always been there to support Kate when she needed it. I loved their reactions to Travis's arrival and plans, and how they made no secret of their feelings. It was pretty sweet to see how Travis respected those feelings and had done his best to make their time in Italy good even though he was taking Kate away from them. Travis's friends were of shorter acquaintance, but just as important to him. I loved hearing about why Carlo feels so indebted to Travis. Carlo is quite the Italian playboy and it was fun to see him around Dawn and Callie. Brian also has a big part in Travis's life, and we hear all about his plans. I also loved the way that Brian is such a great dad to his son Tommy. Tommy was a great addition to the book and I loved his mischievous ways. I'm expecting to see all these folks in the rest of the series. I think I've got one couple figured out (Brian and Dawn) but I'm not so sure whether it will be Callie and Carlo or Callie and Joe.

I also loved the Italian setting. The descriptions of the sights were so good that I could picture them, As it was a place that Kate and Travis had wanted to visit for so long, I loved seeing it through their eyes and seeing the effect it had on them and their love. show less

Good, fast-paced, and action-filled story. Liz's assignment: find and stop the man they suspect of selling secrets to the enemy. But not everything is what it seems to be. I loved her ruse to get close to him, and the surprise effect it had on her. However, the confrontation doesn't go as planned, and she discovers her suspect is the victim and equally determined to find the traitor.

Dave is the creator of the endangered technology and is furious about the threat. He and Liz team up by show more pretending to be a couple, using it to conceal their actions. Neither expected the sparks that flared between them. Each has been burned by failed relationships, so they are wary of moving too fast. As the book only covers a couple of days, I like that they acknowledge something is there and that they want to pursue it. They just need to survive to do so.

The suspense was good. It kept me turning the pages to see how it would end. I'll admit to figuring out the culprit pretty quickly, though I wasn't sure how the theft would take place. The ending was intense and had me on the edge of my seat until it was over.

I loved the conclusion, and the last page made me laugh out loud. show less