Against the Dark

Angel Ramirez is a safecracker who quit five years ago and has worked hard to build an honest life, even though it meant cutting ties with her best friends who are still stealing. The aunt of one of the women is taken hostage and Angel is the only one with the skills to get the ransom the kidnappers demand---diamonds belong to a criminal boss Walter Borgola. Angel knows that the job is dangerous, but she can't say no to saving a woman who was like a second mother to her, so she agrees to get back in the game for this one score. When things go wrong Angel finds herself at the mercy of Cole Hawkins, one of Borgola's security guards, and in way over her head. Unbeknownst to Angel, Cole is an undercover agent with a hidden agenda and his show more mission may get them both killed.

This book is sexy and fun and the characters have good chemistry. Angel and Cole have attraction at first sight, but both have good reason not to act on it. She has a history of picking terrible men so she's sworn off any involvement with anyone she finds sexy, and Cole's undercover persona is obnoxious and arrogant enough to send up all kinds of red flags. Cole needs to keep his mind on his job if he wants to stay alive, but can't quite manage it when she's with Angel. Their interactions create sparks right from the start and I liked the way her friends give her a hard time about it. It reminded me a little bit of conversations I've had with girlfriends who, like Angel, are disaster magnets when it comes to men. The jewel theft plot had the sparkle of a good heist movie, and the suspense plot also worked for me. Borgola's crimes were quite gruesome, but they weren't described in excessive detail and the focus on the story remained on Angel and Cole. That significantly increased my enjoyment of the story since I've gotten tired of romantic suspense that spend large portions of the book inside the head of the bad guy. I also liked the HEA. It wasn't a surprise, but it was satisfying.

I'm looking forward to reading more books in this series. show less

Against the Dark
3.5 Stars

Angel Ramirez thought she had left her life of crime behind her. But when her friend's aunt is kidnapped for ransom, she agrees to one more job. Unfortunately, the simple heist becomes more complex when Angel is caught by undercover agent, Cole Hawkins, and he blackmails her into helping him stop a vicious killer involved in the production of snuff films.

The suspense plot is rather unrealistic and very predictable. Nevertheless, the romance is intense as Cole and Angel have smokin' hot chemistry and their banter is fun.

Cole is an intriguing mix of Alpha and Beta heroes. On the one hand, he is as nerdy as they come with his logistics fixation and attention to detail, but on the other, he is no slouch in the show more possessive and domineering department either.

Although she does exhibit one or two TSTL moments, Angel's intelligence, resourcefulness and fierce loyalty make her an extremely likable heroine. Moreover, her safecracking skills are atypical for a woman in the romantic suspense genre, which makes her all the more intriguing

The villain is smarmy and his business is depraved beyond belief. That said, his menace is never fully realized and the final confrontation is anti-climactic.

All in all, a solid start to the Associates series and the nature of the agency and it's mysterious leader is compelling enough to continue. show less

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A sexy retired jewel thief and a undercover operative are playing a dangerous game, will they win?

Opening Sentence: “Angel Ramirez sipped her club soda and lime, a stand-in for gin and tonic, and carried on a mindless conversation with her old friend Macy.”

The Review:

Angel Ramirez is out of retirement for one reason, her friends need her because she is the only who can crack a Fenton Furst safe. Posing as prostitutes they are looking for diamonds to help out a friend. While there Angel gets her gun taken away by Cole, a member of the Borgola’s security detail. Surprisingly he doesn’t make her, and they proceed with their plan to steal Borgola’s diamonds. They run into some show more issues, and Angel accidentally leaves some blood behind. Cole it turns out is undercover for the mysterious Association, and turns over a fake blood sample to Borgola and tracks Angel down himself. He plans on forcing her to help him break into the secret safe.

Cole brings Angel into Borgola’s house as his girlfriend, and they find their attraction growing as they get deeper and deeper into their dangerous game. Soon things go south and they find themselves on the run trying to stay one step ahead of Borgola. Will they be able to get away, or will one of them lose their life trying?

This is my first book by this author and I really didn’t know what to expect based on the title alone. So I was pleasantly surprised by the jewel thief and undercover operative premise! The only thing I actually found a little annoying was the author referred to White Jenny as White Jenny every single time she was mentioned. It was kind of like I think we understand after one or two mentions that Jenny is white. That aside, I totally loved Angel, she was smart and clearly more than a little bad ass. I really hated that she wasn’t very self confident and was really lacking in self confidence. I mean I know that is normal for real woman, but I truly appreciate main characters that have a great sense of self no matter what they look like.

Cole was totally swoon-worthy! Also, a self proclaimed nerd, I mean who doesn’t find that hot… Seriously, the sexy times though…whew…. I found myself on the edge of my seat totally rooting for Cole and Angel to kick some major butt. Against the Dark was fast paced and sadly over just too quickly! I wanted more, I don’t know if this is one of those series were each book focuses on different couples’, but I kind of hope we see more of Angel and Cole in the other books!

I am kind of stoked that this book has been out for a few years, because that means the other books are out, at least one or two more and I can binge the rest of the series! So if you are looking for a romance minus the paranormal than this is right up your alley! An engaging fun read that takes you on a fast ride…

Notable Scenes:

“Bad boyfriend radar, they called it.”

“The last straw some five years back had been seeing on of their robbery victims on the news, weeping about the heirloom sapphire set they’d taken and fenced.”

“Cole was more interested in the fact that the thieves had breached a Fenton Furst.”

“For the second time in 24 hours she wished she didn’t have them.”

The voice gave her a quivery kind of creeps.”

“He’d compromised the operation to save somebody on the wrong side of the game.”

“He couldn’t believe it, just the miracle of her, inexplicably, unknowably perfect.”

“For letting him live a life full of meaning.”

FTC Advisory: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform provided me with a copy of Against the Dark. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

This was a fast paced action book with plenty of smexy moments. Agents whose main strengths are their brains but yet still have plenty of brawn make up The Associates. Cole Hawkins has been working undercover to gather information on a shipment of children being shipped over internationally to be used and killed. While on assignment he meets a woman who turns out to be a safecracker whose specialty in safes happens to be the one he needs into to get the name and location of the ship. This was defiantly a different take on the typical bad ass alpha males you typically read in these type of books. Cole’s nerdyness was cute while still having plenty of alpha ways.

4.5 stars!
Angel and Cole are a delicious couple. Which is the good guy and who is the bad one, sometimes it's hard to tell but give them a common enemy and they work very well together defeating the villain and saving the day! Throw in some Romance too; this was a very entertaining book!

4 ½ stars

Against the Dark has a good and balanced dose of humor, suspense and romance. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, so much that I think it's a new favorite book by Carolyn Crane.
I can't wait to read Lethal Liaisons.

Very well done romantic suspense. Good story, lot's of action, believable romance. I had trouble putting this book down.
Rating: 9/10