Crazy Kisses

"Getting shot was one thing, but actually dying on the job went against every order they’d been given."

I really love this insane series about reformed teenaged car thieves, turned secret government military agents, who masquerade as chop shop men in Denver. The writing is excellent, the humour fantastic, and the storylines and characters completely over the top. That said, this book had some weak moments, and the overall feel was too ‘youthful’ for me for adult fiction.

Following on from previous books, Kid has been off in South America, getting revenge for the torture and execution of his brother. He's been gone for seven months, leaving Nikki - the woman he loves - behind. The moment Nikki is connected to him she is in danger. show more
There is less action in this one than some of the others, with the focus shifting to Nikki’s art exhibition in Denver, and to the gang of kids who are having problems of their own.

Tara Janzen writes secondary stories that have a tendency to take over the plot, and in Kid and Nikki’s long-awaited book, Nikki’s friend and art model Travis and reformed street kid Jane appeared to have more page time than them. It was a bit of a disappointment, seeing as we’ve been following Kid and Nikki’s troubled relationship right from the first book.

However the main problem was that this edition was just too ‘young’. The other books have been so appealing because the heroes are experienced men – Air Force or Special Forces heroes or reformed criminals or something. They’re real men with a wealth of experience behind them, and the women were women with experiences of their own.
Crazy Wild takes place only a few months after book one, Crazy Hot. And in Crazy Hot, Kid was twenty-three and Nikki was years younger. Then in Crazy Wild, we also have twenty-three year old Travis, twenty year old Jane and twenty year old Skeeter. On top of that, at the beginning of the book Kid works with a guy who looks like he's nineteen. Plus the main focus of the story is on a gang of one hundred street kids. The whole book was ‘young’ enough I almost felt like I was reading young adult fiction!

The last few chapters redeemed the book in a major way, reminding me I’m such a Tara Janzen fangirl. The action, the bringing together of all the tangents, and ultimately the resolution of Kid and Nikki’s relationship was wonderful. The story was nicely wrapped-up, but there is also huge potential for future books with the secondary characters who keep on evolving as the series goes on.

Even considering the problems I had, this was a very good, entertaining book. There are some writers whose style appeals to me so much I’d read anything they wrote. Tara Janzen is one of those writers. All of her characters are interesting to read about, and her men – even these younger men – are everything you could want in a romantic suspense hero. She has a quirky sense of humour and always makes me smile, and her books are just over the top enough to be fun without being silly.

If you’re going to read this series, start at the beginning. The first few can hold up on their own, but by book four the plot is so intricate you’re going to have trouble figuring it all out. show less

Alright so right away I feel myself grinning as Kid comes into the picture, he is such a great character. I can only be described as Uber excited to read this book Oooh, I dare anyone not to be moved when Janzen writes that he has two gold rings on a silver necklace around his neck. (They belong to Nikki's parents and if you read the previous stories you will understand the significance of this)
When Nikki and Kid meet up again there is instant chemistry between them and they jump right into bed or maybe you would say jump right against the wall.
When goons are chasing my favorite couple I like how Kid remembers that Nikki needs to talk when she gets nervous or stressed and lets her ramble on as he focuses on what needs to be done.
Janzen show more does a nice job of showing how Kid seems to be a little insecure or uncomfortable with Nikki knowing what he does. When Nikki says her fiancé could never had killed those men, he thinks then he would have been dead and you too. Kid knows what he is, but seems unable to reveal any part of the black ops sniper side to Nikki.
Oh god, I love how Kid keeps on focusing on her calling him a savage, that is how Nikki describes the "mode" he went into when he killed the three men sent to his house to kill him. Once again every problem this couple seems to have goes back to Kid not being able to connect being a soldier and being Nikki's boyfriend. Kid doesn't know how to keep Nikki but can't let her go.
Sigh, Janzen has a real problem with focusing to much on the secondary story. In this case it was Travis and Jane who seemed to be butting into what I really wanted to be reading about, Kid and Nikki.
This story wrapped up way to easily and cleanly, what about Nikki's hang ups about not knowing anything about Kid's job or him not being able to discuss anything with her? Janzen flaked out on this couple, she could have made this story incredible. Janzen had built them up to epic proportions in previous books only to fail on them in what was suppose to be their story. She focused on setting up a sequel for the character Travis (Nikki's angel model) too much. I know authors want to make money and entice the reader to buy the sequels but she didn't do Kid and Nikki justice because of this. Even so adding up all of the story written about these two, taking into consideration previous books, Kid and Nikki are definitely one powerful couple whom I completely connected with and are my favorite from the series so far. Kid Chaos and Nikki will stick with me for a long time, even if I have to expand their story in my own mind to be satisfied.

B- show less

This was the 4th book in the Steele Street series and it was another fun read. It is Kid Chronopolous and Nikki McKinney's story who we met in the first book (Crazy Hot). Kid and Nikki have a steamy past. In CH Kid walks out on Nikki after some pretty steamy sex (she was a virgin). CK takes place months later when Nikki tracks Kid down in Panama. Their meeting is sizzling hot! And of course danger follows. Janzen again gives us an exciting ride and I thoroughly enjoyed it. All of these books have been consistently entertaining reads and the steamy sex is a plus for me. (Grade: B)

Meh. I liked these two the firsts time they got together (the first book). Unfortunately, Kid's brother was murdered and Kid goes on a vengeance mission from hell to get the guys who did it. In the meantime, he leaves behind "the woman of his dreams," then feels he can't go back because he's no longer the man she fell for. Ugh. I hate mopey guys...

I don't care for this style of writing where most of the story is told through the characters thoughts. After about fifty pages I started skimming all but dialogue and found I was skipping chapters so I gave up and didn't finish. Secret agent Kid is badly wounded and when he returns to a friends house to recover he finds the love of his life Nikki.

Kid Chronopolus, special ops, has spent the past 7 months on a mission to seek and destroy members of the Conseco Drug Cartel in Colombia. On his return to his home in Panama City he finds his girlfriend has come to see him from Denver, and the Conseco's have come to kill him. He has to get Nikki home to Denver and figure out his next steps in his war on Juan Conseco.

Action, action, action. Romance, sex, romance. Fast read.

It's fun and it is set in Denver. What more could you ask for? If you love Maya Banks' and Cindy Gerard's books, you will want to give these a read.