ISBN #: 978-0373276936
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises/Silhouette Romantic Suspense
Date Released: September 2010
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Book Format: Print/Series Romance
Pages: 224
Retail Price: $4.99

BACK COVER BLURB:

Ethan O’Brien is run over by a beautiful woman as she emerges from a burning building, children in tow. An arsonist is loose in Aurora, and Ethan plans on stopping him. But the beauty is no victim, oh no. She’s the very investigator assigned to work with Ethan on his arson case. And just his luck, standing near her makes him hot all over.

Kansas Beckett is determined to find the arsonist who’s been torching the city. And she sure doesn’t need the likes of Ethan O’Brien getting in the way. Something about the man spells “trouble.” But when he kisses her, her defenses melt, putting her in distinct danger of losing her heart....

FIRST LINES:

He smelled it before he saw it.

His mind elsewhere, Detective Ethan O'Brien's attention was immediatly captured by the distinct, soul-disturbing smell that swept in, riding the evening breeze.


LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:
For those who do not know in my real life I work in a public safety department. That is to say, I work with men and woman who perform dual roles as police officers as well as firefighters. The officers/firefighters love it because frankly as a result of the dual role they are one of the highest paid officers in the state. The city loves it because it's cheaper than having a separate fire department. And it sucks for me personally because whenever we're hiring we have everyone and their brother trying to apply to become a public safety officer in my department. We are one of the largest consolidated public safety departments in the country. With the way the economy is going a lot of smaller communities are considering adopting our dual model. If I had a dollar for every time I talked to other communities who called my office asking me how our department works in its dual role, I'd be rich.

So, of course I love reading books about police officers and fire fighters but sometimes, as in this instance it is hard for me to suspend disbelief. I was unable to suspend disbelief with CAVANAUGH REUNION to the point where I stopped reading before I got even halfway through the novel. And this is why:

• The total lack of professionalism showed between Ethan and Kansas when they find that they have to work together.

o I totally get having pride in your department. And I totally get rivalry and feeling as if someone is on your turf. Every day I work with people who bitch about something another department has done and how they screwed up something. Yet this is something that they talk about among themselves. They don't sit and b99ch and whine about it when they are working with the person on an important project. That is totally unprofessional. As I'm sitting reading this in the back of my mind I'm thinking of all the general orders they are violating and Kansas and Ethan should've been written up for acting like two whiny brats.

• The subtle gender crap Kansas has to deal with because she is a female. That she doesn't know her job or she has to be hard ass to get respect.

o Umm. It is 2010 people. Sorry that I keep relating this to my job but it's the only way I can explain my strong reactions to this book. We are going through a hiring process now for officers/firefighters. We conducted first round interviews several weeks ago. Our interviews are panel interviews with several members of the department on the panel. During one of these interviews we had a gentleman who walked into the room and greeted everyone on the panel with the exception of the lone woman on the panel. One of the other gentlemen on the panel told the candidate. "Umm, you might want to shake her hand, she's important." The woman whose hand he failed to shake was the head was the union. On another panel (yes there were two panels, like I said everyone and their mother applies to my department), one male candidate would not look at the female member on the panel when he was answering questions (that she asked) but would always look at the males. And this was after she identified herself as an Assistant Chief. Umm, do you think any of those candidates moved forward in the process? Candidates also go through extensive background checks before they are hired, to include family, friends, classmates, everyone. If someone had views where they couldn't work with woman or minorities, it would've been found out and it would've been questionable if they were hired. That is not to say that there aren't jerks in the department. There are, but they are freaking sneaky about it. It's not blatant as to where they can get written up for. People know who they are no matter their level and they know how to work around them.

• A grown man considering changing his name.

o I totally didn’t get the reasoning behind this. I would need some deeper psychological reason. Another personal story. When I was born I had my father's name. When my mother applied for my social security card, she used her maiden name even though she hadn't officially changed my name. They let her get away from it. It was a pain in the butt, all through school because I preferred my mother's name instead of my father's. It was especially when I joined the Army. So I get wanting a new identity, but not when you're freaking 30 something years old. Come on! If there was a reason, it wasn't explained to my satisfaction.

• Lack of chemistry between hero/heroine

o I don't know if it's because of these other issues, but I couldn't get into Ethan and Kansas (who is frankly annoying). Their interactions seemed to be set up like playful banter, but the banter didn't work for me because of the stated reasons.

So I didn't finish. It's hard for me to say if it was because of I couldn't suspend disbelief or the lack of chemistry I felt between the characters.


WHERE PURCHASED:
Copy provided by the Publisher for review.

RATING:
F