Last month I won an ARC of this book, which I’d been looking forward to for some time because I’m a fan of the SG-5 series. I gotta say I wasn’t disappointed.

What I like about Alison Kent’s writing is that you’re never sure just what she’s going to throw your way. She takes romance into some bold territory, thank god.

This is a book that keeps moving from page one until the end. Not a whole lot of romantic suspense novels are set in a third world country ruled by an evil dictator but this one is and it works.

Perhaps it’s the nature of a series that focuses on men instead of women, but I did find myself identifying with Jack more for most of the book. There were places – generally toward the last 20% of the book, where I did begin to see Jillian’s character more clearly and found myself liking her more.

I absolutely loved how much she dug sex. Can I say how sick I am of heroines who hate sex? Jillian’s not a slut or a skank but she likes pleasure and she has no shame taking or giving it. It makes the sex scenes in this book very raw and sharp. Oh and hot.

The ending made sense, it wasn’t one where I felt the author turned herself into a pretzel to achieve, the characters act the way they’re supposed to. The suspense is suspenseful and the romance isn’t safe or fast or even easy. The Perfect Stranger takes some risks but in the end, they work.

I also read High Stakes by Erin McCarthy and I enjoyed it. McCarthy is one of those authors I discovered via novella and I’ve loved her ever since. I think she does snappy, funny dialog well and her sex is usually hot too. There were moments where I thought it tested credulity but overall, I was entertained. Bit the Jackpot – not so much.

I’ve got a very big TBR pile so next week’s entry should be long! Have a great weekend and don’t forget to enter the contest to win an advance copy of The Perfect Stranger. I’m drawing a winner tomorrow!