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The great thing about Linda Howard is how her characters are always new, always different. (When I read Nora Roberts, for instance, I actually get confused sometimes because she has only two heroines: the sweet, smart, slightly clueless woman and the saucy, slightly brittle exerpienced woman. I still like her books, though! And don't get me started on Jayne Anne Krentz, whose books I also enjoy but please, can she stop writing about Seattle business tycoons and their bookish love interests!)

But I digress. Lily and Swain are two more originals and I enjoyed them both--particularly Swain, whose lightheartedness was particularly engaging. Appreciated, too, because when reading any kind of romance, I get tired of the bitter, angy hero, as in "After the Night" who abuses the woman emotionally until he decides he loves her. (Don't hate me, Howard fans: I actually did like After the Night.)

Swain was laugh-out-loud funny, and Lily has her share of one-liners as well. Given the subject matter, it's amazing that Howard could bring forth chuckles from the reader. I did not find the humor incongruous--If I happened to be in their line of work, I would appreciate a good laugh. The humor, far from being gratuitous, is really a survival tactic.

And thank you, Linda Howard for gracefully walking that thin line between "action-packed" and "too much skulking and spying, where's the romance?" Some readers have questioned the ending, but I think Howard made the right choices there as well. I don't want to give anything away, but there is a scene that actually brought tears to my eyes when Lily realized (or did she?) what her end would be. Definitely worth the price of a hardback!

This book had the intrigue, but I expected more intrigue, drama, suspense and emotion considering the plot involving CIA agents. The characters personalities just seemed out of place with the plot and lacked the depth that I expected from Ms Howard. Also, I didn't feel the chemistry or build-up between Swain and Lily before they became lovers and "fell in love." However, Ms Howard can switch from character to character on a dime in her books. Ms Howard's characters are never perfect, which allows her readers to relate and Ms Howard's characters are never run together as other authors tend to do. The ending was a nice surprise, if a little rushed. I would still recommend this book, but don't expect it to be as good as Cry No More, which tugged at my heart and made me cry...

This book put me in mind of ALL THE QUEEN'S MEN with the CIA angle and the mentions of John Medina. That book wasn't one of my favorite Linda Howard's and neither is this one. I enjoyed reading it but it's just not one that will be a book I will read and re-read over & over.