Review: Face of Danger by Roxanne St. Claire

Review: Face of Danger by Roxanne St. Claire
Face of Danger
Book Info

Released: May 1, 2011
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: The Guardian Angelinos #3
Pages: 419
 

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“While I did enjoy the writing and the romance a lot, there were just some parts that didn’t play out so well for me in this book. I’m still going to try the others in the series and see how I get along with those.” ~ Under the Covers

I’ve had this book sitting on my bookshelf for years it seems and for whatever reason, I didn’t read it until now. While I hoped to try and read the books in order, I just decided that I would try this one first and see how I liked St. Claire’s suspense style. Before this, I only read her Barefoot Bay series so I was curious to see how she started out.

FACE OF DANGER works as a standalone although I think it would’ve been nice to get to know the rest of Vivi’s family since the whole series is about a family-run security firm. Private investigator Vivi Angelino jumps straight into the action when a suspected serial killer is on the loose. The killer has been targeting Hollywood high-profile celebrities and Vivi has reason to believe that another world-class celeb is next on the killer’s list.

To stop this from happening, she proposes to be the star’s body double. Since agreeing to the idea, the star’s only condition is that no one else can know or it will ruin her reputation. So despite being surrounded by people who can help in in times of trouble, Vivi must keep her mouth shut in order to fulfill this mission. The only thing is, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colton Lang can spot Vivi from a mile away and he won’t stand for me being in harm’s way if he can help it.

Let’s start off with that I liked about this book. The whole premise is quite unique and I loved the idea of family run security firm. Anything with family like that just reels me in. I started the book with liking Vivi immediately. She and Lang have a very fun relationship. Though Lang is supposedly the more straight-laced kind of guy, I didn’t get that impression throughout the entire book. He likes to tease Vivi when he can and I think that’s far more interesting than a guy who broods too much. So hands down, the best part of this book was the romance.

Unfortunately for me, the problems that I did have with this book has mostly to do with the suspense aspect. I told a friend of mine that I would have loved this book more if it didn’t have the suspense plot but that defeats the whole purpose of this book, doesn’t it? I just didn’t like how unbelievable some of the events were in this book.

First of all, the celebrity who Vivi becomes a body double for takes her on pretty quickly for it to be believable. I also wished that she was a little more nicer. It would’ve made the mission more meaningful if she was made more into a victim. It would also paint Vivi in a more sympathetic light I think because we could relate to her more rather than think she’s doing something reckless. Readers could maybe understand why she was putting her own life in danger for someone.

Also, while some of the sexual tension is well done, I just didn’t really like how some of it played out. Take this for example… When Lang recognizes her, Vivi tries to save her cover by BLOWING HIM on a plane. Out of context, it seems a little ridiculous but in the book, it felt a little forced too.

While I did enjoy the writing and the romance a lot, there were just some parts that didn’t play out so well for me in this book. I’m still going to try the others in the series and see how I get along with those.

 

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About Roxanne St. Claire

I don’t know about you, but when I check out an author's bio, it’s usually because I’ve read a book I liked and wondered about the person behind it. Let's skip the formal bio and I'll give you the inside scoop on who Roxanne St. Claire really is.

First of all, call me Rocki. Everyone does. Evidently, when my mother brought me home from the hospital I seemed too scrawny and small to pull off “Roxanne” (she’d read Cyrano de Bergerac while pregnant or I would have been Judy) so they called me Rocki.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, the youngest of five (overachievers, every one), and fell in love with words and stories the summer I read Gone With The Wind. That year, for my twelfth birthday, my parents gave me a typewriter (with italic font – it was the coolest thing) and from that day on, I’ve had my fingers on a keyboard, pounding out love stories for fun. My AP English teacher taught me the two most important lessons an aspiring author ever needs: 1) verbs are the key to life and 2) a writer should get a real job. After attending UCLA and graduating with a degree in communications, I tried acting and television broadcasting. Oh, they aren’t real jobs? I learned that the hard way. I changed my last name from Zink to St. Claire because a news producer told me Roxanne Zink had too many harsh consonants for a TV personality – apparently Katie Couric didn’t get the memo. I got some fun gigs, and even met Tom Hanks when I did a guest appearance on Bosom Buddies. I liked on camera work, but wasn’t too crazy about starvation, so I moved to Boston and got that “real” job. In fact, I placed my foot on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder and didn’t look down until I’d climbed all the way up to the level of Senior Vice President at the world’s largest public relations firm. On the way up, I met the man of my dreams in an elevator. Two years later – in the same elevator! – he asked me to marry him and I wisely said yes.

I stayed in PR, moved to Miami, had a few babies, lost my home in a hurricane, built another one a few hours north and all along, I kept writing my “stories” for fun. One night, I read a particularly fabulous romance novel that changed my life for good. That night, I decided I wanted to make someone else feel as whole and happy as that author made me feel. (Everyone asks! It was Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.) With two small children and one big “real” job, writing my first novel wasn’t easy, but I did finish a manuscript that managed to get the attention of a literary agent. She told me to do one thing and one thing fast: write another book. (The first one is usually a “learner” book, honestly.) That second manuscript sold to Simon & Schuster’s Pocket Books and was released in 2003 as Tropical Getaway. Since then, I’ve written almost thirty more, in multiple genres, and long ago replaced the corporate ladder with the rollercoaster of publishing as a full-time novelist. Finally, writing is my real job.

Today, I live in a small beach community in Florida with my husband and our two teenagers, and one spectacular Australian Terrier named Pepper. When I have spare time, I spend it with my family, but also dig in the dirt with my plants, travel for business and fun, hang out with my many writer friends, and, of course, I love to read. I’m still crazy about words and stories and hope to write at least a hundred books in my lifetime. And, yes, verbs are the key to life. My favorites? Love. Work. Play.

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