Review: Caught in the Act by Jill Sorenson

It’s no secret that I love Ms. Sorenson’s books and that she’s become one of my favorite Romantic Suspense authors. Her stories have it all: great action, complex characters and scorching hot sex (very important!). Caught in the Act is no exception.

Karina Strauss has a successful store where she sells Latin American crafts of all kinds. She regularly crosses the border to Mexico in order to buy more objects. One day, Maria, a woman she’s friendly with, asks her to help her get to the US, and Karina, an immigrant herself, decides to help her. That’s how she meets Adam Cortez, the Border Protection officer who stops her. She tries to seduce him into distraction but he’s no fool, however he gets a call and decides to let her pass (maybe he was a bit of a fool).

Now Karina and Maria are safe, but the happiness won’t last long because it turns out that Karina’s sister has fallen in love with the head of a drug cartel and now he wants her help to smuggle drugs into the country, just as she did with Maria. If she does it they won’t hurt her sister.

Meanwhile, Adam’s been following Karina. On the one hand she was nervous and suspicions, and on the other hand, she was hot. So he figures that he either will uncover a criminal or get a date. That’s when he sees her with the dealers, the same people who years ago killed his girlfriend. So finally he has the perfect opportunity to get revenge, what he doesn’t know is that he will fall in love instead.

How do I know that this book is good? The hero is practically a widower obsessed with the dead girlfriend, and I still managed to love the story. And yes, ever since I wrote that post I’ve come across a ton of widowed heroes, I should have kept my mouth shut. But I digress. What I’m trying to say is that this was a very entertaining story. 

Karina was a great heroine. She’s ballsy and loving, willing to do anything for a sister that’s been less than ideal and for a woman she’s barely met but desperately needs her help. Maybe she was reckless, but that’s a must-have quality when you’re a Romantic Suspense heroine. But regardless of her actions I never thought she was stupid.

Adam was a harder to like, but appealing nonetheless. Ms. Sorenson has an uncanny ability to create heroes that behave like assholes but are also adorable. I think she knows how to write men, her heroes are flawed and never perfect or too dreamy and behave like real people, and that’s what makes them so appealing. My one complain, and this is an issue I often have with her books, is that Adam can’t decide whether to sleep with Karina or arrest her, so he does both. He doesn’t arrest her, but he does seduce her to get more information. And I think that’s a stupid way to deceive someone. Why can’t he keep it in his pans? And why do they keep falling in love with suspects? When heroes in law enforcement act this way I always think it’s unprofessional and it annoys me.

The secondary characters are even more compelling than Adam and Karina. Maria also gets her own love interest in the form of Ian, an undercover cop. They share a heartbreaking past and when they meet again they do it in less-than-perfect circumstances. They don’t have an ideal ending so I hope theirs is the next book. I love star-crossed lovers and can’t wait to see them get their happily ever after.

I was pleasantly surprised by the villain. He had depth and in a twisted way cared about Karina’s sister. I’m happy to read a book where the author doesn’t cut corners and gives us interesting villains instead of making them cartoonish and walking stereotypes.

If you’re a fan of Romantic Suspense Caught in the Act is a must read, as well as everything Ms. Sorenson writes. And did I mention that the sex is HOT? Yes? Well, I’ll say it again, the sex is scorching hot! Go read it.

Review by Brie

Grade: 4

Sensuality: McSteamy
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

As the owner of a flourishing Latin American crafts boutique, Karina Strauss should be basking in her success. Instead she’s worried about her troubled sister, the girlfriend—and prisoner—of drug lord Carlos Moreno. Kari wants no part of that life, but when she helps a friend cross into the United States illegally, two men on opposite sides of the law take notice: Moreno and Adam Cortez, the handsome border protection officer who lets Kari off the hook. It’s not just Kari’s tantalizing flash of skin that catches Adam’s attention—her drug cartel connections bring back the demons of his past.  

Moreno demands that Kari smuggle a package for him in exchange for her sister’s freedom. Adam also gets dangerously close, tempting her to surrender and fulfill her wildest desires. As Kari prepares for the drug run, dark secrets, violent criminals, and deadly consequences lurk around every corner. But concern for her sister drives Kari toward a terrifying act, despite Adam’s warnings, despite her overwhelming fears—and despite the odds against coming out alive.

Caught in the Act by Jill Sorenson

Bantam. March 27, 2012.