Review: Trust Me by Sydney Somers

Sydney Somers
Trust Me
Samhain Publishing, 2010

Backblurb:
After three months on the run, Detective Maxine Walker figures no one will find her behind a counter in a small Canadian town. It might even be safe to grab a beer with the sexy stranger who’s just come through the shop door. Then the bullets start flying.

When he saves her—then takes her prisoner—she assumes an arms dealer who set her up for murder has put a price on her head.

Lucas McAllister has doubts as to whether Max killed his partner, but it’s his job to bring her in. Plus, she could be his only lead to a missing biological weapon. That means he’s not letting her out of his sight, not for a second. Which shouldn’t be tough given the possessiveness that rushes through him with every touch. When the resourceful detective uses their attraction to attempt distraction, his hands-off policy is blown all to hell.

As the real hit men close in, trust is in short supply. But if they can’t trust each other, their lives—and their hearts—may get caught in the crossfire.

Genre & Keywords:
M/F Romance, Contemporary, Suspense, Violence, Danger

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Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 2.5 out of 3 flames
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Why I read it:
I received a review copy from the author.

Trust Me is an engaging romance with quite a bit of suspense and action mixed in. Even though I already read it a couple of weeks ago I can still vividly recall the plot and the characters, thanks to their high entertainment factor.
Maxine and Lucas are enjoyable protagonists and they make a sexy couple. Fortunately they don’t fall into lust at first sight when they first lay eyes on each other. In fact, their feelings are rather hostile and the first part of the story they spend a great deal of the time snapping and lying to each other. Which was funny and amusing until I started to wish for a wee bit of sweetness… There’s only so much of toughness and snark I can handle from a romance heroine, so I was glad when she finally started to be taken with Lucas.

Not that Maxine’s initial defensive reaction wasn’t understandable. She had every reason to dislike him, since he’s the one who found her hiding place and starts to drag her back to New York - thinking she killed his partner - meanwhile having a few violent criminals on their tail. Even so, her verbal responses started to get on my nerves a bit, despite the fact they made me laugh a couple of times too. Therefore I was pleased when her attitude changed.
Lucas’s feelings start to change as well, when he comes more and more to the realization that Maxine is innocent. And even though he seems a bit of over-qualified (with his history in Special Forces) to be making rookie mistakes like letting Maxine escape a couple of times, he is quite endearing in admitting his wrong as to her guilt. And their physical attraction grows with their emotional connection, which eventually leads to them exploring their undeniable chemistry:

“You can trust me, Max.”
Her cheek grazed his. “That doesn’t mean I should.”
“Still don’t believe I’m one of the good guys?”
“Either way you’re dangerous.”
He lowered his head and his lips skimmed her bare shoulder. She gave a little moan of approval.
“You don’t sound too worried.”
“I can handle it.”
He trapped her jaw in his hands. “At least one of us can.”
Her lips parted, and he nipped the bottom one then slowly pulled it between his. This time he knew that sharp intake of breath was definitely his, and when she fit against him completely, her hands sliding around his neck, like she needed something to hang onto—and Christ he knew the feeling—he had to tamp down the satisfied groan that vibrated through his chest.
So damn hungry for her, he opened his mouth over hers, taking complete possession. She arched against him, rubbing just hard enough that the slow, sweet friction left him aching to get inside her. Catching her hips, he rocked against her, and she released a deep a carnal sigh. He swept into her mouth, stroking deep with his tongue.
Trouble.

As this quote shows, we also get Lucas’s point of view, which I think is great. I love the male perspective in my romance books very much. The quote also shows Ms Somers pleasant and easy writing style that added up to the enjoyable reading experience for me.

But honestly, I was glad when the chase-and-run part of the plot, that was amusing at first but took up a significant part of the pages, came to a bit of a rest and started to lean more towards a physical exploration of the blooming feelings between the main characters, and also towards the resolve of the mystery story arc. I found that arc pretty suspenseful and well-developed, even though a few things felt unlikely (for example why Maxine stayed in hiding for three months while she should be catching the real killer). However the conclusion of it all was rather thrilling.

I understand that this is the first book in a series: The Lassiter Group series. And although I can’t find any information about other books, I suspect that the author has more of her well-written, entertaining mystery and suspense in store for us, which probably will involve other colleagues of Lucas in a romantic situation. I’m wondering which colleague will be starring in the second book… Trust Me was actually released before, in 2006, and this is a re-release, so, let’s hope Ms Somers won’t let us wait another couple of years for the next book.

Linking:
Sydney Somers’s website/weblog | on Goodreads | on Twitter | on Facebook

Buy Trust Me here

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