I Spy (Berkley Sensation) [Mass Market Paperback]

Aimee Devlin, former FBI agent, now a partner with two friends in the Partners in Crime security firm, has the uncanny ability to make herself blend into the woodwork, enabling her to observe and gather information in a variety of situations.

Her latest job has her doing just that as she investigates the employees of McConnell Aerospace, in search of the one who is being bribed for information by a rival company. Aimee is immediately suspicious of Horace "Race" Gardner, the company's new CFO, whose never-ending quest for company information marks him as questionable. As it turns out, Race is a CIA undercover, who is likewise investigating McConnell's employees, but he is on the lookout for someone who is making a deal with international arms dealer Nic Sabre. Once the two realize that they are on the same side, Aimee is hired by the CIA to infiltrate the luxurious private compound of Sabre. Aimee immediately falls in love with Nic's daughter, Josie, but cannot allow herself to trust anyone else at the compound. She does manage limited contact with Race, who wants to scrub the mission as he begins to fear for Aimee's safety, but Aimee refuses and convinces him that they must follow through with their original plan.

The one thing Aimee does not plan on is Nic Sabre falling in love with her. Barely able to stomach him or his pursuit of her, Aimee has to force herself to tolerate his very presence as well as his romantic advances. Ms. Ford has penned a wonderful story of romantic suspense, bravely taking her heroine to extremes that others would not dare, raising one question after another as you turn the pages. These sophisticated, intelligent characters are extremely easy to care about. Twists and turns abound and the "bad guys" are truly evil and generate an abundance of chills. The love scenes are very tastefully done and add just the right amount of heat.

This is without a doubt one of the most creative and enjoyable romantic suspense books that I have read for quite some time and I can very easily give it my highest recommendation.

Courtesy Laurie/Romance Junkies

I Spy is the second "Partners in Crime" book, the first being Dangerous Curves. "Partners in Crime" is a corporate security firm made up of former FBI agents and partners Aimee, Daphne, and Raine. Dangerous Curves was Raine's story; I Spy is Aimee's.

I Spy begins when Aimee is hired to uncover industrial espionage for McConnell Aerospace. She zeroes in on the most likely culprit, only to discover that he, in turn is focusing on her as a likely culprit for selling McConnell's secrets, not to another company, but to another country.

CIA agent Race Gardner and Aimee join forces to stop the spy, but only after Aimee makes it clear that she doesn't work for free.

Aimee and Race fall in love, but as things get more complicated, Aimee's avowed love of money makes Race's superiors believe she's sided with the villain. Both Race and Aimee, and their trust in each other, are put to the test in the page-turning, can't-put-it-down climax.

The good:

The suspense. The suspense in I Spy was truly gripping. I knew (thank goodness for that happy ending guarantee!) Aimee and Race would both make it out alive, and that they'd end up together, but just how they'd manage it was not at all certain.

The villain. The villain was particularly well-done, I thought. He was sympathetic and understandable... and completely ruthless.

The heroine's emotional arc. Aimee was her own worst enemy. Her stated intentions to work only for money, as opposed to dedication or duty, caused everyone but those closest to her to believe the worst, and caused even them to pause a little. Her fledgling relationship with Race was put to an extreme test of trust that they both passed with flying colors, putting a lump in my throat & tears in my eyes even as the suspense made my heart pound. (yes, I was a bit of an emotional dishrag by the time this story was done!)

The bad:

Something happens near the end that I'm not going to spoil, but it's shocking and may ruin the book for some readers. As a frequent romance reader, I fully expected it to be avoided somehow, but it wasn't. It made the book more realistic for me, but YMMV.

The nice little bonus:

As in Dangerous Curves, there's a young girl--two as a matter of fact: Josie and Giselle. A little minor theme running through these books, it seems, of young girls being smarter and more aware than people give them credit for.

The verdict:

I'd been looking forward to I Spy since reading Dangerous Curves. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I Spy has made me expect even more from Daphne's story. I can't wait!

This starts off as a James Bond adventure/spy fluff only with a womens company.

Suddenly it jumps back 25 years and we get to experience a 10 year-old boy's terror as he listens to his best friend's screams as he is raped and beaten to death by drunken teenagers. All this while he is hidden deep within rotting garbage at a dump.

We come back to our spy heroine and hero flirting while on a stake out.
Nice clothes, board meetings, and fancy cars, etc.

Then we find out that the boy Nicky, has become a ruthless arms dealer who is planning on making bombs for sale. But of course, he's a good father and he keeps his preteen daughter in the dark about what Daddy does.

This book hops back and forth between the two sets of lives throughout.
Perhaps the author had notes from another book planned at one time and didn't want to waste research?? Jumping back and forth like this should carry a warning regarding possible vomit!

I read all kinds of books, but I like to pick which type each time. I read her first book in this series and enjoyed it. I plan to read the 3rd book of the series as well. I hope to find whether or not I will want to purchase any more books by this author.

It is grit as a trim around the edges of the cute fluff. Do not buy this book unless you enjoy NAUSEA.