Finished Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy by HelenKay Dimon.

This is a contemporary romance about Annie Parks, a photographer who goes to Hawaii to settle a score and ends up getting tossed off a yacht. Lucky for Annie, she’s rescued by sexy police chief Kane Travers.

I read a lot of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, so this contemporary was a nice change of pace. Con men, drug dealers, double-crosses … this book has its fair share of action. Dimon also has some snappy dialogue between her two main characters, and she really gives you a feel for the tropical setting. Who knew there were wild chickens in Hawaii? Not me.

But one quibble I had with the book is the beginning, where Kane handcuffs Annie to his bed. Not exactly how I would expect a law-enforcement official to act when confronted with a strange woman claiming to have amnesia. If I’d been Annie, I would have brained him over the head with a lamp and been screaming police brutality at the top of my lungs. I get that Kane is curious and overprotective, but this whole scene grated on my nerves. It’s the sort of alpha-male behavior I just don’t like.

Still, if you’re looking for something light and breezy, you’ll probably like this one. Thumbs up.

BTW, HelenKay has a cool blog where she talks about writing. Go check it out.

Up next: My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding anthology.

Finished Ice Storm by Anne Stuart. It’s the fourth and latest book in her Ice romantic suspense series.

This time, the story focuses on Madame Isobel Lambert, who runs The Committee, a covert organization devoted to stopping arms dealers, terrorists, and other bad guys. Her latest assignment is to rescue Killian, a mercenary who sells his services to the highest bidder. Killian plans to trade information to The Committee in exchange for a new life. There’s only one problem. Killian is the only man Isobel has ever loved — and she shot him and left him for dead years ago.

I was really looking forward to reading Isobel’s story because she’s such a strong, capable woman in the three previous books. I wanted to see what Stuart would do with a woman who was just as much of a badass as her male heroes.

I was so disappointed.

Like the rest of her colleagues, Isobel is burnt out and slowly coming undone. The violence, the tough choices, the sacrifices, it’s all getting to her. That’s fine. I understand that. But Isobel comes off as so ineffective next to Killian. Despite all her training and experience, he repeatedly gets the upper hand throughout the book. He drugs, subdues, and seduces Isobel with ease. He’s more in control of the mission than she is.

I didn’t much care for Killian, either. He was just cruel and manipulative, with no real redemption at the end.

Stuart’s writing is still tense, tight, and beautiful, and I enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous books, especially Peter, Reno, and Genevieve. And I’ll read the next book in the series whenever it comes out.

But Isobel was such a disappointment I have to give this one a thumbs down.

Up next: Not sure. Maybe the graphic novel Quiver or Don’t Look Down by Suzanne Enoch.