Face Of Danger (The Guardian Angelinos, #3) by Roxanne St. Claire
Romantic Suspense
May 1, 2011
Paperback
Forever
Reviewed by Tori
Favorite Quote: “No, I’m not really big on the whole screw and shoo gig. But thanks for the offer. “
Vivi Angelino owns and operate the private security firm-Guardian Angelino with her brother Zach and extended family. Vivi wants to take the company to a higher level, but in order to do that she needs a huge case to put her on the map. When she hears of the Red Carpet murders, Vivi sees her chance to make the company shine. A natural risk taker, Vivi decides to switch places with Oscar winning actress Cara Ferrari who may be the next victim of the Red Carpet killer. Nobody has a problem with this but Special Agent Colton Lang. Agent Lang has been sending Vivi’s company business for the past few months all the while trying to deny the attraction he feels for her. When he hears of Vivi’s plan, his first instinct is a resounding, “NO.” But Vivi didn’t get where she is today by playing by the rules and since Agent Lang may or may not be accepting a promotion in LA-Vivi does what needs to be done.
Face Of Danger is the third book in Ms. St. Claire’s Guardian Angelino series. More light hearted then the first two, in here we focus on carefree skater Vivi Angelino and the straight laced Special Agent Colton Lang. Fast paced with a smooth writing style and a tense mystery. The romance is a strong presence in here; overshadowing the plot as we have watched Lang and Vivi dance around each other the entire series.
When Vivi takes matters into her own hands and approaches Ms Ferrari about being her body double. Ms. Ferrari agrees but makes Vivi sign a severe non disclosure agreement. This puts Vivi in a precarious situation, especially when the FBI take matters into their own hands and make Ms. Ferrari agree to their protection. Vivi has to work double time to convince Lang that she is Cara and not Vivi. When Vivi arrives at Cara’s home in Nantucket, (disguised as Cara), she is immediately attacked and realizes that Cara may know more about the Red Carpet murders then she let on. As Vivi and Lang start investigating, they find information that blows the case wide open and leads Vivi and Lang to believe that the murders are just a ruse to hide something more explosive then they ever could imagine.
Vivi and Lang connected for me at the beginning when I first met them. Opposites in every way, the sexual tension was a viable presence starting in book one and increasing into book two. It feel off to me in here though. Both Vivi and Lang have experienced a devastating event in their past which emotionally restricts them from committing to a serious relationship. While I understand both their reasons (they are valid) the path to enlightenment felt superficial. All you hear about is the physical connection they both want. I never felt it went deeper then that. Their scenes together intertwine into the mystery of the storyline, often pushing it to the side lines.
Vivi is a wonderful heroine but a bit childish for a 32 year old. She came across more mature in the previous books. She is a pistol though and the first to leap into action. Intelligence, strength, and courage are all facets of her personality and they shine through. She shows a remarkable lack of caution with Lang though. Vivi teases and taunts Lang to the breaking point-yet never takes that final step. She finally commits but only after he saves her life. That cheapened the moment for me. There is a VERY hot scene between Vivi and Lang in the beginning that really blows you away. It sets the stage for what could have been a magnificent romantic entanglement but the resulting scenes didn’t back it up so it sat in my mind-filed under confused.
Special Agent Colton Lang is a true alpha who deals with life in a clear and concise manner. Rules are important to him and he has a hard time dealing with Vivi and her lack of discipline. I had a problem with him in the beginning because he used his strong personality to try and bend Vivi to his will. It felt like her was talking down to her. Even though under the guise of protection-it still felt wrong. But she can more then hold her own with Lang and when Ms. St. Claire draws out his background and divulges more of his personality-you understand why he is as he is.
Our secondary characters are a mixture of old and new. Gabe (yum) appears and hints that his spying days may be over. Could the next book be about him? We can only hope. Uncle Nino is still cooking yummy foods and offering invaluable advice. and more Rossi’s are being roped into working for what Vivi calls, “the dark side”. The villain in the story took me by surprise and Ms. St. Clare does a great job of offering us viable suspects to watch while the real villain slips by unnoticed till they reveal themselves in the end.
The suspense of the story was a twisted devious ride that has us racing down paths of misdirection that keep us guessing till the end. Ms. St. Claire tries to keeping the romance and suspense running side by side without sacrificing either but unfortunately it doesn’t happen.The main conflict falls flat for me and I found myself growing bored towards the end. A tense climatic situation towards the end adds some punch, but not enough to blow this reader away.
All in all most fans of this series will be pleased with this newest installment. I am going to hope that book four will being us back to the astounding level of romance and suspense we had in her first book-Edge Of Sight.
Rating: C-
Recent Reviews:
Novel Reaction – 4/5
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Great review Tori! While I was reading – I kept nodding my head in agreement. I read some other reviews online before purchasing and was really excited about this book. I loved the first book in the series but have been totally disappointed with the next two. I had such high hopes from these two but was left feeling annoyed. Such a bummer!
I felt the same way. Her first one blew me away. The second and third one just didn’t measure up.
Hmmm…maybe I’ll wait to see what you think of book 4 when it comes out and if that’s still a disappointment I might skip on this series. Too bad the first book was so great and the last two haven’t been the best. :-(
The first book was WOW!! The second book lacked on the romance. This one was lacking romance & plot. I think the 4th one is Gabe. YUM!!!
I loved all of them including the free prequel from her site. Vivi is a pistol. I want to be her in my next life.
She is indeed. :)
Oh no. I’ve got SHIVER OF FEAR staring at me, but luckily I haven’t picked up the third one yet. I’ll have to see what the second one of the series stays with me. Thanks for the great review Tori.
Definitely. I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts.
Bought but have not started to read Face of Danger. I’m going to save your review until after I read it to see if I agree. Thanks!
I hope you enjoy it.
It doesn’t look like there are going to be any new Guardian Angelino books any time soon. From a May 12 interview with Roxanne St. Claire on the Romantic Times website:
“I would love to write Gabe’s story, of course, as this former spook is just plain hawt. I have a wonderful idea for him…and it involves my previous series, the Bullet Catchers. I’d also love to write about Francesca “Chessie” Rossi, the youngest in the family. She’s a talented hacker with a bit of a wild streak, and I think she’d be a blast as a heroine instead of a secondary character.
But there are no rock solid plans to write those books, as my publisher has asked me to write a few books in a slightly different direction and I’ve accepted that challenge. I’m listening to readers (they want Gabe!) and hoping that the Guardian Angelinos has enough of a fan base to merit more books. Stay tuned!”
Thanks MandaM. I wrote review before that update. no Gabe. So sad. :(
I haven’t read any of these books but have heard great things about Ms. St. Clare’s books. They sound really good but I don’t know if I want to jump into the middle of another series. I kind of spoiled myself when I read all of the Fever books at one time. Was nice not to be left hanging for months or years on end.
Well, only 3 here so you won;t have any string a longs.
LOL. Don’t agree at all with this rewiev. This book has all a great book has to have for me: great story, great suspense, great romance, great h/H, great chemistry, great supporting characters… It’s actually my favorite rom. suspense book this year… And IMO “Edge of Sight” was the weakest in this series, I liked “Shiver of Fear” better and loved “Face of Danger”. Different taste with different people, I guess ;-)
Well, if we all agreed there would be no need for reviews. :)
Weirdest thing ever. After I said I wasn’t going to read this series yet, I opened my door to go pick Monkey up and found a box on my doorstep. What’s inside? Both books. Maybe the book gods are trying to tell me something…
LOL Guess you have no choice now. :P
I am sorry the book fell flat, but still, it really does appeal to me. Another suspense author I have to try out. Thank you.
Glad I could introduce you to a new author. Enjoy!! :)
With all due respect, have you actually read the book? Because it doesn’t seem you get it at all. I don’t know if you lack sensibility or what, but really, you start off by calling the book the most “light hearted”? The one book in which the heroine has the deepest, most hurtful personal burden, the one book the case is truly heartbreaking? It’s by far the most emotional story, the most meaningful characters. The deepest plot.
Then, you go on to criticize Vivi’s posture towards sex and call her childish. That tells me one thing about you: you don’t know jack about sexual assault survivors. Not only their boundaries, when it comes to sex, are… unsteady, as in, sometimes they’ll push too far, sometimes they’ll pull too far back, but they also have some emotional developmental issues. It’s normal, it’s natural. It doesn’t make them “childish”. They may have childish attitudes, but, believe me, chances are they’re far more mature than the average individual and Roxanne St. Claire NAILED it with Vivi Angelino. She’s a strong, courageous character, and I don’t mean it because she throws herself in the middle of a case, I say that because she gets on every day, she lives her life, she makes the best of it, she seeks happiness, she pushes her own boundaries and she gives herself a chance. She’s an amazing, amazing character.
So, really, I guess you don’t have it in you to see through multidimensional characters. Not that the others are — of course not, all the Guardian Angelinos are amazing and greatly written — but Face of Danger is a much more emotionally deep and complex story, and I suppose some people just don’t have the tact to perceive those things. Still, I’d like to register how strongly I disagree with your review. Face of Danger is the best book I’ve ever read and Vivi Angelino is an amazing, inspiring character, and everyone should have the pleasure of getting to know her and her story.
Let’s remember that our reviews are our personal opinions and reactions to the books we read. Not everyone will agree with our thoughts (which is why we always try to leave links to other reviews) We read subject matters all the time that we may or may not have personal knowledge of. All we can do is give you our thoughts, as we see it.
Please disagree all you want!
But no need to attack the reviewer.
I’m so glad I only read this review after reading the book! Otherwise maybe I would have missed reading one of my favorite books this year… I generally only read reviews after I read a book, because I want to form my own opinion and sometimes good or bad reviews can affect you, if only subconsciously. But we all have different tastes and that’s okay, life would be boring otherwise. ;-)