Caught in the Act by Jill Sorenson Contemporary Romance
March 27, 2012
Random House
Reviewed by Mandi
Kari Strauss lives in San Diego and owns the store, Zocalo, an arts and crafts store that carries Latin American items. Once a week she travels to Tijuana to buy more supplies for her store. It is there where she meets a young woman named Maria who is supporting her family and desperate for money. Years ago, Maria tried to cross into the US through the desert, only to be brutally raped. She was saved by a man named Agent Forester. Although she will never forget that ordeal, or the man that saved her, her family needs money. So she begs Kari to stow her in her van to get across the border.
Kari can’t believe she actually agreed to smuggle someone in. Extremely nervous at the border crossing, Agent Adam Cortez can’t help but notice she isn’t acting right. But before he decides to take a closer look into her van, another disturbance calls him away and he lets her pass. But he recognizes her last name and her face. After he does a background check on her, he realizes her sister is the girlfriend of the famed Mexican drug lord, Carlos Moreno.
Adam knows he shouldn’t start his own private investigation of Kari, but Carlos is responsible for killing Adam’s girlfriend years ago, and he has wanted revenge ever since. When he sees two of Carlos’s men coming out of Kari’s house the next day, he knows something is up.
Unknown to Adam, those two men have just threatened Kari. She needs to smuggle drugs for them across the border in one week’s time, or they will kill her sister, who owes them a lot of money. Confused and scared, Kari agrees but is terrified of the outcome. Slowly, Adam enters her life and trust and a relationship begins to build.
Meanwhile, Maria (The girl Kari smuggled into the US) starts work at a local hotel as a maid. The hotel is owned by one of Carlos’s men and many drug deals go down here. Maria notices one of the men that often comes to buy drugs is the same man that saved her all those years ago.
I really enjoyed this book. Jill Sorenson writes such a fascinating story. Although this book is labeled a contemporary romance, it read more of a romantic suspense to me. Kari is in danger from page one and there are some very suspenseful moments in this book. Kari’s fear and predicament come through so well. My only complaint of this book might be that I don’t know if I believe Adam would sleep with Kari or start a physical relationship as quickly as he did. He is so devoted to his job and plays by the rules so fiercely. He knows Kari is somehow involved with Carlos Moreno – would he let his lust rule over his serious beliefs? I’m not sure.
But otherwise, I did enjoy their relationship. This book has such great tension not only between Kari and Adam, but with all of the supporting characters. This book completely held my attention the entire time and I didn’t know how it was all going to turn out.
What add a really great part to this book are Maria and Ian. Maria is a fabulous character who made me laugh. Paired up with the deeply undercover Ian, it is almost like we get two romances in one book. I loved their storyline. They were both so well developed but never to the detriment of Kari and Adam.
Caught in the Act is a very entertaining, engaging book. Definitely my favorite of Jill Sorenson. Highly recommend it.
Rating: B+
Recent Reviews:
Goodreads
Note: This review first appeared at USA Today’s Happy Ever After
It does sound good but when you bring up the smexy part..yeah, I do not think he would bed her that quickly considering
so excited to read this one!
Nice review, I still have not read anything by this author. Thinking about changing that :)