A Fine Specimen

Review

A FINE SPECIMEN – Lisa Marie Rice

ISBN: 978-1-41992-207-7

April 2009

Erotic Contemporary Romance

Baylorville, Anywhere USA – Present Day

Lieutenant Alejandro Cruz is having one heck of a day. The man he needs to capture to bring down a big time thug, Angelo Lopez, escaped through a bathroom window. Four police officers let Ratso Colby, the man behind the money, get away. FOUR! Jeesh, everyone knows Alex has been working seven days a week to get a handle on Angelo, and now this, back to the streets to look for Ratso, who is now probably doing his best to keep hidden and maybe even trying to get out of town. And then, to top things off, his boss Captain Ray Avery wants him to baby sit someone from the college for seven days so they can observe Dominance Displays in Law Enforcement. How can he do his job with some geek following him around? No wonder Ray left a letter for him so he couldn't protest in person. But then he meets Caitlin Summers, the geek. Well, Alex's days of self imposed lack of sex have clearly caught up with him if he is attracted to someone who looks eighteen.

Caitlin is a twenty-eight year old student who took “The History of Law Enforcement” from Alex's mentor, Captain Avery. Now Alex knows why Ray has been taking so much time off lately. Caitlin tends to think and figure out things inside her own head to the exclusion of everybody else, and the men in her life mostly consist of ineffectual contacts that leave her depressed. But Alex and his dominant style is something she's not used to. She knows Alex is going to do his darnedest to get rid of her until she pulls out her ace in the hole, Ray said to tell Alex that he owed him, and he was collecting. Wow, those are some magic words. Against his will, Alex tries to accept keeping Caitlin around for a week. But it seems like her girlish looks make his happy boy extremely hard to keep under control, especially when Caitlin goes up in flames every time he touches her. Caitlin has been a student with little funds for years, and is hoping for a Fellowship that will give her some real money for awhile. But Alex doesn't like the dump of a hotel she is staying in, and takes it upon himself to make sure she's safe. Hmmm, did that involve his hands all over her and her body melting against him like ice in July in Phoenix?

Well, will Alex find Ratso and make him give up his boss, the crook Angelo, and can he also keep his mind on work with a woman who attracts him in every way? Caitlin has never known a man to make much of an expression on her or remember him again after leaving, but Alex in no way fits into THAT category. Sexual feelings throb between them, and neither of them has ever felt anything like it.

Lisa Mare Rice is one of my favorite authors, and if you love erotic romance, you must start with her Midnight Series. Written before the Midnight series, Lisa here presents us with her usual ultra strong Alpha male character. Rather than the military men Lisa usually favors, Alex is a police officer and a strong willed man who not many people want to mess with. The men Lisa creates are powerful, yet when they meet that one special woman, they are confused and see their own personalities change before their eyes, and they can't stop themselves. These women are the epitome of what they crave in a mate and yet never expected to find, and they give their lives that missing ingredient, someone to connect with and enjoy being around. Here Lisa Marie Rice excels, and no red blooded woman can resist these men with their strong passions and great love-making abilities.

Anyone besides Caitlin and Alex is clearly not necessary, yet some of his fellow officers, along with his mentor Ray, bring them together and give them every opportunity to bond with love.

A FINE SPECIMEN is romantic, erotic reading at its best. Alex and Caitlin go through the growth of their relationship, and Alex must decide what direction it will go in: does he love Caitlin enough to admit it to himself and then her? A FINE SPECIMEN will enthrall you and leave you with a satisfied smile on your face.

CeCe Johns