#BookReview: Avoiding Matthew By Caroline Bell Foster | #AvoidingMatthew #CarolineBellFoster

BLURB

A kiss. A promise. A mistake.

Deaf, Special Operative Matthew Edwards, stumbled across Lacy where she wasn't supposed to be, while on an enforced vacation.

They’d never been able to stifle their sexual attraction and indulged every time their paths crossed. However, Matthew knew Lacy was working a dangerous mission outside of the bureau. But what? She was too soft and needed protecting from herself.

Lacy's secrets take her from America to Russia, to England, all the while with Matthew hot on her heels.

How could she avoid Matthew? Did she want to?

Lacy Dawson would rather spend her days experimenting with brownie recipes and trying on wedding dresses, than go on yet another secret mission to save her country. She needed a way out and found it.

MY REVIEW

I have mixed feelings about this review, because I embarked on the book expecting to really like it, but it was just okay for me. 

Is it well-written? Yes. Does it have twists and turns? Yes. Does it have sex? Yes, lots of it.

So what's the problem? 


Well...first of all, the first third or so of the book is seriously just Lacy and Matthew having sex everywhere, and Matthew being a meanie without justification in between. Yes, I see some of you still wondering what the problem is (ha!). I just like more 'story' to go with the sex scenes. In this case, there was very little story going on in the beginning, then not a lot of sex in the second half. Anyway, when the (rest of the) story really begins, there are a few surprises to keep the things moving along, but the rush I usually get from espionage and romantic suspense stories was missing.

I've already mentioned the hero being mean (IMO) without real justification - especially because he wasn't her superior in the agency. The other major thing that didn't quite gel for me was that the heroine was supposed to be a field operative, but (save for a few scenes), she really didn't come off that way. 

I got confused a few times with scenes involving the full cast of secondary characters. Although, some of them (Matthew's brothers, especially) were interesting enough that I did wonder about their stories (books 1 and 2 of the series).

By all indication, this was a book I should have thoroughly enjoyed (alpha hero, international setting, espionage and close calls with danger...), but something just didn't connect for me. 

That said, fans of the series or of the author are most likely to enjoy the book, because they may have already met Matthew in the previous books.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book, and this review is given voluntarily.