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kota_behnke6453's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
boohelimo's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
kirstennelson8's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
ela_35's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I liked this book, but I was a bit bored.
Bo was fine, and I liked Morgan, but not much happens.
Morgan has just left the hospital so he’s still weak, but I liked the scenes where Bo helps him, or when he’s trying to rebuild his strength.
There are some really short scenes with side characters.
I really liked Tricks as she had her own personality, which was clearly shown.
The plot was a bit boring as nothing happens until the last few chapters.
marieg11's review
3.0
I'm always on the hunt for good romantic suspense novels and this one started out strong. But it moved really slow in the middle and left several holes in the ending. I liked the characters alright. They were pretty solid, but also a little boring. Tricks (the dog) was delightful! Not a bad story, but not a very memorable one either
maureensbooks89's review
4.0
Last November I read my first Linda Howard book, the second novel in the GO-Team series called ‘The Woman Left Behind’. I absolutely loved that book. So when I saw a great deal on Amazon for ‘Troublemaker’ the first book in the series. I just had to get it and started reading as fast as I could. ‘Troublemaker’ can be read as a standalone.
In ‘Troublemaker’ we meet Morgan Yancy. Morgan is a team leader of a GO team and has just arrived home after being away on a job for months. Shortly after arriving home he gets ambushed and almost dies when some stranger tries to kill him. To get his strength back and lay low for a little while, Morgan stays with the stepsister of one of his colleagues Bo Maran. Bo doesn’t really trust people easily. And Morgan is stubborn as hell, and seems to be having a lot of secrets. Bad news if you ask Bo. But soon Morgan and Bo get to know each other better. Unfortunately that’s when Morgan’s life starts catching up with him.
I had some high hopes for ‘Troublemaker’, and I must say I really enjoyed reading this book. This book starts really exciting and before I knew what was going on I was totally pulled into the world of Bo and Morgan and I couldn’t stop reading. Both main characters Bo and Morgan are really fun to get to know. Especially because they aren’t like your average main characters. For one they both aren’t very good in being social, and secondly they both have some baggage.
The romance between Morgan and Bo starts with a simmer, and ends all hot and heavy. And I loved that about this read. You really get excited reading about these two and I couldn’t get enough of them.
The suspense in this book wasn’t as exciting as I would have liked, but I definitely enjoyed it. It just started pretty good, and near the end I found the suspense ending a little to abrupt. It felt rushed and I really wanted to know what was going on.
Overall ‘Troublemaker’ was a fun read I’d definitely enjoyed.
In ‘Troublemaker’ we meet Morgan Yancy. Morgan is a team leader of a GO team and has just arrived home after being away on a job for months. Shortly after arriving home he gets ambushed and almost dies when some stranger tries to kill him. To get his strength back and lay low for a little while, Morgan stays with the stepsister of one of his colleagues Bo Maran. Bo doesn’t really trust people easily. And Morgan is stubborn as hell, and seems to be having a lot of secrets. Bad news if you ask Bo. But soon Morgan and Bo get to know each other better. Unfortunately that’s when Morgan’s life starts catching up with him.
I had some high hopes for ‘Troublemaker’, and I must say I really enjoyed reading this book. This book starts really exciting and before I knew what was going on I was totally pulled into the world of Bo and Morgan and I couldn’t stop reading. Both main characters Bo and Morgan are really fun to get to know. Especially because they aren’t like your average main characters. For one they both aren’t very good in being social, and secondly they both have some baggage.
The romance between Morgan and Bo starts with a simmer, and ends all hot and heavy. And I loved that about this read. You really get excited reading about these two and I couldn’t get enough of them.
The suspense in this book wasn’t as exciting as I would have liked, but I definitely enjoyed it. It just started pretty good, and near the end I found the suspense ending a little to abrupt. It felt rushed and I really wanted to know what was going on.
Overall ‘Troublemaker’ was a fun read I’d definitely enjoyed.
thecirclek's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
A passable thriller-romance that's a bit light on the thrills. Once you read all the reviews about the number of pages devoted to the dog, you can't "unsee" that element of the book, LOL!
ssejig's review
3.0
I know I have a bit of a pet-peeve with condom use but, c'mon, Ms. Howard is a veteran romance writer. There are more reasons than pregnancy to use a condom. At the very least she could sit down and have the characters talk about being tested. More than just "It's okay, I'm on the pill." Blergh. It always takes me out of the story.
There is a special brand of Howard WTFery that I look forward to in her books. And in this book, while it was a good book, that craziness was way toned down. I mean, the books I think of when I think Linda Howard have agents whose memories have been imperfectly wiped, bear stalkings (again, black bears don't do that), the only road into a small town being shut down so a team of bad guys can retrieve a microfilm, etc. This, this was strangely devoid of any of that-- but still a good book. And what Howard does nicely is depicts small town life. There's a line in her book that even pokes gentle fun saying that people in big cities always expect small-town folks to all know one another but they don't -- one of my major major pet-peeves (see here Fool's Gold, a town of 125,000 where they somehow not only ALL know each other but everyone's extended history).
Anyway, Morgan Yancy is a super-duper, undercover agent who's had a hit taken out on him that was nearly successful. In order to figure out what's going on, his team leader, Axel, sends him to recuperate in West Virginia. The specific person Morgan is being sent to is Isabeau "Bo" Maran, Axel's ex-step-sister. It seems the two had a contentious relationship when their parents were married for eight months and Axel has never quite gotten over it.
Bo is the chief of police in a small town but her position is supposed to be more clerical than anything, taking care of the paperwork so that her deputies can do the on-the-streets work that they feel more comfortable with. There were some plot points and character issues I had with Bo and this job (she has, like, three) but, again, used to WAY more craziness from Howard so these were minor.
Then there is the plot moppet, Bo's golden retriever, Tricks. I am a huge Goldie nerd and Tricks sounded about right for that breed of dog but, dang, half the book was an ode to the dog. I would have loved to see a little bit more about what was going on in the discovery of who was trying to kill Morgan or more about their relationship development. Although, I do have to admire the deft touch of covering major swathes of time with a deft touch. It cured the book of insta-love/lust.
Overall, a nice addition to the Howard canon and I think that regular readers will really enjoy the book. I personally missed the crazy (it's the reason I requested the ARC) but others may not even notice it's gone.
There is a special brand of Howard WTFery that I look forward to in her books. And in this book, while it was a good book, that craziness was way toned down. I mean, the books I think of when I think Linda Howard have agents whose memories have been imperfectly wiped, bear stalkings (again, black bears don't do that), the only road into a small town being shut down so a team of bad guys can retrieve a microfilm, etc. This, this was strangely devoid of any of that-- but still a good book. And what Howard does nicely is depicts small town life. There's a line in her book that even pokes gentle fun saying that people in big cities always expect small-town folks to all know one another but they don't -- one of my major major pet-peeves (see here Fool's Gold, a town of 125,000 where they somehow not only ALL know each other but everyone's extended history).
Anyway, Morgan Yancy is a super-duper, undercover agent who's had a hit taken out on him that was nearly successful. In order to figure out what's going on, his team leader, Axel, sends him to recuperate in West Virginia. The specific person Morgan is being sent to is Isabeau "Bo" Maran, Axel's ex-step-sister. It seems the two had a contentious relationship when their parents were married for eight months and Axel has never quite gotten over it.
Bo is the chief of police in a small town but her position is supposed to be more clerical than anything, taking care of the paperwork so that her deputies can do the on-the-streets work that they feel more comfortable with. There were some plot points and character issues I had with Bo and this job (she has, like, three) but, again, used to WAY more craziness from Howard so these were minor.
Then there is the plot moppet, Bo's golden retriever, Tricks. I am a huge Goldie nerd and Tricks sounded about right for that breed of dog but, dang, half the book was an ode to the dog. I would have loved to see a little bit more about what was going on in the discovery of who was trying to kill Morgan
Spoiler
(the "we found the mole" sentence is one line with a character that was never mentioned in the book before, at least not by name, but we're supposed to care?)Overall, a nice addition to the Howard canon and I think that regular readers will really enjoy the book. I personally missed the crazy (it's the reason I requested the ARC) but others may not even notice it's gone.