Summary:
National security comes at a price. Dean Dreiser learned that lesson long ago. Now, domestic terrorists are testing a biological weapon in southern New Mexico, and Dean is forced to take a new partner—Dr. Lucinda Brown. Lucy is the leading expert in molecular biology, but she has no field experience. Separately, they don’t stand a chance against what dominates the night skies of Roswell, New Mexico. Together, they can do more than survive. They can do their jobs in spite of the scariest thing to crawl out of Roswell since 1947.
The terrorists are willing to kill thousands in order to trigger the fall of the two-party system and usher in a new political dawn. Lucy tracks the genetic print of the weapon while Dean hunts the insurgents. As fate hurtles them across the desert toward a final showdown, Dean will be forced to decide between national security and Lucy. He knows which he has to choose and curses himself for hesitating.
Dean Dreiser can’t afford The Cost of Love.
Hearts Reviewed by Su Halfwerk: Dean Dreiser finds himself partnered with a new partner, Dr. Lucinda Brown, to combat a threat of releasing a biological weapon in Southern New Mexico.
Saddled by the size of the mission along with his partner’s next to zero field experience, Dean must put a stop to the threat that might lead to the death of thousands of people. Dean’s attraction to Lucinda grows, and he finds himself in a race against time to save people as well as his newfound love.
The Cost of Love is an action packed thriller that kept me at the edge of my seat, turning the electronic pages of the book from the grapping hook in its beginning to the last page. I couldn’t put it down; the plot had twists and turns in it that left me guessing every step of the way.
It is loaded with clear and smoothly described imagery that I cared about the characters and worried for their safety. When the identity of one of the bad guys was revealed, I almost kicked myself for missing it. A nice surprise there.
Romance and sex were there in a way that linked to the story’s development, and it felt right.
The story didn’t make a full 5 hearts for the small nuisance that sometimes emotions weren't stated clearly during dialogues. However, the characters were introduced smoothly enough that I could imagine their facial reactions and/or body language. Also, the beginning of Dean and Lucy’s romance felt forced, the shift from how she viewed him as a scrawny burned out cop to a man packed with muscles and action was surprising, as much as his sudden attraction to her. However, once that attraction, and eventual love, started they weren’t easy to ignore. Still, it wasn’t a major set back of the story, hence the missing half star.
This is a romance suspense novel, and to evaluate one I usually ask myself these two questions:
1.Were the hero and heroine’s romance real?
Yes. It wasn’t only lust, but actual love.
2.Did I feel the danger around them?
Yes, every step of the way.
The ending was a total surprise, if not slightly, very slightly, convenient. I’m surprising myself with that statement, since I’m a natural born cynic of weird unlikely twists.
This was a brilliant read, easy, smooth, and convincing. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of Drue Allen’s work.