Take a sexy as all get out female spy who wears sharp heeled shoes, is very deadly with any weapon and her hands, and not a slouch in the brain department either. Then add the guy who is a brilliant former football scientist with integrity, a nosy family that want grandkids, Black Ops, stolen classified high tech plans that could kill people, kidnapping, and enough sex to rival The Joy Of Sex book on ideas, and you have The Spy Who Wants Me .

Elle Gray and Dr. Beau Ruston can barely control lust from when they first lay eyes on one another. Both are telling lies to do their job, and finally give in to lust, lots of lust. Assuring one another, "It's just sex" between two gun shy folks here. Then there is sex between Elle Gray's brother and his paramour from ten years ago.

Now a book with so much going on can work. Unfortunately in this one, I found myself distracted and tired while reading it, keeping track of all the things and divergent paths the story was taking. The characters were in some ways too pat perfect and flat for me to relate to. The best scenes were when Elle Gray was relating to her blusterous nosy family. That brought out the most touchable side of Elle Gray. Dr. Beau Ruston tended to come off as a horny Apollo hunk of a man, and while everyone talked about his brilliance, I did not see any evidence of it – unless his ability in bed was to show that?

The book would have been better if there was more focus on just the erotic, or just the spy thriller. The two together were fighting each other for attention of the reader. Adding a third set of characters and their developing relationship also got in the way. Her brother Max was good to show Elle's humorous human side, and Max's paramour Chantal was the focus for a threat. But delving in detail into Max's and Chantal's developing romance as well was really a distraction and should have a story of its own.

All in all, The Spy Who Wants Me could have been a really good book, but with too much going on and not enough support to handle it all, it kind of fell apart for me.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© January 2009