In Absolute Pleasure, Jamie Denton takes a different approach to her story than most recent Blazes. The main focus isn’t on the main characters’ relationship – sexual or otherwise. Instead, it’s more plot-driven, with complex main characters and an intriguing procedural storyline. The sex, when it does arrive, is as explicit as promised, but only about a third of the book focuses on the characters’ relationship. That may disappoint readers who are only in it for the sex, but it also makes for an unusually well-developed series romance and a strong read in general.

FBI agent Sunny MacGregor is assigned to the Bureau’s nonviolent crime division, but her ultimate goal is to become a profiler. She may get her shot if she successfully cracks her latest case. Several women in different parts of the country have fallen victim to a con man who seduced them, then bilked them out of large amounts of money. Sunny needs to stop him before he victimizes another woman.

Her investigation brings her into contact with Duncan Chamberlain, an insurance recovery agent working several of the same thefts. He’s a former FBI agent himself, and the attraction between them is intense and immediate. With a case to solve, though, she doesn’t have time to indulge her feelings for him. But resisting them won’t be easy.

At times, this story does feel more like a Silhouette Intimate Moments with more explicit sexual scenes than a regular Blaze. The author spends a lot of time developing her storyline and her characters apart from their relationship to each other. We see Duncan dealing with his struggling business and the addiction-prone brother he fears may have fallen back into his unhealthy habits. We see Sunny working the case with her FBI colleagues, as well as her interactions with a profiler who tests her to see if she’s ready to join his team. This helps to give the reader a good idea of who these people are, and Denton’s style and tone when it comes to the FBI elements are actually more convincing than some SIM’s. It’s a common complaint about the Blaze line that the books are all sex with no story. I don’t believe that’s entirely true, or that a compelling romance can’t be told using mainly the characters’ sexual relationship, but in this case, it’s definitely not all sex. There is a real story here.

As a result, the sexual element feels somewhat intrusive in the early stages. The initial attraction between them is somewhat overblown and unconvincing and didn’t really seem to gel with the procedural tone. When Sunny takes time out to buy new sheets and put them on her bed in preparation for the sex she believes she may soon be having on them, I couldn’t help thinking, “Shouldn’t you be working on the case?” This improves and becomes less forced as the story goes along and the characters’ relationship evolves. The second half of the book is better than the first. Duncan and Sunny’s flirtation continues until they consummate their attraction in the expected hot scenes that live up to the promised “red-hot read.” Best of all, they unfold in a way that doesn’t detract from the investigation or make the characters seem unprofessional, as I initially feared. Both the romance and mystery plots reach satisfying conclusions.

Absolute Pleasure has sexy scenes, but there’s so much more to the story that when I think about the best way to describe it overall, sexy isn’t the first word that comes to mind. Complex, intriguing and or just plain good all seem like better fits. It’s crisply-written and well-developed, and the author does an excellent job constructing a strong story within the constraints of the format. It’s not the sexiest Blaze I’ve ever read, but it is one of the best I’ve read this year, and a very good read.