Skin Tight
Grade : B+

It began with the X-Men and continues all the way through to Heroes. My obsession with humans with atypical abilities, that is. I don't mean psychics or people who speak to the dead (all though those can be intriguing) but mind readers, touch healers, time travelers - and they are especially intriguing when they can offer a scientific explanation. Which is what made Skin Tight such a perfect match for me.

To give a few typical warnings: this is book two of a series so there may be spoilers. I have not read book one, so you don't need to read Skin Game before reading this one, but I may inadvertently include spoilers in everything I say since I got the sense that both characters had appeared in it.

Mia Foster is a forensic accountant. When a company knows an employee is cooking the books, they call her to find out who and how much. Micor Technologies made just such a call, and right away she knows something is off with this company. The man who hired her forces her to work as a tech person in addition to looking at the books, making her job much, much harder. The security is outrageous, even for a research facility. And then she meets the director of Human Resources and knows things are really, really wrong. Because the last time she had seen Addison Foster, he was kidnapping her.

Thomas Strong had left the Addison Foster identity in Vegas. And he wasn't worried when he saw Mia's name on the new employee roster. She wouldn't recognize him: no one ever had before. But right away she performs the impossible; by seeing him, by knowing him, by remembering details about him - and she risks the revenge he has worked so hard to attain. More, Mia seems to know the truth, a truth it took him many years to figure out - and then rebury. He can't let her compromise his mission. But should he eliminate her? Or should he embrace the volatile chemistry between them and recruit her as both an assistant and a lover?

For those who remember when the TV show "Heroes" was really, really good this book will feel like visiting an old friend. There is that same subtle layer by layer of unraveling what is going on. We also get a look downstairs at Micro Technologies labs and find out just what is happening from that perspective. Not all the mysteries are resolved, but I had a real sense of satisfaction by the end of the book. We had found out enough that I didn't feel deprived, but there was sufficient mystery left that I was very interested to see what happened next. The author also introduces some fascinating secondary characters that I wish to get to know better.

Thomas and Mia themselves are captivating, but not easy. I liked them, I understood them - but both of them had acquired a bit of hard edge that went far into who they were. They are both loners, though I liked that while Mia doesn't let many people close she does form casual friendships. Thomas's loneliness is bone deep for a reason, and I liked that Mia not only broke through that but had a plan to help him overcome the problem and reach out to others. In the case of one character I felt that some information we learned was somewhat superfluous, but mostly the characterization was dead on.

The romance here is based a lot on a strong mutual attraction that builds slowly into a relationship. That normally doesn't do it for me, but in this case it worked. There was a reason his previous relationships weren't good in this area and that fact it worked with Mia gave her a very special place in his life. I have to warn that there is a bondage scene in the book, and that since Mia had been tied up (in a negative way) before, that might not work for some readers. I never got a sense of Mia feeling hurt or betrayed by this but some might want to know in advance that scene is there.

I've tried to be a bit mysterious here because the whole story is about discovering information that is important to the series. If I tell you, it might ruin your enjoyment of the book. But if you like romance with science fiction elements and enjoy books about characters who are different for a reason, you'll want to give this one a try.

Reviewed by Maggie Boyd
Grade : B+

Sensuality: Hot

Review Date : June 5, 2010

Publication Date: 2010/06

Review Tags: 

Recent Comments …

Maggie Boyd

I've been an avid reader since 2nd grade and discovered romance when my cousin lent me Lord of La Pampa by Kay Thorpe in 7th grade. I currently read approximately 150 books a year, comprised of a mix of Young Adult, romance, mystery, women's fiction, and science fiction/fantasy.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

2 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
2
0
What's your opinion?x
()
x