I’ve read Michelle Martin’s previous two books, Stolen Hearts and Stolen Moments, and loved them. They were cute, funny, filled with endearing characters, and had enough action to move the plot along and keep me interested. The Long Shot has some of the same elements, but has more of a serious tone to it. If you can tolerate relationship games, then this could be the book for you.

Cullen Mackenzie has come home after several years spent building up his fortune, to finally marry Whitney Sheridan (I just love her name). But Whitney’s playing a little hard-to-get, so Cullen’s best friend, Samanatha Lark, tries to help Cullen win Whitney by making her jealous. But once Sam begins her femme fatale act, she and Cullen realize there may be more to their relationship than friendship. The ensuing tangle is interesting, and I really rooted for Sam to win.

Samantha is an endearing character. She is layered and complex, but doesn’t seem so at first glance. She comes off as lovable and wisecracking, but she works herself to death to save her farm. She’s taking responsibility for something that’s not her fault, a trait she shares with Cullen.

Cullen feels responsible for his brother’s death. So much so, that he is living the life his brother, Teague, meant to live, right down to choosing the same career path and marrying the same girl. When he finds he has a rival for Whitney’s affections in Noel Charmichael, he fights for her, but it’s more out of a sense of obligation. Whitney plays the men, willing partners in her game, like fiddles.

I liked this book, but I can’t figure out exactly what didn’t click for me in this one. It didn’t seem as funny as the others. It could be that I was expecting one thing and got another. Maybe it was that Whitney really didn’t seem worth all the games. She intends to marry Cullen, she’s just torturing him because he made her wait for him.

There was too much concentration on people other than the hero and heroine, mainly their families. While a lively cast of characters adds to the story (and these are definitely lively), it can distract from the relationship. For instance, Sam’s sister Erin is a great character, and the relationship between Erin and Sam is funny and loving. Erin plays games as much as Whitney does, but she doesn’t torture anyone. Her friendship and budding relationship with Noel would have made a great separate book, but I felt cheated out of that story in this one. Also, I didn’t find myself as involved in the plot as I could have been. I didn’t care about Cullen’s main objective – winning Whitney (although Martin resolved her situation interestingly).

This book is good, it’s just not a glue-you-to-your-seat kind of read. Try The Long Shot. Then try Martin’s, Stolen Hearts, for an A read.