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Story_Lover9
Posted July 8, 2010
Sey's debut novel Money, Honey, a light romantic suspense, shows how to give, and make the most of, second (and even third) chances.
Patrick O'Connor gave up a successful career as a jewel thief to keep his little sister, Mara, out of jail. To do that he betrayed his partner, Villanueva, who has now, six years later, left his Central American hideaway bent on revenge. Patrick returns to Minnesota to help his sister, ostensibly to find a counterfeiter in the casino and restaurant she owns with her husband, but more important to protect Mara and her family from Villanueva.
Returning to Minnesota means Patrick must again work with FBI agent Liz Brynn, the only woman he has wanted but couldn't have. As part of the plea bargain to keep Mara out of jail he served as Liz's weasel for three years. Liz is full of surprises, not least the contrast between her off the rack black work suits and her closet full of vintage designer dresses.
Liz works the counterfeiting case by the rules, but Patrick prefers to do things his way. He starts by forcing a move up from weasel to paid civilian consultant and continues until he gives Villanueva the punishment he most deserves
Sey's characters - a drool-worthy hero (but not on his $3,000 suits or cashmere sweaters, please!), an FBI agent with secrets, a plucky sister, a teenager gone astray, an energetic toddler, a knife-wielding villain and a tall, slender Secret Service agent - could be cliché in other hands, but Sey keeps them fresh and unpredictable. The characters kept me turning the pages and left me sorry when the book ended.
I have few authors on my Automatic Buy List; Sey is a welcome addition. I look forward to her next novel.
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Posted August 2, 2010
Money, Honey, by Susan Sey
This is the first book for author Susan Sey, but it doesn't read like a debut novel. It reads like it's her fifth. The characters are well fleshed-out, with tantalizing tastes of a back story that itches to be explored.
This book has a heroine (Elizabeth Brynn) who works for the FBI and dresses in ill-fitting, boring pants at the office, and has a secret collection of high-end, vintage cocktail dresses at home. Her personal background is just as disparate. Her first ten years were spent with her father in a cult that believes in child brides and complete obedience to males. Rescued just in the nick of time by the government authorities, she spends the rest of her childhood with her extremely wealthy grandmother, finishing school and all. She works for a living when she doesn't have to and never tells anyone about her early past.
When a counterfeiter causes trouble in her jurisdiction, she is put on the case and forced to accept Patrick O'Connor as part of the team. O'Connor is a highly successful crime novelist who used to be a jewel thief until Brynn arrested his sister. He spent three years as an informant to the feds before he broke free and went into writing. He's never been able to get Liz Brynn quite out of his system. He also loves expensive clothes, but he doesn't keep it secret.
The counterfeiter is passing bad bills at the businesses run by O'Connor's sister and her husband. Patrick is determined to protect his family and to investigate a possible hook-up with Liz. Liz is determined to be taken seriously, despite her family's wealth and her early childhood. Mara (Patrick's sister) is determined to get her bachelor brother fixed up with someone, while raising her 2-year-old daughter and making her businesses succeed.
Add to this mix some humor, some sizzle, the toddler getting jammy hands all over Uncle Patrick's expensive wardrobe, and the criminal mastermind behind the O'Connors' early careers being on a mission to kill them and everyone they love---and you've got an entertaining read.
This is an amusing romantic police procedural starring two likable lead characters who belong together if the heroine can see passed her childhood based biases. The investigation is fun due to the squabbling between Liz and Patrick; as each knows the other places them on constant edgy tension by just being near each other. With some late suspense to round out the fun Minnesota thriller, fans will want to read this entertaining investigative romance.
Harriet Klausner
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Overview
FBI Agent Elizabeth Brynn reluctantly goes undercover with "retired" professional criminal Patrick O'Connor to bust a counterfeiter-only to find herself tempted by him to get under the covers.