Review: No Place to Run

No Place to Run
Maya Banks
Romantic Suspense
KGI/Book 2
Berkley/December 2010

From the back cover ~

Sam Kelly Was Her First Love.

The last person Sam Kelly expected to pull wounded from the lake was Sophie Lundgren. Once they had shared a brief, intense affair while Sam was undercover, and then she vanished. She's spent the last five months on the run, knowing that any mistake would cost her life and that of her unborn child - Sam's child. Now she's resurfaced with a warning for Sam: This time, he's the one in danger.

Now He's Her Last Chance.

Sam has too many questions to let her slip away again - like why she disappeared in the first place. This time he vows not to be seduced. But one look in her eyes and the passion burns again, and Sam knows he'll do anything to keep her and his child safe. However, Sophie's dark past is more dangerous than he imagines, and the only way for either to survive is to outrun it.

The first book in the series, The Darkest Hour, I thought was okay and liked it enough to give the next book a try. This time many of the secondary characters are back but they're more familiar so there wasn't such an overload of who's who. The hero and heroine have a bit of a history but they didn't really get to know each other, it was mainly sex that kept them together the first time. Now they're back together and they still don't have a chance to get to know each other because they are being hunted and constantly on the run.

This is Sam's story, the eldest son of the Kelly clan. Sam is a true alpha male. Commanding, intelligent, a born leader. He's also a bit of a loner. He's close to his brothers, the Kelly family is a close knit family. But I do think Sam keeps himself apart from the women he's intimate with. You get this vibe from him that he has to look out for his siblings and his parents and has no time for a real personal life for himself. He does think of Sophie, even five months later, but has no idea where she is. Ha - careful what you wish for!

Sophie Lundgren has lived with the father from hell. He uses her and abuses her, causing her to fear for her life. She makes her escape and eventually goes to Sam for help. Sophie is a strong and brave heroine who is also preggers and let me tell you those hormones were a raging! She cries a lot and granted she has a lot to cry about but there were times when I was relieved when Sam or one of his brothers drugged her. It was easy to feel sorry for her, because of her background and her current situation. She loves Sam, is preggers with his child and she's not even sure if he loves her let alone trusts her. But that's okay cause they can still have wild monkey sex!

Is it just me or does it seem like the sex in mainstream romances is sounding more like what you would expect to read in an erotic romance? I have read some of Banks' erotic romances so I'm familiar with her other work. But in general, it seems like the wording in sex scenes is becoming more explicit in mainstream romances. Or it could just be my reading selections. :)

So back to Sam and Sophie - they still have a very strong attraction and find time to act on that attraction between hiding out, getting shot and the general mayhem that comes from being on the run from a vicious drug lord. They did have their sweet moments and Sam did give Sophie the benefit of doubt, against his brother Garrett's opinion, that she was telling the truth and wasn't working for her father. Sam, being an alpha, was very protective of Sophie but she still managed to escape him. That made me laugh. I think that might be a reoccurring theme in this series - the heroine running away from the hero at least once.

It's not just Sam and Sophie that are on the run. The whole Kelly family is in danger so we get to catch up with not only Sam's brothers but his parents and their adopted sister Rusty. Along with the member of the KGI teams, it made for a full character list. It didn't bother me as much this time, maybe because they were more familiar and gave the story it's momentum. All Sam and Sophie seem to do is argue, cry and have sex. The real action happened when the brothers and the team members were involved.

The story is fast pace, with lots of shooting, killing and dangerous situations. The boys and their toys are in full force with Sam, his brothers and their team members sporting lots of weapons, driving big SUVs and wearing a lot of black. I found No Place to Run a quick and somewhat entertaining read, but nothing that really stands out from the rest of the pack.

Rating: B-