Lawyer Isabelle "don't call me Izzy" DeRosa is shocked to be cornered by her cousin Kendrick in the copy room of the New Jersey law offices of his father, Isabelle's uncle and employer. She was happy to have Kendrick living in far off Ohio since she didn't have to worry about running into the man who had abused her as a child. Now he's in town demanding her legal help and threatening her hard won peace. She calls on long time family friend Vic Andrews for help with security and he sends Peter Jessup, a former Navy SEAL on vacation from Taylor Security. His mission was to take some time off, deal with the deaths of two friends and co-workers, and get his head on straight. Now he's the only man Vic trusts to keep Izzy (yes, he calls her Izzy) safe. When Kendrick turns up dead, Izzy goes from prime suspect to the only person who can help the FBI infiltrate the cult-like group Kendrick was involved with. Will their strong attraction and emotional baggage prove to be the distractions that keep them from getting out of this operation in one piece?

A JUST DECEPTION is a wonderfully complex romantic suspense. Ms. Giordano has a talent for using the characters' personal histories to create a powerful tension emanating from the romantic relationship. Izzy and Peter are forced to overcome their own brokenness in order to figure out how to be together. Their personal demons were captured with an admirable realism. Both characters were strong, independent, and flawed. I love it when a romance can leave me wondering how these two people can make it work up until the moment when they do. I love getting to that happy ending, but I don't want it to be easy journey. The overarching suspense story, who killed Kendrick and what was he involved in, is compelling and provides a good challenge for Izzy and Peter to face together. The strength of this story, though, is the relationship.

I'm glad to report that a prequel to the current books in the series, Risking Trust, is due out in November 2011.

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