Slow Ride

By: Lori Foster

Narrated by: John Lane

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

You can’t put the brakes on love....

Ronnie Ashford needs a distraction. In the morning, she has to offer arrogant, conventional Jack Crews a job and convince him not to take it. She doesn’t need anyone’s help, thank you very much. But tonight is all about the tall, sexy stranger who just walked in the bar - and all the delicious trouble they could get into together. Too bad just as things are heating up between them, he whispers the three little words that destroy everything: “I’m Jack Crews.”

Jack is determined to connect with fiery Ronnie - in bed and out of it - but her terms are clear. If he takes the job, helping her acquire prized artifacts for her mysterious bosses, anything between them is strictly off-limits. Somehow he has to convince a woman who’s never felt like she belonged that she’s found her place - with him. And with the danger sparking hotter than the fire between them, it’s going to be one unforgettable trip....

©2019 Lori Foster (P)2019 Harlequin Audio

Loved it

Tears,laughs, and courage, this book has it all. I highly recommend this book. But keep the tissues at hand.

Repeat

I am disappointed in this book, it was basically the same story as book one. What was the point of writing another book?

Accurately titled Slow Ride

The series features hunky protective guys and skittish, prickly and petite gals who get together amid a little mystery and adventure. There’s occasional F bombs and described, but not overly crass, naughty parts. This book features Ronnie and Jack (brother to book 1’s Brodie). Books 1 & 2 follow such similar playbooks, I feel like I should have just picked one and listened to it twice. But, this was still decent for a sale purchase.

The thriller:
Ronnie isn’t so much an Indiana Jones artifact hunter as she’s a not very credible street rat who helps two recluses obtain weird tchotchkes for their creepy true-crime collection. Any danger elements and action sequences are clunky, with Ronnie repeatedly, obliviously walking into ambushes and an even more TSTL bad guy who couldn’t plan his way out of a paper bag.

The romance:
The relationship is unbalanced, with Jack being the controlled, sensible rock and Ronnie being the hard case with tons of baggage. Ronnie’s got issues with trust, intimacy, and body positivity. She’s got family and crime survivor drama. The romance side of this is Jack constantly working to win her over and her constantly insecure and closed off. Ronnie was just too damaged to be likable. Thus, for me this was more angsty and sweet than feisty or sexy, which contributed to the 2-3 good, but not hawt, scenes.

The parts that worked best for me:
I like narrator Lane for his deliciously deep male voices and his decent female voices. I also like the general concept of “action & amore,” although I found the fun, fire, and frisky to be on the average end for all three books. I enjoyed when the cast from book 1 interact and banter with Ronnie and Jack. Even though cliche, the inclusion of animals and the whole “bonding while saving the kitten from harm” schtick was sweet.