#92 - "Too Far Gone" by Marliss Melton

I'd really prefer if my favorite escapist novels didn't advertise themselves by spraying fake-looking, generic, naked men on the cover. I guess I can be grateful that it's not some long-haired Fabio clutching at some half-clad belle, but it's still far from subtle. I would have simply avoided posting the book cover if I hadn't already established such a pattern of always posting them. But what was even more embarrassing was that this book is so popular that the Denver Public Library system didn't even have a copy. I had to "prospector" it from another library system, which means I have to pick it up and return it in person. A simple solution would be to not care so much what other people think of me, but that's easier said than done. Anyway, I've gotten kind of attached to Marliss Melton's novels and I wanted to read her latest, Too Far Gone (2008), and I didn't want to buy it. Apparently my "cheapness" overrides my self-consciousness. Not sure if that's a good thing.

I've been feeling super-stressed out lately and not particularly happy, and I was just itching for something easy and entertaining to read. I'm in the middle of reading Caramelo, but it was taking a little too much concentration. Melton has written a series of romantic-suspense novels involving Navy SEALS, and I've grown rather fond of them. Many characters appear throughout the books, and the plots are usually fast-paced and involve adventure and danger with well-trained military types. In this book, Ellie Stuart's three children are kidnapped and her landlord/friend/Navy SEAL, Sean Harlan helps her find them.

This probably isn't the kind of book you want to think about too much. The plot is far-fetched and somewhat ridiculous, but it's not going for realism. Statham's movies aren't fun because they're realistic. I almost want to delve into men's and women's roles in these books, the fact that I'm apparently attracted to the alpha military types (at least in fiction), and what this all means, but I'm running out of time. This wasn't my favorite of Marliss's books, but I still sucked it up pretty fast. It served its purpose. and I think I'll still read her next book.