Behind Closed Doors (The McCloud Brothers, Book 1) Mass Market Paperback – October 1, 2003

I liked this book, but can't really recommend it, despite some great writing for the hero- he's the best thing about a book that is half great and half boring. The plot is just too cliched for this to reach greatness.Pros:This book's hero is really, really distinctive. Often in romance novels, heros are labelled grouchy or socially inept, but we see very little real development of their characters or those traits. You're far more likely to see a (unacknowledged but going by the behavior- as seen in about at least half of all harlequin presents booksl) narcissistic sociopath for a hero than one who is truly socially awkward and plain old bad at people. This hero is realistically awkward with a dash of crazy. He's really, really screwed up but in a way that makes you root for him... Except when you wish someone would kick him in the rear. It often felt like the heroine had fallen in love with a crazy stalker, and yet despite that I still enjoyed him! That is a testament to the author doing a great job writing the character. He was funny, engaging and pretty unique.The book's villains were well-developed. I really enjoyed that even though the story was absurdly cliched, the author was able to make me care at least a bit about 3/4 villains- that's extremely impressive for any romance novel! I love the genre, but the villains are generally dreadful.The sex. This assumes you like to read something monogamous but raunchy. It was so hot I didn't want to read it on the train! Even on a kindle!Cons:The heroine. She's not awful, but as interesting and unique as the hero was, I had a hard time respecting her for putting up with alllllllll his crazy. it was funny, but she came off TSTL. She's just too nice and naive for waaaaay too long in this book- this is noted in the text, and is meant to mark her transition into a strong character, but I never felt that she really got there. What was labelled as her strength mostly seemed to be putting up with the hero's hilarious ridiculous bs that no woman in her right mind would put up with ever. It's less believable that this relationship could end happily ever after than with a round of restraining orders and Xanax for all. I think that the author should have gone farther to make her stronger- not full on Buffy, but something to make us feel like she was strong enough to handle the psycho stalker she fell in love with.At the end of the day, the book's strong main character and the good writing for some of the secondary characters is let down by the fact that the plot is just a huge cliche. I was not surprised by any plot elements at any time.Last but biggest con for me was the violence. This may be a question of preference however, as I'm not usually a big fan of sexual violence in my romance novels- it's mostly handled really poorly in the genre IMO. Fair warning to readers- the violence in this series gets much, much worse and much of it is sexual. Personally just not my cup of tea. I have a hard time enjoying the raunchy sex side by side with tales of torture or sexual slavery (and its fairly mild in this book compared to the sequel, which I really disliked).

In brief: Security guy Seth seeks revenge on rich bad guy Lazar for killing Seth's brother. He poses as hired security designer for Lazar's company and finds himself captivated by hidden-camera footage of Raine, a Lazar employee in a Lazar-owned apartment. Raine poses as a secretary but is really Lazar's long-lost niece out for revenge for the murder of her father. Seth and Raine meet and have steamy trysts while both seeking their separate revenge.Pros: A really well- and tightly written page-turner. Pacing is excellent with no lags in the middle. Characters are interesting with Raine evolving from put-upon, shy secretary into self-assured, gun-toting bad-ass. Seth has trust issues and is socially challenged. He is great in bed but puts his foot in his mouth out of bed. So sex is the best way for him to communicate, which he does a lot, in fact he's darn near chatty between the sheets. The first sex scene, mostly from the hero's POV, is particularly memorable and well-done. The sex scenes are hot and a perfect blend of emotion and physical description There are a lot of them, though. I lost count at 10 over the course of a few days, but they are varied, interesting and each with a point.Cons: Raine is a busty, stunningly gorgeous blond. She's 28 and a near-virgin (i.e. has had only one disappointing one-night stand and has no experience fooling around). Sorry, not buying it. At all. Unless she took a religious vow or was abused, gorgeous women like Raine are usually not virgins at age 28. Her mother was neglectful and she grew up in London, no less. Even an average-looking woman can't sit on a park bench in London without getting hit on. This is really ridiculous. No reason she couldn't have been a more credible 18-year-old near-virgin except that the hero is 36, which would be quite an age difference. I know it's erotic fiction, but a near-virgin having sex five times a day and still being about to walk straight and sit without grimacing is a bit of a stretch. (Hmm, maybe Seth should have picked up some KY and Vagisil along with his industrial-sized box of condoms from Costco.) Don't get me wrong, I liked the sex scenes, just saying that it was pushing my believability envelope a little.Nity picky stuff: Adding two new POVs of Riggs and Novak in the final pages was a little jarring for me. Using names Seth and Sean in the same scenes slows the reader down, should have changed the Sean name.Overall this is a really good book and I highly recommend it. I'm looking forward to reading more McKennas in the future. Also appreciate that the cover is subtle, as opposed to the usual beefcake on erotic romance covers, so I can read it on the bus without raising eyebrows.

最初、分厚いから文字がおっきいといいなとおもったら文字もちいちゃかったし、あーこりゃ大変だ、と思った。ら、そうでもなかった。ていうか、いったん読み始めたらすいすい読んでしまいました。内容的には、こういうサイキックなヒロインてちょっと引くんだけど、そこにばかり焦点が当たってるわけではなかったし、無理のない程度での能力ってトコが、胡散臭くなかったのでこのくらいならアリかなっていう感じでした。登場人物のせりふが小粋で、お、ちょっとヤラレたね。と思う箇所もけっこうありました。でも、まじめにミステリーというか、事件モノを読みたいっていうヒトにはちょっと不向きかも。。。だって、ベッドシーンがこれでもかってくらい出て来るんだもん。あたし的にはそこが気に入って買ったんだけど、拒否反応を示すヒトにとって見ればページ数の無駄づかい。英語としては読みやすかったです。

Raine is a secretary working for her uncle victor lazar but she is there for another reason and that is to find proof that victor killed her father when she was young.seth is after revenge on the ones who killed his brotherand victor is one of them so seth plants video and audio bugs in raines house to spy on raine and victor but seth cant stop watching raine as he finds her beautiful and interesting. When victor introduces them to eachother the sparks fly immediately between the couple.what follows is a beautiful story about how their relationship blossoms into love, while they are both keeping secrets from eachother about who they really are and what they are doing. There is plenty of love scenes between the two main characters that shows how they feel for eachother and there is plenty of action.This is the first book by shannon mckenna ive read and it most definitely will not be the last, this is an amazing read and one I will re-read. The characters are great and fully formed, the romance between raine and seth is emotional and loving, the action scenes are good and exciting.I love maya banks kgi series and lilliana harts mckenzie security novels but this story is much better than those and I cant wait until I read the next in the series and I hope it is just as good if not better

Seth is a Surveillance expert he is covertly watching Raine Cameron, the beautiful blond is victor Lazar's new employee maybe mistress, something which does not sit well with Seth he is becoming more and more enamoured of the blond beauty. There have been some lapses in security at Lazar's and Seth has managed to get an appointment with Victor Lazar as a security consultant, this is part of Seth's plan to infiltrate Lazar's organisation. lazar is a dangerous man and a crook. After seeing Raine so many times on the hidden cameras in her house, it is something else to be face to face with this women who he becoming obsessed with. At the first meeting between Lazar and Seth, Lazar sees Seth's attraction for Raine, so hoping to use this for his own advantage he sets up a meeting which will leave Raine and Seth alone! This is a fast paced exciting sexual thriller. The plot is complex but easy to follow I really enjoyed Ms. mcKenna's writing style. The characters are well developed and not just the two leads, the sex in this book plays a very important part of the story as it reflects the mood and relationship development between Seth and Raine. As Seth is a highly volatile man, he does not believe he has the ability to love, but depending on his mood angry jealous or loving this tends to dictate the pace of the relationship with Raine. For her part she has her own reasons for working at Victor Lazar's something she hides from Seth. If you are looking for an exciting RED HOT read I believe you could not do better than to start here, highly recommend

This was the first book I read in the McCloud brother's series. Shannon Mckenna really sucks you in.At first it feels the story seems a little far fetched and unrealistic, but it just can't be put down. The passion Seth has is really brought to life with Shannon's writing. You really empathise with him. The story really grips you, the romance, the suspense, the sex!I was on the edge of my seat reading this book and finished in 2 days, I quickly went on to read the next books in the series.If you love rugged hero's that certainly have a forceful arrogant air to them then this is the story for you, I can understand some people may not enjoy this story but I absolutely loved and have read the remaining books in quick succession.I certainly recomend it!

At first I was going for a four star but the book just got better and better, some may feel there was to much wordage on the sexual encounters but to be honest they were that well written I could not get enough of them, I loved both Raine and as for Seth please can I have him for Christmas he really did it for me. The plot is of the story is both gruesome and violent but also as its sensitive moments, loved it will definitely read more from this series..