Reluctant Runaway

Desiree Jacobs, along with best friend Max Webb, owns a high-tech security company. Their sophisticated systems have been installed in some high-profile art and artifact museums across the country. Desi and Max head to the desert southwest when Max's niece is reported missing, deserting a four-month baby. The missing woman was an employee of the New Mexico Museum of Art and Anthropology--which happens to be using HJ Securities protection, Desi & Max's company--and learns some priceless artifacts have been stolen. But Desi's over-protective boyfriend, Special Agent Tony Lucano, FBI, extracts a promise from Desi that she will not interfere with the bureau's investigation, even though he knows Desi can no more stay out of trouble than he can fly. Desi uncovers one bizarre and bone-chilling piece of information after another, Tony, still with his squad in Boston, is on the trail of a huge DVD pirating operation and discovers that his case is intricately tied up with Desi's adventures in Albuquerque. Then tragedy strikes. Tony speeds to New Mexico--'off duty'--and Desi walks into a situation that can only end in her death. And Tony's. I'm a huge fan of this author. Both books in this series, Reluctant Burglar, and Reluctant Runaway are fast-paced action from beginning to end. The heart-stopping, breath-holding tension is excellently done, but Jill also provides for some "rest stops" where she interjects some humor or a sweet interlude between Desi and Tony. I highly recommend Reluctant Runaway. While it easily stands alone, I would strongly urge you to get a copy of Book One in the To Catch a Thief series--Reluctant Burglar, where we meet Tony and Desi for the first time. Book Three, Reluctant Smuggler, is due out in January, 2008. Jill tells me she thinks it will be the best one yet. If that's the case, I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Reluctant Runaway is full of action that keeps you turning the page! Museum security expert, Desiree Jacobs, continuously stumbles into danger, and her FBI agent boyfriend, Tony Lucano, continuously struggles to keep her safe. However, Desi's dedication and willingness to lay down her life for her friends is one of the things that attracts him to her the most. Jill Elizabeth Nelson has done an excellent job, as well, at showing the love and forgiveness of God throughout. Can't wait for Reluctant Smuggler!!

Reluctant Runaway is on fire with non-stop action. Desiree is her own woman and is not about to let her boyfriend, Tony tell her what to do. Tension is heightened with Desiree's determination to find out the evil truth and Tony's effort to protect her. Jill touches on an evil force that jolts to the inner core of my being. In certain parts, I held my stomach in and had to remind myself to breath. The baby adds yet another dimension. It's heart-pounding.

Desiree Jacobs' friend, Max, needs help. Max's niece has disappeared and over the objections of her F.B.I. boyfriend, Tony Lucano, Desi is running to the rescue. She does promise Tony she will stay out of trouble, but he doesn't have much hope she will. She seems to attract trouble, so why should he expect anything different now? Desi has other problems. A museum protected by her security firm has been burgled and an off-beat preacher with a very far out religion is twisting people's minds, turning them away from the one true God. As for Desi's promise to stay out of trouble? Forget it. Before long she is neck deep in something so dark and deadly that only God can save her. Jill Nelson's Desiree Jacob's series is fast paced, witty, and fun. Her characters are well developed and with a twisted plot that keeps the reader guessing, The Reluctant Runaway is a great second book in the series.

In this romantic suspense thriller, separate narrative streams flow together like tributaries into a giant river. HJ Securities owner Desiree (Desi) Jacobs flies from her Boston base to Albuquerque to look into two apparently unrelated problems: the theft of Indian artifacts from a client museum and the disappearance of her best friend's niece. Her love interest, FBI agent Tony Lucano, doesn't want her to go, but he has to stay behind on his own high-priority case: multi-million dollar traffic in pirated CDs. In Albuquerque, Desi finds she must add a third problem to her concerns: the runaway niece was influenced by a cult called The Inner Witness, whose chief financial supporter happens to own the corporation Tony is investigating. Meanwhile, one of Tony's squad is killed during an operation and Tony is placed on administrative duty--but allowed to travel to Albuquerque to assist that office's end of the same investigation. From that point, incident follows perilous incident until, ultimately, all narrative streams flow together in an exciting denouement. Jill Elizabeth Nelson skillfully manages those various narratives, plus the romantic fortunes and misfortunes of hero and heroine, in a way that keeps the reader turning pages. This is a choice book for readers who like their writing on the edge.