She Walks the Line

She Walks the Line by Roz Denny Fox February 10, 2005 Courtesy of WWW.loveromances.com Part 5 of a 6 part continuity series (Women in Blue), SHE WALKS THE LINE by Roz Denny Fox focuses on one of six female friends, all of whom attended the same police academy in Houston, Texas. Mei Lu Ling has just been promoted to lieutenant, and her current assignment is to work with an insurance investigator on missing ancient Chinese antiques. It doesn't help that her family has been in the Chinese antique business for quite some time, and in the back of her mind she is worried that one of her family members may be involved with the thefts, as well as two murders tied to the missing items. Mei Lu is a no-nonsense cop, and will have to involve her family in this investigation. However, she is not sure she will be able to do a good job, knowing how disappointed her parents are that she did not stay in the antique business. She wishes that they will take her off the case and replace her with someone impartial. When Mei Lu gets to know Cullen Archer, the insurance investigator assigned to this project and who is also a patron in the Houston art world, she finds herself attracted to him. Does she let business and pleasure mix, or will she shut him out in order to solve her case? Mei Lu's other friends in the academy have all met their significant others, but she seems to be married to her job. She refuses to let Cullen distract her, feeling that this is very unprofessional on her part. However, their feelings are mutual, and Mei Lu does her best to keep him at bay, while Cullen does his best to convince her that they need to give each other a chance. As always, Roz Denny Fox does not fail to write a romance with something more. She tends to create characters that are fun to read about and get to know, and this reviewer was especially pleased to find that she included an Asian as her main character. As an Asian American, this reviewer was able to relate to Mei Lu's attitudes and her relationship with her family. The ending may catch most readers by surprise, which is the reason why this romance can be called a "romance with something more". This is not your standard romantic novel, but that is what the Superromance line is all about. They are romance books that go beyond the category. Readers who enjoy this book should definitely seek out the rest of the series, Women in Blue: THE PARTNER by Kay David, THE CHILDREN'S COP by Sherry Lewis, THE WITNESS by Linda Style, and HER LITTLE SECRET by Anna Adams. The final entry to this series will be published in March and is entitled A MOTHER'S VOW, by K.N. Casper. With that said, SHE WALKS THE LINE was a highly enjoyable Harlequin Superromance for fans of this genre of contemporary romances. This reviewer recommends it with both thumbs up.

After six years on the force, Mei Lu Ling is prompted to lieutenant in Houston's White Collar Crimes Division. She is working undercover when her boss Chief Tanner (see next month's "Women in Blue" for her tale) reassigns her to work a smuggling case involving stolen Asian artifacts, which worries her because her father and brother sell high end Asian art. Her first assignment is to translate a note from Chinese to English for insurance investigator Cullen Archer, a divorced father raising two fraternal eight year old twins, Belinda and Bobby. Upon first meeting, Cullen and Mei are attracted to one another, but he becomes wary when she tells him who her father is as he is the prime suspect. As they work together, they fall in love, but her family remains in the forefront of their investigation though their alibis seem airtight. The fifth Women in Blue police procedural romance is a terrific insightful look at the Houston based American-Chinese community that along with a strong investigation filled with red herrings and one gigantic final twist will please sub-genre readers. The story line grips the audience as Cullen and Mei fall in love, but he wonders if she is in cahoots with her father and brother as he believes they head the smuggling ring. His twins add chaos while her family and the other Blue Knightettes provide depth to a fine tale although the final spin occurs too abruptly and seemingly out of character for the mastermind. Harriet Klausner