Twice Tempted

Swift paced, suspense and action scenes very well done. Annie Ryan, a bounty hunter stumbles upon a double instead of her authorized quarry, and ruins a perfect undercover investigation involving an innocent FBI agent. They team to correct the error and team as they learn more about each other.

Almost two years ago, Harper Allen impressed with her wonderful first novel, "The Man That Got Away." Her second book, "Twice Tempted," is even better. This is one book no romantic suspense fan will want to miss out on.Bounty hunter Annie Ryan met her match in jewel thief Liam "Lucky" Logan. Right when she thought she had him, the charming Lucky turned up the heat...and got away. The last thing she expected was for him to appear on her doorstep the next day. Or had he? FBI agent Matt Logan looked like his twin brother, but that was where the similarities ended. The by-the-book agent wanted to find Lucky, too, along with the priceless jewel he'd stolen. But that didn't stop the spunky Annie from getting under his skin, or him from under hers."Twice Tempted" is similar in style to the classic "Catspaw" books and should win fans of both those books and anyone who enjoyed "The Thomas Crown Affair" last summer. A caper full of surprises, Allen has more than one trick up her sleeve that will keep readers wondering how she's going to resolve it in the end. The sexual tension makes this one of the sexier Intrigues to come out recently. This is one steamy book! The Boston setting adds unique flavor, and the relationship between Annie and her family offers some moving moments. The book also has one of the best uses of cliffhangers at the ends of chapters that I've read recently. Almost every chapter ends with a surprise twist that sends the story in another direction and raises the odds. Pretty soon, the idea of reading "just one more chapter" has become meaningless, since the temptation to keep going on to find out what happens next is too great. It kept me up all night. I could not have been happier.The only problem with the book is Harlequin's strange decision to run a letter from the editor on the second page like Silhouette does, instead of offering an author biography and backlist. I don't know why they want to copy what other lines do, but a list of previous books would be more handy for readers sure to be looking for Allen's other books. The year 2000 is not here yet. "Twice Tempted" is still a strong contender for the best 2000 Intrigue. I loved it.