Sweet Talk

Sweet Talk (CAN, JP, US, INT)

Written by: Julie Garwood

Published by: Dutton Adult (Penguin)

Published on: August 7, 2012

Ages: Adult novel

Provided by the publisher for review through NetGalley.







In the 12th century, Highland Laird Alec Kincaid dealt with intrigue and court politics of two countries before settling down with his wife in The Bride. Now, centuries later, his descendants are back, keeping the United States safe.

Grayson Kincaid, cousin of Sam Kincaid (Sizzle) is an FBI officer who seems to channel Bruce Wayne. He is helping on a case when Olivia McKenzie slugs the man interviewing her for a job. He gets involved and they fall for each other.

There is a lot of stuff going on in the background, however. Lawyer Olivia is estranged from her immediate family and is trying to put her scheming father in prison. She has a new family in her friends, The Pips, with whom she underwent serious medical treatment for an unnamed disease as a child. Grayson does not exactly have a clear schedule either, as beyond his Bruce Wayne role he is also raising his young nephew.

These issues of course make it more realistic than your typical "virgin with family who doesn't notice her absence falls into hero's house and is stuck there until they fall in love" scenario that we all know and love from other romance novels.

The best thing about this book is the humour. Olivia and her friends are high-spirited and their hijinks are amusing to them and the hospital staff. She has a sense of humour about her job as well. When she meets an overbearing FBI agent who threatens her with his position, she scares him back just as much by announcing she is I.R.S. Don't we all wish we had a card in our pockets that good for the overbearing boors in our lives?

This book is formulaic, of course, and we all know how it ends. That's half the pleasure; a great beach read that will make you laugh. I was very happy to get reacquainted with Julie Garwood.