On the Loose (Steele Street, #7) in Romance Series Lists

May 03, 2008 jenjn79 rated it liked it

Shelves: 2009, info-full, reviewed, genre-romance-suspense, wt-booksale-may08, series-steele-st, pbs-traded-doubles, published-2007, stars-3

edited and added to 3/12/09

Rating: 3.5 / 5

I'm a bit undecided on what to rate this book. I could go anywhere from 3 to 3.5 to 4. I'm leaning toward 3.5, though the strong ending tempts me to bump it to 4. I enjoyed this book a fair amount, but I didn't think it was as strong as some of the past books in the series.

On the Loose is the seventh book in the Steele Street series, and the first book in the "Loose" subset of books. Most likely, this book could be read as a stand-alone or as a "try-out" edited and added to 3/12/09

Rating: 3.5 / 5

I'm a bit undecided on what to rate this book. I could go anywhere from 3 to 3.5 to 4. I'm leaning toward 3.5, though the strong ending tempts me to bump it to 4. I enjoyed this book a fair amount, but I didn't think it was as strong as some of the past books in the series.

On the Loose is the seventh book in the Steele Street series, and the first book in the "Loose" subset of books. Most likely, this book could be read as a stand-alone or as a "try-out" for the series. There is some direct connection to the last book, but Janzen gives you a good enough idea of what happened in the past for things in this book to make sense.

In the previous book, C. Smith Rydell and Honey York had a run-in that resulted in a one-night stand. Now, Smith is suddenly called off a mission to be a personal escort to Honey on a supposed coffee tour in San Salvador. Of course, it isn't a coffee tour, though. Due to a plane crash, the U.S. lost some important info that is now in the hands of a drug lord. The drug lord, who has met Honey before, is demanding that she be present for the exchange the U.S. is making to get the info back. So the U.S. forces Honey, and Smith, to make the deal. Nothing goes easy though when the mission involves a society princess, an SDF agent, a mysterious coffee grower, a crazy drug lord, a trio of nuns, and a school teacher in way over her head. Oh, and don't forget the cold-hearted pilot-for-hire who wants Smith dead.

While I liked this book, I also found it easy to set aside. It didn't draw me back to keep reading all that much. Part of that is because of the setting, in a way. I'm just not a fan of books that involve trekking through jungles or other inhospitable places. They just tend to bore me. So I didn't like that end of this book...though there wasn't a lot of that.

Aside from that, a lot of this book is just rather slow moving. A lot of traveling and talking. Not a lot of danger or action. The other books in this series had more going on throughout the book, but this one dragged a bit. It wasn't until near the end when everything picked up.

Which is one of the things I like about this book - the ending. Lately I've read so many books with super rushed endings where the plot conclusion and HEA for the H/H are stuffed into five or less pages and it drives me nuts. I HATE endings like that. I like endings where the plot resolution is drawn out a little bit and where there's a final chapter wrapping up the romance angle. This book had that. The big finish was well done, moderately intense, and worked for the story. Plus there was a last chapter with Smith and Honey to give you that nice satisfied feeling when you finished.

So on that end, the book gets bonus points. The romance was okay...I liked Honey and Smith, but I wouldn't really say either character, or their romance, was particularly memorable.

One thing I really missed in this book was the "Steele Street / SDF" vibe. The past books in this series were all centered around SDF (Special Defense Force) and the Steele Street, their bad-ass headquarters. There was a strong teamwork aspect, with a cast of really great recurring characters. It just gave the series a fascination dynamic. But in this book, that was completely lacking. Steele Street, SDF and the other characters were only used in mention (except for the final scene in Smith's Steele St loft). Since that dynamic is part of what made this series so great, having it missing in this story really took something away from the book.

Which overall made this addition to the series just a little above average. Definitely not one of my favorites of the series, but I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. And it peaked my curiosity enough about Alejandro that I'll be bumping the next book up to the top of my TBR mountain. ...more

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Jul 09, 2008 Christa rated it really liked it

Shelves: booksfree-com

This was another good book connected with the Steele Streeet series. I thought that this book concentrated more on the action involved in the story and not as much on the romance which is why I gave it four stars instead of five. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more emphasis placed on the romance between Rydell and Honey. Even so, it was an enjoyable, fast-paced book.

In the previous book in the series, C. Smith Rydell and Honoria "Honey" York-Lytton spent a night together in El Salv This was another good book connected with the Steele Streeet series. I thought that this book concentrated more on the action involved in the story and not as much on the romance which is why I gave it four stars instead of five. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more emphasis placed on the romance between Rydell and Honey. Even so, it was an enjoyable, fast-paced book.

In the previous book in the series, C. Smith Rydell and Honoria "Honey" York-Lytton spent a night together in El Salvador after Smith rescued Honey from a dangerous situation on the streets. The next day, Smith put Honey on a plane bound for her home in Washington, D.C., and they haven't seen or heard from one another since. "On the Loose" has Smith being pulled off of a mission in Peru and sent to Panama for a personal security detail. When he gets there, he is surprised to see that he is to be bodyguard for Honey as she tours coffee plantations. It doesn't take long for Smith to realize that the coffee plantation tour is a ruse and that much more is going on. Soon the action picks up, involving Smith and Honey with South American rebels, drug lords, a downed plane with CIA connections, nuns, an out of place American school teacher, and an ex-girlfriend who once left Smith for dead and is now determined to finish the job.

I enjoyed the characters of Smith and Honey, and although their story ended satisfactorily, I would have liked the book to concentrate a bit more on their relationship. The other characters from the Steele Street series are mentioned, but only a couple have very brief cameo appearances in the book. This was a little disappointing, as I thoroughly enjoyed the way the previous books had more of the Steele Street characters involved. The new character of Alejandro Campos, apparent South American drug lord, was interesting. The book lets you know that he is clearly more than he seems, and I was intrigued when I read the preview of the next book in the back of this one and found out who he really is behind the drug lord persona. I look forward to reading his story in Cutting Loose. ...more

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May 31, 2012 ♥ Vonda M. Reid ♥ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romantic-suspense

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Overall Rating: 4.95 // Action: 5 / Emotion: 4.5 / Romance: 4 / Sensuous: 4 / Suspense: 5 // Laughter: 14 / Tears: 0

When I was reading Tara Janzen's Steele Street Series books back to back, had no idea that Janzen considered the 'Loose'-titled books a spin-off from the 'Crazy'-titled books. Not exactly sure what a spin-off entails, but these books felt like one continuous series to me. The conclusion made sense because I was excited about reading Smith and Honey's story, which was to be featured ...more

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Mar 16, 2010 Sara rated it liked it

Shelves: romantic-suspense, military-heroes

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 15, 2015 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance-suspence, favourite-series, steele-street-janzen, contempory, 2015

Probably 3.5 but just because im comparing to the other series.

This was a good action romance ... it wasn't as good as steel street but that would be hard to top.

I cant wait to read the next one cause I liked both H & h.

I really liked Honey and Smith in the last book and they were cute in this one too. A great story and seems a bit like troubleshooters with the couples being in each book.

I loved steel street ;( ...more

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