Fatal Affair (Fatal, #1) in J.D. Robb

Jul 17, 2010 Anne OK rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Marie Force is one of my favorite authors. She writes wonderful and entertaining contemporary romance. In "Fatal Affair," she has written an intelligently well-developed suspenseful plot containing twists and turns that will keep you guessing from the beginning until near the end who committed the murder of a United States Senator. The characters, both main and secondary, are superb and well-defined. The chemistry between the two main characters is absolutely sizzling. Although the mystery is fr ...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Jen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, force

Sam and Nick

So if I hadn't have read the In Death series first I probably would have adored this one. But it seems like a knock off of Eve and Roarke. Like Eve and Roarke but less. It is still good and I jumped right in to book 2, but its not Eve and Roarke. ...more

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Jul 31, 2010 TinaNoir rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thiller-suspense, z2010-reads, romance-contemporary

US senator John O'Connor is murdered in his home and Detective Samantha Holland is given the case. Sam needs vindication badly because she was the detective that ordered the shooting on a crack house the resulted in the death of a child.

As she gets to the crime scene she runs smack into Nick Cappuano, O'Connor's chief of staff and the guy she had a memorable one night stand with 6 years earlier. The two reconnect while solving the murder.

This book was a definite page turner with the suspense el US senator John O'Connor is murdered in his home and Detective Samantha Holland is given the case. Sam needs vindication badly because she was the detective that ordered the shooting on a crack house the resulted in the death of a child.

As she gets to the crime scene she runs smack into Nick Cappuano, O'Connor's chief of staff and the guy she had a memorable one night stand with 6 years earlier. The two reconnect while solving the murder.

This book was a definite page turner with the suspense element being the strongest part of the book. There were plenty of suspects although I was a little disappointed in the resolution.

The romance part of the book was also very nice. Sam and Nick had a great connection and I like the fact that they didn't play around. They got right to the point, they acknowledged their feelings and began to work through new couple issues.

I had the biggest problem, though with some plotting elements and characterizations.

First I thought there was too much going on. Sam was working on the murder plus the fallout from the crack shooting incident plus her crazy ex husband plus a vindictive superior. All these things wouldn't necessarily have been so bad, but at least two of them were actively trying to kill her.

Second, sometimes I thought the characters just didn't act logically. Sam dragged Nick to various witness interviews when he was not only a civilian but could have still have been construed by some as a viable suspect.

Nick gets upset because when a shooter opens fire in a public place, she pushes him down and won't let him protect her. Uh, dude, she's a cop. That's her job. There seemed to be a disconnect between that. Nick seemed determinedly oblivious to the fact that her job is dangerous. And Sam wasn't forceful enough, imo, in making him face that fact.

And O'connor really had to be the dumbest senator in the world. His old brother disgraces himself and loses any chance of even running for senate because he was picked up on a DUI charge before he announced his candidacy, and yet O'connor is basically a slut who has rough sex and threesomes and gives out his home keys like Halloween candy to his various women with whom he never has more than a one-week relationship.

I only guessed the identity of the killer very late in the book, so that was a plus. But I was never completely sold on the guilty party's motive. We did get the why, but it never really resonated because absent any other concrete characterization of this person, the murder seemed extreme for the motive. I like it best when the murderer is revealed and you can immediately think back to hints dropped in the book and see why this is the case. That didn't happen here.

Overall not a complete hit out the ball park but still an engaging read. ...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Wendy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sep-15

I really enjoyed this 1st book in her Fatal series!

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Aug 29, 2012 Ria Lize rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5/5 stars

I can now proudly say that in the middle of ~~preparing~~ cramming for a test, finishing off an assignment and getting sick, I have finished this book. :D

Honestly, I felt that I would've enjoyed it a lot more if I hadn't read the In Death series. It wasn't like I was actively looking for similarities, but some parts jumped out to me were:

#1 : "I never get to be bad cop... It's so not fair." -Freddie

o.o Reminds me of Peabody/Eve with the bad cop/good cop.

#2: "You need to eat and you need t ...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Sheery rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, romantic-suspense

This is the first book I've read by Marie Force and I will certainly be reading more. I really like the pace of this book and the mystery was fantastic. Even better is the relationship between the two main characters - Samantha Holland and Nicholas Cappuano. They are really likable, honest characters. They are flawed human beings trying to find their way to happiness. I am so glad that there are more books in this series to enjoy. ...more

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Mar 24, 2011 Mrs. Badass rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romantic-suspense, own-but-not-read-yet, kindle, cheap-ebooks

When Chief of Staff Nick Cappuano went to rouse his best friend, Senator John O'Connor out of bed, he wasn't expecting to find the man everyone loved--to have been murdered in that bed.

Sergeant Detective Samantha Holland is fresh off administrative leave due to a drug shooting gone wrong, resulting in the death of child. Driven to prove herself to the media, and the former chief of police {her father} she is the lead detective on the O'Connor Homicide.

One night six years ago, Sam and Nick had a ...more

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Jan 13, 2015 Nicky rated it liked it · review of another edition

A pretty good start to the series. I like the characters. They're flawed, but likeable. And they're a pretty interesting couple. ...more

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May 09, 2021 ☘KathyD☘ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-audible, genre-romance, zz-2021, genre-romance-series, character-in-uniform, book-kindle, genre-contemporary, genre-suspense, pages-300-399, genre-erotica

What a great story! I couldn’t help but notice some parallels between the In Death series, but this is certainly not the same series. Both include strong female law enforcement characters who struggle with inner demons. This book intertwines politics with family with secrets and lies. While there is a lot going on in this first installment, it all flows well to a great conclusion. I read the short novella that provided the background for Sam’s and Nick’s relationship, but it wasn’t necessary to ...more

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