BENDING THE RULES

Author: Susan Andersen ISBN: 9780373773930 7/2009 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HQN

Tall, dark and intense, Detective Jason de Sanges excites all kinds of fantasies in Poppy Calloway. But when she suggests the three teens caught spray-painting a Seattle neighborhood be given art-related community service and he just wants to see them pay—all bets are off. With the men in his family always in and out of the slammer, Jase was raised in foster care. He knows what it takes to walk the line. And his number one self-imposed rule? Avoid his hunger for sexy, irresistible Poppy, who challenges him on everything. But it's a vow that's getting harder and harder to keep.…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Poppy Calloway and Jason de Sanges are bending their own relationship rules when they are forced into each other’s company in this New York Times bestselling contemporary romance.

Jason is convinced Poppy is a rich girl who always gets her way, when he’s suckered into participating in her scheme to rehabilitate some teenage graffiti artists. With his family’s criminal background, he doesn’t believe that people can change their basic nature much.

Poppy’s not who Jason thinks she is, but she has an irresistible urge to be a part of his life. Also, she has had success turning teenagers’ lives around, so she thinks her plan can work very well.

I have to admit I had trouble with this Seattle-set book. Something about it didn’t ring true, but then again, I grew up in Seattle and had my days of hanging out with taggers. Just because it doesn’t seem realistic to me doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a lot of fun for the right reader, but it isn’t my favorite of Andersen’s work. On the plus side, there’s great conflict and heat between Poppy and Jason.

Andersen fits a small suspense plot alongside the main action in this sequel to CUTTING LOOSE.

Heather Hiestand