Bea Reviews The Libra Affair by Daco

Publisher: Crimson Romance
Format Read: Mobi file
Source: BookTrib in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: April 8, 2013
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | OmniLit
* affiliate link; clicking & purchasing results in a small commission for the blog.

Blurb from goodreads:

Her Mission: Launch an ICBM

Code Name: Libra

Obstacle: Love

When it s time for double-agent Jordan Jakes, a CIA covert operative, to launch a missile in the remote desert of the Middle East, she s forced to tell her blind asset, NASA scientist Ben Johnson, that their love affair is finished. Only the breakup turns out to be more difficult than she anticipates and it s not just because she's developed intense feelings for the guy.

When she disappears without a trace, Ben will stop at nothing to find the one woman who he s fallen for hard and fast even if it means boarding a plane that lands him in the middle of a country most Americans might think twice about entering Iran.Surviving takes more than being one step ahead of their enemies. Jordan and Ben must peel back the layers of their emotional armor to overcome a series of obstacles before they can accomplish Jordan s mission. If they have any hope of making it out of the Middle East alive and forming a lasting relationship, they must surrender to love.

Sensuality Level: Sensual

Bea's Thoughts:

So I was looking at goodreads and Amazon, and I am in the minority in my thoughts on this book; at goodreads, its average rating is 3.92 while at Amazon it's rated 4.8. I gave it 2 stars. "The Libra Affair" is neither a good romance nor a good action adventure book. It's heavier on the romance than the adventure but neither aspect of the book is done well. Jordan is supposedly this expert, unemotional field agaent while Ben, NASA scientist and bar owner, comes across as idiotic and arrogant, with bad dialogue:
  

"You're just trying to get rid of me. You're not married, your body told me that when we made love. Remember that?"

Ben is supposed to be a brilliant scientist but outside of his field he's clueless, as well as arrogant, stubborn, and so sure he knows better than everyone else, including Jordan. He repeatedly ignores what Jordan tells him, is condescending to her, and then whines and complains when events go wrong. Many of those mishaps are directly due to Ben's failure to listen and to take Jordan seriously and then he whines and complains! I wanted to smack him and throw him off a cliff, into a very deep ocean.

Jordan loved the man's confidence, but if he hadn't figured out yet that she was an undercover agent, he was nothing but thick. A part of her wanted to smack him silly and tell him to wake up; they were in a serious situation, although there was something about his childlike innocence that made her weak at the knees.

"In case you haven't noticed, I've been a real pal so far. I know you're into something you can't talk about. I'm not a complete idiot. All right, maybe I am a little dense here, but I haven't questioned you about whatever it is you're doing. (This is a lie, he has questioned - Bea) You kind of look like you got it under control. But I have to tell you, I'm only going along with this little game if yours so we can both go home. Which I think is real generous of me considering everything. (You mean, considering you brought this upon yourself by refusing to listen to Jordan, the so-called love of your life? - Bea) But this - "

Daco also has a tendency to tell, not show, and use cliches. The Iranian police officer Tavaazo is a cliched villain who gets conveniently trotted out when there needs to be a complication in the story.

Tavaazo was ruthless, his expression sinister.

The action is unbelievable, the romance never felt real to me, Ben wasn't particularly likable, there are convenient twists, cliches and lots of proofreading problems ETA 7/23: I've been informed that I received an uncorrected proof so in fairness I can't gauge the proofreading. There are some genuine twists, a fair amount of action, and if you can throw credibility out the window and ignore the poor writing, it's an okay read.