I Feel a Glom coming on...

What is a glom, or in its verb form, glomming? See here and here.

I've never read any Suzanne Brockmann before, though she's very popular and generally gets good reviews. Not really a big romantic suspense fan, and Navy SEALS, nah. That particular fantasy doesn't appeal to me at all. Don't get me wrong, from the little I know about Navy SEALS, I would imagine they'd probably be a high percentage of hotties in real life too (best of the best and all that), and I can defintely understand the larger than life appeal...but not for me. Though I was intrigued by the fact that Brockmann has a recurring gay character who even gets his own love story (highly unusual for a mainstream, high profile author), that wasn't enough to push me past my RS bias. Terrorists, secret agents, military? Eh, I'll stick to the English Aristocracy, and leather-clad vampires.

Never let it be said that I don't try to expand my horizons, however, so I bought Brockmann's Everyday, Average Jones at work last week. First off, I should mention that I would characterize this book, despite the action-y opening scenes, as a straight up contemporary, rather than a romantic suspense. I think that this book and the other ones in her "Tall, Dark and Dangerous" series are contemporaries, and the "Troubleshooters" series is the RS. Just to clarify. So, anyway, in this book, Harlan "Cowboy" Jones rescues Melody Evans from a hostage situation in the Middle East. They have instant chemistry and celebrate their escape to safety with six days of hot sex in the unnamed Middle Eastern Country and in Paris. Then they go their separate ways, Melody back to her Massachusetts hometown, and Jones back to his life of dangerous missions. Melody made it clear that what she wants from life is an ordinary, average guy, not an adventurer she'd be worrying about constantly. But Jones can't get Melody out of his mind, so he decides to surprise her seven months later. But Melody's got a leetle surprise for him too, and I'll bet you can guess what it is. That's right, it's a big, fat belly. So Jones decides he's going to do "the right thing", whether Melody wants it or not. Ah yes, getting married for the sake of the baby, though we barely know each other. How romantic. And usually successful.

I enjoyed this book a lot though. Brockmann had both characters acknowledge the fact that they didn't really know each other all that well, and if it wasn't for the baby, marriage wouldn't be discussed. I liked that, thought it was honest, that scorching attraction doesn't equal lasting love and that both had genuine fears. Then Brockmann created a situation where the characters did actually get to know each other over time, which made the happy ending more believable. Jones, the hero, was great. Hot, intelligent and thoughtful. Melody was a bit annoying. I agree with Sybil's comment a few posts ago that she needed to get over the whole "I want a normal guy" thing. Because that guy? Was really cool. Good secondary characters as well. A B+.

So after I read and liked this book, I went over to Brockmann's website for a bit, to find out about her other books. And I read and read and read, including her 53 page PDF guide to the Troubleshooters series. I'm totally intrigued now. Besides the fact that the books and characters sound interesting, I'm also intrigued by the diversity of her characters. And there seems to be a significant subtext of tolerance in a post-9/11 world. Curious to see how overt it is. And just because she's so proud of her gay, tap-dancing son. Seriously, guess what I'm doing at work tonight? Finding people Halloween books and tracking down Brockmann's backlist. What's the best? What to start with? I have a feeling those Troubleshooters books will be easier to find.