Trace of Fever by Lori Foster

Book 2 in the Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor Series

 

www.lorifoster.com

I think part of the reason this book got such a low rating (D+) was that I’ve come to expect so much from her books. There are so many excellent Lori Foster books out there that giving this one a higher rating would be doing an injustice to the others. So even though this book is getting a low rating, keep in mind it’s because Lori Foster is such an amazing author that I’ve set incredibly high standards for her books – ones that she usually surpasses without qualm.

That being said, this book still had one of my favorite Lori Foster elements done really well – The Hero. Trace Rivers (or, if undercover, Trace Miller) is a sexy, smart, sinful, delicious, hard, uncompromising Alpha from his head to his toes (and thank God, everything in between). I LOVE a Lori Foster hero because they are so alpha, so unrelentingly strong and sexy it fires the blood. If you love Lori Foster heroes, if you love strong alphas in action, you will LOVE Trace. *Fans self* Wow. Smoking.

Unfortunately, Priscilla (Priss) Patterson was a little off. She was contradictory in her motivation and behaviors. I couldn’t get a clear sense of who she was, why she did what she did, where she was coming from – even after having her past explained. She was all over the place, and was one of those characters that seemed to act only to further the plot in the way the author intends. From an author who is always so true to her characters, I was disappointed. Also, her virginity was something that bothered me, what with her owning a porn shop. I'm not saying that I think women that own porn  shops are whores - I'm saying someone who is sexually knowledgeable will likely have had sex by the time they're in their twenties. So her virginity was kinda a questionable thing for me. Priscilla was also occasionally TSTL too, and that was an annoyance. I also disliked her nickname, Priss. It just gave the wrong impression. In general however, she was just unlikeable.

As for the plot, it wasn’t one of my favorite LF’s either. I liked it very much at the beginning – but then it seemed that there was no place to go and we simply wallowed in and waded through small, climactic elements that lead nowhere. I didn’t feel the build-up of the plot or the build-up of the romance. It was all too chaotic and messy for my tastes. Nothing seemed to tie into anything else, it was just one action scene after another with no real reason or resolution for any of them. It was a very strange blend of too much going on and not enough meaning assigned to anything.

As far as the villains go, they were well-developed in their vile evilness. Helene, appropriately named Hell, was frickin’ insane, which I thought made for an interesting story even if she wasn’t completely believable all the time. Murray Coburn, our big time villain, was evil and insane and sickening - overall, a very well done villain. At times, however, I had trouble understanding his motivation for his actions too – which made him seem like another character Foster was simply using to further the plot. That was the unfortunate thing with this book – the people were not caught up in the events and reacting to them. Rather they were creating events of little consequence so that there would, somehow, be a plot.

In the end, my favorite thing about this book (besides Trace’s delicious physique) were the lies told by Trace and Priscilla to Murray. Their quick thinking was astounding and gloriously fun to watch. It was a definite tribute to their cool-headed nature, dedication to catching the villain, and intelligence. Loved it. The rest of the story… not so much.

Favorite quotes:

“God, nothing in the world tastes better than that first drink of coffee.” (Priss)

 Trace looked over his shoulder, his attention zeroing in on her mouth, then her chest and finally down to her bare legs. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

“Does Priss know how you handled it?” (Chris)

“No.” (Trace)

“Then maybe you ought to tell her before she murders Matt.”

 Trace started on his way again, this time taking the lead. “She’s five-four and weighs less than one-twenty. Matt can handle himself.”

“Says the man with the black eye.”

“That sounds like some adolescent bullshit or something.” (Jackson)

“You have a very limited vocabulary.” (Priss)

“My balls still hurt. It’s affecting my brain.”

“Your brain is located a little low, isn’t it?”

“Sexy”ness rating: Hot. Even when they weren’t having sex. Trace is just… hot. All the time.

Overall Rating: D+

Bottom Line: If you love Lori Foster there’s a high probability you’ll love this book just as you love the rest of her work. Trace is our very loveable, extremely sexy Alpha LF hero, but Priss and the storyline just weren’t working out for me this time. But When You Dare was awesome, and I’m expecting great things from Savor the Danger – so don’t give up on the series!

Pages: 400

Published: May 31, 2011

Genre: Contemporary