| The Louisiana bayou -- there isn't anywhere else in the world quite like
it. And while Hardesty Arnaud left it years ago, she's now back and loving it.
Her job as Police Chief has taken her from the high profile world where she was a
West Point Graduate, a Lieutenant in the Army, and a survivor of the Gulf War to the laid
back life she's really enjoying. Until 2 days into the job. The body had been
there a while judging by the smell. And it had been moved. The police force
wasn't exactly up to date on their homicide procedures, something Hardie was going to have
to deal with eventually, but perhaps not in the middle of the first murder investigation
in as long as anyone could remember.
She didn't call the FBI in, but they came anyway. Nick Brannigan -- ambitious,
attractive and sexy as hell. Nick's goal was to become the first black FBI director
and his current case, involving the mob, was his ticket in. But Chief Arnaud was a
bit smarter than he'd hoped, seeing through his non-answers and demanding the truth.
And it didn't help that she was the sexiest, classiest thing he'd seen in a long
time.
The two are going to have to work together to solve this one, and that may lead to more
than just comparing notes. How are a street-wise agent and a well-to-do Chief going
to get past the differences in their pasts to create a future they can both live with?
SOUTHERN COMFORT was anything but 'comfort'. The fast paced story draws you into
a hot, sticky Louisiana murder by page eight and I swear you could almost smell the bayou.
Hardie is a strong, independent woman, and that never changed just because the FBI
showed up. You have to love her strength while she still maintains her femininity.
Nick is a character with a lot of depth -- his background should have left him dead,
not aiming for the stars. The poverty and anger he grew up in has shaped him by
negative response into a strong, goal oriented man looking to be number one, not settling
for anything else. But circumstances change, our options change and sometimes our
goals change. The question is whether Nick is going to be able to accept his new
options and the consequences of his decisions.
The scenery for SOUTHERN COMFORT was cast in stone, giving a sharp imagery that let the
characters move through the foreground uninhibited. When an author [or two] write a
clean novel that gives you a mental picture this clearly it's a joy. And that's
basically what reading J. M. Jeffries is -- a joy.
Reviewed by Sue Waldeck for The Road to Romance
April 25, 2003 |
