TBR Challenge: Jill Sorenson - Crash Into Me

Though he’d gone into virtual seclusion, Ben Fortune was still the world’s most famous surfer, known as much for his good looks as for his skill. He’s also a suspect in a series of brutal murders that may have begun with his late wife. 
Now FBI Special Agent Sonora “Sonny” Vasquez has been sent undercover to the elite beach community of La Jolla to make friends with Fortune. With her fierce beauty and take-no-prisoners attitude, she’s more than equipped for the job, and soon she and Ben have collided in an affair that is both intense and irresistible. But for the first—and worst—time in Sonny’s career, her emotions are threatening to get the better of her. 
Could this sensual, wounded man, who is genuinely anguished over his troubled daughter, really be a killer? And could falling in love blind Sonny to the greatest danger of all?

Comment: I've had this book in my TBR since April. I've read another book by the author and I liked so I've decided to try more of her work, this being the one that, by blurb alone, seemed the most intriguing one. I was quite pleased it would fit this month's theme for the TBR challenge.

This is Sonny Vasquez story and how, being her a FBI agent, she was charged of the investigation of Ben Fortune, a suspect of killing women in his residence area, all because of the gossip about his wife's murder years before. Sonny takes a new identity and starts to get closer but she didn't count on all the drama around Ben's life, her own and the fact there's a strong attraction between them.

Ben just wants his surfing and to take care of his daughter. But Sonny brings him feelings again, along with a huge amount of problems. But is he really guilty as evidence makes him look?

This book is very deceptive. Only author's fans or previous readers know this is filled with drama and situations that are hard to solve magically, as it happens in so many contemporaries. And I don't mean the crime, I'm referring to the character's lives and what they are making out of it.

The main issue is the solving of a series of crimes committed around La Jolla beach. Ben Fortune is a former professional surfer and he lives nearby. His fame carries on, even more so because his wife was murdered and he was the one who found her. Of course, he was a suspect but his innocence was proved although suspicion follows him still.

However, his main problem is to deal with his teenager daughter, who has issues of her own, and who seems to be changing as all teens do at some point.

Sonny comes in and starts to change his way of seeing life, of thinking about himself. I liked the ay they started to matter to each other and how what they were before meeting was simple and objective, but their perception of things changed along with their feelings. This could be done rather obvious to better pop up to the reader, but there are so many things surrounding their lives that I think there's a constant layer of drama just waiting for confrontation.

As aways, there's a secondary focus, in this book is Carly and her new boyfriend who isn't just any random guy. There are a lot of personal links in this book and some are real surprises, at least they were to me.

In this book, there are many things to bear in mind, and many issues societies nowadays seem to overlook for the sake of their own problems. Other people's challenges are their own. I think the author presented some very crude visions of what it's like to live with guilt, insecurity, fears and weights that carry one's head down. I still think there was a slightly darker vibe around the story and that can put off some readers I suppose and to be honest I wish the author could have dosed the good things a bit more. I understand the fact this book is as it is but a lighter mood here and there would have been nice.

The romance ended up with a HEA which has a good amount of sweetness but not overly done. I liked how Ben and Sonny talked a bit, how some of their issues were dealt throughout the book.

This story is meant to be serious and accomplished that well. All the subjects addressed are things we all should pay attention to, so in terms of building up a good environment to the story, the author did well.

The crime isn't the most ingenious in the world and the villain becomes almost obvious from a certain point on and I wasn't surprised by who it was. Still, all things surrounding it aren't as easy and obvious to deal with and the path all characters had to take to reach  sort of positive end was hard and with plenty of lessons to be learned.

In the end, this was a good book, many interesting subjects, a good and hot romance, two sweet but impulsive teenagers, lots of drama and situations that seem unreal so much work did they cause. But I like the author's style, despite the things I would remove if I could. I do plan to read more by her.

Grade: 7/10