Hard Evidence (I-Team, #2)

by Pamela Clare

After the murder of a teenage girl, a mysterious man in a black leather jacket was seen lurking near the crime scene. Investigative reporter Tessa Novak has him in her sights as the culprit...

That man was Julian Darcangelo, an undercover FBI agent working with the Denver police. He's closing in on the trail of a human trafficker and killer. Tessa's accusations could blow his cover, and he wants her off the investigation.

But just as Tessa has made Julian a target of interest, she is now a target of the killer. And as they are forced to trust each other, their physical attraction escalates as intensely as the threat from a ruthless murderer who wants to see both of them dead...

• ISBN10: 0425212602
• ISBN13: 9780425212608
• Publish Date: 3 October 2006
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 337
• Language: English

Reviews

Fast paced, action packed novel heavy on the romance. Tessa annoyed me. She supposedly grew up poor and hardened on the streets but she was so naive it was ridiculous. She continuously put herself into highly dangerous situations with no regard for her own safety. And yes I get that as an investigative reporter it's part of her job to some degree - but she was just stupid. She has no self defense skills and although she carries a gun - has never bothered to learn to shoot it (which seriously?). Furthermore considering she writes the crime beat she has no concept of crime or the consequences of her actions and she wonders why the Chief and Julian get angry at her? She writes articles specifically targeting gangs and then walks straight into gun territory and seems surprised that they try to kill her. For all she was called smart a lot - she really didn't seem it. Julian had the whole bad boy with a heart of gold thing going on. He was more or less okay. The romance itself was pretty weak. The plot was enjoyable enough although too drawn out - Tessa took a really long time to get to the point of human trafficking. Too long to be considered realistic when we're talking about an investigative reporter who writes specifically about crime. 2.5 stars. Rounded up to 3 stars because it was just what I felt in the mood to read.

[nitzan_schwarz]

To read this review and more, go to my blog Drugs Called Books

Bless my soul, I nearly forgot I had to review this one. Bad, bad Nitzan! God, look what school does to me...
~Ahem ahem~
Anyways...

I did not expect to like Hard Evidence half as much as I did. I knew it'll be a nice read, as Extreme Exposure, the first in the series, was, but I didn't expect it to be more.
Imagine my surprise, then, to find out just how much I loved the characters and the story of this book, as well as the writing and the romance.
Nicely played, Mrs. Clare.

This book starts off with a bang - quite literally.
One moment Tessa is buying coffee, the second a girl flies into the small establishment and the third - the girl is dead, and Tessa is left feeling she should've done something.
Well, she wasn't able to save the girl, but she would make damned sure her killers are brought to justice - no matter what it takes.
She is smart, caring, stubborn, resourceful and refuses to yield to anything, all of which makes you respect and like her. She's so very human and real and her thoughts and actions, and you have to love the girly yet rough thing she's got around - she has the best of both world; strength and vulnerability, softness and hardness, dresses like a girl and acts fearlessly like a guy.
I loved her. She was a character easy to relate to, and you couldn't stay mad at her for long.


Julian is the man Tessa initially thinks is the killer; he wears a black coat and gloves, and looks quite menacing.
Only he's the farthest thing away from it; he's a sexy, protective and guilt-ridden FBI agent in town to catch one of the biggest names in human trafficking.
He's strong and brave, has this sexy brooding quality to him, and you just have to love him from the get-go; more so when he starts acting so damn protective over Tessa. He might've been a jerk sometimes, but never too horribly and their fighting was just so amusing to read about.
The guy is just so sweet without noticing it (I mean, the flowers, the furniture… the espresso machine! Lol), and I loved him.


Of course, their ways just seems to keep crossing paths--and so does their tongues. Accidently, of course. their chemistry... Yum-my. Just off the charts! The two of them together were simply hot.

As for the plot- it was interesting, things kept happening and it touched the very heavy subject of human trafficking; one of the most horrifying things in existence. I thought it was much more interesting, albeit morbid, that the plant storyline of Extreme Exposure.

I knew who the traitor was from a mile away, and felt so darn happy when I was right! I thought the entire thing was quite sick, but at least I called it :P

I found it nice to re-visit old characters and see how they were. Congrats Kara on the new baby!
Also, the rest if the I-Team crew was as funny and amusing than ever; can't wait to read their stories.

One thing that bothers me a little was that Tessa left the newspaper at the end, as did Kara in the book before. But I saw why she had to do so. I do hope it will not be a repeating pattern.

In Conclusion: I loved Hard Evidence. I read it in one sitting and didn't have the will to stop reading to write small notes for the review, which is why it's a bit lacking.

When I finished reading and thought how much to gave it, the first number that came out was 5 - because it was really good, especially in light of the fact I never thought it'll be that good. I'll never doubt you again, Mrs. Clare.

I debated a bit between myself afterwards; and of course I had some complaints, most minor and had more to do with personal taste than any real problem. I wondered between 4.5 and 5, but then decided I was just kind of picking at the book, trying to find its faults, and it was silly.

I thought it was 5 when I finished the book, and that's how it'll stay.

Ciao!

[leelu92]

I have issues with this series but I will continue to read. The overuse of exclamation! points! is a big issue for me. Why? Why so many exclamation points Ms. Clare? And why do the heroines have to be so "damselly in distressy" at times? (yes I made that up). Tessa was tough at times and downright naive at times...it seemed uneven to me. As for Julian, I liked him. He had his issues and his attractive alpha traits.
Gonna keep reading :)