Devil’s Bargain
Official Stuff –
Author – Rachel Caine
Pages – 304
Series – Red Letter Days
Publisher – Harlequin UK
Summary –
Jazz Callender is an ex-cop struggling to prove her partner’s innocence after he is sent to prison for murder, and she’s willing to take whatever help comes along … but she’s about to make a bargain with the devil. Approached by a mysterious, attractive stranger with a check and a business offer, she finds herself plunged deep into a world where nothing is as it seems – not James Borden, Attorney At Law, who fascinates her even as she doubts his honesty; not Lucia Garza, her beautiful, brilliant new partner with hidden depths and secrets; not The Cross Society, who seems to be able to know more about the cases she’s being sent to investigate than Jazz does herself. With each new revelation, Jazz and Lucia uncover a world of psychic predictions and unseen forces, and find themselves playing not just for keeps, but for souls. With lives at stake, Jazz finds that every choice she makes is dangerous … even the one to fall in love.
My Rating – 3 ¾ Stars
*I received a digital copy of this novel from Netgalley on behalf of Harlequin UK Ltd*
I have to admit, when I first saw this book on Netgalley, I thought it was a new series by Rachel Caine and since I love the Morganville Vampires (as cheesy as they may be) I jumped at the chance to read this book. But after doing some research I discovered that it was first published in 2005 and there are only two books in the series.
Jasmine “Jazz” Callender has is pretty rough. Her partner is in prison serving 25-life for the murder of three innocent people. One part of her knows that he didn’t do it and the other part wonders if her judgment is so off that she wouldn’t know her partner was a murderer.
She’s pretty content with drinking her life away in seedy trucker bars. Until a cute but, very badly dressed lawyer named James Borden, gives her a strange red envelope that contains a business proposition to set up shop as a private investigator, a hundred thousand dollar check, and the resume of the person her benefactors have chosen to be her new partner.
Lucia Garza is a strikingly beautiful badass ex FBI Agent. Though they didn’t start out too great, once they meet face-to-face they click and after Jazz takes a bullet and Borden’s law firm covers the expenses, Lucia and Jazz decide take them up of the offer of becoming partners.
They start their business and among the regular P.I. cases every now and then they get red envelopes with special assignments. Nothing special but a little odd because they mostly involve just sitting and watching a certain person. But then one of the people they were watching ends up dead and that makes Jazz and Lucia a tad suspicious. When they start asking more in depth questions they are introduced to a world of secret societies, psychics, weird cause and effect rules that control the world.
This was an okay book. Lucia and Jazz are pretty great female characters; they can kick some ass, they’re loyal, and protective of the people that mean a lot to them. James was meant to be the sexy love interest for Jazz but I wasn’t feeling the sexy part. The way he was described made me think of my uncle and though the sexual tension between him and Jazz was pretty intense, I wasn’t getting him and Jazz together.
Some of the dialogue is cheesy but that is a bit expected of a Rachel Caine novel (though sometimes cheese is good!) I enjoyed the book and am going to try and hunt down the second one.