The Ideal Man

May 30, 2011
Bestseller Garwood (Shadow Music) turns out another high-quality romantic thriller. St. Louis trauma surgeon Ellie Sullivan walks in on a failed gun-dealer bust, saves an FBI agent, and quickly becomes more than friendly with another agent, Max Daniels. As Ellie and Max develop their relationship, the dealers send an assassin after Ellie; the psychopath who stalked her as a child is freed from prison; and her "bridezilla" younger sister prepares to wed Ellie's former fiancé. While two murderous stalkers feels excessive, the thriller elements help compensate for a near-overload of soap opera. Competent, quirky Ellie is a wonderfully assertive heroine who gives as good as she gets in the face of Max's stubborn and sometimes overbearing determination to protect her, and the erotic attraction between these two busy careerists makes for a top-notch contemporary romance effectively leavened by suspense and family affection.