Rating: 
Summary: Librarians rule!
Review: You don't see many librarians in romantic fiction. I've read my fair share and I have seen teachers, psychologists, real estate agents, spies, singers, actresses, reporters, tour guides, bodyguards, and waitresses as romantic interests, but I can't think of one with a librarian as the love interest. So, hooray for Daisy Minor! Sure, she starts out looking like a stereotype, but from the beginning, even while she's living with her mom, you can see she has an independent streak and knows her job. I LOVED that the way she met Jack Russo was when he came to the library to get his password to the virtual library. Howard paid attention to what librarians do now, and her librarian didn't have a card-catalog loving, computer hating character, which is the popular image of librarians. And when Daisy Minor decides to cut loose she really lets go. She let her hair down well before she took her clothes off, so I didn't feel like the scene was one of those sterotypical "he wakens her to a new way of life" moments. Daisy is a problem solver, too. Even when Jack's paranoia takes over, Daisy makes her own decisions. She's not free of stereotypes: she "would never park in the fire lane" but she's got personality, and I enjoyed her as a character.
Daisy aside, I have to give this four stars because there was a major mishap in logic. If the mayor was involved in criminal trade, why did he import a Chicago cop for his police chief? I know, suspend your disbelief, but this is really stretching it for me.
Beyond that, there seemed to be some loose ends. Why the weird ending with Jennifer and Sykes, who are both minor characters and barely know each other? What was Todd involved in that he refused to talk about? Were these supposed to be setups for other books?
This was my first Linda Howard book. I will definitely look at some of her other books, now that I've been introduced to her by a fine librarian.
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