Title: The Ideal Man
Series: FBI bk
Author: Julie Garwood
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Dr. Ellie Sullivan has just completed her residency at a large urban hospital. While jogging in a park nearby, she witnesses the shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of wanted criminals, a couple identified as the Landrys. The only person to see the shooter’s face, Ellie is suddenly at the center of a criminal investigation.
Agent Max Daniels takes over the Landry case. A no-nonsense lawman, he’s definitely not the ideal man that Ellie has always imagined, yet she’s attracted to him in a way she can’t explain.
Ellie heads home to Winston Falls, South Carolina, to attend her sister’s wedding. Shortly after she arrives, though, she receives a surprise visitor: Max Daniels. The Landrys have been captured, and she’ll be called to testify. But they’ve been captured before, and each time the witnesses are scared into silence-or disappear before they can take the stand. Max vows to be Ellie’s shadow until the trial, and it isn’t long before sparks fly.
When Julie first started writing a contemporary series I wasn’t’ sure how I was going to like it, as I absolutely loved her historical. However after several books in this series (most of the characters being descendants of those beloved historical characters) I have to say that I love these just as much as her historical.
Ellie is a prodigy doctor (not quite Doogie Howser) and has lived in terror since she was eleven because of a crazy stalker. So when she witnesses an FBI agent get shot it doesn’t really phase her danger that she could be from the bad guys. For her the real danger is Max the FBI agent that comes to take her statement and that for some reason has decided that he needs to protect her.
When it looks like she isn’t in any danger she heads home for her sister’s wedding, and away from Max and the feelings that he invokes in her. Little does she know that her life is about to turned upside down yet again. For one thing she absolutely doesn’t want to be in her sister’s wedding and in fact can’t stand her sister (have to say I can’t blame, I didn’t like her either). Then Max shows up and while in some aspects it get better in others it gets worse.
Max is one of those heroes that you want to take home with you at the end of the day. When he first meets Ellie he can’t get past her legs, then he reads her background and gets mad and wants to protect her, then he goes to her hometown instead of Hawaii to protect her from the bad guys and gets entangled in her family.
One of the things that I loved about Max is his story (no I am not going to share you have to discover it on your own) and Ellie’s reaction to his family is priceless. I especially loved how Max talks on the phone to his brothers.
When I think about this book what comes to mind is that this book has everything that I as an avid reader of romance want. A plot that moves along great that adds to the characters. Great characters that had this instantaneous attraction to each other that bordered on the edge of bafflement for both of them.
I do have to say that while I enjoyed the whole book the last half of the book was my favorite.
If you are a fan of Julie’s then you won’t want to miss this book, and if you haven’t yet discovered the awesomeness that is Julie Garwood well then this is a great place to start.
Grade A
Other Books in this Series
The way the declaration of love took place made me laugh! I really enjoyed this book. I think you are very right in saying that it has all the elements a romance reader needs in her books. Awesome review!
Hi Heather,
Thanks for this~ I love Julie and am always excited to read her latest book.
This one is fab. Cheers~
Good Morning,
It was Great meeting you both at RomCon 2011. I just ordered “The Ideal Man” on Amazon last night. I am looking forward to reading Julie’s book. It has been a long while since her last. I was having withdrawal symtoms.
Have a Wonderful Week and Get Lot’s of Rest.
Nancy D.