'Breaking the Rules' by Suzanne Brockmann

What's this one about?

Sometime in the not too distant past, the once torrid romance between Eden Gillman and her Navy SEAL husband Izzy Zanella took a drastic cooling turn. Both seem permanently wedded to mutual disdain, but then something happens that changes the chemistry: Eden discovers that her younger brother Ben is the victim of abuse by his stepfather. To rescue him from the tyrant's custody, she knows that she must reconstruct her tattered relationship with the man that she had most cherished. What she doesn't yet realize is the full saving strength of that lovers' reunion.

What did I think? 

My introduction to the romantic suspense genre was with Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooter series, and as a result, I hold this series in the highest regard. Like many SB and troubleshooter fans I have been anticipating the release of ‘Breaking the Rules’ for sometime, but maybe anticipation kills, because this was my least favorite book. I consider this extremely unfortunate as Izzy and Eden along with Max and Gina (from: Over the Edge and Breaking Point), are my favorite characters.

The opening scene was gripping, and I thought “Hold your butt, this is going to get Brockmann crazy”--like shaking a bottle of pop and then opening it, the pop explodes everywhere crazy-- but nope, it was like a small fizz and then nothing. I’ve come to expect a constant stream of suspense from Brockmann’s writing and besides the opening scene, and the ending there wasn’t in my opinion enough of it. It read more like a family drama with the Gillman family front and center rather than a military romantic suspense.

Another disappointment was the lack of presence from past characters. In the previous books the gang seems to come together to rescue whom ever needs rescuing, but this time besides a brief appearances from Jenkins, Lindsey, and a blip from Jules, everyone else was MIA! I enjoy these character so much and felt Brockmann replaced them with a nut job mother, a druken stepfather--not enough substance there to keep me truly entertained.

‘Breaking the Rules’ wasn’t a bad read, it just wasn’t what I’ve come to expect from Brockmann so it was disappointing. While I found some of the story interesting it just wasn’t interesting enough. The secondary storyline was a flop for me didn’t really get wrapped up in Neesha’s character. I hope the next book in the series goes back to what I’ve come to expect from this author.

How many stars?

Suzanne Brockmann's Website

Published by Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345521226 (ISBN13: 9780345521224)
Hardcover: 507 pages