Review: Naked In Death by J.D. Robb ★★★★

Description: It is the year 2058, and technology now completely rules the world. But New York City Detective Eve Dallas knows that the irresistible impulses of the human heart are still ruled by just one thing-passion.

When a senator's daughter is killed, the secret life of prostitution she'd been leading is revealed. The high-profile case takes Lieutenant Eve Dallas into the rarefied circles of Washing-ton politics and society. Further complicating matters is Eve's growing attraction to Roarke, who is one of the wealthiest and most influential men on the planet, devilishly handsome . . . and the leading suspect in the investigation... (From Goodreads)

My Review: 4 of 5 stars
I grabbed this one from the library yesterday after having it pushed on me by a friend. So I borrowed, I read, and I liked. This was a very quick read, and felt even more so due to the fact that the library only had it in large print, so it seemed like every 19 words, I was turning a page.

I have only read maybe 1 or 2 Nora Roberts books, but I never really found it high on my priority list to read more. But I really enjoyed this one, and it was a quick and fun read, so I think that I will be reading more of this series as time and obligation permits.

I really liked the character of Eve Dallas. She is tough, and smart, and upstanding and courageous and badass. She doesn't shy away from anything but intimacy and trust, simply because those things have hurt her in the past. Sounds pretty cliche, of course. But she's got heart and a soft side that makes her likable and easy to identify with and root for.

Roarke is yumtastic. He's rich, powerful, brilliant, unscrupulous but honest and trustworthy, and unafraid of doing the things that need doing even if the accepted or legal method needs to be detoured. I thought that it was a little unrealistic for him to be so attached to Eve so quickly, but many people believe in love (or at least lust) at first sight, so I can move past it. And I find it sexy, (even more than the sexytime scenes, which had me wiping the steam from the pages just to see what was going on), that he was willing to be there for Eve and support and help her.

I don't read a lot of romance, or romantic suspense or whatever. But a friend of mine is laboring to change that. I think this is the second romantic suspense novel that she's got me to read, and I have to say that I still love Diaz (from Cry No More - Linda Howard) just a smidge more. He's ruthless hardcore badass/sensitive, which is soooo sexy to me. But Roarke has many an opportunity to become more badass and ruthless, as he's in like 47 other books, and Diaz is only in a standalone. Breakin' my heart, Diaz!

I really enjoyed the plot of this one, and the pacing. Roberts/Robb kept everything moving right along, and exciting. I liked that this is set in the future, as it gives a little more wiggle-room with details and story that doesn't require walking the same path that everyone else has walked. I liked the way that she portrayed the not-to-distant future, as a far more free and open society that has moved past a lot of the ugliness that we now have, but she shows that we have still hung on to some of the most insidious ugliness that there is.

I will definitely be reading more of these in the future. I very much enjoyed it, and look forward to the next one. :)