Between Rock and a Hard Place by M.J. Schiller

 Heath “Hawk” McGowan is a young, single, cop and father. Jasmine Barrett is the rock star who has just discovered her best friend murdered in her own bed. Jasmine, or “Jazz”, as her fans call her, is not at all what Heath expects when he first meets her. Anticipating having to work with a prima donna, he is surprised to find her sweet and completely unassuming, in addition to being as sexy as her onstage persona. After outlining a number of reasons why he shouldn’t become involved with her—the top reason being he is the lead investigator in the murder of her best friend—Heath finds that he can’t stop himself from falling in love.

Things heat up between the two, especially after Jazz discovers another body in the condominium’s garage, and her terror drives her closer to Heath. Will Heath be able to solve the murders before Jasmine becomes the next victim? Or will he save Jazz, while, at the same time, losing his heart to her?

So, the concept of this book was intriguing to me.  A female rock star, Jasmine, finds her best friend dead in her bed.  The cop sent to investigate, Heath, finds himself instantly attracted to Jasmine, but he doesn’t want to be.  As the story develops, they are thrust together under dangerous circumstances.  Jazz’s life may be in danger and Heath feels compelled to protect her.  Will they each go out of their comfort zones and let the other in? 

The other books in this series have been just so-so for me.  I liked this book.  I liked the characters and the plot, but I was plagued by an air of unbelievability when it came to the chemistry and the insta-attraction between the main characters.  The story ended up just feeling a bit hurried for me in that respect.  But, as far as the thriller/action part of the book, I felt that was paced well and made this book a real page turner for me.

I really liked that the woman was the rock star in this scenario.  I thought that was a great twist on a pretty overdone general plot.  Heath is also incredibly hot, awesome and really just an intense but great guy.  He doesn’t want to want Jazz, but he does.  I’m not sure he puts up much of a fight, just as Jazz doesn’t, and that’s what felt a bit outlandish for me.  The conflict in this book seemed all external, not internal.  And given their respective pasts I would have thought there’d be just a bit more internal turmoil…it seemed like they got over their issues pretty quick and that bothered me.

Overall, this is a great action packed story.  It’s done pretty well and I have to say I enjoyed it much more than the previous book I read in this series.  4 stars.

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