Book ~ "Deadly Little Secrets" (2010) Jeanne Adams

From Amazon ~ Security expert Gates Bromley's number one priority is protecting art collector Dav Gianikopolis. But when he joins forces with CIA Agent Ana Burton tracing several pieces of stolen art, Gates is distracted by the leggy brunette who stirs up the raciest thoughts. After botching an operation that cost her colleagues' lives, Ana has been reassigned to cold cases. When news gets out that she's reopened a case involving stolen art and five brutal murders, Ana is almost killed. Seeking comfort in Gates' strong embrace is easy but surrendering trust to the sexiest man she's ever known isn't - unless Gates can show her that an attraction this hot is worth all the risks. But first he'll have to stop a killer who's bent on keeping the past buried.

I found this book very confusing.

I didn't understand about the botched operation in Rome that had Ana assigned to the cold cases pending the inquiry. It seemed like this was a book in a series and I missed the first one so didn't know the history. I've since checked and this is a stand alone book ... so the author didn't do a good job to let me know what had happened in the past.

I also didn't understand what the plot was about the art thefts ... I've finished the book and I still don't know what happened or why or who the bad guys are and why they did it.

A crazy woman killed Gates' family years ago. Why? I don't know. Was she still stalking him? If so, why? I don't know.

There were a lot of characters in this book and it was hard to keep everyone straight ... so I didn't.

After all the build-up towards the end, it just ended. I was hoping that all would be revealed to me and I'd get what was happening. But it didn't.

Gates and Ana meet, go through all this turmoil with people getting killed, shot or disappear and attempts on their own lives which doesn't really phase them, and a couple weeks later they are married and have a happy ending. I don't think so.

Can you tell I wouldn't recommend this book? You're probably wondering why I kept reading it. I did enjoy the writing style ... just not the story or the characters. I kept hoping it would get better.