Reluctant Smuggler by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

Series: To Catch A Thief #3
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Multnomah
Released: Jan. 15, 2008
339 pages

About the Book:

They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer…but what if you can’t tell the difference?

For security consultant Desiree Jacobs, the assignment was simple: make off with an ancient Mayan artifact and hand it over to the good guys in time to plan her wedding to ultra-fine FBI agent Tony Lucano.

Yet, in a world where no one is as they seem, Desi must decipher who the good guys are–before she ends up in the hands of a ruthless enemy.

Suddenly, artifact recovery turns into archaeological espionage, and the woman who finds all the answers must now ask questions: Who’s looting priceless antiquities underneath the nose of the baffled Mexican government? And what does a violent gang of drug and human traffickers have to do with missing artifacts?

Even with Tony on her side, Desi will need way more than luck to survive against the odds. She’ll need the truth–not just to set her free, but to liberate many innocents caught in the snare of calculating evil.

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Story opens with Desi in Mexico working as a security consultant a museum however things quickly escalate. Within a 48-hour time period Desi is robbed, knocked down, threatened, nearly arrested, takes a private jet from Mexico to New York, then rides in a snowplow in the middle of a blizzard to get to the hospital in Boston. Her fiancé has been shot, nearly drowns in the ocean and is in coma from life threatening injuries. Can he survive? So much happens with Desi’s case and the FBI case, which should be two separate cases, but they intermingle again. I didn’t care that much about the actual cases themselves, I was invested in the story because of the characters. Case wise we are tracking down Mayan artifacts that have gone missing, murders that happen both in Mexico and the US, human trafficking, and the possible involvement of gangs. As I said it was the characters that I was invested in with this book. I had to know they would survive and experience the happiness they were planning. I loved the secondary characters that were the support system, and the transformation of Steve over the course of the series was wonderful. He might be my favourite secondary character. 

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

Other books from this author that I have reviewed:   

   

In Need of Protection

Reluctant Burglar - To Catch A Thief #1 

Reluctant Runaway - To Catch A Thief #2