SEAL’s Beautiful Thief
by Leslie North
My review:
Opposites attract and enemies-to-lovers tropes sparkle and shine in “SEAL’s Beautiful Thief”, the first book in the new ‘Sentinel Security’ series by Leslie North. This gem of a story mostly takes place aboard a special, luxury cruise sailing with a theme centered around diamonds and other expensive jewelry.
Max is a former Navy SEAL who lives every part of his life strictly following all rules that could possibly apply to any situation. He’s detail oriented, painstakingly organized, and fastidious about everything. He’s a guy who sees the world as good / bad. Violet is an investigator at his agency. She has a criminal record, and also has a father who is a notorious jewel thief. Violet is the last person he’d ever want to partner with, especially on a cruise that highlights valuable jewelry. To his dismay, there are enough good reasons for her to go along on the cruise with him that his partners insist on it. Violet was betrayed by her own father, and she finally has a chance to even the score. She’s sure she can manage to get along with sexy but serious Max for the duration of the cruise. She enjoys looking at him and teasing him, so how difficult could it be?
I thought this story was engaging, with characters who were multidimensional and a suspense level that kept gradually rising like the tide. I enjoyed how well everything was described; I could actually envision events aboard the cruise ship the way they were described. Max and Violet both changed in a positive way because of one another and the experiences they shared. I liked the way the story ended, and will definitely read the next book in the series.