REVIEW: The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood

Author: Julie Garwood

Pages: 352

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Dutton Adult

AMAZON: The Ideal Man 

The Ideal Man was kindly provided to me by Netgalley 

Release Date: 9th August 2011

Synopsis: (Goodreads)

Julie Garwood is among the most critically acclaimed—and popular—romance authors around, with thirty-six million copies of her books in print. And now, with The Ideal Man, Garwood is poised to expand that already huge audience.

Dr. Ellie Sullivan has just completed her residency at a large urban hospital. While jogging in a park nearby, she witnesses the shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of wanted criminals, a couple identified as the Landrys. The only person to see the shooter’s face, Ellie is suddenly at the center of a criminal investigation.

Agent Max Daniels takes over the Landry case. A no-nonsense lawman, he’s definitely not the ideal man that Ellie has always imagined, yet she’s attracted to him in a way she can’t explain.

Ellie heads home to Winston Falls, South Carolina, to attend her sister’s wedding. Shortly after she arrives, though, she receives a surprise visitor: Max Daniels. The Landrys have been captured, and she’ll be called to testify. But they’ve been captured before, and each time the witnesses are scared into silence—or disappear before they can take the stand. Max vows to be Ellie’s shadow until the trial, and it isn’t long before sparks fly.

REVIEW: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Ideal Man is the first book I have read by Julie Garwood and it definitely won’t be my last.

Dr. Ellie Sullivan is seemingly perfect; she grew up a child genius and is now a successful trauma surgeon. Whilst out running at a park close to the hospital at the end of a long shift, she witnesses an FBI agent being shot and glimpses those responsible – a couple known as the Landry’s who are wanted for weapons dealings.

Agent Max Daniels is an FBI agent and has been working on solving the Landry case for some time. He is extremely attracted to everything about Ellie so assigns himself as her protector now she is a key-witness; he is also aware of her past which is another reason for him to keep her safe. I loved Max as a character, we don’t learn enough about him but his sense of humor, honor and protective streak kept me interested.

Ellie has lived in fear for most of her life, being the victim of a malicious stalker since she was 11yo which has made her reluctant to make long-standing decisions. Memories of her past are clear in her mind when she has to return to her hometown of Winston Falls to attend her sisters wedding.

The suspense appears to take a back-seat in this story as we are already aware of the villains from the start, the focus is more on protecting, evading and eventually capturing the bad guys.

I loved the way Max looked out for Ellie, she was head-strong and determined but he broke through her barriers in order to keep her safe. I loved them as a couple and the smexy scenes were hot!

I really enjoy Ms Garwood’s descriptive writing style, the dialogue kept me interested as did the pacing; I was always wondering what would happen, not only with the bad guys but also with Max & Ellie as a couple, they were both reluctant to pursue an ongoing relationship so seeing how it panned out kept me wanting to turn the pages.

What I didn’t enjoy was the wedding saga! Her sister Ava is marrying Ellie's ex-fiancé which had certainly caused a rift between the sisters & could have been a story in itself, Ava was mean and demanding and I think too much emphasis was placed on the families drama and the days planning; there was also another sub-story of her other sister Annie, a lawyer & Ava’s twin where we see her dealing with an unexpected pregnancy and a search for the father – I didn’t feel these sub-plots were needed to enhance the main story-line, it took away from the main focus.

The Ideal Man is not a typical Romantic Suspense but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

I look forward to reading more books by Julie Garwood.