Anna's Review of "Crisis of Identity" by Denise Moncrief

Anna’s Satin Sheets Romance Review of Crisis of Identity by Denise Moncrief

  

Title: Crisis of Identity
Author: Denise Moncrief
Author's Website: http://www.denisemoncrief.blogspot.com
Publisher:  5 Prince Publishing 
Genre: Romance, Romantic Suspense
Length: 189 pages
Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-of-Identity-ebook/dp/B00B5L0I7S

Tess Copeland is an operator. Her motto? Necessity is the mother of a good a con. When Hurricane Irving slams into the Texas Gulf coast, Tess seizes the opportunity to escape her past by hijacking a dead woman’s life, but Shelby Coleman’s was the wrong identity to steal. And the cop that trails her? He’s a U.S. Marshall with the Fugitive Task Force for the northern district of Illinois. Tess left Chicago because the criminal justice system gave her no choice. Now she’s on the run from ghosts of misdeeds past—both hers and Shelby’s.

Enter Trevor Smith, a pseudo-cowboy from Houston, Texas, with good looks, a quick tongue, and testosterone poisoning. Will Tess succumb to his questionable charms and become his damsel in distress? She doesn’t have to faint at his feet—she’s capable of handling just about anything. But will she choose to let Trevor be the man? When Tess kidnaps her niece, her life changes. She must make some hard decisions. Does she trust the lawman that promises her redemption, or does she trust the cowboy that promises her nothing but himself?


Anna’s Review

I loved the concept for this romantic suspense story.  The idea of somebody stealing someone’s identity to escape your problems only to find yourself caught up in that person’s problems was incredibly intriguing to me.   Crisis of Identity started off with a bang and kept me turning pages.  Unfortunately, that didn't last.

The author failed to take the time to develop the main characters.  Tess, Trevor and Jake are very one dimensional people.  I found it very frustrating that I virtually knew nothing about any of them.  The author was very slow to reveal information about Tess and her background.  It wasn't until halfway through the book that we start to get an inkling of Tess’ background, and then it seemed like a cardboard cut-out of a hard life.

The plot that had so much promise became nothing but a series of attempts on Tess’ life and the books resolution left far too many questions unanswered.  A second sub-plot was carelessly swept aside with little explanation.

The romance in this book was practically non-existent.  The author never built a credible relationship between the Tess and Trevor.  After their first kiss he declares he loves her.  Really? Why? Just when the couple  finally begin to communicate Trevor disappears and doesn't reappear to the end of the book.

The book was filled with grammatical errors and unrealistic dialogue.  The strongest curse Tess uses in the book is “jeesh.”  This from a woman whose boyfriend was a drug dealer, her mother was an alcoholic and her father was abusive?

Crisis of Identity was a good concept that failed.