HEADED FOR TROUBLE – Suzanne Brockmann
A Troubleshooters Anthology
Troubleshooters Series #18
Ballantine Books
ISBN-13:  978-0-345-52125-3
May 2013
Romantic Suspense

Wherever Help Is Needed – The Last Thirteen Years

For those of you who have read any of the Troubleshooters series since Suzanne Brockmann started it in 1999, we have met and fallen in love with many of her characters...Alpha SEALS and the women who love them.  Here Ms. Brockmann has compiled more of a notebook interspersed with short stories from her books, plus brand new tales.

First there is a timeline when each book was published, the hero and heroine, the secondary romances (almost every book has two stories in one), a short synopsis of the storyline, and sometimes there is even a subplot not necessarily a romance.  If you've missed a story or want to reread a certain one, this is an easy way to remember which of her great stories deserves to be found, looked up, or read again if you're lucky enough to have it on your bookshelf.  (Of course, you would never have gotten rid of one of Suzanne's novels!)

There are several short stories from her books, with interviews of Suzanne and her characters (they know how to tell when they're next to find their true love, and fight for the honor).  The Glossary of Troubleshoots Terms has almost every military word or acronym you could imagine, some with comments.  After reading this, you can hold a conversation with anyone who was in the military and know what they're talking about…well, maybe.

We once again meet Sam Starrett and Alyssa, probably Suzanne's two best, well-known and beloved characters, followed closely by Jules and Robin.  Ms. Brockmann was never afraid to mention hot topics like gays in the military, gay marriage, and friendship and love between a SEAL and a gay FBI agent.  Her family background has enabled her to write with depth of love and caring of the longings in Jules's heart for a love of his own, and he had to go through several books and years before he got even the hint of a love he wanted and knew he deserved.

I'm sure any characters you loved or followed in the Troubleshooters series is included here, even one I never read about, who is the only one I know who was killed in the line of service.  Suzanne even mentions she is still thinking of his widow and hoping she has a happily-ever-after of her own.

To complete the anthology is Shane's Last Stand, an e-format short story from Ms. Brockmann's new Fighting Destiny series.  The Troubleshooters series may be done for now, but it's not forgotten, and who knows when one of the characters will come to Ms. Brockmann and demand just one more story? Aficionados of the Troubleshooters and Suzanne Brockmann won't go wrong with this anthology/guidebook to everything Troubleshooters.

Carolyn Crisher