Fashion model Zane Stryker finds himself unwittingly involved in the underworld of organized crime after his suitcase is swapped out for a bag containing contraband that a powerful organization can't wait to get its hands on. Spared from being arrested as a smuggler by the mysterious (and attractive) Sebastian Gigoni, Zane must find a way to get out from under the thumb of the unknown people who are now demanding he hand over the item they're looking for while deciding if he can trust Sebastian--at first with his life, but maybe even with his heart. And Sebastian has his own dilemma--trying to figure out if Zane is part of the conspiracy or is really as innocent and genuine as he seems to be.

I really did like these characters, and the interactions between the two of them were the right combination of sweet and spicy. But the overall situation they're in here in the book and some of the pacing just all seemed a bit off to me. So while I'd give this four stars for the characters and the relationship, I'm knocking it down just a bit since the total package didn't quite seem to come together. ( )

Losing your luggage when flying is one of the worst things that can happen. The airline losing it when your career, and any future income you badly need, depends on it is worse. But finding out that someone has exchanged the content of your bag for illegal contraband, being discovered and marched off into a separate room, then being threatened with years of incarceration is off-the-scale catastrophic. This is exactly what happens to fashion model Zane – who is in extreme need of money and has one last chance to earn it by walking the runway, only to not find the suitcase with the wardrobe he needs for auditions upon his arrival in New York.

The description of that first scene, when Zane realizes how deep the sh*t is that he finds himself in, is epic. I’ve lost luggage before and had to deal with reporting it missed, but I was never escorted to a secret back room and questioned by a guy who looks like a Fed, gives no details, and asks the impossible of me. Zane is as clueless as I’d be, but he has no choice except to trust the stranger – at least until the threat of being arrested vanishes. Dealing with possible apprehension by the authorities quickly turns out to be the least of the issues Zane encounters in this thrilling adventure. Between the risks for his life being ended and his intense attraction to Sebastian, Zane may as well have entered the Twilight Zone…

Sebastian, the Fed-looking agent, is something else. While he intimidates Zane, the moment the story switches to his point of view, it becomes obvious that he is an honorable guy trying to do an almost impossible job catching some bad guys. And all of it because of a favor he owes a friend. Sebastian is a former member of the British Special Forces, has worked hard to move up from his humble East London street origins, and is intimidated by Zane’s sophistication and elegance. But he has a job to do, so he focuses on that – as much as he can amid the distraction of his immediate attraction to Zane.

As is customary for the books of the Wild Card Inc. series, “All In” is full of secrets, intrigue, suspense, and danger, and that is just part of the plot. What is as exciting for me as the excellent mystery/spy part of the story is the explosive chemistry between the two main characters. Zane and Sebastian click on a subconscious level, but there is so much “stuff” they have to deal with on a conscious level, as well as several threats to their very lives, that the personal relationship almost doesn’t get noticed. There just isn’t time while they are fighting for their lives! The result is an absolutely fabulous spy thriller of James Bond-like proportions.

If you like high-stakes crime-fighting situations that put the main characters in almost constant mortal peril, if a former member of the British Special Forces and a fashion model pairing up to fight a shadowy criminal organization that doesn’t remain in the dark for very long sounds interesting, and if you’re looking for an action-packed thriller that includes humor as well as lots of passion between two men falling in love, then you will probably like this novel as much as I do. Like the others in this series, I think this deserves to be a movie!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )