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Undercover Cops #1
Not Without Risk
Emily Marshall has stopped looking for love and got engaged to a man who can give her the material things in life. Unfortunately while on a short overnight cruise in his yacht she overhears a conversation that tells her he's into something very illegal. She sneaks away from her daily routine to let the police know what's going on -- and after waiting in a room for a long time, who shows up but the man who broke her heart, Jim Keegan.
251 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 24, 1995
183 people are currently reading
272 people want to read
About the author
Suzanne Brockmann
253 books3,568 followersAfter childhood plans to become the captain of a starship didn’t pan out, Suzanne Brockmann took her fascination with military history, her respect for the men and women who serve, her reverence for diversity, and her love of storytelling, and explored brave new worlds as a bestselling romance author.
Over the past thirty years she has written sixty-three novels, including her award-winning Troubleshooters series about Navy SEAL heroes and the women—and sometimes men—who win their hearts. Her personal favorite is the one where her most popular character, gay FBI agent Jules Cassidy, wins his happily-ever-after and marries the man of his dreams. Called All Through the Night, this mainstream romance novel with a hero and a hero hit the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list. In 2007, Suz donated all of her earnings from this book, in perpetuity, to MassEquality, to help win and preserve equal marriage rights in Massachusetts.
In addition to writing books, Suz writes and produces indie movies and TV including the award-winning romantic comedy The Perfect Wedding. Her recent feature, Out of Body, is streaming on Amazon Prime.
In 2018, Suz was given the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America. Her latest projects are Blame It on Rio (Tall, Dark & Dangerous # 14), available in print and e-book from Suzanne Brockmann Books, and Marriage of Inconvenience, a six-episode LBGTQ rom-com TV series, streaming on Dekkoo in April 2023.
Over the past thirty years she has written sixty-three novels, including her award-winning Troubleshooters series about Navy SEAL heroes and the women—and sometimes men—who win their hearts. Her personal favorite is the one where her most popular character, gay FBI agent Jules Cassidy, wins his happily-ever-after and marries the man of his dreams. Called All Through the Night, this mainstream romance novel with a hero and a hero hit the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list. In 2007, Suz donated all of her earnings from this book, in perpetuity, to MassEquality, to help win and preserve equal marriage rights in Massachusetts.
In addition to writing books, Suz writes and produces indie movies and TV including the award-winning romantic comedy The Perfect Wedding. Her recent feature, Out of Body, is streaming on Amazon Prime.
In 2018, Suz was given the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America. Her latest projects are Blame It on Rio (Tall, Dark & Dangerous # 14), available in print and e-book from Suzanne Brockmann Books, and Marriage of Inconvenience, a six-episode LBGTQ rom-com TV series, streaming on Dekkoo in April 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 28, 2011
Rating 3.5
Not Without Risk was enjoyable thought not without faults of course.
Emily is a high-school teacher in the tough part of town, that's a choice she has made. She isn't wealthy and has to count her pennies and is enjoying spending time on a yacht with a man she's dating who never has to worry about money when she hears something that shows her that her boyfriend is not the paragon of society as he pretends to be but instead deals drugs, so she goes to the cops.
There people don't seem to believe her when she says she's not some vengeful woman and that no her relationship is not sexual except for one detective Felipe Salazar who makes her talk with his boss and they agree that the best way to get to the truth is that put one of their own undercover as Emily's brother.
That guy turns out to be Jim, who broke Emily heart seven years ago when she was a 18 year old college student. Jim came in contact with Emily on a campus rape case and despite trying to resist her, ended up on her dorm asking her for a date. Emily never made any demands on him and detected the hint of sadness he used to carry and was there for him when he shot her but he broke up with her.
They both are shocked to see each other and not happy but agree to go along with it. Jim regrets the way he broke up with Emily, since he loved her and still has feelings for her but he felt he never deserved her so he let her go. Being in her house and around her makes him feel hurt since it doesn't seem to effect Emily and she tells him she dislikes him, and then her boyfriend Alex adds to his jealousy. I really enjoyed this part, seeing Jim hurting and regretting what he had done and seeing Emily who had moved on and acted almost indifferent towards him.
Emily was hurt but she put up a good front, she told him to stick to the business and not touch her, and even when they are about to get physical she puts a stop it, self-preservation girl and she doesn't even let him rail-road her about the case. When he tells her that he loves her after they have sex, she just walks away from him and he literally has to track her down and beg to make her listen to the reasons why he broke up with her.
His job got his brother killed eight years ago and he still feels guilty over it, so they get back together but she never says the three words to him and then he kind of proposes. After this comes the part the book went down for me, after chasing her and re-starting with her, Jim becomes a coward again and hurts her by withdrawing. Hello, she didn't want anything to do with you but you couldn't have that now, you are chicken again?
Off to read Felipe's book, which sounds good.
Not Without Risk was enjoyable thought not without faults of course.
Emily is a high-school teacher in the tough part of town, that's a choice she has made. She isn't wealthy and has to count her pennies and is enjoying spending time on a yacht with a man she's dating who never has to worry about money when she hears something that shows her that her boyfriend is not the paragon of society as he pretends to be but instead deals drugs, so she goes to the cops.
There people don't seem to believe her when she says she's not some vengeful woman and that no her relationship is not sexual except for one detective Felipe Salazar who makes her talk with his boss and they agree that the best way to get to the truth is that put one of their own undercover as Emily's brother.
That guy turns out to be Jim, who broke Emily heart seven years ago when she was a 18 year old college student. Jim came in contact with Emily on a campus rape case and despite trying to resist her, ended up on her dorm asking her for a date. Emily never made any demands on him and detected the hint of sadness he used to carry and was there for him when he shot her but he broke up with her.
They both are shocked to see each other and not happy but agree to go along with it. Jim regrets the way he broke up with Emily, since he loved her and still has feelings for her but he felt he never deserved her so he let her go. Being in her house and around her makes him feel hurt since it doesn't seem to effect Emily and she tells him she dislikes him, and then her boyfriend Alex adds to his jealousy. I really enjoyed this part, seeing Jim hurting and regretting what he had done and seeing Emily who had moved on and acted almost indifferent towards him.
Emily was hurt but she put up a good front, she told him to stick to the business and not touch her, and even when they are about to get physical she puts a stop it, self-preservation girl and she doesn't even let him rail-road her about the case. When he tells her that he loves her after they have sex, she just walks away from him and he literally has to track her down and beg to make her listen to the reasons why he broke up with her.
His job got his brother killed eight years ago and he still feels guilty over it, so they get back together but she never says the three words to him and then he kind of proposes. After this comes the part the book went down for me, after chasing her and re-starting with her, Jim becomes a coward again and hurts her by withdrawing. Hello, she didn't want anything to do with you but you couldn't have that now, you are chicken again?
Off to read Felipe's book, which sounds good.
September 29, 2012
Originally published in 1995 this was a pretty good light romantic suspense, nothing remarkable and not one of my favourites but definitely still enjoyable -except maybe for all the crying but I`ll get to that later.
Emily Marshall is a high school teacher in a rougher area of sunny Florida. While on a date with her new wealthy boyfriend she inadvertently discovers that he’s quite the entrepreneur; importing and exporting the very drugs that she’s seen destroy some of her students. Calling it a night Emily heads to the nearest police station, willing to do anything to keep those drugs from hitting the street.
The police choose to set up a sting, and as much as Emily hates the thought she’s going to have to continue to “date” her drug dealing boyfriend for a while. They do however offer up one of their own to protect her, posing as her brother to potentially gain access to the yacht where all the deals seem to be going down. Seems simple enough but that’s when things get interesting because wouldn’t you just know it Jim Keegan is the officer assigned to go undercover. Jim from seven years ago Jim, Jim that broke her heart, Jim that she’s never gotten over.
Detective Keegan is a typical Brockmann hero; all sensitive and tortured, still nursing a broken heart over his sweet Emily and full of remorse over how he left things the morning after they first made love (that was a bad move). He’s also hosting some ghosts from the past and doesn’t feel that he deserves love, having left Emily to protect her from himself. Initially I liked Jim but about halfway in his character changed and he became so screwed up and emotional that he was just plain embarrassing to read. Brockmann’s heroes always cry but Jim managed to take the sensitive man-tears to a whole new level, come to think of it even the bad guy shed a couple within this story.
The suspense is quite good though (a ticking bomb on a boat always assures some fun times) while it does remain more romance than anything else. And the Florida setting was fantastic, a nice bit of escapism (for a snowbird like myself) with loads of action on boats and the clear blue seas of the Gulf of Mexico. Emily plays the bitterness card a little too long for my liking but I guess when your love interest is busy freaking out, running away and crying you’ve got a right. Cheers
323jb3
Emily Marshall is a high school teacher in a rougher area of sunny Florida. While on a date with her new wealthy boyfriend she inadvertently discovers that he’s quite the entrepreneur; importing and exporting the very drugs that she’s seen destroy some of her students. Calling it a night Emily heads to the nearest police station, willing to do anything to keep those drugs from hitting the street.
The police choose to set up a sting, and as much as Emily hates the thought she’s going to have to continue to “date” her drug dealing boyfriend for a while. They do however offer up one of their own to protect her, posing as her brother to potentially gain access to the yacht where all the deals seem to be going down. Seems simple enough but that’s when things get interesting because wouldn’t you just know it Jim Keegan is the officer assigned to go undercover. Jim from seven years ago Jim, Jim that broke her heart, Jim that she’s never gotten over.
Detective Keegan is a typical Brockmann hero; all sensitive and tortured, still nursing a broken heart over his sweet Emily and full of remorse over how he left things the morning after they first made love (that was a bad move). He’s also hosting some ghosts from the past and doesn’t feel that he deserves love, having left Emily to protect her from himself. Initially I liked Jim but about halfway in his character changed and he became so screwed up and emotional that he was just plain embarrassing to read. Brockmann’s heroes always cry but Jim managed to take the sensitive man-tears to a whole new level, come to think of it even the bad guy shed a couple within this story.
The suspense is quite good though (a ticking bomb on a boat always assures some fun times) while it does remain more romance than anything else. And the Florida setting was fantastic, a nice bit of escapism (for a snowbird like myself) with loads of action on boats and the clear blue seas of the Gulf of Mexico. Emily plays the bitterness card a little too long for my liking but I guess when your love interest is busy freaking out, running away and crying you’ve got a right. Cheers
323jb3
August 29, 2010
This is one of Brockmann's first published novels and you get hints of what she will become as a writer. This story had too many subplots for the confines of a category romance. School teacher Emily Marshall believes that wealthy man she's been dating is a drug runner. She takes that personally, seeing the results of drugs daily. She goes to the police where she discovers that the man she loved and who dumped her like radioactive waste is a detective in that precinct. The characters were all well drawn but the story wasn't believable. Why would the most eligible bachelor be dating a school teacher? How would they have met? Also, though not Brockmann's doing in any way, I found the cover looked more like a vampire gangster and his moll. There are no vampires in this book.
September 14, 2010
Eh, this book is shallow and not very good. Not terrible, but nothing special. The heroine is self-righteous to a sickening degree, and extremely stupid. The hero isn't much better. Nothing really stands out here. You could read this anywhere. It could be written by anyone. Why three stars? The characters are, if not likable, clearly defined. The side characters are just that--side characters. The plot is silly, sending a civilian in to esentially spy on a supposed drug dealer, possibly murderer. It tries to be more than it is, is the problem.
It wasn't so boring that I couldn't continue, but I mostly wanted to read on to see ther heroine FINALLY shut up for two seconds and listen to the hero's explaination.
So/so, overall.
It wasn't so boring that I couldn't continue, but I mostly wanted to read on to see ther heroine FINALLY shut up for two seconds and listen to the hero's explaination.
So/so, overall.
March 7, 2014
Pretty good story.
August 25, 2024
"Not Without Risk" is a thrilling ride that expertly combines romance and suspense in a way that kept me on the edge of my seat! Emily Marshall’s unexpected plunge into a world of murder and drug smuggling during her pleasure cruise sets the stage for a gripping adventure. The tension ramps up when she discovers that the only person she can trust is none other than Jim Keegan, the man who once broke her heart.
Suzanne Brockmann's storytelling is fast-paced and engaging, and the chemistry between Emily and Jim is electric. Their passionate encounters bring depth to their relationship, making you root for them as they confront both their feelings and the dangerous criminals chasing them. The mix of action and romance is perfectly balanced, ensuring that I was completely invested in their journey.
Suzanne Brockmann's storytelling is fast-paced and engaging, and the chemistry between Emily and Jim is electric. Their passionate encounters bring depth to their relationship, making you root for them as they confront both their feelings and the dangerous criminals chasing them. The mix of action and romance is perfectly balanced, ensuring that I was completely invested in their journey.
September 5, 2021
This is an early book by Ms. Brockmann. It was a slow start for me, but was fascinating once it got going. Very creative mystery, and two really great characters. I really liked the way the characters learned the missing parts of the jigsaw that eventually let them be together. And the last part of the story would make a great action movie sequence. Definitely reading more of this series.
November 24, 2023
Emily Marshall is on a pleasure cruise with Alex Delmore, the man she’s dating. She overhears him talking with another man and realizes Alex is involved in a drug-smuggling ring. And the only person she can trust is the man who broke her heart so many years ago, Detective Jim Keegan.
It was a good read, but clearly one of her older books. Even so, I still enjoyed it and recommend it.
It was a good read, but clearly one of her older books. Even so, I still enjoyed it and recommend it.
July 16, 2017
Finally
Suzanne Beckman is one of my favorite authors. Even thou this wasn't one of her Seal series I still e joyed it. You have mystery ,drugs and past love. Now on to. The next Seal novel
Suzanne Beckman is one of my favorite authors. Even thou this wasn't one of her Seal series I still e joyed it. You have mystery ,drugs and past love. Now on to. The next Seal novel
January 29, 2018
Enjoyable second chance romance/mystery suspense. A clever little story that works. I wish he better understood what happened in the past (a little lacking in the grovel department) but she doesn't instantly forgive him and makes him work for it. A good read.
July 4, 2018
Such a great read
Every book by Brockmann is spellbinding and this book exceeded that Right to the end I couldn't guess what would happen next. Similar to her Fatal series in exciting surprises, the main characters, Emily and Jim, are endearing and somewhat flawed.
Every book by Brockmann is spellbinding and this book exceeded that Right to the end I couldn't guess what would happen next. Similar to her Fatal series in exciting surprises, the main characters, Emily and Jim, are endearing and somewhat flawed.
February 23, 2020
This books was told to me to be a suspense/romance book. There was romance but the suspense was stupid. I had it figured out way before the end. I did not enjoy this one. Will look for a new author to read.
October 25, 2023
This was billed as a thriller, suspenseful, edge of your seat action, romance story. Sadly, the only thing that fits that sentence is "romance". Silly, hard to believe premise and way too much crying done by both Jim & Emily!
October 26, 2023
Not Without Risk
I loved Jim and Emily’s story. I understand loss and the feelings Jim had over losing his brother. But with Emily, he found a way to reconcile and accept what he could not change.
I loved Jim and Emily’s story. I understand loss and the feelings Jim had over losing his brother. But with Emily, he found a way to reconcile and accept what he could not change.
February 4, 2024
I‘m sure I would have loved reading this back in the 90s, and even now, it reminded me of the era of Nora Roberts that I never reread, but that still formed who I am as a reader!
But to be clear, Jim Keegan sucks!
But to be clear, Jim Keegan sucks!
March 30, 2018
Second Chance romance between Detective James/Diego and Teacher Emily met many years ago when he was assigned to her college to help catch a campus rapist. She was on the student safety committee. An un-wise romance given their age/stage of life differences. He pushed her away after getting shot as he didn't want her to waste her life on him.
7 or so years later after realizing the Super respectable guy she's dating might be a drug importer of the serious kind, James gets assigned to play her brother to figure out what's what. I do like that Suzanne Brockmann isn't afraid to have her men cry in books, especially when they realized the level of heart break they've put our heroine's through. A re-release from 1995, it stands up pretty well.
7 or so years later after realizing the Super respectable guy she's dating might be a drug importer of the serious kind, James gets assigned to play her brother to figure out what's what. I do like that Suzanne Brockmann isn't afraid to have her men cry in books, especially when they realized the level of heart break they've put our heroine's through. A re-release from 1995, it stands up pretty well.
July 9, 2018
Not as polished at the trouble shooter series, but still thoroughly enjoyable. And on sale! :)
February 1, 2019
SIM #647
deals
March 1, 202029 February 2020: $2.99 on Kindle
April 2, 2020
Was finally able to finish this book; I had to put it down for a little bit. I thought that the book was a little boring at first then it started to pick up.
November 1, 2020
Fun little read
January 23, 2021
I liked the way Emily stuck up for herself. The indecisive and illogical Jim, (basically a user) --not so much.
April 10, 2021
The cover speaks for itself.
October 13, 2023
Revisit Miami Vice
I think this is a reissue of an early book by Suzanne Brockman. I was looking for her trademark humor and crackling dialog. Not to be found.
I think this is a reissue of an early book by Suzanne Brockman. I was looking for her trademark humor and crackling dialog. Not to be found.
October 13, 2023
Great story
Suzanne books are always the best. Give it a try! Try the Navy seal books but Read them in order.
Suzanne books are always the best. Give it a try! Try the Navy seal books but Read them in order.
October 13, 2023
A bit of an M/F palate cleanser for me. A re-release from 1995. Not horrible, it was ok. 🤷🏻♀️
October 23, 2023
It was ok, but Emily seemed to be unforgiving and then changed her mind and then unforgiving again. Jim was too hard on himself too. It turned out to be an OK book.
November 9, 2023
Easy
Like most of Suzanne
Brockmann's books, this read was quick and easy. Just what I needed for a distraction as we begin the time-change.
Like most of Suzanne
Brockmann's books, this read was quick and easy. Just what I needed for a distraction as we begin the time-change.
April 30, 2025
predictable
Pretty bland and predictable especially for a Suzanne Brockmann novel. A stand alone novel that’s a quick and easy read.
Pretty bland and predictable especially for a Suzanne Brockmann novel. A stand alone novel that’s a quick and easy read.
July 11, 2008
NOT WITHOUT RISK - G
Brockman, Suzanne - SIM-647
It began as nothing more than a day’s pleasure cruise on the crystal-clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico. But then Emily Marshall stumbled into a deadly maze of drug smuggling and murder -- and discovered that the only person who could help her was the man who had once torn her heart to shreds...
Jim Keegan was sure he was over this woman -- until a passionate interlude at an isolated beach house showed him the truth he’d been hiding from for so long. Now he knew exactly what he had lost when he walked away from her -- and what he would lose forever if he couldn’t save her....
A cop, a teacher and a drug dealer - good
Brockman, Suzanne - SIM-647
It began as nothing more than a day’s pleasure cruise on the crystal-clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico. But then Emily Marshall stumbled into a deadly maze of drug smuggling and murder -- and discovered that the only person who could help her was the man who had once torn her heart to shreds...
Jim Keegan was sure he was over this woman -- until a passionate interlude at an isolated beach house showed him the truth he’d been hiding from for so long. Now he knew exactly what he had lost when he walked away from her -- and what he would lose forever if he couldn’t save her....
A cop, a teacher and a drug dealer - good
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews