When Damon travels to Las Vegas on business, Jack comes up with a brilliant plan to reignite their romance.  Unfortunately, her surprise visit to the Strip doesn't quite go according to plan.  Instead, she finds herself in the middle of another FBI operation, this time posing as a ruthless gunrunner.  Determined to protect Damon and his team by playing her part to perfection, Jack must trip her way (on stilettos, no less) through a world so unfamiliar it might as well be Mars.  To convince a crew of hardened thugs that she's a fearsome international arms dealers, Jack will have to fake her way through casino games, weapons demonstrations, and dangerous negotiations with the highest rollers in Vegas.  A tall order for a Utah native who's never played poker or held a gun and thinks bluffing is pretty much a mortal sin.  What's a good little Mormon girl to do?  

With Damon by her side, Jack knows she'll be safe.  Ish.  But when he reveals some shocking secrets about his past, she no longer knows whom to trust.  If she gets out of Vegas alive, the pair's going to have some serious DTR'ing to do ...

So, you know how LDS romantic suspense really isn't my jam?  While that hasn't changed, I have become a fan of Kari Iroz who happens to write ... wait for it ... LDS romantic suspense.  I know!  Whodathunkit?  The thing that I like about her books, A Date With Danger and its sequel, Mormon Girl: Incognito, is that they don't take themselves too seriously.  They're rom-coms more than anything else.  Our heroine, Jack Wyatt, is hilarious.  She's a funny, vulnerable, self-deprecating Everywoman who's impossible not to like.  Damon has less personality, but he's got hidden depths that I hope will be explored more in further novels (I'm keeping my fingers crossed for many more installments in this series).  Even more so than A Date With Danger, the happenings in Mormon Girl: Incognito are highly implausible; even still, they're totally entertaining.  I very willingly suspended my disbelief so I could follow along on Jack's misadventures in Vegas and, you know what?  No regrets.  I had a great time tearing through this fun, lighthearted novel.  Sure, it's far-fetched, but who cares when it's such an enjoyable read?  If you dig clean romantic comedy/suspense with a light sprinkling of LDS doctrine/culture, then you really ought to check out Jack Wyatt.  She's a gem.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of A Date With Danger by Kari Iroz and of the movie Miss Congeniality)

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for mild sexual innuendo, scenes of peril, and references to illegal activities 

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Mormon Girl: Incognito from the generous folks at Covenant.  Thank you!

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Want more opinions on Mormon Girl: Incognito?  Check out the other stops on its blog tour:

*June 19th: http://mybookaday.blogspot.com/

*June 20th: http://bonnieharris.blogspot.com/, http://gettingyourreadonaimeebrown.blogspot.com/

*June 21st: http://melsshelves.blogspot.com/, http://ilovetoreadandreviewbooks.blogspot.com/, http://rockinbookreviews.com/, http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com/, http://empowermoms.net/

*June 22nd: https://ldsandlovinit.blogspot.com/, http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com/, http://sweetlymadejustforyou.com/, http://katiescleanbookcollection.blogspot.com/, http://www.wishfulendings.com/

Jack is no 007.  She cashiers at Forever 21, for heaven's sake!  Still, when Agent Damon Wade asks her to help with the case of a local woman who went missing after meeting several men from Eter-knit-ty, Jack can't say no.  Scoping out potential killers is way more exciting than writing essays for English lit—even if she doesn't get to drive a sleek Bondmobile.  Jack's survived countless bad dates.  What's a few more?  Especially if her sacrifice helps the FBI find out what happened to Natalie Paul.  At the very least she'll get some free food out of the deal.  

As Jack meets with the men who also asked Natalie out, she realizes just how desperate the singles scene in Utah Valley really is.  She's been bored to death, groped by a human octopus, suffered the side effects of a major sugar coma, and still, she's no closer to finding out what happened to Natalie.  Sure, Damon's annoying, buttoned-up personality is growing on her, but that's a relationship that's clearly going nowhere.  

Jack's convinced the mission's a total bust until she, herself, is threatened.  With the FBI now determined to pull her off the case, Jack has to up her spy game and find Natalie before she, too, vanishes off the face of the earth.  If she wasn't convinced before, now she's certain—dating can be murder.  

You've probably noticed by now that LDS romantic suspense does not top my list of favorite genres.  Despite the number of such novels that are published every year, I've yet to come across one that feels even a little bit realistic.  Too often, they're not just ridiculously far-fetched but terribly written as well.  Biased as I am, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from A Date With Danger, a debut novel by Kari Iroz.  The generic Sandra Bullock-y cover didn't bode well for what was inside.  And yet, I was pleasantly surprised by the story.  Not because the tale is super realistic (it isn't) but because it's light, funny, and more entertaining than I expected it to be.  The novel doesn't take itself too seriously—it's more rom-com than mystery/thriller.  Unapologetic about it, too.  I liked that as well as the lighthearted fun-poking at LDS dating culture (which, thankfully, I never had to suffer much through).  These things make the novel entertaining, even when Jack and her adventures get a little too absurd.  Sure, I saw the big reveal coming from several miles away, but still, A Date With Danger remained a fun, satisfying read throughout.  To my great surprise, I quite enjoyed it.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything. Can you?)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for violence and mild sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of A Date With Danger from the generous folks at Covenant Communications.  Thank you!

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Want more opinions about A Date With Danger?  Check out the other stops on the book's blog tour:

June 27th: http://katiescleanbookcollection.blogspot.com/, http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com/

June 28th: http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com/, http://www.rockinbookreviews.com/, http://bonnieharris.blogspot.com/

June 29th: http://www.singinglibrarianbooks.com/index.html, http://heidi-reads.blogspot.com/, http://www.wishfulendings.com/

June 30th: http://ldsandlovinit.blogspot.com/, http://literarytimeout.blogspot.com/, http://melsshelves.blogspot.com/, http://empowermoms.net/

July 1st: http://mybookaday.blogspot.com/, http://littlelightdesigncollective.com/, http://www.blogginboutbooks.com/, http://booksaresanity.blogspot.com/

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