To Catch A Bad Guy

by Marie Astor

Publish Date: August 10, 2012

Rory’s Rating: 

From Goodreads:

Janet Maple’s stellar career ended with a lay off and her boyfriend of five years told her that he wants to be just friends. When she lands a job at one of New York’s premier boutique investment firms, Janet begins to hope that her luck is finally turning for the better. Not only is she happy with her new paycheck, but things also seem to be looking up on the personal front, as the company’s handsome attorney expresses keen interest in Janet. However, her euphoria is short-lived, as Janet soon discovers alarming facts about her new employer’s business tactics. When her boss dismisses her suspicions as groundless, Janet finds herself confiding to a cute IT engineer, Dean Snider. The closer she gets to Dean, the more Janet is tempted to break her rule of not dating co-workers, but what she doesn’t realize is that everything she knows about Dean, including his occupation and even his name, is a lie.

Dennis Walker is a top-notch white collar crime investigator who will stop at nothing to put culprits away. When an opportunity for an undercover assignment at one of New York’s premier boutique broker dealers comes up, Dennis jumps at the chance, adopting a persona of geeky IT engineer, Dean Snider. While he may be an ace at his job, years of experience fail him when Dennis meets Janet Maple and finds himself torn between his professional obligations and his personal desires. Will he have to choose between his feelings and duty, or will he find a way to satisfy both?

Rory’s Review:

Janet Maple is not having the best year of her life. Her boyfriend dumped her, took credit for her research and hard work, and then had her fired (or downsized). So she counts her lucky stars when her best friend from high school and fellow lawyer offers a well paying job in a respected investment firm. However, her former best friend hasn’t grown up and is the same snarky, backhanded compliment giving girl from high school and the firm she was hired at – well things just look too good to be true. This, of course, means they usually are. Maybe this ideal job isn’t so ideal after all. Then she meets the slight nerdy, cute guy from IT and he just keeps bumping into her. Is Dean enough to make the job worthwhile? And what is really going on behind those mysterious company transactions?

To Catch a Bad Guy by Marie Astor is intelligent chick lit. It’s fluffy enough to be fun, but you just might learn a few things about the investment industry as well. Janet is intelligent hard looking woman. She is attractive, but is not so drop dead gorgeous as to not be relatable. She likes to dress up, but practical suits are, well, more practical. She is not the girl who walking across New York City in Manolos without breaking a sweat (or at least wobbling a bit) and that makes her that much more likeable. Dean (or Dennis) is an attractive undercover IT guy who takes more than a passing interest in Janet. I’m glad this is a series because I want to know where they go. While there was attraction, there wasn’t much romance in this first entry into this series, but I am hoping book two provides more fun for Janet and Dean/Dennis. If you’re looking for a light, fun series with an intelligent lead, you might want to give Marie Astor’s To Catch a Bad Guy a try. It can be a little dry when it gets into the more technical aspects of Janet’s job, but if it sounds like something you might like – it’s worth giving a try!