Dangerous Obsession
Dangerous Obsession (Security Specialists #3)
By: Jessica R. Patch
[Fulfills prompt: ‘A book by my auto-read author’ for the Shelf Reflection 2026 Reading Challenge]
“She was at war for her life with a stalker. She didn’t need to be at war for her heart with her boss.”
Book covers don’t always sway me when it comes to reading a book or not. But then there are times when a book cover really makes me drag my feet to pick it up. This is one of those books. It’s partly the style of image, but it’s also the banner at the top that says ‘love inspired suspense’ in flowery lettering.
There is a whole genre and website dedicated to ‘love-inspired suspense’ and so I’m sure there is some continuity with the book cover designs and all that and an audience who eats it up!
Personally, that’s not my favorite kind of book. I don’t mind a romance subplot but I generally prefer it to be paired with historical fiction, fantasy, humor, or even science fiction. Not thrillers.
I don’t know why. Perhaps it feels like a distraction from the action, and usually an unrealistic distraction.
All that to say: I didn’t read this book because I loved the cover or because I love ‘love-inspired suspense’— I don’t really like either— I read it because I have loved Jessica Patch’s thrillers (The Garden Girls, The Other Sister, and The Girl Upstairs) and I wanted to read more of her writing.
Dangerous Obsession begins immediately with romantic tension between the two main characters— Cosette and Wilder— and that largely occupies the first half of the book with some mystery build-up sprinkled throughout. They clearly love each other but he’s the boss, she’s the employee, and they both have kept secrets from each other; it could never work out.
“If Cosette knew the deep secrets he harbored, she’d lose all respect for him. All trust.”
I thought the second half of the book was better than the first and that’s when the suspense and action ratcheted up.
I definitely saw Patch’s skill in keeping you on the edge of your seat during that part of the book. She is also great at bringing in twists and surprising you. This book was no exception in that regard either! Because I knew she was good at twists, every time I thought I knew who the culprit was, I assumed I must be wrong because Patch wouldn’t make it that easy on me!
The main plot of the book is that Cosette is in Atlanta, distancing herself and hiding from her previous boyfriend, a manipulative-stalker-psychiatrist. Herself a psychologist, she now works with Covenant Crisis Management, a security specialist company, a place to use her therapeutic knowledge and skills.
When Cosette starts to receive anonymous gifts and notes, she is forced to reveal her past to Wilder and the team so they can help protect her from her stalker who found her or whoever is sending these things to her. The danger escalates when people associated with her are murdered.
So the suspense is the mysterious stalker-murderer-person and the love-inspired part is that Cosette’s eventual abduction forces Wilder to be honest with himself and with Cosette that he loves her and he wants to always be her protector.
Patch also adds another layer to the romance with exploration of ‘belonging.’ What is the healthy ‘belonging’ that comes with a relationship and marriage and when does it become an unhealthy ‘belonging’ where a person is controlling and possessive? Because of Cosette’s past, she is having a hard time discerning between the manipulation she’s experienced in the past from men and the protection from Wilder who, as a “six-foot-three former Navy SEAL” is an alpha male in his own right.
“Men in her life abused and manipulated, all the way back to her father… she wasn’t going to be another man’s possession ever again.”
As I mentioned, I’m not super big into romance entangled with a thriller, but it also probably didn’t help that I just finished reading a rom-com so 1) I guess I wasn’t ready for another romance back to back, and 2) it felt a little heavy-handed. Bosses don’t tuck hair behind ears of employees, put their arms around them, share a spoon, or call them darlin’. So the romance was not subtle, or built up, it’s just immediately there at full blast.
I eventually warmed up to their relationship and I do like when the man is a protector, but I think it just felt like too much back and forth of ‘I like him. But I shouldn’t. I won’t share my feelings. I’ll pretend I hate him. But I also I like him. But I shouldn’t, etc.’ and vice versa.
I think I would have had a better initial impression if I hadn’t just read another romance and been comparing it to that because they were very different styles/stories.
A couple other notes:
This book is number three in a series. I think it can be read as a stand-alone, but the first two books tell the stories of a few of the other members of the CCM team so it would probably help you understand the relational dynamics and team history better if you read them in order, but not ultra necessary.
After reading some other reviews just now, Wilder’s story seems to be the long-awaited one, so maybe it would be best to read the others first.
This is a Christian fiction book so there are some faith elements but I didn’t find them overbearing or out of place. It’s a fictional book about Christian characters not a Christian book about fictional characters if that makes sense. Their faith is just part of their character development and experience but not the overarching drive of the book.
Recommendation
If you have already dabbled in love-inspired suspense and enjoy it, you will have no problem enjoying this book as well!
If you don’t mind mixing romance and thrills I think you will find Patch’s writing really compelling and should definitely give it a try.
If you are like me and are hesitant about love/thrill combos, I will not say ‘don’t read this’, because even though I found the first half a little slow, I still really liked the second part. I think if you go into it with the right expectation and read it when you’re interested in switching up your reading genres for a minute, you’ll be able to enjoy it more.
I think the only reason you wouldn’t want to read this is if you really don’t want any romance mixed with your thrillers. And if that is the case, then let me direct you back to some of Jessica Patch’s other books as linked above because those are very much thrillers and I highly recommend them!
[Content Advisory: no swearing; no sexual content other than flirting and some kissing]
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