Phoenix and Firefly have been playing the online fantasy game Zeitgeist together for fifteen years, building a partnership that goes beyond beating in-game challenges. They’ve been there for each other through success, tragedy, and other growing pains, but with two rules: no real names, no locations. Everything changes when Erik (aka Phoenix), a talented hacker who is trying to escape his criminal past, decides to look up his anonymous gaming partner and realizes she’s in the town he’s been hiding in. Meanwhile, Vivi (aka Firefly) is struggling to make her new bookstore profitable and screening her friends’ online dates so they can avoid cheaters and predators–romance is the last thing on her mind. However, when Erik introduces himself as a stranger, their chemistry is undeniable.

Isabel Jolie’s CRUSHED alternates between Erik and Vivi’s first-person perspectives, offering insight into both characters’ feelings and fears. This narrative style works especially well because Erik spends most of the novel concealing a number of secrets from Vivi–his name, his job, his role as her online friend, and the fact that he’s been on the run from assassins for the past year–that readers learn right away, making his many paranoid and overbearing actions more sympathetic. Erik’s focus on caution and security set against Vivi’s desire for independence and honesty leads to realistic conflicts, which create depth and dramatic tension throughout the story. Even if these moments can sometimes be too quickly resolved with searing kisses, this seesawing between arguments and steamy romance never feels like an outlandish leap for two people newly overwhelmed by attraction. Jolie excels at writing passionate scenes that feel earned instead of gratuitous, often giving her readers slow, sexy buildups with plenty of flirting and witty banter.

Although Erik and Vivi’s intense, budding romance is the main focus, CRUSHED also dabbles in the thriller genre with a hacking subplot. The novel explores cybercrime and government counter-efforts without becoming too complicated or tech-heavy. Jolie clearly did thorough research into the topic and efficiently communicates big-picture concepts through engaging, light prose without getting stuck on overly technical details. Instead, the main focus of the subplot is antagonist Kane, a mysterious criminal hacker who continually hires assassins to eliminate Erik and his team but keeps to the shadows, only appearing in occasional flashbacks. Jolie treats the lush Sonoma setting in a similar way–the novel takes place in a wine-focused area of the country, with the expansive vineyards, exorbitantly wealthy population, and constant stream of tourists providing a detailed and atmospheric backdrop without overshadowing the romantic plotline. Vivi’s character in particular is informed by being raised in Sonoma, as she loves rare wine and her family vineyard but seeks to separate herself from her family’s wine business in order to run her own bookstore. Overall, the complex characters and suspenseful elements add a twist to the classic whirlwind romance plot, creating a satisfying reading experience for both lovers of the romance genre and general audiences.

In CRUSHED, Isabel Jolie deftly executes a seductive and suspenseful contemporary romance set against the gorgeous backdrop of California wine country.

~Cameron Gillespie for IndieReader