Maverick by Lora Leigh can best be summed up as a really dark and sexy NCIS episode. This premise may be worth reading and could have been really interesting. Sadly, this was just not the book for me. I had a lot of problems with everything involving this book: the dialogue, the characters, the story, the writing style - you name it and I probably had an issue with it. I'll explain... 
 Let's start off with the dialogue because I probably had the most issues with that. I couldn't find any real personality in anything anyone said. Everything was just so matter of fact and dull that I was dying to get some inflections or something to differentiate one character from another. Besides the lack of variety, the dialogue itself was positively bizarre. I have never heard anyone speak like the characters do in Maverick. It almost felt like the dialogue was perhaps written for a historical romance and then was just cut and pasted into a contemporary romantic suspense story. The result of this just kind of grossed me out to be honest. Here are two examples of what I'm talking about: 
 "Come to me; feel your lover's touch." 
 "You'll have to forgive me. I'm still immersed in my lover's pleasure." 
 It felt like I was reading a feature length version of that SNL skit with Will Farrell and Rachel Dratch when they're in a hot tub and calling each other "lover" constantly. You know... this one: 
 So basically picture those two as the leads in a dark and sexy NCIS episode and there you have the basic gist of Maverick. 
 Moving on, let's talk about the characters. This goes along with the dialogue being so bland but the characters were equally as bland. Right now, I can't really distinguish any of the men or women from each other. No one really had a personality that was distinctly them. It was just a sea of carbon copy characters. For example, I can't think of literally any interests our heroine, Risa, had. Seriously, I can't come up with anything she likes (besides our male lead, Micah) because her interests were never delved into. I know that her character is reserved and stays at home by herself a lot but what does she even do with her time? Am I to believe that she just sits in her apartment and stares at the wall all day? She has desires and dreams about the future but that doesn't mean she has a personality in the present. 
 As for Micah, he was so grating on the nerves that it ruined any attraction I may have been able to build for him. I don't like this macho "alpha" male hero as much anymore. I read it now and I'm just appalled at his behavior. Being protective is great. However, not respecting her wishes when she directly expresses them bullshit. Example: She says that she doesn't want him sleeping in the bed with her. He proceeds to sleep in the bed with her anyway, naked and holding onto her hips. Like dude... take a fucking hint already. He goes on to reason with her that it was what she really wanted anyway. THAT'S THE SAME RATIONALE THAT DATE RAPISTS USE! FOR PETE'S SAKE! Even though it's happened to be true in these instances it's not his right to take such liberties. I think he should have respected her 
 NO. 
 If he would have attempted to be a gentleman just once, I may have found a redeeming quality to him but no such luck. This is kind of the same with all of the rest of the SEALS. I was astounded at how incredibly insensitive they could be to Risa's feelings. It can't even be written off as accidental insensitivity, these guys were just a pack of assholes. 
 So ya... to say I had some issues with Maverick is putting it mildly. The only thing saving this from a "FUCK this book" status is that there was one scene involving Risa that was actually quite compelling to read and I truly felt for her and ended up shedding some tears right along with her. Also the villain, Orion, was pretty decent. He was a creep and a half and believable as an actual threat. For those two small things Maverick is getting 2 stars. It showed that Lora Leigh could actually write something compelling if she wanted to. I just don't know how she could have failed on everything else. Maybe it's just this book or this series that's a pile of shit? Maybe I'll try something else from her and see if this is a fluke.