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Chicago Confidential #1
Not on His Watch
Secret Agent in a Stetson
Texas native Quint Crawford was more than just a cowboy with a big ol' black hat and a lazy drawl. He was an undercover agent on loan to the newly formed Chicago Confidential branch. His mission: Pose as an oil tycoon in order to safeguard the ultraprickly PR princess, Natalie Van Buren. His top priority: Not to lose his heart to the sassy city girl.
What started as threats had escalated into a kidnapping attempt - and Natalie was scared. But she refused to be smooth-talked into having a bodyguard cramp her style. Little did she know that Quint was assigned her protector. But would she be more shocked by his secret, or that she had done the unthinkable and fallen in love with...a cowboy?
249 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 24, 2002
About the author
Cassie Miles
313 books66 followersCassie grew up in a small town at the very tip of southern Illinois. A tomboy, she spent most of her time outside and got into big trouble for breaking the trellis while climbing out her second-story bedroom window.
When her family moved to L.A., major culture shock ensued. She discovered that grapefruits grew on trees, television offered more than two channels, and all the other girls had breasts. While hiding out and waiting for her chest to develop, she read voraciously, raiding her mother's bookshelf for Mickey Spillane when she finished all her Nancy Drew novels.
Another move took her family to Denver, the place Cassie still calls home.
She graduated from North Central college outside Chicago, got married, and returned to Colorado where she worked in personnel at the Denver Post and lived in a mountain cabin without running water. Upon learning she was pregnant, a return to civilization seemed prudent. She settled in Denver, raised two amazing daughters, and started writing for Harlequin. After her divorce, she took a break from romance and wrote straight suspense.
During her frantic years as a single mom, writing books and working odd jobs to supplement her income, she hardly had time to breathe, much less to dream. Then something remarkable happened. She fell in love with a tall, sexy man who was an aerial photographer and the author of tough-guy mystery novels. Fortunately, he loved her back. She found her real-life hero, inherited three more grown kids and three grandchildren.
Cassie started writing romance again, loving every minute of a life filled with laughter, crazy road trips, sailboats, and journeys to Oregon with long walks on rocky beaches.
Not too long ago, the love of her life developed inoperable pancreatic cancer. With supportive friends and family standing by, he died at home.
Cassie now lives alone, surrounded by beautiful memories. She has no regrets and considers herself lucky to have found her soul mate, the man with whom she shared a perfect love.
Pseudonym/s: Kay Bergstrom
When her family moved to L.A., major culture shock ensued. She discovered that grapefruits grew on trees, television offered more than two channels, and all the other girls had breasts. While hiding out and waiting for her chest to develop, she read voraciously, raiding her mother's bookshelf for Mickey Spillane when she finished all her Nancy Drew novels.
Another move took her family to Denver, the place Cassie still calls home.
She graduated from North Central college outside Chicago, got married, and returned to Colorado where she worked in personnel at the Denver Post and lived in a mountain cabin without running water. Upon learning she was pregnant, a return to civilization seemed prudent. She settled in Denver, raised two amazing daughters, and started writing for Harlequin. After her divorce, she took a break from romance and wrote straight suspense.
During her frantic years as a single mom, writing books and working odd jobs to supplement her income, she hardly had time to breathe, much less to dream. Then something remarkable happened. She fell in love with a tall, sexy man who was an aerial photographer and the author of tough-guy mystery novels. Fortunately, he loved her back. She found her real-life hero, inherited three more grown kids and three grandchildren.
Cassie started writing romance again, loving every minute of a life filled with laughter, crazy road trips, sailboats, and journeys to Oregon with long walks on rocky beaches.
Not too long ago, the love of her life developed inoperable pancreatic cancer. With supportive friends and family standing by, he died at home.
Cassie now lives alone, surrounded by beautiful memories. She has no regrets and considers herself lucky to have found her soul mate, the man with whom she shared a perfect love.
Pseudonym/s: Kay Bergstrom
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 18, 2018
Not on His Watch
July 29, 2002
Intrigue spins off another Confidential series in "Not on His Watch" by Cassie Miles, the first Chicago Confidential book. Texas oilman Quint Crawford comes to Chicago to help the new branch on a case. An oil company has come under attack by tourists, and his job is to protect independent PR woman Natalie Van Buren, daughter of the company's president. Can he keep her safe from a devious assassin while fighting his own powerful attraction for the feisty lady?
"Not on His Watch" was a book I really wanted to like. I usually like Cassie Miles's books. I loved her "Wedding Captives" earlier this year. This book wasn't a mindless 250-page chase the way the first Texas Confidential and Montana Confidential books were, even if it was another bodyguard book, just like those were. It had a real plot. "Not on His Watch" has the same premise as another Intrigue from a few months ago, "Personal Protector," where the hero goes undercover to protect a heroine who doesn't want a bodyguard, but it fixes the one thing that drove me crazy about that book. Unlike the heroine of "Personal Protector," Natalie not only says she can take care of herself, she gets to show that she's not all talk. There are so many reasons why I should have liked this book.
There was one problem. It was so boring. I usually read an Intrigue in a few hours, a day at most. I started "Not on His Watch" on a Sunday and made myself finish it the next Saturday. I kept putting it down and not wanting to pick it back up for a whole week. The story was very hard to get into. Like many opening books in a series, such as the first Moriah's Landing book in February, this book has to setup everything for the whole series. The plot the editors have come up with for "Chicago Confidential" is way too convoluted. Miles's first chapter, where she has the agents sit down and explain all this stuff about Middle Eastern bad guys and twin princes and oil interests was so far-fetched and over-complicated I knew I wasn't catching most of it and I really didn't care enough to go back and reread it.
I also never really cared about Quint and Natalie, two perfect people without any flaws. While the villain is chilling, the story moves slowly. Very slowly. It does pick up steam after a while, though, and the last section of the book is incredibly tense and exciting, if a little uncomfortable to read about after September 11th.
The other Confidential series started off with weak books and improved. Hopefully this series will get better too.
July 29, 2002
Intrigue spins off another Confidential series in "Not on His Watch" by Cassie Miles, the first Chicago Confidential book. Texas oilman Quint Crawford comes to Chicago to help the new branch on a case. An oil company has come under attack by tourists, and his job is to protect independent PR woman Natalie Van Buren, daughter of the company's president. Can he keep her safe from a devious assassin while fighting his own powerful attraction for the feisty lady?
"Not on His Watch" was a book I really wanted to like. I usually like Cassie Miles's books. I loved her "Wedding Captives" earlier this year. This book wasn't a mindless 250-page chase the way the first Texas Confidential and Montana Confidential books were, even if it was another bodyguard book, just like those were. It had a real plot. "Not on His Watch" has the same premise as another Intrigue from a few months ago, "Personal Protector," where the hero goes undercover to protect a heroine who doesn't want a bodyguard, but it fixes the one thing that drove me crazy about that book. Unlike the heroine of "Personal Protector," Natalie not only says she can take care of herself, she gets to show that she's not all talk. There are so many reasons why I should have liked this book.
There was one problem. It was so boring. I usually read an Intrigue in a few hours, a day at most. I started "Not on His Watch" on a Sunday and made myself finish it the next Saturday. I kept putting it down and not wanting to pick it back up for a whole week. The story was very hard to get into. Like many opening books in a series, such as the first Moriah's Landing book in February, this book has to setup everything for the whole series. The plot the editors have come up with for "Chicago Confidential" is way too convoluted. Miles's first chapter, where she has the agents sit down and explain all this stuff about Middle Eastern bad guys and twin princes and oil interests was so far-fetched and over-complicated I knew I wasn't catching most of it and I really didn't care enough to go back and reread it.
I also never really cared about Quint and Natalie, two perfect people without any flaws. While the villain is chilling, the story moves slowly. Very slowly. It does pick up steam after a while, though, and the last section of the book is incredibly tense and exciting, if a little uncomfortable to read about after September 11th.
The other Confidential series started off with weak books and improved. Hopefully this series will get better too.
February 20, 2021
The story was fast paced and action packed for part of it. There were other parts that were kind of boring and a bit of a snooze fest. Didn't really connect with the characters as there were a lot of them, most are probably a cross over from other series.
Natalie and Quint are pretty cute together. The climax thing was so intense and they really have each other's backs for sure during a very bad time. Although, the dog really did steal the show here.
Natalie and Quint are pretty cute together. The climax thing was so intense and they really have each other's backs for sure during a very bad time. Although, the dog really did steal the show here.
October 14, 2013
i didnt really enjoy the book.it was sort of boring.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews