Tag Archives: Military

Review: First Match by Lynne Silver

Reviews, , , , , , , , , ,

First Match (Coded for Love 0)First Match by Lynne Silver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided to The Romance Evangelist by the author in exchange for an honest review.

FIRST MATCH is the latest entry in Lynne Silver’s excellent Coded For Love series, and one I’ve been looking forward to reading. It’s essentially the story of a young man looking for his first real world experience outside the closed-off environment where he was raised, and the young woman ready to show him everything he’s been missing. But as a prequel to the entire series, it also fills in details about a key character in the series who has been a mystery until now.

Peter has never questioned his purpose in life or how he was raised to fulfill it, but as a healthy 20 year old male, he’s also longed for a chance to have some unsupervised fun, and maybe even meet a girl. When he and Allison first meet by chance at a local outdoor concert, her carefree personality is just as attractive to him as her physical appearance. Their immediate sexual connection convinces Peter that they are a genetic match, but how can he ask Allison to give up her whole future just to be with him?

Commander Peter “Shep” Shepard is one of my favorite secondary characters in the Coded for Love series, so it was a real treat for me to read some of his story before he was all grown up and helping to run The Program where all the previous books took place. I loved seeing the tender soul behind the tough guy, and the woman who’d helped him become the man we’d already seen. Peter’s love for Allison was genuine, going well beyond the genetic match that bound them together physically, and hers for him was just as strong and real. We see that each was ready to make every sacrifice to be with the other, and how their love never wavered even in the face of eventual separation. Part of me wishes that FIRST MATCH had been longer, but with Peter and Allison’s romance as the focus of the story, the shorter length made sense and worked well to get us to their ultimate happy ending. It’s a wonderful addition to one of my favorite series, and a joy to read.

View all my reviews

Review: Hard To Hold On To by Laura Kaye

Reviews, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hard to Hold on To (Hard Ink, #2.5)Hard to Hold on To by Laura Kaye

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at The Romance Evangelist.

HARD TO HOLD ON TO continues the story of a group of men once proud to be a part of their country’s Special Forces who were forced out under a cloud of suspicion thanks to betrayal by their own company commander. Now they are trying to clear their names while under siege by a powerful street gang determined to stop their efforts and silence them for good. Each installment in this HARD INK series advances the overall story arc while providing a romance and HEA for each member of the group. And although this particular story is much shorter than those which have preceded it, Easy and Jenna’s romance still packs an emotional punch as they discover both love and solace within each other’s arms.

Easy may have been Edward Cantrell’s nickname, but his life so far had been anything but that. The Army helped him escape the mean streets of his childhood, but when that was taken away from him the hard way, all he had left was the Ravens motorcycle club and survivor’s guilt bordering on suicidal. When he helped rescue Sara’s sister Jenna from where the Church gang had held her prisoner, he never expected it to mean more to him than helping out the woman of his good friend, Shane. But now that Jenna needs him, Easy might finally have a reason to live again, and find the love he never thought he’d deserve.

Jenna had grown up mostly ignorant of all the terrible sacrifices her sister Sara had made to keep her healthy and safe. But after being held in the same awful place where her sister had been tortured after their father’s death, Jenna isn’t taking anything for granted, especially where it concerns the man she credits for her rescue. Maybe she and Easy aren’t the most likely couple to succeed, but after her near-death experience, Jenna realizes that life’s too short not to take a chance on love.

HARD TO HOLD ON TO upholds the great precedent of the HARD INK series with another well-written romance under pressure, made believable in spite of the otherwise implausible time constraints and reliance on an insta-lust trope. In HARD AS YOU CAN, we saw Jenna learn just how awful her sister’s life had been while she herself had only had to worry about finishing college and keeping her epilepsy under control. So when Jenna turns to Easy for support in the aftermath of her rescue, it makes a strange sort of sense in that Jenna feels like she’s already been too much of a burden for Sara. What nobody counted on, however, was the spectacular sexual chemistry between Jenna and Easy, least of all themselves. And while insta-lust may not be the best reason to pull back from the cliff of self-destruction, Laura Kaye made it work for me, with some scenes so heart-wrenching that I would have allowed the characters anything they wanted just to see them happy again.

As much as I always want more of something good, HARD TO HOLD ON TO works well at novella length, whetting my appetite even more for the next full-length HARD INK story to come. It’s a must-read in the series, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

View all my reviews

Review: On The Way Home by Skye Warren

Reviews, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On the Way HomeOn the Way Home by Skye Warren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided to me by the author for an honest review at Seductive Musings.

On the surface, the premise of Skye Warren’s ON THE WAY HOME seems simple. Clint is a soldier returning from a recent tour in Afghanistan, where he’s witnessed the worst of humanity, thanks to the undercover operation he was supporting there. Now all he wants to do is get back to a normal life, although he’s not quite sure if it’s still there for him. Della is the flight attendant on his plane home who has been warned she can only save her captive sister if Clint is handed over as compensation. Fate practically delivers him into her hands without much effort on her part. But how can she give this handsome stranger to someone she knows will kill him? And what will happen if she changes her mind?

There have been so many dark and angsty New Adult romances released in the past few years that I’ve just about sworn off them for good. But the beauty of reading is that there’s always at least one writer out there who can make me love something I’ve vowed to hate forever. And apparently for dark and angsty New Adult romance, that writer is Skye Warren. Della’s tragic history is never played for sympathy or cheap sentiment, only as a necessary backdrop to why she would even consider turning Clint over to a known murderer. Clint is shown as the more sympathetic character whose weariness has caused him to let down his emotional guard, however briefly, and his temporary weakness may well be a fatal misstep. But when Della decides to reach out just once to take what she sees within him, it’s the shock of their unusually compatible souls recognizing each other that forces the reader to cheer for them both to prevail. The road to their happy ending takes a series of twists and turns that might seem improbable in a less skilled writer’s hands, but it all makes sense by the end, and that feeling of rightness makes the journey there worthwhile and completely satisfying. Their road to love was dark, but not too dark, and it was beautiful to see Della and Clint both find security and happiness in each other. ON THE WAY HOME is yet another extraordinary story from Skye Warren and I loved every moment of it.

Ratings:

Overall: 5
Sensuality level: 3.5

View all my reviews

Cover Reveal: Hard To Come By by Laura Kaye

Promo, , , , ,

Today I am excited to bring you the cover reveal for Laura Kaye’s HARD TO COME BY! Published by Avon Impulse, an imprint of HarperCollins, HARD TO COME BY is a thrilling Romantic Suspense novel in Laura’s Hard Ink Series. It is the third full-length novel in the series and is due to be released on November 25th.

Hard To Come By Cover

ABOUT HARD TO COME BY:

Caught between desire and loyalty…

Derek DiMarzio would do anything for the members of his disgraced Special Forces team—sacrifice his body, help a former teammate with a covert operation to restore their honor, and even go behind enemy lines. He just never expected to want the beautiful woman he found there.

When a sexy stranger asks questions about her brother, Emilie Garza is torn between loyalty to the brother she once idolized and fear of the war-changed man he’s become. Derek’s easy smile and quiet strength tempt Emilie to open up, igniting the desire between them and leading Derek to crave a woman he shouldn’t trust.

As the team’s investigation reveals how powerful their enemies are, Derek and Emilie must prove where their loyalties lie before hearts are broken and lives are lost. Because love is too hard to come by to let slip away…

Pre-Order at Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK | B&N | iTunes

Hard to Come By on Goodreads

And don’t miss the other Hard Ink books, now available:

Hard As It Gets

Hard As You Can

Hard to Hold On To (8/19/14)

 Praise for the Hard Ink Series:

For Hard As You Can:

“TOP PICK! There is a sinister and desperate edge to this tale that will keep readers glued to their seats. Kaye has dark romantic suspense nailed!” ~ RT Book Reviews Magazine

“Hard As You Can is another five star read. The characters Ms. Kaye has created are wonderfully broken and the drama is gritty, but the burgeoning romance and the tight-knitted relationship of the team leaves you with a sense of redemption. A must read series!” ~San Francisco Book Review

For Hard As It Gets:

“Edgy, sexy and full of suspense! A great read from a great new author!” ~ #1 NYT Bestselling Author J.R. Ward

“Sizzling romance… The intriguing tattoo parlor and military background will appeal to fans of Suzanne Brockmann and Lindsay McKenna.” ~Publishers Weekly Review

“Kaye’s depiction of sexual tension and her sex scenes are masterful and this will appeal to fans of Maya Banks’ KGI and Julia Ann Walker’s Black Knight’s series.” ~Booklist

Author PhotoABOUT LAURA KAYE:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

Hard to Hold On To on Goodreads

Hard to Come By on Goodreads

Review: Desperate Match by Lynne Silver

Reviews, , , , , ,

Desperate Match (Coded for Love 5)Desperate Match by Lynne Silver

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the author for an honest review at The Romance Evangelist.

This review contains spoilers for previous books in the Coded For Love series. You can read DESPERATE MATCH as a stand-alone, but I think you’ll enjoy it more if you have read the entire series.

DESPERATE MATCH is Lynne Silver’s fifth Coded For Love book, and the first to be self-published (all previous books were released by Ellora’s Cave). Although I have enjoyed the entire series, I have to say that this story is the best one so far. Perhaps it’s because the ever-present threat of the evil Dr. Paulson was finally eliminated in the previous book, or perhaps it’s because Lynne Silver is just getting better as she delves more deeply into this world of The Program. Whatever the reason, it’s great to see yet another erotic romance series that I discovered at Ellora’s Cave continue with an well-written self-published entry.

DESPERATE MATCH starts with a look at the woman whose current living situation is the source of the desperation noted in the title. Jill Thompson is only 24 years old, but the last five years of her life with her abusive husband have aged her in a way no person should ever have to bear. Jack’s need to control every aspect of her life seemed charming back when they dated in high school, as she mistook his behavior for some starry-eyed notion of true love. It was only when they were both out of school and married in a home of their own that the true Jack appeared, leaving Jill with few options for rescue. But now Jill has found hope in a news story about The Program, the decades-long classified military project for creating enhanced soldiers, and their search for female volunteers to breed the next generation. Their heavily guarded military compound in Beltsville, Maryland is only a few hours away from where Jill lives in rural Virginia, so if she can get herself approved as a volunteer DNA match for a soldier there, then she can finally be safe from Jack and his fists.

Back at the Beltsville campus, Rowan Blacker has volunteered to be matched for breeding if a woman can be found for him. Rowan’s birth defect has always made him feel like less than a complete member of The Program, even though he’s otherwise enhanced as much as everyone else. When the woman who is supposed to be his perfect DNA match appears on foot at the front gates, emaciated and bedraggled, Rowan wonders what he’s gotten himself into. Meanwhile, Jill’s first thought is how can a man missing one arm possibly protect her from Jack when he comes looking for her? Needless to say, this first encounter between Rowan and Jill does not bode well for their future together. And yet the attraction, however muted, is there. When Rowan discovers what propelled Jill to put herself in the hands of The Program, he vows to help protect and free her from Jack, no matter the cost. As Jill begins her slow and painful recovery from years of abuse, she and Rowan carefully begin to trust each other, even as her presence soon becomes a major liability for her protectors. For Jack isn’t going to let Jill go without a fight, thanks to the help he gets from a secretive group intent on attacking those who believe in the mission of The Program.

I’m a big fan of this series, but I was relieved to see that this new book was going to be more about the hero and heroine finding their way to happiness with each other and less about the external threats to The Program and its members. Being accepted by The Program for their breeding program was Jill’s last best hope to escape her abusive marriage, and I cheered her on as she planned her successful route to freedom. Although it was painful to see her initial negative reaction to Rowan and his missing arm, it would have been unrealistic for her to accept him with no questions asked, especially given her condition when she arrived on base. And certainly Rowan wasn’t expecting his DNA match to be a woman so literally beaten down on arrival that she barely had the energy to flinch whenever he tried to approach her. It would take lots of time and tender loving care for Jill to return to the woman she had once been, and for Rowan to see more than just the shell she had become while living under Jack’s oppression.

The best part of DESPERATE MATCH began when Jill was finally back to her old self and better able to appreciate just how much Rowan really was the best partner for her, even as she continued to work toward a semblance of independence from him and The Program. Rowan had his own growing to do if he was ever going to accept Jill as his equal partner in love and life under the auspices of The Program. By the time they reach their HEA, both Rowan and Jill have transformed from the two people who met under strained circumstances at the start of the book to a loving couple who are ready to support each other in every possible way. It’s a beautiful end to an compelling journey, and a wonderful continuation to one of my favorite erotic romance series.

View all my reviews

Review: Hard As You Can by Laura Kaye

Reviews, , , , , , , , ,

Hard as You Can (Hard Ink, #2)Title: As Hard As You Can
Author: Laura Kaye
Series: Hard Ink #2
Genre: contemporary romantic suspense
Publisher: Avon
Format: ebook and print
Release Date: February 25, 2014

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

Publisher Summary:

Five dishonored soldiers.
Former Special Forces.
One last mission.
These are the men of Hard Ink.

Ever since hard-bodied, drop-dead-charming Shane McCallan strolled into the dance club where Crystal Dean works, he’s shown a knack for getting beneath her defenses. For her little sister’s sake, Crystal can’t get too close. Until her job and Shane’s mission intersect, and he reveals talents that go deeper than she could have guessed.

Shane would never turn his back on a friend in need, especially a former Special Forces teammate running a dangerous, off-the-books operation. Nor can he walk away from Crystal. The gorgeous waitress is hiding secrets she doesn’t want him to uncover. Too bad. He’s exactly the man she needs to protect her sister, her life, and her heart. All he has to do is convince her that when something feels this good, you hold on as hard as you can—and never let go.

My Review:

This review contains spoilers for Hard As It Gets, the first book in the HARD INK series. You could try to read Hard As You Can as a stand-alone, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

One of the trends I’ve been noticing lately in romantic suspense is when each book in a series has its own self-contained romance with an HEA while simultaneously continuing a overall story arc which won’t be resolved until the last book. I really like this type of hybrid plot, because then I don’t have to suffer a cliffhanger used to keep the hero and heroine apart just so the reader will feel hooked into reading the next book. Yet, I am still most definitely hooked, because each book gives me a little bit more of the puzzle that will ultimately end with the bad guys brought to justice and the heroes/heroines free to live their lives without constant fear.

In Laura Kaye’s new HARD INK series, we have been introduced to five men who once were the closest of comrades as they fought together in the Special Forces. When the man who had earned their trust through his leadership then betrayed that trust in the most terrible way possible, it was these five who had survived the jungle ambush, only to be betrayed yet again by their own government. After they were forced to resign in disgrace without being able tell anyone why, each of the men went his own separate way. But when the family of the man who had betrayed them were threatened by the same unknown forces which had engineered their dismissals, each of the five come back together to protect those who are now in danger, with the goal of uncovering who was behind their betrayal and find the evidence they need to clear their names.

The first book in this series, Hard As It Gets, told the story of the group’s unofficial leader, Nick Rixey, and how he found the love of his life with Becca Merritt, the daughter of the man whose treachery he could never forgive. Now that the group is all together at the heavily fortified location of Hard Ink, the Baltimore tattoo parlor owned by Nick and his brother Jeremy, their new mission is to find out who paid off Colonel Merritt and ordered the kidnapping of Becca’s brother, Charlie. Charlie was successfully rescued at the end of the first book, but only because Crystal, one of the waitresses at the seedy strip club where he was being held, decided to help them by not sounding the alarm.

Shane owes both his life and the success of Charlie’s rescue to Crystal, but that’s not why he can’t get her out of his mind. Ever since the loss of his beloved sister to kidnappers when he was just a child himself, Shane has been fixated on rescuing other women in similar straits, in the hopes that one day he’ll find his sister. In the brief moments they had shared, Crystal pushed all of Shane’s hot buttons, and not just because she looked like she needed rescuing herself. So when Shane needs to return to the strip club to suss out more information on who is threatening the Merritt siblings, it’s Crystal whom he seeks out, hoping to discover what she knows and perhaps more.

Crystal is counting the days until she and her sister can leave Baltimore and the people who control their lives. Their father owed debts to the powerful street gang that needed to be worked off after his death, one way or the other. Crystal has sacrificed her body and freedom in order to keep her sister protected, so when Shane reappears, the danger he presents overpowers any sense of hope that he could help them both escape. But Shane has never taken no for an answer, and it takes all of his persuasive powers to slowly work his way into Crystal’s life, and eventually, her heart.

I loved how Hard As You Can picked up immediately where the previous book left off, and as its complicated series of events unfolded, I was able to thoroughly enjoy Shane and Crystal’s romance without worrying that the book wouldn’t be trying to wrap everything related to the overall story arc just yet. The reasons behind Crystal’s decisions are unveiled at just the right pace, and the way her life story meshes with what motivates Shane to his own behaviors make it all the more obvious why they would both be drawn to each other even as they are justifiably concerned that it’s a mistake for them both. A reasonable reader could certainly point out that the transformation of their insta-lust into declarations of love by the end of the book might be based more on codependency than a true emotional connection. For me, however, the romance worked, as Laura Kaye showed how both Shane and Crystal were able to move beyond the forced proximity based on mutual peril to an unselfish and genuine love that can only get stronger once the people who threaten them are neutralized. I look forward to seeing how their relationship deepens as the series continues.

If you enjoy romantic suspense with hot alpha heroes and heroines who more than hold their own, you can’t go wrong with Laura Kaye’s HARD INK series. Hard As You Can was just as great a read as the first book, and I can’t wait to see which of these heroes is featured in the next story. 4 stars.

 

Review: Unraveled by Jen Frederick

Reviews, , , , , , , , ,

Title: Unraveled
Author: Jen Frederick
Series: Woodlands #3
Genre: contemporary New Adult romance
Publisher: self-published
Format: ebook
Release Date: January 20, 2014

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

Publisher Summary:

Twenty-five-year-old Sgt. Gray Phillips is at a crossroads in his life: stay in the Marine Corps or get out and learn to be a civilian? He’s got forty-five days of leave to make up his mind but the people in his life aren’t making the decision any easier. His dad wants him to get out; his grandfather wants him to stay in. And his growing feelings for Sam Anderson are wreaking havoc with his heart…and his mind. He believes relationships get ruined when a Marine goes on deployment. So now he’s got an even harder decision to make: take a chance on Sam or leave love behind and give his all to the Marines.

Twenty-two year old Samantha Anderson lost her husband to an IED in Afghanistan just two months after their vows. Two years later, Sam is full of regrets—that she didn’t move with her husband to Alaska; that she allowed her friends to drift away; that she hasn’t taken many chances in life. Now, she’s met Gray and taking a risk on this Marine could be her one opportunity to feel alive and in love again. But how can she risk her heart on another military man who could share the same tragic fate as her husband?

My Review:

One of the best things about reading and reviewing is when I find a new series that gets even better as it goes on. Jen Frederick’s Woodlands series is a very recent discovery for me, but if what I’ve read so far is any indication, it’s one I’ll be enjoying for quite some time to come. Both UNDECLARED and UNSPOKEN are great reads, but the latest book, UNRAVELED, is easily the best of the three. It tells the story of how a woman still mourning her dead husband two years after his death is brought back to the land of the living by a man who finds her love is worth taking every chance in the world.

Samantha was never a particularly adventurous person before Will died. But his death only made her hide even more, existing more than living, and the way everyone still treated her like his grieving widow just made everything worse. It’s only when a perfect stranger instantly awakens her comatose desire that Samantha realizes what she really wants, and decides to go after it…and him.

Gray can’t decide if he wants to stay in the Marine Corps now that his contract is nearly up. He’s a natural leader and the Corps has been loyal to him in a way he never had with Carrie, the woman he’d once planned to marry. But when Samantha comes into his life, Gray thinks he has to choose between her and reenlistment because he’s convinced no relationship could ever survive any length of time apart. In UNRAVELED, both Gray and Samantha learn just how much they are capable of doing for each other when love is on the line.

We get to see the whole Woodlands group from the other books in UNRAVELED and it’s great to see how their relationships have progressed. But what I loved the most about this particular book was how both its hero and heroine had their own emotional baggage to deal with, but neither one ever lost sight of how much they cared for the other person. Samantha had to learn to love another person who could die and leave her like Will did. Gray had to learn to love another person who might cheat on him like Carrie did. But they both knew they had these issues and kept trying not to let it affect what they had together now. There were setbacks, of course, including one gigantic screw-up that nearly ruined everything. But Gray and Samantha never truly gave up on each other despite all the obstacles in their path, and that made their HEA all the sweeter. 5 stars

Review: False Match by Lynne Silver

Reviews, , , , , , , , , ,

False Match (Coded for Love, #3)False Match by Lynne Silver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Seductive Musings.

This review contains spoilers for Heated Match, the first book in the Coded For Love series. You could try to read False Match as a stand-alone book, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Now that Dr. Samara Jones has been rescued from the evil Dr. Paulson, she is safe and yet still has no freedom in what she chooses to do next. She is blackmailed into contributing her considerable skills as a geneticist to the Program in return for not being prosecuted as Paulson’s co-conspirator, but no one there truly trusts her. It’s only when Chase Stanton is assigned as her tour guide / babysitter that there’s someone willing to offer friendship, and perhaps even more.

When the Program discovered the traitor in their midst back in Heated Match, they also discovered that he had falsified his studies to force Chase and Loren’s father to leave Loren’s mother for Chase’s, convincing her that the latter woman was his true genetic match. But the likelihood of a person having two perfect matches is highly unlikely, and Chase worries that perhaps he’s not genetically enhanced at all. Samara is the one person who can help him discover the truth without anyone else finding out, and their continuing close association eventually leads them to a love that is immediately threatened by those who intend to recapture Samara in their goal to breed terrorist warriors.

Most of False Match involves Samara and Chase learning to trust and love each other even while their growing attraction is threatened by the emerging secrets of what Samara had done when Adam was Paulson’s captive. It was an interesting change of pace to have a hero and heroine who weren’t compelled to fall in love by their DNA and it made their HEA all the sweeter. Lynne Silver ends this story with a heart-stopping epilogue cliffhanger that ensured I would be seeking out Desire Unmatched, the newest book in the Coded For Love series. I can’t wait to read it.

Ratings:

Overall: 4
Sensuality level: 3 (hot sweet love scenes between the H/h)

View all my reviews

Review: Conquered Match by Lynne Silver

Reviews, , , , , , , , , ,

Conquered Match (Coded for Love, #2)Conquered Match by Lynne Silver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Seductive Musings.

This was a short but intense look at what genetically enhanced soldier Ryan does to punish his wife Thea for leaking details of the Program to the press. We discover that Thea has been the one to dictate the terms of their relationship ever since they had been found to be a perfect genetic match for each other. Ryan had always been content to let her be in charge, not realizing Thea was trying to force his hand into being the dominant one. Now that she’s betrayed him and everyone else, Ryan finally knows what needs to be done and is ready to give Thea what she needs to fix their marriage and ease the anger that led to her stunning betrayal.

Although this story was dramatically shorter than the previous one, what occurs between Ryan and Thea was portrayed well, conveying all the immediacy of Ryan’s reaction to Thea’s actions and the deep tenderness behind the decisions Ryan makes to heal them both. Thea has needed this domination from the beginning, and Ryan knows that giving it to her now is what can make things right. I wished there had been more to read, but was happy for this brief visit back to the world of the Program while waiting for the next full length book to arrive.
Ratings:

Overall: 4
Sensuality level: 4 (light BDSM including anal sex)

View all my reviews

Review: Heated Match by Lynne Silver

Reviews, , , , , , , , , ,

Heated Match (Coded for Love #1)Heated Match by Lynne Silver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Seductive Musings.

Lynne Silver’s Coded For Love series tells the stories of men who were genetically bred by the US Government in a secret program designed to create unstoppable warriors who would only be able to mate successfully with the women who were their perfect genetic counterparts. The Program has continued in secret for decades and it’s only recently that the public has become aware of what’s been going on, thanks to a Program wife who leaked the story to an outside source. At the same time, there are various groups both here and abroad who are trying to kidnap any one of the men for their own evil experiments. This sets up the compelling plotlines and intense romances which follow in each book.

Heated Match starts the Coded For Love series off with a sequence of incredibly intense scenes as two people who’ve never met before discover they are each other’s perfect genetic match. Adam is supposed to be protecting a diplomat’s infant son from being kidnapped at the boy’s high profile 1st birthday party. As one of the highest performing “super soldiers” in the Program, he should be focused on his task, yet there’s a woman there who has got him more sexually aroused than he’s been in years. Loren has crashed the birthday party in the hope of discovering more information about the Program, but there’s something about one of the bodyguards that has her thinking more about sex than getting the scoop for her story. When the diplomat’s son is kidnapped, the resulting investigation exposes Loren’s familial connection to the Program, and its leaders’ machinations work to bring Loren and Adam together to fulfill the genetic destiny neither of them is ready to embrace. What no one realizes is that the Program and all its participants are in mortal danger from someone in their midst who has been betraying them for years.

The Program that Lynne Silver has created in this series reminded me of Lora Leigh’s Breeds series, but not in a derivative way. We have the “fated mates” setup to bring Adam and Loren together, and the prerequisite secret family affiliations that neither of them had known existed before they met. During this initial story we discover much of the plotting and betrayals that had occurred during the creation of the Program, and they lead us to the moment where everyone’s future depends on finding the diplomat’s kidnapped son. As passionate as the scenes were between Adam and Loren, the suspense elements of the plot often threatened to overwhelm my enjoyment of their destined romance. I wanted more of them, and less kidnappings and torture, but the overall story arc was captivating enough that I would definitely be reading the next book in the series.

Ratings:

Overall: 4
Sensuality level: 3.5 (multiple passionate scenes of H/h who can’t stop having sex)

View all my reviews