Eve1972
Written on Mar 20, 2018
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
So color me impressed because this book was all kinds of fantastic. It probably would have been a 5-Star book if it hadn't been SO long. My interest started to wane at about 60% in. That said, I kept plugging on and it started to pick up again around 80%. The writing was fantastic though. The pace was a bit up and down. I am chalking that up to it being a bit too long. I think the author could have tightened up the story a bit. The plot was super engaging and probably one of the best examples of romantic suspense done right. The story is told from both Lucia's and Gabe's POV (my preference always). Last, it was all wrapped up in a very satisfactory ending.
~HERO~
GABE...What can I say about Gabe? I ADORED him. He was pretty much a perfect book boyfriend. A smokin' hot Navy Seal. A player (but it's not thrown in your face). He was alpha. He was sweet. He was funny. He was a great friend. He was an excellent leader. He was all about Lucia from the moment he meets her. I have nothing bad to say about his character.
~HEROINE~
LUCIA...I'll be honest, I usually struggle with heroines like Lucia. She attended West Point. She was in the army. She is now a CIA agent. She was tough. She was strong. She was feisty. She was bada$$. But somehow this author managed to also make her very likable. Very relatable. Even vulnerable. I simply adored her character as well.
~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
This book had some great secondary characters in it. My favorite by FAR was Tony (Flakes). He was such a douche especially in the beginning, but man the banter between him and Lucia and him and Gabe made me laugh my a$$ off at times. I wasn't sure I wanted to read a book featuring him (he pretty much cheats on his wife all the time) but the author redeemed him by the end and now I am looking forward to seeing him fall in love (hopefully he is getting a book). I also really liked Luce's friend Brook and there were a few of the guys on the Seal team I wouldn't mind reading more about.
~HEAT LEVEL~
Medium. The sex scenes were suitably hot and fairly plentiful. This couple also had excellent on-page chemistry.
~ANGST LEVEL~
Highish... I found this angsty mainly because Lucia is keeping a secret from Gabe and I spent the entire book waiting for the truth to come out and the other shoe to drop. When it did finally drop I was impressed by how the author handled the situation. I was expecting the usual cliché reaction by the hero and that isn't what we get. There is a smidge of OW drama. Toni tries to cause issues between Gabe and Luce and invites some women to join them at a bar. One of them hangs off Gabe all night. He isn't really interested but stays and ends up dropping the two women and Toni off later in the night (the three being drunk). The heroine sees this because Toni sets it up. She isn't overly bothered by it and it happens before they officially begin a relationship. I wasn't bothered by it in the least because we get Gabe's thoughts. There is also a bit of OM drama in the form of Tony. Lucia and he slept together once ten years prior, and she ghosted him. He is a bit bitter about this for a while.
~IN THE END~
I pretty much LOVED this book. Like I mentioned had it been a little shorter I would have given it 5-Stars. That said, the writing was fantastic. The plot was well developed. The characters were intriguing and very likable. There were twist and turns that kept me guessing right up until the end, and I appreciated the author didn't go down the usual overdone route with the secret revelation. Therefore yours truly is going to give this one two HUGE thumbs up and I will undoubtedly be keeping my eyes peeled for the next book in the series.