Midnight Action (Killer Instincts, #5)

by Elle Kennedy

[EBookObsessed]

This series has taken over the Maya Banks KGI series as my favorite Action Romance. I was looking forward to this book in particular since Morgan and Noelle have such a volatile relationship that I had to know the history behind it. Great action, sad background.

James Morgan met the most beautiful girl he ever laid eyes on on his first solo mission. Getting information about the whereabouts of Douglas Phillips from his 17 year old daughter, Noelle, was Jim’s mission. Her father was selling secrets and it was Jim’s job to bring him in. He was only supposed to earn her trust and get information about her father. The feelings that were growing between them were not part of the plan. That’s why when Jim’s team caught Douglas Phillips and Jim walked away from Noelle, and he never expected to see her again.

His betrayal set Noelle on her current path. The French Government recruited her and trained Noelle to become an assassin.

Two years later, Noelle stumbled across James Morgan once again seducing a young woman for information about her father. Noelle wouldn’t allow Jim to tear another father from his daughter and she tipped off the girl. Noelle’s interference did more than just ruin Jim’s mission. Agents went in too early and several died. It also began a war between two very strong and deadly opponents which is still going on 19 years later.

So you would think that Noelle would be delighted to receive a call offering her $5 million to kill the man who has been the bane of her existence. But being Noelle, she doesn’t appreciate being told what to do by some unknown source, or at least that’s what she tells herself.

If actions speak louder than words, Noelle’s action indicate quite loudly that there is more emotions than just hate between her and Jim Morgan. Noelle heads off to Jim’s new headquarters to warn him of the contract rather than picking up the phone. Her message once delivered she could walk away, but somehow she allows Jim to come with her on her private plane to Paris to track down the client. She tells him to get out of her house, but when he simply won’t, she doesn’t do anything for force him out. For someone who hates Jim so much, not only hasn’t she killed him to collect a hell of a lot of money, something which she has told everyone was her lifelong goal and what she wanted most in the world, but she is, somewhat passively/aggressively, helping Jim to find the man will to pay $5 million for his death.

Noelle and Jim set off sparks whenever they are in the same 100 yard area and in Midnight Action, they have the hottest hate-sex imaginable. The saying is that there is a thin line between love and hate, but in this case, these two have smeared that line until you can’t tell one emotion from the other.

The emotions and sex between them are complicated enough, but becomes even more so when the parties from that fateful case seventeen years ago cross into this one, ripping open the already festering wounds between Noelle and Jim.

The action in this story blends with flashbacks of the past, and mix with an already volatile roller coaster of emotions to make for an exciting and intriguing story.

Even though several characters reappear from prior novels, you can read this as a stand alone, but I have no doubt once you’ve had a taste, you will be going back to read the prior four stories in the series.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.