Backlash, Capital Intrigue #2 by Rachel Dylan

Book description:

 With a target on her back, she's determined to find answers.

But can she escape the deadly backlash?

CIA analyst Layla Karam is thrust into a dangerous DEA field operation against a cartel, and after one of her team members is murdered because of fallout from the op, Layla is left scrambling to find safety.

At the same time, the CIA opens an internal investigation against her. Out of options, Layla turns to ex-boyfriend and private investigator Hunter McCoy for help finding out who might want to ruin her career.

Layla and Hunter soon discover that a mole inside the DEA has sold out the team's identity to the cartel. She needs to clear her name with the Agency in order to protect herself and her teammates from cartel retaliation. With threats on all sides, Layla must put her trust in Hunter--the man who broke her heart--and hope they both come out of it alive.

My review:

   Rachel Dylan is still a somewhat new author to me, and I have loved everything I have read by her. The series of hers I read previously was more on the law and courtroom, whereas this series focuses on law enforcement: The CIA, NCIS, and the DEA.

 Backlash is the second book in this series, and is even better than the first one. With killers after some of the team that had been on a major drug raid, the action and suspense are non stop amid the search for a mole.

 A side plot involves sexual assault, and this warning is on the publisher's website: "For those who are content sensitive: this book contains non-graphic scenes and descriptions of physical and sexual assault." The description is very general, and not graphic at all.

  This is romantic suspense, so of course there is a romantic angle to the book. I actually enjoy that these days and was rooting for Hunter to win Layla back, especially when the truth came out on the breakup.

 There is a lot to like about this book, and it is one I couldn't put down, and I did read it in one evening. And it left me wanting more.

I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions in this review are my own.

About the author:

Rachel Dylan (www.racheldylan.com) is an award-winning and bestselling author of legal thrillers and romantic suspense. Rachel has practiced law for over a decade, including being a litigator at one of the nation's top law firms. Her Atlanta Justice series has won the Holt Medallion, the Maggie Award, and the FHL Reader's Choice Award. Rachel lives in Michigan with her husband and five furkids--two dogs and three cats.

Backlash is available from Bethany House Publishers, part of the Baker Publishing Group.

                                                                   Capital Intrigue #1

The Price of Valor, Global Search and Rescue #3 by Susan May Warren

 

Book description:

A high-octane mix of love and adventure

Kidnapped by rebels while serving as a humanitarian aid worker in Chechnya, Signe Kincaid has spent the past decade secreting out valuable information about Russian assets in the US to her CIA handler. Fearing for her daughter after being discovered as an operative, Signe sends her to former Navy SEAL Hamilton Jones for safekeeping. Signe is ready to give her life for her country, and she can hardly expect Ham to rescue her after breaking his heart over and over.

Hamilton Jones has never forgotten the only woman he loved--and he can't believe after all these years she's shown up alive. But can he forgive her for her secrets? And, when Ham discovers the reason Signe has kept her distance, he must choose between love for her and love for the nation he has vowed to protect.

Will he save the many? Or the few? And what is the price of valor?

My review:

  I have recently become a fan of Susan May Warren's books. In just this year, I have read a few of her series and have gotten hooked on her books.

 The Global Search and Rescue Series may be one of her most exciting series. Unfortunately, it appears this is only a three-book series.

 The Price of Valor centers on the leader of the Global Search and Rescue group, Hamilton (Ham) Jones, and his CIA agent wife who he recently found out was alive with the fact that he was the father of a 10 year old daughter.

  This whole series has been awesome and exciting, but this last book tops the other three. In her gripping Marshalls of Montana Series a plot was hatched that possibly implicated the female Vice President of the USA nominee. I was disappointed when that series ended without that being resolved. Slight spoiler: that gets resolved in a very dramatic and exciting way in this book. One thing I like about Warren's writing is she pulls characters from other series into another series.....and this book had characters from the Marshalls of Montana and The Montana Rescue Series.

 The author takes some of her characters to Italy and tosses them into a situation that involves an erupting volcano and tsunami. As her heroes fight for their lives while rescuing others, they also run for their lives as they are involved in international espionage, spies,  and political intrigue. Warren  did an excellent job on describing the events in a town hit with an erupting volcano and tsunami. It was a very gripping and exciting part of the book, though the whole book was gripping and exciting. 

 As always, her characters totally rocked.

 Among all the drama and action, the book also dealt with Ham's struggles to forgive his wife for deserting him for 10 years, for having a daughter he didn't know about, and what she did to survive and work for her country.

 It may seem a weird thing to do, but I clapped after finishing the book. It really was that good.

  I highly recommend this book, and the whole series.....but I do advise reading the Marshalls of Montana Series first...which may be her best series ever.

I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions in this review are my own.

About the author:

Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 65 novels with more than 1 million books sold, including The Way of the Brave and The Heart of a Hero, as well as the Montana Rescue series. Winner of a RITA Award and multiple Christy and Carol Awards, as well as the HOLT Medallion and numerous Readers' Choice Awards, Susan makes her home in Minnesota. Find her online at www.susanmaywarren.com, on Facebook @SusanMayWarrenFiction, and on Twitter @susanmaywarren.

The Price of Valor and the rest of the Global Search and Rescue Series is available from Revell, part of the Baker Publishing Group.

Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

                                                                        Book #1

                                                                           Book #2

                                                           The Montana Marshalls Series

Point of Danger, Triple Threat #1 by Irene Hannon

Book description:

 Hate mail was one thing. This was quite another.

Radio talk show host Eve Reilly is used to backlash from her pot-stirring on-air commentary and interviews. But now it seems a disgruntled listener is resorting to more than angry words to express their displeasure. When a suspicious package arrives on her doorstep, Eve turns to law enforcement for help.

Police detective Brent Lange can't find any evidence to link the string of unsettling incidents that follows, but he's convinced they're connected. As the harassment grows more menacing, it becomes clear someone wants Eve's voice silenced--permanently. 

But unless he can track down her elusive foe, the gutsy woman who is willing to take risks for what she believes--and who is swiftly winning his heart--may not survive.

My review:

  I have been reading Irene Hannon's suspense novels for several years, and she remains one of my favorite authors. She is one author who just seems to get better with each series and book. This first book in her new Triple Threat Series is proof of that.

  Hannon takes a page from current events, and brings the radical group Antifa into her story. I always get easily engrossed in her books anyway, but that made the story all the more interesting and gripping as I read in a novel about what is happening in real life.

  The main characters were well developed and very likable: Eve, the conservative talk show host determined to stick to her beliefs and let her views be known, even when threatened....and Brent, the determined police detective who thinks his past experiences mean he must go through life alone.

  Point of Danger truly is a read in one sitting, at least for me. It has non stop action, drama, and suspense that made the book hard to put down, even for drink and bathroom breaks. There was a lot going on in this book, and I didn't know what was going to happen next. One bad guy was a bit predictable as to his identity, but the other was a total surprise, and I did not see it coming.

 And though fictional, Point of Danger does emphasize the fact that there are radical hate groups in our country who are bent on destruction and division.

 Hannon shows in this book that she still has it, and this may be her best....or at least one of her best...yet. It definitely made me want more in what promises to be another great series from this accomplished author.

I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions in this review are my own.

About the author:

Irene Hannon is the bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including Hope Harbor, Sea Rose Lane, Sandpiper Cove, Pelican Point, Driftwood Bay, and Starfish Pier, as well as Point of Danger and the Code of Honor, Private Justice, and Men of Valor suspense series. Her books have been honored with three coveted RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America, and she is a member of that organization's elite Hall of Fame. Her many other awards include National Readers' Choice, Daphne du Maurier, Retailers' Choice, Booksellers' Best, Carol, and Reviewers' Choice from RT Book Reviews magazine, which also honored her with a Career Achievement Award for her entire body of work. In addition, she is a two-time Christy Award finalist. Learn more at www.irenehannon.com.

Point of Danger is available from Revell, part of the Baker Publishing Group. Thanks to Revell for the review copy.