Publish Date: August 2009
How I got this book: Purchased
A disillusioned black-ops hero is kidnapped by his ruthless former employers and forced to go on a suicide mission back to the scene of his worst betrayal—-but an innocent woman is caught in the trap and sent with him, forcing him to choose: her life, or his vengeance.
KYLE “KICK” JACKSON is a bona fide bad-ass. The product of a rough childhood and a youth spent proving how tough he was, Kick was the perfect CIA black-ops operative. Right up until the fateful mission that left his best friend dead and Kick in the hospital for months. They were betrayed…from the inside. Now his former bosses will stop at nothing, including kidnapping, to get him back to complete his mission.Unfortunately, there is a complication. A big one.
LORRAINE “RAINIE” MARTIN is a fiercely dedicated ER nurse—-a vocation decided upon when her parents were killed in a brutal carjacking. But the impenetrable fortress of safety she has erected around herself and her heart do no good when she finds herself stranded in the unforgiving desert, dependent on a dangerous man without mercy for her very survival…and the only way home is to confront her worst fears.
*Blurb from Author’s website*
I’ve been on a romantic suspense kick lately, and even spent the last weekend reading nothing but Rom. Susp. books all weekend long. When I went with my fellow Book Pusher E to the local Borders that is closing (*tear*) I saw the sexy covers of Nina Bruhns Passion for Danger trilogy and immediately placed all three in my basket. Super sexy cover? Check! Hard core black-ops man on a mission? Check! Strong heroine who powers her way through the book? Check! What more could you ask for?!
Rainie is an ER nurse who is trying to get back into the dating scene, but none of the men at the speed dating are ringing her bell, until tall, dark and deadly walks in and heads right to her. But instead of getting back into the dating scene, she finds herself thrown into the middle of a CIA cluster-F filled with an uncooperative agent, a potential mole, and a lot of twists and turns.
Kick doesn’t want to go back to work, has been avoiding detection for as long as possible. When work catches up with him and he is forced to go back, with Rainie underfoot, he is placed with keeping himself and her safe from who knows what. They are taken to the desert where they have to survive one of the most brutal terrorist. But when the bullets start flying, a POW is found, and their plans start backfiring, will Kick and Rainie ever make it out alive?
I am so so glad I took the chance on Bruhns when I saw her at the bookstore. I literally sat down and devoured this book from cover to cover in one sitting. The characters were so real, the plot was intense and crazy, and the sexy times were SMOKIN’! I loved that the characters were so flawed and crazy at times. When we first meet Kick he is addicted to pain pills, and isn’t thinking straight with every decision he makes. He is cold and mean and kind of a jerk. But once he comes out of the drug haze and shows his true colors… LOVED him. He was alpha and strong and protective and so larger than life. While I was hesitant to like him given his actions in the beginning of the story, it was also very real and true to life. I liked that.
Rainie was a little harder to relate to. She was such a contradiction of herself. When in the ER she is take-charge and strong and every bit an alpha female. But when she is not in the ER she is scared and phobic of almost everything and so mousy. I felt that her actions in the beginning of the story were a little off kilter for how a woman might normally act, but once she started finding herself and getting past her neuroses, she came alive for me.
Like many romantic suspense books this one was chalked full crazy plot twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. I really liked the secondary characters and am hoping that we get to see more of them, especially Alex the POW. I think he has a great story to tell, and I can’t wait to hear it! There were a few parts that felt too over-the-top for me, but at the same time it made for very entertaining reading.
All in all I really enjoyed Shoot to Thrill. All romantic suspense fans out there will want to pick this book up, and soon. The author writes a creative and well developed plot, engaging and exciting characters in a bundle of sexyness.
I give Shoot to Thrill a B+
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