Review – Killing Time by Cindy Gerard – The Book Pushers | Book Reviews

Publisher: Pocket
Publish Date: January 29th
How I got this book: Edelweiss

An exciting new series featuring Mike “Primetime” Brown, a character from her popular “Black Ops, Inc.” series.

For the seven years after Operation Slam Dunk went south, Mike Brown got drunk on each anniversary. The eighth year was no different–until he was drugged by a woman and woke up to her questions about what had happened eight years ago in Afghanistan. CIA attorney Eva Salinas has her own theory behind what happened to Mike’s team–which included her husband–in Afghanistan eight years ago, and she’s determined to prove foul play. Though she doesn’t trust him, Mike is the only person she can turn to for help. Under an assumed name, Eva convinces Mike to assemble a new team and go after the traitor who screwed up both their lives. As they track down the rogue who started it all, Eva and Mike discover they can’t live without each other. But can they stay alive while an enemy is still on the loose?
*Blurb from Goodreads*

Cindy Gerard is one of my favorite romantic suspense authors, and when the Black Ops, Inc. series drew to a close last year, I wanted to cry. But she is back and better than ever with Primetime, a familiar face from the BOI series.

Mike is not living the life he always wanted, but he makes it through most of the year without a hiccup. But on the anniversary of the mission that ruined his military career, and killed most of his team, Mike gets fall-over-drunk to forget. Except this year he ends up drugged and kidnapped by a woman who wants to know every detail she can about that night eight years ago. Mike isn’t ready to trust her with the truth, but after a few hours together, he is ready to get to the bottom of what really happened.

Eva never knew the truth behind her husband’s death, and when the file on Operation Slam Dunk lands in her lap, she is determined to get Mike to tell her the whole story. They will have to work together to infiltrate an enemy camp, all while trying to discover who was behind the operation that threw Mike under the bus, got his whole team killed, and fighting the attraction that won’t seem to fizzle out.

I had already fallen in love with Mike from his appearances in the BOI books, and as we got more and more of his backstory, I just continued to fall harder and harder for him! I will admit to being a little bummed that Mike didn’t fight a little harder to get to the bottom of what really happened with Operation Slam Dunk when it originally happened. I can understand he was a little shocked and grief-stricken, but Mike also seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn’t let something that fishy slide by him. I would have liked to see a bit more explanation on that.

I have to say though, I absolutely loved and adored Eva. She was such a wonderful character: strong and caring and level-headed. Eva is the perfect kind of heroine that I like to see in my romantic suspense books. She is willing to plunge headfirst into danger, and yet she isn’t stupid enough to do it without a big bad man at her back. She wouldn’t take no for an answer, and was willing to do what she had to in order to get to the truth.

The suspense in this book was not as intense as some of Gerard’s previous books. However, I liked that. It really gave Mike and Eva the chance to develop a friendship and alliance. Since they started their relationship on very rocky grounds, the downtime really helped to support the romance aspect. That being said, the big suspense moments were so well done. The ending was a great mixture of both believable suspense, with a dash of reality. I also liked that the “reveal” of the bad guy wasn’t drawn out, but dealt with quickly.

I liked that we got a chance to get some page time with a few of the BOI guys, and we were also introduced to Mike’s previous teammates. I know that the “Jacks” are going to be great heroes, and the dynamics between them were just as fun and wonderful to read as the BOI guys were.

All in all I am so excited for this new series by Gerard. I loved getting the chance to know Mike’s backstory and watch as he fell head over heels for a strong and wonderful heroine. The suspense was great and I am so excited to see more of Cooper and Taggart. Another stellar romantic suspense!
I give Killing Time a B+