Review: Ravaged With You (Stark Security #7) by J Kenner

TitleRavaged With You
Author:  J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Martini & Olive 9/7/21
Length:  324 Pages
Series: Stark Security #7

Overview

Retired from the military and finally free of the demons of past missions, former Special Forces soldier Charlie “Red” Cooper leads a blissfully calm life running his successful distillery. At least until the day he finds his partner and best friend drowned in one of their best barrels of whiskey. Now he must dredge up old skills and memories to not only avenge his friend’s death, but to protect the one woman who has always made his pulse race-his friend’s grieving widow.

Shocked by her husband’s death, Josephine Swift should be mourning, but instead she’s terrified and…pissed. Turns out the husband she’d fallen out of love with was into some seriously bad business. Even worse, he’s dragged her and his partner into his web of deceit and danger. Now his mistakes could get them both killed.

Jo is glad to have the benefit of Red’s skills to keep them safe. She shouldn’t be interested in him-especially not now-but there’s no denying the white-hot attraction that smolders between them. Red’s far too honorable to sully his best friend’s memory by giving in to his desire for Jo. But when their lives hang in the balance, all bets are off. And as the depth of their passion grows, Jo dares to hope for a future. First, though, they have to survive…

Charismatic. Dangerous. Sexy as hell.

My Thoughts

Here we are in book seven of this series – and it’s really nice to see the new members of the team that we get introduced to in each installment. Last time we got to see Renly’s story and now it’s time for his twin brother Red’s saga.

This story takes us on a twisted path that we should have figured out at the very beginning yet the way that the story is told, it’s round about and we don’t figure it out as a reader until about 2/3 of the way through. (at least that was me).

So, to take a step back, Red is our leading guy in this story – he was part of the Special Forces and has had quite a bit of trauma coming out of it. We know that he’s got these tells of sorts of things that trigger him, but we don’t really know the full back story. Then there’s Josephine (Jo) – she’s our leading lady. Red, Jo and her husband were all fast friends back in college and that carried over to their adult life. They opened the whiskey distillery together and that’s where our story takes it’s dark turn.

Red received a text to meet his partner at the distillery and when Red gets there, he discovers that things are not as they should be. Alerts and alarms have been turned off and the worst thing imaginable, he finds his friend, face down, dead in one of the vats.

The story from here on out follows several paths. The first is trying to find out what Mitch had gotten himself into and what that means for Red and Jo. The people who murdered Mitch quickly get in contact with Red and tell him that they know there’s a package stolen and if he and Jo don’t find it quickly, then people will slowly die.

The next path is the one with Jo and Red. What we learn throughout this story is that not only were these guys all the best of friends, there was chemistry between Jo and Red before she even got with her husband. There was a moment one night that Red forced an end to and that left them both wondering, but also made Red realize that he couldn’t have the one perfect thing in his life since he had his own demons.

We know that any person who goes to work for Stark has a haunted past and it’ll be a process to dig under the skin and figure out what are the triggers and how to get past. Red is exactly following that same situation and it’s nice that he’s got someone like Jo that can read him and a twin in Renly that cares so much.

The story takes us on flashes of the past, but uncertainties of the present. Every step that Red and Jo make is met with someone trying to do them harm, in the hopes that it’ll get the result that they’re looking for. Stolen goods. Each time that Stark believes they have the upper hand, something goes wrong.

We see people come back from the presumed dead, we see lies and mysteries revealed meaning that we never really knew the people that we thought we knew, There’s a kidnapping, several deaths, a few breakthroughs and an ending that was unexpected, but appropriate none the less.

What we got here as well is what our author J Kenner is known for. A tease throughout the book of what’s to come next in the series. There’s a new recruit named Simon that really makes us scratch our heads. He’s referenced from Devlin Saints series (which was really good if you haven’t read it yet) and we know that Devlin was all about trafficking and bringing that industry down. He had his own dark side because of his family ties and that means that Simon has to be complex as well if he was a recommendation. I can’t wait for that one to come out but in the meantime, now I have to find something else to read. Enjoy!

Review: Memories of You (Stark Security #6) by J Kenner

TitleMemories of You
Author:  J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  1001 Dark Nights Press 6/8/21
Length:  111 Pages
Series: Stark Security #6

Overview

Hollywood consultant Renly Cooper is fed up with relationships. His recent breakup with a leading lady played out across the tabloids, and the former Navy Seal is more than ready to focus on his new position as an agent at the elite Stark Security agency. He’s expecting international stakes. Instead, his first assignment is to protect one of Damien Stark’s friends from a stalker. A woman who, to his delight, turns out to be one of his closest childhood friends.

After a foray into online dating puts tech genius Abby Jones in danger, she needs a bodyguard, and her business partner, Nikki Fairchild Stark, enlists help from Stark Security. When the assigned agent turns out to be her best friend from junior high—and her first crush—she’s thrilled to discover he’s even more delicious now. She hopes one sexy night can turn into more, but Renly is firmly in the friends-with-benefits camp.

As the threat to Abby increases, she tries to keep her growing feelings for Renly at bay. But as the sparks between them burn even hotter, can they go from friends to lovers when the first order of business is simply to keep Abby alive?

My Thoughts

I love the Stark Security series and I’m happy to get into book six, even if it’s a novella. I’ll be honest thought, the summary doesn’t 100% match up to how the story plays out, but i’ll forgive that since we get exactly what’s needed in this series.

Abby if you remember is Nikki’s partner in the tech firm and we’ve come to really enjoy her throughout all the stories in the Stark world. She’s proven herself to be a great friend, a great professional and because of all this, she deserves happiness. How that pans out, well, we see some of that in this story.

Then there’s Renly – he’s new to Stark and as the summary suggests, he was a SEAL and then worked in Hollywood. We know that he isn’t a relationship guy so while his last one was ‘in the tabloids’ – it’s really not that serious in the grand scheme of things. The woman is one of the most desired women in hollywood but to him, that really means nothing.

What makes this story great though is the shared past that Abby and Renly had and how that manifests itself into the now.

We quickly learn that they were best friends, inseparable until Renly and his twin Red were moved away in high school and Abby lost her best friend and her crush. Little did she know that the crush she had on Renly was kind of the same that he had on her, yet neither one of them was strong enough to go down that path. I think that it’s for the best when you see how this story shakes out.

They come face to face when Abby is concerned that she’s being stalked but doesn’t know by whom. She gets hang up calls on her mobile and on her direct line at work and there’s never anyone talking. It’s not until she walks back to her car one day and finds it covered by blood (fake blood thankfully) that we see Abby and Stark Security merge. Renly is in the office when he hears Nikki share the news that something happened to Abby and he races out of there with her and Damian. When they get to the ‘crime scene’ – it takes just one second for Abby to realize that it’s Renly in front of her and she launches herself at him.

From this moment forward, we watch how they have such intense chemistry and magnetism that even though they know that they want different things romantically in life, they find themselves circling each other in the hopes to get the friendship back. They reconnect on so many levels and it’s like life was meant to bring them back together. Thankfully Stark Security puts Renly on Abby protection and they are together non-stop until things are sorted.

What happens – a night that they thankfully don’t regret, but one that they know can’t ever happen again since their friendship is far more important than a confusing relationship. That seems to work on the surface for them, until a night that Renly takes Abby as his +1 to a Hollywood wrap party and they run into his ex who forces Abby to stand up for herself and lay claim to Renly in the most carnal way.

Their story takes a change in trajectory but it’s one that works for them. What it also does though is it makes everything that Abby’s stalker does even more personal. And while we don’t know who it is for quite a bit, we have suspicions. He finally comes out in the open, poisons Renly and Abby so that he can get her away, and that means that all bets are off on what it will take to bring her back.

So…the novella is jam packed, and we get to see an evolution of relationships both professionally and personally and there’s a good teaser or intro into the next installment to this story – where we get to see Red’s life take center stage. We do’t know much about him, but we know that he was involved in Damian’s world back when his daughter was kidnapped. So, that means that his story – a full length one I believe will be even more exciting. So….onto the next! Enjoy!

Review: Destroyed With You (Start Security #5) by J Kenner

Title: Destroyed with You
Author:  J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Martini & Olive 12/15/20
Length:  334 Pages
Series: Stark Security #5

Overview

Former sheriff Winston Starr doesn’t think about the past. That dark day when he lost the sweet, innocent woman he’d loved, dead because of his mistake in a mission that had gone horribly wrong.

Now an operative with Stark Security, he’s left Texas behind, focusing only on his work and closing his heart to love even as his soul screams for revenge against the scum that killed his Linda. When old friends reveal new evidence, Winston learns that not only is Linda alive, she faked her death in the ultimate betrayal.

But things are not as Winston believes, and he soon finds himself on the run with the woman who ripped his heart out. Now, the only thing stronger than his rage is his desire for the woman who destroyed him.

My Thoughts

We loved Winston for all that he did for Emma in the past when they knew each other and we now that his past is haunted. There are things that he’ll share and parts of himself that he’ll keep closed off because he’s lost too much in his life – as is the case it seems with everyone who’s in the SSA world. We know that he went under cover for SOC to take down the Consortium and in doing that he lost his wife. Linda was killed in a car bomb and that broke him more than he could have ever fathomed.

So fast forward a few years when Winston gets a call from his old boss at SOC with some interesting information. Linda isn’t dead – and she’s actually an assassin. This means that everything that Winston though he knew about life and her was a lie, and while he didn’t reveal who he truly was to her, he eels that her lies betray even more.

This story takes us on the journey that Winston takes to not only find the truth but to give himself some sort of resolution and closure to what he considers to be one of his biggest mistakes ever.

What they both come to find is that nothing is what it seems. They both believe that they are working assignments for the good guy but quickly learn that perhaps no one is good -everyone is dirty and can be bought for the right price. They go on the run to find answers, knowing that it means they’l have to spend time together and hopefully reveal the truth of what their pasts truly was and figure out what that means for their future.

They played each other in the past and they play each other now still. There’s a huge question of who’s going to get hurt in the crossfire and who’s going to come and save them. Because the first part of the assignment takes them to Texas, we see Noah come back into the mix a bit. The tech whiz who haw more tricks up his sleeve than any one else out there. We also know that Emma will play a role here again as well since she was close with Winston over the years and even knew Linda.

They go from Texas to LA, and are forced to kill, lie, cheat and break into a vault all in the hopes of getting answers. We all know where this is going to end up, but what we get in the meantime Is a story of fact finding and finding a path back. I think that it’s really sweet how they slowly let their walls down but still have so much fear of what the other can do to hurt them again. There’s a chemistry that’s undeniable between them and while it’s just for this assignment that they agree to let things play out, it at least come out in a hot and steamy manner.

And in true J Kenner form, we have an intro to our new leading couple for the next book – Reny a new agent for SSA and Abby who’s Nikki’s partner for her tech firm. So all that in hand, i’m excited for the next installment of this series. Enjoy!

Review: Wrecked With You (Stark Security #4) by J Kenner

Title: Wrecked with You
Author:  J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Martini & Olive 5/26/20
Length:  338 Pages
Series: Stark Security #4

Overview

He never wanted a partner. And then she came along.

After more than a decade chasing shadows, Antonio Santos finally has a lead on the hiding place of The Serpent, the elusive villain who kidnapped him as a child and murdered his mother and uncle. But in order for Tony to get close, he’ll need access to an exclusive private island-where he can only enter with a woman on his arm.

Antonio goes to Stark Security to call in a debt … then walks out with Emma Tucker on his arm. A loner, Antonio isn’t interested in having a partner. He just needs a female. But the striking redhead’s skills soon impress him. More than that, her lush body and beguiling self-assurance tease his senses in unanticipated ways. 

A longtime operative with deadly skills, Emma resents being arm candy for someone else’s agenda. But the more she works with Antonio, the more she admires his razor sharp intelligence and formidable prowess. And when the island’s games push them over a sensual cliff, she can’t deny his talents in the bedroom, too.

As passion rises on this island playground full of lust and danger, they both fight the growing attraction between them. But with danger racing toward them from both on and off the island, they soon realize that more than their hearts are at stake. Because unless they can trust and rely on each other, they also risk losing their lives.

My Thoughts

I’ll be honest when I say that i’ve spent too much time away from this series to really remember the guys that we get to focus on. As I eased myself back into this one though I quickly remembered a few things and it reminded me the value of this spin off series. We have yet another story that’s got a dark side in it’s past – on the parts of both of our main characters.

We start off with Antonio the leading man who was a part of Deliverence and now is in between gigs while he follows his quest to get revenge for the man that ruined everything that he had going for him in his life. The man who murdered his mother, his uncle, who kidnapped him and who put him on the wrong path. He’s being recruited by SSA and Stark wants him to be a part of the tea, but he won’t do it until he’s able to get his past resolved. lucky for him though, Stark owes him a favor and with that comes resources and a partner.

Enter Emma – the older sister of Eliza whom we met in the previous installment with Quincy and we get to see more and more why she’s so tough and protective. We know that her backstory with her sister isn’t a good one – they had to do just about anything possible to survive once they got away from their abusive father, and what’s interesting here is that there’s a link to Tony’s story that we don’t learn until the last third of this story.

Emma is being recruited by SSA as well, and we get to see how she’s afraid to lose her freedom from the jobs that she works now. She was part of an off the grid government agency that basically did the same work as SSA and she’s got skills that people need.

They’re teamed together to help Tony find The Serpent – the man who ruined his family and who needs to be taken care of. This quest to find him takes our two leading characters to a resort island that’s all about sex and debauchery and while it’s no surprise that’s the environment that they find themselves in, it’s the entertainment there that keeps this story flowing.

Tony’s only reason to be there is because of someone he met on the dark web who said she has information on The Serpent. so we spend the first bits of time at the resort watching our duo try to track down this woman with information. They get into several interesting situations where they think they’re on the track to the right person and end up with just a good time with nothing to show for it. The hitch to all this though is that we see them develop a deeper attraction towards one another which is inevitable and of course that also means that we have to see if they’re willing to be honest and open up about their pasts for this to become something more.

They quickly find themselves in dicey situations where they are led astray, into a trap, into another trap, multiple people die and then they are back at square one with little insight into what’s what. While they’ve failed their direct mission, we also watch them fail at trust. When intel is shared that makes Tony question everything about Emma, we see that they definitely are too fragile to survive and that means that they go their separate ways. It’s only SSA that brings them around again although the path to discover what is an entirely different story.

True to J kenner form, we get anxiety and fear, vendettas and blood lust, the need for freedom and a desire for control. Add to that some insane chemistry and heat, some great toys to play with at the resort, and a means to open oneself up both figuratively and literally – and well we have an amazing book 4. I can’t wait to get into book 5 and see what’s next for this crew that keeps expanding. Enjoy!

Review: Ruined With You (Stark Security #3) by J Kenner

TitleRuined with You
Author:  J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Martini & Olive 9/19/19
Length:  221 Pages
Series:  Stark Security #3

Overview

When her high maintenance boss is assaulted, manager Xena Morgan contacts the only person who can help—the sexy, arrogant, incredibly capable Stark Security agent Liam Foster. The former vigilante takes every case personally, and he’s determined to find answers—particularly since he thought he’d cleared this threat already.

Xena had been thrilled when Liam completed his assignment, because he affected her in ways she didn’t want to contemplate, awakening yearnings that threatened her deepest secrets.

But now she needs him, and her body won’t let her forget it.

As their attraction heats to a feverish degree, the web of lies, danger, and passion they find themselves in tangles further. Liam will stop at nothing to protect his client, even if it means sacrificing everything he holds dear…. and exposing the secrets that may destroy him—and Xena—forever.

My Thoughts

I love anything that has to deal with the Stark world and this third installment in the SSA series doesn’t fall short in any way. We knew that Liam had a past of sorts and that he was dark and mysterious and now its’ his turn to find happiness, or at least figure out how to move past his misery. We know that he was part of Deliverence, and that he and Dallas & Jane were really close all growing up because he was essentially part of their family. So it’s only late in the game that we see his time come.

In the last book we were briefly introduced to this story line – he was on assignment trying to figure out whether a threat was valid or not against an up and coming pop star named Ellie Love. He thought he had cleared it, after finding out that her PR team was trying to generate more buzz, only to find that something else was going on entirely. Just after he leaves her on tour, she gets attacked. She had taken precautions and even had a disguise but she was attacked anyway. The question that comes is whether it was random or not. Liam thinks not.

In this story we also meet Xena – Ellie’s personal assistant and we learn that she’s not only good at what she does but she’s got a past that’s made her tough as nails. It also makes her jumpy when she learned that the disguise Ellie used made her look like Xena, meaning this is definitely not random.

Liam picks up on a few things that she’s giving off and decides to go down that path. The other nuance to this bit too though is that there’s chemistry between them, but they both have walls up and their guard on high alert so they aren’t willing to give into temptation. Liam knows that his job will get those close to him killed (his last relationship and love is dead because of this) and Xena is running from something and is just afraid to really let anyone in and trust.

The journey here is slightly different than the other stories but still dynamic all the same. We need to know what makes both Liam and Xena tick in order to get to the bottom of what’s going on and we need to hope that they find the answers that they need before it’s too late. The entire stark team is involved in this mission now, pulling in resources from everywhere.

Xena is forced to run, Liam goes after her. They end up being ambushed, and followed even with the best measures possible put to shake a tail. They use the resources from the SSA to throw their attackers off their scent and still they find themselves as the wrong end of a gun. The question that begs to be answered is ‘who’s feeding the opposition information’ since there’s no way that anyone would know what the next move is without an inside mole. (mind you i figured that one out early as i’m sure everyone else did, but we don’t know why)\

On top of all that angst and tension, there’s romance and chemistry. What this couple wouldn’t give into in the past comes to a head here and they both see that there’s no way to stay apart. Even though they are close physically, there’s such emotional baggage that it’s a wonder if they can ever make it. Even with the intervention of family and friends, it seems like it’s a lost cause. Understandably so.

Anyhow – i think that we get the deep intense story that we need for Liam and a great continuation for the Stark Security team. I can’t wait to see what comes next since we don’t really know the guy who’s set to be the next main, but it sounds like it’s going to be juicy. Enjoy!

Review: Broken with You (Stark Security #2) by J Kenner

TitleBroken with You
Author:  J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Martini & Olive 6/18/19
Length:  221 Pages
Series:  Stark Security #2

Overview

True love never fades…

After surviving a troubled childhood, Denise can’t believe that she’s blissfully married to her partner and soulmate. She’s confident that not even Mason’s long-term, deep-cover assignment will shake their bond. And she certainly doesn’t anticipate that when he finally walks back through her door that he’ll have no memory of her, himself, or their time together…

When Mason is pulled out of an operation gone bad, all he knows is what he’s told — that he was a covert agent, that he has information vital to national security somewhere in his head, and that they can tell him no more for fear of burying those hard-fought secrets even further. They tell him nothing else; not even that the beautiful woman who makes his heart beat faster is not just his partner, but also his wife.

The secret she must keep wrecks Denise, who wants only to return to Mason’s arms. But despite the desire that still burns hot between them, she can’t tell him who she is—or that she’s carrying his child.

But when dark forces threaten both their lives in order to retrieve the information trapped in Mason’s mind, it’s not their past that will be tested, but the tenuous new love now burning hot between them.

You don’t want to miss this sexy, suspenseful amnesia romance!

My Thoughts

Well the novella before this is something to definitely read beforehand, although if you haven’t it’s not like you miss anything huge. They tease bits of it during this story, but given that it was a night in passing, it’s ok to miss. Regardless, what we get here in this story is the return of what used to be Mason, Denise’s husband and all sorts of stress that comes with that.

As you’ll recall, Mason was away on a mission that no one knew the details around except that it was deep deep undercover and that he was about to get damning information to pass back to the SOC when he went dark. He reappears with no memory of anything, glimpses of things in dreams, and no idea how it all happened.

The journey on this story is a tricky one. We see everyone who knows him wanting to help, but knowing that if they push too hard to connect dots for him, Mason’s mind may be ruined forever. We see the path that a doctor wants to take with him, we see a path that Denise wants to take and we see the path that Mason decides he wants to go down.

It’s painful to witness, all the hearts breaking over and over again because there’s hurt when he doesn’t remember anything about himself and what Denise meant to him. We see hurt when there’s so much information that’s now lost and a fear that no one will be safe ever.

At the same time, we see some interesting things happen throughout this story. There’s a client of Denise’s that needs her help because she feels like she’s being stalked, and that opens up another path off this story. Wondering who’s following her, and why. This however is the perfect chance for Mason to get back to working, with Denise (he was told that they were partners in the past) and to see what memories are jogged. When they’re all out one night, Cerise bringing her new boyfriend, he sees a flash of a face that triggers some type of reaction and we’re forced to wonder what. Along with that ,there’s the ironic twist of fate that Cerise’s new boyfriend is Denise’s old partner from her time with the government, and a man that clearly had feelings for her back in the day.

So you can imagine of course the twists that this story will take since everyone’s personally vested, even if it’s not in the right direction. When circumstances change, and the face turns out to be a man who attacks Denise and then stalks Cerise, we are sure he’s connected to Mason and want to know how. There’s a dark turn that this takes as that man attacks denise a second time and injects her with a poison that will kill her in 72 hours.

Roller coaster for sure with a few loops thrown in. No one can catch a break in making progress, we wonder if Mason’s mind will lock away things forever and that means not only will the nations’ secrets be kept that way, Denise will have lost her love and perhaps they will never be safe.

There’s so much drama in this 2nd book of the series but i’m really glad that we get to see how this story plays out. Liam, another one of the guys that we met via Dallas in his installments as well as his role in this one, playing host to Mason, well he gets his fair share of screen time. I think that it’s safe to say that he’s got a LOT of skeletons in his closet and he’s due for some cleaning as well as for some happiness. He’s been most recently put on a job that seems a bit of a dud for a pop star, but we always know that when things seem too easy, there’s more to the story. So that’s the lead that we get once we see some type of resolution here. Everyone’s story will continue on and i can’t wait to dive into book three. Enjoy!

Review: Shadows of You ( Stark Security #1.5) by J Kenner

TitleShadows of You
Author:  J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Julie Patra Publishing 5/12/19
Length:  29 Pages
Series:  Stark Security #1.5

Overview

For two long years, Stark Security agent Denise Marshall has been alone, mourning her missing husband. But everything changes on Valentine’s Day when she encounters a mysterious man who seems to understand her deepest desires

My Thoughts

What we’ve learned along the journey with Stark is that what they do is dangerous, who they work with are dangerous and everything always screams danger. So when Denise’s husband is on assignment for years and can’t be reached, and no one can find a trace of him, we know that things are bad . and hard. and sad.

Denny (cute nick name right?) works for Stark – she used to be with another government agency like her husband, and now she works for Stark, but not in the field. She’s experienced too much pain there and now wants to stay behind a desk, where she knows what her job will give her. It’s also an opportunity for her to dig into information about the whereabouts of Mason, until she gets caught.

It’s a good thing that Ryan Hunter and Damian Stark are such great guys who understand what she’s going through and they want to make her life better at least for a night so they gift her with a treatment that should relax and pamper her, and what she gets is so much more. Can’t wait to see what comes in the full book 2 of the series now. Enjoy!

Review: Shattered With You (Stark Security #1) by J Kenner

Title: Shattered With You
Author: J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Martini & Olive 3/23/19
Length:   221 Pages
Series:  Stark Security #1

Overview

With his lethal skills and criminal connections, former British agent Quincy Radcliffe has fast become a key asset at the newly formed Stark Security. But Quincy isn’t the man he appears to be.

When the woman whose body he once worshipped and whose heart he broke pleads for his help, Quincy knows he must either turn his back on her or risk revealing his dark secrets to the one woman who can—and will—tear open his old wounds.

For years, struggling actress Eliza Tucker has tried to forget the decadent weeks she shared with Quincy Radcliffe. His smoldering good looks had drawn her in, while his British charm had enchanted her. But it was the wildness of his seduction and the ferocity of his passion that captured her. She’d given herself to him—and he’d shattered her like glass when he’d walked away.

Now, he’s the only person who can help find her missing sister. She’ll use him because she has too. She’ll pay any sensual price he demands. But she won’t fall for him again.

My Thoughts

I have always loved anything related to Stark, and the more people that we’re introduced with through Damian’s web of work and friends, the more complex, interesting and exciting this all becomes. We’ve become close with the Security folks in Starkland – through our time with Ryan Hunter as head of security, moving over to Dallas – who built Deliverance, to all of the guys who now work for SSA. So it’s one of those guys that we get to know deeply in this first installment to the spin-off series.

Quincy – sexy, British, and a man of means, power, money and a dark dark history. That’s exactly the kind of man that we need as our leading man, because we know that nothing will be easy with him, he will fight what he wants every step of the way and it’ll of course take a wonderfully amazing woman to win him over.

Enter Eliza – a girl who was forced to endure far too much at a young age. Her sister raised her because her mom died, her father abused them and the girls had to protect each other, provide for each other and survive.

When they cross paths in London 5 years prior, sparks fly and the following three months turn into the greatest of their lives. Then darkness happens, and Eliza is left to pick up the pieces – thinking that she’ll never get over him.

We find ourselves in the present now, when Emma – Eliza’s sister is missing and the only thing that Eliza can think to do is to impersonate her sister to get to the bottom of what’s going on. The twist here of course is that Emma is a PI with links to some Intelligence agency, so we are about to get deep into something fast.

The case that Eliza’s working on is one that overlaps with one that Quincy is working on, and we see that what was already a tense and stressful task has now becomes layers more complicated. When they see each other, there’s this need to stay away, but the chemistry and attraction is stronger than ever and we all know that there’s no use in fighting it because something that intense and strong is not easily beaten.

The journey that we go on with these two and all of SSA is beyond complex. They work with the organization to get to the bottom of who’s behind a trafficking scheme, who’s kidnapped a princess in the hopes of selling her to the highest bidder, where is Emma through all this and how is she connected.

Every turn we take in this story we begin to wonder who can be trusted, how people are staying one step ahead of them at every turn, especially with the intel, tech abilities and skill that SSA has. Are we able to hope for a happy outcome and what other twists and shockers are going to be thrown our way before the story ends?

What i can tell you is that in true J Kenner fashion, we get some of the hottest scenes ever. The chemistry that Eliza and Quincy shared back in London hasn’t dulled at all, it’s grown hotter and it’s so flammable that anyone near them will go up in flames too. There’s the physical stuff sure, but they bonded on a deeper more emotional level as well, and when Quincy is pushed to share where his demons are and why he walked away all those years ago, you get to see a whole new side. Those ghosts and demons pop up again in the worst way in this story and it’s intense to see how it plays out.

All that being said – i’m sold! this is a great new series and every time we get a new story or series from J Kenner, i wonder how it will be different, engaging, exciting and super hot compared to all others that i’ve read. and yet, it’s ALWAYS done it!

I can’t wait to read Broken with You which is the next book due out in June, because it focuses on Denny, her husband and what definitely won’t disappoint because of the twists and sadness that we’ve already been teased with . So on that note, enjoy!