HOT Pursuit: Hostile Operations Team® - Strike Team 1

Evie Baker had a successful restaurant where she was the chef but she lost it thanks to her business partner, David West, who stole all her money. Left with nothing, Evie had to go back home to work in her mother's hair salon. Things get worse when Evie realizes David had mob connections and now they were after her. Evie can't catch a break when Matt Girard comes back to town for his sister's wedding. They had been best friends since they were children but things changed as they got older. She asked him to be her first and, of course, he agreed. Foolishly, he got drunk and told his buddies about it. He went off to join the military leaving Evie there to live down her new reputation alone. When Matt comes back to town ten years later he was so glad to see Evie, wanted to start their relationship again and apologize for the way he behaved after their night together. Matt's life is not going smoothly either. He is a special ops soldier and is awaiting a hearing for his team's last mission that ended very badly. I really liked this suspenseful novel with all it's twists and turns in the story. Evie's ex-partner, David, turned out to be a really bad guy and brought dangerous people after Evie. On top of that, her sister, Sarah, was kidnapped. Even though Evie tries to stay clear of Matt, he was the only one that could help her with all her troubles. I appreciated the author's character development and details about Evie and Matt's lives - past and present. It is obvious that Matt was well respected by his team when they willingly risked being court martialed when they broke the law to help him when he asked. This was an action filled story with lots of drama and sexual tension, making me not want to put it down. I highly recommend this one.

Matt Girard’s future with the HOT team is in jeopardy and while awaiting the verdict, he’s return home to face the past only to put everything in further jeopardy to protect the woman he left behind in this spellbinding romance. Matt may still make her heart pound but Evie wants nothing to do with him and the reader can’t help but get pulled into this story as their pasts wreaks havoc with the present. There is no denying the chemistry that sizzles between these two but with their past relationship it will take a miracle for these two to work out their tangled emotional issues and these strong compelling characters grip readers by the heart as they face their burning desires along with all the turbulence that comes with it in this fast paced and smooth flowing plot full of suspense, excitement, turmoil and romance. There is lots of tension building expectation to be found throughout the story as Matt faces the ending of his career which of course also plays a part in the turmoil that he struggles with in regards to his relationship and then there is lots of adrenaline pumping excitement found during the course of the book as Evie’s past brings a dangerous enemy to town and places her and everyone she loves in danger. With the well written scenes full of vivid details making it easy for the reader to picture each and every scene, the intriguing events have no problem holding the readers hostage from the very beginning. Matt and Evie’s story had me on pins and needles, not only was the relations on very rocky ground but the action was full of some hair raising excitement with some unexpected turns that I didn’t see coming and I have to mention that I think the conclusion certainly fit this couple to a T.

Hot Pursuit by Lynn Raye Harris Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Crime, Romance, Suspense 3.5 Stars Just a few adjustments to this story and it would have been a solid 4 stars for me. There was action and suspense on virtually every page. Most of which I enjoyed. Unfortunately there were also instances of the mc's having 'Asinine' moments during the action. Then there is excessive repetition in the mc's thoughts about each other, their past and themselves. Add to that, some of these thoughts are truly juvenile. A Mother's Rant ⤵⤵ At the 10% mark there is a scene that really aggravated me. "She turned and tried to smile politely at Jimmy. He wasn’t bad-looking, with his dark hair and dark eyes, but she’d never liked him." "Evie pushed his hand away and kept smiling. There wasn’t an ounce of friendliness in it, but she knew Jimmy was too dumb to see it." I don't know what the author was trying to portray here, but, quite frankly, if I don't like someone and they put their hands on me, I am NOT going to smile politely. I will slap the sh#@ out of them & I expect my daughter to do the same. Especially if you think they are too 'Dumb' to get the message. NO MEANS NO! If you have to, Kick Them Where It Hurts! You do what you have to do to make your point clear. I am a Southern Woman. We Do NOT politely smile and take that type of behavior with a wave of our fan and a giggle. We Do Not train our young Southern Ladies to be polite about being harrased in that way. The rest of the story was pretty good. Good enough that I kept reading and didn't dnf it. It is interesting & it has potential. The adult intimate scenes were not overdone and they were romantic. Not super hot & steamy, but definitely adult. I have the bundle of the 1st few books in the series & I will read them eventually. I just can't say when that will be. All in all, it is an okay read. About midway between 3 & 4 stars. Since I round down, this is a 3 star for me. bookshelves: authors-new2me, 1-owned-all, omnibus-n-order, adult, contemporary, crime, romance, suspense A Hostile Operations Team Boxed Set: Volume 1 (Hostile Operations Team, #1-3) 6 notes & 6 highlights (All visible) on GR