CLOSE TO THE EDGE (UNBROKEN HEROES #5)

The Unbroken Heroes are back! Agent Dare Servant is aghast at this fellow Ops members settling down. He knows without doubt that the domestic life will never be for him - the thrill of the chase and the high of danger to strong to ever give up. But when a quirky and charming caterer ends up smack dab in the middle of a criminal mastermind's plot, Dare will uphold his honor and protect her. Even though she pushes all his buttons. Even though her beauty drives him to distraction. Even though he's in danger of losing his heart to her and hanging up his Shadow Ops life for good… 

Release Date: February 27, 2018

St. Martin’s Press

Unbroken Heroes series book #5

Romantic Suspense

Review copy provided by the publisher 

Oy! I don't even know where to start. This book was so confusing and all over the damn place. From the moment I opened the book on my kindle I was lost. It felt like there was something missing. 

I was hoping that after a few pages you'd get to go back in the past and see how Dare and Jenna meet. But it never happened. There were so many questions. It's like the entire beginning of the book was nonexistent. 

Honestly, I DNF'd it. And I hate doing that, but I couldn't connect with the characters because I had no idea how they came about. 

Rating: DNF

TAKE TO THE LIMIT

They are part of an elite unit. On task. Off grid. These are the men of the Shadow Ops task force. Be seduced and thrilled by Take to the Limit, the next Unbroken Heroes novel by Dawn Ryder. 


Holding out for a hero

A hardened military machine, Bram Magnus is a tough, combat-ready, all-American hero who never surrenders. But the one thing he can't fight? His smoldering, intense attraction to his girlfriend's younger sister. He's always kept his feelings locked deeply down. But when his girlfriend betrays him the night before he ships off to Afghanistan, Bram has one chance to show the woman he's resisted for years that he wants her as fiercely as the first day he saw her.

Ever since her older sister first brought home the soldier with steely hard muscles and piercing eyes, Jaelyn has wanted Bram, and when her sister casts him aside the night before he leaves, Jaelyn can't resist one steamy hot kiss with him. But danger is not far behind, and even as a deadly enemy hunts them, their relationship only grows more explosive. It's all Bram can do to keep Jaelyn safe, but with a threat this powerful, will they pay the ultimate price for their passion?

Release Date: August 29, 2017

Unbroken Heroes #4

St. Martin's Press

Romantic Suspense

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's review:

Take to the Limit is the 4th book in the Unbroken Heroes series from Dawn Ryder. I would like to preface my review with the fact I had not read the first 3 books in the series. I did feel like Take to the Limit read well as a stand-alone story, but do think I would have understood more of the dynamics of some of the other characters had I read the first 3 books first.

Take to the Limit was a good story, but I had some major issues with Bram going from dating LeAnn, the older sister to being with Jaelyn, the younger sister. I understood he and Jaelyn were insanely attracted to one another and had great chemistry, but it kinda weirded me out that he slept with both sisters. I did really like Bram with Jaelyn, but wondered why it didn't bother Jaelyn he had been with her older sister first.

The suspense portion of the story was good, but a little all over the place for me. I think part of that could be how the book was formatted. Honestly I had some trouble figuring out when we changed character point-of-view, as there were very few page breaks or chapter breaks. I did like how intense Bram was when it came to protecting those people he loved. I also found Jaelyn to be a way stronger heroine than I had originally expected and found myself actually having mad respect for her strength.

While I didn't love Take to the Limit, I did like portions of the book. I think maybe had I read the other books in the series first, I would have had a better understanding of all the characters. I did like many of the characters I met in Take to the Limit, and could see myself trying other books in the series to find out more about those characters.

Rating: 3 Stars (C)

DANGEROUS TO KNOW (UNBROKEN HEROES #1)

In this red-hot romance-the first in a Special Ops series-Dawn Ryder takes readers into a world of dangerous secrets and forbidden passion...

She's too good to be bad 

A bad-boy member of an elite Special Ops team, Mercer has never been assigned an undercover mission he couldn't complete. But when his latest job requires him to gain the trust-and get into the bed-of his newest target, the sexy, fiery colonel's daughter, he has a whole new challenge ahead of him. All evidence points to her being a traitor to the country he's sworn to protect, but the crackling desire between them is too strong a feeling to ignore...

He's too bad to resist 

Zoe has always kept her secrets close to the vest. The only woman in a decorated military family, she's been taught that to let someone close is to flirt with disaster. But when the dangerously handsome, alpha-strong Mercer comes blazing into her life full-speed, it's all Zoe can do to resist his wicked seduction. As danger circles closer, Zoe must decide if she can trust him to protect her-but there's no way he could be bad when he makes her feel this good...

Release date: March 1, 2016

St. Martin’s Press

Unbroken Heroes series book 1

Review copy provided by the publisher 

Nikki’s Review:

Typically, I either love or hate military romance. There are some authors who write really solid stories, with a fantastic balance between love and action. I love a man in uniform, a hero who makes me swoon. I love him all growly alpha and a stubborn attitude. I often find that military romance can give me all of those ingredients...and sometimes, the recipe falls short.

Mercer and Zoe are hot and heavy from the get go...yay! But my first impression of Mercer wasn't great. He was slimy, cocky, and arrogant, and not in a good, yummy I have to have him, kinda way. I felt like his flirting with, Zoe was bordering on pushy and very creepy. 

I'm going to be honest here; I didn't feel any connection between these two outside of sex. And holy crap! There is a lot of sex. I like sexy times in the books I read. However, it started feel repetitive pretty quickly. They are on the run and bumping uglies like it's a romantic weekend away. The sex scenes were yummy and descriptive, but they seemed forced sometimes. It didn't always fit.

Mercer wasn't always easy to like. Just when he'd let you see a tender side, his douche bag attitude would shine through again. It was incredibly frustrating. I often felt like Zoe was a puppet. She was manipulated at every turn. And yet, she kept falling deeper and deeper for Mercer.

I'd say I was a good half way through the book before I was able to get a firm grasp on the suspense part of the story. There are so many players in this book. I was like...wait! Who's this again? This part of the book seemed to have more meat to it than the romance. I wish I could have felt a more emotional connection between, Zoe and Mercer. I wish I could believe there was more than sex that kept their hearts pumping. I just didn't feel it.

So, this military romance didn't ring my bell. But like most things in life, books are subjective. If you're looking for a book that has a suspense plot that keeps you guessing, and plentiful love scenes, then this book could be for you! I'm disappointed that I couldn't connect with it, but I can appreciate that many others will.

ROCK ME TWO TIMES

A partnership with the hottest new rock band, Toxsin, is a major opportunity for Kate's small custom leather shop, but she's determined to resist her burning attraction to the lead guitarist, Syon Braden. Sex is a commodity in his world, and that's just not enough for her. Or so she thought.

With the multiplatinum success of his band, Syon thought he had everything he'd ever wanted…and then he met Kate. He knows that sleeping with her could distract him from his music and even interfere with his close bandmate friendships, but despite all this, Syon just can't seem to keep his mind—or hands—off of her…

Release date: November 3, 2015

Rock Band series book 1

Sourcebooks Casablanca

Review copy provided by the publisher 

Nikki’s review:

I love a good rock star romance! It may be one of my favourite tropes. Sexy Rock God with tons of tattoos and enough bad boy swagger to make you drool! I was looking forward to digging into this one. 

Kate is uber talented with a needle and thread and some butter smooth leather. She's sought out by the biker community for their riding clothes. When she's given the opportunity to go on tour with Toxsin, and be the head leather costume designer, she's less than excited. She doesn't squeal over Rock Stars or their fame and money. But that doesn't mean she's immune to Syon, the bands lead singer. 

I had a hard time liking Kate and Syon. She was stubborn and had a "Debbie downer" like attitude. Syon had moments where I could have fallen for him, but his jerkiness seems to always take front and centre. He wants her ferociously but his mouth keeps me from really liking him. He's snippy with the heroine. I was frustrated that she didn't have a come to Jesus talk with him. 

Slowly they start to open up to each other and find some comfort, both emotionally and physically. But there's all this outside crap that keeps interfering. The bands manager is less than impressed with the budding relationship and basically sets the heroine up failure. Now this, this is where I really got angry. The manager and some of the crew are horrible to Kate. At one point, a roadie was jabbing his finger in accusation into her chests. Like actually poking hard! And no one sticks up for her! No one! The response from Syon is that she has to understand that his job is hard. Really now?! 

I was intrigued by the other band members. There's been some set up for interesting plots for a few of them. They were likeable enough. Enough that'll I likely read book 2. 

Syon redeems himself from forever being a douche in my mind towards the end. After evidence that can't be ignored that the manager has been awful to Kate, comes to light, he gets his act together. I guess the thing that I struggled with the most, was that I didn't connect with any of the characters. There was a lot of unlikeable people in this book...including the hero and heroine.

The love scenes were yummy. The dance floor bit was heart fluttering worthy. Kate and Syon were definitely in sync in the sack!

Bottom line...I'll read book 2. While I didn't care much for Kate and Syon, I really liked the other band members.