HOT Shadows (Hostile Operations Team: Strike Team 2 #6)

Lynn Raye Harris

Blurb:

Everly Fairhope is desperate. When threats against her mother’s life escalate, there’s only one man she can turn to. But he’s as likely to slam the door in her face as he is to help her.

Special Ops soldier Jax “Gem” Stone didn’t think he’d see Everly again after the abrupt way she walked out of his life and got engaged to someone else. So when she turns up at his front door, begging for help, the answer is no.

Until someone takes a shot at them both.

Gem doesn’t want to get involved for good reasons, but there’s no turning back. He’ll protect Everly and end the threat, then he wants her gone.

Some things are easier said than done, though.

Saving Everly from danger could be harder than expected when powerful forces work against him. But letting her go a second time?

Impossible. She’s his, and he intends to prove it to her. If they survive what’s coming…

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

Another sexy HOT agent finds himself in a dangerous situation thanks to a sexy and sinfully attractive woman in this latest addition to the HOT series by Lynn Raye Harris. I’ve greatly anticipated this new book since the ending of the previous novel even with the intermission of the Black’s Bandits stories from Harris but HOT will always hold a special place in my heart. I knew the moment that I got the email that this one was going to be a doozy, but I had no clue that it was going to be such a heartbreaking and intriguing story. I have been a fan of this story from its inception and with each new twist, turn, and couple I find myself more in love, and I know one day the series will come to its natural thought bittersweet ending, but in the meantime I will love every second of reading it. If you are a fan of sexy and deadly alpha males that are willing to give every bit of their strength and heart and sometimes even the risk of their lives in order to protect not only their friends, team, and country but the women that they love, this series will be perfect for you. I cannot wait for the next in the series and I am of course holding out hope for another spinoff series.

Jackson “Gem” Stone once thought that Everly Fairhope was “the one” and would be the woman he gave his heart to, until the day she broke up with him and left him angry and bitter. Now that she is moving on with her life and engaged no less, he’s beyond pissed to find her on his doorstep asking for his help in protecting her mother from some imagined threat. Everly knew she was falling for the sensual badass soldier after only a few weeks with Gem, but she had to let him so in order to protect him. Now she needs his help, even if it means confronting her own feelings for him, but he is just as determined to push her out of his life now. Until the threat becomes very real in the form of flying bullets coming right at Everly, then there is no way in hell that Gem will leave her to her own devices. Now they are stuck together trying to understand who is after her and why, but they are both having to deal with their feelings and the residual emotions from the relationship. Soon they can’t resist the passion between them any longer, but when the enemy succeeds in finally getting their hands on Everly, Gem has to overcome every obstacle to rescue Gem if he hopes to have a future with the woman that has once and for all claimed his heart.

Everly and Gem were perfect for one another, despite them hiding their connection under layers of bitterness and resentment. I loved seeing Everly push past Gem’s anger in order to make him see the woman she really was, instead of the emotionless robot that her mother wanted her to be. I truly felt the way her relationship with her mother ran her life (personal experience there, but in the end her mother did love her) and seeing her finally stand up for what she wanted—in this case Gem—made me admire her even more. She was sassy, smart, sweet, and loveable despite her lack of role-models in that regard, but I enjoyed getting to know her and seeing her with Gem’s friends and their ladies. She’s obviously going to make a great addition to the HOT women. Gem on the other hand I wanted to slap a few too many times. Sheesh I get that he was hurt, but man he was just that little bit annoying in holding a grudge, though yeah I get it. Once he let go of his hurt and found a way to understand her reasons for the breakup I think his heart became even more invested and he finally admitted that he’d always loved Everly. Seeing him kicking butt and outsmarting the villains was super fun too, because really those guys were his match in some ways, but definitely not up to his level. It's obvious that even though the bad guys had skills, there is no match for a HOT operator when his woman is being threatened.

HOT Shadows really was a plot twister with several unexpected turns in the story that led to some interesting character changes, and in the end you were left wondering just what could happen next. Everly and Gem were sadly stirring as they worked through their past heartaches in order to keep each other safe and find a way out of the darkness to have a future together. Gem was a hardass a good bit of the book as he held a grudge against Everly, but once he opened his heart again he showed us the true heart of a hero. Everly was a woman at her wit’s end as she tried again and again to make her mother happy, even at the expense of her own happiness, until she finally came to the realization that the love of a good man is much more important. That realization and opening of her heart lead her to a freedom that will allow her to finally give her a full and happy life with the man she loves. The passion between these two is there from the very beginning, even before they are reunited, but once they finally allow themselves to express their need the emotional impact of the heat is totally off the charts. I loved every second of this story and was so glad that Everly and Gem found a way to their HEA and the safety of their freedom. I cannot wait for the next story, but have no doubt that whatever happens next there is no way whatever I’m guessing will be anywhere close to the greatness Harris gives us. Once again Lynn strikes gold with two lovers reunited in the heat of battle and their love will last forever.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.