ARC Review: HOT SEAL Target (HOT SEAL Team #6)

HOT SEAL Target (HOT SEAL Team #6)

by Lynn Raye Harris

Blurb:

Navy SEAL Adam “Blade” Garrison’s assignment to infiltrate a tech billionaire’s criminal operations just got complicated. His cover: bodyguard for the man’s wife. His problem: Blade knows Quinn Halliday far too well. A sophisticated version of the chubby, shy girl Blade once knew, Quinn brings out all his protective instincts—as well as a few carnal ones that surprise him.

Quinn’s pride in having improved herself has turned bitter. She’s trapped in a relationship with a brutal man who views her as nothing more than a possession. Blade’s unexpected arrival makes her hope for more than a barren existence in a gilded prison. Until tragedy strikes, and Quinn realizes she’s next on the hit list.

Blade will do anything to shield Quinn from danger and keep her safe. But as they draw closer, an enemy works to flush them out. If he succeeds, he’ll put an end to Blade and Quinn’s budding happiness.

Unless Blade and his SEAL Team strike first…

Themes:  Contemporary

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

The HOT shots are back!

The amazing men and women that are protecting the world behind the scenes, never getting recognition for their amazing work, have always interested many of us, especially the personal lives that they have to fight so hard in order to have. Love and softness is not something that they often get a chance to experience, but Lynn Raye Harris gives us a small peak into their lives and loves in her amazing stories of the HOT squad.  The series has grown exponentially from the first story that grabbed my attention and the more I get to know these characters the more I come to love them, even as Lynn brings in more characters as eh expands the squads.  I love the way she weaves in the adventure and the drama without taking the focus away from the true purpose of the story, the love between the H/h, and makes the relationship the most important part. While the drama can sometimes overwhelms the story, Ms. Harris always finds a way back to the lovers.  The only part of her stories that are sometimes a bit much is the speed at which the lovers fall, mostly due to the adrenaline of the circumstances and the pace of the book, since the book sometimes only lasts less than a week in real-time.  I am definitely dying to find out what happens next, since as always Lynn snuck in a sexy epilogue and a bit of info about a possible next relationship, but either way I know I will love whatever comes next.

Adam “Blade” Garrison has been given a mission that he has no idea how to handle, not because of the danger, the intrigue or the possible loss of life, but because it puts him directly into the path of his childhood best friend, a woman that has changed immensely and now makes his heart race and his body burn. Quinn changed her whole life by changing her body, but she never knew that the attention it would bring her would leave her trapped in a dangerous marriage to an abusive maniac.  When she finds herself face-to-face with Adam after all these years her first instinct is to protect the precious knowledge that she knows him, in order to keep him safe from her husband, but she never imagined he would be the man to save her from the life she finds herself in or be the man to show her what love truly is.  In the end their lives are forever changed by the simple fact that together they can accomplish anything and that their love is strong enough to save themselves and the world, with the help of a few of Blade’s HOT friends.

Blade has been one of those peripheral characters we have gotten to know just a little bit about here and there in the previous novels in the series, but I very much enjoyed getting to know him now.  His strength and vulnerability made him an equally balanced man that was a perfect hero to swoop in and not just rescue Quinn, but show her the inner strength she possessed to save herself. He is as alpha as the rest of the HOT men of course, but his sweetness and thoughtfulness in the face of Quinn’s fears and insecurities make me melt and want to his big teddy bear self.  When he is in action, he is totally kick ass, using his skills from being a naughty kid on the streets of Honk Kong and the skills Uncle Sam taught him in equal proportion. Quinn has fought for many years to overcome what she sees as flaws in her body and her insecurities with her body image have left her vulnerable in a lot of ways.  I felt an emotional connection to her, mostly due to my own issues with weight problems and body image concerns, but I was sad to see her husband tearing her down, even though in the end Blade was able to build her back up.  Quinn’s inner goddess took a few hits, but she shined through again and again and was able to make a comeback in a big way as she helped Blade and the HOT teams bring down a madman.

I am always a little hesitant going into one of these stories, where the lovers knew each other long ago and have to come to terms with old feelings and the changes to their feelings and in each other, before the ever have a chance at a new relationship.  Baggage is never fun to deal with, even in just reading about it, but thankfully Ms. Harris manages it with great aplomb and we are able to enjoy these two rediscovering their friendship and their love.  Adam comes to terms with his need for a woman to complete his life and realizes that just maybe Quinn was the missing piece of his heart all along, while Quinn discovers that her feelings for Adam were truly love and not just the innocent hero worship she believed it was when she was a young girl.  Adam is amazing in so many ways, not the least of which is his ability to understand at any moment just what Quinn needs to build herself up when someone has torn her down. Quinn has to find a way to get out from under the boulder her marriage has buried her under, but once she does she is free to embrace the intense connection she still feels with Blade and there is no way she can deny either of them the need to be together.  I loved every second of these two together, even when the intensity of their fear cause my own heart to race and palms to sweat, but I never doubted the HOT boys would prevail in the end. The passion between Adam and Quinn is undeniable, even when they are both fighting it, but the low hum of deeper emotions is just as obvious and intense, letting readers know that this isn’t just a hot fire that will burn itself out quickly.  IF you are looking for a story with action, drama, sensuality, and a deep emotional bond between two friends turned lovers; HOT SEAL Target will hit every target and offer so much more as well. Way to go Lynn!

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