HOT Courage (Hostile Operations Team: Strike Team 2 #5)
by Lynn
Raye Harris
Blurb:
For elite Strike
Team 2 soldier Noah Cross, everything is easy. Hell, that’s his call sign.
Easy.
But when he
inherits a two-year-old baby girl, nothing is easy anymore. He can’t care for a
toddler while going on dangerous missions to protect his country - and quitting
isn’t an option for a man who lives and breathes the military.
What Easy needs is a nanny. And he knows just who to ask.
Jenna Lane’s luck
is running out. She witnessed something she shouldn’t, and she’s been running
since. She keeps moving, keeps working odd jobs and trying to survive.
After she’s fired
from her current job, her situation is desperate. Until the man she’s secretly
drawn to offers her a lifeline. She can’t say no, even if saying yes puts him
and his little girl at risk.
But as the
feelings between them grow, Jenna knows she needs the courage to tell Noah the
truth. Before a killer strikes again….
Themes: Contemporary
Rating: 4.25 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
The time has come for Easy to learn that sometimes life isn’t always so easy. I
have been looking forward to the next story in the HOT series for a while now,
as Lynn worked on her Black’s Bandits series, but this return to the boys was filled
with laughs, tears, and the sweet love of two people that never thought they would
find or deserve love. I have followed this series since almost the very
beginning and as it has branched into new teams and new daring adventures, but I
love every installment more and more. Ms. Harris has a way of bringing her characters
not only to life but into our hearts with their stories of sadness, trauma, and
adventure. As the series continues to grow, each of the stories I can imagine
will be more and more entertaining, heartbreaking, and ultimately leave us
coming back for more and more.
Noah
“Easy” Cross has had a rough and mostly solitary life since he became a
teenager, but now things are about to become even more complicated for
him; his foster sister has passed away
unexpectedly and named him guardian of her two-year-old daughter even though
they haven't seen one another in years and he never knew about the baby. Now he has to find a way to care for a
toddler until he can find a more permanent situation for her and he is completely
lost. Jenna Lane has watched the sexy
military man who comes into her dinner for a while now, but when she suddenly
finds herself in need of a new job and place to live, she can’t really resist
his offer of a live-in nanny job, despite her misgivings. They are both thrown
into an insta-family situation as she tries to help him learn the ropes of
being an uncle and she tries to keep herself from falling in love with both man
and child. But when a danger from Jenna’s
past resurfaces, only Noah and the HOT guys can save his new family and bring
the bastards to justice, forever freeing Jenna from the evil chasing her so she
has a chance at a future with the man who has fallen in love with her too.
I
really enjoyed meeting Jenna and getting to see an all new side of Easy as he
found himself in the most terrifying situation of all—parenthood. He has always
lived a solitary and somewhat distant life, mainly to keep himself protected,
but there is really no way he can keep his heart closed off from the sweet
little girl that continues to steal into it or from the woman that refuses to
let him hide. I loved seeing how he had
to confront his emotional fears and learn that love is strength not a weakness,
making him an even more interesting and strong character. As always he was funny, sexy, sweet, and
lovable as he shows Jenna that he could be a man she could count on, but he was
always a badass when he went to work kicking ass and taking names. Jenna struck
me in the beginning as a bit of a wanderer, in need of something to root her
into a true home, and it seems she just needed a good man and his niece to give
her that. She lived through a terrifying ordeal and still managed to make the
best of her life as she kept herself and those she loved safe as long as she could,
but once she no longer can, she knows to let the professionals handle the
trouble, trusting them to do everything in their power to protect those in
need. I loved her sweetness, sass,
intelligence, wit, and loving nature, but mostly I loved how she managed to
bring Easy out of his shell, showing him he could be soft with her and she
would protect his heart.
HOT Courage
was truly the story of two people, who have had just about every evil
imaginable thrown at them in life, finding a way to open their hearts and trust
again in the power of love. I loved
every moment of their story and watching their connection blossom as they settled
into their lives together and found their place in one another’s hearts. Noah’s ability to pull Jenna into his life
and show her that she could trust him and give her heart to him to protect made
him the ultimate hero in my eyes. Jenna was just as wonderful as she made sure
that Noah always had a safe place to fall apart and build himself back up if he
needed to let go when things got hard for him. The passion between these two was undeniable,
though they both tried VERY hard to push it to the back of their minds for a long
time, but once that seal broke there was no chance of putting the lid back on
it. I really enjoyed the action, intrigue,
and danger of this story, but unlike
others past, this story really did focus on the relationship building between
Easy and Jenna as they spent time first as friends and then ultimately as
lovers. I am dying to read the next story and find out which HOT guy loses his
heart (and probably his mind) next, but in the meantime I think there are more
Bandits on the way. If you haven’t dived
into this series yet, I highly recommend a binge read of the entire HOT and
Black’s Bandits series so that you are up to speed because I don’t see this
greatness dying down any time soon!
*eARC provided by author for the
purpose of an honest and unbiased review.
No compensation was provided.
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