No Place to Run ( KGI 2) by Maya Banks

Hello to all,

                 To be honest, my first intention today was to tell you about a new series i really LOVED but i'm supposed to read and speak of a sequel first so that little pearl will be told about next time (really soon i think).

For sequel, i opted for a romance suspense as it's what i tend to read more in summer ( even if we are still waiting for a summer weather here) and i went back to a series i put aside wait too long: The KGI series by Maya Banks and its second instlament.

Happy reading!

Publisher: Berkley Sensation

Publication: 2010

ISBN:  0425238199

Genre: romantic suspense,military romance
Violence: mild
Language: normal
sex: steamy
Public: 18+

Source: gifted

Description from goodreads :

 Sam Kelly was her first love.

The last person Sam Kelly expected to pull wounded from the lake was Sophie Lundgren. Once they shared a brief, intense affair while Sam was undercoverand then she vanished. She’s spent the last months on the run, knowing that any mistake would cost her life and that of her unborn child—Sam’s child. Now she’s resurfaced with a warning for Sam: this time, he’s the one in danger.

Now he’s her last chance.

Sam has too many questions to let her slip away again—like why she disappeared in the first place. This time he vows not to be seduced. But one look in her eyes, and the passion burns again, and Sam knows he’ll do anything to keep her and his child safe. However, Sophie’s dark past is more dangerous than he imagines, and the only way for either to survive it is to outrun it.

My opinion:

          While i enjoyed to return to the Kelly family and KGI crew this second instalment is far from my favourite...perhaps because Sam isn't my favourite brother or perhaps because as the oldest i had more expectation  for him... i mean he is the "chief", the head of KGI and his behaviour didn't fit  at all with that position at several  times.

While undercover he felt in love not that professional ( could have at least checked the background of the girl just as security for his teammates) but then love isn't something we always can resist so that part was even a bit cute . However when after and when the situation is muddy to say the least he jump back into  old behaviours not very careful of the risk, worse he put his brothers in danger. Not on purpose but by running blindly into danger he forces them to follow....

Sophie is stronger than she looks and she has morals ( which considering her family is a big feat)..she does try to protect her lover , even if as military he is not that helpless, and only try to get his help when she has no choice. Even then she didn't expect to put his family on the line either and she takes great risks to protect them without really thinking about her own security.... I know she had no choice at all at first and had to lie about her identity so  i'm not angry at her but  i couldn't really relate to her either.

The plot and investigation was fast paced and well written but what i prefered was to have news of Ethan and to see more of some secondary characters like Rio and brothers like Donovan ... i'm really curious about their story . Garret won points too...the big teddybear in hiding^^.

All together it wasn't a bad instalment, he could even be read out of order.

Score:  3/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Challenges:

Enticed by His Forgotten Lover by Maya Banks

Hello to all,

       I'm not forgetting my goal of this month: discovering erotic romance subgenre, even if life has become really busy. I'm attending a new course and that means some readings done for works not pleasure. Anyway, i won't give up so today i will introduce you to a still quite soft erotic romance written by the excellent Maya Banks. (Normally they will have other reviews of book from this genre in english this month by different authors but who and when it will be the surprise.)

Happy reading!

Publisher: Harlequin col. Desire

Publication: 2011

ISBN:  0373731205

Genre: contemporary, erotic romance
Violence: mild
Language: normal
sex: strong
Public: 18+

Source: won from Harlie ( harlie’sBooks)

Short description from goodreads :

 ""Have we met?""Answer: a right hook Because Bryony Morgan pulls no punches. Even when she's very pregnant and facing down the father of her unborn child. She fell for wealthy hotelier Rafael de Luca when he courted her for her beachfront real estate. Then he disappeared. Now, she's in New York for answers--and she won't accept a brush-off.

But selective amnesia after a crash has Rafael puzzled. How could he ever forget a combustible beauty like Bryony? Solution: return to the island where they met, and relive the unforgettable nights in question--until he remembers everything…

My opinion:

          I love Maya Banks’ writing style; she manages to captivate me without difficulty. It was my first attempt with this collection and i was a bit afraid it was going to be too hot for me but with this author no problem oh it’s erotic yes but it’s so well written that you can overcome your apprehension easily.

The characters are realists and we can easily imagine them. Rafael is an interesting character…we see two side of him but since he has amnesia we are unsure about who is he in real, which personality is the right one. Maya Banks plays with that fact and the reader has the answer only at the end so we are as confused as Rafael himself.

Bryony is a courageous woman, she is ready to fight and confront the one who wronged her. What she did not expect to find a completely different man who doesn’t remember her. Hurt and afraid she will still agree to help him, the father of her child, to recover his memory and she hopes his feeling for her however the reaction is explosive and she discover a lover more reverent and in the same time more savage. Is the past important when the present is so satisfactory? Between his friends, his success and the woman he loves and mother of his child Rafael must choose but for that he must first choose which kind of man he wants to be.

A short story yes but a really good one,  i enjoyed it a lot and i recommend it to fans of romance.

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Challenges:

This book enter in the Romance and Me Challenge

Book read for the 2012 TBR reading

The Darkest Hour ( KGI 1) by Maya Banks

Hi to all,

                 June isn't easy for me, while participating in the blogathon bash , i've put some order in the books i have to read for my challenge- it's a lot more work that it seems- and i've discovered that i still have 3 books military romance the topic of this month. Great ? yes and no because i managed to read only one of those so i will try to add one before July; if i can't you will have those reviews but later.

Anyway today i introduce you to an author Maya Banks that writes in several genres (so you will see more of her here) however to stay in the topic today it's her military romance series called KGI that caught my interest. So without waiting here is the first book  "The Darkest Hour".

Publisher: Berkley sensation

Publication: 2010

Genre: romantic suspense/military romance
Violence: strong
Language: normal
sex: strong
Public: 18+

Source: bought
 


Short description from goodread :

 The Kelly Group International (KGI): A super elite, top secret, family-run business.

Qualifications: High intelligence, rock hard body, military background

Mission: Hostage/kidnap victim recovery. Intelligence gathering. Handling jobs the US government can’t…


It’s been one year since ex-Navy SEAL Ethan Kelly last saw his wife Rachel alive. Overwhelmed by grief and guilt over his failures as a husband, Ethan shuts himself off from everything and everyone.

His brothers have tried to bring Ethan into the KGI fold, tried to break through the barriers he's built around himself, but Ethan refuses to respond… until he receives anonymous information claiming Rachel is alive.

To save her, Ethan will have to dodge bullets, cross a jungle, and risk falling captive to a deadly drug cartel that threatens his own demise. And even if he succeeds, he’ll have to force Rachel to recover memories she can’t and doesn’t want to relive—the minute by minute terror of her darkest hour—for their love, and their lives, may depend on it.

My opinion:

          Maya Banks’ writing style is captivating and the book seems well documented those two advantages make reading a wonderful experience. I was like a part of the team along the characters and I was suffering with them as well as sharing their joy.

The military part is well represented with the advantage but also the consequences it can have on the people and on their family. I loved to see both parts of that because it was really important for the plot and to help us to understand the Kelly. The story becomes immediately more real and we are drawn in it.

This is the first book of the series however Maya takes the time to introduce us to each member of the Kelly’s family, all different but with such a solidarity and loyalty. We can prefer one man or another but all of them are an aspect of the whole. Ethan is devastated and I’m a bit surprised that the army didn’t see it was becoming a bit unstable after Rachel’s miscarriage, yes he resigned from it but he should have gotten some support. I was really feeling sad learning how his life went down without someone trying to help.

Rachel is a strong woman, her life wasn’t easy but she found stability and love with the Kelly. She is thinking about the others before herself and that’s a part of the problem with Ethan at first when each one wants the other to be happy even if it means their own suffering. Now I don’t think a lot of people could survive like she did, even without the drugs that’s already really hard. I appreciated to see that she was still human with her doubts, fears and temptations. The romance slow and tentative was realistic and so well written.

Really a good military romance book, I will read the other books of the series with pleasure.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Score:  4/5

Challenges:

Book read for the 2012 TBR reading

This book enter in the Romance and Me Challenge