She saw something she shouldn't have…
Now they want her dead.
Ever since she left the foreign embassy where she was
working, translator Emily Chastain has been targeted by someone who wants to
silence her permanently. Fearing for her life, Emily contacts Declan's
Defenders and is placed under former marine Mustang Ford's protection. If only
she could figure out why someone is trying to kill her -- and how to contain
her unlikely attraction to Mustang…
Fantastic book that sucked me in from the very beginning.
Emily is a professor of Russian language at a local university. She also works
as an interpreter. As the story opens, she is just finishing a translating job
at the Russian embassy. It doesn't go well, with the ambassador storming out.
Emily is escorted out of the embassy in a hurry, while the man she translated
for is detained. On her way out, she sees another man who looks familiar being
escorted in. Confused and uneasy, she rushes to her car. Her uneasiness is
justified when she is nearly run off the road twice in a short time and spots a
car following her. When that car also tries to run her off the road, she calls
her friend Grace to tell her what is happening. Grace immediately asks Declan to
help her friend.
Former Marine Mustang is one of the men of Declan's
Defenders. He is the closest to Emily's location when Declan calls on him for
help. He arrives on the scene just in time to keep Emily from being kidnapped
or killed and whisks her off to the Defenders' headquarters on Charlie
Halvorsen's estate. As the team tries to figure out why Emily is being
targeted, Mustang plans to stick close to Emily to keep her safe.
I was glued to the pages of this book as it's nearly
nonstop action to keep Emily alive. Emily initially has no idea why someone is
out to kill her, while the team believes that she saw something she doesn't
realize the importance of. Things become both a little clearer and more
complicated when Emily receives a visit from the ambassador's daughter, Sachi. The
tension increases when the PI that Emily interpreted for is a victim of a
hit-and-run attack, and the attacker then goes after Emily and Mustang, who are
saved by the timely arrival of the other team members. A suspicious photograph
provided by the PI before his accident gives a hint of the issue, which is
confirmed by information from an unexpected source. When Emily and Sachi are
taken, it's a race against time to save them. The final confrontation had me on
the edge of my seat (and up WAY past my bedtime) as Mustang and the rest of the
team raced to the rescue. I loved that Emily didn't just wait around for Mustang
to show up but took an active role in her own rescue. What she uncovered along
the way was horrifying, and she didn't back down from doing what she thought
was right. The ending was a nail-biter and a close call for all of them.
There's an interesting twist in the epilogue that connects this story to the
earlier two in the series. It will be interesting to follow it to the end and
see what it all means.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between
Emily and Mustang. Mustang was impressed and intrigued by Emily from the first
time he met her. The sparks flew between them immediately. Mustang doesn't want
anything to distract him from protecting Emily, and he's afraid that giving in
will do so. Emily has been so focused on her career that she doesn't have much
in the way of experience but is ready to explore what is happening in spite of
the danger. Mustang can't deny the need to make sure she is safe, and
"sticking like glue" to her side increases the intensity of his
attraction and makes it harder to resist. I liked the back-and-forth between
them as Mustang has to balance her safety with her stubbornness in certain
situations. Though the word
"love" comes up quickly, I got the feeling they will still take the
time to develop their relationship. I look forward to seeing them in future
books.
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