Night Moves - Stephanie Tyler (Dell - Oct 2011)

Series: Shadow Force (Book 4)

Anything can happen under the cover of darkness.

Kell Roberts has walked the thin line between life and death for so long that it now feels like home. He is a soldier, a survivor, and a loner. Still, Kell cannot turn his back on the beautiful woman caught in his firefight against the drug lords of Mexico. She says her name is Teddie, but Kell senses there’s much more to her story -- and it’s about to pull him into a mission he didn’t sign on for: keeping her alive.

Teddie knows this lean, mean rescuer just saved her life, but the steel glint behind those soft gray eyes seem to be hiding something deep. The men after Teddie are deadly, but the man who holds her life in his hands and tempts her with his wicked touch is even more dangerous. He could make her dream about living and loving again. And if they can survive, maybe, just maybe, they can stop fighting the world and each other -- and simply surrender.

Good book with lots of action. Kell and his friend Reid are in Mexico on a black ops mission to take out a drug cartel leader. Just as they are ready to do so, a woman comes between them and their target. They take her captive until they can complete their mission, then plan to let her go. That is, until they hear her story.

Teddie has been in witness protection since she witnessed her father, stepmother and two half sisters get murdered. Disgusted with the lack of progress in solving their murders, she takes off on her own mission to do so. She has a good idea who is behind it and decides to face him on her own. But she has taken on more than she can handle and finds herself on the run from the same men who murdered her family. Getting captured by Kell was not in her plans, but she can't deny she needs his help.

The relationship between Kell and Teddie is a volatile one from the beginning. Neither one trusts the other. Kell senses that Teddie isn't being totally honest about everything that is going on, and that something is going to come back and bite them. Teddie doesn't trust anyone after everything that has gone on and his initial treatment of her didn't help. She quickly sees that he has demons of his own that are driving him. Added to the stress of their situation is an explosive attraction that threatens to bring down their respective protective walls around their hearts.

I really liked Kell. He's had a rough life and has really made something of himself. He's always had a protective nature, evident from the time he and Reid were in foster care together. They went on to join the military together, and with their friends formed their own black ops group. Kell is haunted by his last mission, which went horribly wrong, resulting in the capture of his friends and the death of one of them. He feels it is his fault and the guilt is eating him up. That protective nature is what has him taking on Teddie's problems. I liked Teddie also. She is an incredibly strong and independent woman. She realizes that she's outmatched when it comes to her plans, but she is determined to try. I liked seeing her sometimes get the better of Kell. I liked seeing them begin to open up to each other, as both attraction and trust started to build. I especially liked seeing how Teddie was able to help Kell deal with his guilty feelings.

The action of the story is very good. The initial mission that Kell and Reid are on doesn't go quite as planned, thanks to Teddie, but we get to see how easily they are able to adapt and overcome. Getting involved with Teddie is a complication they don't need, but Kell refuses to walk away from her. Teddie has two groups after her. The man who she thinks is responsible for her family's deaths, and the marshals whose witness protection she ran away from. The first wants to kill her and the second wants her back in their custody. Kell and Reid discover that they are in the crosshairs of a man who has it in for their boss, and plans to get there through Kell and his teammates. The trio is constantly under attack from one group or another. While all the confrontations are intense, there are some that have an amusing side also. I loved the encounter between Reid and Marshal Grier, when she caught up with him. I also enjoyed seeing the other members of the team as they all came together to bring down the man that's after them. The final confrontation is especially intense as the two bad guys combine forces. The conclusion is terrific, with a little bit of a hook for Reid's story.

In the Air Tonight - Stephanie Tyler (Dell - Aug 2011)

Series: Shadow Force (Book 3)

With danger closing in, all they have is each other.

Haunted by a mission he barely survived, Delta Force operative Mace Stevens still carries a soldier’s burden. Running a small bar in upstate New York, he remains a stone cold warrior who guards dangerous secrets and stays ready for anything. Anything except beautiful, vulnerable Paige Grayson, who shows up at his door, demanding answers about her heroic stepbrother’s death under his command.

Paige bears burdens, too. She’s plagued by demons unleashed by an older brother who committed mass murder before her eyes. But here in this snowy haven with Mace, she almost feels safe from the menacing promises of her insane sibling. As a nurse whose hands can read the deepest thoughts of anyone she touches, Paige knows Mace needs her as desperately as she needs him. And when a faceless killer begins unleashing fresh terror, Mace proves just how far he will go to save the woman who means everything to him.

Good book with some excellent suspense. This book starts a few months after Promises in the Dark. The Delta Force guys participated in a mission that went bad and are on temporary leave as they deal with what happened. The team was captured and tortured, and Gray was killed. Mace is staying at the bar he owns in upstate New York, along with Caleb who has lost his memory. They are taking things one day at a time while they wait for Caleb's memory to return, when Paige Grayson shows up.

Paige has had a rough life. She watched her older brother murder her friends right in front of her. She grew up to become an ER nurse and just had the husband of a patient try to kill her. The resulting media frenzy brought her past back to the present. She decides it's a good time to get away, and go ask Mace for some answers about her brother Gray's death. 

Both Mace and Paige have secrets that haunt them. Mace feels guilty about not being able to save his friend or prevent the torture that caused Caleb's amnesia. He is determined to be there for Caleb as his memories return. Events from his childhood have also caused him to keep his feelings locked away. Paige is haunted by what her brother did and the feeling that she could have done something to stop him. She has a psychic ability that allows her to read someone's feelings when she touches them, and knew that her brother was up to something, but no one would believe her.

The relationship between Mace and Paige was an interesting one. They had met several years earlier when Mace was visiting with Gray. Paige had accidentally picked up a knife that belonged to him and got a sense of him that both scared and intrigued her. Mace was attracted to her even then, but as Gray's sister, the "bro-code" made her off limits. When she shows up at the bar, the heat between them is even stronger. But Mace is very wary of letting her get that close to him. I loved the slow build up of trust between them, as they are careful that Paige's hands do not touch him until they are both ready. I loved how that was shown when it happened and the effect it had on both of them.

The suspense of the story was excellent, as trouble followed Paige to Mace's. There are a couple of grisly murders, and Paige starts getting frightening messages from her imprisoned brother. The suspense builds as Paige and the guys try to figure out who is behind the murders and if they are connected to her brother. The final confrontation was intense with one character I expected and one who was a complete surprise to me. It definitely kept me glued to the book until I was all the way through.

The secondary story involving Caleb was very good. He had also been in the previous book, and seeing what he was going through in this one was heartbreaking. He had no memories of his past, just flashes of things that made him worry that while under the influence of the torture he had been the one to injure his friends. When his girlfriend from the previous book, Vivi, shows up he tries to keep her away because of it. I loved the way that she didn't give up on him, and showed him that she had confidence in his innocence. I loved seeing how their part in helping Paige also ended up helping him. We also get to see a little bit of the other members of the team, along with a lead in to the next book.