Reviews

A Covert Affair by Kennedy L. Mitchell

inkiereads's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

There’s so much tension in this book, it’s enough to keep you reading. There are some good twists and turns, that will make you wonder how you didn’t see it coming while reading. Unfortunately, the writing style kept me from fully loving the book. At times I had to read sentences multiple times and mentally place commas for me to make sense of them and it kept pulling me out of the story.

Steam: 🔥🔥🔥

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Car accident

danielagolivares's review against another edition

1.0

I can’t believe that people are giving this book 5 stars. From the beginning, it was a little unrealistic that their relationship happens too fast but I decided to give the story the benefit of the doubt. Then I came to a chapter where

Spoiler

they were in a pool, training, and the guys in the navy started to be so disrespectful to the heroin. Like wtf? It looked that they were 14 years old, talking and insulting a woman in that way. It’s not like they haven’t been around women ever, so I’m surprised they act in a childish way. And what’s even worst, I’m pretty sure most of these men are on their 30-40´s to have this kind of behavior. Then the heroine gets scolded by one of the guys (that happens to be one of her night-stand 10 years ago) and insults her in the worst way and also pushing her to the wall. LIKE WTF!

First I thought: "ok, maybe this book is from the 2000s where there are still many cases where the men can disrespect women to their pleased and not be admonished for that" So, I went directly to Goodreads and wow my surprise… IT WAS PUBLISHED IN 2020, which means this book was written pretty sure between 2018-19. I can’t believe that this kind of behavior is real between men in the navy or the army.

OH, BUT THAT’S NOT ALL, PEOPLE!

I kept reading to see wtf with these characters and got to the next chapter where

Spoiler

the heroin is drunk and the hero arrives at the beach where she is at, then kissed. When the hero realizes she is drunk (obviously with most of the bottle of vodka empty), he asked her if she indeed is and right after that, the hero had the worst thought ever in the history of books (for me at least, maybe there are worst) that was:

"Okay, two options. Be the good man Mom taught me to be or be the guy I want to be right now and not give a shit she’s been drinking. Any other girl this willing and a little tipsy, whatever. But this isn’t some other girl, it’s Luce. And somehow in this split second I know I’ll regret it more if I don’t stop than if I do."


WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK! Ok, so we can THANK that is the heroine and you "respect her" cause if she were another woman, you would be a rapist. Copy that.

And for last… I CAN´T WITH THE CRINGE, WITH WHAT THE HEROINE SAID IN THE NEXT CHAPTER:

"But seriously. What guy stops when a girl is a little drunk and overly willing, anyway? What kind of willpower does that man have."

UUMM, MAYBE A GUY THAT IS NOT A RAPIST?

So at this point, I lost my respect for the heroine too. Who thinks like that in a situation like this? Argh.

Of course, I didn’t finish the book and what a shame cause the plot sounded interesting but this kind of behavior it’s something I can’t stand.

I’d never done a review this harsh, but there are things and situations I need to stand for (even if it's just a fictional book). For all the women out there that think it's ok this kind of treatment. It will NEVER be ok.

kaity_b's review against another edition

2.0

2.5 stars...

Didn't love it, read it so I could see who done it. But compared to the other Kennedy L Mitchell book I read this one fell flat for me.

the_sassy_bookworm's review

5.0

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
So color me impressed because this book was all kinds of fantastic. It probably would have been a 5-Star book if it hadn't been SO long. My interest started to wane at about 60% in. That said, I kept plugging on and it started to pick up again around 80%. The writing was fantastic though. The pace was a bit up and down. I am chalking that up to it being a bit too long. I think the author could have tightened up the story a bit. The plot was super engaging and probably one of the best examples of romantic suspense done right. The story is told from both Lucia's and Gabe's POV (my preference always). Last, it was all wrapped up in a very satisfactory ending.


~HERO~
GABE...What can I say about Gabe? I ADORED him. He was pretty much a perfect book boyfriend. A smokin' hot Navy Seal. A player (but it's not thrown in your face). He was alpha. He was sweet. He was funny. He was a great friend. He was an excellent leader. He was all about Lucia from the moment he meets her. I have nothing bad to say about his character.


~HEROINE~
LUCIA...I'll be honest, I usually struggle with heroines like Lucia. She attended West Point. She was in the army. She is now a CIA agent. She was tough. She was strong. She was feisty. She was bada$$. But somehow this author managed to also make her very likable. Very relatable. Even vulnerable. I simply adored her character as well. 


 


~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
This book had some great secondary characters in it. My favorite by FAR was Tony (Flakes). He was such a douche especially in the beginning, but man the banter between him and Lucia and him and Gabe made me laugh my a$$ off at times. I wasn't sure I wanted to read a book featuring him (he pretty much cheats on his wife all the time) but the author redeemed him by the end and now I am looking forward to seeing him fall in love (hopefully he is getting a book). I also really liked Luce's friend Brook and there were a few of the guys on the Seal team I wouldn't mind reading more about.


~HEAT LEVEL~
Medium. The sex scenes were suitably hot and fairly plentiful. This couple also had excellent on-page chemistry.


~ANGST LEVEL~
Highish... I found this angsty mainly because Lucia is keeping a secret from Gabe and I spent the entire book waiting for the truth to come out and the other shoe to drop. When it did finally drop I was impressed by how the author handled the situation. I was expecting the usual cliché reaction by the hero and that isn't what we get. There is a smidge of OW drama. Toni tries to cause issues between Gabe and Luce and invites some women to join them at a bar. One of them hangs off Gabe all night. He isn't really interested but stays and ends up dropping the two women and Toni off later in the night (the three being drunk). The heroine sees this because Toni sets it up. She isn't overly bothered by it and it happens before they officially begin a relationship. I wasn't bothered by it in the least because we get Gabe's thoughts. There is also a bit of OM drama in the form of Tony. Lucia and he slept together once ten years prior, and she ghosted him. He is a bit bitter about this for a while.


~IN THE END~
I pretty much LOVED this book. Like I mentioned had it been a little shorter I would have given it 5-Stars. That said, the writing was fantastic. The plot was well developed. The characters were intriguing and very likable. There were twist and turns that kept me guessing right up until the end, and I appreciated the author didn't go down the usual overdone route with the secret revelation. Therefore yours truly is going to give this one two HUGE thumbs up and I will undoubtedly be keeping my eyes peeled for the next book in the series.