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A review by jess_78
With No Remorse by Cindy Gerard
5.0
Review posted: Happily Ever After - Reads
The story opens with Luke, wondering, what now? Why is he doing this? Risking his life on missions, for what? He’s struggling to move past a near death injury that happened a year ago, and he’s a self-described ghost. Going through the motions, but not really there. It was a sobering reality of a Luke we hadn’t seen throughout the series. On the outside, he’s our fun loving, poker playing, medic. On the inside, he’s suffering. He feels very adrift, not really sure why he keeps risking it all on missions, but having nothing else to really live for.
Valentina. The famous model known by just her first name, has never had control. She was abducted as a young girl by her mother’s ex-boyfriend, and still deals with the trauma of that situation, being horribly claustrophobic. She’s on her own mission in the beginning, one of finding some peace and silence from her crazy world. Her high profile marriage ended in divorce after her husband was caught cheating and after she learned of that and other betrayals, she just needed to get away. Caught in the middle of an ambush, Luke saves her life and then they run for both for their lives from an unknown enemy and our story is off to fast pace start.
We get action from the first page – with the first part of the story giving us Luke and Valentina running from the enemies, and they have no idea who those enemies are and why they want Valentina. Everything was intense from the fighting to the romance, I think I finally took a breath around page 150!
As always, there are great scenes with Luke’s teammates, and a really nice amount of Nate. He’s always the man behind the orders, but to see Nate out there with the team and in action was a great addition. We meet a few new operatives that Nate brings in to be Val’s bodyguards when the final fight was nearing. But things never go as planned and a rescue mission is quickly needed for our heroine and her bodyguards after they're ambushed. The whole team comes together for the final fight and I LOVED so much seeing Crystal and BJ play important roles as teammates in the field, and not get shoved to the side or stuck back at headquarters. We all know they wouldn’t allow Nate or anyone stick them in a corner – but they played pivotal parts in the op and held their own.
There was a nice balance between the action and romance, but for me the book was all about Luke. Finally reading about the guy he truly was instead of the persona he put out there was heartbreaking at times, you just want this guy to find his purpose, and to find his way again. To see him and Val both struggle with commitment, especially Val being very skittish about trusting someone again, when everyone else in her life had let her down, it was satisfying to see their relationship progress throughout the book.
Jesus, this woman messed with his head.
“Thank you, Luke. Thank you – “
He pressed an index finger to her lips, gently cutting her off. “No,” he said, lowering his month to her. “Thank you.”
And then he tugged off her shades, looked her deep in the eyes and kissed her.
How could he not? How could he look into those liquid brown eyes and that valiant little smile and not kiss her one more time? How could he pretend that letting her go was easy, even though he didn’t have a clue why it was suddenly so frickin’ hard?
One of my favorite parts of any Black Ops book is the epilogue. Finding out little personal updates from all our favorite couples as Luke leads a poker game and having that wonderful final scene with our hero and heroine. And with the little teaser to the last book - let the countdown to Joe’s book begin!
Luke and Val’s story is not one to be missed. If you’re a fan of rom/suspense, the Black Ops series is a must read - 4 1/2 star book. There's plenty of action that we've come to expect in this series, smokin’ hot scenes, but the best were the touching, sweet moments between Luke and Val. An excellent couple.
How about a bonus Johnny Reed moment?
“Any questions?” Nate asked the group as he tucked a pistol into an underarm holster, then zipped up his coveralls to hide it.
“Only one.” Reed looked annoyed as hell when Crystal handed him his coveralls. “What’s with this khaki crap? I specifically requested blue to match my eyes. All right, people, ‘fess up. Who dropped the ball on this one?”
The story opens with Luke, wondering, what now? Why is he doing this? Risking his life on missions, for what? He’s struggling to move past a near death injury that happened a year ago, and he’s a self-described ghost. Going through the motions, but not really there. It was a sobering reality of a Luke we hadn’t seen throughout the series. On the outside, he’s our fun loving, poker playing, medic. On the inside, he’s suffering. He feels very adrift, not really sure why he keeps risking it all on missions, but having nothing else to really live for.
Valentina. The famous model known by just her first name, has never had control. She was abducted as a young girl by her mother’s ex-boyfriend, and still deals with the trauma of that situation, being horribly claustrophobic. She’s on her own mission in the beginning, one of finding some peace and silence from her crazy world. Her high profile marriage ended in divorce after her husband was caught cheating and after she learned of that and other betrayals, she just needed to get away. Caught in the middle of an ambush, Luke saves her life and then they run for both for their lives from an unknown enemy and our story is off to fast pace start.
We get action from the first page – with the first part of the story giving us Luke and Valentina running from the enemies, and they have no idea who those enemies are and why they want Valentina. Everything was intense from the fighting to the romance, I think I finally took a breath around page 150!
As always, there are great scenes with Luke’s teammates, and a really nice amount of Nate. He’s always the man behind the orders, but to see Nate out there with the team and in action was a great addition. We meet a few new operatives that Nate brings in to be Val’s bodyguards when the final fight was nearing. But things never go as planned and a rescue mission is quickly needed for our heroine and her bodyguards after they're ambushed. The whole team comes together for the final fight and I LOVED so much seeing Crystal and BJ play important roles as teammates in the field, and not get shoved to the side or stuck back at headquarters. We all know they wouldn’t allow Nate or anyone stick them in a corner – but they played pivotal parts in the op and held their own.
There was a nice balance between the action and romance, but for me the book was all about Luke. Finally reading about the guy he truly was instead of the persona he put out there was heartbreaking at times, you just want this guy to find his purpose, and to find his way again. To see him and Val both struggle with commitment, especially Val being very skittish about trusting someone again, when everyone else in her life had let her down, it was satisfying to see their relationship progress throughout the book.
Jesus, this woman messed with his head.
“Thank you, Luke. Thank you – “
He pressed an index finger to her lips, gently cutting her off. “No,” he said, lowering his month to her. “Thank you.”
And then he tugged off her shades, looked her deep in the eyes and kissed her.
How could he not? How could he look into those liquid brown eyes and that valiant little smile and not kiss her one more time? How could he pretend that letting her go was easy, even though he didn’t have a clue why it was suddenly so frickin’ hard?
One of my favorite parts of any Black Ops book is the epilogue. Finding out little personal updates from all our favorite couples as Luke leads a poker game and having that wonderful final scene with our hero and heroine. And with the little teaser to the last book - let the countdown to Joe’s book begin!
Luke and Val’s story is not one to be missed. If you’re a fan of rom/suspense, the Black Ops series is a must read - 4 1/2 star book. There's plenty of action that we've come to expect in this series, smokin’ hot scenes, but the best were the touching, sweet moments between Luke and Val. An excellent couple.
How about a bonus Johnny Reed moment?
“Any questions?” Nate asked the group as he tucked a pistol into an underarm holster, then zipped up his coveralls to hide it.
“Only one.” Reed looked annoyed as hell when Crystal handed him his coveralls. “What’s with this khaki crap? I specifically requested blue to match my eyes. All right, people, ‘fess up. Who dropped the ball on this one?”