Final Seige

Final Seige

Love Over Duty #2

Scarlett Cole

St. Martin’s Press, Jan 30, 2018

ebook, paperback

Contemporary Romance Thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was provided a complementary ARC of this book by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. This is my honest review for which I am not being compensated in any way.

The cover is great! Lots of eye appeal there. The story line is really good and well handled. The sex is steamy and the action is fast. The characters develop really well throughout the story. The pace is a little bit off now and then bouncing between the romance and the action parts but not badly. But that does distract from the tension of the whole piece a bit, too.

From here the reveal begins…

There were always the four of them growing up. Mac, Six, Cabe and Brock. But now it’s only the three of them because 14 years ago Mac killed Brock. Brock’s younger sister, Delaney, has never been able to forgive him for that. The three men became Navy SEALs and now run their own company, Eagle Securities. They do the jobs no one else will do.

Delaney Shapiro is an investigative journalist. Apparently she’s been digging into something pretty dangerous. Mac gets a call from Landstuhl Medical Center saying that Delaney is there and is asking for him. She was abducted and rescued. She’d been beaten pretty badly and was in really bad shape. Mac immediately drops everything and flies to Germany to be at her side. She may never have forgiven him, but he’s never stopped loving her.

When she awakens, she’s not happy to see him and has no memory of asking for him. He brings her home to his apartment anyway, as she had given up her apartment and put her stuff in storage when she went overseas. She needs a place to stay and someone to look after her. Besides, Mac wants to know what she’s been up to and he’s just not ready to let her go again. She a journalist, she doesn’t tell anyone about her sources or what she’s up to. Mac gets really frustrated about her silence. Delaney sees a silver car that looks familiar drive by the apartment one day. Another day she sees the same car following them. Then she sees a man who looks familiar from overseas. She mentions this to Mac and tells him a little of what she was doing. Then a guy rings the bell to deliver pizza at the apartment while Delaney is alone in there. It’s the same guy. And he tries to force his way in with a gun. Mac and the cops save the day and the guy disappears.

In the meantime, Mac is letting Delaney get reacquainted with the guys and meet Lou, Six’s significant other. Lou’s a really shy but uber smart biochemist who had to be rescued by the crew in the first book. She was trying to create something to help, but ended up creating something that was a biological weapon. It was stolen and the bad guys wanted her, too. Lou and Delaney really hit it off well. Delaney helps Lou to be a little less shy.

Mac also takes Delaney to the firing range and teaches her how to shoot. He gets her her own gun as well. This way she won’t feel unable to defend herself if she’s attacked again. They do a lot of talking and Mac reveals the truth behind what really happened on that cliff 14 years ago when her brother died and why he took on the guilt of Brock’s death. Why the other three of them joined the Navy and became SEALS. And why he has always strived to be the best SEAL. And Delaney tells Mac a little more about what she was digging into in the Middle East.

Delaney is alone in the apartment and gets a call from a former contact. He has something for her if she can do something for him. So Delaney comes up with what he needs for his sister to travel and meets Grigor at the train station. He passes her an envelope and tells her this is what it’s all about. Then he and his sister disappear to a destination she doesn’t know about. Finally, Delaney reveals what’s in the envelope to Mac. Mac asks Lou to look at it because it’s chemical formulas. Lou knows exactly what it is and helps the guys dismantle the machines that are producing it so it can’t be made anymore. They also destroy on-hand supplies of it safely so that it can’t be used. Sending quite a message to the bad guys!

Finally, Mac and Delaney have some down time and he asks her to move in with him since they have decided they really are in love with each other and she still doesn’t have anywhere to live.

Recommended

Book #1 Under Fire (Six & Lou), and coming is Book #3 Deep Cover