This review was written by Holly. This story was nominated in the Best Romantic Suspense category.

The summary:     

Most people would take an all-expenses-paid trip to the beach in a heartbeat. Garrett Kelly only accepts to keep tabs on Sarah Daniels, who's in hiding after witnessing a murder by Marcus Lattimer, her half-brother–and a personal enemy of KGI. This gig may be beneath a disciplined soldier like Garrett, but if he gets a shot at Lattimer, it will all be worth it…

But Garrett hadn't counted on falling for Sarah. He'd considered seduction as a tactical maneuver, but when he glimpses Sarah's dark past, he feels an urgent desire to keep her safe–even after she disappears on him. Garrett doesn't know exactly who, or what, Sarah's running from, but whatever it is, she's running for her life…

And here is Holly's review:

This the third book in Maya Banks’ KGI series.  I had read the first two prior to reading this one but feel it could stand alone. There are glimpses into ongoing story lines in the series but they don’t detract from the main story.

Sarah flees Boston after her brother Marcus kills the man who raped her and she is caught leaving the scene of the crime by her former boss.  She is practical about her attempts to hide and I liked that she’s an ordinary person and she doesn’t conveniently develop covert skills, instead relying on caution and planning.   There are many elements to this book that could have gone off the rails into ridiculousness – they’re on the run, Garrett’s lying to Sarah,  her brother is a killer, she’s dealing with trauma; yet Banks develops the story well and resolves the conflicts realistically.  Story lines like this (particularly the fact that he’s lying to her about who he is and essentially using her as bait) have completely turned me off other novels and I’m actually surprised they didn’t with this book.

The various plot points do not overwhelm the character development and the story details Sarah’s first steps to healing and building a relationship with Garrett.  I liked that Garrett’s feelings for Sarah are demonstrated through everyday things, like noticing her favourite chocolate bar and the fact that he took the time to find someone to look after the stray cat she’d been caring for on the island after Sarah leaves suddenly. 

One of the things I liked the most about this book is that it’s always clear that Marcus’ actions are deliberate, and will have consequences.  It was refreshing that redemption wasn’t in the cards, as opposed to having all the conflict based around redeeming him so everyone has a shot at happy-ever-after. 

I gave this book a B+ because while I really like it and it’s going on my keeper shelf,  it’s one that I’ll be re-reading as other books come out in the series, not re-reading just for the sake of enjoying the story again.

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