Expected publication date: July 31st, 2018
Cover blurb:
ARE THEY IN TOO DEEP?
Ex-Navy SEAL Cabe Moss always comes when called to duty―at all costs. Even though the death of his fiancée nearly destroyed him, Cabe won’t let his past interfere with any work that has to get done. When his latest task pushes him to team up with FBI Agent Amy Murray, a fierce beauty with the undercover skills to match, Cabe must admit that, for the first time in years, he wants to do more than just complete their mission together…
Amy was born ready for this assignment, but working side-by-side with the the strong, silent, and frustratingly professional Cabe seems to be the biggest challenge of all. But when the sparks begin to fly―and the stakes rise to dangerous heights―the only thing Amy is left worrying about is how she can resist him. Their lives may be in danger, but their hearts hold the biggest risk of all…
**
I’m really enjoying the world of Eagle Security and have definitely been looking forward to Cabe’s story because of the high angst factor! (I’m a firm believer that angst is good for relationships…at least for me reading about them, maybe not so much IRL though.) After the death of his fiancée Jess on active duty in Afghanistan, he has pretty much shut down his personal life, focusing instead on his friends and their work as the one assignation he had left him with feelings of guilt. When he meets Amy in a bar there is mutual interest, but the knowledge that it was what would have been Jess’s 30th birthday causes him to run out on her. (Not the best way to handle things, but I’ll cut him some slack!)
Of course as it turns out, Amy is an FBI agent and she is assigned to look into a possible trafficking and money laundering operation run out of a local casino. As the daughter of a poker pro, she has the skills needed to infiltrate as a dealer and it allows her to work on a case that really hits home for her. (Her mother disappeared when she was a child and was never found.) As part of the investigation, the FBI is teaming up with the CIA and a group of contractors-Eagle Security, and specifically Cabe. Their partnership starts off strained, but as time progresses and danger increases, of course that doesn’t last long!
The background of the casino world was fascinating as I’m not a fan and had no idea how it all works, though I do think some of the explanation could have been cut down just to save time and move the story along faster,. Also to me it seemed like there was more investigation/suspense than there was romance so I wish there had been a better balance, but I did enjoy Cabe and Amy’s journey to a relationship and eventual HEA.
As this was an ARC, there was a formatting issue that made it difficult to read in that there was no spacing between scenes so sometimes it wasn’t clear that it was the end of one and the start of another. Hopefully this is fixed in the final version, but overall I did enjoy the read. I don’t know if Scarlett plans any future outings with the Eagle Security team, but I look forward to reading them if there are more!
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the chance to read this early!