It’s been a little while since I have spent time with the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team Boys, but it was like coming home when I read Avenged by Kaylea Cross this past week. I was reunited with Schroeder, Cruz, Vance, Tuck, DeLuca and the rest of the gang. I was introduced to a very strong heroine, Taya. Of course the heroines have to be strong and tough to put up with the likes of the HRT boys.

Avenged threw me for a loop. Cross writes a great story that isn’t just repeated book after book in the HRT series. Each character has their own issues to deal with on the team and while finding their true love. In this story, I expected certain things that didn’t happen and other things happened I didn’t expect. Kinda vague, huh? Well, I don’t want to spoil it for you, but just know that even on book 5, I am still loving the twists and turns and original stories Cross is coming up with.

Nathan (or any of his nicknames “Doc”, “Dr. Feelgood”, Nate, Schroeder), is a very conflicted guy on a downward spiral into a dark abyss. His teammates are starting to notice. His job is at risk. He has to pull his life together and learn how to heal from his past. Enter Taya. She is a kickass heroine even if she doesn’t feel like it. She and Nathan met in a horrible situation when he was a PJ in the Air Force and he rescued her from a terrorist after nine months of being held hostage. One difference between how they handled that situation is that she sought help, healed and moved on from the terrible experience.

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Things are getting intense in the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) series by Kaylea Cross. In Hunted, Intense should really be Clay Bauer’s middle name. He is an intimidating HRT member and I think Zoe Renard is the only person on the planet that could get under that tough exterior. We meet both of these characters in earlier books. Bauer is teammate to Tuck and Zoe is Tuck’s cousin. She also happens to be Celida’s best friend. So, Bauer runs into her an awful lot. Cross set Bauer and Zoe up great in Targeted and I knew from the scene at the airport they were going to be a fun couple to watch.

Zoe is incredibly sure of herself which is a breath of fresh air in romance when most characters have so much baggage they can’t see past it. Zoe is not stranger to heartbreak or a past but she learns from it and knows what she wants and that she is worthy of someone who will love her for her true self. Bauer is extremely nervous around women after the way his ex wife treated him and how things ended. He doesn’t want to enter into a relationship again. Like ever. He just wants to keep that very thick wall up around his heart, do his job, maybe have some meaningless fun with a woman now and then but nothing more. Zoe has some plans for the big bad Bauer.

Cross writes an amazing story for these two characters. The plot was exciting and pretty much non-stop for me from the first page through to the end. I think she does a great job at coming up with ways to bring the HRT in to do their job while keeping it creative for the readers. No two operations are the same. In this book, just when you think things are looking up for the hostages, it goes wrong again. Luckily, we know it is a romance and therefore a happy ever after takes place. Whew!

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The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) series by Kaylea Cross starts out with Marked (Book1) and Targeted (Book 2). I could not get enough of these as soon as I opened the pages of these.

In Marked, we are introduced to the team in the series. I think that some of the guys may have been introduced in the Titanium Security Series books but I have not had the chance to read through all of those yet, so, don’t quote me on that. Marked follows HRT member Jake Evers and architect Rachel Granger. These two haven’t spoken in a couple of years, but Rachel reaches out to Jake when she finds one of her brother’s friends on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. She knows he is the only one that may believe her and be able to do something about it.

The entire story flowed well, the actions scenes were intense and the romance between Jake and Rachel was right on given their history. Even though the love scenes were hot, I they were very sweet and gave me “aww” moments. Now, 180 turn from that was the villain. I often wonder how authors can create such evil villains. I had the chills while reading the villain’s point of view in this book, especially after what he did to his hostage!

Marked was the perfect story to kick off the series and introduce you to all the characters, some more than others. Targeted was set up very well and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Tuck and Celida’s story knowing what might be coming up next. Continue reading →

It’s a Hostage Rescue Team Series week here at So Many Reads! I recently flew through the first four books in the series and absolutely loved them. This week you will get to read reviews for Marked, Targeted, Hunted and Disavowed all by Kaylea Cross. You will get to meet several members of the team in an interview on Thursday and to top off the week you will have the chance to win Volume I (Books 1-3) later this week!

If you are a fan of romantic suspense, the Hostage Rescue Team Series is a must-read for sure. They are packed full of heart racing action, hot and sexy romance and witty dialogue. The tight-knit group of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team is something we all want with our colleagues. They have each other’s backs, support one another when things get tough, and are straight shooters about things that need to be said. I had a tough time putting the books down when I opened up the Hostage Rescue Team Volume I box set which included the first three books in the series – Marked, Targeted and Hunted.

The characters in the series are all very well developed. Sometimes in a series, you can run into the same old things with characters, but Cross does a fantastic job of creating different, unique, layered characters in each of her books. The plots are original to each book as well, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The intimate scenes fit each of the characters perfectly and are well placed in the stories. Each one brings out the heat whether it is slow and sweet or hot and heavy. They are tailored so well to each story and plot that you never know what is going to happen or when. Each book is set up nicely to introduce the next one. I love it when we get a glimpse of what is to come from the characters.

Cross is a fabulous storyteller, too. She knows just how much detail to give you during each operation the team is tasked  to keep you in the thick of the action but not so much that you get a little lost and drift away from the scene. It is a great balance. If you are fan of romantic suspense, I very highly recommend you give this series a try. You will be glad you did.

Follow the blog this week to read reviews on the first four books in the series, read an interview and enter to win Volume I! If you don’t want to miss any of it, follow the blog via email (top right of the page).