No Place To Run by Maya Banks Paperback, 352 pages Published December 7th 2010 by Berkley Genre: Romantic Suspense Source: Publisher

“I’ll be better when you’re naked.” When I read a statement like that on the first page of a Maya Banks romantic suspense novel, I know to hold on to my panties for a smokin’ hot ride!  After delivering an emotionally gripping opener to the KGI series with The Darkest Hour, Ms. Banks continues her action-packed quest with the Kelly brothers in No Place to Run.

Sam Kelly, a former Army Ranger, is in Mexico staking out an undercover mission with his brothers and their private, special ops team, KGI.  He enters one of the local bars and is immediately attracted and distracted by a waitress named Sophie, who quickly becomes a regular visitor to Sam’s hotel room and bed.  Their chemistry sparks with intensity from the start and while they know this is a fleeting moment of time with each other, they are determined to make the most of it.  What Sam does not know is Sophie is only pretending to be waitress in order to get close to him and gain information for her father, Alex Mouton, who is  the very man Sam and his brother’s are trying to take down.  Fast forward five months. Sophie, believing her father is now dead, knows that her uncle has taken over her father’s business.  Uncle Tomas is in hot pursuit of Sophie because she has the key that unlocks her father’s vault which contains his assets and secret information regarding his extensive arms network.  Sophie is also five months pregnant…with Sam’s baby.  She knows Uncle Tomas will kill her in order to recover the key and his men are closing in on her.  Convinced she has no other option, Sophie runs to Sam, trusting that even though she has betrayed him, he will still protect his unborn child.  Sam is dumbfounded when he finds Sophie floating in the lake outside his home, shot, pregnant and barely alive.  His protective instincts kick in and he is determined to find out how and why Sophie found him along with the rest of the secrets she is hiding.  After Sophie reveals that she is Mouton’s daughter and that along with herself, the Kelly family is a target for her uncle, Sam and his brothers derive a plan to take down the organization once and for all.

Ms. Banks gives us suspenseful, OMG moments with twists and turns you would not expect, but will keep you enthralled until the end.  What really drives her stories (and are my favorite part) are the intense, compelling and endearing characters.  Sophie has been through hell growing up under strict confinement and in fear of her ruthless and evil father.  Never-the-less, she is fearless, brave and ready to endure whatever is necessary to protect her baby.  Despite his tough exterior, Sam is a very tender and compassionate man.  This is evident when he relishes Sophie’s pregnant body during sensual moments and when he rushes to his family’s side during a health crisis.  But his protective and possessive nature takes a strong hold when he fights to protect Sophie and their unborn child.  Also, I continue to be moved and impressed by the Kelly family, who once again unite to protect one another and are generous in their acceptance of outsiders like Sophie.  Brothers Garrett and Donovan are initially skeptical of Sophie given her secrets and believing she was nothing more than a casual lay.  However, they quickly learn that Sam’s feelings for and connection with Sophie is more than just a passing fling.  They immediately love and treat her like a sister, willing to put their lives on the line to save her “because that’s what family does.”

Sam, Garrett, Donovan and the other Kelly brothers have a unique, enigmatic quality that will pique your curiosity to know more.  With their robust sensuality and sex appeal, I am at an impasse as to which one I want to come after me!  No Place to Run delivers everything I love in a romantic suspense.  Anyone looking for a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat storyline with military brothers who know how to please and protect their women should definitely check out this exciting series!

Favorite quote:

“I love you, Sophie.  I can’t tell you at what moment I fell in love with you.  Maybe it was the first time I looked across the bar in Mexico and there you were.  Maybe it was the first time we made love.  Or maybe it was watching you fight for our child.  And then for my mother.  It doesn’t matter.  I love you .  That’s it.  That’s all.  I hope to hell it’s enough.”  Her heart squeezed.  She’d always tried to imagine what it would be like to here those words.  To know that she was loved.  Nothing had come close.  There was so much joy.  It hurt.  It shouldn’t hurt, but she felt too small for her skin, like she’d burst right out of it.

Series list:

• The Darkest Hour (KGI, #1)
• No Place to Run (KGI, #2)
• Hidden Away (KGI, #3) March 2011

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Author’s Website

Purchase Links: Amazon || Book Depository

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The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Available: September 7, 2010 Genre: Romantic Suspense

It’s been one year since ex-Navy SEAL Ethan Kelly last saw his wife Rachel alive. Overwhelmed by grief and guilt over his failures as a husband, Ethan shuts himself off from everything and everyone.

His brothers have tried to bring Ethan into the KGI fold, tried to break through the barriers he’s built around himself, but Ethan refuses to respond …until he receives an anonymous phone call claiming Rachel is alive.

To save her, Ethan will have to dodge bullets, cross a jungle, and risk falling captive to a deadly drug cartel that threatens his own demise. And even if he succeeds, he’ll have to force Rachel to recover memories she can’t and doesn’t want to relive—the minute by minute terror of her darkest hour—for their love, and their lives, may depend on it.

Reviewed by: Amy 

"Your wife is alive."  If you received a note like that on the anniversary of a loved one’s death, would you believe it? Would you believe in second chances?  This is the chilling start to The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks.

Ethan Kelly has just returned from visiting the grave of his dead wife, Rachel.  It’s been exactly one year since her death and he still mourns her deeply. All he wants to do is drown his grief in liquor and numb himself enough to have the rest of the day slip by in a haze.  Once Ethan opens the FedEx package that arrived earlier in the day, the bottom of his world drops out and the numbness he initially sought is an afterthought.  The package contains documents, pictures and a simple note that reads "Your wife is alive."  What Ethan quickly learns is that a woman who looks exactly like his wife is being held in a hellhole in the South American jungle.  Ethan’s emotions spin out of control after seeing the information.  Fury and hope.  He is torn between it being a sick joke and the possibility that his wife might actually be alive.  Ethan immediately takes the information to his brothers, Sam, Garrett and Donovan who run a special ops group, KGI, knowing that they will help him find the truth.  KGI is a private, rescue and recovery team that is trained to go into extreme situations and kill or blow up anyone or anything that gets in their way.  Ethan, his brothers and KGI back-up travel to the remote jungle, ambush the camp and sure enough find that it is Rachel that has been in captivity for a year.  Thanks to her captors who have been forcing drugs in her system to subdue her, Rachel is addicted to heroin, which has also caused her to have partial amnesia. When Rachel is rescued she vaguely remembers Ethan and Garrett but the reasons are sketchy, though she does have a sense that she is safe with them and that they care for her.  After returning home to the States, Rachel focuses on overcoming her drug addiction, her emotional frailty and her broken memories and nightmares of her past.  Ethan is overwhelmed that he may have a second chance with his wife, but is also hiding a secret that could be detrimental to his future with Rachel if all her memories return.  And though Rachel is back home, she is not out of harms way.

Ms. Banks conveys a complex and intense bundle of emotions as the Kelly family tries to rebuild a relationship with Rachel who doesn’t remember them. While the family sees it as a miracle to reconnect with the woman they have come to love as a daughter and sister,they also struggle with the guilt and anger of her captivity and the fact that they all believed she was dead.  All six Kelly brothers (the KGI brothers and Nathan and Joe who are at home on leave from deployment overseas), as well as their parents, have strong personalities. And the Kelly family is a tight, close unit that covers each others backs.  We see a vivid display of love and protectiveness toward Rachel by not only Ethan, but all the brothers. There is also great focus on the reconnection both physically and emotionally between Ethan and Rachel as they try to reestablish their marriage.

I have been a fan of Ms. Banks since reading her Sweet series (erotica) and all of my friends know that Damon from Sweet Persuasion owns me!  So naturally I jumped at the chance to review her first romantic suspense book in the KGI series. While this story is not of the erotica genre, Ms. Banks still delivered passionate, intimate and sexual moments between Ethan and Rachel. They shared an intense attraction, an almost magnetic chemistry that made them crave the other’s comfort and touch.  So in many ways there were erotic moments, but on a deeper level.  In the end Ms. Banks creates a heartfelt story of love, loss, overcoming extreme adversity and forgiveness.  She also gives us a look into the individuality of the other five brothers as well as a "stray" who ends up becoming a part of the Kelly family.  With this cast of strong, believable characters, I look forward to more of the fierce and sexy Kelly brothers!

 

Favorite Quote:

"Will you take a bath with me?" she blurted.

He blinked in surprise, and for a long moment he didn’t say anything.  He seemed to struggle with exactly what to say, how to respond.

"You used to wash my hair, I remember you touching me."

Fire built in his eyes, sparking the blue until it resembled a storm front.

"Are you sure, baby?  I don’t want to do anything to make you uncomfortable."

She shrugged, hating the awkwardness of asking her husband, her husband, to be intimate with her again.

"I just want you to hold me."

Other books in the series:

No Place to Run December 7, 2010 Hidden Away March 2011

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Author’s Website

Purchase Links: Amazon || Book Depository

GIVEAWAY

I have one copy of The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks to giveaway.  Leave a comment on Amy’s review for entry with email address if it’s not part of your profile.  (Go ahead and comment even if you don’t want to enter, just indicate that you don’t want to be entered.)  Giveaway is open until Sept. 17, winner announced soon after.  Open to everyone.

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