The Book Gourmet

Javier “Cobra” Corbray and the world watched Laura Nilsson being kidnapped on live TV. Two days later, the terrorist who kidnapped her told the world she was dead, and Javier swore vengeance.

Eighteen months later, he finally gets his chance. Leading a SEAL Team on a raid to a terrorist compound, he can’t wait to get his hands on the bastard who killed Laura. Then, a tall figure breaks away from the gaggle of “wives” in burkas, claiming to be an American...Underneath the burka is Laura Nilsson. Alive.

Two years later, Laura is finally feeling like herself again, but after the terrorist who tortured her for almost two years, calls a fatwa on her head at his trial, the old fear is back. Fleeing back to Denver, amid the FBI’s doubts her life is truly in danger, Laura comes face to face with yet another ghost from her past, Javier Corbray.


I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel slightly disappointed by this story. It wasn’t bad, far from it, but unlike what the blurb or the prequel or the prologue “promised”, the final result didn’t really reach the mark.
It was emotional, yet, despite rather similar experiences by both heroines, Megan’s book packed a bigger punch. It was also suspenseful, yet didn’t bring the intensity of the previous books in this series.

After the heart-rate-elevating prologue everything sort of slowed down, the suspense lost its strength and momentum, and the romance ended up being rather lukewarm.
The intimate scenes were still hot, as per usual, but I didn’t exactly feel the connection between Javier and Laura. They had more steam and chemistry in the prequel than in their full-length novel, which is to be expected after what Laura has been through, but even once that hurdle was behind them, they never really sizzled in an emotional kind of way.
I didn’t feel their romance was organic, it seemed the love came out of left field. It felt more like Laura was simply clinging to that last good memory before her ordeal and built up a fantasy, while Javier looked more like he respected her strength and valor instead of really having true feelings for her.
Or maybe it’s just me.

I really expected something more from this story. I wanted an emotional draining journey, not just for the characters, but for me as a reader as well. I wanted a more nail-biting suspense, instead of this rather weak revenge-fueled plot. Because when everything came to light, the villain, the motive, etc. it felt very anti-climatic.

What really got my blood flowing was the prologue, and what got my tears flowing was Laura’s final decision about the secret she’s kept so long.

The rest of it was merely “meh”, something definitely missing.