Series: Guns 'n' Lovers

Guest Review: Blue Knight by Tracy Cooper-Posey

Posted October 7, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Blue Knight by Tracy Cooper-PoseyReviewer: Judith
Blue Knight by Tracey Cooper-Posey
Series: Guns 'n' Lovers #3
Also in this series: Blue Knight
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Publication Date: October 1, 2010
Format: eARC
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: five-stars
Caught in the insurrection and held hostage in what was once a luxury hotel, members of a U. N. delegation are being systematically interrogated and, in some cases, tortured. The leader of the revolution is slowly coming apart at the seams and he is looking to force the United States to give his revolutionary government political standing in exchange for the lives of the hostages. However, he is not sure which persons in the delegation are American.

Olivia is a woman who has great diplomatic experience. In fact she is one of the most experienced in the delegation. Yet she recognizes that British businessman, Daniel Castle, really doesn’t “see” her. He has slept with nearly every female in the group except her. Apart from the insult of being “invisible” as a person, she is curiously irritated that he has never seen her as a woman. However, after he climbs in her window one night, stark naked, they both become aware of one another.

Judith‘s review of Blue Knight (Guns n’ Lovers series, Book 3) by Tracy Cooper-Posey.

While this is the third book in the series, it is a stand-alone novel that brings the main characters from the first two books into play and they are significant players in this book’s cast.

This novel is not the easiest of Cooper-Posey’s works that I have read. It is gutsy and edgy, raw and really in-your-face about the political realities and the life & death nature of the situation which faces these hostages each day. The author also brings the reader into the inner workings of what the ousted government is trying to do to retrieve control of this country from the crazies. This is where the reader meets characters from the first two books. The novel, however, is really about Olivia and Daniel.

Daniel is a shadowy character. He needs to stay on the outside boundaries of the group and there are several occasions where his identity and the hard attention of the revolutionary leadership collide — almost. On a couple of occasions Olivia puts herself in dire straits in order to deflect the attention of the soldiers and their leadership. As the story progresses the reader begins to understand that this is an extraordinary lady with deep wells of strength and perseverance. She will “be there” for each and every one of these people in her delegation and especially as her attachment and involvement with Daniel grows, she knows that she will do whatever it takes to protect him.

This is a very tense and meaty novel–with the love story being central to the book. The relationships which began in the first two books also progress. So there is plenty in this novel for romance fans to like. But it is also made very intense because of the context of the novel and the danger in which these lovers constantly find themselves.

This is a very well-written novel. However, I have to admit that it was slow starting for me–switching back and forth from the hostages to the strategizing of the ousted government was not easy for me at first. Yet it all came together ultimately and it was a very good read. Cooper-Posey is a writer of note and has lots of successes under her literary belt. She has kept the tension and energy alive in this third novel and that is not easy to do. I had the feeling that this book was every bit as compelling as any by Robert Ludlum or James Patterson. Others may not agree, but for me it kept me on the edge of my chair from page one. I give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5.

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.

four-half-stars

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Review: Blue Knight by Tracy Cooper-Posey

Posted September 29, 2010 by Tracy in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: Blue Knight by Tracy Cooper-PoseyReviewer: Tracy
Blue Knight by Tracey Cooper-Posey
Series: Guns 'n' Lovers #3
Also in this series: Blue Knight
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Publication Date: October 1, 2010
Format: eARC
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: five-stars

Held hostage by the Insurrectos for weeks and forgotten by the world, Olivia has watched Daniel bed everyone women but her, who he can’t see. Daniel lives dangerously and is forced to use her window one night to avoid the guards. Naked and faced with a long-legged woman who doesn’t want him, his curiosity is piqued.

Under the hostile, suspicious gazes of the guards, they begin a game of heated seduction where the stakes are so high no one, not even their fellow hostages, must suspect there is a connection between them. As Daniel teaches her how to defy the guards the tension between them, both sexual and personal, spirals until it threatens to shatter.

Olivia learns that Daniel is not quite who she thought he was. Now she is fighting for Daniel’s life too, for if the Insurrectos find out who he really is, then the man she has come to love will be instantly executed…

FYI – This review contains spoilers

Stuck in a fancy hotel in war torn Vistaria, Olivia’s quite surprised when a naked man crawls into her window one night. It’s fellow diplomat, Daniel, who was sneaking out of her neighbor’s room. After an tension filled night with harsh words spoken between the two of them, life gets back to normal. Well, as normal as it can be for hostages. Daniel and Olivia begin a sexual relationship but it becomes much more in a very short time but it’s something they have to hide from their captors.

Olivia soon learns that Daniel isn’t who she thought. He played a British diplomat well but he’s really a loyalist Vistarian who is trying to save his country, and now Olivia, from being taken from him and his countrymen.

This is book 3 in the Guns ‘n’ Lovers series and it’s a good one. I have to admit that I didn’t LOVE the first book, Red Leopard, but it set a nice stage for the series. The second book, Black Heart, was very good and continued the struggle to get Vistaria back into its rightful hands but had a great romance as well. This book again continued the effort to regain the country but also had a lovely romance as well – if not a typical one.

The story lets us see further into Calli and Nick’s relationship (from book 1) and Nick’s attempts to receive help from US and Mexico as well as try to form some sort of cabinet to work with. But the main part of the book was the struggle inside the hotel that Olivia, Daniel and their fellow captives endured by the psychotic captors.

This is, at times, not an easy book to read. The author pulls no punches and makes it quite realistic, with torture and a rape scene (not with the h/h). While I found them hard to read I didn’t feel that they were put in there for sensationalism. These were things that real hostages would have endured and I while I had a hard time reading those scenes, I liked the book that much more because of them.

In the end I really liked the book. I liked the political aspects, the spy/mystery portion of it and of course the romance. I loved seeing two people fall in love in a less than stellar situation that may not have met in every day life.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This book was received by the author for review. It releases from Ellora’s Cave on 10/1/10

four-half-stars

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