Tracy’s review of Forged in Steele (KGI #7) by Maya Banks

Steele, a KGI team leader, is an enigma not even his team mates understand. His emotions are tightly locked down and nothing can break that icy exterior. Nothing except Maren Scofield, a doctor on a mission, a woman who has gotten under Steele’s skin and threatens to crack that unflappable cool he’s legendary for.

Steele is determined not to allow Maren past his carefully guarded defenses, but when she’s in danger, there’s no way he’ll allow anyone else to protect her. She’s hiding something. He’s sure of it. But he isn’t prepared for the shocking discovery her secrets reveal. Or how they will forever alter the course of his destiny. He has a decision to make. Hold tight and shut her out. Or take a chance on something more powerful than he’s ever faced. Love.

Maren Scofield is a doctor and a woman who has known Sam Kelly for many years. Because of this the KGI teams trust her and use her medical services. Maren knows Steele as a hard ass. He’s the strong silent type but oh so hot. Unfortunately he constantly looks at her like he just can’t wait to get away from her. On one trip to her clinic in Costa Rica Steele finally tells Maren that the reason he needed to get away from her was that he fantasized about her constantly and he wanted to keep things on a professional level. He’s decided, however, that professionalism is highly overrated and he wants her in bed…like, NOW. He says he wants to get her out of his system so this is a one time thing and then they’ll go their separate ways. Maren is a bit surprised by Steele but agrees as she’s hot for him too. Steele ends up being a wonderful lover and Maren is sad to see him go in the morning.

Steele doesn’t stay away long and soon returns to Maren which she is extremely pleased about. She believes she’s pregnant from their previous session but says nothing. When Steele has to leave on a mission Maren is kidnapped by a psycho who is obsessed with her and Steele stops at nothing to get her back. Luckily she has one man that works for the psycho that doesn’t want to see her harmed and helps her escape.

Steele takes Maren back to his house where she finally tells him about the pregnancy – which he’s shocked and thrilled at – and they make plans for the future. Unfortunately psycho man isn’t done with Maren and is soon back in her life making threats against the ones she loves.

I have to admit to being a little leery about reading this book. The last book in the series, Shades of Gray, was a DNF for me so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I finally decided as I’d like the previous books in the series that I should give it a go – I’m glad I did.

The story was both exciting in parts and not so exciting in parts. The sex, the kidnapping, the rescuing that occurs…that’s all exciting. Unfortunately the parts where Steele and Maren are in his home together after she escapes is just kind of stilted and on the verge of dull. I realize that this part was to help Steele and Maren get to know each other because frankly they really hadn’t gotten to know each other, except in bed, before her kidnapping. While I understood that was what that time was for it just slowed the story down too much for me and I really didn’t care for it.

Steele was a brute of a man with a soft gooey heart. He was majorly gentle when it came to Maren – almost ridiculously so at some parts – but it showed how much he cared for her and their unborn child. Maren was a tough cookie and was perfect for Steele, imho. She really was strong to put up with psycho man and even at the end when shit hit the fan her strength showed through.

Overall this was a good book that I enjoyed. The middle of the book was definitely slower than the rest but other parts mostly made up for that lack. If you’ve been reading the series you’ll definitely want to read Steele’s story as you’ll see a side of him you never saw before.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This title is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Tracy’s review of Whispers in the Dark (KGI Series #4) by Maya Banks

She came to him when he needed her the most

She came to him at his lowest point. The voice of an angel, a whisper in the dark. She’s the only thing that gets Nathan Kelly through his captivity, the endless days of torture and the fear that he’ll never return to his family. With her help, he’s able to escape. But he isn’t truly free, because now she’s disappeared and he’s left with an all-consuming emptiness as he struggles to pick up the pieces of his life. Did he imagine his angel? Or is she out there, needing his help as he’d once needed hers?

Now he rushes to save her before it’s too late

Shea has been on the run from people who will stop at nothing to exploit her unique abilities. She never wanted to drag Nathan, who’d already suffered so much, into danger, but she doesn’t have a choice so she reaches out to him for help. Finally face-to-face after having already formed a soul-deep bond in hell, their emotional connection is even more powerful than their telepathic one. Nathan refuses to consider ever letting her go again, but she worries they can never have a life free of the dangers that dog her every step. He’ll protect her with his every breath, but can he convince her that they are meant to face these threats together

Nathan is on a mission in Afghanistan when he is captured. He is tortured along with his teammates and is about to give up on life when he hears a voice in his head. Not only does he hear the voice but he feels his pain being taken away. He thinks he’s finally gone nuts but talks back to the voice. When the voice, a female who identifies herself as Shea, asks him for particulars so that she can attempt to email his brothers for a rescue attempt he thinks he’s giving information to his own cracked psyche. I mean, how can there be a voice in his head?

The woman is actually Shea Peterson and she’s a psychic who can take people’s pain away when she touches them only with Nathan she seems to be able to do that without even being in the same country. Shea manages to help Nathan get back home but then she leaves his mind trying to give him time to heal. The problem is that Nathan feels lost without the person he came to depend on and can’t seem to get back into the groove of things. When Shea telepathically contacts Nathan again with an SOS signal he leaves everything behind and goes to help her out. Eventually Nathan’s brothers are called in to help Shea get away from those people who would use her gift against her and treat her like a lab experiment.

I was a tad concerned when I first started this book and realized that there was a psychic or paranormal type element involved in the story. I like paranormal elements in a book but usually not when the story has been strictly non-paranormal up to that point. I decided to hang around after the first chapter and find out what was up. I’m really glad I did as the psychic element in this story seemed to work out and didn’t seem quite as unlikely as I thought it would be to start.

The story very much focused on the bond that Nathan and Shea had created with each other while Nathan was in captivity. It seemed to really seal them into a bond that neither could, nor wanted to break. The storyline was such that it told of Shea basically being a lab experiment of those who had shown true psychic ability so it just seemed more plausible in the end.

I like seeing Nathan and Shea work together to try to solve their outside issues but what I liked most is that there wasn’t really any angst between the two of them. It was nice to read a book where the hero and heroine just got along! (Nathan did get a bit on the sappy side from time to time which I could have done without but it all worked in the end.) Not the outside forces were against them completely but they worked through those as well. Though not all of the problems were taken care of it gave it enough of a flavor or completion that I thought they had a good chance for an HEA.

I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series.

Rating: 4 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.