Broken (Deep Ops #3) by Rebecca Zanetti-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 26, 2020

Dangerous: Former Navy SEAL Clarence Wolfe’s unit was taken out with a land mine. Injured and devastated, he hasn’t been quite right since. Worse, the tragedy was no accident. All Wolfe wants now is to take down the man responsible. In the meantime, he’s good with being the muscle for the Deep Ops team–and leading a steamy no-strings-attached personal life. Until one intriguing woman changes everything . .

Determined: Reporter Dana Mulberry is on a mission to avenge the death of a fellow journalist. She’s finally hot on a trail–right to a sex club–where she runs into . . . Wolfe? It seems both their leads have led to the same spot. To keep from blowing their covers, they’ll have to at least pretend to have a little fun. Trouble is, they genuinely like each other. And that’s way too risky for Wolfe, especially when, to his surprise, Dana agrees . . .

Complicated: Drawn to each other in ways they can’t understand, Wolfe and Dana keep it professional–until they’re shot at one night. And when their adventures land them both at the heart of corruption in D.C.–and at odds in their missions–they’ll have to dig deeper than ever to succeed in their quests–and with each other . . .

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REVIEW: BROKEN is the third full-length instalment in Rebecca Zanetti’s contemporary, adult DEEP OPS erotic, romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for the US HDD (Homeland Defense Department) and Angus Force’s Requisition Force Team. This is former US Navy SEAL Clarence Wolfe, and reporter Dana Mulberry’s story line. BROKEN can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.

Told from several third person perspectives including Wolfe and Dana BROKEN follows Clarence Wolfe as he continues to hunt for the person responsible for, killing every man in his Navy SEAL unit, leaving Wolfe battling the memories where is all went wrong but Wolfe never expected to find reporter and part-time Requisition Force Team member Dana Mulberry haunting the same club as our story line hero, a club that specializes, and caters to the people who live on the kinky side of life. But all does not go according to plan when Dana’s target is killed, and Wolfe soon recognizes they have been looking for the same man. With the help of Angus Force’s Requisition force Team, Dana begins to unravel the clues as it pertains to a missing journalist, a journalist who may have uncovered too many secrets of some very powerful men. Meanwhile, Clarence Wolfe is determined to go it alone-like his name, Wolfe is a lone wolf, and will not stop until Gary Rockcliff, the man that killed his friends, is behind bars or dead but said man has a new target, and Dana is now in his sights. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Dana and Wolfe, and the potential fall-out as Gary is always one –step ahead of our story line hero, one step that places Dana in the direct line of fire.

Clarence Wolfe doesn’t do relationships believing himself too screwed up from the injuries he suffered in Afghanistan. With only one goal and one path, Wolfe is determined to take down Gary Rockcliff, no matter if is gets him killed in the process but meeting and falling for journalist Dana Mulberry, divides Wolfe’s attention, forcing our hero to protect Dana before finishing his mission, on his own.

The relationship between Wolfe and Dana is one of immediate attraction but Wolfe keeps to himself, and refuses to place Dana, or his teammates in the direct line of fire. Worried that Wolfe’s suicide mission will be a success, in more ways than one, Dana pulls the Requisition Force Team together to protect the man with whom she is falling in love. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and intense without the use of over the top,sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful secondary and supporting characters including former police detective and undercover operative Malcolm West, and Pippa Smith, (Hidden #1), Special agent Raider Tanaka, and computer hacker Brigid Banaghan (Fallen 2) , Requisition Force team leader Angus Force; Angus Force’s quirky whiskey guzzling, lipstick eating German shepherd Roscoe, and Wolfe’s pocket sized kitten Kat: FBI psychiatrist Dr. Nari Zhang; former MI6 Agent Dr. Jethro Hanson; Special Agents Tom Rutherford, and Kurt Fields.

BROKEN is a story of betrayal and vengeance; family, friendships, relationships and love. The premise is fast paced, energetic and dramatic; the characters are strong-willed, energetic and captivating; the romance is seductive and hot. BROKEN continues to reveal a little bit about Angus Force’s determination to take down a man he once believed was dead; and like so many heroine’s in romantic suspense story lines, Dana Mulberry was a little disappointing- often TSTL (too stupid to live)-determined to place herself in the direct line of fire, claiming, as a journalist, her priority was to finish the job, regardless of the number of people murdered or dead (sigh)

Reading Order and previous reviews

Hidden
Taken (1.5)
Fallen

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy