SECRET ENEMY (Red Stone Security 16 ) by Katie Reus-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 15, 2021

He thinks she’s out of his league.

Lyosha Vasiliev met Mila by chance, and now she’s all he thinks about. But the two couldn’t be more different, so Lyosha won’t go there. As a security expert, he skirts the law on the regular. Unlike Mila, the newest employee at Red Stone Security, who spends her free time volunteering at an animal shelter. Despite his determination to stay away from her, when it becomes clear his past has come back to haunt him—and poses a threat to her—Lyosha immediately steps in. And he’ll cross any line to keep her safe.

But he can’t seem to walk away.

Mila met Lyosha when he brought in a half-starved stray cat to the shelter she volunteers at. He tries to act tough—and okay, he is. He should be the last man she wants, but she loves his sexy tattoos, gruff demeanor, and that he has a marshmallow inside that only she gets to see. When someone threatens her, he’s convinced it’s linked to his past. He’s made it clear that he’ll protect her with his life—but he won’t give her his heart. Not when he blames himself for bringing danger to her doorstep. Except Mila isn’t the kind of woman who walks away from what she wants. And Lyosha finds himself unwilling to let her go without a fight.

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REVIEW: SECRET ENEMY is the sixteenth instalment in Katie Reus’ contemporary, adult RED STONE SECURITY romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for Red Stone Security. This is RSS new hiree Mila, and Russian security specialist Lyosha Vasiliev’s story line. SECRET ENEMY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Lyosha was first introduced in book thirteen Love Thy Enemy-Lyosha works security for Viktor Ivanov.

Told from several third person perspectives including Mila and Lyosha SECRET ENEMY follows the friends to lovers relationship between RSS new hiree Mila, and Russian security specialist Lyosha Vasiliev. Mila and Lyosha have been dancing around one another for close to six months but Mila’s recent run in with her roommate’s boyfriend finds Lyosha in alpha-protector mode but our hero believes himself unworthy of Mila’s love, and in this continues to push away the woman he wants. When a former enemy returns, eyeing Mila as the ultimate prize, Lyosha knows that his lifestyle now threatens our story line heroine, and there is no turning back when she is targeted for Lyosha’s sins of the past. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Lyosha and Mila, and the potential fall-out as Mila finds herself the target of two men, one of whom set his sights on the man with whom she will fall in love.

The relationship between Lyosha and Mila is a friends to lovers, immediate attraction wherein Lyosha refuses to cross the line into something more. Believing himself unworthy, Lyosha intends to keep his distance but threats against Mila continue to pull our couple into one another’s orbits. Meanwhile, Mila struggles with some issues of self-esteem, believing she is beneath the people for which Lyosha is friends. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Viktor and his wife Dominique (Love Thy Enemy); Dominque’s sister in law Lucy as well as Mila’s sisters Angel, Clarita and Zamira, their mother, and RSS agent Juan- there is definitely something developing between Angel and Juan. The requisite evil has many faces.

SECRET ENEMY is a story of vengeance and retribution, family and relationships, opportunity and love. The fast paced premise is intriguing and captivating; the characters are spirited; the romance is seductive and exciting. SECRET ENEMY is another wonderful addition to Katie Reus’ Red Stone Security family.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy