Spy With Me (Masters & Mercenaries: New Recruits 5) by Lexi Blake-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 16,2025

Zach Reed had two objectives when he joined the CIA team led by Ian and Charlotte Taggart. First, he needed to get close to Cooper McKay. Second, he needed to sideline or dismantle their operation. Getting to know Cooper was even better than he expected, but amongst the team he discovered a family he’d always dreamed of and a woman he wanted to spend his life with. Caught between his mission and his friends, his secrets are exposed, and his only choice is to run. He hopes someday he can make it up to the team and the young woman he’s fallen hopelessly in love with.

Devi Taggart thought she finally found the man of her dreams. Spending a long weekend with Zach filled her soul and satisfied all her deepest desires. But dreams turned to nightmares when she discovered he betrayed his team, including her brother. When Zach disappears, Devi swears to turn her back on the man forever. Unfortunately, the real bad guys have figured out she is Zach’s weak spot, which makes her a major target.

With Devi in real danger, Zach takes the situation into his own hands and offers her a place to stay with him. An offer he’s not about to let her refuse. As they navigate a criminal underworld, Zach is committed to showing Devi he’s the right man for her. If only they can survive his family.

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REVIEW: SPY WITH ME is the fifth instalment in Lexi Blake’s contemporary, adult MASTERS AND MERCENARIES: NEW RECRUITS erotic, Dom/sub , second generation romance series, set in the author’s numerous interconnected series: Master and Mercenaries: Texas Sirens/ Nights in Bliss (written as Sophie Oak). This is CIA operative, deep ops agent Captain Zach Reed, and fashion designer Devi Taggart’s story line. Devi is the daughter of Theo and Erin Taggart. SPY WITH ME can be read as a stand alone but for back story and cohesion, I recommend reading the series in order as there is an ongoing premise throughout. Some of the events cross over with, and run parallel to some of the events of the previous two instalments.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise including Dom/sub situations and spanking, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from omniscient third person perspective SPY WITH ME follows the building but acrimonious relationship between CIA operative, deep ops agent Zach Reed, and fashion designer Devi Taggart’ Months earlier Zach Reed found himself the Dom to Devi’s sub but one weekend together ended with Devi’s discovering what she thought was the truth, and weeks later finds herself a virtual prisoner of the man with whom she will fall in love. Zach Reed’s life is not what everyone believes, and in this, our heroine has been targeted for who she is, and her relationship with our story line hero. Hiding in the countryside of England, Zach and Devi struggle with issues of low self esteem, perceived betrayal, guilt, secrets and lies but once again, the team at McKay-Taggart comes in ‘hell bent for fury’ with secrets of their own, hoping to protect our story line couple. Zach’s past refuses to let go, pulling everyone into a potential for a world at war.

The world building continues to focus on the undercover operations, and deep op assignments, often off book, as Zach Reed goes in search of the people who are trying to destroy the lives of the people he loves but Zach has not been honest,and finds himself struggling with the reality that places everyone in the direct line of fire.

The relationship between Zach and Devi is a Dom/sub; one of mutual attraction but one in which, Zach was once attracted to Devi’s sister. Devi struggles with the possibility of Zach betraying everyone she loves, including his team of agents, and the family who have always had everyone’s back. The $ex scenes are erotic, provocative and intense with situations of Dom/sub and spanking.

There is another large ensemble cast of familiar, energetic and determined secondary and supporting characters including most of the previous story line couples: Dev’s parents Theo and Erin (Submission is Not Enough) and siblings, and their significant others: Zach’s brother Cooper; Big Tag aka Ian Taggart, his daughter’s Kala and Kenzie; Canadian operative Ben Parker, chemist Shannon Reed; Henry and Nell Flanders, and their daughter Lucy (Nights in Bliss), Ray White, and Dr. Emmanuel Huisman.

SPY WITH ME is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, madness and mayhem, family and friendships, relationships and love. The character driven premise is detailed,complex and dramatic; the romance is fated and passionate; the characters are desperate, determined, charismatic and powerful.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews

Love the Way You Spy
Live,Love, Spy
2.5 The Bodyguard and the Bombshell
Sweet Little Spies
No More Spies

copy supplied for review

reviewed by Sandy

New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings.

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