Tag Archives: 11th Hour

Hard Night (11th Hour #3) by Jackie Ashenden-a review

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HARD NIGHT (11th Hour #3) by Jackie Ashenden-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 27, 2018

It’s their pleasure to serve . . .

Made up of former soldiers, the men of the 11th Hour play by their own rules to protect the innocent, capture the guilty, and stay in fighting shape for whatever–and whoever–comes their way . . .

Jacob Night, ex-Black Ops, owner of a billion-dollar security company, and leader of the 11th Hour, spends his life completing dangerous missions for others. But there’s one personal mission he has yet to complete: Finding his missing brother, who was betrayed by the woman he should have been able to trust. But when he finally tracks down his brother’s ex, there’s one surprise: she can’t remember a thing.

Faith has no memory of who she is. She can’t remember life before she came to work for Jacob Night, and she’s not sure she wants to. But when she and Jacob are ambushed by men who have come to kill her for sins she can’t recall committing, she has no choice but to face the past. Yet once she does, and Jacob’s identity–and her own–come to light, they may not survive with their lives intact, let alone their hearts.

••••••••••

REVIEW: HARD NIGHT is the third instalment in Jackie Ashenden’s contemporary, adult 11th HOUR erotic, romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for 11th Hour Security. This is ex-Black Ops / 11th Hour owner Jacob Night, and Faith Beasley’s story line. TOTAL CONTROL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Faith and Jake) HARD NIGHT follows the building relationship between ex-Black Ops / 11th Hour owner Jacob Night, and Faith Beasley. Six months earlier Faith found herself in the hospital without any memory of who she was, or anything about her past including the man she would grow to love. Jacob Night suspects Faith knows something about his missing brother Josh but our heroine is unable to recall the how and why of her current dilemma. Fast forward to present day wherein Faith will be targeted by someone from her past. Desperate to protect the woman with whom he is falling in love, Jake ‘abducts’ Faith to places unknown in the hopes of being able to jostle her memory into revealing the truth about the brother he lost.

Faith Beasley has amnesia. For six months our heroine has struggled to regain her forgotten memories but with their return Faith knows it is only a matter of time before Jake discovers the truth about her connections to the past. Jacob Night doesn’t do relationships and a relationship with the woman he believes is keeping secrets threatens all sense of peace for our story line hero.

The relationship between Faith and Jacob is one of immediate attraction; there is a definite palpable sexual energy that may or may not be predicated on the fear of the unknown. Faith is hoping for something more but when her memories return betrayal and heart break become her only companion. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic, aggressive and intense.

The colorful secondary and supporting characters include Callie Hawthorne and Jack King (Raw Power #1), Kellan Blake, and IT specialist Sabrina Leighton (Total Control #2). The requisite evil has many faces but is familiar to our story line couple.

HARD NIGHT is a story of power and control; betrayal and vengeance; family and love. The premise is engaging and energetic; the romance is spirited and dramatic; the characters are broken, flawed and intoxicating. HARD NIGHT is an impassioned and startling story of romantic suspense.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Raw Power
Total Control
Hard Night

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Total Control (11th Hour #2) by Jackie Ashenden-a review

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TOTAL CONTROL (11th Hour #2) by Jackie Ashenden-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 26, 2018

Once they were soldiers. Now they answer only to honor . . .

The 11th Hour is made up of men and women who are no longer deemed fit to serve their country, but still need to fight a war. They work in shadows, keep their secrets—and follow their hearts . . .

Helicopter pilot Kellan Blake has always hated being told what to do, so being discharged from the army for insubordination doesn’t come as much of a surprise. What does surprise him is that when he joins up with the elite, underground 11th Hour squad instead, they send him straight home. The nest of vipers that calls itself his family is the next target for the team’s tech unit, so he’ll either have to brave their traps and deceptions himself—or watch his sweet, shy friend Sabrina walk into them alone . . .

Sabrina’s no femme fatale, but since there’s no one else with the tech skills to get the info they need, she’ll put on a party dress and take one for the team. But whoever decided she should pretend to be Kellan’s new fiancée hit a little too close to home. How can she concentrate on a dangerous mission when she’s worried about giving away what she really feels for her loyal, passionate, smoking hot partner? At least she isn’t likely to blow their cover. Until she’s in the line of fire, and neither Kellan’s demons nor his heart are hers to tame .

••••••••••••

REVIEW: TOTAL CONTROL is the second instalment in Jackie Ashenden’s contemporary, adult 11th HOUR romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for 11th Hour Security. This is former Night Stalker Helicopter pilot and former Navy SEAL Kellan Blake, and IT specialist Sabrina Leighton’s story line. TOTAL CONTROL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Kellan and Sabrina) TOTAL CONTROL follows the friends to lovers relationship between 11th Hour Security team members former Night Stalker Helicopter pilot and former Navy SEAL Kellan Blake, and IT specialist Sabrina Leighton. Sabrina and Kellan were childhood best friends. The daughter of the Blake estate gardener, Sabrina was raised alongside Kellan when her mother’s death and her father’s subsequent abandonment left a ten year old Sabrina with no one else to care. Fast forward to present day wherein, Sabrina and Kellan must work side by side when an 11th Hour Security assignment pits father against son as Kellan must uncover the truth behind the accusations against the father he loves. What ensues is the building physical romance between Kellan and Sabrina; the take down of the man Kellan calls dad; and the fall-out of the relationship and friendship between our leading couple as Sabrina struggles with memories from the past.

Sabrina Leighton has loved Kellan since she was ten-years old but as the daughter of the hired help, Sabrina was constantly reminded that she would never be acceptable for the man that she loved. With secrets of her own, Sabrina knew that to get involved with Kellan potentially meant a broken heart-a heart she had already lost to the man who only saw Sabrina as a friend, and nothing more. Low self esteem and numerous insecurities were always at the forefront of our heroine’s mind. Kellan Blake refused to believe that the man that he loved, his father, was involved in the things of which the 11th Hour Team had accused. With secrets of his own Kellan and Sabrina return to their childhood home, only to come face to face with the dysfunction within.

The relationship between Sabrina and Kellan is a friends to lovers romance that is doomed to fail as secrets and ghosts from the past continue to loom over our leading couple. From unrequited love to the hero’s overprotective alpha personality, the relationship also struggles with preconceived notions and a familial history that continues to eat at our heroine’s heart. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are reintroduced to the 11th Hour Team including leader Jacob Night, ex-Black Ops, owner of a billion-dollar security company; Faith Beasley, Isaiah Graham, and Callie Hawthorne and Jack King (Raw Power #1). Faith and Jacob’s story is next in Hard Night.

There are some issues of repetitiveness and redundancy including 79 mentions of varying eye shades of blue, and 16 comments about the green or green-gold color of the heroine’s eyes. I also had a difficult time accepting the ‘issues’ that eventually tore our couple apart-Sabrina’s explanations and actions just didn’t fly in the face of everything that had happened. Kellan’s quick emotional turn around once he discovers that Sabrina has wanted a relationship for close to twenty years is questionable; and the results of the team investigation that culminated in nothing more than a slap on the hand were unfulfilling and underwhelming.

TOTAL CONTROL is an interesting and entertaining story line but I struggled with a number of issues. The premise is engaging; the romance is spicy; the characters are dynamic and energetic.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one RAW POWER

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy 

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Raw Power (11th Hour #1) by Jackie Ashenden-a review

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RAW POWER (11th Hour #1) by Jackie Ashenden-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

About the book: Release Date February 27, 2018

They fought for their country. Now they fight for you.

To find the people lost in the shadows, you need the men who live in them. The former soldiers of 11th Hour are unaffiliated, unacknowledged, and definitely illegal. They protect the innocent, destroy the guilty–and capture hearts along the way . . .

Rugged, skilled, and hard-bodied, Jack King’s whole life was the Marines until an injury left him discharged from active duty. But he finds a new purpose when he’s recruited by a special unit that employs ex-military to do very special jobs. Yet he’s not impressed when his first assignment is babysitting the pretty, perfect daughter of a politician–especially when she’s far from the angel she appears to be . . .

Callie Hawthorne hates politics, and she hates playing the part of a senator’s goody two shoes daughter even more. It only gets worse when her father decides she needs a security detail 24/7–and the bodyguard happens to be the most insanely hot guy Callie’s ever seen. Still, she’s not going to be ordered around just because of some half-assed threat to her father. . . . But when it turns out her dad’s no angel either, Jack has to kidnap Callie in order to protect her. And as danger closes in, he’ll need all his considerable talents to keep them both alive. The greater challenge will be to keep his hands off her .

••••••

REVIEW: RAW POWER is the first instalment in Jackie Ashenden’s contemporary, adult 11th HOUR romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for 11th Hour Security. This is former US Marine Jack King, and socialite Callie Hawthorne’s story line.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Callie and Jack) RAW POWER follows the building romance between former US Marine Jack King, and socialite/Senator’s daughter Callie Hawthorne. Hired to protect our story line heroine Jack King doesn’t want to babysit a spoiled socialite especially one who doesn’t seem to give a damn about her personal security. But an attempt against her, along with a number of hidden cameras found in her small apartment, find our heroine beginning to understand that Jack King is the least of her worries. What ensues is the building relationship between Jack and Callie, and the potential fall out when Callie’s life becomes fodder for the man in charge.

Callie Hawthorne has lived a life of sheltered abuse by a man whose public persona is matched by the evil that has become her life. Trying to get away places everyone, including Jack King, in danger, a danger she isn’t willing to risk for the man with whom she has fallen in love. Jack King is new to the personal security business, so new his first assignment goes all to h*ll when he isn’t willing to play by the rules in an effort to protect the woman with whom he is falling in love. No one, not even his new boss, is able to force Jack to give up on the woman he has been tasked to protect. Scarred both inside and out, our hero refuses to lose another soul to the evil that has followed him from most of his life.

The relationship between Callie and Jack begins acrimoniously. Callie comes across as a spoiled socialite, a role she has been groomed to perform from a very young age but a role she hides behind in the face of the truth at home. Jack’s immediate attraction to Callie is tempered by her willingness to place herself in a danger, a danger she believes comes from only one direction. The $ex scenes are intimate and erotic without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. –Both Jack and Callie like it rough in the bedroom.

We are quickly introduced to the team at 11th Hour Security: Team leader Isiah Graham, Faith Beasley, Sabrina Leighton, former Navy SEAL Kellan Blake, and the money behind 11th Hour – the mysterious Mr. Night.

RAW POWER is an intense story line; a sexy, intriguing and spirited story of romantic suspense. The premise is edgy; the characters are sassy and energetic; the romance is provocative and dramatic.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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