Built to Last (Black Knights Inc #12) by Julie Ann Walker-Review, Excerpt and Giveaway Tour

BUILT TO LAST (Black Knights Inc #12) by Julie Ann Walker-Review, Excerpt and Giveaway Tour

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 3, 3018

Masterful, mysterious, and completely ruthless, Jamin “Angel” Agassi joined the Black Knights Inc. after a mission-gone-wrong forced him to undergo extensive plastic surgery and change his name. He’s going to bring down the world’s worst crime syndicate, and hopefully keep Sonya Butler, a love from his past, from discovering who he really is…

When a dark-eyed stranger gets caught up in Sonya’s latest mission, she starts to question all her hard-won instincts. Something about Angel tells her he’s more than he seems, and sometimes, when she least expects it, he reminds her of a man she used to know. As the bullets fly, she realizes that in love and war nothing is ever what it seems

••••••••

REVIEW:  BUILT TO LAST is the twelfth and final instalment in Julie Ann Walker’s contemporary, adult BLACK KNIGHTS INC romantic suspense /military, action series focusing on an elite group of ex Navy SEALS, FBI, CIA and military heroes headquartered and fronted by a custom motorcycle shop in Chicago known as Black Knights Inc. This is assassin Jamin ‘Angel’ Agassi, and thirty-two year old Interpol agent Sonya Butler’s story line. BUILT TO LAST can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in orders, especially the last few instalments, as there is an ongoing premise focusing on a terrorist known as ‘The Spider’.

Told from several third person points of view including Angel and Sonya BUILT TO LAST follows the rekindling romance between Interpol agent Sonya Butler and assassin Jamin ‘Angel’ Agassi, a man who is familiar to our heroine yet not. Ten years earlier, Sonya Butler saw her lover murdered trying to take down a bomber, and in the ensuing time has continued to grieve and never moved on. Fast forward to present day wherein Sonya will come face to face with a man, although unrecognizable, reminds our heroine of the love she has lost. Enter Jamin ‘Angel’ Agassi, Sonya’s former lover, and the man that will once again, destroy her heart. What ensues is the (re)building relationship between Angel and Sonya, as our couple unknowingly work together to stop the man they have come to know as ‘The Spider’.

Angel is an assassin, known as the Prince of Shadows, an assassin feared by all. Ten years under cover with an assumed identity finds Angel struggling to keep his secret from the woman he loves. Two weeks in her presence, and Angel battles both his attraction to, and the questionable circumstances under which, our heroine now finds herself working for the terrorist known as The Spider. Not only does Angel have secrets to hide but Sonya’s secrets are soon to be revealed.

Throughout the last few instalments there has been a building relationship between Colby ‘Ace’ Ventura and Rusty Parker. Their ongoing attraction to one another is stifled by Rusty’s inability to come out of the proverbial closet, a closet hindered by his family’s deep –rooted religious beliefs. A life and death situation opens his heart such that Rusty must come clean to the people he loves.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and familiar secondary and supporting characters including most of the previous story line couples-some by cameo, updates or offhand mention. The author ‘introduces’ six new warriors who have been assigned to the BKI team-here’s hoping for a new spin-off.

BUILT TO LAST is a story of betrayal and vengeance; family and forgiveness; love and a happily ever after. The premise is intriguing, action packed and entertaining; the romance is passionate and fated; the characters are dynamic and charismatic. Julie Ann Walker’s BLACK KNIGHTS INC is an edgy, sassy and intelligent series with lovable heroes, and brilliant heroines.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Hell on Wheels
In Rides Trouble
Rev It Up
Thrill Ride
Born Wild
Hell For Leather
Full Throttle
Too Hard To Handle
Wild Ride
Fuel For Fire
Hot Pursuit
Built to Last

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

NOTE: Excerpt intended for mature readers 18+ due to language and sexual content

 

What was he doing? What the hell was he doing?
Oh, right. With everything he had, he was kissing the woman he’d fallen in love with a decade earlier and, God help him, loved still. His mind and body had traveled down I-Want-Your-Sex Road so fast that he’d missed his exit to This-Is-a-Really-Bad-Idea Town.
A really bad idea, he warned himself and followed that up with It isn’t fair to her.
Of course, when she slipped her tongue between his teeth, tentatively exploring, it took everything he had not to fall to his knees. Her mouth tasted of love and loss, of a wonderful and terrible past and a murky, tormented future.
It’s not fair, he silently reminded himself again. She doesn’t know who I am.
And yet she wanted him.
It was there in her eyes when she looked at him. A familiar longing. A confused, punch-drunk hunger that defied logic and reason because it was instinctual, a product of their lizard brains recognizing in each other the perfect physical mate. All the plastic surgery in the world couldn’t mask that.
“Mmm,” he hummed when she sucked on his tongue. Just a little. Just a nibble. He angled her head so he could align their mouths more closely.
In all the years that had passed, he had tried to convince himself their connection, their passion, had been a product of their youthful hearts. Two undisciplined lovers hungry to experience the thrill of the fall. But now? Oh, now, with her in his arms, with her mouth eager and greedy on his, he realized it had been so much more.
He didn’t believe in fated love or one-and-only’s, but neither could he discount the truth staring him in the face. Or, rather, the truth gripping his shoulders and trying to inhale him.
No woman had ever come close to touching his heart the way Sonya had. And certainly no woman had ever brought him the kind of pleasure she did.
And believe me, he thought as he nipped her plump bottom lip, knowing it would make her gasp, I let plenty of them try.
Since he’d left her, he hadn’t exactly lived the life of a monk. Looking back, he realized he’d been searching for Sonya inside other women, looking for that same connection, that same spark. But no matter how hard he’d tried, no matter how many birds he’d bounced atop countless beds, he’d always come up empty-handed.
Now, he realized that was because Sonya was it. The one. The standard by which he’d judged women and beauty and bravery and grace. He’d compared every smile to her smile, every laugh to her laugh. To him, she was everything a woman should be, her name branded upon his heart.
Fool that he was, he took great delight in knowing she felt the same, knowing she’d only ever loved one man. Him.
Or, at least she loved me as I was back then, he thought, stepping in to her until she was flush along his front, loving the feminine heat rolling off her body and the way she didn’t hesitate to rub herself against him.
That was the problem, wasn’t it? Not that she rubbed herself against him; that was heaven on earth. But that she loved him as he was back then. Because—and this was God’s honest truth—that man was dead in all the ways that counted. When Mark had become Majid who had, in turn, become Angel, he’d given up his home, his name, his face…and the woman he loved.
He’d done it in the name of Israel and freedom and the lives of innocent people everywhere including hers. But he’d done it nonetheless. He’d left her.
Left her to miss him. Left her to mourn him. Left her to fend for herself in a treacherous and merciless world. And look what had happened. She’d fallen into the grasp of a man like Grafton.
How can she ever forgive me?
Anguish grabbed hold of his heart and shoved it into his throat at the same time she grabbed the back of his head and went up on tiptoe to press herself more firmly against him.
When guilt had threatened to swamp him over the years, he had always been able to justify things to himself and chase the insidious emotion away. Now, knowing what had become of her, knowing if he had stayed, she wouldn’t be in this awful position, remorse wormed its way inside his gut and set up shop.
He’d wronged her for the right reasons. He’d made a decision that broke their hearts and quite possibly saved their lives. He’d wrecked their little world to make the larger one safer for everyone.
Yet…was it possible there might have been another way? Could he have answered the call of his country and his ramsad and held on to the woman he loved? Ten years ago, he would have insisted that how things had happened was the only way any of it could have happened. Today? Well, today a seed of doubt had been planted.
It was all so complicated. So confusing.
There were only two things he knew for sure. First, he was determined to figure out why she allowed herself to work for Grafton, to discover precisely what the bastard had on her to keep her under his thumb if it wasn’t her love and loyalty to the jewel thief. Second, along with bringing Grafton/Spider down, he was determined to save Sonya. She didn’t deserve this fate she’d found for herself. He believed that with everything inside him.
His thoughts dissolved then because her starved and impatient kisses turned abandoned. She’d lost herself to passion, hungrily devouring his lips and tongue and running her hands over his shoulders, up into his short hair. His mind drifted back to a time when his thick, dark locks had been long enough for her to curl her fingers around. His cock responded to her wicked seduction by straining against the fly of his jeans, seeking the heat and the soft give of her belly.
She moaned with pleasure.
He moaned for more of her.


 

FOLLOW Julie: Facebook / Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Julie Ann Walker is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of award-winning romantic suspense. She has won the Book Buyers Best Award, been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award. Her latest release was named a Top Ten Romance of 2014 by Booklist. Her books have been described as “alpha, edgy, and downright hot.” Most days you can find her on her bicycle along the lake shore in Chicago or blasting away at her keyboard, trying to wrangle her capricious imagination into submission.

Be sure to sign up for Julie’s occasional newsletter at: http://julieannwalker.com

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Hot Pursuit (Black Knights Inc. #11) by Julie Ann Walker-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

HOT PURSUIT (Black Knights Inc. #11) by Julie Ann Walker-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

Hot Pursuit

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 3, 2017

He puts the hot…
Christian Watson, a former SAS officer and current BKI operator, never thought he would return to England after a terrible turn of events forced him to abandon his homeland. But now he’s back on British soil where old enemies are determined to do him in. Fighting for his life is pretty much SOP for Christian. Doing it with the beautiful, bossy Emily Scott in tow is another matter entirely.

In hot pursuit.
Emily lost her coveted job at the CIA because of a colleague turned rogue, and now she has just one rule when it comes to men: they’re for recreational purposes only. But when she and Christian are thrust into very close quarters while evading two mysterious men who want Christian dead, she can’t help but question all her ideas about love and life lived on the edge. Battling the bad guys is hard enough, battling her feelings for Christian just might prove impossible.

••••••••••

REVIEW: HOT PURSUIT is the eleventh installment in Julie Ann Walker’s contemporary, adult BLACK KNIGHTS INC romantic suspense /military, action series focusing on an elite group of ex Navy SEALS, FBI, CIA and military heroes headquartered at a custom motorcycle shop in Chicago known as Black Knights Inc. The men and women of Black Knights Inc. are so far under the radar that they are blacker than Black Ops. This is former British SAS agent Christian Watson, and former CIA employee Emily Scott. HOT PURSUIT can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Both Christian and Emily were introduced in earlier installments.

Told from several third person perspectives including Christian and Emily HOT PURSUIT picks up immediately upon the events of book ten FUEL FOR FIRE, and follows Christian, Emily, Jamin ‘Angel’ Agassi, former Navy pilot Colby Ventura, and former CIA operative Rusty Parker through Europe as they continue their search for the mysterious and elusive ‘Spider’ whose illegal business operations and ties have endangered the BKI team members both in Europe and back home. As the group endeavors to stay off the radar, the team becomes embroiled in a personal vendetta against one of their own. What ensues is the struggle to stay one step ahead of someone gunning for our story line hero; and the building but acrimonious relationship between Christian and Emily.

Emily and Christian have been dancing around one another for a sometime but our heroine is reluctant to get involved with Christian Watson. Christian’s past is darkened by memories of an abusive childhood, as well as time spent as a prisoner of war where he faced torture, and threats from his captors. Emily’s childhood and her parent’s numerous marriages have become the barometer against which she bases all of her own relationships and interactions, a barometer that refuses to allow our heroine to fall in love. Christian is a sexy, tattooed, and brooding well-dressed Brit who pushes all of Emily’s buttons- buttons she pushes back against Christian in return. The $ex scenes are limited, seductive and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a building story line and relationship between Colby Ventura and Rusty Parker. Both men are attracted to one another but Rusty has yet to come out of the proverbial closet and in this Colby struggles with his attraction to a man who is unwilling to admit the truth. A history of love and loss forces Colby to reveal the how and why of his battle with the man to whom he is attracted but Rusty’s reasons are in direct conflict to Colby’s previous loss.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Angel, Colby and Rusty; police officers and brothers Ben and Lawrence Michelson, as well as several members of the BKI Team-Samantha Tate and Ozzie Sykes, Mac and Delilah McMillan, Penni (Dan) Currington, and Frank ‘Boss’ Knight and his wife Becky.

The world building continues to follow the latest assignment as the BKI Team in Europe searches for a dangerous businessman and possible killer.

HOT PURSUIT is a story of friendship and love; heartbreak and painful memories; revelations, the truth, intrigue, betrayal and revenge. The premise is exciting and entertaining; the characters are colorful, charismatic and dynamic-there is plenty of sexually charged back and forth banter; the romance is provocative. The story line involving the person known as ‘Spider’ was virtually non-existent but new revelations and information reveal a possible connection to one of the BKI heroes. Julie Ann Walker’s BLACK KNIGHTS INC. is an addicting series with great character interactions that humanize the heroes and heroines we love to follow.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Hot Pursuit promo

excerpt

What was he doing?
What the bloody hell was he doing?
Emily didn’t realize it, but all her acts of caring, her selfless moments of kindness—from waking him from his nightmare to pulling him into the cab of the pickup truck—had torn open his chest, ripped out his heart, and served it up on a platter.
Then, when she had stepped in front of him, ready to take a bullet that was bloody well meant for him, he had stopped pretending that what he felt for her was lust mixed with a heavy dose of vexation. Stopped pretending that he wasn’t completely arse over teakettle about everything she did, everything she said. Each smile. Each laugh. Each witty quip.
In that moment, he had known. Heart. On. A. Platter.
All she had to do was take it.
Unfortunately, he was the one taking.
Taking a kiss she hadn’t granted. Taking a taste she didn’t return. Taking advantage of a beastly situation.
Had he lost his mind? Had he forgotten the unwritten rule? The one that was bold, underlined, and all in caps?
Not to mention, he’d lost control of himself, of the moment. He blamed it on the memory of Emily in that bastard’s grip. The sight of her there—a pistol to her head, her eyes wide with fear, but her jaw gritted tight because she refused to give in to it—was forever tattooed onto the backs of his eyelids. He knew he’d see it when he closed his eyes at night.
It took effort, but he ripped his mouth away from Emily’s and dropped his hands. Curling his fingers into fists, he locked his jaw until his molars begged for mercy.
“Whaaa?” She blinked up at him through the rain in confusion.
“Sorry.” He ground out. The word was guttural. Hard. “I shouldn’t have…” He shook his head, water flying from the ends of his hair. “Just…sorry, okay?”
Her mouth opened in a bewildered little O. That mouth that tasted like mint toothpaste with a lingering hint of buttered toast. His favorite flavor used to be Welsh cakes, but now it was Emily. Emily and her mint toothpaste with lingering hints of buttered toast.
“That won’t happen again,” he assured her before grabbing her hand and towing her toward the others.
He had thought for sure the man in the black pants and the white shirt was dead. Ben’s shot looked as if it had drilled the bloke directly in the heart. Which meant Christian felt like a total prat for stopping to ask Emily why she had stepped in front of him—for stopping to kiss her—when they arrived in time to hear the decidedly alive man whisper his name. “Philippe Dubois.”
“You’re Boss’s friend,” Ace said, applying pressure to Philippe’s wound. “You’re the former Armée de L’Air commandant.”
“Oui. C’est moi,” Philippe managed, water dripping from his chin and earlobes. He wasn’t wheezing. That was good. Meant the bullet hadn’t collapsed his lung.
“Don’t try to talk, Philippe,” Ace told him. “Rusty, call airport security.”
Christian was already pulling his mobile from his soaking hip pocket. The rain had let up. No longer a deluge, it was now more of a steady drip. “We don’t need security. We need an ambulance. This man needs to go to hospital.”
He dialed 999 without hesitation and waited for his call to connect. Dropping his free hand back to his side, he was startled when Emily grabbed it, threading her fingers through his. They felt dainty, delicate. And freezing wet. He desperately wanted to kiss them warmer, kiss them dry.
Glancing at her, he blinked the water from his lashes but couldn’t stop the questions in his eyes. So you forgive me? For taking without asking? For kissing you when you’ve given me no indication you were interested?
Before she could answer, an operator’s voice sounded in his ear, all efficient and bored. After explaining the nature of Philippe’s wound and what had happened in the vaguest of terms, he gave the operator their location. When she asked for his name, he growled, “That’s not what’s bloody important. What’s bloody important is a man’s been shot and needs help. Hurry!” He abruptly hung up. “Help is on the way,” he announced.
Philippe’s white shirt was soaked with blood despite the pressure Ace applied.
“Damnit,” Christian growled, looking around for something to stanch the bleeding. Nothing else for it, he decided, dropping Emily’s hand—he really, truly hated doing that—and shrugging out of his coat. Next came his sweater. He tossed both pieces of clothing to her.
His white cotton undershirt was wet and sticking to his skin, but it would have to do.

About the author

Julie Ann WalkerFOLLOW Julie: Facebook / Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Julie Ann Walker is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of award-winning romantic suspense. She has won the Book Buyers Best Award, been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award. Her latest release was named a Top Ten Romance of 2014 by Booklist. Her books have been described as “alpha, edgy, and downright hot.” Most days you can find her on her bicycle along the lake shore in Chicago or blasting away at her keyboard, trying to wrangle her capricious imagination into submission.

Be sure to sign up for Julie’s occasional newsletter at: http://julieannwalker.com

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Fuel for Fire (Black Knights Inc #10) by Julie Ann Walker-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

FUEL FOR FIRE (Black Knights Inc #10 ) by Julie Ann Walker-Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

Fuel For Fire

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / BAM / Indiebound / ibooks

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 4, 2017

A brooding covert operative and a spunky CIA agent discover a burning passion in the next installment of Julie Ann Walker’s red-hot BKI series

Dagan Zoelner has made three huge mistakes
The first two left blood on his hands.
The third left him wondering…what if? What if he had told the woman of his dreams how he felt before his world fell apart?

Spitfire CIA agent Chelsea Duvall has always had a thing for bossy, brooding Dagan. It’s just as well that he’s never given her a second look, since she carries a combustible secret about his past that threatens to torch their lives…

••••••••••

REVIEW: FUEL FOR FIRE is the tenth installment in Julie Ann Walker’s contemporary, adult BLACK KNIGHTS INC romantic suspense /military, action series focusing on an elite group of ex Navy SEALS, FBI, CIA and military heroes headquartered at a custom motorcycle shop known as Black Knights Inc. The men and women of Black Knights Inc are so far under the radar that they are blacker than Black Ops. This is former CIA agent Dagan Zoelner, and current CIA counterterrorism analyst (on loan to BKI) Chelsea Duvall’s story line. FUEL FOR FIRE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Dagan and Chelsea’s relationship begins in TOO HARD TO HANDLE #8.

Told from several third person perspectives including Dagan and Chelsea FUEL FOR FIRE takes the BKI team to Europe as they search for the mysterious person known as the ‘Spider’. Along with former British SAS agent Christian Watson, and one time CIA operative Emily Scott, former Navy pilot Colby Ace Ventura, Dagan Zoelner and Chelsea Duvall embark on a mission to ferret out the true identity of a man whose illegal and business ties reach around the world. But when their plan begins to crumble, and Chelsea is identified as the source of stolen computer information, the group find themselves on the run from the SAS, Scotland Yard, and numerous ‘men in black’. What ensues is the building romance, between Chelsea and Dagan, and the fall out when Chelsea reveals the truth about a former mission that went horribly wrong.

FUEL FOR FIRE is a friends to lovers story line that sees Chelsea and Dagan’s worlds implode when Chelsea confesses to sins of the past. As former colleagues in the CIA Chelsea has access to information that if revealed may have saved Dagan years of guilt and shame. With Chelsea’s revelations Dagan’s reaction to the woman he thought he loved is heartbreaking and sad. The $ex scenes are limited, seductive and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. The palpable sexual energy does not go unnoticed by the other members of the group including Emily and Christian, whose own back and forth verbal bickering is fraught with angry sexual tension.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including the previously mentioned BKI agents as well as the addition of another potential member of the Black Ops team- Rusty Parker-another former member of the CIA currently running a fishing trawler in the English Channel. The requisite evil has many faces including British businessman Roper Morrison, and Morrison’s head of security Steven Surry whose love for his mother proves desperation comes at a cost.

The world building takes the BKI team through Britain, France and back to the USA but their search for the elusive person known only as the ‘Spider’ is fraught with too many dead ends and bodies.

FUEL FOR FIRE is a fast paced story of action, suspense, romance and heartbreak. The premise is engaging and energetic; the romance is provocative; the characters are lively, spirited and emotional. The majority of the story line covers less than 24 hours in the life but there is plenty of activity to push the team forward towards the next installment. My only issue, once again, are the inner monologues and thoughts filled with euphemisms, colloquialisms and figures of speech meant to add humor but I found myself cringing one too many times.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Excerpt 2

 

Tell us!” Surry demanded again, giving her head a hard shake. Her brain banged around inside her skull, making her see stars. Since she was tied with a length of electrical cord to one of the chairs in front of Morrison’s desk, her hands duct-taped behind her back, there was little she could do to defend herself.
Then again, she still had her smart mouth. “Screw you, buddy,” she snarled. Those three words were all she allowed herself before she clenched her teeth and sealed her lips shut.
The violence that clouded Surry’s face and glinted in his hell-black eyes made her want to curl into a protective ball. He leaned down so that his nose was an inch from hers. His hot breath smelled of coffee and buttered croissants, and the thought of him actually eating struck her as weird. She had assumed he sustained himself by devouring the souls of Morrison’s enemies.
“You will bloody well tell us what we want to know, Miss Duvall.” When he spoke all low and menacing in that thick English accent, she got the unsettling feeling that something dark moved in the shadows just out of sight. “Or I will jab this letter opener into your carotid.” He pulled back to wield the weapon he had taken from Morrison’s desktop. The sterling-silver letter opener glinted in the golden glow cast by the overhead chandelier.
Releasing her face, Surry cocked his head. “So, what shall it be? The truth? Or the knife? The choice is yours.” There was an emptiness in his voice when he asked the questions. Like he didn’t really care what the answers would be. Like he was tired or bored or maybe…resigned?
Oh, that doesn’t bode well.
Of course, the truth was out of the question. She would never rat on the Black Knights. No telling what Morrison, a.k.a Spider, with all his power and connections, could do with that information. So that left…the knife.
But there’s still so much I want to do!
She had never learned to make her mother’s she-crab soup. She had never tried her hand at writing fiction like that of Tolkien or Rowling or Martin. She had never married the love of her life and given him two bouncing, chubby-cheeked babies.
A cold finger of terror dragged up her spine, and for a second she considered spilling her guts and saving her hide. But then, from somewhere deep inside, a well of strength erupted, filling her with determination and the will to do what must be done.
Her mind briefly touched on her mother, and a great sadness weighed down her heart. Grace Duvall would be devastated by the death of her only child. But Chelsea took comfort—cold comfort, but comfort all the same—in knowing that her life insurance policy would be enough to pay her mother’s debts. That was something. Something to hold on to.
“Well?” Surry demanded. “What will it be?”
Chelsea licked her lips. Fear was a living thing inside her, crawling through her chest like a centipede on prickly legs. She squashed it and sealed her own fate. “Do your worst, you sorry, low-life sonofagun!”
Surry’s beard-stubbled chin jerked back as if he couldn’t believe the choice she’d made. Then his eyes narrowed, and grim determination transformed his face.
Closing her eyes, Chelsea waited on the inevitable. That centipede was going crazy inside her, making her chest ache and raising the hair on her head. She braced herself for the deathblow as a million regrets, a million joys, a million memories flittered through her brain.
Funny how many of those regrets and joys and memories feature Dagan.
She held her breath, savoring it, knowing it was her last and—
“Drop. The. Knife.”
With a cry, she blinked open her eyes and craned her head around to see three figures dressed from head to toe in black. Each of them wielded a weapon as if it were an extension of himself.
The Black Knights…
Even had Dagan not spoken the three most beautiful words she’d ever heard in that smooth moonshine voice, she would have known the trio anywhere. There was no mistaking those broad shoulders or those defiant, cocksure stances.
Her eyes homed in on Dagan. He was in the middle and slightly forward of the other two. It wasn’t his height or carriage that gave him away. It was his stillness. Ace and Christian seemed to vibrate with barely leashed power. But Dagan was a statue. Not a muscle quivered. Not a tendon or ligament cracked. Chelsea was reminded of a pair of tectonic plates under intense pressure. She knew what came next. The earth would rip open, and hell would spew forth.
Surry must have felt the doom behind Dagan’s stillness, because his voice sounded wheezy when he demanded, “And who the fuck are you?”
“Worry less about who we are,” Dagan snarled, “and more about what we’ll do if you don’t drop the knife.”
Proving he had more balls than brains, Surry spun Chelsea’s chair around and palmed her forehead to wrench her head back. The sharp tip of the letter opener nicked at the skin pulsing over the large vein in her neck. She hadn’t had time to scream, and now she didn’t dare breathe.
“Ring up the police, sir,” Surry said. From the corner of her eye, Chelsea saw Morrison/Spider make a move toward the desk.
“Take one step in the direction of that phone, and you’ll be eating a bullet for breakfast.” There was no mistaking Dagan’s words or his tone. He meant what he said.
Morrison must have come to the same realization. The old man stopped in his tracks.
“Good man,” Dagan acknowledged. “Now, there’s one thing you both need to understand. We’re leaving here with Chelsea. That can be over your dead bodies or your live ones.” Even though his words were calm and his body as motionless as a mountain, rage burned inside him. It was there in his eyes, glowing red like the fires of Mordor. “So what will it be? The choice is yours.”
It was the same option Surry had given her, spoken in the same words. How long had the three of them been outside listening?
“You have no bloody idea who you’re fucking with,” Morrison snarled, his chest heaving with every furious breath. “I have—”
That’s all he managed. In a flash, the statue, a.k.a. Dagan Zoelner, came to life. He moved faster than the human eye could follow, certainly faster than Chelsea could track with her head angled back in Surry’s grip. One second he was staring at her and Surry, and the next he aimed at Morrison and pulled his trigger.
The gunshot was oddly muffled and Morrison stumbled back, hitting his hip on the edge of the desk. Surry bellowed his outrage and released her head. Free from his brutal grip, she turned to Morrison and understood the strangeness of the weapon’s sound.
It wasn’t a bullet that had exploded from the end of Dagan’s gun. It was a dart. She had just enough time to catch a glimpse of the fuzzy yellow end protruding from the center of Morrison’s chest before Dagan fired again. This time the dart whizzed over her head. Surry made an awful gurgling noise. When she pulled her chin back, she saw the projectile sticking from his neck.
He reached for the dart, stumbling into her chair. His hand hit the back of her head, looking for leverage and forcing her chin into her chest as every vertebra in her neck threatened to crack under the pressure. She couldn’t see what happened next. But she heard it. Heard the boots that pounded against the tiles as the Black Knights raced into the room.
Surry released her head when Christian tackled him. From the corner of her eye, she watched Ace catch Morrison right before the old man toppled face-first onto the floor. And Dagan? Well, Dagan knelt in front of her.
She gasped when his big, warm hands cupped her cheeks, gently lifting her head. Her neck ached, but it wasn’t broken. All her fingers and toes still worked when she gave them an experimental wiggle.
“Chels… Christ. Are you okay?” His stormy eyes searched her face.
She nodded her head. That’s all she could manage because a giant lump was centered in her throat. She had put on a brave face throughout the entire ordeal, but now that it looked like she was saved, all her shock and terror rose to the surface, crumbling her mask of courage.
“Thank God.” He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
It was the first time he had hugged her. The first time she had been in his arms. Oh, how she wanted to hold him tight in return. But with her hands still trapped behind her back, the only thing she could do was turn her face into his warm neck and breathe him in.
She had always loved the way he smelled. A mixture of worn leather, dryer sheets, and shampoo. All clean and healthy and…male.
“I was afraid m-maybe I didn’t press the button long enough to send out the Mayday,” she said in a rush, her lips moving against the rough fabric of his ski mask. “And th-then they found the thumb drive. But they were so quick to stop questioning me and…and…” She had to stop. “Thank you. Thank you for coming for me.”
His wide palm cupped the back of her head, holding her close. Was it trembling? “Always, Chels. Never doubt it.”
Oh great. Now the lump in her throat had grown to the size of a Carolina pine.
She wanted the moment to last forever, to stay just like this, safe in his arms. But all too soon, he pulled back. “What were you thinking, telling them to do their worst? You were baiting them, egging them on. You stupid, stubborn, self-sacrificing fool.”
And just like that, happiness and relief morphed into incredulity that slid quick as a whistle into anger. Seriously? He was going to stand there—er, squat there—and call her names?
He may be hotter than the door handles of hell, but when he gets all Me Tarzan, You Jane, I want to dump his limp body in the River Thames and feed him to the fishes. After she’d killed him with mind-blowing sex and multiple orgasms, natch. And she could probably cop to his last two accusations. She was stubborn, and in that instant she had been willing to sacrifice herself. But the first one?
“S-stupid?” she sputtered. And good news! The lump in her throat vanished. “Screw you, Dagan! In case you’ve forgotten, I pulled off this op w-with…”
She stumbled to a stop because he’d ripped off his mask. And there it was. The Beard.
Looking at him dressed all in black, shoulders as broad as the Lowcountry, she couldn’t help but think he resembled a god. One of the mythical beings she read about in her fantasy novels. Formidable. Powerful. Gorgeous.
And here I am, a mere mortal.
The look he pinned on her was one she recognized. She liked to call it his Clint Eastwood gunfighter squint. He tended to whip it out right before he laid into her for something. She braced herself, mentally running through her standard list of comebacks. But he didn’t give her a tongue-lashing. At least not a verbal one. Instead, he took her face in his hands and sealed his lips to hers.
She was so surprised that her mouth formed a startled O. Dagan took advantage, his tongue surging between her teeth. His lips were firm yet amazingly soft, and his beard abraded the tender flesh of her cheeks.
Holy mother! Dagan Zoelner was…kissing her!
Oh. My!


 

 

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Julie Ann WalkerFOLLOW Julie: Facebook / Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Julie Ann Walker is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of award-winning romantic suspense. She has won the Book Buyers Best Award, been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award. Her latest release was named a Top Ten Romance of 2014 by Booklist. Her books have been described as “alpha, edgy, and downright hot.” Most days you can find her on her bicycle along the lake shore in Chicago or blasting away at her keyboard, trying to wrangle her capricious imagination into submission.

Be sure to sign up for Julie’s occasional newsletter at: http://julieannwalker.com

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Wild Ride (Black Knights Inc #9) by Julie Ann Walker-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

WILD RIDE (Black Knights Inc #9) by Julie Ann Walker-Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

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WILD RIDE
Black Knights Inc #9
by Julie Ann Walker
Release Date: April 4, 2017
Genre: adult, contemporary, military, romantic,suspsense

Wild Ride

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 4, 2017

The hero we’ve all been waiting for…

Ethan “Ozzie” Sykes


Former Navy SEAL


Underground operator for Black Knights Inc., the covert government defense firm disguised as a custom motorcycle shop.

In a black-on-black international mission that went seriously sideways, Ozzie was badly injured—now he’s stuck at BKI headquarters in Chicago, champing at the bit to get out into the field again. To his disgust, he’s tasked with distracting Chicago Tribune ace reporter Samantha Tate, who’s been trying to dig up the dirt on BKI for years. Turns out Samantha’s beauty, intelligence and sense of humor are a seriously big distraction, and Ozzie’s losing his desire to keep her at bay.

Ozzie’s tired of hiding, and Samantha may be the best-and worst—person to share his secrets with…

••••••••••

REVIEW: WILD RIDE is the ninth installment in Julie Ann Walker’s contemporary adult BLACK KNIGHTS INC romantic suspense/military, action series focusing on an elite group of ex Navy SEALS, FBI, CIA and military heroes headquartered at a custom motorcycle shop known as Black Knights Inc. The men and women of Black Knights Inc are so far under the radar that they are blacker than Black Ops. This is underground operator /computer hacker Ethan ‘ Ozzie’ Sykes, and journalist Samantha Tate’s story line. WILD RIDE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Ozzie has been present throughout most of the series but falls into trouble during FULL THROTTLE (BKI #7) wherein our story line hero almost lost his life during a rescue mission that went to h*ll.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Ozzie and Samantha) WILD RIDE follows journalist Samantha Tate as she endeavors to uncover the truth behind the Black Knights Inc connection to a local MC involved in a series of crimes and unsolved murders including an informant who went missing and was found dead. As Samantha struggles to gather information about the men of BKI, our heroine finds herself targeted by the same MC she has been hoping to expose. Enter Ozzie Sykes, the man who calls to Samantha’s heart, and the man who risks his life for a woman out to destroy his family and friends. What ensues is the building relationship between Ozzie and Samantha, and Samantha’s battle between her heart and her head.

Ozzie is a man used to rejection and losing Samantha was something Ozzie never expected the day she walked away without a backwards glance. Struggling with his slow healing injuries, unable to go out into the field as before, Ozzie finds himself at odds about his future and the woman that calls to his heart. Samantha Tate is determined to get her story; to uncover the truth about the secrets hidden behind the walls of BKI but a truth that when revealed is a secret that she must take to the grave.

The relationship between Samantha and Ozzie begins six years earlier when our heroine first lands a story about BKI. Fast forward to present day, and Samantha’s fascination with Ozzie is fractured when she believes he may be responsible for the death of her friend. The $ex scenes are intimate and seductive without the use of sexually graphic language and text.

A small number of the previous story line characters play secondary and supporting roles as most of the members of BKI are on assignment over seas. We are reintroduced to Becky, Michelle and Delilah, as well as newcomers former British SAS agent Christian, and one time CIA operative Emily Scott, BKI’s new secretary and the woman who may or may not have more than a passing interest in the former British intelligence agent. There is plenty of sexual tension between Christian and Emily, something not missed by the members of BKI.

WILD RIDE is a story of family, friendship, heartbreak and love. The premise is riveting and intense; the characters are charismatic and colorful; the romance is provocative and emotional. WILD RIDE is awash in 80s pop culture from song lyrics to movie line quotes making for a ‘wild ride’ into the past as Ozzie and Samantha banter back and forth making for some humorous moments.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

excerpt

It was half past eight on a Wednesday night, so pickings were slim. Most of the patrons were single dudes looking to tie on a buzz before heading home to fall into bed, catch a few z’s, then wake up and start the daily grind all over again. A few couples were snuggled into the booths or sitting at the high-tops having a nightcap before calling it a day. And then there was the foursome of ladies playing pool. In their late twenties and dressed to the nines in business attire, they seemed the answer to Christian’s prayers. Except for the fact that they were hooting and hollering, kicking off their high heels, and doing their best to get sloppy.
Girls’ night out.
Ozzie knew better than to intrude on that.
“You might be out of luck,” he lamented to Christian, eyeing one of the pool players as she stumbled toward the jukebox. “And worse still, this one looks like a Taylor Swift fan.”
Christian glanced over his shoulder at the woman as she drunkenly studied the jukebox’s screen. “If she plays sodding ‘Shake It Off,’ I grant you permission to un-holster my Walther and shoot me in the face.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
They waited, shoulders tense, as the jukebox loaded the woman’s selection. It was “Shake it Off.”
“Right-oh. Never mind the shot to the face,” Christian declared. “I have a better idea. Let’s get good and pissed and then ring up a cab to take us home. Delilah, luv, fetch us two vodka shots, yeah?”
“You’re both pathetic,” Delilah declared after plunking the vodka down in front of them. “It’s not like they wanted to leave either of you behind.”
And by they, she meant the Black Knights. The most select, most secretive group of covert operators ever to sign up to do Uncle Sam’s dirty work. They were Ozzie’s teammates. His friends. And they were all now half a world away, disrupting the Islamic State’s supply lines in order to weaken the group’s defensive and offensive capabilities.
Well, except for Zoelner. He was in London helping to hunt down a mysterious underworld crime lord aptly named Spider.
But that’s just splitting hairs. Because whether it was chasing ISIS or shadowy international figures, it all came down to one thing. Every Black Knight was engaged in making the world a safer place. Every Black Knight except for Ozzie and Christian. And Christian would be heading into the field again soon. His burst eardrums, courtesy of a recent mission when he’d been forced to fire a 50-cal. in an enclosed space, were mostly healed.
And there they were again, the self-pity and remorse. Ozzie tossed back the shot and welcomed the burn of the liquor, hoping it would pickle those stupid pits in his stomach.
“It’s not that we feel sorry for ourselves,” Christian said after downing his shot. “It’s that we’re sharks. If we stop swimming, we die.”
“Oh, for the love of tequila.” Delilah’s expression was unsympathetic. “Neither of you needs to do anything but what you’re doing, which is healing up. Besides, we like having you around, Christian. You brew a freakin’ mean cup of tea.”
“God save the Queen.” Christian winked and saluted her with his beer.
The we Delilah mentioned were the wives and girlfriends of the Knights—Delilah being one of the former. All the ladies had taken to gathering in the big warehouse in the evening, because at precisely seven p.m. local time, one of the guys in the field would make an encrypted satellite call back home to say a quick hello to his better half and let the other better halves know that everyone in Syria was A-okay. The tension in the shop in the minutes leading up to that phone call each day was palpable. Just one more reason he and Christian were sitting at a bar in the middle of the workweek. Just a little nip to take the edge off.
Ozzie lifted his beer to wash down the bite of the shot. No sooner had he set his glass on the bar than the front door burst open and a Tasmanian devil, otherwise known as ace reporter Samantha Tate, came barreling in. Her right shoulder drooped under the weight of one of her giant oversized handbags, which was stuffed full of the myriad piles of crap she carried around.
Christian took one look at her, turned to Ozzie, and started whistling the tune to “Me and My Shadow.”
Ozzie elbowed him.
“Watch yourself, wankstain.” Christian pretended to reach beneath his jacket for his Walther.
“Please. You wouldn’t shoot me. I’m the only one who’ll go to Fadó’s to eat bangers and mash with you.”
“True,” Christian admitted. “Still, remind me why you think it’s a jolly good idea to go mucking about with a reporter? I cannot wrap my mind around you knowingly shagging someone who could blow your cover. You off your trolley, or what?”
“First of all,” Ozzie assured him, “I’m not shagging her.” Although every time I see her, I’m damned tempted.
“Well, that is a first,” Christian said.
“And second of all,” Ozzie went on as if Christian hadn’t spoken, “you have nothing to worry about. I treat her like a mushroom.”
“Pardon?”
“I keep her in the dark and feed her shit.” Which is really starting to bother me. I fucking hate lying to her. Of course, Ozzie kept that to himself.
Christian narrowed his eyes. “You filched that line from a movie.”
Ozzie feigned a playfulness he hadn’t felt in a long time. “Movie quotes and song lyrics, home slice. They’re my bread and butter. Besides, you know that old saying.” Ozzie saw the moment Samantha spotted him and started heading in his direction. The woman had a way of walking that reminded him of female sailors. They had hips so they moved like women, but their naval training taught them efficiency of motion. That was Samantha Tate in a word. Efficient. And beautiful. Last weekend, when they met in Lincoln Park for a picnic on the grass, the sunlight had dappled through the leaves of the trees, bringing out the auburn and gold highlights in her curly, mink-brown hair, and he had been so stunned by her simple loveliness that he hadn’t been able to breathe.
“Which old saying would that be?” Christian asked.
“‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’”
Christian narrowed his eyes again. “You expect me to believe she’s your enemy? That all these lunch dates and coffee dates are…what? A smoke screen?”
They had started that way. But it’d quickly become…more.
“So you got me,” Ozzie admitted. “I like her. The woman burns words the way a magician burns flash paper—quickly and with a lot of show. It stimulates my brain.”
“I’m certain it stimulates something,” Christian scoffed, the end of his sentence a bare whisper as Samantha closed in on them.
“I see you have your boyfriend with you tonight, Ozzie.” She hopped onto the barstool beside him. Her soft, powdery-smelling body lotion reached out to him, filling his nose and triggering a cascade of goose bumps. It happened every damned time she got close. He’d scoured the shelves at Walgreens, sniffing every bottle of body butter and balm they sold trying to find out which brand she used so that he could…what? Use it to whack off with? For the love of Spock’s ears. He was pathetic. “Good to see you again, Christian.” She waved across him at the Brit.
“Ah, Christian’s not gay,” Ozzie assured her, ignoring his body’s interest at her nearness and focusing on the lively banter she had come to expect from him. “He’s just really pretty. But I can see how you’d make that mistake, what with the hair product and the tailored clothes.”
Christian grunted.
Samantha nodded, waved her hand through the air, and was on to the next subject. “Well, gents, it’s official. The zombie apocalypse has started. On my beat today, I covered a police-on-police shooting, a ten-car pileup on the Kennedy Expressway, an outbreak of salmonella brought on by a restaurant knowingly serving tainted sushi, and a string of B and E’s where the perps turned out to be two thirteen-year-olds who claimed to be in love”—she rolled her eyes at this—“and fancied themselves the modern-day Bonnie and Clyde.” She signaled Delilah. “Make Momma one of your specialties, would you, please? Extra dirty with three olives.” Then she turned back to Ozzie and Christian. “But you two have nothing to worry about. Zombies eat brains, so you’ll both be fine.”
See. Verbal flash paper. Crackle! Poof! Ahhhhh! Ozzie felt a smile—a real smile—tug at his lips.
Christian harrumphed. “I shouldn’t think you know me well enough to judge my mental acuity.”
“Maybe not. But you have to be a little lacking in the IQ department to willingly pal around with this one.” Samantha hooked a thumb toward Ozzie. The sparkle in her dark eyes was positively mercenary.
“That’s a bit like the pilot calling the hippie high, yeah?” Christian raised brow.
“Oh, you think I want to spend time with Mad Scientist Hair here?” Samantha pretended incredulity. “No, no. I feel sorry for him. I mean, who wouldn’t? Just look at him.”
Ozzie made a face and gifted her with a terse hand gesture that used his third digit.
“Spoken like a true scholar,” she said.
A crack of laughter blasted out of him. And when Samantha turned to thank Delilah for the martini, he took the opportunity to study her profile.
She was beautiful. Her brown eyes glowed with intelligence, and she had one of those faces that drew you in. No one feature stood out as terribly arresting or unique, but all her features fit together to make an enchanting whole.
And then there was the gap between her two front teeth. It was small. Just a sliver of space. But it was totally, wonderfully her.
Samantha tipped back her martini glass and took a giant sip, eagerly sucking down the gin and olive brine like it was a gift from on high. When she lowered her glass, she wiped the back of her hand over her mouth and let loose with a dainty, feminine-sounding burp. “I am woman. Hear me drink.”
Another bark of genuine laughter shot out of him, and all he could think was… God, that feels so good. Most of his jocularity was forced these days. But when she was around, he felt…more like his old self.
Then it occurred to him. Samantha Tate, the woman he and the rest of the Black Knights had avoided for years, the woman he should probably still be avoiding, had somehow wormed her way into his life, under his skin, and in so doing had become…his friend.
Who’d a thunk it?

About The Author

Julie Ann WalkerFOLLOW Julie: Facebook / Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Julie Ann Walker is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of award-winning romantic suspense. She has won the Book Buyers Best Award, been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award. Her latest release was named a Top Ten Romance of 2014 by Booklist. Her books have been described as “alpha, edgy, and downright hot.” Most days you can find her on her bicycle along the lake shore in Chicago or blasting away at her keyboard, trying to wrangle her capricious imagination into submission.

Be sure to sign up for Julie’s occasional newsletter at: http://julieannwalker.com

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Too Hard to Handle ( Black Knights Inc. #8) by Julie Ann Walker-Review and Book Tour

TOO HARD TO HANDLE (Black Knights Inc. #8) by Julie Ann Walker-Review and Book tour

Too Hard to Handle

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 8, 2015

“The Man” is back

Dan “The Man” Currington is back in fighting form with a mission that takes him four thousand miles south of BKI headquarters, high in the Andes Mountains of Peru. He’s hot on the trail of a rogue CIA agent selling classified government secrets to the highest bidder, when Penni DePaul arrives on the scene. Suddenly the stakes are higher, and keeping Penni safe becomes Dan’s number one priority.

And this time she’s ready

A lot has changed since former Secret Service Agent Penni DePaul last saw Dan. Now a civilian, she’s excited about what the future might hold. But before she can grab onto that future with both hands, she has to tie up some loose ends-namely, Dan Currington, the man she just can’t forget. And a secret that’s going to change both their lives-if they can stay alive, that is.

••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: TOO HARD TO HANDLE is the eighth installment in Julie Ann Walker’s adult, contemporary Black Knights Inc romantic/action, military suspense series focusing on an elite group of ex Navy SEALS, FBI, CIA and military heroes headquartered at a motorcycle shop known as Black Knights Inc. The men and women of Black Knights Inc are so far under the radar that they are blacker than Black Ops. This is Dark Ops operator Dan Currington, and former Secret Service agent Penni DePaul’s storyline. Penni and Dan were first introduced in FULL THROTTLE –book #7. TOO HARD TO HANDLE can be read as a standalone but each successive installment builds upon the previous storyline setting up another couple and the potential for a new relationship. Dan and Penni’s story advances the series approximately three months from their first encounter.

Told from several third person points of view TOO HARD TO HANDLE finds Black Knights operatives Dan Currington and Dagan Zoelner in Peru where a three month stake out has resulted in no sightings of a rogue CIA agent charged with selling classified government secrets. While the duo, along with special operations agent Chelsea Duvall, continue their surveillance, CIA agent Penni DePaul begins her search for Dan Currington in the hopes of sitting down and discussing the possibility of a future. What ensues, is less than perfect timing, when all h*ll breaks loose and the small group become a target of an unknown gunman. When the search for the rogue CIA agent strikes pay dirt, the gunman resurfaces and this time, not only are Penni, Dan, Dagan and Chelsea targeted, but so too, is their uncooperative rogue who refuses to talk unless a deal is made. A trip back to the USA finds Penni in the midst of the Black Knights operation and once again, she will be targeted when everything begins to spiral out of control.

The relationship between Penni and Dan is one of second chances; a brief affair, while on assignment, a few months earlier has left Dan questioning what it is he wants from Penni and for the future. Penni knows that her future has already been laid out-with or without Dan by her side. Dan has yet to reveal to Penni that he was once married and that his wife was brutally murdered at Black Knights Inc and the revelation will become the proverbial ‘elephant in the room’ when Penni believes that she is the rebound relationship and nothing more. The $ex scenes are intimate and seductive. The mile high club will get two more members joining the long list of devotees.

TOO HARD TO HANDLE is an ensemble storyline with many of the previous storyline couples and characters playing supporting and secondary rolls throughout the story. Several of the girlfriends and wives will bring Penni into their growing family at Black Knights Inc., but it is Dan’s acceptance of what is and what is to come that will ensure Penni’s place in his heart and with the Black Knights family. There is a secondary storyline developing with a potential love match between Dagan Zoelner and Chelsea Duvall.

The world building continues to focus on the Black Ops assignments: the rescues, the take downs, the search and destroy missions that are not quite legal but sanctioned by the highest office in the land. Each storyline takes aim at terrorism, betrayal, espionage and treason. The men and women of Black Knights Inc. are called in when everything else has failed.

TOO HARD TO HANDLE is a fast paced, action packed storyline where Dan Currington will find the other half to his soul in Penni DePaul. The road to love is filled with heartbreak, grief and misunderstanding. The storyline premise is spirited, intense and suspenseful; the characters are inspiring and realistic; the romance is sensual and passionate; the happily ever after takes a few months to grab hold. Julie Ann Walker’s BLACK KNIGHTS INC. series is a must read every time.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

TooHardToHandleGraphic

Message from the Author

Hi everyone! Julie Ann Walker here, delighted to be talking today about my mad love for men on motorcycles whose hearts happen to be as big as their… ehem… hogs. (That’s slang for their bikes! Get your heads out of the gutter, you naughty readers! *wink, wink*)

But seriously, from the King of Cool, Steve McQueen, to Marlon Brando in The Wild One, to Charlie Hunnam in Sons of Anarchy, there has always been something about a guy riding around with rolled steel and a V-Twin engine between his legs. It sets our hearts aflutter. And in my Black Knights Inc. series, I try to take those badass bikers to a whole new level by also making them covert government operators. The series is all spies on bikes, leather and chrome, romance and redemption, action and adventure. So, what’s not to love? Nothing! I guarantee it.

Read on for an excerpt of TOO HARD TO HANDLE. You’ll see the men of Black Knights Inc. have heart, humor, and everything a woman could want in a man…

excerpt

“Luke Winterfield,” Dan growled. “Under the authority granted to me by the government of the United States of America, I hereby inform you that you’re totally screwed. You made a choice to sell out your country and now you’re gonna face the consequences. Reap the whirlwind, asshole.”
“Nice,” Zoelner said. “Have you been holding on to that one for a while?”
“Came up with it in Bogota,” Dan admitted, a definite grin in his tone.
“I like it.”
“Thought you might.”
Really, though,” Zoelner went on, “I was expecting some quote from Ted Nugent or Eminem.”
“I can come up with my own material, you know,” Dan insisted. “It’s just I like to give credit to my hometown whenever I can. To make up for the place getting such a bad rap.”
“Maybe it’s because so much bad rap has come out of there,” Zoelner mused. “Insane Clown Posse comes to mind.”
“Hey,” Dan whispered urgently, “don’t say that too loud. You’ll have groups of juggalos beating down your door.”
Zoelner snorted.
“And just so you know,” Dan went on, “what I’ve learned out of this lifetime is you should be proud of where you come from.”
“I’m waiting…”
“Kid Rock said that. Via his Twitter account.”
“And there it is.”

 

Series Spotlight

HELL ON WHEELS
(Black Knight Inc #1)
by Julie Ann Walker

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Click HERE for our review of HELL ON WHEELS

Hell on WheelsABOUT THE BOOK: August 7, 2012

He’s the bad boy she’s always wanted…

Nate “Ghost” Weller has loved Ali Morgan nearly half his life. But he’s done something so heinous he’s convinced she’ll never forgive him if she discovers the truth, so he keeps his feelings and his secrets to himself. Then she blows into town with a mother lode of bad guys on her tail and Nate can’t deny she’s in serious trouble. Unfortunately, he’s the only one who can help her.

She’s the good girl he’s kept at arm’s length…

Ali knows Nate as the most solemn, aloof man on the planet. Sadly, he’s also the sexiest. For years she’s avoided him, unable to stomach his dark scowls and brooding silences… especially when she secretly yearns for his touch. Now she must rely on him to save her from the malevolent shadows ghosting her every move. When the bullets explode, so does their passion. But can love really conquer all? Or are some things just too terrible to forgive?

________________________

IN RIDES TROUBLE
(Black Knights Inc #2)
by Julie Ann Walker

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Click HERE for our review of IN RIDES TROUBLE

In Rides TroubleABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 2012

Rebel with a Cause

Becky “Rebel” Reichert never actually goes looking for trouble. It just has a tendency to find her. Like the day Frank Knight showed up at her door, wanting to use her motorcycle shop as a cover for his elite special ops team. But Becky prides herself on being able to hang with the big boys-she can weld, drive, and shoot just as well as any of them.

Man with a Mission

Munitions, missiles, and mayhem are Frank’s way of life. The last thing the ex-SEAL wants is for one brash blonde to come within fifty feet of anything that goes boom. Yet it’s just his rotten luck when she ends up in a hostage situation at sea. Come hell or high water, he will get her back-whether she says she needs him or not.

________________________

REV IT UP
(Black Knights Inc #3)
by Julie Ann Walker

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Click HERE for our review of REV IT UP

Rev It UpABOUT THE BOOK: October 2012

He’s the heartbreaker she left behind…

He Never Misses a Target

Jake “the Snake” Sommers earned his SEAL code name by striking quickly and quietly—and with lethal force. That’s also how he broke Michelle Carter’s heart. It was the only way to keep her safe—from himself. Four long years later, Jake is determined to get a second chance. But to steal back into Michelle’s loving arms, Jake is going to have to prove he can take things slow. Real slow…

She Aims to Make Him Beg

Michelle Carter has never forgiven Jake for being so cliché as to “love her and leave her.” But when her brother, head of the Black Knights elite ops agency, ticks off the wrong mobster, she must do the unimaginable: place her life in Jake’s hands. No matter what they call him, this man is far from cold-blooded. And once he’s wrapped around her heart, he’ll never let her go..

____________________

THRILL RIDE
(Black Knight Inc #4)
by Julie Ann Walker

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Click HERE for our review of THRILL RIDE

Thrill RideABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 2, 2013

He’s Gone Rogue

Ex-Navy SEAL Rock Babineaux’s job is to get information, and he’s one of the best in the business. Until something goes horribly wrong and he’s being hunted by his own government. Even his best friends at the covert special-ops organization Black Knights Inc. aren’t sure they can trust him. He thinks he can outrun them all, but his former partner—a curvy bombshell who knows just how to drive him wild—refuses to cut him loose.

She Won’t Back Down

Vanessa Cordova hasn’t been the team’s communication specialist
very long, but she knows how to read people—no way is Rock guilty of murder. And she’ll go to hell and back to help him prove it. Sure, the sexy Cajun has his secrets, but there’s no one in the world she’d rather have by her side in a tight spot. Which is good, because they’re about to get very tight…

_____________________

Born Wild
Black Knights Inc #5
by Julie Ann Walker

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Click HERE for our review of BORN WILD

Born WildBORN WILD (Black Knights Inc #5) by Julie Ann Walker

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 5, 2014

She’s got three rules:

1. Trust no one… Eve Edens has been abandoned, used, or manipulated by almost everyone she’s ever met. Born into ridiculous wealth, she’s dealt with the petty jealousies and sordid little resentments for nearly thirty years. But after three botched attempts on her life, she can no longer ignore the truth. Someone wants her dead.

2. Avoid the bad boys at all costs… William “Wild Bill” Reichert, the wonderfully sexy boy who abandoned her years ago, is back in town. Only he’s no boy. Now he’s a covert operative – and he’s all man. When Eve hires Bill to help her discover who is behind the attacks, Bill soon comes to suspect it’s someone much closer to Eve than she dares to believe.

3. And never fall for the same ruse twice… The search for the killer takes Bill and Eve deep into the dark secrets and strange world of the rich and famous, and into the heart of red-hot passion re-ignited by the peril that threatens to consume them both. But does Eve dare risk her heart on Bill a second time?

_______________________

Hell For Leather
Black Knights Inc #6
by Julie Ann Walker

Click HERE for our review of HELL FOR LEATHER

Hell-FOR-LEATHER-COVER.may 14jpgAmazon.com /Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

HELL FOR LEATHER (Black Knights Inc #6) by Julie Ann Walker

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 6, 2014

Only the most urgent crisis could force Delilah Fairchild to abandon her beloved biker bar and ask the surly Bryan “Mac” McMillan for help. Her uncle—the man who raised her—has vanished into thin air, and Mac is the only person with the right connections to help her find him. What the ex-FBI agent has against her is a mystery…but when the bullets start to fly, Mac is her only chance of finding her uncle alive.

Mac knows that beautiful women can’t be trusted, but he has to put his natural wariness of Delilah aside in order to help her. With the clock ticking, Mac and Delilah find themselves holding on to each other in the wildest adventure of their lives.

___________________

Full throttleFULL THROTTLE
Black Knights Inc. #7
by Julie Ann Walker
Release Date: December 2, 2014

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of FULL THROTTLE

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 2, 2014

She Needs a Hero…

Abby Thompson didn’t sign up to be the daughter of the President of the United States. The position was forced on her by the small matter of her birth. Preferring a quiet life of study, she’s content to leave the politics and the international intrigue to her father. Unfortunately, the most powerful man on the planet is sure to make enemies. When a group of armed thugs takes her hostage half a world away, demanding the U.S. government release prisoners in exchange for her safe return, she fears her father’s policy of “not negotiating with terrorists” means she’ll never see the shores of the Potomac again. Luckily, there’s one glimmer of hope. His name is Carlos Soto. And though she abruptly ended things with him years ago, she knows now he’s the only man who can save her…

Black Knights, Inc. to the Rescue…

Carlos “Steady” Soto has taken part in his fair share of dangerous missions working at the covert government defense firm of Black Knights Inc. But nothing prepared him for the emotional rollercoaster he faces when he’s tasked with rescuing the only woman he ever loved—who also broke his heart. Racing against time and outmaneuvering a group of trained terrorists will take everything he’s got. Plus there’s the heat simmering between them which is threatening to ignite into an inferno. While ruthless enemies stalk them, they must learn to trust each other again. Even if they do make it out alive, will Abby turn her back on him…for the second time?

About The Author Black and Red

Julie Ann WalkerFOLLOW Julie: Facebook / Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Julie Ann Walker is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of award-winning romantic suspense. She has won the Book Buyers Best Award, been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award. Her latest release was named a Top Ten Romance of 2014 by Booklist. Her books have been described as “alpha, edgy, and downright hot.” Most days you can find her on her bicycle along the lake shore in Chicago or blasting away at her keyboard, trying to wrangle her capricious imagination into submission.

Be sure to sign up for Julie’s occasional newsletter at: http://julieannwalker.com

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Full Throttle (Black Knights Inc #7) by Julie Ann Walker-a review

FULL THROTTLE (Black Knights Inc #7) by Julie Ann Walker-a review

Full throttle

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 2, 2014

She Needs a Hero…

Abby Thompson didn’t sign up to be the daughter of the President of the United States. The position was forced on her by the small matter of her birth. Preferring a quiet life of study, she’s content to leave the politics and the international intrigue to her father. Unfortunately, the most powerful man on the planet is sure to make enemies. When a group of armed thugs takes her hostage half a world away, demanding the U.S. government release prisoners in exchange for her safe return, she fears her father’s policy of “not negotiating with terrorists” means she’ll never see the shores of the Potomac again. Luckily, there’s one glimmer of hope. His name is Carlos Soto. And though she abruptly ended things with him years ago, she knows now he’s the only man who can save her…

Black Knights, Inc. to the Rescue…

Carlos “Steady” Soto has taken part in his fair share of dangerous missions working at the covert government defense firm of Black Knights Inc. But nothing prepared him for the emotional rollercoaster he faces when he’s tasked with rescuing the only woman he ever loved—who also broke his heart. Racing against time and outmaneuvering a group of trained terrorists will take everything he’s got. Plus there’s the heat simmering between them which is threatening to ignite into an inferno. While ruthless enemies stalk them, they must learn to trust each other again. Even if they do make it out alive, will Abby turn her back on him…for the second time?

••••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: FULL THROTTLE is the seventh installment in Julie Ann Walker’s contemporary, adult Black Knights Inc romantic action/ suspense series focusing on an elite group of ex Navy SEALS, FBI, CIA and military heroes headquartered at a motorcycle shop known as Black Knights Inc. The men and women of Black Knights Inc are so far under the radar that they are blacker than Black Ops. This is Carlos ‘Steady’ Soto and Abby Thompson’s storyline- a friends to lovers trope with a slight second chance at love.

Abby Thompson is the twenty seven year old daughter of the President of the USA, a botanist and currently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on assignment. Eight years earlier Abby’s best friend was killed in a coffee shop explosion that was intended to take out the President’s daughter. With her security detail in place, Abby believes she is well protected from any personal threats against her life. Enter Carlos Soto, her best friend’s brother and one of the men hired as part of Abby’s protection team. Within a matter of minutes, most of the Secret Service Agents will be killed and Abby will be kidnapped and held hostage in places unknown.

Told from several close third person points of view, the storyline finds Carlos going solo into the jungles of Malaysia searching for the woman that he loves. Eight years earlier, the then twenty five year old Carlos believed he was too old for Abby and now that her life has been threatened Carlos is determined to bring her home-at any cost. The relationship between Abby and Carlos is fraught with sexual tension, desire and lust. A good portion of the storyline finds Carlos is desperate need of sexual release and our couple takes the opportunity to explore one another while on the run.

FULL THROTTLE takes the reader through the sweltering jungles and underbrush of Malaysia. Our couple will encounter charging elephants, fire ants, local tribesman and frequent gunfire. No place is safe; everyone becomes suspect; and the kidnappers are never very far behind.

The secondary characters include a new team of Black Ops soldiers (or Alpha Platoon Boys) who quite possibly are the subject of future storylines or a possible spinoff series. We will be introduced to several friends and former soldiers whose job it is to protect and rescue those in need. Some of the previous storyline characters (Boss, Ozzie and Rock) play a small role in FULL THROTTLE but most of the focus is on Abby’s rescue and her relationship with Carlos-in this I missed the friendship and intimacy of the Black Knights Inc team. There is a possible romance developing between one of Abby’s Secret Service Agents Penni DePaul and Black Knights’ operative Dan ‘The Motor City Madman’. Dan’s story may be next when he volunteers to help bring in a former CIA agent who’s gone rogue.

I did have a small issue with one particular aspect of the storyline and that was the continuous use of a juvenile like figure of speech and euphemisms. When our heroine cursed she would substitute words and phrases that made no particular sense or have anything to do with their current situation-e.g. Shitpickle/Sonofabiscuit/What the Friggin Sticks. She had no issues or problems using the proper terminology during sex, but she was adverse to using graphic language when trying to make a point-whether this particular style of language was intended to add humor, I am not sure, but it was distracting in an adult storyline and I felt disconnected whenever word substitutions were used.

FULL THROTTLE is an action packed, suspense filled story about terrorism and extremists threats against the President’s family. There is intrigue, mystery and romance; secrets and anticipation; betrayal and loss. Julie Ann Walker adds another exciting storyline and sexy hero to the Black Knights Inc series with Carlos and Abby’s story.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

Series Spotlight

HELL ON WHEELS
(Black Knight Inc #1)
by Julie Ann Walker

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

Click HERE for our review of HELL ON WHEELS

Hell on WheelsABOUT THE BOOK: August 7, 2012

He’s the bad boy she’s always wanted…

Nate “Ghost” Weller has loved Ali Morgan nearly half his life. But he’s done something so heinous he’s convinced she’ll never forgive him if she discovers the truth, so he keeps his feelings and his secrets to himself. Then she blows into town with a mother lode of bad guys on her tail and Nate can’t deny she’s in serious trouble. Unfortunately, he’s the only one who can help her.

She’s the good girl he’s kept at arm’s length…

Ali knows Nate as the most solemn, aloof man on the planet. Sadly, he’s also the sexiest. For years she’s avoided him, unable to stomach his dark scowls and brooding silences… especially when she secretly yearns for his touch. Now she must rely on him to save her from the malevolent shadows ghosting her every move. When the bullets explode, so does their passion. But can love really conquer all? Or are some things just too terrible to forgive?

________________________

IN RIDES TROUBLE
(Black Knights Inc #2)
by Julie Ann Walker

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

Click HERE for our review of IN RIDES TROUBLE

In Rides TroubleABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 2012

Rebel with a Cause

Becky “Rebel” Reichert never actually goes looking for trouble. It just has a tendency to find her. Like the day Frank Knight showed up at her door, wanting to use her motorcycle shop as a cover for his elite special ops team. But Becky prides herself on being able to hang with the big boys-she can weld, drive, and shoot just as well as any of them.

Man with a Mission

Munitions, missiles, and mayhem are Frank’s way of life. The last thing the ex-SEAL wants is for one brash blonde to come within fifty feet of anything that goes boom. Yet it’s just his rotten luck when she ends up in a hostage situation at sea. Come hell or high water, he will get her back-whether she says she needs him or not.

________________________

REV IT UP
(Black Knights Inc #3)
by Julie Ann Walker

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Click HERE for our review of REV IT UP

Rev It UpABOUT THE BOOK: October 2012

He’s the heartbreaker she left behind…

He Never Misses a Target

Jake “the Snake” Sommers earned his SEAL code name by striking quickly and quietly—and with lethal force. That’s also how he broke Michelle Carter’s heart. It was the only way to keep her safe—from himself. Four long years later, Jake is determined to get a second chance. But to steal back into Michelle’s loving arms, Jake is going to have to prove he can take things slow. Real slow…

She Aims to Make Him Beg

Michelle Carter has never forgiven Jake for being so cliché as to “love her and leave her.” But when her brother, head of the Black Knights elite ops agency, ticks off the wrong mobster, she must do the unimaginable: place her life in Jake’s hands. No matter what they call him, this man is far from cold-blooded. And once he’s wrapped around her heart, he’ll never let her go..

____________________

THRILL RIDE
(Black Knight Inc #4)
by Julie Ann Walker

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

Click HERE for our review of THRILL RIDE

Thrill RideABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 2, 2013

He’s Gone Rogue

Ex-Navy SEAL Rock Babineaux’s job is to get information, and he’s one of the best in the business. Until something goes horribly wrong and he’s being hunted by his own government. Even his best friends at the covert special-ops organization Black Knights Inc. aren’t sure they can trust him. He thinks he can outrun them all, but his former partner—a curvy bombshell who knows just how to drive him wild—refuses to cut him loose.

She Won’t Back Down

Vanessa Cordova hasn’t been the team’s communication specialist
very long, but she knows how to read people—no way is Rock guilty of murder. And she’ll go to hell and back to help him prove it. Sure, the sexy Cajun has his secrets, but there’s no one in the world she’d rather have by her side in a tight spot. Which is good, because they’re about to get very tight…

_____________________

Born Wild
Black Knights Inc #5
by Julie Ann Walker

  Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

Click HERE for our review of BORN WILD

Born WildBORN WILD (Black Knights Inc #5) by Julie Ann Walker

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 5, 2014

She’s got three rules:

1. Trust no one… Eve Edens has been abandoned, used, or manipulated by almost everyone she’s ever met. Born into ridiculous wealth, she’s dealt with the petty jealousies and sordid little resentments for nearly thirty years. But after three botched attempts on her life, she can no longer ignore the truth. Someone wants her dead.

2. Avoid the bad boys at all costs… William “Wild Bill” Reichert, the wonderfully sexy boy who abandoned her years ago, is back in town. Only he’s no boy. Now he’s a covert operative – and he’s all man. When Eve hires Bill to help her discover who is behind the attacks, Bill soon comes to suspect it’s someone much closer to Eve than she dares to believe.

3. And never fall for the same ruse twice… The search for the killer takes Bill and Eve deep into the dark secrets and strange world of the rich and famous, and into the heart of red-hot passion re-ignited by the peril that threatens to consume them both. But does Eve dare risk her heart on Bill a second time?

_______________________

Hell For Leather
Black Knights Inc #6
by Julie Ann Walker

Click HERE for our review of HELL FOR LEATHER

Hell-FOR-LEATHER-COVER.may 14jpgAmazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

HELL FOR LEATHER (Black Knights Inc #6) by Julie Ann Walker

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 6, 2014

Only the most urgent crisis could force Delilah Fairchild to abandon her beloved biker bar and ask the surly Bryan “Mac” McMillan for help. Her uncle—the man who raised her—has vanished into thin air, and Mac is the only person with the right connections to help her find him. What the ex-FBI agent has against her is a mystery…but when the bullets start to fly, Mac is her only chance of finding her uncle alive.

Mac knows that beautiful women can’t be trusted, but he has to put his natural wariness of Delilah aside in order to help her. With the clock ticking, Mac and Delilah find themselves holding on to each other in the wildest adventure of their lives.

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Black Knights Inc Vol 4-6 by Julie Ann Walker-reviews

Black Knights Inc Vol 4-6 byJulie Ann Walker-reviews

Black Knights Inc 4-6

____________________________

Hell For Leather
Black Knights Inc #6
by Julie Ann Walker

Hell for Leather

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

HELL FOR LEATHER (Black Knights Inc #6) by Julie Ann Walker

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 6, 2014

Only the most urgent crisis could force Delilah Fairchild to abandon her beloved biker bar and ask the surly Bryan “Mac” McMillan for help. Her uncle—the man who raised her—has vanished into thin air, and Mac is the only person with the right connections to help her find him. What the ex-FBI agent has against her is a mystery…but when the bullets start to fly, Mac is her only chance of finding her uncle alive.

Mac knows that beautiful women can’t be trusted, but he has to put his natural wariness of Delilah aside in order to help her. With the clock ticking, Mac and Delilah find themselves holding on to each other in the wildest adventure of their lives.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: HELL FOR LEATHER is the sixth instalment in Julie Ann Walker’s amazing contemporary, adult, romantic Black Knights Inc action/suspense series focusing on an elite group of ex Navy SEALs, FBI, CIA and military men. This is bar own Delilah Fairchild and ex FBI agent Mac McMillan’s –a friends to lovers-story. And as per usual, Julie Ann adds the beginnings of a storyline for a future couple.

The focus of the story is on Black Knights search for Delilah’s missing uncle Theo. With the CIA now involved due to Theo’s government connections, all hell will break lose when terrorists set on revenge target Delilah and her uncle as the ultimate pawns in a game of nuclear threat and pay back.

As the storyline progresses Delilah and Mac’s relationship continues to crumble as the ghosts from Mac’s past continue to haunt him every time he looks at Delilah. The sexual tension is high; the anger and anxiety is palpable; and the seductive nature of their attraction puts everyone on edge. Mac is man who has been burned, in more ways than one, and placing himself in a position to be hurt, is something he never-ever-plans on doing again. He will hurt Delilah with his emotional withdrawals and cold rebukes and, in the end he may have lost the only thing that was ever good in his life. The characters are strong yet vulnerable to the heartbreak and hurt.

Julie Ann Walker, once again, pulls the reader into a fast paced, action package, suspense filled storyline where the men of BKI risk their lives to protect a woman who is a friend as well as family. She is their ‘go to’ woman when someone needs to talk but she is also the woman in whom one of their own refuses to acknowledge. HELL FOR LEATHER is a story of betrayal and loss; heartbreak and tears; pain and letting go. To move forward, sometimes one must forget the past but it is the past that made us what we are today.

The secondary characters give a feel of familiarity. We are reintroduced to the BKI and their growing family of lovers, wives and children. The storyline and series follows the heroes who have served their country and now make it their business to protect from behind the walled safety of motorcycle shop/ covert government defense team of Black Knights Inc.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

____________________________________

Born Wild
Black Knights Inc #5
by Julie Ann Walker

ebook only .99¢ until May 5, 2014:  Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

Born WildBORN WILD (Black Knights Inc #5) by Julie Ann Walker

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 5, 2014

She’s got three rules:

1. Trust no one… Eve Edens has been abandoned, used, or manipulated by almost everyone she’s ever met. Born into ridiculous wealth, she’s dealt with the petty jealousies and sordid little resentments for nearly thirty years. But after three botched attempts on her life, she can no longer ignore the truth. Someone wants her dead.

2. Avoid the bad boys at all costs… William “Wild Bill” Reichert, the wonderfully sexy boy who abandoned her years ago, is back in town. Only he’s no boy. Now he’s a covert operative – and he’s all man. When Eve hires Bill to help her discover who is behind the attacks, Bill soon comes to suspect it’s someone much closer to Eve than she dares to believe.

3. And never fall for the same ruse twice… The search for the killer takes Bill and Eve deep into the dark secrets and strange world of the rich and famous, and into the heart of red-hot passion re-ignited by the peril that threatens to consume them both. But does Eve dare risk her heart on Bill a second time?

•••••••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: BORN WILD is the fifth instalment in Julie Ann Walker’s adult, contemporary, romantic Black Knights Inc action/suspense series focusing on a group of ex Navy SEALs, Special Ops, FBI agents and military soldiers who are now working together as a covert government defense team. This is Billy Richert and Eve Edens’s story-Billy is Becky’s (Boss Knight’s wife) brother and Eve is Becky’s BFF. Growing up surrounded by wealth Eve was always one to follow orders but in the past twelve years, Eve’s life has changed dramatically. Following a series of attempts on her life, Eve’s only choice is to contact the man from who she walked away twelve years earlier.

The focus of the story is on the building relationship between Eve and Billy- a second chance at love story but one that is hindered by several attempts against Eve’s life. When the Black Knights Inc is called into action they will find themselves facing a series of inept investigations that place Eve’s life on the line-time and time again. When the final confrontation finds Eve and Billy facing a life and death situation, the reality of the situation will force Eve to make a decision that will end with a shootout and the possibility of two men dead.

The secondary characters include a few of the BKI operatives including Ace, Mac and the woman to whom he has lost his heart-Delilah. The world building continues with the familiarity of the BKI team as well as the history behind each of our leading heroes throughout the series. The action and suspense will keep the reader immersed in a storyline where heartbreak and betrayal are revealed over and over again.

____________________________

THRILL RIDE
(Black Knight Inc #4)
by Julie Ann Walker

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

Thrill RideABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 2, 2013

He’s Gone Rogue

Ex-Navy SEAL Rock Babineaux’s job is to get information, and he’s one of the best in the business. Until something goes horribly wrong and he’s being hunted by his own government. Even his best friends at the covert special-ops organization Black Knights Inc. aren’t sure they can trust him. He thinks he can outrun them all, but his former partner—a curvy bombshell who knows just how to drive him wild—refuses to cut him loose.

She Won’t Back Down

Vanessa Cordova hasn’t been the team’s communication specialist
very long, but she knows how to read people—no way is Rock guilty of murder. And she’ll go to hell and back to help him prove it. Sure, the sexy Cajun has his secrets, but there’s no one in the world she’d rather have by her side in a tight spot. Which is good, because they’re about to get very tight…

••••••••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: THRILL RIDE is the fourth instalment in Julie Ann Walker’s adult, contemporary, romantic suspense series-Black Knight Inc. The focus of the series is on a group of former SEALs, FBI and Special Ops soldiers under the direction of Frank ‘Boss’ Knight. This is ex Navy SEAL Richard ‘Rock’ Babineaux and communication specialist Vanessa Cordova’s storyline. Rock has been missing for six months and the Department of Defense (DOD) has labeled the quiet Cajun as a rogue agent. Refusing to accept that Rock has turned his back on the American people, the Black Knights and Vanessa set out to prove that their friend and fellow operative has been set up to take a fall.

The storyline follows Vanessa as she sets out to find Rock-from Chicago to Costa Rica- Vanessa knows that Rock is innocent of the crimes he has been accused of committing but staying under the CIA radar will prove to be a deadly and combative mission. With Black Op soldiers not far behind, Vanessa and the agents of BKI will discover that Rock has no plans to return in order to protect those that he loves.

The relationship between Rock and Vanessa begins as colleagues to friends and lovers. The sexual tension is high as Rock continues to push Vanessa away at ever opportunity even though he is a man who has lost his heart to the feisty communications specialist. From the jungles of Costa Rica to the BKI warehouse, Vanessa will prove her love time and again by risking everything to protect Rock from the CIA and himself.

Julie Ann Walker pulls the reader into a story of mystery and suspense. We experience the pain of the utmost betrayal when a man must face the reality of what he has done and the person(s) pulling the strings. The storyline is fast paced with just enough background information that the reader is well aware of the history and the men of the BKI-many of the previous storyline characters play active secondary roles that bring a familiarity of family and friends.

THRILL RIDE is a wonderful story of friendship and love; betrayal and heartbreaking guilt; mystery and suspense. You can’t help but feel for a man forced to do something that he believes to be true but in the end discovers that everything had been a set up from the start.

Julie Ann Walker writes a captivating and entertaining storyline that will have you on the edge of your seat waiting for the truth to finally be told.

Read our reviews for BLACK KNIGHTS INC Vol 1-3 HERE

Reviews by Sandy

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Black Knights Inc #1-3 by Julie Ann Walker-reviews

Black Knights Inc #1-3 by Julie Ann Walker-reviews

Black Knights Inc 1-3

ebook bundle BLACK KNIGHTS INC Vol. 1-3 available at a special price for a limited time: Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO /

________________________________

HELL ON WHEELS
(Black Knight Inc #1)
by Julie Ann Walker

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

Hell on WheelsABOUT THE BOOK: August 7, 2012

He’s the bad boy she’s always wanted…

Nate “Ghost” Weller has loved Ali Morgan nearly half his life. But he’s done something so heinous he’s convinced she’ll never forgive him if she discovers the truth, so he keeps his feelings and his secrets to himself. Then she blows into town with a mother lode of bad guys on her tail and Nate can’t deny she’s in serious trouble. Unfortunately, he’s the only one who can help her.

She’s the good girl he’s kept at arm’s length…

Ali knows Nate as the most solemn, aloof man on the planet. Sadly, he’s also the sexiest. For years she’s avoided him, unable to stomach his dark scowls and brooding silences… especially when she secretly yearns for his touch. Now she must rely on him to save her from the malevolent shadows ghosting her every move. When the bullets explode, so does their passion. But can love really conquer all? Or are some things just too terrible to forgive?

••••••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: HELL ON WHEELS is the first instalment in Julie Ann Walker’s adult, contemporary, romantic Black Knight Inc suspense series focusing on a group of former Navy SEALs, Black Ops, ex military men and the women they love. With their base of operations fronted by a motorcycle repair shop, the men of Black Knight Inc –a covert government defense team- do the dirty work behind the scenes when terrorism and threats to National Security become real and mean. This is Nate Weller and Ali Morgan’s story.

The focus of the storyline is Ali Morgan’s safety and finding the people who have been haunting her daily life since the death of her brother Grigg while on a secret assignment in the Middle East. Gregg’s death has weighed heavily on both Ali and Nate but none more so than Nate who feels responsible for the death of his best friend and ‘brother’. When Ali arrives at Black Knight Inc with a tale of being stalked and followed, Nate makes it his mission to protect his best friend’s little sister knowing that his heart was lost to the woman years before. But someone else is willing to take her out to hide a secret he doesn’t want anyone else to know.

Julie Ann Walker writes an amazing storyline of suspense, mystery and action. The relationship between Ali and Nate begins as friends to lover but along the way Nate will push Ali away believing she holds him responsible for the death of her brother.

The sex scenes are hot, sensual and a release because the sexual tension between our leading couple can be felt throughout the storyline. The storyline is told through a combination of memories, flashbacks and present day where we will discover the truth behind Grigg’s death and the fall out of a war that no body wants to lose. The secondary characters are colorful, heartbreaking and exuberant and, there is a building story between Rebecca (Black Knight’s mechanic) and Frank “Boss’ Knight-the leader of BKI. If you want a storyline that will make you cry, Hell on Wheels is a great start to what should be an amazing series.

_________________________

IN RIDES TROUBLE
(Black Knights Inc #2)
by Julie Ann Walker

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

In Rides TroubleABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 2012

Rebel with a Cause

Becky “Rebel” Reichert never actually goes looking for trouble. It just has a tendency to find her. Like the day Frank Knight showed up at her door, wanting to use her motorcycle shop as a cover for his elite special ops team. But Becky prides herself on being able to hang with the big boys-she can weld, drive, and shoot just as well as any of them.

Man with a Mission

Munitions, missiles, and mayhem are Frank’s way of life. The last thing the ex-SEAL wants is for one brash blonde to come within fifty feet of anything that goes boom. Yet it’s just his rotten luck when she ends up in a hostage situation at sea. Come hell or high water, he will get her back-whether she says she needs him or not.

••••••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: IN RIDES TROUBLE is the second instalment in Julie Ann Walker’s adult, contemporary, romantic Black Knights Inc action/suspense series focusing on a group of ex SEALs, Black Ops and military men. This is Black Knight leader Frank “Boss” Knight and motorcycle mechanic Becky ‘Rebel’ Reichert’s storyline. Tired of Frank’s continuous rejection, Becky decides to take a well deserved vacation with her best friend Eve only to have the vacation interrupted by Somali pirates hoping to use Becky’s special abilities for their own use.

The storyline focuses on Becky and Eve’s high seas rescue and the fall out of a night of passion between Becky and Frank. Frank’s regret rips Becky’s heart in two and she is determined to forget about the man –once and for all-if only she didn’t own the motorcycle shop where the Black Knights operated and lived.

The relationship between Becky and Frank is a friends to lovers storyline but a relationship that has everyone at BKI on edge. The sexual energy and tension fuels the anger, the mistaken beliefs and ultimately the jealousy that seems to filter in and out of the Black Knights lives. It is only when the truth about Frank’s personal life is revealed that Becky is willing to put aside her doubts about the man that she loves.

Julie Ann Walker writes an amazing series about a close knit group of former military men whose friendships and need to protect is the focus of the team. There is heartbreaking rejection and the pain of sorrow; there is friendship and love; and there is a second chance at a happily ever after for another one of BKI’s soldiers.

The secondary characters continue to play an active role in the action and suspense that pulls the reader into a story where the fear of losing the only woman you have ever loved comes to a reality –not once but twice-and where one man feels helpless to do anything about it. The storyline is fast paced; action packed; and sensually seductive when our hero finally pulls his proverbial head out of his a$$.

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REV IT UP
(Black Knights Inc #3)
by Julie Ann Walker

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

Rev It UpABOUT THE BOOK: October 2012

He’s the heartbreaker she left behind…

He Never Misses a Target

Jake “the Snake” Sommers earned his SEAL code name by striking quickly and quietly—and with lethal force. That’s also how he broke Michelle Carter’s heart. It was the only way to keep her safe—from himself. Four long years later, Jake is determined to get a second chance. But to steal back into Michelle’s loving arms, Jake is going to have to prove he can take things slow. Real slow…

She Aims to Make Him Beg

Michelle Carter has never forgiven Jake for being so cliché as to “love her and leave her.” But when her brother, head of the Black Knights elite ops agency, ticks off the wrong mobster, she must do the unimaginable: place her life in Jake’s hands. No matter what they call him, this man is far from cold-blooded. And once he’s wrapped around her heart, he’ll never let her go..

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REVIEW: REV IT UP is the third instalment in Julie Ann Walker’s adult, contemporary, romantic Black Knights Inc action/suspense series focusing on a tight knit group of former Navy SEALs, Special Ops and ex-military men. This is Jake and Michelle’s storyline. Michelle is Frank Knight’s sister and the woman that Jake pushed away four years earlier.

The focus of the storyline is Jake’s return to civilian duty and his need for the woman he left behind. But many things have changed since Jake walked away and it will be an uphill and dangerous battle trying to convince Michelle that she is the only woman he has ever loved.

Julie Ann Walker pulls the reader into a story of second chances and forgiveness. Jake and Michelle have both made mistakes but when the Black Knights are targeted for extermination, the collateral damage will affect everyone including the people that they love.

The relationship between our leading couple is tense and full of what ifs and whys. Questions need to be answered; sins needs to be forgiven; and the truth must be revealed before anyone is able to move on. The sex scenes are steamy, seductive and fuel the imagination.

REV IT UP is an exciting story where secrets fuel the suspense; where revenge is only a moment away; and where family is everything. The plot is well paced; the secondary characters bring a semblance of familiarity to the storyline; the writing style is evenly paced, evenly balanced and welcoming. Julie Ann Walker adds another dimension into the Black Knights family-a family that begins to grow one generation at a time.

Read our reviews for BLACK KNIGHTS INC Vol 4-6 HERE

Reviews by Sandy

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