BLACK HEARTED (Black Knights Inc: Reloaded 2) by Julie Ann Walker-review, excerpt & guest post
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 26, 2023
He’s everything she ever wanted. She’s everything he never knew he needed. Can she convince him she’s the one?
The Black Knights are back and better than ever!
Samuel Harwood has spent his entire career working in the black and gray areas of international intrigue. Living in the shadows for so long has made him forget who he was and where he came from. Then a blast from the past, in the form of his ex-girlfriend’s kid sister, arrives on the front steps of Black Knights Inc, reminding him of everything he left behind. Except, she’s no longer a kid. And she’s in serious trouble.
Hannah Blue has been in love with Sam Harwood since she was in braces. When someone sabotages her entire life, he’s the first person she turns to. She has critical information about a potential cyber-attack on the U.S. power grid that could end in catastrophic financial damage and loss of life. But the FBI thinks she’s a traitor. And now she’s on the run to save herself and the fate of the entire nation.
Who does Samuel trust? The smart, sexy woman he’s known since he was a teenager? Or the government authorities who give him his orders and cut his paychecks? He’ll make one desperate play to find out. A play that could cost him everything…including his heart.
•••••
REVIEW:BLACK HEARTS is the second instalment in Julie Ann Walker’s contemporary, adult BLACK KNIGHTS INC: RELOADED romantic suspense series-a spin off from the author’s BLACK KNIGHTS INC. This is thirty-four year old, former US Marine Raider turned BKI agent Samuel Harwood, and twenty-nine year old, DOD IT specialist / hacker Hannah Blue’s story line. BLACK HEARTED can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line or series is revealed where necessary. Several characters cross over from the original series for cohesion.
Told from several omniscient third person perspectives including Hannah and Sam BLACK HEARTED follows in the wake of the arrest of our story line heroine. Hannah Blue uncovered a possible threat to the US power grid but someone has placed the blame squarely on our story line heroine. Arrested by the FBI and held on terrorism charges, Hannah’s one call to her best friend Cesar results in the escape and rescue of our story line heroine. Enter thirty-four year old, former US Marine Raider turned BKI agent Samuel Harwood, the man Hannah has love most of her life. What ensues is the search for the truth, and the building relationship between our story line couple.
The world building continues to focus on a new crew of Black Ops agents working for Black Knights Inc. Hannah Blue has lusted after Samuel Harwood since the first time her older sister brought Samuel home but Samuel sees Hannah as a younger sister, and as such is desperate to keep their relationship as friends but when the FBI comes looking for our story line couple, Samuel becomes guardian and protector of our story line heroine.
The relationship between Sam and Hannah is one of unrequited love. Sam has kept his distance from the woman that stirs something deep but it is only a matter of time, and a suspicion that Hannah has been set up to take a fall, that Sam will realize Hannah is the woman he loves. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
Several of the original Black Knights Inc team return a secondary and supporting characters. We are re-introduced to Eliza Meadows, Fisher Wakefield as well as Grace Beacham and Hunter Jackson (Back in Black 1). The requisite evil has many faces. There is something developing between Fisher and Eliza.
BLACK HEARTED is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, espionage and terrorism, family, friendships, relationships and love. The fast paced premise is intriguing, captivating and dramatic; the romance is seductive and fated; the characters are powerful, determined and dynamic. BLACK HEARTED ends on a happily ever after for now-the main conflict and the people involved has yet to be resolved.
Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one BACK IN BLACK
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
“I’m s-so sorry,” Sam said as he gingerly removed the last boot from the five-toed iceberg that was her foot. His hands were shaking so hard he dropped the boot the instant it came free. And she wondered why she wasn’t shivering. She was absolutely frozen. Shouldn’t she be quaking like him? “I kn-know you’re hurting, ’cause I feel like s-someone’s shoving f-frozen pokers into me, and you were more exposed than I was. B-but hang on a little bit l-longer, okay?”
“That’s not why I’m crying,” she whispered.
“No?” He cocked his head.
“I’m just…” She sniffed. “Thank you, Sam.” She hiccupped as a new sob shook her entire body. “You saved me.”
“You mostly s-saved yourself. I just d-did the d-driving.”
“No.” She shook her head, wanting to tell him how much she appreciated the risk he’d taken in coming for her. Wanting to explain how much it meant to her. But no matter how hard she tried, the words wouldn’t form. What came out of her mouth was, “I feel like I only have two brain cells functioning, and they seem to be fighting each other for third place.”
One corner of his mouth twitched. “There sh-she is, the funny, flippant H-Hurricane Hannah I know and l-love.”
The instant the word love left his lips, fresh tears welled. She’d waited her whole life to hear him say that. And now he had.
But he hadn’t meant it.
Not the way she wanted him to.
“C-come here.” He gathered her close and she thought he was going to hug her. She was more than a little disappointed when instead he scooped her into his arms so he could quickly transfer her into the tub, T-shirt, pajama bottoms, and all.
“No!” she yelped. Her brain went from slow and sluggish to blaring danger, Will Robinson! Danger! The water was burning tongues of fire licking over her skin. “It’s too hot!”
He kept her in the tub with a firm hand on her shoulder. “It only f-feels that way ’cause your sk-skin is f-frozen.”
Every instinct told her to jump from the lava bath lest her flesh melt right off her bones. But she trusted him. Gritting her teeth, she stayed put. And then watched, dumbfounded, as he peeled his White Sox sweatshirt over his head before tackling the zipper on his jeans.
Once he was down to black, thermal long johns that hugged his muscular body like a second skin, he stepped into the tub.
“S-scoot forward,” he instructed.
When he lowered himself into the tub behind her, his big body made the water rise. Every new inch of skin it touched burned like blue flames. She only managed to keep from hissing her pain by biting the inside of her cheek.
“Now l-lean b-back.” He patted the place over his heart and she gingerly reclined until her back was pressed against his chest.
Old world. New Characters. Who dis?
When I first considered jumping back into the world of motorcycles and mayhem—a world I left behind almost 5 years ago—I was worried. You see, I closed the door on the series when I penned the final Black Knights Inc. book. But…knowing me and knowing how much I loved the characters and their world, I did have enough forethought to leave open a window. My concern was the readers wouldn’t be willing to crawl through it. Not now. Not after so much time had passed.
Imagine my surprise and delight when the first book was met with hand-flapping excitement and rave reviews. Turns out, the fans were willing to crawl through, jump into, and throw rocks to break the glass of the window in order to get back to Black Knights Inc. And I am both humbled and so incredibly happy to be able to continue to write stories in a setting the feels like home to so many.
(Author’s note: You don’t have to read the original 12-book series to enjoy the new Black Knights Inc: Reloaded stories. All books can be read as standalones. Although, I would suggest starting at the beginning of the spin-off, with Back in Black.)
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Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Julie grew up in a house full of women – she has three older sisters. As you can imagine, there was no lack of drama… or romance. Her mother enrolled her in a book club as soon as she began to read and it was the small spark that ignited her voracious appetite for the written word.
Because of Julie’s early immersion in literature, she found writing came quite naturally. In high school, she won multiple writing contests and was the proud senior editor of The Tiger’s Tale – her school newspaper.
During her college years, however, she longed for a challenge. “Reading and writing felt like second nature to me, so I looked for a way to flex my mental muscles,” she recalls. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree, Julie began teaching advanced high school mathematics.
“I loved working with the students and facing the challenges of the classroom, but I longed for the occasional snow day when I could race to the local book store, buy two or three new novels, and curl up in front of the fire to read.”
It wasn’t until a fortuitous move to Chicago that Julie once more returned to her first passion.
Now Julie loves to travel the world looking for views to compete with her deadlines. When she’s not writing, she enjoys camping, hiking, cycling, cooking, petting every dog that walks by her, and… reading, of course
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