Taking Fire (One Eyed Jacks #4) by Cindy Gerard-a review

TAKING FIRE (One Eyed Jacks #4) by Cindy Gerard-a review

Taking Fire

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 23, 2016

Betrayal. Retribution. Redemption?

Six years ago, tough-as-nails military contractor Bobby Taggart met the woman of his dreams in war-torn Kabul—a sexy, whip-smart war correspondent who approached him at a local bar, took him to bed, made him fall in love…and then mysteriously disappeared. In her wake, the terrorist leader he’d been mining for valuable intel was assassinated—then Bobby discovered his phone had been bugged. And he’s pretty damn sure he’s been played for a fool.

•••••••

REVIEW: TAKING FIRE is the fourth installment in Cindy Gerard’s contemporary, adult ONE EYED JACKS military, romantic suspense series focusing on a group of men of the Special Forces team known as One Eyed Jacks. This is military contractor Bobby Taggart, and war correspondent Talia Levine’s story line. ONE EYED JACKS is a spin off from Cindy’s best selling BLACK OPS INC series. TAKING FIRE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from several third person points of view TAKING FIRE focuses on the rebuilding of a relationship between Bobby Taggart and Talia Levine. Six years earlier, while on assignment in the Middle East, Bobby and Talia had a week long affair that ended when an assassination destroyed months of work for Bobby and his team in Kabul, Afghanistan, leaving Bobby wondering where everything went wrong. Enter Talia Levine-the woman whose mission was to seek out Bobby Taggart in the Middle East, and the woman who would, once again, enter his life six years later at the US Embassy in Oman. What ensues is the search for a kidnapped child, and the truth about what happened years before.

Cindy Gerard combines the past with the present to reveal the history between Talia and Bobby, and secrets Talia has kept from the man with whom she had fallen in love. As Bobby’s team searches for the missing child, the Special Forces soldiers begin to unravel the truth about his relationship with Talia Levine. Talia is a strong, self-contained woman but a woman trained to do her job. Bobby is a man who fell for the wrong woman, and in doing so, placed a mission in danger, and his future in the hands of a woman he barely knows.

Some of the previous story line and Black Ops Inc couples and characters plays secondary and supporting roles including Ronda and Jamie (Running Blind 3),Joe Green and Stephanie Tompkins from BOI . The world building follows the Special Forces soldiers on their mission in the Middle East, and their friendship and rivalries back home.

TAKING FIRE is a story of second chances; a fast paced, intriguing, and sensational tale about letting go of the past, and looking forward to the future. The premise is impassioned; the characters are intelligent, dynamic, and energetic; the romance is fated by circumstance and time. Cindy Gerard pulls the reader into a story of romance and love; forgiveness and a look to the future; friendships and family. TAKING FIRE is a wonderful and moving installment in Cindy Gerard’s ONE EYED JACKS military, romantic suspense series.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Cover Reveals-June 19, 2013

Cover Reveals-June 19, 2013

The King March 2014

TITLE: The King

AUTHOR: J.R.Ward

SERIES: Black Dagger Brotherhood

RELEASE DATE: March 2014

 

Melting the Ice Feb 14

 

TITLE: Melting The Ice

AUTHOR: Jaci Burton

SERIES: Play by Play

RELEASE DATE: February 2014

 

 

 

Spell of Binding July 2013

 

TITLE: Spell of Binding

AUTHOR: Anna Abner

SERIES: Dark Caster

RELEASE DATE: July 2013

 

 

 

dont-lie-to-me-ebooklg

 

TITLE: Don’t Lie To Me

AUTHOR: Stacey Lynn

SERIES: N/A

RELEASE DATE: July 2013

 

 

 

Indulgent Pleasures

 

TITLE: Indulgent Pleasures (re-release)

AUTHOR: Karen Erickson

SERIES: N/A

RELEASE DATE: available now

 

 

 

Perfect Lies feb 14

 

TITLE: Perfect Lies

AUTHOR: Kiersten White

SERIES: Mind Games #2

RELEASE DATE: February 2014

 

 

 

Black Arts

 

TITLE: Black Arts

AUTHOR: Faith Hunter

SERIES: Jane Yellowrock

RELEASE DATE:January 2014

 

 

 

The Way Home Oct 2013

 

TITLE: The Way Home

AUTHOR: Cindy Gerard

SERIES: N/A

RELEASE DATE: October 2013

 

 

 

crave-the-night

 

TITLE: Crave the Night

AUTHOR: Lara Adrian

SERIES: Midnight Breed

RELEASE DATE: February 2014

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Cindy Gerard: Killing Time Blog Tour and Giveaway

Cindy Gerard: Killing Time Blog Tour and Giveaway

Cindy Gerard Blog Tour

Killing Time
(One Eyed Jacks #1)
Publisher:  Pocket Books
Publication date:  January 22, 2013

Killing Time

Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository/ Simon and Shuster

Read an Excerpt

An exciting new series featuring Mike “Primetown” Brown, a character from her popular
“Black Ops, Inc.” series.

For the seven years after Operation Slam Dunk went south, Mike Brown got drunk on each anniversary. The eighth year was no different–until he was drugged by a woman and woke up to her questions about what had happened eight years ago in Afghanistan. CIA attorney Eva Salinas has her own theory behind what happened to Mike’s team–which included her husband–in Afghanistan eight years ago, and she’s determined to prove foul play. Though she doesn’t trust him, Mike is the only person she can turn to for help. Under an assumed name, Eva convinces Mike to assemble a new team and go after the traitor who screwed up both their lives. As they track down the rogue who started it all, Eva and Mike discover they can’t live without each other. But can they stay alive while an enemy is still on the loose?

*******************

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cindy Gerard

The only thing Cindy had in mind when she started writing her first book was finishing it. The issue of actually selling it came much later. Only after she made that life-altering first sale did she realize that one book would never be enough. Now, over 20 books and numerous awards later, Cindy laughingly admits that she can barely remember life before…well, was there life before writing?

Actually, yes there was, and still is. A professional career woman, Cindy is a trainer for the Iowa Department of Human Services, a position she states is both challenging and rewarding. “Human Services is a front-line, real-life event. Everything about the job is immediate, from serving families in crisis, to assisting staff with difficult situations, to meeting tension-fraught deadlines.”

Cindy’s writing has netted her spots on bestseller lists, numerous RT nominations and awards, the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence, a National Reader’s Choice Award and two RITA nominations.

Between writing and working full time you wouldn’t think Cindy would have much time for anything else. And while she does find her work and her writing rewarding, there does have to be more. Cindy has more. Much more. She is happily married to the perfect man. Tom’s a cowboy, ladies!

Both Tom and Cindy enjoy gardening and have recently expanded their annual beds into a perennial garden. Cindy says she can hardly wait for spring and the promise of all that reawakening and the colorful blooms.

In addition to the horses, the Gerards have two dogs, Ellie and Boomer, who pretty much get anything they want. Tom and Cindy have one son, Kyle, who, after years of keeping them in suspense, found Eileen, the perfect woman.

Connect with Cindy:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Cindy’s Amazon Page

************

Interview-Purple

CINDY GERARD-Interview with the Author

TRC: Hi Cindy and welcome to The Reading Café.  Congratulations on the upcoming release of KILLING TIME-the first storyline in your new ONE EYED JACKS series
For everyone who doesn’t know Cindy Gerard-would you please tell us something about yourself?

Cindy: Can I just say that I really hate this question because I am soooo boring. I could lie but that’s not me. I’m a home body who loves family and friends, cards, board games and is currently addicted to on line scrabble. I spoil my 2 cats and my dog and enjoy taking care of my new hobby (fresh water aquariums) My favorite way to spend a day is at home in my Pj’s, snuggling up with a good book (still prefer the paper in my hand) with my critters snuggled up beside me. SEE? Boring…..

Killing TimeTRC: KILING TIME is your first storyline in the One Eyed Jacks series.  Would you please tell us the premise behind the series and the first installment?

Cindy: Gladly. Thanks for asking. The One Eyed Jacks (a multi-branch military task force formed in 2002 and disbanded in 2005) got their nick name because of the uniqueness of their experimental unit, their tight camaraderie, their slightly reckless reputation, their favorite downtime/pastime of high stakes poker and because each of them made a pact to always carry a One Eyed Jack playing card (either a Jack of hearts or a Jack of spades) as their lucky charm and a sign of unity.

Today, only three men of the original detail are still alive – Mike Brown, Bobby Taggart, Jamie Cooper. On their last mission in Afghanistan, all three were dealt a losing hand and now share one common bond: The military that they proudly served had cut them loose eight years ago with a ‘less than honorable’ discharge when their team led a covert operation that went south and the powers that be laid the blame squarely on their shoulders.

Now Brown, Taggart and Cooper lead separate lives in separate countries, have all dropped out of ‘normal society’ and not only live with the lie that led to their military separation but with the weight of the deaths of both their task force team members and several innocent civilians haunting them.

For these three men, life is now all about getting by, about forgetting the past, dealing with the anger and coping with the hand they’ve been dealt. None of them intend to break the status quo – until a mysterious woman confronts and forces Brown to ask questions about what really happened in Afghanistan and how those events played into a current national security threat.  KILLING TIME leads Mike and Eva from Lima, Peru, to Washington D.C. and finally to the Idaho Panhandle where they infiltrate a survivalist group that hides a deep and dangerous secret and the key to Mike’s redemption.

TRC: How many books do you have planned for the series? .

Cindy: I had initially planned 2 more books in the series – RUNNING BLIND and TAKING FIRE. I’ve since been given the opportunity to write a 4th book, one that will come out next December (just in time for Christmas!!) that’s a bonus book in the series. I’m so excited about THE WAY HOME. It’s a homecoming story featuring Tyler Brown (Mike’s brother) and is a little different book than I usually write. Still romance, still suspense, still features our black ops warriors, but THE WAY HOME has a little something extra … something that is leading me on a very special journey as I write it.

TRC: Mike ‘Primetime’ Brown is the hero in Killing Time. Who was the inspiration behind this particular character?

Cindy: Every bad boy I’ve ever known LOL Seriously, Mike embodies everything I love about a man. He’s strong when it counts, funny, irreverent, filled with integrity even though he’d deny there was an honorable bone in his body.

TRC: If you could virtually cast the characters of Mike Brown and Eva Silanas, which models or actors would best represent your ideal?

Cindy: I like Bradley Cooper for Mike and Salma Hayek as Eva.

TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception about you?

Cindy: That I lead a glamorous life. LOL The truth is I’m a home body. If I make the mistake of heading for my PC too early, I may spend the day in my PJ’s and not even realize it until mid afternoon.

TRC: If you could change something about yourself personal or professional, what would it be and why?

Cindy: Are you kidding? Weight and age. Give me less of both :o)

TRC: Who or what has been the biggest influence in your life and why?

Cindy: My mother. She taught me the value of decency and kindness and honesty. What more can you ask for?

TRC: Who is the first person you think about when you need someone to talk with and why?

Cindy: If it’s about life in general, it’s my hubby. If it’s about writing it’s Glenna McReynolds – aka Tara Janzen . If it’s for a girl’s gab session it’s my buddy Susan Connell or Leanne Banks of Carol Bryant

TRC: Would you please tell us what do you do in your free time?

Cindy: Still love to read and I’m an avid movie and TV buff. So excited about JUSTIFIED’s new season starting this month. Timothy Olyphant? Holy cow what a man.

TRC: What are the 5 things you would like to do that you haven’t done in your life?

Cindy: See Macu Pichu, go back to Italy, see Ireland, see Hawaii (nope, never been there), finish a book without feeling total, consuming panic.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Cindy: THE WAY HOME – the bonus book in the One Eyed Jacks series that I spoke about earlier.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Cindy: Just that I’m so happy to be here and so grateful to my readers and all the support they’ve given me over the years. Means everything.

LIGHTNING ROUND
Favorite Food – Chocolate, Cheetos, Pizza. Sorry. More than 1
Favorite Dessert – warm apple pie ala mode
Favorite TV ShowYou guessed it. Justified
Last Movie you saw – The Rise of the Guardians (took the grand kids) LOVED IT)
Dark or Milk Chocolate – milk

TRC: Thank you Cindy for taking the time to answer our questions.  We wish you all the best and much success with the new One Eyed Jack series.

Cindy: Thank you so much. I really do appreciate it.

Giveaway-gold/purple

Cindy is offering a signed paper back copy of LAST MAN STANDING to ONE lucky member at The Reading Cafe.

Last Man Standing

1. You must be a member at The Reading Cafe. If you are not a member, please register using the log-in at the top of the page or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. Please leave a blog-post comment along with your email address.

3. Giveaway is open to US and CANADA only

4. Giveaway runs January 21-February 3, 2013

**********************

GRAND PRIZE Blog Tour Giveaway

There is also a Grand Prize drawing of a $25.00 Gift Card (Amazon or B&N) and an autographed copy of KILLING TIME for one lucky winner that follows the tour and leaves a comment at every stop.

To enter the Grand Prize drawing CLICK HERE!

Blog-Tour-Schedule-purple

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Killing Time (One Eyed Jacks #1) by Cindy Gerard-a review

KILLING TIME (One Eyed Jacks #1) by Cindy Gerard-a review

Killing Time

ABOUT THE BOOK:  Release Date-January 29, 2013

An exciting new series featuring Mike “Primetown” Brown, a character from her popular “Black Ops, Inc.” series.

For the seven years after Operation Slam Dunk went south, Mike Brown got drunk on each anniversary. The eighth year was no different–until he was drugged by a woman and woke up to her questions about what had happened eight years ago in Afghanistan.

CIA attorney Eva Salinas has her own theory behind what happened to Mike’s team–which included her husband–in Afghanistan eight years ago, and she’s determined to prove foul play. Though she doesn’t trust him, Mike is the only person she can turn to for help. Under an assumed name, Eva convinces Mike to assemble a new team and go after the traitor who screwed up both their lives. As they track down the rogue who started it all, Eva and Mike discover they can’t live without each other. But can they stay alive while an enemy is still on the loose?

***********************

REVIEW: KILLING TIME (One Eyed Jacks #1) is the new spin-off series based on Cindy Gerard’s best selling Black-Ops Inc series focusing on the men of the Special Forces team known as One Eyed Jacks and fans of Cindy’s BOI series will not be disappointed.

Three members are all that remain of the infamous One Eyed Jacks Special Forces team from a mission that went horribly wrong eight years earlier and the team leader faces his demons and guilt everyday of his life. But when his past collides with his present, Mike knows that Eva Salinas will be the key to future.

Cindy revisits the fateful day with Mike and we are privy to his recounting of what happened but his recounting does not quite match the official report. As Mike and Eva dig deeper, they will discover that the entire mission was a set up and Mike’s team paid the ultimate price-only Mike should have been one of the casualties as well.

Killing Time is a fantastic start to Cindy Gerard’s new One Eyed Jack series. There is plenty of heart-pounding action, suspense, romance and a little sex to keep the reader sitting on the edge of their seat. With plenty of military lingo and soul- searching dialogue, Cindy brings the war in the Middle East back home and onto the pages of a wonderfully written and an amazingly detailed storyline and into our homes. I am a big fan of Cindy Gerard’s BOI series and she has continued her amazing storylines with her new One Eye Jacks series.

PRE-ORDER: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Sandy

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