OPAL (GEM #1) by Freya Barker-review tour

OPAL (GEM #1) by Frey Barker-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 22, 2023

GEM: A PRIVATELY-FUNDED ORGANIZATION OPERATING INDEPENDENTLY IN THE SEARCH FOR—AND THE RESCUE AND RECOVERY OF—MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN. ALTHOUGH, AT TIMES WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT, GEM AIMS TO ENSURE THE VICTIMS RECEIVE JUSTICE…BY WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY.
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GEM Operator Opal; multifaceted, versatile, a chameleon.

She hides in plain sight, adapts, and infiltrates.

When Opal goes undercover in a youth center several teenagers have disappeared from, she’s shocked to find a ghost of her own traumatic past at the helm. However, her worry for the missing kids is greater than her concern being recognized and she risks her own safety to discover the truth.

To complicate matters, a familiar FBI agent shows up conducting his own investigation and almost blows the whistle on her. It takes some doing to convince him to join forces with her but as it turns out, they work well together.

In the course of uncovering an organized group of child molesters, they find themselves falling—for each other.

••••••

REVIEW: OPAL is the first instalment in Freya Barker’s contemporary, adult GEM romantics suspense series focusing on three GEM agents and friends Opal, Pearl and Onyx. This is forty year old, marksmanship trainer for the US army, GEM Agent Katherine ‘Kate’ Jones aka Opal Berry, and FBI Agent Mitch Kenny’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

GEM stands for Gather, Evaluate, Mobilize

Told from dual first person perspectives (Opal and Mitch) OPAL follows the search for several missing teens from a group home in the city of Lanark, Kentucky. Twenty years earlier, our heroine Kate, along with Janey and Raj, were abducted from a teen youth centre, held captive and abused by a madman who would eventually die in a fire at the same centre. Fast forward to present day wherein, several more teens would go missing, under similar circumstances to what happened years before, a similarity that brought with it ghosts from the past. Going undercover as part of the GEM investigation, Opal would come face to face with FBI Agent Mitch Kenny, a man determined to stop Opal before it’s too late but as the search turns dangerous, the investigation hits too close to home for the man with whom Opal is falling in love. What ensues is the search for, and rescue of the missing teens, and the potential fall-out the investigation becomes personal, pushing Opal out of Mitch’s life.

The relationship between Mitch and Opal begins when Mitch and Opal must work together in an effort to uncover the truth. A number of at risk teens are missing, pointing to a possible organized group of child molesters, a group of well connected and well known men in positions of power but as the names and faces are revealed, Opal finds herself facing down a ghost from the past. Mitch and Opal struggle in the face of work-place involvement but when the time comes to run, Mitch pushes Opal out of his life. The $ex scenes are passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful , powerful and energetic secondary and supporting characters. We are introduced to Pearl aka Janey, Onxy aka Raj, their handler and GEM founder Jacob Branch, FBI Agent Matt Driver, as well as Mitch’s daughter Sawyer, his ex-wife Becky, and her new husband Chad Miller, as well as several teens and volunteers at the Youth Centre. The requisite evil has many faces.

OPAL is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, abuse and obsession, acceptance and love. The premise is gritty and captivating; the romance is subtle and seductive; the characters are desperate, determined and dynamic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.

Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

Facebook: http://bit.ly/FreyaFacebook
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Opal by Jennifer Armentrout – a Review

Opal by Jennifer Armentrout – a Review

 

Opal cover

Opal by Jennifer Armentrout is the third book in her Lux series.  Upfront I have to say as much as I enjoyed the first two book, amazingly Opal’s storyline continues to flow smoothly and it’s just as good or better.  I love this series.  Of course, getting to spend more time with Daemon, Katy, Dee and their friends, is fun and Jennifer Armentrout does it again. 

Opal picks up after the end of Onyx, and we get to learn more about Dawson.  Daemon, Katy, Dee, and their friends walk on eggshells around Dawson, who is still disturbed a bit, and still anxious to find a way to rescue Beth.  This is the theme of Opal, working on finding a way to get through the spells and barriers blocking their attempts at rescue. 

This story is non stop action throughout the entire book.  Along the way, surprisingly we meet up with some of the villains from Onyx, Blake and Will.  But the story focuses on Daemon and Katy, who are so great together, and I love their scenes.  Though it is very minimal, Armentrout rises the ante by making their loves scenes more steamy, but also some humor during their attempts to go further.  Katy is so much stronger in this book, as she has learned to use her powers. 

We also get to see more of Dee, her reactions to both Daemon and Katy, for what she perceives as betrayal, in not telling her more prior to Adam’s death.  As the danger increases, especially for Katy, Dee does loosen up.  I did love their friendship together, and want that to go back to the way they were.

Dawson is a wonderful element in this story, seeing them begin to work together, and Katy trying to help him come to terms with his anger and guilt.  Armentrout has created a wonderful group of characters in this series. 

The last third of the book was extremely exciting, and very tense.  Danger, betrayal, play such a big part in this book.  The ending of the book was awesome, and scary.  I have to end this with saying to Jennifer Armentrout…I am not a happy camper after I finished this book, as I did not sleep that night.   I so hate cliffhangers, and this one is a heartstopper.  Having to wait 6 months for the next book in this series, Orgin, I will have to pass the time by throwing darts at Jennifer.  🙂

Reviewed by Barb

 

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Jennifer L. Armentrout -Opal Trailer Reveal

Jennifer L. Armentrout – Opal Trailer Reveal

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well… There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different… And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger… and they know it.

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USA TODAY Bestselling author, Jennifer L. Armentrout, lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell, Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn.

 

Find Jennifer on: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website | Blog

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