Review and Giveaway: Midnight Revenge

Midnight Revenge (Killer Instincts - Book 7) by Elle Kennedy

Publication Date: 02/02/2016
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Signet Eclipse
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 384
ISBN-10: 0451474430
ISBN-13: 978-0451474438

(Received for an honest review from Signet Eclipse)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, itunes

Elle Kennedy on the WEB: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Books in the series:

Killer Instincts

1. Midnight Rescue
2. Midnight Alias
3. Midnight Games
4. Midnight Pursuits
4.5. After Midnight
5. Midnight Action
6. Midnight Captive
7. Midnight Revenge

Coverart: Click the image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from Midnight Revenge, courtesy of the author's website.

Synopsis:

From the USA Today bestselling author of Midnight Captive, the latest Killer Instincts novel is “off-the-charts-hot”* romantic suspense that takes readers into the heart of an enigmatic mercenary...
 
Out of all the stone-cold mercenaries in Jim Morgan's black ops organization, Derek “D” Pratt is the most intimidating. He is tight-lipped and covered in tattoos, and even the other guys on his team are afraid to ask him about his past. D’s been off the grid for years, but after his teammate Sullivan is mistakenly captured in his place, D is forced to come out of hiding and face his demons.
 
When D lands in Mexico, he’s ready to risk everything to save his friend. To complicate matters, Sofia Amaro, a feisty doctor whom D had a one-night stand with months ago, has tracked him down. And in an instant she’s unintentionally caught up in his life-threatening rescue mission.
 
Now D must extract not one but two people from the most violent world he's ever encountered. And one of them is carrying his child...

Thoughts:

Elle Kennedy returns with another book about Jim Morgan's team of mercenaries in the latest book in the Killer Instincts series, Midnight Revenge. Readers have been on the edge of their seats waiting for this one after a cliffhanger of sorts in the last book. Kennedy delivers with a heart pounding book full of action and with just enough romance to balance it all out. A great new book from the romantic suspense genre.

What I liked:

I'll be the first to admit that romantic suspense novels have not always been my cup of tea. I wasn't sure that all that action would work for me in most of the books of the genre I had encountered, but lately this type of story has really grown on me. That is largely due to the talent of some really great authors, including Elle Kennedy. Kennedy strikes such a good balance between the heart stopping action of a suspense novel and heart rending passion of a romance novel. The Killer Instincts series is a good example of well written romantic suspense. And Kennedy's latest book had me on pins and needles in more ways than one.

The end of Midnight Captive was a real cliffhanger for me. Sully is missing. Literally dropped off the face of the earth. Liam is desperate to find him, as well as, the rest of the mercenary team. You would think Sully and Liam would get the romance here, but that's not the case. They are still a great side romance, but "D" steals the show in this one. Sully's kidnapping is all about Derek and his dark past coming back to haunt him. Readers who have followed the series will find this one an eye opening revelation into Derek's character.

Kennedy has given readers a very hard, dangerous man as the lead for this one. Derek is largely considered the coldest and most deadly of the mercenaries and focusing on a different side to him was interesting to say the least. His backstory was dark and it made my heart hurt to see the pain he had been through. Kennedy makes us hurt for this character and sympathise with his pain, but he is still a cold hearted man. I tend to like brooding characters that have a chip on their shoulder and D fits that bill to a tee. I wanted to love his romance. I wanted to see passion and aggression and it was there. It takes a strong woman to deal with him and Sofia was smart and tough but not exactly what I expected.

What I didn't like:

Sofia is a doctor and she manages to fix up some of the mercenaries who were hurt in the latest op. She comes off as confident and sure of herself. But she is attracted to Derek, who doesn't really give off a vibe that says... boyfriend or husband materiel. But she knew that going in to the one night stand between them. But she didn't count on was getting pregnant. At first I thought I was going to be completely invested in her, but she takes an unexpected turn. She goes off in search of D and puts herself and her baby at risk. I realize she needed to tell him. I realize she wanted to help. But common sense is a plus when it comes to dangerous situations and she just didn't have any and that made her seem a little foolish and desperate. Didn't look good on a heroine.

This is a romantic suspense novel that involves a group of mercenaries. These aren't your average boys next door. That being said, there is quite a bit of language in this book. With this type of hard nosed group I don't think the author could have gotten away with it any other way. But if hard language and situations get to you, this ain't your book. There is also the m/m relationship between Sully and Liam to consider if that's not in your comfort zone as well.

Bottom Line:

I've loved D from the git go with this series. There was something about him that spoke to me. He was closed off, set apart, from the others. He had one heck of a chip on his shoulder and his past had never been discussed much. I was ready for this story. I wanted Derek to get his happy-ever-after. Sofia didn't quite live up to my expectations but the changes in D alone made up for that. The side story with Sully and Liam was once again captivating and readers who have followed the series will be searching out the pages that have these two character in them. All in all... D gets his HEA and Sully gets rescued. Not a bad day at the office for Elle Kennedy.

Midnight Revenge is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.

Elle writes romantic suspense and erotic contemporary romance for various publishers. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!

Giveaway Details:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Midnight Revenge by Elle Kennedy.

~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ US Addresses only.

~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, February 29th.

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