Series: Lost #1
My Rating:
Sultry Scale:
Pub Date: March 31, 2015
The first novel in New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden's sizzling LOST series introduces the Last Option Search Team, an elite unit that must protect the only surviving victim of a serial killer.
Ex-SEAL and LOST founder Gabe Spencer is accustomed to the unusual in his job. But when knockout Eve Gray steps into his office, he's rattled. For the mysterious woman is a dead ringer for the heiress thought to be the latest prey of the serial killer who goes by the name Lady Killer.
When Eve awoke in an Atlanta hospital, her past was a blank slate. Then she recognized her own face in the newspaper and vowed to learn the truth. Determined to confront the nightmares hidden in her mind, she never expects to find a partner in Gabe.
As Gabe and Eve work together, their explosive attraction becomes irresistible. Gabe knows that his desire for Eve is growing too strong, bordering on a dangerous obsession, but nothing pulls him away from her. And when another Eve lookalike disappears, Gabe vows to protect Eve at all costs. While Eve may have forgotten the killer in her past, it's clear he hasn't forgotten her.
Eve is a sympathetic and likeable character. Even though she had a really sad story, is was not whiney or pathetic. She is a survivor. I admired that. Gabe was a fantastically yummy alpha male lead. He is a bit of a tortured hero himself, so his protective instincts ran wild when it came to Eve. They seem to have some insta-love going on, but it did not overshadow the plot or the suspense. When there is too much sex in a book, I sometimes find myself skimming the intimate scenes so I can get back to the story. That didn't happen here, Broken has just the right amount of heat mixed in with the story.
The secondary characters here were also fabulous. There is a whole team of investigators, who all have a different position from anthropologist to psychiatrist/profiler to former FBI agent. For me, the team was very reminiscent of the Criminal Minds TV show. I think this book set the scene for the secondary characters to become the leads in the rest of the series. And I will definitely keep reading to see how those stories play out.
I was provided a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Author Info
Award-winning
author CYNTHIA EDEN writes dark
tales of paranormal romance and romantic suspense. She is a New York Times, USA
Today, Digital Book World, and IndieReader best-seller. Cynthia is also a
two-time finalist for the RITA® award (she was a finalist both in the romantic
suspense category and in the paranormal romance category). Since she began
writing full-time in 2005, Cynthia has written over thirty novels and novellas.
Cynthia lives along the Alabama Gulf Coast. She loves romance novels, horror
movies, and chocolate. Her favorite hobbies include hiking in the mountains
(searching for waterfalls) and spelunking.
Excerpt
“Do you think I’m a con artist or a victim?”
“I think you’re a woman who has been hurt.” No
denying that. “One of my team members, Wade Monroe, is contacting the
Montgomery family. We’ll get DNA from them and find out—”
“If I’m Jessica.” There was hope in the words.
Enough hope to break his heart.
Gabe nodded.
“When will we know?”
It would take a few days, even with the strings
that he could pull. “As soon as possible,” he said, not wanting to give her a
specific timetable.
“Thank you.” Then, just like that, she was
across the car, giving him a tight hug. “Thank you.”
His arms wrapped around her, an instinctive
response. She smelled faintly of flowers, a sweet scent that teased his nose,
and her body was soft against his.
She tried to pull away, as if realizing what
she’d just done.
For an instant he was tempted to hold her, to
keep her close.
She’s a client. Focus.
He let her go, but his body ached.
“I … um … I should get inside.”
Yes, she should. While he was still clutching
tight to his control. The control that said he shouldn’t push her. Shouldn’t
want her so much. Not when she’d already been hurt so badly.
Her fingers reached for the door.
“Let me,” he said, voice rumbling, and Gabe
climbed from the Jag. In seconds he was on the passenger side, opening her door
for her. She rose, and her body brushed against his.
He stepped back. Distance. He seriously needed to put some
distance between then. But even with some fast steps back, he could still smell
that light and sexy scent that clung to her body. And he still wanted her.
“Your shrink asked me a lot of questions about
you,” Eve told him as she stood temptingly close.
Gabe inclined his head. “I’m sure—”
“I think she wanted to know why I respond so
much to you.”
Oh, hell, she’d just said … He cleared his
throat even as part of his body surged in quick response to her. “It’s a tense situation,
you’re—”
“You don’t look at me as if I’m a victim.”
He stopped talking.
“I mean, you know what I am, but you still look
at me and seem to just see me … as a woman.”
“Others see you the same way.” Doc Tyler sure
did. Bastard.
“It’s different with you,” she murmured as she
stepped even closer to him. Her head had tilted back so she could look into his
eyes. “I don’t know what I’ve felt for other men before.”
Why did the idea of others have his body
knotting with tension?
“But I know that when I see you, I want.” A
hushed confession. “I just … I needed to tell you that.”
And he needed to make his self-control a hell
of a lot stronger. Her lips were just inches from his, and he wanted her mouth
beneath his. Wanted her lips open. Needed to taste her.
“You’re the first man I’ve wanted since I
opened my eyes in that hospital.”
He could actually feel his control splintering. Client. Cli—
“You probably don’t want me. I—I might not be
your type.”
Now her gaze had fallen, as if in embarrassment.
Had she really just asked if she was his type? She was probably every damn
man’s type.
“But you make me feel normal again, so I had to
tell you—”
His fingers curved under her chin. “Eve …”
Her smile was a little too big. Too bright. “I
don’t think I can handle anything else right now, I’m …” She pulled away.
Stumbled onto the sidewalk. “I just wanted to tell you how I felt,” she told
him again.
Then she walked into the shelter, her steps
hurried. As if she were running.
From him.
He stared after her. She wanted him.
And she was so fucking beyond his reach.
***
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