Review: Great series!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 18, 2014
THE THIEFRoss Carpenter was born and raised in a small town in South Carolina. He struggled with shame due to his father and where he came from but the one good thing he had all though high school was Allie Williams. When Ross left for the Army he thought Allie turned her back on him because she never answered any of his letters. His mind told him it was because she thought he wasn't good enough for her.Today after being in the Special Forces for years he owns his own private security firm called RC Investigations. His latest client hired them to find and retrieve stolen information. When Ross see’s that the person being accused of stealing the information is Allie, Ross’s curiosity about what would make the good girl prom queen turn bad makes him take the case.Allie Williams was a publicity manager for a pharmaceutical firm. When she realizes her boss has been laundering lots of money and plans to release a drug that he knows has dangerous side effects she does the only thing she can think of, takes proof of both and runs. She decides the best place to hide is in plain sight in her hometown at her aunt’s house who is away on vacation.Ross saves her from an attempt on her life but she is wary about why he is there. He hasn't been back to town since he left all those years ago and she hasn't heard a word from him and now he has suddenly shown up as her savior.Ross chooses not to be totally honest with Allie about many things, like why he is really there and that he is still in love with her even after all of these years. Allie isn't upfront either with truth’s from both the past and with what really happened with her boss.The author did a great job of taking us on the journey with Allie and Ross as they worked through all of their past issues along with running from the assassin's that keep coming for Allie. Ross’s teams at RC were great secondary characters and I hope they are going to be getting their own books in the future.THE WITNESSThe Witness is packed with suspense and romance and great characters and hooks you from the first page.This book takes place during the same time as the first book The Thief. Rick Dryer who works for his friend's private security company RC Investigations was sent to check on Nicole who worked with Allie at a pharmaceutical firm. When Allie has to go into hiding based on evidence she finds out on her boss she is worried for Nicole's safety and Rick is sent to make sure she is ok. When he arrives he finds her apartment building in flames. After seeing a gang member trying to sabotage a ladder she was taking Rick decides he needs to get Nicole out of there for her safety.From here the two of them are on the run for most of the book. Seems Nicole has ghosts from her own past coming after her. Rick scrambles to figure out just who is really after Nicole but she doesn't make it easy with keeping her secrets close to the vest. He also struggles with his attraction to her since he hasn't allowed himself to feel anything since his wife died and the guilt he feels because of her death.You are pretty much on the edge of you seat from the opening scene to the end of the book as these two try to not only avoid getting killed but try to figure out who is behind everything.As with the first book Eve helps out from the RC base and we are introduced to a character named Bart who was in the service with Rick and helps them out while they are on the run and seems to have an interesting relationship with Eve but we are not given much on this. Hoping we find out more in Eve's book which is next.THE HOSTAGEHot romance, gripping suspense and one determined independent woman make up the latest book from VR Marks.Eva Battaglia was an analyst with the Special Forces team that included her current boss Ross and best friend Bart. On their last mission things didn’t go according to plan and the hostage they were trying to save died. Now years later it seems the man responsible for the kidnapping and botched mission is after Eva for something he thinks she knows. With Eva still recovering from a gunshot wound Ross asked to have Deputy Carson Morris assigned as her body guard but without her knowledge. Things go fine until Bart shows up and get shot taking a bullet meant for her.Eva is now made aware of what is going on and begrudgingly agrees to go into hiding with Carson and try and figure out what it is Bakr Morcos really wants from her.I love reading strong female characters and Eva can defiantly take care of herself but is still a woman at heart that suffers from nightmares from the botched mission and with her growing attraction to Deputy Carson who isn’t her typical type of man. Carson isn’t the normal rough and tough Alpha male we read a lot in books. He good at his job but he keeps his cool and doesn’t lose his composure and loves his momma and his sisters :). He and Eva together balance each other out and made a great pair.This was a fast paced book that had equal parts of suspense and romance. I have come to love all of Mr Marks books and look forward to his next.