Review: Overall great novel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 15, 2014
Favorite Quote(s):“‘Will we- will we know who-’ Elle began, but Agent Linden understood her question and gave a simple answer. ‘No. It’s better if you don’t know them: you’re less likely to accidentally give them away.’ That made sense. Elle guessed she’d just have to trust they were there while she and Preston sat there like bait. Bait. Holy. S***.”Favorite Character: PRESTON! Super secret spy guys…First Line:“‘Have you seen them yet?’”My Musings: You couldn’t possibly imagine the intrigue that I was feeling when I saw this novel on Netgalley. The title prompted me to click on the cover, and the synopsis had me automatically clicking request. Luckily, I was fast approved, and I dove right in! I mean–a book about the CIA? Of course I’m up for it!Elle is a Information Science major. She deals with numbers, models, and data. So when her boyfriend of two years is caught on camera cheating on her, she wishes for a model to tell her what to do. But Adam swears that Elle is the only one for him, that it was a drunken mistake. But Elle isn’t so sure. Then Elle finds out that the company funding her graduate thesis, Anderson Advertising, is a shell company for the CIA and that they’re using her data in order to locate a band of terrorists. So when they send Operative Preston Raddick to work closer with Elle, she’s not sure what to think. And when they offer her a job, she’s even more torn. But working with Preston comes with benefits–because Preston has the hots for her, and he may be just what she needs to get her mind off of Adam. But Elle soon finds out that working for the CIA is more than what she bargained for.I really really enjoyed this novel! It’s not every day that you find a novel about the CIA and spies. It was a TOTAL dream come true! I was looking for something unique to read, and I definitely found it in this novel. This novel jumps right into the drama of Elle getting back from break and finding the pictures of her boyfriend and another girl online. And this is an ongoing thing throughout the novel. I loved the apprehension that Elle was feeling about whether to forgive Adam or not. It wasn’t just a ‘dump him and move onto the hot spy’ type of thing. There was actual contemplation about her relationship with Adam, which made it more than realistic, because they had been going out for two years and had all of these plans that she wasn’t just willing to throw away.“‘I don’t know all the necessary…variables…’ What the hell was she saying? She knew she should just shut up and enjoy what he was doing, but she couldn’t hold the words back.‘Baby. I know all the variables to get the desired outcome,’ Preston assured her.”Throw in the hot operative, and you’ve got yourself a nice love triangle. And I’m sorry to say, but I was totally Team Preston. I mean, hellooooo? Hot spy? Duh. Preston was awesome. He was intelligent and masculine. And a spy. What more convincing do you need? He really cared about Elle and her well being, which was really endearing. He liked her for her, even though she was the nerdy girl who loves data. He was able to look past her geeky interior and liked her for the other aspects of her personality. It was really cute.And the two of them together were almost too hot to handle! They were a great couple to read. The spy and the nerd? Two people who are seemingly on opposite sides of the universe put together. And they complemented each other so well. And Preston believed in her doing what SHE wanted to do with her life, and never forced any decisions on her. He was nothing but supportive of her. So cute.“‘This way,’ Preston whispered right in Elle’s ear as he took her forearm. They ran away from the squeaky door, down the hallway to the indoor walkway. Elle stumbled a bit but was able to keep up with him for the most part. The indoor walkway was dimply lit, but it felt like bright sunlight when they reached it. She was shocked to see Preston holding a gun as he pulled her along.He had a gun? Okay, she knew he was a spy and all, but…he had a gun? How did that manage to be both dangerous and hot at the same time? She needed to get a grip. Her heart should be pounding out of fear, not excitement. Seriously.”The ending of this novel was where all the action happened. In addition to a super amazing love story, there was also some actual spy action happening in this novel. The chapters with the action had my heart pounding and had me crossing my fingers for the success of the characters. And it wasn’t that out of the way, no way that could happen action. It was all very realistic, staged on a college campus. It made me think twice about the people around me. It was so realistic and well woven it had me wondering if Missy was a spy herself!The last page of this novel had me at a stand still, hoping to gosh that there was a second novel. Luckily there is, and the wait isn’t too long! Covert Assignment was a fantastically written and thrilling novel, with a romance to die for and heart stopping action. I can’t wait to see what else Marciassa has in store for us!