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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I didn't like this book as the first in the series, maybe because Olivia (while still great) wasn't a true badass like Abby in the first book of the series. I did enjoy it regardless. Is it just me or does Elle Kennedy like having her characters be strippers for some reason? Other than the predictability of the plot it was still a quick and enjoyable read.
The original review for this title can be found here on The Book Hookup.
*Disclaimer: An eARC of these title was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. However, that did not influence this review in any way. All thoughts, quotes, and opinions will be of this version and not of the published edition.
♠ Rating for Killer Instinct #2-#6: DNF
I have to admit, my interest was immediately piqued when I saw a NetGalley invite from Signet for this series for two main reasons: I love Elle Kennedy and mercenaries sound like my type of alpha hero. It also helped that the heroines seemed kind of badass in their own right and with the urging from a few other readers and such good reviews, I downloaded them all. Which is why it kills me to say what I'm about to say...
There's something truly great about Elle Kennedy and the focus and attention that she brings to each of her series and the characters and worlds you'll find inside them. I'm such a huge fan of two of her other series, the Outlaws series and her Off-Campus series, but I've really struggled with this one. While all the reviews were glowing and I knew I loved so many of her other books, there was still that nagging little voice in my head that made me pause and really consider if this series was for me before I took the plunge and snagged all the available books. I mean, there was a reason I had stayed away for so long, right? I really wish I had listened to that voice because my gut instincts are usually spot-on.
I want to make it perfectly clear here: my "DNF" rating and inability to finish these books are in no way a reflection of this author and her ability to write a kickass novel, because she can and she does so many times over. This simply boils down to the kinds of stories she's trying to tell in this particular series. I applaud her for going hard for her characters, from tackling the grittier, uglier issues in the world and the monsters that commit those crimes, and for making the heroines just as badass as the guys. The truth is, I wanted to love these books so damn much just because of those reasons, among many more. However, and I'm about to get crazy-personal right now, my childhood and some of the awful things I had to witness and survive through in my own home make some subjects just too damn hard to read. I love books that make me laugh and cry and heartclench and sigh until I swoon, but when a book's plot brings me to a dark place and leaves me there for days after walking away from it, I just have to realize that it's not for me. That it can't be for me. I've tried time and again for months to pick up with book two (and only ever it made it a little over halfway) and even skimmed through the first parts of three and four, and while I loved the romantic chemistry and the jovial mood between friends and comrades, I just couldn't keep the dark mood from creeping in. So, it's for that reason, and only that reason, that I've decided that I need to part ways from the rest of this series. I'm far from done with Elle Kennedy and her other books, but I've already lived through dark days and I don't care for the memories that surface when I read certain things, especially when reading is supposed to be that escape from all of that in the first place.
♥ A very special thanks to Signet and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.
{I'll only be including this review on this book and not the rest of the series. Inever hardly ever rate DNF books because I personally believe it's unfair to the book/author/publisher to rate a book I didn't complete. Maybe something at the end would have changed my rating.}
*Disclaimer: An eARC of these title was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. However, that did not influence this review in any way. All thoughts, quotes, and opinions will be of this version and not of the published edition.
♠ Rating for Killer Instinct #2-#6: DNF
I have to admit, my interest was immediately piqued when I saw a NetGalley invite from Signet for this series for two main reasons: I love Elle Kennedy and mercenaries sound like my type of alpha hero. It also helped that the heroines seemed kind of badass in their own right and with the urging from a few other readers and such good reviews, I downloaded them all. Which is why it kills me to say what I'm about to say...
There's something truly great about Elle Kennedy and the focus and attention that she brings to each of her series and the characters and worlds you'll find inside them. I'm such a huge fan of two of her other series, the Outlaws series and her Off-Campus series, but I've really struggled with this one. While all the reviews were glowing and I knew I loved so many of her other books, there was still that nagging little voice in my head that made me pause and really consider if this series was for me before I took the plunge and snagged all the available books. I mean, there was a reason I had stayed away for so long, right? I really wish I had listened to that voice because my gut instincts are usually spot-on.
I want to make it perfectly clear here: my "DNF" rating and inability to finish these books are in no way a reflection of this author and her ability to write a kickass novel, because she can and she does so many times over. This simply boils down to the kinds of stories she's trying to tell in this particular series. I applaud her for going hard for her characters, from tackling the grittier, uglier issues in the world and the monsters that commit those crimes, and for making the heroines just as badass as the guys. The truth is, I wanted to love these books so damn much just because of those reasons, among many more. However, and I'm about to get crazy-personal right now, my childhood and some of the awful things I had to witness and survive through in my own home make some subjects just too damn hard to read. I love books that make me laugh and cry and heartclench and sigh until I swoon, but when a book's plot brings me to a dark place and leaves me there for days after walking away from it, I just have to realize that it's not for me. That it can't be for me. I've tried time and again for months to pick up with book two (and only ever it made it a little over halfway) and even skimmed through the first parts of three and four, and while I loved the romantic chemistry and the jovial mood between friends and comrades, I just couldn't keep the dark mood from creeping in. So, it's for that reason, and only that reason, that I've decided that I need to part ways from the rest of this series. I'm far from done with Elle Kennedy and her other books, but I've already lived through dark days and I don't care for the memories that surface when I read certain things, especially when reading is supposed to be that escape from all of that in the first place.
♥ A very special thanks to Signet and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.
{I'll only be including this review on this book and not the rest of the series. I
This was just OK. No big complaints, but I wasn't fully invested in the emotional connection/relationship with the characters and the plot was just OK. Not bad, but nothing super exciting.
Seemed like it wrapped-up quickly only to setup for the next book... however a fun read and I continue to enjoy this series. I cared more about the "background" characters (I think the romance the author was setting up for the next book, so I'm excited to start the next).
Early Review:
I liked this one better than the first. If you are a fan of romantic suspense but haven't read this series, then you need to check it out. 4.5 stars!
I liked this one better than the first. If you are a fan of romantic suspense but haven't read this series, then you need to check it out. 4.5 stars!
Review posted: Happily Ever After - Reads
Blog rating: B
How much can one heroine take?! Olivia is faced with trying to finish school, taking care of her mom who’s in remission from cancer for the third time, paying all their bills with no medical insurance and working. To make ends meet, she’s secretly working at a strip club that her friend hooked her up with and she hates it. The money’s good and she’s saving every penny she has so once she graduates in one semester she can flee the city with her mom. Yup, flee – turns out her boss at the strip club is a mobster, sleazebag and he has Olivia right where he wants her. After she was attacked one night when leaving the club, she killed her attacker, but when she woke up at the hospital it was to find out that Vince got rid of the body, paid off all her bills and claimed her as his. She played the virgin card to stay out of his bed telling him that she wanted to wait and so it’s special for them, and it’s given her some time for now. But this guy is one crazy psycho who’s in deep with the mob and using his strip club as a front for drugs. Enter Luke and his team. They’ve been hired to find out if a DEA agent, working undercover to get information on the drugs running through Vince’s club, has been killed, if he’s still undercover or if he’s turned into a double agent. Luke’s been tasked with staking out the club to find out what’s going on. He sees Olivia on stage and wants her. When he finds out that she’s Vince’s “girlfriend” his team leader wants to use her to get information that only she can, being close to Vince. But Luke’s worried about the danger she’ll put herself in and they make a deal: Luke’s team will help her and mom escape if she helps them get information on Vince. Things don’t go smoothly.
Olivia is very likable and I found myself wanting something good to finally happen for this woman. She’s forced to endure Vince and his dangerous personality, so when she’s meets Luke, he’s almost too good to be true. Olivia craves stability and a normal that she wants in her life, a husband who’s home every night, someone not chasing danger. She has issues coming from her dad that make her believe that “normal” will make her happy. Luke does his best to make her believe that a life with him, even with his unconventional job, would be worth the risk. Elle Kennedy brings the sexy with these two characters. They have some steamy love scenes and their romance made for a nice balance with the death and suspense going on around them. I’m not sure I buy in to their love declarations, as not much time passes during the story, but I’m overlooking it because they were such a great couple to get to know.
There is a wide range of supporting characters that play strong roles in Midnight Alias. I’m already intrigued by most everyone especially a charming Aussie and a really broody operative nicknamed D, who’s dealing with an obvious tragedy in his past and I need to know what his story is. The primary supporting storyline went to Trevor and Isobel, and it’s a build up for their book, up next. Trevor is an operative like Luke, Isobel works for a female assassin and they do have a history together going into Midnight Alias that I assume takes place in book one of this series, which I haven’t read yet. The books read fine as stand alones so I don’t feel like I missed too much, but Trevor and Isobel were just starting to be open to a possible relationship when a promise Isobel made to help someone doesn’t happen, the repercussions hit her hard and she runs away; from her life, from Trevor and it’s a nice little cliffhanger for them that will lead well into their book - I can’t wait.
I did get a little frustrated with Luke's team though. They made it very clear they were only there to find out information about the DEA agent. When discoveries were made about what Vince was doing to the girls who work for him, Olivia wants him stopped so he can't hurt them anymore, but the guys aren't willing to jump right in. I wanted to yell at them to do the right thing and help these girls, but they were dead set on only doing their assigned mission. Thankfully, missions are meant to be changed, so things on that front worked out in the end.
I love to hate a really bad guy and Vince fits that bill. He’s so ruthless, he uses the girls in his club in horrible ways and if they cross him or dare speak up, they’re dead. There’s death, murders, suicides – don’t get too attached to anyone you meet. The deaths worked with the situations happening in the book, but it did get to a point at the end where I thought not another death, no not her! Not him too! I didn’t want to connect to anyone outside the leads for fear that they’d be dead by book’s end.
Midnight Alias is a great mix of romance, with a sexy alpha hero, strong heroine with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and a creepy bad guy that I couldn’t wait to see get his in the end. There’s a strong set up for the next book with characters that I’m already invested in and I can’t wait to see what Kennedy brings us next.
Blog rating: B
How much can one heroine take?! Olivia is faced with trying to finish school, taking care of her mom who’s in remission from cancer for the third time, paying all their bills with no medical insurance and working. To make ends meet, she’s secretly working at a strip club that her friend hooked her up with and she hates it. The money’s good and she’s saving every penny she has so once she graduates in one semester she can flee the city with her mom. Yup, flee – turns out her boss at the strip club is a mobster, sleazebag and he has Olivia right where he wants her. After she was attacked one night when leaving the club, she killed her attacker, but when she woke up at the hospital it was to find out that Vince got rid of the body, paid off all her bills and claimed her as his. She played the virgin card to stay out of his bed telling him that she wanted to wait and so it’s special for them, and it’s given her some time for now. But this guy is one crazy psycho who’s in deep with the mob and using his strip club as a front for drugs. Enter Luke and his team. They’ve been hired to find out if a DEA agent, working undercover to get information on the drugs running through Vince’s club, has been killed, if he’s still undercover or if he’s turned into a double agent. Luke’s been tasked with staking out the club to find out what’s going on. He sees Olivia on stage and wants her. When he finds out that she’s Vince’s “girlfriend” his team leader wants to use her to get information that only she can, being close to Vince. But Luke’s worried about the danger she’ll put herself in and they make a deal: Luke’s team will help her and mom escape if she helps them get information on Vince. Things don’t go smoothly.
Olivia is very likable and I found myself wanting something good to finally happen for this woman. She’s forced to endure Vince and his dangerous personality, so when she’s meets Luke, he’s almost too good to be true. Olivia craves stability and a normal that she wants in her life, a husband who’s home every night, someone not chasing danger. She has issues coming from her dad that make her believe that “normal” will make her happy. Luke does his best to make her believe that a life with him, even with his unconventional job, would be worth the risk. Elle Kennedy brings the sexy with these two characters. They have some steamy love scenes and their romance made for a nice balance with the death and suspense going on around them. I’m not sure I buy in to their love declarations, as not much time passes during the story, but I’m overlooking it because they were such a great couple to get to know.
There is a wide range of supporting characters that play strong roles in Midnight Alias. I’m already intrigued by most everyone especially a charming Aussie and a really broody operative nicknamed D, who’s dealing with an obvious tragedy in his past and I need to know what his story is. The primary supporting storyline went to Trevor and Isobel, and it’s a build up for their book, up next. Trevor is an operative like Luke, Isobel works for a female assassin and they do have a history together going into Midnight Alias that I assume takes place in book one of this series, which I haven’t read yet. The books read fine as stand alones so I don’t feel like I missed too much, but Trevor and Isobel were just starting to be open to a possible relationship when a promise Isobel made to help someone doesn’t happen, the repercussions hit her hard and she runs away; from her life, from Trevor and it’s a nice little cliffhanger for them that will lead well into their book - I can’t wait.
I did get a little frustrated with Luke's team though. They made it very clear they were only there to find out information about the DEA agent. When discoveries were made about what Vince was doing to the girls who work for him, Olivia wants him stopped so he can't hurt them anymore, but the guys aren't willing to jump right in. I wanted to yell at them to do the right thing and help these girls, but they were dead set on only doing their assigned mission. Thankfully, missions are meant to be changed, so things on that front worked out in the end.
I love to hate a really bad guy and Vince fits that bill. He’s so ruthless, he uses the girls in his club in horrible ways and if they cross him or dare speak up, they’re dead. There’s death, murders, suicides – don’t get too attached to anyone you meet. The deaths worked with the situations happening in the book, but it did get to a point at the end where I thought not another death, no not her! Not him too! I didn’t want to connect to anyone outside the leads for fear that they’d be dead by book’s end.
Midnight Alias is a great mix of romance, with a sexy alpha hero, strong heroine with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and a creepy bad guy that I couldn’t wait to see get his in the end. There’s a strong set up for the next book with characters that I’m already invested in and I can’t wait to see what Kennedy brings us next.
Find this review and more at kimberlyfaye reads.
Now that I've finished binge-reading Elle's entire Killer Instincts series, I can finally sit down and write some thoughts about each of them. I was so obsessed with these books that I couldn't even think about taking the time to write a review before jumping right into the next book. Six books, one week. Not too shabby. ;)
I liked the characters in this book a lot. Luke was a southern charmer that I couldn't get enough of. All alpha on the outside, but with quite a heart underneath. Olivia might not have been part of Noelle's crew, but she was still a strong woman. I admired her determination. Together, these two were amazing. They had tons of chemistry and even though there was a lot at stake, I couldn't help but root for them. They were just so right together.
Not only did this book have great romance and some serious heat, but it had all the action and suspense I'd come to expect from this series, even early in. The strip club setup isn't necessarily new to books, but Elle owned it and put her own spin on it. I couldn't help but wonder if Olivia would ever trust Luke, if she would be able to get away from Vince and just how everything would wrap up with this mission. I was on the edge of my seat at times – just like I want to be when reading a book like this!
Midnight Alias was a great follow-up to Midnight Rescue. Several of the underlying storylines continued into this book, which is part of the reason why I found myself bingeing on these hard. I needed to get to Trevor and Isabel's book. I had to know what the real story was between Noelle and Morgan. I wanted all of it and I wasn't going to stop until I got it. And I'm glad I didn't, because what a series!
If you like your romance wrapped up with a whole lot of suspense and action, look no further. Elle Kennedy's Killer Instincts will be your new favorite series.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Now that I've finished binge-reading Elle's entire Killer Instincts series, I can finally sit down and write some thoughts about each of them. I was so obsessed with these books that I couldn't even think about taking the time to write a review before jumping right into the next book. Six books, one week. Not too shabby. ;)
I liked the characters in this book a lot. Luke was a southern charmer that I couldn't get enough of. All alpha on the outside, but with quite a heart underneath. Olivia might not have been part of Noelle's crew, but she was still a strong woman. I admired her determination. Together, these two were amazing. They had tons of chemistry and even though there was a lot at stake, I couldn't help but root for them. They were just so right together.
Not only did this book have great romance and some serious heat, but it had all the action and suspense I'd come to expect from this series, even early in. The strip club setup isn't necessarily new to books, but Elle owned it and put her own spin on it. I couldn't help but wonder if Olivia would ever trust Luke, if she would be able to get away from Vince and just how everything would wrap up with this mission. I was on the edge of my seat at times – just like I want to be when reading a book like this!
Midnight Alias was a great follow-up to Midnight Rescue. Several of the underlying storylines continued into this book, which is part of the reason why I found myself bingeing on these hard. I needed to get to Trevor and Isabel's book. I had to know what the real story was between Noelle and Morgan. I wanted all of it and I wasn't going to stop until I got it. And I'm glad I didn't, because what a series!
If you like your romance wrapped up with a whole lot of suspense and action, look no further. Elle Kennedy's Killer Instincts will be your new favorite series.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
After reading the first book, I didn’t think I would want to continue with this series, but I was very curious about Trevor and Isabel’s story, so I ordered the next two books. This was better than the first by a little bit. 3 stars.