Move over first wave of super agents, the younger generation is here. This spin-off scenarios "Reloaded" from the original Masters & Mercenaries kicks it off fast and furious with Greg - the hacker dude. Or as I think of as "the hacker dude that barely survived at the hands of a crazy scientist".
Now that Greg is getting older, his priorities are changing. Specifically, his freedom in single life doesn't seem to be as appealing as it used to be. Insert Noelle LaVigne, a daughter of his employer's friend. I loved having Noelle show up all grown up because I also follow another series, the Butterful Bayou, which is where I first met her.
The intersection of all the various Ms. Blake's universes is so well done. Even her paranormal crosses into her kinky erotica to her sweet romance. When it comes to blending and creating ties, Ms. Blake is an expert. This is no surprise as my favourite element in Ms. Blake's writing is the ties that binds her characters together. I am a huge fan of Ian Taggart. He's immensely unique and completely unforgettable. The team he surrounds himself with are equally specialized and have proven loyal. Greg is part of the second wave of Ian's crew. Greg's maturity in his 30s makes him so much more appealing. Seeing him grown up, a leader of his team and able to handle his "shit" is a proud moment and he isn't even my child. This is how vested Ms. Blake's readers become of her characters.
Proud mama bear moment aside, Greg's interactions with Noelle are erotically charged at times and awkwardly cringeworthy in other times. I like how there needed to be some friction and getting to know each other before they decided to become involved. These stolen sexy times weave in and out of the danger Noelle finds herself in at work.
I have to say, as villains go, this one is pretty nasty and hit a little bit home. Noelle's lack of experience and insistent independence landed her into a bad situation at work. The young are so easily led astray with money, freedom and rarely ever check a contract in detail. As they say, the devil is in the details. Fortunately for Noelle, she is able to enlist Ian's company to help her figure out what happened and protect her. I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense part of this story. So evilly amoral in a business world ... something I understand only too well. Ms. Blake does an excellent job in the set up and execution of this plausible scheme.
As with all Ms. Blake books, I started a little too late at night and ended up reading through the entire night and into the wee hours of the morning. Hello Book Hangover. This erotic suspense is highly recommended to readers who like kinky nerds all grown up.
