Hard Target

by Barbara Phinney

Under siege, her life and her heart...

Sgt. Dawna Atkinson has worked hard for her South American embassy posting. She'd also taken the blame for a shared indiscretion with her instructor, Tay Hastings.

But when her embassy is bombed, she comes under the microscope all the more. Worse still, her unit sends Tay to search for any mistakes she's making.

Things go from bad to worse when a sniper tries to eliminate both Dawna and Tay within hours of Tay's arrival.

Tay had tried to take the blame for that one night of passion, but when that failed, he quit his instructor's post. But circumstances force him not to reveal any of this.

Dawna has her own secrets. She inwardly questions if Tay is somehow linked to the sniper, who later is discovered murdered. Did Tay panic when the sniper called Dawna and promised to reveal all to her?

As the investigation heats up, and danger lurks around every crowded corner, Dawna and Tay find their relationship is also heating up. And with a killer who can create bombs, use a sniper rifle, and poison the embassy staff, Dawna must set aside her hurt or risk many lives. And Tay must set aside the distrust deep within him.

What Dawna and Tay can't set aside is their growing attraction. And that may just get them both killed.

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Romance

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 9, 2012

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

not a bad book at all, especially for a freebie. the main characters are canadian, a nice change! the hero and heroine have tangled up in the past, to the detriment of only the heroine's career, and she is understandably worried what the hero's presence at her south american embassy posting mean for her both professionally and personally.

[Joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is the 9th one in a Romance Super Bundle. It is by far the least interesting and least professionally written of the books in this bundle. The awkward use of simple past tense verbs where past perfect verbs were called for gave the writing an immature tone, and the plot just didn't seem to flow.

[Taylor Michaels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three years earlier, Sergeant Dawna Atkinson was caught fraternizing with her instructor Tay Hastings. The brunt of the blame was heaped on the heroine who has spent the last three years working through a list of security assignments which were designed to make her leave the service.

Now she is assigned to manage the security for the Canadian Embassy in Peru. When a bomb blast takes place, Tay Hasting is sent to investigate and assist. Despite her continued attraction to Tay, Dawna is suspicious that he’s been sent to drive out of service. Tay has multiple issues to deal with and unfortunately one of them is to see that Dawna returns to Canada in disgrace. In addition, he is working on an undercover assignment which prohibits him from disclosing all his activities to her. This layer of “cat and mouse” between the couple is interesting to watch unfold.

As circumstances escalate the couple is forced in each other’s company more and must deal with the escalating threats, a murder, and attempted murders.

Kudos to the author for her research and homework. It provided rich detail to the locale and culture of Peru. The only complaint that I have is that the romantic part of this story was extremely slow to develop and leaned heavily on the suspense and mystery aspects to move the story along for the first half of the book. However, their relationship begins to develop beyond an emotional standoff between them. By the end of the book it was a satisfying read.

I will disclose this story is a sweet romance. If you like your romantic suspense on the “hot side” you will be disappointed. For me, I like a good story and this one provides many twists and turns. Definitely a book I’d recommend.

[Stephen Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Danger Lurks At Our Embassy

This a long and winded story of love wrapped around a motive for revenge. Murder and lies abound, and towards the end will the guilty come to light. I had to read the entire book, because it is my habit. I want to know! Pass this work by.

[2BusyMom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure of all editions of this book, but my edition came without page breaks when the scene or point of view changed and that made the book hard to follow. The story was interesting, better than a lot of the freebie books that I have read.

[Merle · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was OK. Pretty sketchy detail and too bad, since you don't often find suspense about Canadian spooks(!).

[Shelley Des Forges · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read this author again - classic detective story set in southa america

[Coco.V]

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