I had high hopes for this book, the 14th in the superb Ghostwalker series.. Oftentimes with romance, I end up detesting the heroine who is either a doormat or one who fights the hero every step of the way. I love reading about women who are cerebral and strong without being annoying. I love a good, kind, sweet and likable heroine who is strong but doesn't fight against everything. Zara Hightower met all my expectations. Zara is a friend of Bellisia, the heroine of the previous book and as children they grew up as Peter Whitney’s experiments. Zara has grown into a sophisticated young woman who can store computer information in a storage unit in her brain and she can call up venom under her nails as her defense weapon.
The hero, Gino Mazzo, has a tragic back story. When his parents and both sets of grandparents were slaughtered, standing in front of gunfire to shield a ten year old Gino, he went to live with family friend, Joe Spagnola, and followed his friend into the military and the Ghostwalker program. Gino has a deadly edge to him that keeps him apart from everyone. Joe is in the swamps recovering from a brutal attack from Violet. The team gets a call from their commanding general that a Ghostawalker female is being held prisoner in enemy territory in China and needs extraction. Despite not knowing anything about this woman or that Whitney maybe leading them into a trap, Team Four make the decision to risk their lives to save a fellow Ghostwalker in danger. Gino takes the lead to grab Zara from her tormentor and get her out.
Gino is my favorite type of hero, possessive, dangerous, and domineering, but also gentle and supportive with the woman he adores. Zara is recuperating form a brutal beating by the villain and her friend, Bellisia, was understandably is concerned that kind, sweet, compassionate Zara was being coerced into a sense of safety with the very dominant Gino. But all along Gino gave Zara a choice to be with him, to choose him, “No one is going to stop me but Zara. She has only to say she would prefer someone else and I’m gone.” This is a relationship that is built on choice, trust, and emotional depth.
The sex scenes were perfectly written and well-time. Gino and Zara took time to know each other before sex, the first sex scene didn’t happen until page 240 which was just fine by me because I was so engrossed in the action, the family, dynamics of another Ghostwalker female being welcome onto team four folds, and the exhilarating action. This is the type of action/fantasy/romance that I love, where the reader gets to know more about the characters as individuals and watch as their embers ignite slowly between the hero and heroine into a believable relationship that will last.
The villain in the story, Bolan Zhu, was a vile, evil sociopath. Bolan had absolutely no redeeming qualities, he reveled in exacting pain and torture on others. Too often the evil villain is just a prop to drive conflict. I want the villain/bad guys to suffer, no getting off the hook. Gino is the man who villains don’t mess with.
The strength of this story arc is how Wyatt’s grandmere, Nonny, has become the center that welcomed a rudderless team of Ghostwalkers and now they are building a fortress in the swamps, a refuge for women and children slated for extermination because they dare defy Peter Whitney, and in Zara’s case, a monster set out to possess her. I love how Nonny has taken these motherless young women, who were treated as chattel as children under Whitney, and provides motherly affection and guidance Zara, Pepper, Cayenne, and Bellisia never had growing up. Nonny give Zara some profound advice about relationships, “It’s the little things that make or break a relationship, don’t think he’s going tot know or anticipate what you need…communicate it to him.” I hope that Nonny will be around for several more books. The story arc would be bereft without her presence.
Covert Game was wonderful escapist fantasy, I loved every moment spent with Team Four, the badass Cayenne and Bellisia, deadly but sweet Pepper, our beloved Nonny, and the three “viper chicklits.” I feel at home with team four and Zara’s addition makes the team much stronger.