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Delta Force #1

by Shannon K. Butcher

Als die Kryptologin Noelle Blanche vom Militär gebeten wird, an einer Geheimoperation mitzuarbeiten, lehnt sie zunächst ab. Doch dann brechen maskierte Männer mit Waffen in ihre Wohnung ein und bedrohen sie. Noelle hat keine andere Wahl, als dem attraktiven Agenten zu vertrauen, den das Militär zu ihrem Schutz entsandt hat. David Wolfe hat mit den Angreifern noch eine Rechnung offen, hat diese Terrorgruppe doch einst seine Frau auf brutale Weise ermordet. Schon bald stellt er jedoch fest, dass er tiefere Gefühle für die hübsche Noelle hegt. Kann er sie beschützen und verhindern, dass sich die Vergangenheit wiederholt?

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Romance, Contemporary, Suspense, Military Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Military Romance

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

Bestselling author Shannon K. Butcher, who now writes as Anna Argent, has written more than thirty titles since launching her career in 2007. She has three award-winning series, including the paranormal romance series The Sentinel Wars, the action-romance series The Edge, and the romantic suspense Delta Force Trilogy. Her alter ego Anna Argent also writes several series with a fresh and interesting spin on paranormal romance (The Lost Shards, The Taken and The Stone Men series) as well as a contemporary romance series set in a small town in the Ozarks. As a former engineer and current nerd, she frequently uses charts, graphs and tables to aid her in the mechanics of story design, world building and to keep track of all those colorful characters, magical powers and alternate worlds. An avid bead and glass artist, she spends her free time turning small sparkly bits into larger sparkly bits. She’s rarely on social media, so the best place to find out news about upcoming releases under either name is via her newsletter. You can sign up at AnnaArgent.com.

Reviews

[Mojca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit to being swayed in the direction of this series by browsing the author’s website, the reviews on this site, and the fact romantic suspense is one of my favorite romance genre (with PNR still being in the top spot).
I read this author’s first venture into the PNR world, and though it was similar to my two favorite series, I still wasn’t disappointed with her writing style, so I decided to give her RS work a go.

And I must say it "satisfied" me more than her paranormal work.

This was an almost perfect example of why I love suspenseful romance so much. It had a good plot, wonderful suspense and a worthy adversary in the guise of the terrorist group Swarm, great characters (along with the supporting cast – I can’t wait to read Caleb and Grant’s stories), wonderful chemistry, and some pretty hot love scenes.

And those scenes represented also the biggest problem this book had. They slowed the pacing, sometimes almost to a crawl, and I found myself often hoping the moaning and sweating in that dingy cabin in the woods would end already, so I could read more of the suspense stuff. There are some books that have such an intriguing and gripping suspense subplot that everything else almost seems redundant. Sure, the romance part was good and nicely-done, but I wouldn’t miss it if it weren’t there.
Also, there were a few parts (mostly inner monologue and reflections) that were a bit repetitive and slowed the flow of the story even more.

Still, a pretty good introduction into this Delta Force trilogy and despite all the pacing problems I can’t wait to start on Caleb’s story next.

Ms. Butcher should just stick to the suspense novels. She’s pretty good at it.

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ½ stars – Romantic Suspense

No Regrets is a pretty good romantic suspense read. The plot involves a terrorist organization’s (called the Swarm, which to me sounds more silly than it does scary) pursuit of bookworm cryptologist Noelle whom they want to crack an unbreakable code in order to steal nuclear weapons leftover from the Cold War. The CIA dispatch ex-special forces Delta Force operative David Wolfe to protect her and to persuade her to break the code for the good guys. David is a typical guilt-ridden, I-don’t-deserve-love-or-happiness hero and Noelle is a smart, but self-conscious heroine. The sexual tension between them is palpable, and when the sparks finally fly, they not only ignite but combust. No Regrets has nice character development, a good dose of action, and some pretty steamy scenes. Overall, it’s a good romantic suspense, and I enjoyed it enough to read the other two books in the series. 4 ½ stars.

[Lady Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I got used to the author's writing style, this was a really good read.

The writing, characters, and story were really good.

I liked the chemistry between the H/h, but most of all... I LOVED that the geeky girl ended up with the smokin' hot military guy (this is soo my fantasy boyfriend dream *grin*).

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first by Shannon K. Butcher. I like her writing and the storyline. Somehow lack of complicated adrenaline twist to get more star. Sexual tension repeatedly in few chapters detail description on how both H/h feel about each other make me feel like 'ahhh come on get on it already' coz I want to read about the bad guy. Not much detail about it well its thriller but more romance to me. Not right amount of balance of both.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Sentence:

"David Wolfe's past caught up with him in the parking lot of a small-town grocery store in the Rocky Mountains"

Synopsis:
From the Publisher
Renowned cryptologist Noelle Blanche refuses to have blood on her hands. So when the military asks for her help in a covert operation, she refuses-until masked gunmen raid her home and threaten her life. Suddenly it's all too clear that any blood spilled may be her own. Noelle has no choice but to trust the dangerous stranger sent by the military to safeguard her. A stranger who is everything she detests, everything she fears--and everything she desires.

NO LOOKING BACK

Former Delta Force operative David Wolfe thought he had left it all behind-the horror, the hurt, the guilt. But now the men who savagely murdered his wife have set their sights on a brilliant cryptologist who can lead them to the cache of weapons they prize. As passion ignites between David and the woman he's sworn to protect, what began as just a mission escalates into the fight of his life. But can he prevent history from repeating itself?


My Thoughts:

Butcher started this story out strong and in charge and had me anxious to turn the pages, but now I am a bit turned off by the weakness of falling in love with some guy without having any true substantial conversations.

The storyline however is hopping. I just can't wait to find out what happens. Will Noelle be able to break the code before the Swarm breaks her and David?

I was really digging this book when I first started reading it, now I am stalling and finding annoying grammar errors that don't please my reading pallet. Which shouldn't affect my reading of this story, but it is right now. Maybe it's because I picked up THE HARLEQUIN and I might want to be reading that instead, but I know that if I set this book down I might not pick it back up again and I only have like 160 more pages.

Well I am finally finished, and I am still not incredibly impressed with the plot, it seemed to just happen and it wasn't terribly suspenseful.

The book was supposed to be romantic suspense which I can agree that there was both romantic and suspenseful elements to the book but there wasn't an elegant fusion of both that I expect to find in a book of this genre.



Characterization:

Right off the bat, I figure I am going to love Noelle, she has an affinity for numbers just like I do. A geeky heroine, how can you go wrong?

I absolutely hate it when I feel the characters haven't known each other enough to fall in love and the author says they are falling. In this particular book, David hasn't really had true conversations with Noelle for her to be falling in love with him already. That just majorly turned me off right now.

I am still not pleased 100% with the character development in this story. They seem to be stagnating, and I am little disappointed with the fact that David is supposed to be Mr Delta Force and doesn't know some guy is spying on him from 200 yards away.

Keep/Swap/Library: swap

Rating: B-

[Jacqueline J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was decent. The first half dragged quite a bit and I kept putting it down for 2 or 3 days. It picked up during the second half and I finished it in about an hour. If you're looking for a nice middle of the road read and you're not too picky, it should suit. The plot made sense even if it wasn't one of my favorite types (more on that below). The romance element was nicely done. Especially in the second half of the book. Still, it had a few problems that may matter more to me than to others.

SPOILERS BELOW


First the bad guys, the Swarm. Hokey name and worse than that we are never told what kind of a terrorist group this is. Is it Al Quaeda? Home grown terrorists? Russian mafia? Canandian School Teachers? :-) I don't like it when things are vague. Second they called the hero, David, back to the military after he had been out 2 years because he was the only one who could protect this girl. Once you're out of the military, you're out. They've got plenty of other guys in Delta Force who I hope are just as good. Or should I be scared for the safety of everyone they're tasked with aiding/protecting? Third, I found it a bit ludicrous that a Colonel in the US Army felt it would be okay to kill a civilian who wouldn't help out the military. And he's a good guy? I'm kind of scared of that idea too. Fourth I had a problem with the heroine's idea that the military would use her code breaking for evil. I would have thought she'd think, 'If it's unbreakable think of all the US soldiers whose lives could be saved.' Fifth, I'm kind of tired of plots where the guy has to save the girl so she can save the world. Not everyone is the princess who, though born in a mud hut, is destined to save the world and become a goddess/queen. Sixth the book was overly wordy. A lot more telling than showing. Seventh how good of an operator is he if he is followed and doesn't even know it? If he's so good they had to call him back, shouldn't he have realized Owen was watching the whole time? If you're going to write an alpha hero, make him be good at what he does. Eighth he didn't seem very manly to me. By that I mean I was very aware that I was reading about a man written by a woman.

All that being said, I will probably try the next in the series.

[Tasnim · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a romantic suspense novel, this novel is pretty standard. There is the presence of a comically evil terrorist organization that the stoic protector heroes fight against. One of the nice surprises that set this apart is the dynamic heroine, Noelle. It would have been very easy to characterize Noelle as only brilliant of mind, fragile of body. It comes very close to that in some places. I was pleasantly surprised when even among the alpha men, she was able to shock them with her willingness to defend herself.

I was pleased when Shannon K. Butcher did not hold back from actually hurting the female heroine. It would have been very unrealistic to not do so after The Swarm (Why is it called the Swarm of all things?) was built up to be this evil organization. The moment when David breaks in to the room where she's kept and sees her was a very well written scene. However, I was confused as to why Noelle wasn't actually raped. The bad guy, Owen made it very clear his intentions to hurt David by repeating the same torture that was done to David's wife. Also, I was disappointed when there appeared to be no lasting effects of the torture to Noelle. Her recovery was glossed over to achieve the happy ending.

I feel like this book was an okay read, but lacked that visceral emotional punch to the gut that I was looking for.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I think what I thought was so boring about this book was all the code breaking business. Oh and an annoying heroine. I stand by that, she seems to become less annoying towards the end of the book. But not enough for me to really like her or think she was all that worthy of David.

Read the excerpt for the next book, and in the few pages it already seems better than this one. So I am on to book two...

[Anja H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.25 CRYPTOLOGICAL STARS*

This is exactly the kind of romantic suspense I like!
The slow burn romance, edge of your seat suspense, heck yes! I loved how Noelle knew how to handle herself and how protective (but not over the top) our male lead was.

[mysticofworlds · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was a better read than I anticipated. I liked the plot, the characters, and, to some extent, the romance.

Noelle was a nice character- intelligent, caring, and brave. She didn't come across as a too stereotypical romance heroine, and I liked how determined she was to stick to her morals and how engrossed she was by cryptology.

David... I really felt bad for what he endured. Yet, for all his protectiveness and determination, he wasn't the *best* romantic hero. He was kind of stereotypical- filled with guilt and desperate to keep Noelle away to protect her.

The plot was pretty interesting... in the more fantastical books that I've read by this author, the plots sometimes dragged, but this one, while not very complex, was something I could get into.

The romance... well, I felt like the characters did have some chemistry. It's just that it was so heavily based on lust. I get why the two would like each other in terms of personality and abilities, but I guess it just feels like if it had been another intelligent, pretty woman David was protecting (especially after 2 years of no interaction with women) it would still be the same outcome... he'd still fall in love. Or if it had been another strong, protective man guarding Noelle, she'd still fall in love. There wasn't anything particularly unique or captivating about the romantic connection.

Overall, though, this was a better read than expected, and I will definitely finish the series.

[Jane Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talented writer. Excellent writing style. Well done romantic suspense.

STORY BRIEF:
Information about hidden nuclear weapons has been encoded in a document. No cryptologist has been able to decode it. The Swarm is a group of bad guys who plan to kidnap Noelle and force her to decode it for them. Noelle is an Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematical Linguistics. She does cryptology as a hobby. The US military has repeatedly asked Noelle to work for them, but she refuses because she hates violence. David is a former Special Forces agent who left the military after the Swarm tortured and killed his wife. Because David was able to kill a number of Swarm members in the past, the military has asked him to protect Noelle.


REVIEWER’S OPINION:
What a talent! Excellent concepts, ideas and writing style. I’m impressed! The characters and plot were similar to those in typical romance novels, but what makes this book special is the writing style and many of the phrases. I was surprised and chuckling many times throughout the book. These weren’t profound ideas, but gently unexpected and enjoyable thoughts. One example is in Spoilers below. The love scenes were well done, heated and strongly sensual. I liked Noelle’s open honesty when she was physically attracted to David, when others might have been too shy to say what she said. Warning for sensitive readers: the story includes some unsettling torture scenes.

CAUTION SPOILERS:
Below is an excerpt as an example of the interesting writing style.

Page 64: Noelle is at a safe house with US military people. Col. Monroe wants information from her and she has her own questions. He asks her a question, she says “No. First you tell me where I am.” “Monroe looked over his shoulder to where David was lounging against the wall, looking bored. The older man’s expression was written clearly with a this-is-all-your-fault look. As he turned back to Noelle, a faint, indulgent smile tugged at Monroe’s mouth. “Okay. You’re in southern Colorado at a CIA safe house.” Noelle felt a surge of victory, but tried to keep it from showing on her face. “Who were those men who broke into my house?” Monroe shook his head. “First you answer my question. How far had you gotten in your development?” “More than halfway.” It seemed like a vague enough answer. Truthful, but holding no real information. Oh yeah, she could play this game. “How long would it take you to complete the work?” Monroe asked. “Who were those men?” she countered. “They were members of a terrorist group called the Swarm,” he answered with a knowing grin, matching her vagueness and raising her an ounce of frustration.”

I did have one complaint about the story. I wanted to know how Owen was able to follow David and Noelle to the cabin. The author did not explain. My best guess is some sort of tracking device, but I doubt it was on David’s car because Owen didn’t know beforehand that David would be rescuing Noelle. If a tracking device was with Noelle, it could have been in her laptop, because she didn’t take her purse or phone. I suppose someone could have put it in her laptop while she was teaching a class – I don’t know. I wish I did.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
The back of the book has a paragraph about Shannon learning to write from her husband who is a bestselling author. She lives “with her husband and son, where conversations at the dinner table are more often about things someone made up than about anything that’s actually happened.” I’d love to be at the dinner table with them hearing them brainstorm and discuss book ideas. There were a lot of good ideas in this book, which I can easily imagine coming from that dinner table.

DATA:
Story length: 332 pages. Sexual language: moderate/strong. Number of sex scenes: 4. Total number of sex scene pages: 24. Setting: current day Kansas, Colorado and other US locations plus Russia. Copyright; 2007. Genre: romantic suspense.

OTHER BOOKS:
I’ve reviewed the following Shannon K. Butcher books.
5 stars. No Regrets. Copyrt 2007. Review Date 10/13/08.
3 stars. No Control. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 10/16/08.
3.5 stars. No Escape. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 10/23/08.
2 stars. Love You To Death. Copyrt 2009. Review Date 3-5-10.

[Michelle [Helen Geek] · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars.

I really liked this book and it is interesting how I found it... It came up a few times on my GR recommendation and so I go to B&N to check the price and it was $7.99 or more, so I marked it to read and then thought to wait until I heard more about it or it came down in price. It came down in price and I needed a good book, so TOP of the TBR pile [kudo's to the marketing ploy - worked on me!!].

I really loved David. And, Noelle seemed like a friend. We all have those quirky friends we see as really attractive and smart, but they really don't see themselves the same way nor does it matter terribly to them... and are really wrapped up in work or school - this was Noelle. She seemed very familiar to me which made the story all the more enjoyable. I really liked her moxie.

I read the "thanks to" portion of the book -- I usually do this to see who the author thanks; friends, spouses, dogs/cats, kids, friends, etc. It tells you a bit about them and sometimes they can be rather humorous. Jim Butcher... I have never read Jim Butcher, but have him on my TBR pile as an author to try [before hearing about Shannon]. Everything I read about his books are very good, but I have to be "in the mood" to read his manner of story. I thought, his wife Shannon ... has to be good - right? And, I really needed a good book [think I said this already].

So, loved the characters [David & Noelle]; loved their back stories - just enough. Plus, the intro of the secondary characters and their stories; Caleb and Grant. I liked the premise of the story -- very believable and you have to imagine a "could happen". She tied up lose ends I'd note thoughout the book very nicely - like making salad for dinner when you they were on the run, then later a few pages it mentions stopping buy a superstore to replenish necessary clothes and food stuffs -- so, I'm good and back on track. The only think a little uggy to me was no mention of bathing, but rather cleaning up - for weeks, I noted it, but then moved past.

Well, the marketing ploy worked on me -- I loved the story so much I went out and bought the next two in the series and paid full price. Really enjoyable romantic suspense with a bit of a military twist.

Happy Reading!!

[Nicolesouders · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first read the synopsis I was pretty drawn to this book. The story line looked pretty interesting and i loved the characters of David and Noelle i thought they had pretty good chemistry and the sexual tension between them that kept the first half of the book interesting. The hook instantly brought me into the book and i really enjoyed most of this book except for the end.

'contains spoilers'

Toward the end when Noelle was captured by the Swarm i was pretty iffy about David reaction to it. I know he felt the panic about losing Noelle but i didn't feel the large his urgency to get to his lover, but more of a need to right his duty because he failed to protect an innocent. When David did reach her i'm still not sure i like his reaction. As much as it makes sense to be frozen in fear for the women had just suffered torture the least he could do was make to check if she was still alive, freezing, and tied to a chair. When David and Noelle tired to resolve things at the hospital i really liked how he got jealous with Caleb and Noelle but i felt like all they done was finally clear the guilt he had over Mary's death. I didn't feel his guilt over letting her get tortured or strong feelings of love for her. I can clearly see David's love for his deceased wife but i felt that it over powers his love for Noelle. I don't feel the true love most romance novels have, but instead David love for Noelle lessens in comparison to his for Mary, despite the steamy love scenes in the middle of the book. In the end I though it was to much of David and Mary for it to be a romance between David and Noelle. The novel could have the potential for David to really show his love but the end came way to fast for that to happen. As much as i really really liked the rest of the book the end leaves me with to many issues that is sure to leave me grumpy and bothered for the rest of the day. I don't think i'm going to continue reading the rest of the novels in the series.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually I try to do these Romance Roundups after reading a handful of paperback romances. This time, that handful just happens to be a trilogy written by Shannon K. Butcher (her husband, Jim Butcher, writes the Dresden Files books). Usually I try to find some unifying characteristic between the books in each roundup. Besides the obvious reason for the books being a trilogy (the three heroes are best friends and served together in the Delta Force [a vaguely described top-secret special ops division of the military]). The other thing these men share in common is that they all have their own skeletons in the closet that leave them thinking they don't deserve the love of a good woman.

In No Regrets, former Delta Force operative David Wolfe thought that he had left the military behind him, but when he's called in to protect another woman from the terrorist group that killed his wife, he finds himself in the midst of everything he left behind after she died. Noelle Blanchard, the most talented cryptologist in the nation, is being targeted by that group and David is assigned to protect her. The terrorist group, called 'The Swarm' is refreshingly unidealistic. Rather than following the stereotype of radical Muslim terrorist, the Swarm is merely interested in making as much money as they can selling stolen defense secrets to the highest bidder.

This one is definitely my favorite because David & Noelle are such a perfect match for each other. They're both idealists and good people to the core and they continually challenge each other to be better. And yet it never becomes sickeningly sappy. This is definitely a case of 1+1=more than 2.

[Leeann Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to have given this novel 5 stars simply because of the great story and character set up. However, it wrapped up so quickly in the final 3 chapters of the book, that I was disappointed. The heroine, Noelle, is steadfast throughout, terrified and believably vulnerable. She toughens up a little, due to her horrendous circumstances, but remains herself. David, the hero is a hard, special ops alpha male nearly the entire book. Once his rock hard war buddies show up though, the guys speak with each other like a bunch of hens in a coffee clutch. It turned me off, men do not communicate like this. In addition, I find it absurd that after Noelle is held captive, tortured, rescued and hospitalized, that she still has to console the hero about his self imposed failures. Really!?

I would recommend this read. It is a great story, even if the ending flops for this reader.

Leeann

[Jae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read, but I had a hard time swallowing the ending.

First off, the Owen guy was caught and killed off too easily for my liking. He was supposedly the top guy in the Swarm and very evil. I'd expected him to survive the raid and make a come back in book #2 at least. The top evil guy is usually very hard to kill, it's the rule...

And secondly the way David just gave up on Noelle and decided to leave her all together. That was not very gentlemanly of him, which he prided himself to be. I hate that, when someone sacrifices his own life and happiness just to make other people happy. You should make yourself happy first, if the other person couldn't handle it then, too damn bad..

But I still enjoyed it, and will head out to Caleb's story next.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this was released in 2007 it has a feeling of timelessness to it and was very easy to fall into and to keep turning pages to the end.

David and Noelle may be worlds apart but together they make perfect sense as a couple when they finally give in to their mutual attraction. He would die for her and vice versa, happily that was not necessary and even more happily the villains were overcome and justice was served.

Reading book 2 No Control asap!

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm giving this book a hard 2 stars. There wasn't anything that hooked me good- everything was just kinda 'eh'. There seemed to be some good ideas or moments that tried to break free, but in the end I think it was just mediocre.

I really wanted to like this book, but was hoping for more. Not sure if I'm going to read the other 2 in this series or if I'm even going to keep this in my personal library. Most likely no to both.

[ette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I read this romance novel because I really enjoy the work of her husband, author, Jim Butcher. She's not a bad writer, but it's a romance novel..... I think it could have been an interesting story if the secret-government-spy stuff could have been flushed out and the romance been a part of the larger story, but, alas...

[MaggieReadsRom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cryptologist Noelle Blanche has no idea that an assignment from the U.S. Army she turned down will be the start of a series of events she never thought would happen in her quiet, uneventful life. When it turns out that a terrorist organization called "The Swarm" has possession of the same cipher text leading to hidden weapons from the Cold War, the threat on her life becomes imminent and former special agent David Wolfe is brought back into Delta Force to guard Noelle. David has a past with The Swarm and protecting Noelle isn't his only motive for returning to Delta Force. After a few attempts on Noelle's life they camp out in a remote and deserted cabin where Noelle works on the decoding the text, David plans his revenge on The Swarm, old acquaintances, both friendly and hostile, pop up and the shimmering attraction between David and Noelle develops into full-fledged passion.

Noelle epitomizes the brainy, rational, analytical and brave scientist. She has no clue about her own attraction and men have never been a priority in her life. She lives for her work and her family. In order to save her own and David's life Noelle needs to make some uncharacteristic decisions. These decisions aren't to be taken lightly and they go against her nature and everything she has always said she would never do. This makes her a great character in the book. She was a true heroine in every sense of the word.
David is the personification of a covert operative. He is cool and aloof, masculine and skilled in combat, gruff and merciless. But he is also guilt-ridden by his past failure to save the woman he loved from The Swarm. He is hesitant when he's asked back into Delta Force for the assignment of protecting Noelle. He's afraid he'll fail again and another life will be lost. But Noelle brings instincts and feelings to life he thought were long dead.

There are many secondary characters in this book. Almost all of them are connected to David. His commanding officer in Delta Force, his fellow operatives from Delta Force and of course the bad guy who was crucial in David's past dealings with The Swarm. The bond between David and his former buddies from Delta Force, Caleb Stone and Grant Kent is great. They tease each other but they know they can count on each other when it counts or when one of them is in trouble.
David is the earnest, responsible and cautious one. Caleb is the brooding, silent and intuitive one. Grant is the one who comes across as goofing of and womanizing with a wicked sense of humor, but there's much more to him than meets the eye. Just from their small roles in this book, I am very curious to know what Caleb's and Grant's stories will bring to the table in this trilogy.

The first two chapters of this book had me on the edge of my seat and the rest took me on the thrilling ride these two chapters promised.
My first encounter with Shannon K. Butcher's writing gave me a realistic and suspenseful love story, filled with nail biting action sequences, scorching sensuality, genuine characters and an interesting and intriguing plot. For me it's a true promise for the future and another addition to the romantic suspense section on my bookshelves.

With small fragments of the enemy's point of view you just know there's so much more to be unraveled in the suspense plot. And there is. Butcher sets this up brilliantly by slowly feeding the reader facts and knowledge to get to the bottom of the plot. She does the same with the characters; bit-by-bit she reveals their pasts, their personalities and their backgrounds. As a reader you have the feeling you really get to know them throughout the book.

Besides the great plot and characters, Butcher's writing style is very agreeable and fluent which allowed me to get through the book quick and easy but by no means is it a breezy, light read. I was grateful for Noelle and David's nice sense of humor that popped up now and then and the subtle humor played a big part in providing counter-balance to the sometimes-brutal suspense.
It seems like lately every romantic suspense book I pick from my reading pile is a winner.

Shannon K. Butcher proves to be no different. She knows how to set up a romantic suspense from the get go and keep me enthralled with a story of suspense and romance that rivals with other great authors I've read in this genre.

[Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough tension building.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love bread-and-butter romantic suspense: heroine in trouble, hero haunted by his past and assigned to protect. It's a winning formula. Sure, I like it more when the heroine can save herself or at least participate, but I rely on paranormal and fantasy romances to meet that need. No Regrets was everything that is wrong with that predictable formula:
-Evil vague enemy without any clear agenda:
-Brilliant but naive heroine in need of protection and sexing up - and has inexplicably never had an orgasm
-Uber-masculine hero haunted by his past who immediately lusts after heroine and spends much of the book dealing with "painful arousal"

Every single event was according to formula, without any humor or creativity or really interest. I skimmed through the sex scenes, for heaven's sake. Plus, you spend most of the book wishing you could tell the characters to "Look out behind you!" The worst part, though: aside from the genius heroine, no one seems to be very good at what they do. The bad-ass hero and his mates not only ignore the heroine's spidey sense, they get beaten pretty easily in a stupid way. And then the evil competent enemy proves to be an idiot too. These are supposed to be the experts?

[MsRomanticReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Wolfe left Delta Force two years ago after the violent death of his wife, Mary. One day he's approached by his superior, who tells him that he's being called back in to protect a female scientist who is being targeted by the Russian terrorist group, The Swarm. David's guilt over not having been able to save his wife is incentive enough for him to accept the mission and get his revenge on the people who killed his wife.

Noelle Blanche is one of six of the most intelligent cryptologists in the world. When she turns down a government grant in exchange for her services of deciphering a secret code that is believed to show the locations of nuclear warheads that went missing during the Cold War, she soon finds herself in the middle of a deadly chase to capture her. The Swarm and the US government both want to get their hands on her. She's nearly captured in her own home, when David shows up whisks her away to his boss. When it's made clear to her that her knowledge is far to dangerous to end up in the wrong hands, she's told that she will be terminated. David already feels some sort of connection with her and won't allow an innocent to be harmed, no matter what. Another attempt on her life makes it clear that there's a leak so they make a run for it. And so the cat and mouse game begins.

David is the tortured hero who is wracked with guilt over his wife's death, and the fact that his line of work brought danger to their doorstep. He spends a good majority of the story fighting his attraction to Noelle. Noelle, on the other hand is a geek with little romantic experience. I admired her tenacity and her strength in dealing with her situation, but also for how she slowly worked her way under his skin. She showed more courage than I would have ever given her credit for.

We get a few glimpses of the bad guy told from his POV, and he's one sick SOB. There's one grisly moment when we find out exactly what happened to Mary, David's wife, and it was not pretty. In fact, the chapter should have come with a warning. Needless to say, it made me reach for the Kleenex.

This was a nail-biter, with lots of sweet romantic moments. The showdown was a bit anti-climatic, so that's why it gets four stars instead of five.

[SoBeA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a pretty great Romatnic Suspense novel... It took me a while to warm up to the heroine, but by the end, she turned into a favorite.... She doesn't simper! and she doesn't just take what the Hero offers, because he's just so hot, and gorgeous, and strong, and etc that she just can't help herself. She wants it all or nothing, which is just so damn refreshing, it's hard not to love her!

The hero was pretty asesome as well, though he proved to be a bit more frustrating then the heroine. He wasn't a man whore, he wasn't an asshole, but he could be willfully blind, which in turn made me want to kick him a few times...Despite that one tendency, he was easy to like as well.

As for the story....It's already been summarized so I'll just say it's more focused on romance then suspense, but they're both heavily present (Maybe 60 % romance and 40% suspense) and it keeps you entertained all the way to the last page, despite a rather quick end to the big bad villain. It also wasn't as detailed in the back stories of either character, nor did it give a lot of detail into why the bad guys were bad (rather we just got vague descriptions) though neither of those detract from the story.



I think my only major dissapointment was that the romantic aspect of the story was resolved a bit too easily; I'd have preferred the H having time to himself to think through things, instead of being guilt ridden through 99% of the book, then in the last pages realize he has no reason to feel guilty. Other then that though, this was a really well written story, and has earned its place on my keeper shelf :)

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say I am a bit disappointed,but maybe I expected too much.Since I had the second one "no control" for a wile and it was one of my favorites I kinda expected this one to live up to my expectations.Well...it didn't but it was quite a nice read.
It started really well.The whole idea was intriguing and the characters have debt, but somewhere in the middle it kind of lost me. David just kept repeating he didn't wanna live trough the same thing that happened with his wife. I understand that he loved her and that he blamed himself but..come on man...just stop with the whining.Apart from that and the fact that he realized his feelings and all in the last page(which really irritated me cause he kept repeating the same stuff all over again ) I liked the book.
Shannon Butcher is a great author and love her work.After all that book is part of a trilogy and we all know that most of the time the the books get better after the first one. :P
Now that I've spilled my criticism , let's get to the good part.
I just love those military guys with their great bodies and even more when they get all macho and protective!!!
Another thing that I adore is the friendship between this guys.They are so funny and adorable when they are together and the way they help and support each other is enough to make you melt :P . We see them together a lot more than in the other books and for that we have to thank Shannon ( Thank you Shannon : "bows" )
Well... I got tired of writhing so I'm just going to let you guys to read for yourself and not going to spoil the fun :P
Good luck. I sincerely recommend this book!!! "thumbs up"

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noelle and David Renowned cryptologist Noelle Blanche refuses to have blood on her hands. So when the military asks for her help in a covert operation, she refuses--until masked gunmen raid her home and threaten her life. Suddenly it's all too clear that any blood spilled may be her own. Noelle has no choice but to trust the dangerous stranger sent by the military to safeguard her. A stranger who is everything she detests, everything she fears...and everything she desires.
Former Delta Force operative David Wolfe thought he had left it all behind--the horror, the hurt, the guilt. But now the men who savagely murdered his wife have set their sights on a brilliant cryptologist who can lead them to the cache of weapons they prize. As passion ignites between David and the woman he's sworn to protect, what began as just a mission escalates into the fight of his life. But can he prevent history from repeating itself?

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of my friends read this book and pressured me to do the same. At first I tried to avoid it because it seemed like a typical harlequin romance. Finally I gave in...and I'm glad I did. :) It is a bit of a cheesy romance novel with two characters who seem to have sex on the mind 24/7 while at the same time being pursued by some scary terrorist group. But No Regrets has a thrilling and interesting plot that starts right at the beginning, and it was honestly very hard to put the book down. I also liked Noelle - she's an intelligent, slightly awkward young woman who still gets the guy. A classic piece of literature? No. A fun, exciting novel that reads very fast? Yes!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Registered on Bookcrossing - http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9...

Fabulous romantic suspense! I don't remember if I have read anything by this author before, but this won't be my last book. I love the characters.

[Harisa- EsquiredToRead · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to really suspend belief on the “suspense” part but otherwise enjoyable time sucking romance novel.

I find it very funny that I picked up the Dresden files as I’m reading both Butchers for the first time. Hah.

[Linda C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Noelle Blanche, cryptologist, have been working on a program to crack codes, but after more than half complete she realizes that the end product could be manipulated for evil purposes. Her personal principles will not allow that. She stops work on it. But not before the military and The Swarm (the bad guys) have gotten wind of it. The military offers a huge grant for her research. She refuses, but before they have time to try to change her mind she is attacked in her home. David Wolfe, former Delta Force operative is coerced into being her protection and saves her. So begins an action packed tale with them on the run. Good start to a trilogy about three friends in Delta Force. Looking forward to then next one.