Demons are Forever

Elite Operatives #5

by Kim Baldwin, Xenia Alexiou

Behind closed doors, everyone suffers from some kind of demon.Veteran Elite Operative Landis “Chase” Coolidge’s latest mission requires every bit of her considerable tracking skills because she has to locate a colleague kidnapped by a brilliant scientist responsible for the deaths of millions. Former op Phantom is along for the ride, desperate to find her missing lover.By day, Heather Snyder works in the New York fashion industry. But her secret life as a high-class call girl thrusts her into the middle of a global black market organ-harvesting ring and draws the interest of the EOO.No stranger to the world of call girls, Chase revels in her latest assignment, until she discovers that Heather is the one woman who can change her roguish ways.Fifth in the romantic intrigue Elite Operatives.

Genres: Lesbian, LGBT, Romance, Action, Thriller, Crime, Adventure

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2012

About the author

Kim has made her living as a writer for more than three decades, working as an Emmy-winning journalist in network news for twenty years before she began penning fiction. She resides in a national forest in Michigan, with few neighbors and a long drive to get to the nearest airport, movie theater, or ethnic restaurant. She never imagined herself a novelist, her first book, Hunter’s Pursuit, was written as a way to fight off cabin fever during a long winter and was sent off to a publisher at the encouragement of friends. The positive feedback she received from readers hooked her to continue writing more romantic lesbian adventures.
Travel is a major obsession. Kim first went to Europe at age fourteen, traveling with her parents on a five week excursion through a dozen countries. Four years later, she returned as part of a singing and dancing troupe, performing in town squares and castles and staying with local families.
The decades since have been filled with many more far-flung excursions... riding a camel at the Pyramids of Giza, crossing the U.N. green line at Cyprus, dogsledding above the Arctic Circle in Alaska, watching Paris awaken from atop Notre Dame Cathedral, motorcycling the Blue Ridge parkway, watching shuttles launch from a kayak near Cape Canaveral, skiing Whistler/Blackcomb, British Columbia, climbing Diamondhead in Hawaii. Her travels and journalism background provide great fodder for her novels. And her younger years in community theater have paid off in her new passion--narrating audiobooks.
Kim is a member of PAN (Published Author’s Network), Romance Writers of America, and the Rainbow Romance Writers, Chapter #217 of the RWA. She's also a 2008 Recipient of an Alice B. Readers Appreciation Award The Alice B. Medal: This award is given annually to living writers who have careers distinguished by consistently well-written stories about lesbians. The award is given once, only, in appreciation of career achievement. (from the author's website)

Reviews

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I know that the set-up for these books should be getting old now - i.e. hot but emotionally distant super spy that hooks up with the main female character not in the same super spy club... but I keep coming back for more!!

These are a piece of massive escapism, all in a world where every single female member of the super spy club is a lesbian, where every single one of them has been effectively prohibited from having "serious" relationships because they are living their covers, but have to be able to drop everything at a moments notice. It should be terrible, but it totally is not.

I have fallen further in love with these characters after each installment and look forward eagerly to the next book.

Bravo for providing the lesbian rebuttal to all of those awful airport "action" novels with guns on the front - move over Tom Clancy, the girls are in town.

[susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow...5

All I can say is Jack and chase are funny together. But I did like how they worked out their past. It was a great wrap up from the storyline from dying to Live. But gives you idea of what is going to happen in the next. Off to read book 6...I would definitely recommend this book.

[Justina Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fifth book in the ‘Elite Operatives’ series makes it extremely clear to me that these books should be read in sequence. Yes! All are increasingly thrilling with selectively yet delicately erotic offsetting moments that are simply brilliant. The primary focus in book five revolves around the dramatic conclusion of book four. Book five then develops several incredible threads that tumble into book six, where I was not able to fully appreciate them as I might have since I read book six first. These books form such masterfully developed, richly elaborate, and overarching story elements making them equal to some of the best book series I have ever read.

Chase, aka Landis Coolidge, is a wonderfully talented graphic novelist. In the land of operatives, a fit, trim, and a top rated ETF (Elite Tactical Force). She is also haunted by her experiences, her abilities, and her losses. She is incredibly sexy and that is saying a lot within this classy group.

Amber, aka Heather Snyder, is a talented and innovative dress designer yet to be recognized. Additionally, she needs a great deal of money to help support her very ill brother and so she also works as a high-class call girl. Her only client pays very handsomely. Yet he turns out to be a linchpin in the worldwide search for the über-villain from book four. Against her better judgment but well within her emotional foundation, Heather is cajoled and manipulated into helping Chase and Jack, from books three and six, find the über-villain.

It has been a honey of a ride going from book one to book six. The elaborately intricate, tense storylines, the extraordinary primary characters with their heartwrenching yet elevating love connections, and the pulsating multiple cliffhangers combine to produce a top of the line reading experience. Please, someone make a movie out of one or all of these books!



NOTE: This book was provided by Bold Strokes Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this whole series...It gets a little predictive (just a little) after the 3rd book, but it's still a lot of fun. I'd love to see the movie if they made it.

[Dide · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series seriously keeps getting better. The writing is far more mature, confident, captivating and woven so well as i progress through.
In retrospect, i will suggest reading the books serially. Though one may not be so enamoured when picking the first two in the series (I wasn't) but it gives good foundation for the characters to come. And certainly readers won't be disappointed as you progress through the series.

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second favourite EOO book after Missing Lynx, just because in addition to all that we expect from the EOO series, this was so funny as well. The repartee between long-time friends Landis and Jack is hilarious. And yes, Heather is a call girl but I like how it was not simply glossed over nor was it overly serious. It's just what she does and Landis likes too. I was completely surprised and just laughed out loud at one of Heather's line "Would it help if you paid me?" hahaha :p Anyway, very fun read, very sexy read, and I would watch the hell out of it if it was a movie! :)

[Nickie Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 5 in the series and I keep telling myself I will move on to something else for a while but before I finish it I have to buy the next one. They are a little mixed up at the beginning but midway through everything starts to come together. I love the characters and hope book six has more of the same. Good quick read.

[wsuds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is amazing and I’m quite upset at myself for not picking it up ealier.

[Nairne Holtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baldwin and Alexiou’s lesfic romantic suspense series, Elite Operatives, borrows heavily from popular culture: gifted children are plucked from orphanages and raised in a boarding school where they are trained to do global black op missions. As adults, these lesbian operatives have a certain amount of baggage (being an assassin takes its toll) that has kept them from finding “the one.” Each novel is a combination romance / James Bond movie where strong women defy all odds to save the day and find true love, and Demons Are Forever is my favourite in the series. In this story, we meet operative Landis Coolidge, a Pez collector who writes graphic novels and only has sex with prostitutes because NO FEELINGS. Unfortunately, Landis’ new mission involves FEELINGS. She has to work with her despised ex-best friend, another operative who went rogue, and cozy up to a beautiful femme lesbian, Heather, a “high class escort.” Heather doesn’t care for having sex with men for money but has her reasons. That changes when she discovers her biggest client is involved in a black-market organ-harvesting ring and killed her only friend. Demons Are Forever is non-stop action and hot and creative sex scenes coupled with great banter between the ex-best-friend operatives. Baldwin and Alexiou manage (just barely) to veer away from the sometime sexist clichés of lesfic (butches-as-the-heroes, femmes-as-the-saved, hookers-with-hearts-of-gold). The jet-setting series would be better with more (any?) women of colour as characters but, that aside, these books are a lot of fun.

[Hud-c · Rating 4 out of 5]

DATE STARTED & FINISHED: Jan 27

Demons are Forever is book 5 of the Elite Operatives series. Just like the previous one, there are some subplots injected in the story. Which I found really appealing and compelling. Because I'm a Jack's fan. Thus, I read this not because of whose the main character, which is Chase aka Landis Koolidge, but because I wanted to know badly, if Jack and Cassady aka Lynx would get back together.

This book is funny. Jack and Chase were former best friends before Jack deserted the EOO and some unknown event had made Chase change and hate Jack. The anger Chase felt, she released through sarcastic commentaries and rebuttals against Jack. I found their dialogues amusing. Even there's the drama, this is still a light-read and also a page-turner.

So far this my second favorite book of this series, the first is Missing Lynx.

Another thing, my guesses weren't quite correct about Jack and Monty although this book has enlightened me about the truth between them. I'm just wondering how Jack and the EO members would take it if they will know.

Can't wait to read the next one.

3.75 stars

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, much like the last one, Dying to Live, are enhanced by the background story and how they build on the characters we already know. Having a good part of the book include characters from the past books, only makes it better and more interesting. Also like the last book, i found those details and storyline of the series overall, to be much more interesting than the romance between this book's love connection. We didn't get much depth on 'Chase', but then, i didn't find that i cared much. We get lots of 'Jack' action though, which in my opinion, overshadows Chase all-together.

So, i don't need to give my usual technical review, since you've probably already read the other books in the series and know whether you like the writing style and editing of these authors. This one does add more to the ongoing mystery of the EOO, and i recommend it. If you haven't read the other books in the Elite Operative series, i definitely do not recommend reading this one until you have read the others.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doesn't reach the heights of Dying To Live but still a great addition to the series. This book wraps up the cliff-hanger ending of Dying To Live in a satisfying manner.

I wasn't that taken with Chase, she was too cold and basically just not very interesting. Her romantic plot wasn't my cup of tea either. Prostitute with a heart of gold stories don't really do anything for me and I wasn't invested in them getting together. What's good then is that Jack is back as a co-lead once again and just as in Missing Lynx she steals the book. Her struggle to get Lynx back is what I really cared about. Unfortunately, with all the time devoted to Chase's romance, Jack and Lynx's reunion is shorted and not as in depth as I wanted.

A good gripping installment to an excellent series but with characters I didn't care about taking up so much time, it wasn't as satisfying as it could have been. Definitely get it though if you are a fan of the series.

[Artemis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this story isn't as satisfying as the previous one, but I guess it is expected that you can't beat the one where the whole cast and crew was assembled. I wonder when they are going to finally reveal... If Allegro thought the whole thing was like a bad soap opera before, just wait till when every secrets come tumbling down.

The running theme of demons and redemption is certainly interesting and I hope to see more interactions between all the ops.

[Nolly Frances Sepulveda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Gripping!

[Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am enjoying this series. The main characters connecting with each other from book to book is a bonus.

[AGC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story and characters.