The Spy Who Tamed Me

The Wests #4

by Kelly Hunter

Mills & Boon Sexy series delivers what you love in contemporary romance - glamour and scandal in exotic locations…

‘Your reputation precedes you, Mr West.’

After two years undercover, Special Operative Jared West feels like a stranger in his old life. The bruises on his muscle-honed body will fade, but not the memories. Still, he hasn’t lost his appreciation for a beautiful woman: Rowan Farrington is too arresting to be ignored.

New Director of Operations Rowan has heard Jared’s most dangerous weapon is his sexy smile, but it’s her job to see through his bravado. Rowan must get to know Jared intimately to ensure he’s ready for his next mission.

But neither is ready for the passion that erupts from the casual touch of a hand...

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Harlequin Presents, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Category Romance

154 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2015

About the author

Australian born Kelly Hunter is a three time Romance Writers of America Rita finalist, a USA Today Bestselling author and loves writing to the demands of the short category romance form.

Reviews

[Se Mcgregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! Finally Jared's story. I did read the set slightly out of order, 1, 4, 2 & 3 (then 4 again). With all the stories fresh in my memory yes it was a little annoying to have Damon and Ruby's twins turn into a single child (as others have mentioned too)! A fairly important oversight. EDIT Just discovered another oversight. In book one Damon is about to turn 33 and he is supposed to be the youngest with Jared being the oldest. Given that in book 4 Jared is 30, it doesn't add up!
None the less, the book tied up the series nicely. The family relationships were pivotal and did carry through from book to book. Often this doesn't happen where there is a series, the author will concentrate so much on the pair being written about that the others will only appear at family get togethers or in passing mention.
The opposite is possibly true here, with the whole West family being present throughout this book. Their "story" is probably more prevalent than the romantic aspect. The author could have counteracted this by extending the book length - super romance approx. 230 pages?
I am a bit sad to see the end of this series. Any chance an illegitimate West child could appear?

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fourth and final story in this series Sydney's Most Eligible and what a great one to finish with this is Luke and Amy's story Amy has had a mad crush on Luke since she was 18 eight years ago when this group of friends worked together at a resort in The Whitsundays and Luke also has had a thing for Amy but she was always his younger sister's friend and Luke will not let himself get too close to anyone because all he does is let them down well that is his opinion until Amy and Luke meet up again and the sparks fly and a decision to have a short fling makes both of them realize how much they love each other. This is such a great story sensual moving it will make you smile I highly recommend it and this series thank you MS Rae for hours of reading pleasure I loved it.

[Julie (Let's Read Good Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - 3.5 stars

Kudos for an older heroine. Parts of the story did not work for me. Would a super spy be allowed to simply resign and walk away from his super secret job? I also thought Rowan was unbelievably unprofessional by agreeing to an affair with Jared when she was his superior; a woman with her drive and ambition would not have done that. Otherwise, it was fun revisiting the West family and going undercover with a group of super genius operatives.

[Aurian Booklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Kelly Hunter in an Australian author, this story features the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, not the American FBI or CIA or whatever. And that was fun, as it is so new and fresh to me.
Rowan has worked hard to be in the position she is in now, and she is proud of it. She loves her work, loves being in charge of her agents, and planning and plotting to keep them safe. And now after two years undercover, Jared West is back. Just in time for his sisters wedding to his best friend, bruised and hurt, but he made it. He knows he will have to be debriefed first, but he doesn’t care, he wants to see his family. But when he sees his new Director, Rowan, sparks fly. He doesn’t care that she is his boss, or older than he is, he wants her.

Rowan doesn’t mind the flirting, but she will debrief him, she is sure he has some more information he hasn’t shared yet with the Agency. Still, he is very handsome. Is there any chance for them to really have a long distance relationship? With him living on the coast, being with his family, and with her working such extreme long hours in the city? She is is not about to give up her career and start a family either. She is 40 and she likes where she is.

Jared has trouble letting his last case go though, he is not happy with what happened that made him able to get out, and he has some last evidence to find about dirty people in charge, even at the Agency. And then there is the little boy he promised to protect …


I devoured this story. I liked both main characters from the first page they walked in the story, and was rooting for them. They did not make easy choices, their relationship developed naturally and not too fast. And when Jared really screwed things up, Rowan did not forgive him easily, she made him think things through as well. And the ending really surprised me, Rowan got the job she really wants, and that opens everything up again.
The only thing I did not appreciate, was the latest addition, when they were perfectly happy without it at first.

9 stars.

[Liz Mc2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book had a lot of potential--older heroine who is also, at the start, more or less the hero's boss--but I didn't entirely buy the relationship or nature of the hero's drama (what was it, exactly?). The more playful earlier books in the series are more my style. Annoying epilogue.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

We were cruising along SO WELL and then suddenly there was a desire to get pregnant and have babies when they'd already agreed on being awesome aunts and uncles. It loses a star for this.

[Christine Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrills and spills!

Tightly woven suspenseful and believable plot. The West siblings in action are fab.. reintroduces characters from previous novels in this series but a perfect standalone. Jared and Rowan are an atypical pairing, but his devotion to her and the way two very high functioning alphas achieve power balance respect dignity and love is a vey well developed story, enhanced by aptly described and well developed secondary characters. The two standout novels in the West series are The Spy Who Loved Me and Cracking the Dating Code.

[Alisa Hilde · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do wish authors would revisit the oldest book in a series to remind themselves of some details so it would be consistent

[HoardingBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

One the better book in this series. But then again, brooding heroes are appealing. 😏

[Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love what Kelly Hunter does with category romance tropes, and this one was a older woman-younger man romance. Like all Hunters, I adored the back-and-forth banter between Jared & Rowan, and how they sparked off each other from the start. The attraction totally made sense in the context of their characters - I loved how Jared admitted to himself how he was attracted to power especially.

What didn’t work for me - spoilers!
- Workplace romances & boundaries: Rowan was not technically Jared’s boss at the start of their relationship - she was certainly his superior though. I couldn’t help but think “Inappropriate!”
- The fact that the happy ending was one with a baby: I thought Kelly Hunter was really going to push the M&B romance boundaries here, especially since Rowan and Jared had a conversation about how she was unlikely to fall pregnant and he totally accepted that fact. So I thought the fact that the book ended with them having a baby was a bit of a cop-out.

Overall though, a good wrap-up to the West family books - I still prefer her Bennett family series, but these books have been a good read nonetheless.

[Kat at Book Thingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think what I love most about Kelly Hunter is that every time I read her books, I never get what I think I'm going to -- I get something better. So I was kind of expecting either a James Bond-ish plot, or a wounded soldier story, but this book isn't quite either of these. It's just so angsty, and filled with...grief? or maybe anger?, and also deeply romantic. I love that the heroine is older and not The Most Beautiful Woman In The World.

[Jenny]

This is the fourth book in her West series. It was nice catching up with characters from previous books. However, continuity was jarringly off when it came to Damon and Ruby. In "What the Bride Didn't Know" Ruby was pregnant with twins. In this story it was a singleton, a son. I know it's been some years between the books but still, it pulled me out of the story.

[Nath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 (B+)

[Kaetrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for Dear Author. http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/ov...

[Modesty_b · Rating 4 out of 5]

finally... we get to read Jared's story ... and we got a very strong heroine to complement him... enjoyed it :)

[Kerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continues the love stories of the wonderful West family - warm and satisfying and gloriously heart-felt! Lovely to see a strong woman not concede her strength for a relationship.

[Donna R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very repetitious. Amy's 'trauma from the past' was brought up way too many times.
This story would appeal to those looking for a lot of sexual content and very minimal romance. Unfortunately, it didn't appeal to me.