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Men of Midnight #1

Midnight Vengeance

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Morton “Jacko” Jackman isn’t afraid of anything. He’s a former Navy SEAL sniper, and he’s been in more firefights than most people have had hot meals. Lauren Dare scares the crap out of him.

Gorgeous, talented and refined, she’s the type of woman who could never be interested in a roughneck like him. So he’s loved her fiercely in secret, taken her art classes, and kept a watchful but comfortable distance. Until now.

Lauren had finally found a home in Portland, far from her real identity, far from the memories of her mother’s death, and outside the reaches of the drugged-out psycho who’s already tried to kill her twice. One tiny misstep—a single photograph—has shattered it all. She has no choice but to run again, but this time she’ll give herself a proper farewell: one night with Jacko.

Their highly charged emotional encounter changes everything. In Jacko’s arms there cannot be fear, there can only be pleasure. Anyone wishing her harm will have to pass through him, and Jacko is a hard man to kill.

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

288 people are currently reading
1186 people want to read

About the author

Lisa Marie Rice

57 books1,610 followers
Lisa Marie Rice is eternally 30 years old and will never age. She is tall and willowy and beautiful. Men drop at her feet like ripe pears. She has won every major book prize in the world. She is a black belt with advanced degrees in archaeology, nuclear physics, and Tibetan literature. She is a concert pianist. Did I mention her Nobel Prize? Of course, Lisa Marie Rice is a virtual woman and exists only at the keyboard when writing erotic romance. She disappears when the monitor winks off.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 245 reviews
Profile Image for Auntee.
1,356 reviews1,470 followers
August 11, 2014
If you liked "Midnight Angel", you'll like this one. Similar to others she has written, but why fix what isn't broken?

Morton "Jacko" Jackman...
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So, if you've read LMR's Midnight Angel, or her Protectors or Dangerous series, you'll know what to expect: seemingly frail, delicate heroine, in need of protection from an outside threat, and who better to protect her than a big bad alpha who can't understand his intense feelings for the heroine?

In Midnight Vengeance, LMR returns to what she does best. No new ground is broken here, but that's not a bad thing in my eyes. Our heroine, Lauren (mid twenties), is on the run from some distant relative (through marriage) who wants her dead so he can inherit the dirty (drugs, human trafficking) empire that Lauren has unfortunately inherited. Lauren wants no part of that empire, and after two of her friends were mistakenly killed (thought to be her), she's disappeared to Portland, Oregon, under an assumed identity, and struck up a friendship with Suzanne Huntington (Midnight Man. Lauren is a talented artist, and has done some watercolors of Suzanne's interior designs. It's during a showing of these designs that Lauren's true identity is put in jeopardy, and she needs aid from (the unfortunately named Morton "Jacko" Jackman). Former Navy SEAL Jacko (last seen in "Midnight Angel") has been mesmerized by Lauren ever since he first laid eyes on her months ago. He's bashful and tongue-tied and monosyllabic around Lauren, and she takes it to mean he's not interested. How wrong she is...

Yes, "Jacko" is one of my favorite types of heroes. Once he's smitten there's no turning back, he's going to get what he wants and doesn't play games. Their love scenes were hot (but not quite erotic), and made hotter by getting inside Jacko's head and hearing what he's thinking. Let's just say that he doesn't always say what he's thinking, but what he's thinking is hot.:) I liked these two together; they reminded me a little of Allegra and Douglas (Midnight Angel) and brought out the best in each other.

I thought the RS aspect was pretty well done. Of course, just when the hero/heroine think their troubles are over, you (the reader) are yelling "Be careful"!

Summing up: no new ground broken, just LMR doing what she does best--beautiful heroine in distress, big bad alpha to her rescue. It was fun to catch up with all the characters from the Midnight series, and it looks like there may be some more characters (I'm looking at you, "Metal") who may get their stories told. A solid 4 stars.

And from the epilogue...
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*ARC provided by Carina Press thru Netgalley
Profile Image for Kathleen.
691 reviews89 followers
January 12, 2015
Story Rating ~ 4 BIG STARS!
Hero Rating ~ 5 Stars!
Heroine Rating ~ 5 Stars!
Romance ~ 4 Stars
Heat Level ~ 4 Stars HOT!
Action Level ~ 3.5 Stars
Ending~ 4 Stars
Overall Rating ~ 4 Stars

It's been WAY too long since I've read a LMR book and Midnight Vengeance reminded me just what I've been missing. I really enjoyed the story line, I thought it was smartly done.

I LOVED both Jacko and Lauren's characters. Jacko was a big bruiser with huge muscles in all the right places. Of course he was extremely protective of Lauren at all times, gosh how I loved that. Lauren was very smart, she knew what she had to do and went about doing it no matter what. I definitely felt the attraction between them and they SCORCHED the sheets together quite a few times.

We know up front who the villains are but what LMR did so well was making one of then a total scum bag and the other smart and calculating. These villains helped make this story a very exciting read.

I also loved that characters from the previous books were added in bringing my memory of their stories back to me.

I was expecting a bit more action, that is until near the end and WHAM! It really took off. This part of the book had me riveted to the pages to find out what was going to happen.

The ending set up the next book Midnight Promises perfectly, so I'm going to jump right in and read another excellent book by Lisa Marie Rice.
Profile Image for Mo.
1,404 reviews2 followers
January 13, 2015
Sometimes I like to read books with a similar theme. I see I bought the first three books of this series in May 2011 - and they cost a fecking fortune - just checked - I paid on average $9.00 for them. Was I mad? I did love them and gave them all 5 stars, but maybe my reading habits have changed a bit since then or maybe I found this book a bit too similar to the others ... and a bit unbelievable.


This book was cheaper - $4 or thereabouts.


It was nice to catch up briefly with the characters from previous books.


Will I read the next in the series? Probably, at some stage. Will be checking out the price first.
Profile Image for ❤️ Dorsey aka Wrath Lover Reviews ❤️.
1,047 reviews322 followers
December 12, 2015
4 Alpha Loving Stars!!

This is the 4th book in the "Midnight series and although the storylines are all pretty similar (heroine in danger, hero to the rescue), I enjoyed it thoroughly and I'm extremely happy LMR continued the series.

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This book is Morton "Jacko" Jackman's book, we meet him briefly in Midnight Run and get a bit more of him in Midnight Angel. Jacko is part of John's security team and has fallen hard for Suzanne's artist friend Lauren Dare.

Lauren is on the run and lives in fear of being caught by people from her past, when the past catches up to her, she attempts to run however; Jacko has absolutely no intention of letting her go and will do everything in his power to protect her and more importantly keep her!!!

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I love how everyone from the previous books are included in the storyline, it's like being with old friends and catching up. We also meet a new friend Sean "Metal" O'Brian who is close friends with Jacko. The epilogue was a a mini epilogue but it was conclusive and set the stage for Metal's book Midnight Promises, coming January 2015 can't wait!!!!!
Profile Image for Corandra.
890 reviews97 followers
January 3, 2019
3.5 stars


Lisa Marie Rice es una de mis autoras favoritas. Sus libros incluyen machos alfa duros y tiernos. Sus heroínas suelen ser atractivas, inteligentes, educadas y de buen corazón.

Jacko es un antiguo SEAL con piercings y tatuajes. Si bien puede que no se parezca al tradicional héroe romántico en realidad es muy dulce y tierno.

Morton "Jacko" Jackson es un hombre inteligente, sexy, heroico, intrigantemente imperfecto pero increíblemente maravilloso.

Me ha encantado tener un vistazo de personajes anteriores como John y Suzanne, Douglas y Allegra Kowalski (quienes siguen siendo mis favoritos de la serie), Bud y Claire Morrison.

El personaje que no me gusto tanto fue la heroína. No logre simpatizar con ella.

Disfruté leyendo el punto de vista del villano como siempre me sucede con los libros de LMR.

Tenía muchas ganas de leer la historia de Jacko pero me siento un poco decepcionada. Aunque seguiré leyendo la serie porque amo las historias de Lisa Marie Rice.

Y ese final me ha dejado definitivamente con ganas de conocer la historia de Metal y Felicity.









Profile Image for Pamela(AllHoney).
2,692 reviews376 followers
June 29, 2018
The first book in Lisa Marie Rice's Men of Midnight series. Lauren Dare is hiding from a man who wants to kill her. She feels it's time to run again but can't resist one night with Morton Jackman aka Jacko. But Jacko isn't ready to lose her...

I love the Midnight series and it's high on my favorite list. While the story wasn't new I loved it anyway. Something about the way Ms. Rice writes those alpha protective fellers just works for me. My only real complaint was the ending. It ended quicker than I thought it should and then left a scene that makes it extremely difficult to wait until the next book comes out. Still I highly recommend it but wait until the next book comes out so you won't be so frustrated.
Profile Image for Kathleen.
1,375 reviews28 followers
January 13, 2015
A new installment in the Midnight series, with echoes of Woman on the Run. This installment is much like all the others Rice wrote, but sometimes a predictable formula is fine with me. Jacko is tongue tied with love for Lauren. Cute. She nearly dies. He nearly dies. The Midnight alpha security team roars into action. Group hug all around.

Next book is sure to be Metal's turn. Metal and Felicity.

A gripe with this book is that the heroine gave nearly all her $$$ towards scholarships for art students. Nearly 40 million? What about the homeless in Portland? Jacko knew poverty and hunger as a child. Stupid.
Profile Image for Lady Heather .
1,312 reviews772 followers
January 4, 2015

3.5 stars

I liked the story-line and characters. Lauren and Jacko were good strong characters.
It was also nice seeing John 'Midnight', Douglas 'Senior', and Bud from the previous books.
What made me rate this book a 3.5 star as opposed to a higher rating, was how often the author seemed (to me) to repeat herself about how and what the main characters were feeling. This is kinda a pet-peeve of mine.

...Other than that, like I said, it was a good story.
I'm glad Ms. Rice has decided to continue with this series.
Profile Image for Lu Bielefeld .
4,304 reviews639 followers
May 27, 2017
There is no demonstration of true love bigger than this one:
Megadeth, his favorite band, came through Portland, one night only, and he didn’t go. It was a Tuesday and Lauren taught on Tuesday evenings. So no Megadeth.

This author creates the perfect hero in addition to being all alpha male hunk he forgets the other women completely.
He didn’t even realize he’d stopped fucking chicks until three weeks after meeting Lauren. It hadn’t even occurred to him. When it did, he made a point of going out that evening to his usual hole, The Spike, and picking someone up because Jacko Jackman didn’t do abstinence. Nope. A couple of chicks he’d hooked up with before stopped by and made interested noises and to his enormous surprise, his dick said no.

Our heroine is running from a lunatic who wants to kill her at any cost to get hold of her stepfather's Empire. She has created a wonderful life and made friendships true and she's falling for our hero, but she will have to leave everything behind after a picture of her being posted on the internet and be discovered by assassins again.
Jorge was desperately looking for Anne Lowell, Chantal’s daughter, Alfonso’s stepdaughter.

Chantal had died an hour after Alfonso, as his main heir. And then Anne had been Chantal’s main heir.

But after a night of love with our hero, everything changes and now she has a group of men and women willing to protect her and keep her in their lives.
Story full of hot scenes, action, suspense and the special participation of characters from previous books.
“Actually, um...” She turned a bright red. “I was wondering whether you want to make love.”

"He walked her to the bed, stopping just short of it, feeling as if he were strapped with bricks of C4, just about to detonate."

At the end the reader fall in love with the hero and is willing to steal him from our heroine.
Only the villain does not have a very positive opinion about our hero. LOL!
"...choosing this person who looked like one of the more unsavory Sons of Anarchy in a tux—well."

I highly recommend the whole series!
Profile Image for Fanny.
2,395 reviews50 followers
December 8, 2015



Midnight Vengeance es el primer libro de la serie Men Of Midnight de Lisa Marie Rice, ademas de ser una especie de spin off de su saga Midnight y tiene como protagonistas a Jacko ( miembro del equipo de John ) y Lauren, un nuevo personaje.
La verdad es que cuando lei la sinopsis me senti un poco desilucionada ya que esperaba otro tipo de trama para la historia de Jacko, precisamente por esa razon me sorprendio tan gratamente esta lectura, ni en un millon de años me hubiera imaginado que disfrutaria tanto leyendo este libro.
Me encanto la pareja que formaban Jacko y Lauren, la mejor pareja de esta saga, incluso mejores que la formada por Allegra y Douglas que hasta el momento habian sido los protagonistas que mas me gustaron.
Ambos eran valientes, intrepidos y divertidos, lo unico malo fue que sus escenas juntos me supieron a poco.
Definitivamente este es el mejor libro ( por ahora ) de la serie.
Ahora a leer la hisotria de Metal y Felicity.

3.75 Estrellas!
Profile Image for Victoria.
1,188 reviews94 followers
August 3, 2016

3.5-4.0 RATING - I'm rounding this up to four stars because it was Lisa Marie Rice and it just felt so darn good to be reading something new from her Midnight Series. Unfortunately, even though my anticipation for this title was thru the roof, I was a bit disappointed. There was a lot of internal monologues and not enough interaction between the two main characters. I also thought the sex scenes fell a little short of what I expect from a LMR story. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't terrible, but the Midnight series is one of my comfort read series and I had high hopes this book was going to be a fantastic guilty pleasure read and it just fell a little short. That being said, I did enjoy it and can't wait until Metal's story comes out, scheduled for early 2015.
Profile Image for Mandi.
2,355 reviews733 followers
August 25, 2014
I’m a fan of Lisa Marie Rice’s voice – she writes very over the top alpha men who fall to the feet of the heroine. It’s all very sexy and this book is no different. Morton Jackman, known as Jacko to his friends, is a former Navy SEAL sniper who now works in private security. He is a bad ass, who gets a lot of boners when he looks upon a friend of his boss’s wife, Lauren. Unknow to Jacko, Lauren is running from very bad guys. Now living in Portland and a talented artist, Lauren’s hoping to stay out of the spotlight because she likes this town and the people she has met. Lauren’s step-father was a guy wrapped up in guns, prostitution and drugs – once he died, his money and estate went to her mother, who also died. The new guy in charge wants Lauren dead, so he can get the money that was passed down to her. Lauren took off, not caring about the dirty money but not wanting to be murdered by a mad-man. She has kept a very low profile, moving from town to town, but when a journalist takes her picture at an art display one night, she knows her time in Portland has come to an end. Except she didn’t figure in Jacko – a man she has befriended but she has no idea just how deep his feelings run for her – or just how scary he can be when the one he loves is in trouble.

My main complaint in this book is that we never truly get to know Jacko very well. And he is set up to be a really fun character. He is SO into Lauren, it’s fun to watch him squirm and lust after her from a distance, as he is too shy to approach her and tell her his feelings. But Lauren is the only one he has eyes for.

He didn’t even realize he’d stopped fucking chicks until three weeks after meeting Lauren. It hadn’t occurred to him. When it did, he made a point of going out that evening to his usual hole, The Spike, and picking someone up because Jacko Jackman didn’t do abstinence. Nope.

A couple of chicks he’d hooked up with before stopped by and made interested noise and to his enormous surprise, his dick said no. Fuck no.

As a matter of fact, it felt like his balls tried to crawl up into his body.


We learn Jacko takes Lauren’s art class and is brilliant. He is a good listener and patient with Lauren. But that is just stuff we are told. We see him be a bit bashful with Lauren, but I wanted to see a lot more of him. More of him hanging out with his buddies and stuff. Instead we get a lot of page time with Lauren and a lot of page time with the bad guy. Jacko gets left behind.

However, we do get a lot of page time with them in the bedroom. Rice writes very spicy scenes that are fun to read – a bit over the top, but they entertain.

Lauren’s eyes were fixed on his dick and he didn’t blame her. It barely looked like a human organ. It was bigger than he could ever remember it being, huge and red and inflamed. He could feel her gaze on him as if it were her hands, and his dick moved.

“Just from me looking at you?” she murmured.

“Touch me,” he ordered and her hand lifted to him. Her skin was very pale against him as she stroked him from base to tip. He jerked and hissed, completely uncontrollable reactions.

Lauren jerked her hand away as if she’d touched a red-hot stove.

Oh God. How excited was she? He was normally big and now he was huge.


Midnight Vengeance was okay but definitely not my favorite of her books.

Rating: C+
Profile Image for Lindy at BookBlinders .
126 reviews9 followers
July 21, 2014
A welcome return to my absolute favorite series by Lisa Marie Rice!
Reading this book was like coming home again to your most favorite place to be. There was a nice reunion with characters from previous books and the trademark action and deluxe hot guy, alpha overload that you know you can expect from Rice.
This time we are treated to Jacko's story. He's a bit different from the other guys in this series in that he is endearingly awkward with Lauren. From the moment he first sees her he has a visceral reaction to her that rocks his world and he just doesn't have a clue how to handle it. I don't know how Rice works the magic of making such a manly man be so adorable while he is out of his comfort zone but she succeeds beyond expectation. Calm, cool, collected and seemingly disinterested on the outside, Jacko is a writhing mix of sexual heat and delightful emotional floundering on the inside.
Conveniently, Lauren is on the run from a violent and disturbing past and this puts her straight into Jacko's arms.
Some readers may feel that they have already 'been there done this' with prior Rice books, however, that is precisely why I enjoy them.
You know exactly what you are getting when you start reading and it is somehow comforting and at the same time fun and exciting to start a new book of hers.
Midnight Vengeance hit that strange reading zone for me where I wanted it to go on forever and it seemed like it was just the right length at the same time.
While I felt that there was a very small plot point left somewhat dangling it didn't mar my enjoyment of this book one bit.
And bonus! We get a glimpse that there is another exciting book to come!
I was in a bit of reading slump and this book was just the chicken soup that I needed to get me going again.
Profile Image for Anita.
2,647 reviews219 followers
June 14, 2018
I have read and loved the books by Lisa Marie Rice and this one just wasn't in the same league as other in the Midnight Series. Now I have to admit that I'm all over this series. I read #3 and #4 last year. they were great and I've only read Midnight Man from the original series, but, this book could have been a whole lot better. I've come to expect sexy (a little plot with a lot of porn) and this time I got a whole crap load of angst.

Lauren Dane is an artist living in Portland, OR. She has become fast friends with the ladies of the AIS Agency and also their very awesome guys. Jacko, aka Morton Jackman is former SEAL sniper and an operative for the security agency. He met Lauren and it was "game over". She scared the living daylights out of him and for 4 months he had tried to figure out how to make his move. His opportunity cane after the opening of a gallery show and their night together was epic. The next morning she packs up her car and tries to flee. What the What???

Lauren has been living a lie. She is on the run from a psycho who has already killed two others thinking they were Lauren. She is not going to let another innocent die, especially someone she loves and considers a friend. She knows there were photos taken at the gallery and that her time in Portland is at an end, but . . . one night with Jacko is worth it.

Jacko is a hard, determined man and that one night rocked his world. He is also a very perceptive man also and he knows Lauren has a secret and he is determined to help her because he just can't let her go, even if both of them end up in danger.
3 1/2-Stars
Profile Image for SamJ ★Needs a HEA★.
618 reviews893 followers
September 17, 2014
★Book Basics★

Genre : - Contemporary Romance
Series : - 4th in the Series
Love triangle? -
Cheating? -
HEA? -
Would I read more by this author? - Yes
Rating - 4


★Review★

I said a while back I was not going to read another LMR book, at least not for a while?

Why? - Well, it is basically the same damn story every time!

1. Refined, delicate, sophisticated heroine √
2. Above heroine in dire danger with a bad guy after her √
3. Hero who is an ex marine or seal, or security guy √
4. Above hero rough and ready, usually with a sad background, working class, wrong side of the tracks, foster home etc √
5. Hero falls hard and fast √
6. Lots of wham bam thank you M'am sex √
7. Hero ofc saves the day, usually with the help of his friends or co workers who are just like him √

But, do I care? Nope! I know what I am getting and despite the sameness, I just cannot help myself from wanting to read more.

There were less of the "wham bam" sex scenes in this book, which I missed! Seriously, I want the caveman sex. LMR should not do short or fade to black sex scenes. Just no!

And I really want Metal's book, even though I do sort of know the storyline already anyway!

So, all in, 4 stars.
Profile Image for Jane Stewart.
2,462 reviews964 followers
August 30, 2015
4 ½ stars. Fun. Enjoyable. Some chuckles. Some good lines.

This is typical LM Rice with her alpha hero totally turned on by his sweet lovely heroine. The plot was typical, but I had fun. I didn’t want to stop reading. I had a smile on my face most of the time.

Two minor problems. The cover picture does not match the guy. He has tattoos around his wrists, cover guy does not. The second problem was a scene where someone unlatched a seat belt, but on the next page after the car rolled, she was hanging upside down by the seat belt. I also did not like that the heroine gave almost all her money away - to scholarships for art students. Too many authors do things like this to make us admire the heroine. It’s not smart. She needed cushion for future financial security for her family. She can give to charities over time. I also agree with Kathleen’s review. Heroine’s husband knew poverty and hunger as a child. It would be more fitting for some money going to children in need.

I received this book at the RT convention.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 243 pages. Swearing language: strong including religious swear words but not often used. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 3. Setting: current day mostly Portland, Oregon plus Florida. Copyright: 2014. Genre: romantic suspense.
Profile Image for ♡kitten♡.
214 reviews355 followers
July 9, 2015
While I loved LMR's Midnight Series, this one wasn't a winner for me. I felt like her books lately are becoming too repetitive: same story line, plot twists, same portrayal of both of her main characters etc. And this one lacked the explosive and passionate moments I so loved in her previous books ie. Midnight Run, Midnight Angel. Although I wasn't too taken with this book, I still adore the characters. Rice's heroines are such sweethearts and her heroes are pretty much the same alpha men (protective gentle giants) who fall hard and fast for their ladies. No cheating, and definitely no other women will do for them.

Will I continue reading this series? Yes. I'd love to hear about Metal's story. Will I recommend this book? Yes, to all Lisa Marie Rice fans out there.
Profile Image for Anna's Herding Cats.
1,274 reviews319 followers
July 28, 2014
This one just didn't work for me at all. WAY too much internal dialogue and hardly any actual dialogue between characters. Add in a terrible hero name--Jacko--and really not much happening other than them going on the offensive against those out to get her and it just was a lackluster read for me unfortunately.
Profile Image for Veronica.
1,264 reviews147 followers
March 6, 2021
A differenza degli altri libri della serie Midnight qui passano ben 4 mesi dal primo incontro alla prima sessione di maratona di sesso. Jacko mi ha fatto un po' tenerezza: grande e grosso, una montagna di muscoli, un cecchino ex Seal che ha paura di Lauren e dei sentimenti che ha iniziato a provare per la ragazza. Non riesce a mettere insieme una frase lunga almeno 10 parole. Si perde e scappa via.
Ci mancava solo che dicesse di sentire le farfalle nello stomaco ed eravamo a posto.
La trama di contorno è messa lì solo per riempire le pagine perchè come al solito non ci sono contatti tra la nostra protagonista e i cattivoni, anzi il tutto avviene in un'altra città mentre lei se ne sta chiusa in casa a fare sesso con Jacko.
Per ravvivare un po' il finale la Rice ci sbatte dentro un altro che voleva approfittarsene ma la scena dell'inseguimento è così assurda...
Almeno nelle ultime pagine è comparso un nuovo personaggio, vedremo cosa si è inventata la Rice.
Profile Image for ItsAboutTheBook.
1,447 reviews30 followers
February 15, 2015
Review can be read at It's About The Book

3.5 stars

Jacko Jackman has been in several of the Midnight books, most notably in Midnight Angel guarding harpist Allegra Ennis. Mainly known by the ladies in Lisa Marie Rice’s “Midnight” world as a tattooed, pierced thug on a motorcycle, Texan Jacko looks rough and IS rough. Apparently rendered speechless by Lauren Dare’s beauty when he meets her at Suzanne’s gallery, he instantly harbors a lust/love for her that causes him to eschew all others, remove his piercings, and drive an SUV instead of the bike (which he stows in the back). He starts taking art lessons from her to be able to spend more time with her and discovers an unknown side of himself; Lauren discovers a hidden attraction to this huge, dark, taciturn man.

Of course, as in all rom/suspense books, Lauren is not who she seems. She’s actually an heiress on the run from a dark past and a psychotic drug dealer wanna-be determined to kill her for her fortune. With the bright flash of a camera her time in Portland is at an end – for the third time she’s got to pull up stakes, contact her source and get moving. But not before she takes a moment to savor life with Jacko. To lose herself in the pleasure she sees in his eyes. But as with all alpha males, once Jacko has been with Lauren, she is his. And he’s not letting a little thing like hired killers, a psycho step-cousin, or heirloom jewels get in his way. Great classic rom/suspense storyline, sexy characters, team gets together to save the day, epilogue ends with a big teaser of next installment. What more could you ask for?

Unfortunately, questions – I has a few.

Lisa Marie Rice has been my go-to author for erotic, romantic suspense for many many years. We started out together at Ellora’s Cave. These books were my closet obsession… literally. I kept them in my closet. They were my first foray into the world of raw sex in books, and they amazed me! I loved that the alpha heroes were real men who didn’t mess around with confusing people. They said what they meant and they meant what they said. And they love love love having sex sex sex with these women. And they think about it a LOT. And they describe it in DETAIL in their heads. It’s almost like you’re there. I love those men (especially you, Sam, but I digress…).

And the suspense. It’s always realistic. There’s usually not any paranormal cray-cray stuff thrown in. And when it is–I can deal. Love the new Ghost Op series. The action usually involves former SEALs or some branch of brawny, military men with weapons. Oorah! I just eat that stuff up with a spoon. I don’t care if it’s not realistic to have a cock the size of a club. I don’t care if there is some repetition of the same sentences or phrases in a book or three. The gist is these men are alphas and they treat these women right! I love how these men make me feel and they AREN’T REAL! Dammit.

But in this book, something strange has come into my happy world and torn it asunder. I’m not casting blame in any particular direction, but a veil has appeared in the bedrooms and minds of my men that was heretofore not there. What, you say? For instance: I was all settled in my bed with my Diet Dr Pepper and Target cashew/chocolate caramel ball mix, ready for my fix, when I got to the first “love” scene. They get to the good part and suddenly, we *fade into the next morning.* WTF? I thought maybe my book was missing some pages?? Nope.

I sucked it up like a big girl and thought, ‘I’m going to give this a chance. It’s smoother, with better editing, so maybe they decided to show me the good stuff later?’

Nope.

I like my alpha men strong and silent, with brains and brawn and ready to take on the world. I like them to fall in love with a woman and be weakened by it. I want them to lose control when they’re having sex and not be able to contain themselves. And I want to read about every. Delicious. Detail. That’s what I expect and WANT from my books! Don’t take it away! And even if the editing was smoother, the repetition less, there was also less connection. I didn’t feel that obsessive/compulsive over-our-heads connection that they usually have. Plus: I also was hoping for much more backstory – to find out what’s been happening with my Midnight peeps. Not much on that front. Didn’t even *see* Claire and Bud.

All the goodness was there. It’s like somehow the best parts got chopped. The parts where they connected. The parts where the sex got raunchy. The parts that made you believe that Jacko would rather die than lose Lauren. They just weren’t there for me. And that makes me much sadder than writing this review. I LOVE the author, Lisa Marie Rice. I love her writing, I love the Midnight series, and I really wanted to love this book. But I didn’t.
Profile Image for ♥Laddie♥ (Lee Lee).
353 reviews127 followers
August 28, 2014
Agggggghhh Yaaaay!! *Dies And Iz Dead*

Can I tell you how long I've been waiting for this book? Can I?! If you said no, I don't care because I'm going to tell you anyway. YEARS. Literally YEARS! The Midnight series is LMR at her best and most classic. When you read LMR you know exactly what you're getting. I can predict exactly what characters will say sometimes. Some people might hate that but I absolutely love it because somehow this woman's writing pulls me in time and time again. The first book in this series was the first LMR book I ever read. After that I devoured her work. Everything I could get my greedy little hands on.

So, this guy was introduced in the books. Jacko. Jacko was shorter than the other guys, more muscle bound, rougher, pierced, tattooed, with a head shaved bald, and described as being on the less attractive side. I fell in love with Jacko from the moment he came on the scene and wanted him to have his own book so badly that I could taste it. And then year after year it never happened and I gave up hope that LMR would ever return to the Midnight series.

And then it happened. This book HAPPENED. JAAAAAAAACCKKOOOOOOOO! This book could have been total crap and I still would have loved the shit out of it. Luckily it's not crap. It's absolutely classic, old school LMR.

I won't rehash the plot because the plot is basically exactly what it says in the blurb. If you know LMR's stuff that won't disappoint you. What matters is that Jacko's in love. With an artist. A mysterious, down to earth artist, named Lauren, who scares the hell out of him. Oh, Jacko, could you be any more adorable? I don't think so. Lauren is just as endearing. She also has a strong spirit and will to survive.

Out of every LMR couple Lauren and Jacko are my favorite. They're both so adorably awkward about their feelings. Jacko's not devestatingly handsome or anything. Lauren's described as beautiful but her beauty comes across as being a lot earthier than LMR's other heroines. They were just a more approachable couple overall.

I was so not disappointed with Jacko's story. I loved who he ended up with. I loved who he was on the inside when we finally got inside his head. I loved that LMR didn't do anything crazy like make this book a paranormal or throw in zombies or something. It was straightforward and exactly what I wanted.

And here's the kicker; in early 2015 there will be a fifth book! Yup, you read that right. There's a new pairing introduced at the end of the book and. IT. IS. BRILLIANT. I'm not even kidding. If LMR holds true to the tone of the rest of the Midnight series the fifth book is going to blow the others out of the water. I can't wait.
Profile Image for Paranormal Kiss.
892 reviews43 followers
July 25, 2014
3.5 Stars

Midnight Vengeance by Lisa Marie Rice is the 4th book in her Midnight series. It’s a good addition to the series. The heroine, Lauren, is on the run and in fear of her life and the hero, Jacko, an ex-military security specialist, takes it upon himself to protect her and end the threat to her life. Jacko is the classic Lisa Marie Rice hero, protective, possessive and completely committed to the heroine. He is tough, gruff, stoic and rough around the edges. Jacko has a biker vibe going with a shaved head, tattoos and piercings. He is described as muscular and not especially handsome or tall, which is a nice change from the drop dead gorgeous heroes of most romance novels.

Jacko is rendered almost mute in the presence of Lauren during their initial encounter. He becomes completely enthralled and in lust with Lauren as soon as he meets her. Other woman cease to exist for him and his “player” ways stop cold turkey. He doesn’t believe he has a chance with her but he finds ways to spend time with her, that is until Lauren realize she’s made a mistake and it’s time to run again, but not before she’s spend a night in Jacko’s arms. What begins as a simple sexual encounter quickly becomes something deeper and Lauren finds herself falling for Jacko. And Jacko, shocker, actually showed some restraint, something the previous heroes in this series did not. He managed not to descend into a frenzy of lust during their first sexual counter. I was quite surprised.

Midnight Vengeance is smoothly paced and held my attention throughout. The plot is simple but entertaining. I would have liked to have seen the emotional connection developed more deeply. I also wanted to see more of Jacko’s true personality come out. He kept himself restrained in many ways and we only get glimpses of him in a relaxed state.

Midnight Vengeance fits well within the series and we get a chance to revisit the previous characters. My favorite part was the epilogue and at the very end we get a tiny taste of the main characters and plot for the next book. It left me anxious for more and I look forward to reading Midnight Promises, due out in 2015.

Midnight Vengeance is recommended to fans of romantic suspense.

*ARC (Advanced Review Copy) received from Carina Press via NetGalley.
Profile Image for Marianchu.
162 reviews6 followers
January 7, 2018
Me ha gustado mucho esta historia. JAcko es un personaje adorable, con sus dudas y miedos y a la vez tan dulce. Me encanta la fortaleza de Lauren. ME ha parecido acertado el modo en que la autora introduce los pensamientos de los villanos.
Mi puntuación un 9.
Profile Image for Μαρία Γεωργοπούλου.
Author 5 books98 followers
December 22, 2014
Very good!


You can see the following review also here: http://loveandlivetoread.wordpress.co...

And the good stories keep coming! The fourth book in the Midnight series is as good as the other ones and continues the pattern. A macho man comes to rescue the damsel in distress. As you can see I am in a mood for a romance!

Lauren Dare is trying to hide for the last couple of years because a madman is after her and her inheritance. Morton “Jacko” Jackman is a former Navy SEAL and he wanted Lauren from the first time he saw her. Now, he learns what she’s hiding and he is determined to help her.

I liked Lauren a lot. She’s not a woman who is after money. Far from that. She’s an artist and the only thing she wants is to be left alone to live her life peacefully. She feels lonely because she doesn’t stay at one place for a long time.

Jacko is a hard man with a gentle soul. He understand art and although he doesn’t speak much, he feels a lot. Protective and possessive he’s the ultimate alpha male and I love him for that!

A very nice story that all the fans of this genre will like!


Profile Image for DemetraP.
5,848 reviews
August 20, 2014
Midnight Vengeance by Lisa Marie Rice is in the same series as Midnight Man and Midnight Angel.

It was just...ok. It felt like a mash up of her previous books.

A lot of talking about how the guy needs tight jeans to hold down his uncontrollable boner. Yeah, she uses the word "boner" repeatedly. Not hot.

In the earlier books, Jacko is a guy with huge muscles, tattoos, and facial piercings. In this book, he has removed his facial piercings and all his piercings. What a disappointment.

He rides around with his motorcycle in the back of his SUV. But he never rides it until the last chapter. He never takes the heroine for a ride. It was a wasted opportunity.

The sex scenes lacked intensity. They seemed short compared to the other books in the series.

The really sad part? I enjoyed the very minor secondary characters of Felicity (the mysterious computer hacker who helps the main character hide) and Metal more than the main characters, Jacko and Lauren.

Felicity is always making geeky references and quoting Star Wars, etc. She was very funny.

Overall, the book was not as good as the previous books in the series. It is worth reading but not more than once.

I am looking forward to Felicity the geek's book, releasing 2015.
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