Taken by Surprise

The Taken #2

by Anna Argent

The last of their kind, each born with a unique set of gifts, the Taken are a dying people. They were whisked away to Earth as children, hidden for their own protection and raised as humans. Now adults, they are the only hope for a world consumed by war and terror. Hunted both by those who seek to protect them as well as those who wish to use them, their lives depend on who finds them first. In a world where technology and magic coexist as one, only a few special people have the power to stand guardian against the death of countless innocent souls. They must defeat the Raide and stop the ravenous war machine that destroys all it touches. Or humans will be next. Zoe Last is a busy woman. She has a business to run, her dead father’s last riddle to solve, and an army of bad guys working for a man who wants to dissect her brain and study its contents. But who doesn’t have challenges? She’s spent her whole life learning to fit in, playing the good little human and biding her time until the war raging on her home world is over. But when a sexy, tattooed stranger comes into her shop, looking for her, she knows her quiet life of blending in is over. It’s time to run. Born a destroyer among creators, Talan has always known his path would be filled with pain and violence. It’s not what his parents hoped for, and not the life he would have chosen for himself, but when the beautiful, brilliant Zoe enters his life, he finally knows why he was born broken. A creative, talented, easily distracted woman like her would never survive without a man like him to protect her. Now all he has to do is convince her of it before she runs right into the hands of the enemy, and then convince himself to keep his hands off of her sweet, sexy body long enough to do his job. Together, they must solve a convoluted riddle, find a lost treasure, and figure out a way to keep Zoe out of the clutches of a sadistic killer who can rip secrets from his victim’s mind with a single glance. With the enemy closing in and the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, there’s not a second to spare…

296 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 2, 2016

About the author

Anna Argent, who also writes as bestselling author Shannon K. Butcher, has written more than thirty titles since launching her career in 2007. Her fresh approach to paranormal romance includes The Taken, The Stone Men and The Lost Shards Series—definitely not your mama’s paranormals. She also writes a contemporary romance series set in a small town nestled in the Ozark Mountains, inspired by her time living there. Her alter ego Shannon K. Butcher 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. 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 beader 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 is via her newsletter. You can sign up at AnnaArgent.com.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Annoyed

How weak and wussy!!!! Zoe was absolutely annoying. She was the first to run headlong into a situation but she couldn't fight and was constantly needing to be rescued. Constantly!! I truly enjoyed the Sentinels series as written by Shannon butcher. Those stories had your strong yummy men and the female characters weren't complete whiny babies who constantly needed saving. Sadly I just wasn't a fan of these stories.

[BreakingtheEpigraph · Rating 2 out of 5]

How disappointing

Zoe was extremely annoying because she was constantly getting into trouble and needing to be rescued. This story fell flat, and it was difficult to connect with Zoe. She was a whiny damsel in distress, and I simply couldn't get into it. I had assumed that this series would get better.