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Smithson Group #8

Beyond a Shadow

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Most people come to Comfort Bay, Oregon, in search of a quiet respite. But that's not on the agenda for undercover operative Ezra Moore. He has ten days to unload a shipment of illegal weapons and take down Spectra IT, the international crime syndicate he's infiltrated. Spectra's man, Warren Aceveda, is playing dirty pool. To beat him and stay alive, Ezra has to play dirtier. However, even the best-laid crimes can go sideways, and Ezra's about to find out how far...

Alexa Counsel likes her boring life in Comfort Bay. But there's nothing boring about the new handyman working at the local B&B. Great with his hands? Oh yeah. But there's something much deeper running beneath those still waters. Something she's not sure she understands or trusts. No one is going to use her as a cover, no matter how irresistible he may be. But Ezra is the only man who's ever made her feel so complete, and she's in way too deep to turn back...

Playing cat and mouse with one of the world's fiercest criminals, Alexa and Ezra are about to find out just how dangerous and delicious starting a new life—and finding a new love—can be.

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2006

824 people are currently reading
497 people want to read

About the author

Alison Kent

129 books644 followers
I often read of or hear about authors who knew they were meant to tell stories from the time they left the crib. Me? I didn't decide what I wanted to be when I grew up until I was thirty years old - and then sold my first book at thirty-four. Still, it was obvious that I always knew I was going places.

Like so many other authors, I was a voracious reader from day one, devouring everything from Nancy Drew to My Friend Flicka, which I remember sitting hovered over the heater vent in the kitchen floor to read while my father made his coffee.

I moved on to my mother's Phyllis Whitney, Dorothy Eden, and Mary Stewart gothics before discovering my first true romances written by Lucy Walker and set in the Australian Outback. And then, at last, when I was 18 I found 'The Flame and the Flower'. (My son almost spent his life as Brandon because of that, but I spared him and named him Casey instead!)

Why write romance? Because love stories have always been a major part of the books I've loved. Father Ralph and Meggie Cleary. (I did name my daughter Megan after reading The Thorn Birds! Do you see a trend here?) The aforementioned Brandon Birmingham and Heather Simmons. Wolf Mackenzie and Mary Potter.

Even more so, it's because I love writing romance heroes. The men who sweep both heroines and readers off their feet - not to mention their authors, too!

I've spent several years happily writing action adventure romance for Kensington Brava along with hot and sexy series romances for Harlequin Blaze. Now I'm thrilled to be a launch author for Vows.

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5 stars
167 (37%)
4 stars
126 (28%)
3 stars
110 (24%)
2 stars
28 (6%)
1 star
11 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
Profile Image for Coco.V.
50k reviews116 followers
Want to read
March 2, 2019
🎁 FREE on iBooks today (3/2/2019)! 🎁

Blurb:
Most people come to Comfort Bay, Oregon, in search of a quiet respite. But that's not on the agenda for undercover operative Ezra Moore. He has ten days to unload a shipment of illegal weapons and take down Spectra IT, the international crime syndicate he's infiltrated. Spectra's man, Warren Aceveda, is playing dirty pool. To beat him and stay alive, Ezra has to play dirtier. However, even the best-laid crimes can go sideways, and Ezra's about to find out how far...

Alexa Counsel likes her boring life in Comfort Bay. But there's nothing boring about the new handyman working at the local B&B. Great with his hands? Oh yeah. But there's something much deeper running beneath those still waters. Something she's not sure she understands or trusts. No one is going to use her as a cover, no matter how irresistible he may be. But Ezra is the only man who's ever made her feel so complete, and she's in way too deep to turn back...

Playing cat and mouse with one of the world's fiercest criminals, Alexa and Ezra are about to find out just how dangerous and delicious starting a new life—and finding a new love—can be.
348 reviews3 followers
October 17, 2015
big disappointment. i was looking forward to Ezra's story but it was totally disjointed. and anatomically impossible sex: page 125 and 245. you can't have a penis in two places at one time, you just can't. it's either on her clit OR it's in her vagina. pick one; you can't have both! now then: why was Danny Maples gone all the time? did that have anything to do with the story? what about the problems in the Maples marriage? did that have anything to do with anything? what was the purpose in having little girls in a fight? burning down the bar was just stupid; who but the brand new handyman would be suspected? where were the guys who were supposed to buy the guns? how did the one guy figure out who killed his brother? why did the bad guys lure Ezra to their location? for what purpose? none of the above things had anyting to do with each other. Ezra and Alexa stood at the door to the plane and waved? she wasn't going to collect any belongings at all? also, please either the author or the editors need to learn the difference between a Subject (I) and an Object (me). please look it up. i learned it by 5th grade.
Profile Image for Byron Washington.
732 reviews4 followers
April 28, 2021
Very Good👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

This is one of those books that kinda sneaks up on you. The Alexa/Ezra characters are so compelling and their chemistry literally leaps off of the pages and smacks you in the face!! Coupled with the Ezra's mission to destroy a crime syndicate and his philosophical debates with Emmy, a precocious 2nd grader, this may be one of the best books I've ever read.

Highly recommended, Buy it, read it and enjoy.👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥
Profile Image for Colleen (NerdyWoman) Kayter.
78 reviews29 followers
February 5, 2008
While it is possible to read Beyond a Shadow as a separate, individual book, readers will be missing a lot of the story.

For the best reading experience with Alison Kent's romantic suspense series, The Files of SG-5, one really has to begin with The Bane Affair, the first book in the series. It explains about the Smithson Group, a private organization that seeks justice even when it means operating above/outside the law to get it. It explains about Spectra IT. As in every good vs. evil series, Spectra IT represents the organized crime syndicate with tenticles in every vice that diminishes humanity.

The Smithson Group is known as SG-5 because the founder originally recruited 5 men to do battle against the evil Spectra IT organization. Unfortunately, books 2 through 5 (The Shaughnessey Accord, The Samms Agenda, The Beach Alibi, and The McKenzie Artifact) didn't even begin to meet readers' expectations. Alison Kent is capable of so much more. For whatever reason, regardless of who made the decision, books 2 through 5 were short stories, averaging just 120 trade-size paperback pages long.

Thankfully, loyal Kent fans bought them despite poor reviews and the concensus seemed to be that Ms. Kent couldn't do justice to the stories with such a page limitation. So the next four books (Larger Than Life, Deep Breath, Beyond a Shadow, and The Perfect Stranger) all tip the scales at 320+ trade-size paperback pages! The difference is all too obvious in the story quality found in Beyond a Shadow.

Our hero, Ezra Moore, was first introduced in book 3, The Samms Agenda as an assassin for Spectra IT, but actually helps Julian Samms. He makes recurring appearances in each of the subsequent books, still an assassin, but still helping the SG-5 operatives.

So now, Ezra's story is told. I loved Beyond a Shadow. The characters have depth. The plot has depth. There are multiple conflicts and plot twists. Ezra and Alexa's relationship has time to develop. Kent's talent as a writer shines so clearly when she is allowed enough pages to tell the story.

I do recommend reading all the stories in The Files of SG-5 series. The shorter ones won't take very much time; the longer stories are rich and real and a joyful experience.

I also recommend reading Kent's The Sweetest Taboo. It is a Harlequin Blaze title and lacks much of the suspense of The Files of SG-5, but seldom has an author created a character of such depth as Sebastian Gallo.
1,354 reviews
August 1, 2011
I skimmed through this book. I didn't like much of anything about it. The main characters were so unemotional and vanilla, the storyline not even that interesting... blah.
Profile Image for Terric853.
660 reviews4 followers
July 31, 2020
Since this is the fourth book in this series, I think I was at a slight disadvantage. I couldn't figure out if the hero was working for the good guys or the bad guys until the very end.

Ezra Moore comes to the small town of Comfort Bay in the Pacific Northwest to take a temporary job as a handyman at a local B&B. He's really there to meet with some gun dealers, but needs a cover. His first day there, he meets Alexa Counsel, divorced school teacher and the B&B owner's best friend.

Alexa is suspicious of Ezra. She doesn't buy his story that he's a teacher from a Caribbean island on sabbatical for a year and exploring the world on his boat. However, she is intrigued by him. Later that day, she's having a girls' night with her friend Rachel when he enters the bar where they're eating and drinking. Rachel urges Alexa to ask him to join them and she does. Since Rachel's live-in boyfriend owns the bar where they are eating and is short-handed, she leaves Alexa and Ezra to help out waitressing. Ezra walks Alexa home and they have super-hot sex, even though she still suspects that he's more mercenary that handyman.

I liked both Alexa and Ezra. I also liked Molly's daughter, Emmy Rose. Again, not having read the first three books in the series, I wasn't sure why Ezra did some of the things he did or if he was a good guy or a bad guy. Warning: the sex is pretty explicit, so if you're at all prudish, this books in not for you.

Profile Image for Aimee.
96 reviews
March 25, 2019
Good book, decent mystery, rushed climax.

What I did appreciate about this book - I didn't realize it was part of a series and the book didn't make me feel like I missed out on not reading the others.

It made me wonder about Ezra Moore - what is his full history and what drove him to do what he needs to do to climb into the organization and tear it down from the inside. However, it was a bit anticlimactic when the two people who are the head of the organization are killed murder suicide style - what the hell was the point of that? And will there be fallout from those rising within it? Is it really over? So many questions.

Alexa, Alexa, Alexa - way to be skeptical but connected at the same time. I like that she looks out for her friends and that she is skeptical about this new addition to their quiet little town, but not skeptical enough to deny her attraction and need for the new stranger. Her friends kind of annoy me - support her on this fling and then throw it in her face. He is in town for like 3 seconds and they are now all about how they never see her, even tho she gives her time freely to help at the inn. So there are a few kinks in there that could be worked out.
Profile Image for Claire Greco.
127 reviews4 followers
November 22, 2022
I think the book as a high tension/ suspense book, in the last 10 chapters or so, was good, however, as a book of romance book, awful. Thriller, awful. I felt as though I was reading an erotica book that had no developed characters and really had no connection to each other either.

Spoilers start here.

Alexa had no real character development. She didn’t want to be in the town, but then wanted to stay. She didn’t want to leave, but then wanted to go as long as Ezra would be there, but wanted nothing to do with the man she didn’t know? Her character had so many contradictions the WHOLE book.

Her and Ezra “fell in love” after literally only having nightly hook ups for a week and a half, without knowing anything about each other (family, life story, etc.), then she found out he lied to her, yet, despite being pissed and wanted nothing to do with him, she slept with him again and then said she loved him ? Not to mention she only was willing to start a new life only if he was there?

The whole book was stupid and cliché.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
899 reviews4 followers
January 6, 2024
I always enjoy reading detective stories, so even though Ezra wasn't a detective, he was a spy undercover, so there was plenty of mystery in here. Alexa was attracted to him, but didn't trust him, because he couldn't reveal what he was really doing for a living.

He may have been a vicious killer at times, but he had a gentle nature which particularly appealed to children.

I didn't understand why his boss committed suicide at the end unless he felt trapped, but I expected him to at least fight. Good reading!
Profile Image for Kim.
701 reviews12 followers
March 21, 2018
I obtained this free e-book from Amazon and I am voluntarily writing a review. Alexa Cousins is living in Comfort Cove, Oregon three years after her divorce teaching second graders. Her best friend Molly has hired a handyman to work at the inn she owns and has asked Alexa to meet him and show him the grounds and get him settled in. Her first impression of Ezra Moore is he looks, acts, and dresses like a mercenary. Little did she know how close to the truth she was.
Profile Image for Dawn Myers.
1,295 reviews2 followers
June 3, 2018
I kind of liked this story. There was enough suspense for me to keep turning the pages. I had one of Ezra's main secrets figured out about two books ago. Somethings did not make sense to me though. I never figured out what the dossier had that everyone wanted. I really didn't like the ending. I did like that Ezra was going to make one of his secrets right. Alexa was a little to forgiving for my taste.
Profile Image for Bonnie L Marincek.
66 reviews
March 4, 2019
Awesome Book....

I chose this book as a "First Read Book." The storyline did not disappoint with mystery, action and romance between the two main characters , Ezra and Alexa. The characters were portrayed in such a manner that I felt a connection to each one. If you enjoy books that make you feel as if you are right there along for the ride, I highly recommend "Beyond A Shadow!" It was a book I COULD NOT put down....great author.
Profile Image for Dana Wood.
631 reviews3 followers
March 29, 2019
Ezra fell flat for me. For his air of danger and his affiliation of 11 years with an evil organization that he was determined to take down....he was just too nice a guy. And his scheme to take them down was not well developed. Weak even. This story isn’t about that really. It’s about his relationship with the teacher, Alexa. Another one of those - they don’t know each other but can’t live without each other I love you -books. Should have been about him taking down the evil organization.
Profile Image for Judi Easley.
1,496 reviews48 followers
January 8, 2021
These characters just didn't do it for me. Neither did their instant attraction erotic impossible position fling that turned into love. Then there were Molly and Dan who never spent any time together or with their daughter. No wonder their daughter had problems and turned to other people for advice. I think you really need to read more of the series to get a feel for this author's characters and world 🌎 because jumping in this late in the game doesn't seem to work very well.
Profile Image for Mary.
917 reviews8 followers
April 12, 2019
Alexa and Ezra's Tale

Alexa was a schoolteacher and Ezra was a handiman, if you believed their tale. But the real story was so unbelievable that you almost had to settle for their tale. I enjoyed the journey and almost didn't want it to end. The characters were so believable that I felt I knew the town and all the people there.
63 reviews
June 4, 2019
An enjoyable read.

I read, a lot. Its nice to read a book that you don't want to ditch after the first chapter or two. I always like to read books in sequence, so it's a nice bummer to realize you like a story well enough you have to go back and read all the preceding books in the storyline to catch up!
741 reviews1 follower
July 21, 2020
Disappointing

The story was slow paced, but the crisis resolution was a quick wrap up. And the ending was just so abrupt and unsatisfying. I liked Ezra and Alexa but their chemistry did not seem real. This book left me unsatisfied— something was missing. Not going to continue the series.
Profile Image for Larisa Edwards.
161 reviews7 followers
September 9, 2017
The wayward son returns

Finally the truth of the assassin is revealed. I truly loved this story. The story pulls you in with so much adventure and feeling. I never wanted to put it down. Still an amazing series.
2,964 reviews10 followers
March 3, 2019
Odd

What a odd start to the series. It none the less a good one. He did what was right. And was able to gain his heart as well. Being happy is need to him. Can't wait to see what happens to the rest of the guys .

4 reviews
March 26, 2019
Great Read

This was a free read. However, I am happy I read it. It was easy to read, can't wait to turn the page, can't wait to see what happens next kind of book. Emmy Rose made this book worth reading
Profile Image for Dee Cash.
563 reviews2 followers
September 21, 2019
Nice Change Temporarily

Beyond a Shaadow's 8th Smithson Group book is quite different from my usual mysteries. It 's a combination romance and spy book. Anyone into romance will undoubtedly enjoy this book. Maybe start with Book number 1.
Profile Image for Meryl.
1,504 reviews6 followers
July 9, 2020
Hard to put down!

Talk about action, suspense, steam and adventure! This story was a thrilling ride. The little town of Comfort Bay and Alexa are due a shake up and it arrives in the form of Ezra Moore.
Profile Image for Jackie.
1,613 reviews7 followers
July 9, 2020
Interesting

Good story. Steamy scenes but just felt that their demeanors were a little cold. Maybe that’s Ezras problem being a spy and trying to stay distant. But sometimes they both broke the coldness and had very emotional and normal conversations. Good story.
Profile Image for Diane Smith.
194 reviews
July 12, 2020
Really enjoyed Alison Kent’s writing style. Loved the characters but felt let down by the ending. No real resolution - just didn’t make sense to me which is why only four stars. Will definitely read more if her books.
Profile Image for Laenie K.
96 reviews9 followers
August 5, 2020
Ok

The book was very well-written. The plot not so much. A bit far-fetched when one had done what Ezra did and yet received no repercusions for them. Kudos to Alexa for taking the chances she did. Love do conquers all, though i think that only happens in story books.
140 reviews
May 28, 2022
This was an okay book but definitely showed its age in places. There were elements that did not feel comfortable for me like the emphasis on Ezra's race... And the sex felt forced to me. But it was enjoyable enough for a one-time, quick read.
2,205 reviews
August 10, 2017
The plot thickened and then exploded. This was a wonderful sensuous book that had a great ending and a hint of a new beginning. The little girl was a wonderful character and really made the book.
2,195 reviews4 followers
August 17, 2017
I am enjoying this series and I definitely loved Ezra's story. It was perfect!
Profile Image for Susan.
2,418 reviews11 followers
September 5, 2017
Very good

I loved the depth of these characters laid out in the pages. The story was enjoyable and there was suspense and action scenes as well as romance. Enjoyable!
Profile Image for Brandy.
50 reviews
October 3, 2017
finally a book that brought tears to my eyes at the end while still giving theme their HEA
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews

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