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Blackhawk Security #5

Caught in the Crossfire

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Her husband doesn't remember her.

When Kate Monroe's deceased husband suddenly appears, the profiler can't believe her eyes. Declan Monroe has lost all of his memories, and Kate is struggling to figure out how to respond after finally overcoming her grief and moving forward. But with a killer targeting Kate, the pair will have to work together to outwit The Hunter in his murderous game...and find their way back to each other.

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 6, 2020

26 people are currently reading
41 people want to read

About the author

Nichole Severn

209 books450 followers
"First class romantic suspense!"
- Cynthia Eden, NYT Bestselling Author

Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author Nichole Severn writes mind-twisting suspense and bullet-proof romance with strong heroines, heroes who dare challenge them, and cases you won’t be able to forget.

She graduated from Utah Valley University with a degree in Psychology and is working for her masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America, a founding member of the Addicted to Danger Facebook group, and volunteers for a number of non-profits focused on supporting mothers.

She resides with her very supportive and patient husband, as well as her two demon spawn, in Utah. When she’s not writing, she’s constantly injuring herself training for marathons, accidentally stabbing herself with screwdrivers during her many DIY projects, or playing violin. That’s right. She stabbed herself with a screwdriver.

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5 stars
56 (57%)
4 stars
26 (26%)
3 stars
13 (13%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
Profile Image for Shatarupa  Dhar.
620 reviews84 followers
January 22, 2021
Synopsis:
The Blackhawk Security Series is back, with the story of its resident profiler Kate Monroe. Back at work, just when she thinks that’s she’s ready to visit the home she shared with her deceased husband, Declan, is when she sees him again. He’s alive!

Special Agent Declan Monroe cannot remember his life or his wife. He can’t remember anything before he woke up in a hospital bed with bullet wounds, almost a year ago. Apart from the vague memories of a woman, he has no recollection of his previous life, apart from the horrors he has had to see in the hospital. When he finally reaches the place he thinks he shared with that woman, he finds her there. And just like that, there’s another shoot-out.

Review:
I love amnesia stories. It is my second most favourite trope. And to know that my favourite author wrote it, double yippee! Starting from the Cast of Characters to the dedication, this story won my heart. Yep, even before I started reading it. Jokes apart, this is a very intense and beautiful read!

Kate is a psychologist and yet she feels at a loss as she’s unable to move past her own pain. It’s been a year since the incident that took away her husband. She’s recovered from her physical injuries, but the emotional ones are an altogether different matter. Especially when she comes to know that Declan was alive and still hadn’t reached out to her.

There is so much pain, the night when the gruesome incident took place about a year ago. Kate lost so much and having Declan back, though not really, was causing her more anguish. And Declan, to have lived a whole year without knowing who you are, whether you have anyone in this whole world. It is so scary, despite how strong one is.

The entire Blackhawk Security Series is funnily, or in a gruesome way (depends on how you look at it – the former for me) a test in pain and endurance. The level of physical hurt seems to kick up a notch as the books proceed. The others making an appearance here as a team was like a dream come true, the wonderful experience of reading the previous books came back. Also, I loved the major connection that this one had with the first book.

I didn’t like a certain character from the start and I was so glad that that same person turned out to be the rotten one. Everyone’s hiding something from the other, so many secrets to unravel. Blackhawk Security Series just raises the bar with each successive book!

There is an ending six weeks later, kind of an epilogue, which is heart-warming.

P.S. On a lighter note, the Mindhunter team will have a field day with the villain in this one.

Thank you to the author for an e-ARC of the book.

The other books by the author that I have read and also recommend are:
Blackhawk Security Series
Rules In Blackmail | Rules in Rescue | Rules in Deceit | Rules in Defiance | Caught in the Crossfire | The Line of Duty
Blackhawk Security Novella
Search and Rescue | Search and Protect | Rules in Revenge | Search and Defend | Search and Pursue
Midnight Abduction (Tactical Crime Division #3)
Marshal Law Series
The Fugitive | The Witness

Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings
Profile Image for Sara MG.
337 reviews32 followers
April 29, 2022
2.5 stars
Kate’s husband died a year ago, but now he’s back. A guy shot up their former home and is now on the loose. (Who actually died and whose body did she bury? We never find out.) Anyway, her dead hubby that’s she’s been mourning for a year reappears and Kate decides they should go their separate ways after they solve the mystery. Why would she want to dump her returned love? This part is what made no sense to me. They have chemistry, she married him ffs, but now instead of trying to make a go of it she kicks him to the curb. I don’t get it. Anyhoo, they get shot with guns, shot with arrows, beat up A LOT, left for dead a few times, but it all works out in the end. Yay!

It’s not all bad, there is some excitement and mystery. Lots of cabins in the Alaskan woods too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Miki.
1,038 reviews43 followers
August 15, 2020
I liked this book despite guessing the culprit at his first appearance in the book....all is attitude had my radar on red alarm. I really loved Declan, he is persistant and loyal no matter what Kate is saying he stays true to his words top protect her.
Kate suffered a lot, she works great with Declan but i guess i was disappointed she was so blind to what was right under her nose and then is so cold to Declan when it's easier that fight for what is important.

The rythm of the book is good and it's an enjoyable read with great description to make you feel what the weather is or what the characters are feeling.

i like this series (this story can be read out of order)
Profile Image for Chasity.
73 reviews4 followers
August 22, 2020
This is set in Nichole Severn’s Blackhawk Security series and omg was I blown away this had everything in story that I needed to read about!! The passion between Kate and Declan Monroe was off the charts!! They had red hot sizzling passion and I was just so in love with how the story was written!! I highly recommend this series!! I can’t wait for the next book!!
1,282 reviews9 followers
August 3, 2020
This is the 5th book in the Blackhawk series and you won't be disappointed. What would you do and feel if the man who you love you thought was dead turns up alive! You have two strong characters who love each other and get a second chance. There's plenty of action, suspense, and with the help of the other Blackhawk team will they get there HEA? You won't want to put this down till your done.
152 reviews2 followers
July 15, 2020
Let me begin by saying that Caught in The Crossfire is the best book of Nichole Severn's I have ever read! Caught In The Crossfire blows the other books in the Blackhawk Security series out of the water. This book is so good. I love Kate and Declan together. They're both strong characters and I'm sure you will love them. If you want to read a good book series get the Blackhawk Security books. Caught In The Crossfire is the 5th book in the series. I got this book to give my honest review.
Profile Image for MK.
1,633 reviews22 followers
July 10, 2020
Fast paced, romantic suspense book by Ms. Severn...Book 5 in the BlackHawk Security Series.

When Kate Monroe learns some surprising news she is stunned to say the least. But when she’s face to face with the man who’s not supposed to be alive it just can’t be real.
The hardest part is to learn what he tells her next. He’s different, and she’s unsure of what to do.
But something happens which changes things. They’re faced with the knowledge someone is trying to kill one or both of them. Her team at the Blackhawk Security will do anything for her.

A must read as is the series. I recommend reading in order.
Start with Rules in Blackmail.
Rules in Rescue
Rules in Deceit
Rules in Defiance

All the books bring great characters, and strong heroines, sexy heroes. Oh and so much more.
Profile Image for Cinderella.
38 reviews
July 15, 2020
This is another awesome-action filled suspense of Ms Severn’s Blackhawk Security series. Second chance loves (my favorite) but with a twist...he has amnesia. Do yourself a favor and read this book, can be read as a stand-alone but I would also highly recommend the series, this series is a page-tuner at its finest!
Profile Image for Zoe.
518 reviews10 followers
July 4, 2020
Caught In the Crossfire
Harlequin Intrigue
Blackhawk Security
Nichole Severn
Gripping, suspenseful, all consuming action.
“Air rushed from her lungs. She struggled to keep upright as the world tilted on its axis.”
Declan, the love of her life, the man she buried turns up alive but he doesn’t even remember her name. Blackhawk Security’s profiler Kate was a broken woman trying to get her life back on track after one year hell. She worked so hard at not feeling, being numb.
Declan is confused and knows there is more, it is just out of reach. He is certain Kate is not only the key that will unlock his mind but she is his everything.
Action abounds that will keep you up way past your bedtime! I could not put this down, who needs sleep? The suspense builds quickly and doesn’t let up. Familiar side characters in the Blackhawk team and amazingly solid lead characters keep you glued to the unfolding plot.
This book is part of the Blackhawk Security series but could be read as a stand-alone novel with hea.
I received an arc of this book.
5 suspenseful stars.
206 reviews4 followers
August 25, 2020
The latest in the Blackhawk Security series, but can be read as a standalone.
It's a second chance for Declan and Kate, after a traumatic and tragic time in their lives. But they have to be able to put the past behind them and move on with their lives.
As with previous books in this series, the main characters, Declan and Kate, get beat up and shot several times, but still manage, with the help of the guys in Blackhawk Security, to catch the bad guy and find their hea.
Well written with a great plot.
Profile Image for Jeriann Fisher.
776 reviews
September 4, 2020
Nichole Severn delivers an action packed, five star thrller in the second chance romantic suspense Caught in the Crossfire. This is a pulse pounding thrill that will leave you guessing. The latest Blackhawk security installment. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's been a year since profiler Kate Monroe buried her FBI special agent husband, Declan, yet here he is, at her house right before someone shoots them. Just like the year before, when their life together got ripped apart, they end up in the emergency room. To add to the confusion, Declan is suffering from amnesia. The only thing he's been able to remember over the years since he vanished from the hospital is Kate, his angel.

Kate senses there is something different about Declan. He's harder. More volatile. She feels that too much time has passed to rekindle what they had had together. She wants them both to go their separate ways after they work together to find the shooter. Declan initially agrees but is devastated.

Best laid plans, and all that. Kate and Declan love each other but can old patterns of behavior be faced and changed? Can secrets be forgiven? This amazing love story is also great mystery. I really like the second chance story featuring a married couple.

I highly recommend this terrific mystery, thriller, and romantic story.
Profile Image for Lynn Brooks.
3,532 reviews45 followers
August 22, 2020
High intensity action! With book five in her always exciting Blackhawk Security series Nichole Severn delights her reader with quite the story in CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE. Danger is lurking around every corner, lies are exposed and love in rekindled when Declan Monroe returns from the dead!

Kat is a force of nature. She survived the shootout that killed her husband and took her future from her and is finally coming over the hurdle of grief to get back to work and living again. When she discovers her husband is alive but remembers nothing about their life together, she has to once again use the strength in her soul to be side by side with him when to him she's a stranger.

Declan is a powerful character. His memory loss is a pivotal part of the book and watching them reconnect despite the things he can't remember is even sweeter because of it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a suspenseful read with lots of heart.
48 reviews4 followers
September 1, 2020
When Kate Monroe’s deceased husband suddenly appears, the profiler can’t believe her eyes.

Declan Monroe has lost his memory, and Kate is struggling to figure out how to respond after finally overcoming her grief and moving forward.

But with a killer targeting Kate, the pair will have to work together to outwit The Hunter in his murderous game…and find their way back to each other.

Who's behind the shooting that left them both for dead? Are they targets of the same shooter or is it someone else? Which of them is the real target, or is it both of them?

Kate's tasked with profiling The Hunter, a serial killer whose victims resemble Kate. As Kate and Declan work together, they're in a time crunch. Can they identify The Hunter and stop him before Kate ends up a victim? Is Declan targeted because he's with Kate or is there another reason?

The 5th book in the Blackhawk Security Series is high intensity, edge of the seat action.

Thank you, Nichole Severn, for a fabulous read.
Profile Image for Teresa  Hild.
99 reviews4 followers
August 18, 2020
Nichole's Blackhawk Security Series has been nothing short of amazing and this one didn't disappoint! Kate Monroe has been mourning the loss of her husband, Declan, for a year when a friend and co-worker tells her the impossible, Declan is alive. The only issue is he's lost his memory. When they see each other at their bullet-ridden house and a killer comes shooting, they need to work together to figure out who the killer is. Declan and Kate are an amazing couple. Even with Declan's memory loss, he knows how much he loves Kate, but trying to get Kate to realize he's still the man she loves is such a beautiful tale and Nichole has woven the pieces so well.

I'm kind of sad that this is the second-to-last book of the series. I will miss all those on the Blackhawk Security team and their significant others -- well, until I re-read the books. They are definitely worth it!
Profile Image for Kate Vale.
Author 25 books83 followers
September 22, 2020
Another in the Blackhawk Security series, in which profiler Kate Monroe is still grieving the death of her husband--until she sees him alive! How can that be? When he reveals himself, he seems to have lost all memory of her as his wife, but he feels a need to stay close to her, as if she is the key to regaining his memory of their past. But when someone starts shooting at them, who is being targeted? Everyone thinks it's her, but maybe it's him. The remaining question is why? And who wants at least one of them dead?

As the two work together to find out, so much injury occurs that it's hard to believe they'll make it out alive after each such encounter with the person she calls the Hunter. Who lives to talk about things and maybe to see the two of them together again is the question that remains.
Profile Image for Lydia Sadler.
183 reviews8 followers
Read
April 21, 2023
Harlequin Intrigue books are quick reads. I loved the romances when I was a teenager. Every problem is solved at the end, and the boy gets the girl, or in this case, the boy gets the girl back. since real life is not like that AT ALL, it is fun to escape for a couple of hours in a story and that is how long it took to read this one.
Declan Monroe is presumed dead, until he shows up at the home he shared with his wife and scares the heck out of her. a year ago, the were both shot and severely wounded in an ambush and left for dead. Declan is buried and Kate spend a year trying to recover from the loss. Until he shows up, with his only memories being of her. Kate is in the middle of tracking a serial killer whose victims bear a resemblance to her. She believes that the killer is a former patient of hers who became obsessed with her. But is it?
Profile Image for Denise.
4,120 reviews12 followers
August 25, 2020
In this one we are thrown a curve along with Kate while we are in this one with her. If I were in her shoes I do not know how I would handle it but it is a second chance per say. You will have to stay close because danger is still out there and coming for her. Delcan and her will have to figure it out together but as they do the chemistry still is there. I do like the paths we take as the chance to see if it can still happen but as that goes on the danger grows which makes for double trouble if not careful. Just think how it would be to see the one again you grieve but they are so alive. Whoa and to have time again but with no time really if life is really what you want. This author knows how to keep us until the end that is for sure.
Profile Image for Denise H.
1,054 reviews54 followers
August 26, 2020
I loved this story! It was such a suspenseful, emotional, wonderful read. Excitement, surprises, twists and turns, mystery, suspense, secrets to unravel, emotional struggle, second chances along with action and danger this book does not pull any punches – you get to experience every one. The emotional suffering and angst are high in this book as Kate and Declan try to resolve the past and reclaim the future. Aside from these two characters we also get to revisit with others from previous reads. This book can be read as a standalone, but I recommend reading the previous books in the Blackhawk series as well. A definite page-turner!

*I received an arc of this book from the author and I am voluntarily providing my honest review.
Profile Image for MK.
1,633 reviews22 followers
August 26, 2020
Amazing book. I couldn’t put it down. What profile expert Kate Monroe at Blackhawk Security doesn’t expect is to ever see her husband Declan ever again. He was pronounced dead after what happened at there house. But there he is standing by her, and saying things to her that make no sense to her. Then he realizes he has no clue who she is. How can this be?

So good. Edge of your seat. This whole series is. I highly recommend reading them all. Whatever you wish. I read them in order but that’s how I like to read them.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. I also purchased a copy so I can pass on.
Profile Image for Anima.
2,756 reviews52 followers
August 30, 2020
Severn knows how to write an action scene. We’ve known Kate as the profiler for Blackhawk Security in the other books, and that her husband died. But there is much more to that story. While chasing a serial killer there are a few fight scenes definitely movie worthy. Without giving anything away I can safely say to pay attention to the cues and the history of the characters. Lots of great twists and very smart tactical maneuvers. I’m always thrilled to get early copies of her books and write unbiased reviews voluntarily. Each book is meant to be a standalone, the stories do not overlap or continue.
Profile Image for Rebecca Cecil.
413 reviews78 followers
April 16, 2023
This book has excitement, mystery, a little romance. Kate Monroe works for Blackhawk Security. A year ago her husband died or so she thought. She was finally dealing with it, she took her wedding band off 2 weeks ago. Then one day while picking up the pieces of her life in walks Declan Monroe her husband he has no memory of her or his life before. Kate now struggles with how to respond after finally overcoming her grief and moving forward.
But a killer is targeting Kate, so the pair have to work together to bring down The Hunter.
Profile Image for Margaret Yelton.
2,140 reviews43 followers
August 26, 2020
Caught in the Crossfire is another amazing book by on of my favorite newer authors. Of course this is one of my favorite genre's and it didn't disappoint. This book is filled with plenty of suspense, and action and one of the best things second chance romance with a HEA ending. I would definitely recommend this book to others. I received an ARC of the book, and was under no obligation to leave a favorable review, all opinions expressed here are my own.
Profile Image for Paula.
1,965 reviews6 followers
August 31, 2020
A Fantastic Suspense Romance .
I volunteered to read and review an advanced readers copy of Caught In The Crossfire .
I really enjoyed reading this story . Talk about a pulse pounding heart stopping suspense .
It's action packed with great Characters . I could not put this story down . Very intense . Kate Monroe is one brave and strong woman .
This story is also very emotional . So well written . I highly recommend taking the time to read .
2,758 reviews129 followers
July 13, 2021
Caught in the Crossfire by Nichole Severn is the fifth in her Blackhawk Security series. Each story stands alone.

Kate Monroe’s husband is dead and gone. So when Declan pops up in her house very much not dead but without a clue who he is, the reunion is a bit strained. Especially since someone seems intent on killing them both.

Nichole Severn’s story is quite the thrill ride, with tense action, emotional revelations, and secrets that threaten what people hold dear. An exciting read!
Profile Image for Melissa May.
336 reviews4 followers
August 25, 2020
Another great read in the Blackhawk security series! This book is about Declan and Kate and their second chance at love. I loved them together! This was a really good story, action packed and hot romance.
I highly recommend this series by Nicole Severn.
Definitely 5 stars!
I received this arc from the author and this review is my honest opinion.
Profile Image for Toni.
2,134 reviews20 followers
August 22, 2020
Kate and Declan try to find their way back to each other even as a serial killer tries to tear them apart. The suspense doesn’t let up from the start and keeps you engaged throughout.
88 reviews1 follower
August 27, 2020
Loved this current addition to the Blackhawk Security series. A profiler and her husband, the FBI agent fight for their lives while tracking a serial killer.
1,312 reviews8 followers
September 3, 2020
3.25 stars
Nail-biting action but predictable villain
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews

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