Hold on Tight is book 3 in the Hard to Hold trilogy. If you’re like me, and haven’t read the first two, you might be a little confused. It does get better, but the emotional disconnect from the characters and the lack of focus on the romance ultimately makes this book an average read.

Chris Waldron is a SEAL who is used to tough situations. But his most recent mission in Africa to save a kidnapped ambassador goes terribly wrong, and his entire team is killed except for himself and Delta operative Cameron Moore. It becomes evident that the problem goes deep within the team, and Chris soon finds himself in the middle of a full-blown FBI investigation. Special Agent Jamie Michaels will lead the investigation, and Chris is forced to remember their short fling two months ago. Chris had walked away because Jamie’s partner and supposed love-of-her-life had been recently killed, and it was obvious that she wasn’t ready to have a real relationship. Now, when he sees her again, his attraction for her is reignited.

Luckily for him, the attraction is mutual, no matter how much Jamie tries to fight it. Additionally, because Chris has the touch of psychic in his Cajun/gypsy blood, the minute he touches Jamie, he realizes a secret she may not even be aware of: She’s pregnant with his child. Just to make things even more complicated, Jamie’s past quickly begins to catch up with her, and Chris must keep her safe as he tries to uncover the truth about his failed mission.

Chris and Jamie’s romance, which I had assumed to be the focus of the book, actually plays a far second to the mystery of who is trying to attack Jamie and PJ. The essentials of their relationship are all told in the previous book, so we barely get anything in this story. I saw some connection between them at the beginning, but the importance of their relationship made way for Jamie’s stalker and Chris’ investigation. Their relationship didn’t have a chance to develop any further, and they fell into the stereotypical roles of unsure, scared woman and reassuring, instinctively protective man. I liked the insight into Chris’ family and his memories of his mother, but I ultimately felt emotionally disconnected from the story, which is a shame – the bits and pieces I saw of Chris and Jamie’s romance were quite sweet, and I wish it had gone deeper.

Plotwise, the mystery is interesting, but it comes relatively late in the book. A great chunk is dedicated to Jamie and Chris doing a bunch of nothing, and the investigation on Chris is essentially nonexistent until the very end. In some ways I felt cheated; I expected this story to be about Chris being falsely accused of murder and his ex-lover Jamie being on the investigation team, but it seemed that the investigation was simply the deus ex machina to throw Jamie into his sphere again. There is a secondary romance between PJ and Saint that is somewhat more interesting than Jamie and Chris’ relationship, mostly because it was based on the present and not in the past or in another book. I did like the ending very much, which was action-filled and a good conclusion all around.

On a superficial side note, I realized about halfway through the story that I had very little information about what anyone looked like. Usually the reader is inundated with information about bouncy, thick chestnut hair and piercing grey eyes, but this time all I really remember about physical appearance was that Chris has the awesome dual-color David Bowie eye thing going on.

I had a difficult time getting though Hold on Tight and kept putting it down because it wasn’t compelling enough for me to continue for large stretches of time. In retrospect, it is imperative to have read the previous books in the series if you want to have any emotional connection to these characters. This book does not stand very well on its own.