I generally prefer romantic suspense heavy on the romance and light on the suspense. That’s definitely not the case here. However, I found the characters complex and intriguing and the plot interesting enough that I kept turning the pages, waiting to see what would happen.

Cameron Moore has lived an ugly life. He was framed for murder at a young age and imprisoned. Evidence seemed to indicate that Cam’s father, an undercover operative, may have framed him. To get out of prison, Cam sold his soul to the devil, otherwise known as the mysterious CIA operative Gabriel Creighton. In exchange for his freedom, Cam agreed to serve as an operative for Gabriel, doing both official and unofficial missions involving all kinds of questionable behavior.

As the book opens, Cam has had enough, and is trying to evade Gabriel. That plan doesn’t work when men he believes are Gabriel’s try to kill him. Cam manages to escape and seeks help from a friend and fellow agent.

Cam’s friend Dylan provides him with some interesting information. It turns out that Gabriel has a daughter he’s managed to keep secret, bestselling author Skylar Slavin. Cam decides to locate the daughter, seduce and kidnap her, and hold her as bait.

If possible, Sky’s life has been even more troubled than Cam’s. Her mother, also an agent, was murdered when she was a young girl. To keep her safe, Sky’s father didn’t acknowledge his daughter, rarely saw her, and had strangers raise her. When she entered college, Sky was diagnosed with kidney disease. She lost one kidney several years earlier, and in the past year had a kidney transplant for the remaining, diseased organ. It’s too early to tell if the transplant will take.

Cam’s plan quickly begins to fall apart when he meets Sky. In addition to being strongly attracted to her, he learns that some other group is trying to kidnap Sky for their own purposes. Seemingly within hours of meeting under very stressful conditions, Sky and Cam have sex for the first time. Normally this would be a deal-breaker for me, but in this case given both of their histories, it worked.

The action switches back and forth between Cam and Sky and Dylan and another female operative, as they work to keep Sky safe, locate Gabriel Creighton, and stop a dangerous terrorist group. This is a very murky world of agents and dark operatives. These agents aren’t hard on the outside and soft on the inside, but instead they’re hardened individuals who will do whatever they have to for the job. Their motivations aren’t love of country; they’re more personal and dark.

The romance definitely takes a back seat to the suspense, but, while I prefer more romance, the plot and characters held my interest enough so that I can recommend this book.

A very interesting female character appears rather late in the book. From the preview at the end, it appears that she will be the heroine of the author’s next book. I’m intrigued enough by her that I will probably pick up that book as well.