I’ve never been shy about the fact that I absolutely LOVE the HOT series and Harris’s latest novella doesn’t disappoint. I will give a warning that this is a little bit of a variance from the previous stories though. It is loosely tied to the terrorist group from before but it centers around a South American drug cartel instead. Some of our favorite HOT members are involved but we are also given a new hero & heroine and their supporting cast.

However all the things that we love about the HOT series is here - the action is thrilling, the romance is steamy and the characters are interesting. If anything, I would have wanted this to be longer because I really would have liked to see more about these two. Their story is complete (and it is a humdinger - both the suspense portion and their very complicated relationship) but they are complex enough that I think they could have supported a full length story – especially Dane and his issues with his father. What we are given, though, is satisfying and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.

As much as this can stand on its own, since the majority of the action is centered around a different bad guy than the stories so far, there is enough going on here that it fits in with the continuing series. It won’t stop new readers from keeping up, but there are pieces that flow over from previous books. I also really like the idea of introducing a new subset team to HOT with the SEALs. It gives Harris a lot of material to work with for future stories.

(Complimentary copy provided in exchange for an honest review)