An intriguing villain, intense action, and scorching hot sexual tension make this a fantastic romantic suspense, though it's not without its faults. 
 I have a bit of a back-and-forth relationship with LH. I want to love her books, but they often fall short for me. And I stupidly read her best books first (Open Season, After the Night, Mr. Perfect, and Dream Man), so I've set myself up for future disappointment. However, I personally enjoyed this one more than many of her other books, so it's a win for me. The first book in this series really didn't work for me, and I was tempted to not even bother with this book, but thankfully this one was very different. 
 I was worried a few times in the beginning that I would get bored, especially with the pages devoted to the weapons and training, but I really enjoyed the pacing of this book. It felt very much like a movie in my head, and the action and adventure was thrilling. I also thought LH did a great job with the setup in the first part of the story. I can get a little bored with military stuff, but I felt that LH only wrote what she needed in order for us to watch Niema's world change. It was concise and intense. 
 LH has a knack for writing great women, and Niema is no exception. I was excited for John's story, and I certainly found him exciting and mysterious, but I do wish we had gotten a bit more time with him or more time in his head. My brain never quite fully formed him as a rounded out character. 
 And I was frustrated by the stupid character choices - if John loved her, why did he put her in harm's way MULTIPLE TIMES? But then, you already have to suspend your disbelief a bit from the beginning; an expert CIA agent would not put someone like her out in the field. 
 I found the ending odd, both in terms of romantic conclusion, but also because I felt that there weren't enough answers to all of the beginning mystery questions. 
 And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up the controversial sex scenes. This is not the first time, and I assume it will not be the last, that I find some of LH's sex scenes to be a bit too harsh for my taste. It happens a lot in her books, and at this point I'm just not quite as shocked. However, it WAS weird to not only have a sex scene with secondary characters, but to have two rapey scenes back to back.