To safeguard California’s Witness Protection Program, recovering leaked information is the top priority. The safety of every person in California’s Witness Protection Program rests in US marshal Dutch Haas’s capable hands. So inserting himself into Isabel Vargas’s life to get the drop on her criminal uncle is a no-brainer. Except his target is fiery and intelligent–and she quickly becomes his … becomes his partner instead of his mark. With threats stacking up, will Isabel and Dutch be able to stop Isabel’s past from catching up with her before it is too late?
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Another heart pounding thriller. I didn’t like the deception angle, but it was really well done. Amazing, actually. I’m looking forward to more.
Where is this story set? Who is Dutch? How did he earn that name? Who is Isabel? What does she do for a living? How does she know someone named Brenda? What is the relationship between the ladies? We also meet Dante, Chad, Will, and Allison. What does each of these folks do? What happens one Thursday night after she calls Jim that she’s coming for her car? Holy smokes! The things I learned as I read the story had my jaw dropping several times! I was totally floored! Maybe we will see more of this storyline in the future with the way that it ended. It leaves it open to a possibility. But I would not consider it a cliff-hanger.
RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT from Netgalley FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin’ With M. Brennan.
Another exciting entry in the Hard Core Justice series. At the end of Witness Security Breach, we learned who has the stolen information about the people involved in the Witness Protection Program. The epilogue introduces Marshal Dutch Haas, a motorcycle-riding, tattooed bad boy who has been picked to get close to a “high-priority asset.”
Isabel Vargas is an art gallery owner and the niece of Emilio Vargas. He is the cartel leader who has the leaked information and plans to sell it to the highest bidder. Isabel only knows him as her loving and overprotective uncle. Isabel’s preferences in men tend to be a reaction to that attitude, leaning more toward the bad boy type than the upstanding citizen. Her one attempt at dating a suit-wearing businessman ended in disaster. Her ex, Chad, refused to accept the end of their relationship and turned into a stalker, terrorizing Isabel at every opportunity.
The story opens with a rush as Isabel is mugged as she leaves work one evening. She is rescued by Dutch, but not before she gets a couple of good hits on her attacker. She has no idea that the attack is a setup to allow Dutch to get to know her. Something about Isabel gets under Dutch’s skin right away, and he loses a bit of his perspective when it comes to her safety.
I liked the development of the relationship between Dutch and Isabel. For Dutch, it started as an assignment but quickly became personal. I loved how he was protective, yet respected her independence. Isabel is wary at first because she is still dealing with the fallout from her last relationship. It doesn’t take her long to see the difference between the two men. There are some sweet scenes of Dutch and Isabel together. I especially enjoyed the surfing lesson and his pride in Isabel’s progress. His fear for her during the bee episode was palpable. I liked how they grew closer in the aftermath, but I also knew that it wouldn’t be pretty when the truth came out. I ached for them both when it did, especially Isabel’s feelings of betrayal. It takes some life-threatening situations for Isabel to realize the depth of her feelings for Dutch and some outside help for them to get their future together.
The suspense of the story was intense, with danger coming from multiple directions. The most immediate threat is Isabel’s former relationship with Chad. Several instances of his viewpoint were enough to illustrate the depth of his depravity. It’s here that Dutch’s protectiveness gets him in hot water with his bosses. In addition to the danger that Chad poses to Isabel, there are also a couple of threats and attacks that originate elsewhere and can be laid directly at her uncle’s feet. Last is the need to retrieve the information from Isabel’s uncle. The intensity ramped up as Dutch and Isabel made their plans, only to have things fall apart. I loved how Isabel kept her head, did what had to be done, and saved Dutch at the same time. The final confrontation was a nail-biter and didn’t end the way I thought it would, opening the door to another book. I hope it comes soon because I want to know what happens.
action packed and awesome!!!
Witness program novels promises lots of drama. This is the first time in reading this author which when it comes to Harlequin is a novel thing for me. Dutch has been assigned Isabel as his mark whom is more than a hand full. Thinking she is in a norm she soon finds out life is going to take a twist. We have a slim ball ex and drama that can wrap that slim up tight keeping you along with these two in their adventure. Romance is in there with them working together and the spirit of them both a good combo. Filled my need for a juicy intrigue that had the lip smacking romance.
High-Priority Asset is the third book in the Hard Core Justice series. This is another excellent book by Juno Rushdan, she certainly knows how to keep your interest and pull you in so that you can’t put the book down. Isabel isn’t so lucky in the love department but things maybe looking up once Dutch enters her life. I would recommend this book to others, I throughly enjoyed it.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher Harlequin Intrigue and was under no obligation to leave a favorable review, all opinions expressed here are my own.
Isabel’s professional life is going fantastically, but her personal life is off the rails. Her ex-boyfriend is the creepiest stalker I’ve ever read, like true crime serial creepy as heck! On top of that, unbeknownst to Isabel, her Uncle Emilio has stolen something quite valuable from the US Marshals office and they are working on gaining access to him-through Isabel-by the worst idea ever. Having a knight in shining armor, aka Dutch Has, rescue the damsel in distress by a mugging gone sideways…
The US Marshal’s attempt to gain access to her Uncle Emilio was terrible clumsy and rightfully inappropriate as the true details about her stalker emerge, although I can’t deny I liked seeing Dutch in action. And Dutch did try to do right by Isabel, even when it landed him in super hot water with his higher ups. The stalker plot honestly creeped me way the h…e…double hockey sticks out, so I could have done without those bits and just enjoyed the rest of the book with no other issues.
Great on suspense and electric chemistry, I am left biting my nails with the bomb dropped at the end. I can’t wait to see how everything will turn out in the next installment!
I received an advance reader copy from Harlequin/Netgalley and this is my honest review.
High-Priority Asset was an excellent addition to the Hard Core Justice series. I love the series by Juno Rushdan, and she never disappoints in keeping the action moving and the romance flowing. High-Priority Asset was no different.
Isabel Vargas was successful in business, but not in love. With a penchant for bad boys, she decided to play the safe card for once and date a down to earth businessman, only to earn herself a bonafide stalker. Running an art gallery was her dream, though, and she refused to buckle to Chad and his threats.
Dutch Haas was a US Marshal who also happened to be a bad boy. He was the perfect guy to step in and convince this ‘asset’ that she needed to help them bring down her uncle, the head of a cartel. What they didn’t know was how unaware Isabel was about her uncle’s business practices. Protected by him all of her life, she had no idea how ruthless he truly was.
The problem was, lives were on the line if Dutch didn’t convince Isabel to help them. Her uncle had the list of all of the US marshals, and their families, in California, and he was going to sell it to the highest bidder. If Dutch didn’t recover that hard drive, people were going to die, and he wasn’t about to let that happen. Even if it meant he had to lie to the woman he was starting to fall for. Faced with a no-win situation, Dutch had to make the best of it when convincing Isabel he was ex-military and between jobs. Until he couldn’t lie to her any longer.
With the ante upped and the warring cartel coming after her to get to her uncle, Isabel has to make some choices, and those choices aren’t going to be easy. Confusion reigns when Isabel continues to get threats, and Dutch can’t sort out if they’re from the cartel or the man who is determined to make sure Isabel is with him and no one else. Chad Ellis isn’t going away just because the cartel is after her, so Dutch has his work cut out for him.
When the truth is revealed to Isabel, she keeps her head about her and does what she promises she’ll do, but she doesn’t like it. She likes it even less that Dutch lied to her, especially since she was in love with him. The action is nonstop to the end and you’ll love every second of it.
I loved this third edition to the series and can’t wait for the next one. The main character did some strange things throughout the book that was clearly the dumbest option a person could take, but other than that, I found the main characters and their romance extremely likable and the bad guys extremely hateable. The ending was a big pivot that just kind of left the reader hanging, so I hope that it was the set up for the next book in the series. If you love books about the US Marshals and romance on the fly, you definitely want to check out this series.