Jace Kaiser is a man without a country, without connection. His only loyalty is to the group who saved him, and the man who leads them. Until her…The assignment should have been easy. Capture a deadly assassin and take her to HQ. But flawed intel leads to disaster, and Jace abducts a beautiful art appraiser instead. Intrigued by her courage, he’s drawn to her in ways he can’t explain. Dr. … can’t explain. Dr. Madeline Cole stood up to him, fought for her identity, and never backed down. She’s the kind of woman he could fall for if it wasn’t so dangerous–for her.
Then Maddy is targeted for elimination because she’s the sole person who can identify the mysterious female assassin–and the only thing standing between her and certain death is the sexy mercenary who swears he’ll die before he lets anything happen to her. As the passion between them ignites, it seems clear that keeping Maddy safe has become the most important assignment of Jace’s life.
Even then, protecting her might not be enough–because Jace has secrets that could destroy them both. And someone is determined to unmask them all…
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Lynn Raye Harris has once again delivered with another great book with Black List which is the first book in Black’s Bandits series. Fans of her Hostile Operations Team series of books have been wanting a book about Ian Black, and with Black List we get plenty of time with Ian Black as well as a few of his operatives. First up is Jace Kaiser, who is a man without a country thanks to his parents. Jace mistakenly captures art historian Madeline Cole when trying to capture a known assassin going by the name Calypso. I loved Maddy has such a strong personality and gave as good as she got when she was with Jace and the other BDI operatives. She even stood up for herself with Ian Black, and I feel like that is something not everyone does.
Jace and Maddy had really strong chemistry from the moment they first met, even though it was under less than perfect circumstances. Even before everything was sorted out about identities, you could totally feel the attraction between Jace and Maddy. I loved for the first time in Jace’s life he found someone he couldn’t stay away from even when it went against all the rules. I loved that Jace would do anything to be with and protect Maddy.
I loved the suspense element of Calypso, though I figured it out before it was revealed. Calypso is the type of bad guy you love to hate, yet feel like cheering her on at the same time…once she has an agreement with you anyway. I loved the action and suspense elements of Black List and have to say that Lynn Raye Harris have another series to fall in love with. I’ve wanted to learn more about Ian Black since he first appeared on the page and figure with Black’s Bandits we will finally get all the answers we have wanted. I feel like Black List can easily be read as a stand-alone story if you haven’t read any of the Hostile Operations team series of books, but also think readers will understand the need for Ian Black’s story if they have read both series.
Rating: 4.5 Stars (B+)
Review copy provided by publisher
“I’m still mad at you.”
“I know, babe. I’d be mad at me too if I were you. But I’ll make it up to you.”
“It’s not going to be easy.”
“Nothing worth having ever is.”
The name’s Kaiser. Jace Kaiser. Holy Hannah!!! I am so in love with this new series already and it’s just begun!!
Jace Kaiser. That’s his name….now. Knowing his past will always haunt him – that he is always being hunted – won’t stop him from completing his missions. Now he is the hunter, stalking his target. Calypso. A feared and ruthless assassin, her time is up now that he’s been tasked to bring her in. But, the woman he captured claims she’s not who he thinks she is – not even close. A case of mistaken identity could be the best thing that’s ever happened to him. She’s feisty, and brave, and pushes all his buttons. He’s drawn to her, but he can’t let her in. He’s too dangerous and it would only end in disaster, right? His head says to push her away – his heart has different ideas. But, now that the real Calypso has targeted his girl for elimination, he’ll have to put his heart on hold to keep her alive. His past is coming for him and it just might take his future with it.
Madeline Cole is an accomplished art appraiser. So when the chance to appraise a rare collection in Russia, she can’t help but be intrigued and excited. When a random trip back to her room for camera batteries leads to being tackled, restrained, kidnapped, and forced on plane back to the States, she realizes she’s in the fight for her life – for her freedom. It would help a whole lot to stay angry if her captor wasn’t so dang sexy. Once she proves she’s not who he thinks she is, everything can go back to normal – NOT! She’s in the cross-hairs of the assassin they mistook her for and only one man can protect her. Jace. He might be able to save her, but he just may destroy her in the process.
I’m just gonna say – if Jace Kaiser can wreck me with book one, I hope my heart can take the rest of them! Gah!! I cannot wait for the next book!!! You’re going to love this one! Black’s Bandits can steal my heart any time!!
I was so excited to read this new series spin off from the wonderful Hot Series. Ian Black and his bandits have been sprinkled here and there throughout the Hot books and have been peaking my curiosity for some time. It was great to read this first book of the Black Bandits Series. Jace is the first asset we learn about along with Maddy the woman he falls for. Jace is very much a man without a country and thanks to Ian’s help he has been able to find a place to belong and teammates to call family. Jace is sent to find and bring back an assassin in Russia and ends up mistaking Maddy for the woman he was sent to find. The chemistry between these two is steamy from the start. What starts out as finding a criminal turns into Jace trying to protect Maddy while trying not to fall for her and bring her into his dangerous world. Not everything works the way Jace thinks it should and the two quickly fall for one another while trying to protect the other. This book had a few twists and surprises along the way that made for a very entertaining read overall. In this book not only do we find out more of Ian and how he works, we meet Jace’s teammates, Brett, Colton, and Ty. Absolutely loved the HEA! Can not wait to find out which of Jace’s teammates we get to meet next. Or will it be Ian?
Lynn’s readers have waited a very long time for this Hostile Operations Team spin off series that gives us an up close and personal look at the illustrious Ian Black and his Bandits who operate in a shadowy world of grey where nothing is as it seems and everyone is licensed to kill. I have long suspected that Ian’s story would make for an awesome book and I’m thrilled to have learned that my suspicions are accurate and that there are more adventures ahead in this series. Jace Kaiser is a fierce warrior with a painful childhood that he never talks about until he finds a kindred spirit in Maddy who recognizes his feelings because she is alone in her own painful way. Jace comes on strong with his good looks, his muscles and his bossy Alpha attitude but Maddy can be equally fierce and feisty when he orders her around like the sexy Neanderthal that he is. It was entertaining to watch Jace and Maddy dance around their growing sexual attraction between them while they were running for their lives from an assassin who wants them both dead. This book is a wild and sexy roller coaster ride! I read an early copy of this book and all opinions expressed in my voluntary review are completely my own.
A Best Seller for sure!
What an exciting new series! I love how Ian Black has always been a mysterious wild card among the heroes of HOT. No one is sure if he is one of the good guys or is a mercenary black wolf. This new story gives us a little insight to his agenda and character.
You will be hooked right from the Prologue! There are Russian characters, secrets, spies, murder, false identities, sweet innocence and a HOT operative – Oh, my! This story delves deep into the complex lives of ordinary people, turns them upside down and spits them out. Deception and lies turn innocent children bitter and forces them to grow up quickly. Children roughly wrenched from their home and forced to live in a foreign country and learn a new language just to survive.
I love all of the details about Jace’s younger years and the critical moments that changed his perspective and life forever which has made him the man he is today. This fabulous story is full of intense adventure, taking the reader to the unpleasant side of the world where Jace has to keep one step ahead of the unknown and unseen and is always running and looking over his shoulder until Ian Black steps in.
Maddy is a smart, beautiful, hard working woman working with a prestigious firm as an art appraiser. She unsuspectingly gets caught up in Jace’s latest mission involving a deadly assassin and a mistaken identity. Her life will never be the same again, Jace will see to it.
A very fast paced read but touches on the simple things in life and the heartbreaking realities of the frailty of our elderly relatives and the impact this has on our lives. Such subtle and raw emotions keep you invested in this story.
I love it!
All I can say is I was not expecting that turn in the storyline. Maybe I should have, but it came as a surprise. And let me say, Ian has his hands full if he thinks he can contain Calypso.
Black’s Bandits are going to make for an interesting series. Everyone has a story to tell and rules are meant to be broken. I can’t wait for the next book in this series. Will it pick up right where Black List left off, or will it wait to resurrect some of the ghosts from this story?
Ms. Harris is a master storyteller and only time will tell where this series will go. I’m hoping to see glimpses of the HOT guys in this series periodically similar to the way we see the Bandits in the HOT books. Until the next book …
I’m a huge fan of Lynn Rae Harris and her HOT series, HOT SEALS and now Black’s Mercenaries. Each book always seem to be better than her last, and this first book in her new series was fantastic.
Jace and Maddy meet by accident due to mistaken identity while Maddy was on a job to appraise art for a super rich Russian businessman. Jace and his team think she’s an international assassin.
This is a fast paced thriller with steamy romance and surprises you will want to read in one sitting.
I received an ARC from the author and happily wrote a review because I loved the book.
Black list is the first book in the new spinoff series about Black’s Bandits. Lynn Raye Harris has written another hit. Black List is an awesome start to the road to Ian’s story. I love seeing the human side of Ian Black. Ian’s merry band of mercenaries are going to be a great cast of characters. Jace and Maddy’s story is a steamy, suspenseful page turner. Lynn Raye Harris wrote that even mercenaries get to have lives. I can’t wait for the rest of their stories!
New Series … New Hot Spies!!! What is there to say when out of the blue… A man chases you down… And says that you’re a spy and a killer ? Me, i’d of done just as Maddy did .
Lynn has written such wonderful gripping Hot Seals and Hot Hostile men to dream of but now with The Black List….My! My! Myyy! These mercenaries are so hot .
In Maddy and Jace you have a man that is a spy with a name different from the one he was born with, hiding in plain sight because there’s a price tag on him. Then you have Maddy, a Doctor of antiquity that is in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Both are drawn together so much at first they can’t understand but as time goes by ..
Jace’s past comes up and throws everyone but as Lynn does her best in keeping us turning the pages to see what happens.. And of course when we get to the last page we’re like NO!!! It can’t end now..What about Colt? Ty? Natasha? and even the Boss Man…Ian?
Guess we’ll just have to wait till Lynn is ready to tell us….
Black’s Bandits
I’ve been waiting for this series for what feels like forever and I know we are inching just that much closer to getting Ian’s story Anyway this story focuses on Jase and his mysterious past along with that of Maddy, Russian Art Appraiser
When Jase and Maddy meet for the first time, it’s a less than stellar introduction but neither can ignore the immediate attraction to the other! Unfortunately, they have mistaken her for the assassin better known as Calypso.
An intriguing fast paced read and I can’t wait for Black Tie next….Colt’s story perhaps?
This was a surprise worth reading! First, let’s talk about Ian having a human side, a family side. He treats his men and woman like Mendez does the HOT family. Jace and Mandy scorch the sheets and the pages. She is the perfect girl to keep this alpha in line, and let’s not forget Calypso still out there. Let’s see where that leads… can’t wait for the next with the Black Defense International group…
Black List was written by Lynn Raye Harris. This is the first book in the series of Ian Black Bandits. We start off with Jace and Maddie. Let me just say this book was exhilarating from beginning to end. My favorite part was watching them fall in love from the beginning. The story starts off in Russia, where Jace is sent to capture Calypso the assassin. But who he finds is Maddie. I thought that scene was super funny. She’s walking down he hall and sees a man (Jace). Then she takes off and the chase begins. He shoots at her, he tackles her, he kidnaps her and then the attraction hits on both sides. Love all the suspense, mystery and twist and turns surrounding their story. The book draw me into they story. Made me want to know more about both of them. I loved that once Jace showed Maddie his sills she wasn’t ready to let him go. I wouldn’t either. Go Jace!!! it was also good to see this other side of Ian and learn more about the other team members. I also see some upcoming couples I would like to see happen in the future. Definitely looking forward to the new series.
Title: Black List
Author: Lynn Raye Harris
Format: Ebook
Genre: Romantic Suspense – Black Ops, Bodyguard
Standalone: Yes
Part of a Series: Yes Book 1 of Black’s Bandits, HOT Heros for Hire: Mercenaries
POV: Mostly Jace and Maddy
Steam Level: Slow Burn to toasty
5/5
If you’ve read other Lynn Raye Harris books in the HOT SEAL series then you’ve met Ian Black. In this book, we get to see more of him and his Bandits. There are a few scenes in Ian’s POV and it just makes the reader even more curious about him.
Once I started Black List I was enthralled with the characters and mystery. While I guessed who Calypso was prior to the big reveal, I enjoyed the escalating intensity of the mystery and Maddy and Jace’s relationship. Lynn Raye Harris did a great job in teasing us with (possible) stories to come (I hope). This is definitely a series I’ll continue to enjoy.
Wow!! Lynn Raye Harris did it again, she created another great book with Black List, book #1 in the Black’s Bandits series featuring Ian Black’s mercenary group! A spin-off of Lynn’s HOT series. Black List features Jace Kaiser a man who feels he owes his total loyalty to Ian Black and goes on assignment and mistakenly thinks Maddy Cole who is an art appraiser is someone else and takes her under custody. Maddy does everything to prove she is not who he thinks she is but Jace doesn’t believe her and this is the start of the the story. Read the book to find out the twists and turns of this wonderful story of a mercenary with secrets, a strong independent woman, attraction and hot romance between Jace and Maddy, danger and suspense and a surprise or two!
It was great to see Ian Black(who we met in the HOT series) has a human side, loved it! Can’t wait for more
Black’s Bandits!!
Great book Lynn!!
I received an ARC for an honest review.
Action, adventure, mystery, and secrets. I couldn’t get enough of Jace and Maddy. The way they meet is crazy, and then he’s got to keep her safe because they find she’s in danger. But he can’t stay away from her, so things get really steamy- of course. There were a couple of bits that were difficult since I’ve had family members in the situation that Maddy has with her grandmother. I think that makes her a relatable character, because so many people will be able to relate. Jace can’t help but give her his heart, even when he knows better because of who he really is.
This is a great start to a new series by Lynn Raye Harris. And if you haven’t read either of the other HOT series before this one, you may wonder about Ian Black, but you won’t be totally lost. However, for long time readers of HOT you’ll love the tidbits that we’re given of who he is. He is still an enigma, but that just makes me want more of him.
This is going to be one freaking awesome series!! The little lead ins to what is to come are just enough to keep me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next book.
As for this one, AMAZEBALLS! Who knew you could put so much into one book, as Lynn Raye Harris did for this one. We have Art Appraisers, Heros, Assassins, and just plain old hot hunks running covert ops for Ian Black, who we met in other series.
In the secondary story is one that caught me in the throat, dementia. Understanding what one goes through when a loved one has this horrible disease is something that I needed at this point in my life. I have to feel that I am a little more prepared for my dad.
Thank you Lynn, so much for this book.
I was so hoping this author would do a spinoff series incorporating the men of Black’s mercenary team. Once I started reading I could not put the book down. Jace and Maddy are a hot couple with lots of chemistry. And with Ian Black making an appearance in this book, what’s not to love? I can’t wait to see which of his mercenaries fall next!! I highly recommend this book!