HE THOUGHT HE LOST HIS CHANCE TO BE WITH HER.As a former SEAL and now Alpha Team’s technical analyst, Derek West is all about the numbers. But, when this Texas native unexpectedly bumps into the one that got away, he’s determined to beat the odds. Derek wants to make Charlie a part of his life again—especially when he discovers she’s been living with a monster.SHE WANTS TO ESCAPE.To others, … monster.
SHE WANTS TO ESCAPE.
To others, Charlotte “Charlie” Porter’s elaborate life seems picture-perfect, but then no one truly knows what goes on behind closed doors. After a chance meeting with the one man she’s never been able to forget, Charlie begins to dream of the road not taken. Unfortunately for them both, it’s a road that could prove to be lethal.
HE’LL MOVE HEAVEN AND EARTH TO KEEP HER SAFE
When Derek shows up just when she needs him most, Charlie finally breaks loose from her abusive husband’s clutches. But as she and Derek begin to explore what could’ve been, these friends-to-lovers realize Charlie is in more danger than ever before.
Will Derek be able to keep the love of his life safe, or will an obsessive killer destroy the second chance both he and Charlie have always dreamed of?
**Author’s note: INTENTIONAL RISK is a friends-to-lovers romance that begins as a cautious, slow-burn. But once it ignites, watch out! This stand-alone, full-length story is filled with hot romance, loads of action, and edge-of-your-seat suspense readers have come to expect from this series.
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Derek
He is a retired seal working for a security company She was his neighbor growing up she always had a crush on him she sees him with another woman and thinks she is with him so she bails gets her car stuck a guy passing by offers to help and she accepts his invitation for dinner that was her biggest mistake they run into one another eleven years later he can see she is afraid of her now husband so he slips her his card they meet the next day he follows her to the hotel and he finds her beaten and bloodied he takes her to his house to get her checked out by his boss’s wife who is a nurse when the husband shows up the next morning she tells him she is done with him so Derek continues to keep her safe he draws up paperwork for divorce it goes through now she is single they have sizzling romance but husband strikes again kidnaps her the team helps to rescue her he asks her to marry him happy ending
Derek & Charlie
I truly enjoyed this book, it pulled at all of my heartstrings and the suspense kept me turning pages until the very end. Derek and Charlie were childhood friends that were headed towards a relationship when a misunderstanding sends Charlie running. Charlie runs right into the arms of a charming man, who she ends of marrying before he showed his true character. Years later, when Derek and Charlie accidentally run into each, Derek recognizes the situation that Charlie is in and offered her a way out. This book deals with domestic violence and the author did an amazing job showing the ugly truth of the mind games behind the fists, the absolute fear that binds the victim from leaving, the overwhelming strength required to leave, and the absolute unconditional love needed to heal from domestic violence. I highly recommend reading this series, especially this book.
It is amazing how a misunderstanding can spiral life out of control in such a bad way. It just shows what you see isn’t always the whole story. Suspenseful plot with abuse and violence, twists and turns. The main characters are very easy to love and get to know, i found myself smiling and praying. I also held my breath a few times. Exciting and powerful with plenty of action and lots of love.
Reading this book was intentional, but never a risk. Anna Blakely is still living up to her five star ratings from me. She keeps on using her creative writing skills and amazing imagination to add another winning book to her R.I.S.C. Series. If you have read the book’s blurb, which I’m sure you have, this is Derek’s and Charlie’s story. Domestic violence is brought up several times as this story unfolds. Due to misunderstandings on both their parts as young adults, Derek and Charlie each travel a different path away from each other. Years later they run into each other. Upon meeting, Derek wants to get together and catch up on Charlie’s life, but Charlotte’s (her given name) controlling husband, Caleb, puts the damper on that immediately. Derek slips his business card in Charlie’s pocket as they say goodbye. The next day, Charlie’s plans fall through for a lunch with the wife of a business friend of Caleb’s so she ends up meeting with Derek at a coffee shop. She gets a text from Caleb and needs to immediately leave to return to their hotel room before her husband does. He’s already there and knows where she’s been, thus to his point of view, she is in need of being punished. Caleb leaves after beating her and then Derek show’s up and to his horror finds her hurt and bleeding. Derek takes her home, gets her medical help, over the next week they rekindle their friendship and Derek assists her in getting a divorce with records she’s been keeping throughout her marriage of the emotional and physical abuse. Life seems to be looking up as Charlie adjusts to being single again, starts a business and intimate relationship with Derek. Little due Charlie and Derek know how drastically their lives are about to change for the worse. I highly recommend reading this book, as well as, the others in this series. I was given an ARC by the author in return for my honest review and now you have it.
I loved this book. It dealt with a tough subject matter but Anna did an amazing job and with it handled it with grace and strength. A gripping & emotionally moving story, superbly written.
In this story, we see Derek West and Charlotte “Charlie” Porter’s story. Derek and Charlie grew up together and both had feelings for each other but circumstances occurred and their lives went in completely different directions. A chance meeting between the two seems to throw both of their lives into a new direction. From the outside Charlie’s life seems to be perfect. But not everything is as it seems. And when he discovers the hell Charlie is living, he will do anything to keep her safe and make her future into something completely different.
A very cleverly crafted story, sensitively dealing with the terrible and often hidden issue of domestic abuse. There are plenty of twists and turns, I literally couldn’t stop reading until the end. The tightness of the R.I.S.C. team as they interact with each other and their romantic interests continues to be an ongoing theme throughout this entire series. I cannot wait to see how Anna Blakely continues with this series in the future.
I love the R.I.S.C. series and as a new author, Anna Blakely is hitting all her books out of the park. I highly recommend this series. I would happily re-read any of her books at any given time.
Oh where to begin….. I’m having a really hard time finding the right words to say to give this book the justice it deserves….. Let me just start by saying Anna did such an incredible job making sure the book was an amazing description of how abuse works and the turmoil it causes not only physically but mentally and emotionally. Derek is not what you would expect at first. Hes goofy, acts like nothing bothers him and makes light of everything but then you learn why! Hes hurt deep down and plays it off as nothing bothers him. Charlie this poor girl was devastated but then finds someone who is perfect….. a dream come true….. untill it’s not anymore. She suffers but endures because she has no choice untill she does. That’s when these two finally meet again after so many years were stolen from them by a misunderstanding. Then the alpha we all know and love comes out fighting….. fighting with everything he has to get the girl hes always wanted. These two face it all together and find the love the always wanted while doing it. Then they do everything in their power to keep that love and to heal all the hurt along the way. The feels in this boon are all over the place so make sure you have tissues handy and time because you wont be able to put it down untill the very end.
This is book 4 in the RISC series and while it can be read as a stand alone I would read the books before it so that you understand the relationships between the characters and how it all came to be. In this one we Derek West and Charlotte “Charlie” Porter’s story. Derek and Charlie grew up together and both had feelings for each other but decision’s got in the way and their lives went in completely different directions. A chance meeting between the two seems to throw both of their lives into a new direction. From the outside Charlie’s life seems to be perfect. But not everything is as it seems. And when Derek finds out exactly what kind of monster Charlie lives with, he will do anything to keep her safe and make her future into something completely different.
This is another one that had me crying. The one person you are supposed to be able to trust and he is truly this monster who thinks nothing of hurting you? Yeah, that broke my heart! Derek definitely has hidden depths that I didn’t expect and reading about how he felt about Charlie and why he has lived his life the way he has made me understand him more. And Charlie may have lived in hell for years but she is one of the strongest characters that I have read about in a long time! She still had this spark that was never truly wiped out or broken-just hidden for safekeeping! I loved every minute of it, even if it did kill my heart all the way to the end!!
I loved this book. It dealt with a tough topic and Mrs. Blakely did an amazing job with it. This could have been written so many ways but Mrs. Blakely handled it with grace and strength.
Charlie found herself in an impossible situation. Feeling like she’s alone, she becomes a shell of herself. However one chance encounter with an old friend changes things for her and she starts doing the one thing she stopped believing in…hope.
I loved the character of Charlie. She was this extremely strong woman who just found herself in this horrible situation. I loved watching her grow and with the help of Derek and his teammates and she found herself again. The parts that I really liked was how real she felt. She had doubts and concerns and wanted to do anything so her friends wouldn’t get hurt and that alone showed strength. I loved reading that while she leaned on Derek in the attempt to get her life back, she also knew she had to also believe it herself and find that inner strength.
There were so many things I liked about Derek. Here he is this strong man who is trained to take out someone at a drop of a hat and now he has to put that aside and help a woman he loves and work within the law. He is a very smart man with a heart of gold.
Derek’s feelings were demonstrated and written so beautifully. I think there is nothing sexier than a man who can cry. There were times Derek has to shed a tear because his feelings were consuming him. I’m not talking about full on blubbering baby here but there was desperation in him and he needed an outlet. I also liked that his teammates were there to back him up, they understood he needed a moment but then they reminded him that he had a brilliant mind and was up to the task.
Fantastic next chapter. Derek is a true hero, he’ll do anything for the woman he loves. There’s a misunderstanding when Derek and Charlie (Charlotte) were young, it cost them over 10 years. They meet by chance and its a good thing they do. It’s a gripping story with the topic for the book and it might not be comfortable for some to read. I’m so glad that Ms. Blakely took the subject on as it needs to be vocalized. I’m so glad she made Charlie a strong character to take this journey. Derek is a true alpha even though he’s the tech guy. He has his brothers to support him.
The plot was full of twists and turns and the story grabs you from page one. I love the R.I.S.C. series and as a new author, Ms. Blakely is hitting all her books out of the park. I highly recommend this series. I would re-read any of her books, anytime, anywhere.
I received this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
Charolette “Charlie” Porter and Derek West were childhood friends growing up in their small Texas town. Charlie had always hoped that Derek had seen her as something more than a buddy. Derek and joined the Navy right out of high school and had been keeping in contact with Charlie and now that she’s 18 and has graduated high school he is coming home to visit and hopefully change the direction of their friendship into something more. A mistake on both their parts changes the course of Charlie’s life immensely. It is now 11 years later and Derek is working in the private sector for RISC in Dallas. Again fate has intervened that Derek runs into Charlie after all of these years but she’s not the same open girl that her remembers so fondly. She is a shell of her former self and that is something that he cannot let go of. Derek will do anything and everything to reconnect with his former friend and get to the bottom what has taken the light out of her eyes. Charlie doesn’t want Derek to involve in her troubles but when things get really bad she knows that she has no choice. So does my description of their story sound very vague? I don’t believe in giving away spoilers but I do recommend reading Intentional Risk! It stands alone in the series but I definitely recommend the other books. It is loaded with action, drama, angst, love and heat! It is told from dual POV and will make you believe in fate and second chances.
Book 4 of the R.I.S.C. series is a riveting, nail-biting, tragic rollercoaster of feelings. Ms. Blakely has taken a serious subject and made it so real. Her characters are well developed and you can see and feel Charlie’s pain and how she gets back to her true self. This is a book you can’t put down. Awesome. The camaraderie between the men in Derek’s unit and the bond they all have is evident. I received this as an ARC and gladly give my review. I am anxiously awaiting Book 5.
This book needs a True AWARD!
Intentional R.I.S.C. is Anna Blakely’s best so far!!
Derek, her alpha SEAL male, is not only a strong, caring man. He’s also very human, with showing his feelings. A man that is not afraid to let tears fall.
Charlie? I will not call her Charlotte. The things Charlie endures is unfathomable but very, very real. Scary real.
My heart was in my throat the whole time I read this ARC. I had to go back and reread it, to make sure I hadn’t missed something in the book.
Anna Blakely … you nailed it, Girl. You truly did.
Heart pounding, terrifying, emotional 2nd chance love story…this one ran the gamut of all my emotions thru out the entire book..praying Derek could get to Charlie in time to save her…
OMG. What a book. As we start off your heart is with Charlie as she thinks Derek is with another. It also becomes the day she meets her future husband. 11 years later and Derek is with R.I.S.C and meets Charlie at a restaurant. A chance meeting with him puts Charlie’s life in danger and here starts the long process of getting rid of her husband. This book has triggers in for spousal abuse/domestic violence and some but not all is graphically written. Although a tough subject to read this author has written it in a sensitive nature but you still get the feelings, emotions and fears of the victim. As it becomes clear that her ex will do anything, will Derek be able to stop him??? An awesome read with as usual the great characters you would come to expect from this authors books. I am so looking forward to Grant’s book. But then I am also waiting for coop and Macs. I can’t wait to see if they fall hard.
You’ll fall in love with Derek and Charlie ..heartfelt and it will bring your emotions out,so get ready for a Beautiful and loving story,Anna’s stories are one of the best…
I stayed up way to late to finish this book but it was so worth it. Anna Blakely is becoming one of my new favorite romantic suspense authors.
While there are some touchy subject issues in the book in regards to domestic violence and abuse, the author does a great job of not making light of any of it and also reminding readers that the victim is not responsible.
The connection between Derek and Charlie is so wonderful.