Former terror cell expert Audrey Jenkins has seen enough death and destruction to last a lifetime. When she uncovers her ex, Brett, a higher-ranking officer in her unit, selling military secrets, she turns him in and returns to the simpler life she has embraced since leaving the army. CID Special Agent Cam Harris is a career military man with a strong sense of duty. When a military prisoner who … prisoner who once saved his life in Afghanistan escapes while in his custody, he requests the assignment to track him down.
Cam’s manhunt leads him to Audrey’s door. His prisoner–her ex–will resurface here, he’s sure of it. The feisty woman wants nothing to do with hunting down her ex, but when a terror cell she’s all-too-familiar with launches a deadly attack on army intelligence soldiers and officers, she knows it’s Brett.
Helping Cam is the right thing to do. But the attraction burning between them may be the mistake that gets her and Cam killed…
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Zone of Action is a fast-paced romantic suspense story with two protagonists who aren’t at all sure they’re ready for the “romance” part of things–the “suspense” portion probably wouldn’t have been their first choice either, especially since it’s coming their way thanks to her ex-boyfriend and his former team member and friend, but it’s come for them anyway 😉
Overall I enjoyed the story–the terrorist plot was fairly intense, and I loved that Audrey was not only able to hold her own in the action, but that Cam was 100% on board for her to have an active role in everything that was going on. She’d already left the military by the time the story begins, but Cam still depended on her for her (former) area of expertise, and his confidence in her was spot on. Their romance was a but rushed from start to finish, but it wasn’t wholly unrealistic; they were a couple that it was easy to root for when all was said and done.
The book had the feel of an action movie (with a whole lot less sexism than they usually have, though!)–heavy on the fun, a bit lighter on the realism–and was exactly what I needed this week to keep me entertained. This was my first from author Cathy Skendrovich, but definitely not my last!
Rating: 4 stars / B+
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
This is the first time I’ve read Cathy Skendrovich and I found it packed full of action. It’s one of my new favorite genres military-ops romantic suspense. This is about two individuals scarred by violence in the middle east, each dealing with it a different way. It’s a twisty story about terrorists in the middle east & on US soil, betrayal and discovering love in surprising places.
Audrey Jenkins is a former terrorist cell expert. Her instincts about reading people are so good she was the best in her field. When she guessed wrong in Kandahar and witnessed a whole bus load of innocents blown up she left the military because she lost confidence in her abilities. She opened a flower shop and found a certain level of peace until she overheard her fiance Brett Gates spilling military secrets one day. She turned him in as a traitor to his country and was a witness at his trial where he vows to get even and kill her.
Cameron Harris owes his life to Brett Gates for saving his life in Kabul when they were on an intelligence mission. They lost their teammate Jimenez on that op and each of the team dealt with the loss differently. Cam moved on to CID-Criminal Investigation Dept of the military, Brett went to work with Audrey in terrorist groups. After Audrey retired they began dating. We find out Brett became disenchanted with the military operations with the loss of Jimenez and others. Cam requests to be Brett’s escort officer to prison so they can have some closure. Along the way Brett attacks Cam and escapes. This starts a chain of events that leads to Cam and Audrey working together to unravel a terrorist plot here in the states and together they have to keep Audrey alive. It gets to a point these people don’t know who to trust when they try to stop a terrorist plot on US soil.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
**I received a copy of Zone of Action from Entangled Amara Publishing and Net Galley in exchange for a honest and voluntary review. My opinions were not solicited in any way**
Zone of Action by Cathy Skendrovich is a non stop start to finish book that will make you grab on to your hat because if you don’t you’ll never find if you don’t. She’s a new author to me and I plan to catch up on her other books. It’s totally worth all 5 stars and then some more.
Audrey Jenkins finds out that her boyfriend Brett is selling our military secrets to the wrong type of people who will kill anyone in their way. But she’s no longer military and now owns a floral shop in Northern California when Cam Harris shows up at her door to let her know letting her know that Brett has escaped. They will be on the run trying to keep one step ahead of GUWP who will they attack next to make their plans known.
Cam Harris couldn’t believe that his teammate has turned against the country he fought to defend. When he asks to escort him to prison and escapes he knows that he’ll go after Audrey. With the help of his former Army buddy/Best selling author Zack they’ll have to search the Dark Web for the group and find out who their next target is. When the attacks start against Audrey’s business, Zack’s hideaway they’ll have to decide who would be the next target as a team. But can they fight the attraction between them?
I’m wavering a bit with what to say about Zone of Action. The blurb had me ready to dive right in but there were times I struggled to feel the connection between Cam and Audrey. That being said, the danger and twists kept coming and I was very interested to see how everything would go down.
Now I get it, they were in the middle of a very tense, life or death situation. There was obviously mutual respect between them, even with how little they knew each other. I liked that they had both been duped by Brett (not that he had hurt them both but that his deviousness is what brought them together in the first place). And that they were the ones who tasked themselves with figuring out just what he was up to.
Cue the brushes with death that were too close for comfort. Tensions were high and Cam and Audrey were racing the clock to try and thwart an evil plan. What a deep and tangled web of lies, betrayal and misdeeds with dire consequences they uncovered.
Cathy Skendrovich had my heart racing the final twenty percent of this book as everything came to a head. Talk about unexpected and pulse pounding. I had no clue how things were going to shake out and I was hanging on each and every word to see just what would happen next.
Audrey Jenkins is a smart, kick-ass heroine—an army veteran—trying to lead a quiet life as a small-town florist. She’s also a patriot who turns in her ex when she discovers he is part of a terrorist group. She meets Special Agent Cam Harris when her ex escapes custody and vows to “get” Audrey for testifying against him. Cam is sent to protect her while gathering information that will help him find the ex.
This is a fast-paced thriller, full of action, with steamy sex and a well-developed plot. Both of the main characters have internal scars that need healing and strong, independent personalities. They fight their attraction, but of course love wins in the end.
This one caught my attention because of what it promised was inside. Audrey is a character that has spunk and spice with it grabbing your attention. She also thinks she is going to go to simple but if this turns out to be that I wonder what she thinks is hard. Cam is also another character that has our eyes and attention but also the alpha he is helps. Trouble is abound and when it lands it brings these two together. When it starts hitting she knows who is doing it so together they slay. Heat is going up on all levels but to enjoy some of it they have to live which is what we want at the end so together we stick to see where this lands.
Zone of Action is a fast paced high action story as Audrey and Cam team up to track down the man that betrayed them both. Their story is exciting and the relationship between them is a nice slow build. There is definitely chemistry there and you can feel it all the way through the book. This book is not to be missed. I highly recommend it.
I’m afraid this book just didn’t do it for me. I won’t go over the plot, since the blurb covers it nicely. What I will say is that I found the scenario to be implausible and the plot had too may holes. The main characters were both supposed to be the best at what they did, but they kept making the most ridiculous mistakes. And a small peeve of mine was that the author thanked her two sons for help with the military lingo, yet didn’t extend that help to her readers. A simple explanation of words and phrases would have been nice. I was also disappointed in the ending. There are far too many loose threads, which I assume means that there will be another book to come, but that isn’t mentioned, so the reader is left without closure. So while the writing itself was fine, I found myself too annoyed with the book to enjoy it.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.
Cathy Skendrovich is a new-to-me author but the blurb of Zone of Action sucked me in. Always up for finding new favorite authors, I dove right in. I might need to add that I’m a romantic suspense junkie too. I blame Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys for planting that seed and Nora Roberts for nurturing it for a lot of years now.
What I liked about the book: The suspense started in chapter one and had plenty of twists and turns. There’s nothing worse than figuring out who did what and why less than halfway through a romantic suspense book, in my humble opinion. The action was fast-paced, so the chance to become bored with the story wasn’t really there.
NICUnurse’s Rating: Personally, I would have like to have seen a bit more development of the attraction between Cam and Audrey. Even with fast-paced, page-turning action, I think some more scenes where they actually opened up a little more to each other would have moved this story from more of a thriller/suspense to a true romantic suspense. With that said, I see a lot of talent with this author. She’s got a few books under her belt that have me intrigued, and this story has me looking forward to her next romantic suspense release. While I can’t say that I couldn’t put this book down, I can say that it did what I always hope a good book will do: distract me from my reality enough that I’m totally immersed in the fictional drama unfolding amongst the pages and invested in the outcome enough to finish the book. If you’re a romantic suspense/thriller lover like me, or just like fast-paced and action-filled stories, I think you’re going to enjoy Zone of Action.
I give Zone of Action by Cathy Skendrovich 4 out of 5 stars!
A extremely well written romantic suspense that will have you on the edge of your seats A perfect mix of suspense drama and romance
Audrey Jenkins is certain her boyfriend Brett a soldier is cheating on her what she finds is so much worse he is a traitor betraying his country As ex military and a patriot she has no choice but to turn him in and act as witness against him at trial. Once he is convicted it will be up to ex soldier and now CID Special Agent Cameron “Cam” Harris. he and Brett served together in the sandbox in fact Brett saved Cams life he can’t believe that his friend is a traitor so out of respect he offers to be the one to take him to prison That earns him a mild concussion when his friend escapes Cam is determined that he will bring him back in and he is sure the first place he will head is to get revenge on Audrey so that is where he will wait. The only problem is the huge attraction between Audrey and Cam Can they both survive will Brett be bought to justice and can they have a future together You will have to read to see
A fairly good story with lots of promise. Audrey is a kick ass female soldier who although no longer on active duty has not forgotten her oath. She turns in her ex and becomes embroiled in a terrorist plot. This brings CID agent Cam into her life. He is hot and hard to resist. It is a good mix of action and romance that shows the many dangers and choices of the military.
Audrey had noticed her boyfriend acting really weird, and put it down to maybe an affair, that she could have coped with, what she couldn’t accept was the fact Brett was a traitor, to sell out his country was reprehensible, he had to be punished! And facing him in court took guts, he stopped being the man she loved. It was time to move on…..
CID Special Agent Cameron “Cam” Harris wanted to give his friend the benefit of the doubt. He surely couldn’t be a traitor?!
That benefit of the doubt turns out to be the biggest mistake of his career…..
Audrey is living the quiet life, serving her country as a terrorist expert has ended, she’s now a owner of a flower shop.
Having Brett escape him burned Cam, his friend was a traitor, he was going to prison, and Cam wanted to take him there. And now it’s his job to recapture him and put him back in handcuffs.
He’s almost certain Brett will go back and kill his girlfriend, but Cam thinks there is more to it than that, did she hear something she wasn’t suppose to? Or did she have something that Brett needed? Well he was going to find Audrey and ask her. She was either going to help him, or she’s bait!!
The attraction between Cam and Audrey is a slow burn romance, she isn’t ready for anyone yet, and certainly not the best friend of her traitorous ex!!
But as they work together to find Brett, they can’t help but become closer.
But is Cam using Audrey as bait? Will she be able to lure him out? And if Brett takes the bait, will they be able to stop him before he hurts anyone else?
A fast paced action story. A few twists along the way.
I don’t usually read mysteries, but I’m glad I did with this one.
Cam is ex army, a good career cut short after a good friend dies in the field. Taking his training in the army, he becomes an agent that investigates service men and women. He never once thought he’d have to take his best friend to prison.
Audrey is also ex military, so she doesn’t scare easily, which is a good job. Her being hunted by an ex would frighten most people.
They work well together, find clues, working out where Brett might be, and what his game plan is.
The style of writing was really good, very descriptive, flowed really well. Nothing seemed wasted, I didn’t get that feeling of page filling.
Secondary characters Zack and Elena were great, Elena is best friend and coworker to Audrey, their friendship is lovely, very solid. Especially when Brett burns down the flower shop!
I liked Zack, very down to earth, liked his sense of humour (hoping he gets a book)
If you like your romance with a heavy dose of military and mystery, then this book is for you.
*I received this book for an honest review. All thoughts are my own
Hang onto your hat! This book starts with a bang and doesn’t let up!
Audrey hunted terrorists for a living. Pity that same skillset didn’t help her ferret out her weasel of a boyfriend was a traitor – selling secrets to the highest bidder until she overheard him one night.
Now she has no faith in her former Intelligence Skills. She has laid out a new life for herself, in an occupation far removed from her former military career. Shame that said former sleazebag boyfriend didn’t get the memo!
Cam still struggles to reconcile that the same man who saved his life in the Sandbox is the same traitor that Audrey helped out away. But as a show of respect to his former friend he decides to escort him to prison. Then gets a clock to the noggin for his support! But now that Brett is on the run, will he really show up to get the revenge he declared in the middle of a courtroom? Or will he continue his traitorous ways?
Audrey and Cam have found the most inopportune time for the attraction between them to surface.
But with the able assistance of Zack (a former colleague of Cam and now Author), they are in a race against time to stop more atrocities committed in the name of Patriotism.
Great read! Really loved Cam and Audrey together. They both have hurdles to overcome in relation to their former relationship with Brett and the guilt they feel at not ferreting him out earlier. Zack is a very enigmatic character and I hope that he’s going to get his own book in the future!
This was a tense drama with plenty of twists, turns and surprises. It also has a romance that develops at what could be considered the worst possible time. Of course if these things hadn’t happened, the main characters might not have ever met.
I liked that Audrey was portrayed as a strong woman. I liked it even better that Cam not only wasn’t intimidated but was attracted to strong women. Not that he’d had a lot of time for dating because he had such a heavy case load.
Audrey was good at what she did in the military but she walked away after a disaster that she felt responsible for. The memories assaulted her as did her doubts about her ability to read people. How good was she really if she couldn’t prevent the disaster in the field and her disaster of a relationship with Brett?
The story was good when it came to describing the situations and locations around them. There felt like there were several times that certain things were rehashed a bit too much. Like how hot Cam’s body was for one example. But maybe that is to be expect, because eventually there was some heated moments.Having said that though, it kept my interest all the way through.
Brett turned out to be a pretty well drawn turncoat. The betrayal that Cam and others felt when it came to what Brett had done was real. They could hardly believe this was from a man they had known but they had all seen the proof.
There is also some humor in the story which I enjoyed. The M.C.’s also get caught with their pants down at least once.
There is a good ending with a H.E.A. of sorts, filled with promise. But also with the opening for further stories because part of the threat from the terror cell is still out there.
“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
Audrey Jenkins has a new life outside or the Army. Since her devastating failure cost so many lives there was no way she would stay. Her bad choices followed her into her personal life, now she’s giving evidence against her ex in a court martial.
Our heroine has suffered a blow to her self-confidence, but is still a strong and brave soldier at heart.
CID Special Agent Cam Harris wanted to give his friend the benefit of the doubt. That turns out to be the biggest mistake of his career.
Our hero is strong sexy and honourable, everything you could possibly want in a hero.
Although we know the villain from the start it doesn’t help to foil the plot.
This is an action packed romantic suspense full of danger and intrigue. Our characters have to foil a terrorist plot and don’t know who to trust.
A very exciting story that will keep you on the edge of your seat all the way through.
I loved it.