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New Release Review! TOTAL CONTROL by Laura Griffin (Alpha Crew #4)

Total Control cover

The New York Times bestselling author of Desperate Girls and Touch of Red returns to her sizzling Alpha Crew series with this fourth thriller filled with “scorching-hot chemistry” (Kirkus Reviews) featuring a Navy SEAL who meets his match in a fierce FBI agent as they work together to take down a dangerous terrorist.

Navy SEAL Jake Heath has his eyes on Alexa Mays. The FBI Agent is whip smart and hot as hell, but she won’t give him the time of day. So, when she calls him out of blue, he thinks his luck has changed.

But instead of meeting up for a romantic dinner, Alexa needs Jake for a very different reason. Her counterterrorism team is hot on the heels of the extremist that Jake’s task force has been tracking for months, and now he’s on American soil. The only way she can take him down is with Jake’s help.

Alexa knows Jake is tough and relentless…and that the chemistry between them is electric. Although she’s risking her heart—and maybe even her career—by bringing him onto the mission, she doesn’t have another choice. Together, they’re an unstoppable and powerful team.

As the hours tick by and a lethal enemy gets closer to launching an unimaginable attack, Alexa and Jake need to fight fire with fire before the clock runs out. The only question is: will their own flames get in the way?

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Review:

A fast paced, fun read!

Total Control keeps the tension high as Alexa and Jake race against time to stop a terrorist plot–at least Alexa is pretty sure there’s a terrorist plot; her boss (and ex) is less convinced (sigh). Theirs is a second chance romance; they had worked together six months or so earlier and went out once, but Lexie’s past experiences with workplace dating and reservations about being in a relationship with someone who frequently goes on long deployments has had her ignoring his attempts at communication since. But now she needs his expertise, and Jake is determined to take this opportunity to convince her to give their relationship a second chance.

Ms Griffin kept the focus on Lexie and Jake throughout the book–especially their burgeoning relationship and their attempts to uncover and stop the terrorist plot Lexie is sure is going on. Even though Lexie’s working throughout the story (Jake is on weekend leave for most of it) we don’t see her in the office much, and she only briefly interacts with coworkers on the page. Still, the suspense portion kept you on the edge of your seat, especially toward the end when things really started to come together.

Total Control is the 4th book in the series but could work fine as a standalone as well. You’d miss out on the earlier portion of Lexie and Jake’s relationship, but they reflect enough on it here that you’ll still understand what went wrong then and have faith that their HFN here could turn into an HEA eventually.

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

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