Review: Marked (Hostage Rescue Team #1) by Kaylea Cross

Where do I begin with this book? The writing itself is well done. The chemistry between Rachel and Jake is very good. The intimate scenes are scorching. However, there are just too many illogical things for me to ignore.

Rachel is being targeted by an FBI wanted terrorist and her family is in grave danger. However, instead of the FBI putting her in some sort of safe house, her would be love interest, who works for the FBI, checks her into a hotel. And from there coordinates with hotel security, apprising them of the situation. Really?!

I pushed on because well, I had such high hopes for this one. Hopes that were again dashed…fifty percent in.

The story up to this point had been told from the two point of views of the main characters, Rachel and Jake. Then it switched, out of the blue, and we got a scene from a secondary character’s POV. I get it. I do. The author needed to make a transition in the story, move it along. And by move it along, I mean, we had to see the connection of the love interest for the secondary character, thus setting up a future story. So, from here to the end of the book, we now get scenes every now and then told to us from two of the secondary characters. Okay, great. What’s not so great, is the unrealistic way in which the author wrote some of the scenes. For instance, Celida, an FBI agent and previous Marine, is completely taken down by a FLESH WOUND TO THE ARM. The arm! A well trained government agent, taken out by a bullet graze on her arm. She can’t stop the terrorists from coming for Rachel. Which by the way, she wasn’t even assigned to protect, because no one was assigned to protect Rachel. Agents were stationed in the lobby, and don’t forget hotel security was made aware of the danger. So, Celida collapses to the floor and apparently lacks training because the bad guys very easily overtook her and she quickly blacked out. “She’s concussed.” <--yes, that is a direct quote. I would insert an eyeroll if I could.

By this point, my view is tainted. That whole Celida scene and the nonchalance handling of Rachel’s safety stayed in the back of my mind and cast a shadow over the rest of the story. But hey, if plot doesn’t bother you much and you want to read some really steamy, well-written, intimate scenes, then this is the book for you.

I just need to add one more thing, the issues I had with this book should have been caught and pointed out by the author’s editor. Whether the editor failed to catch them, or the author failed to listen to her editor, I’m sure we’ll never know. When writing anything along the lines of contemporary, yes this is a romantic suspense and therefore falls under the contemporary umbrella, a story needs to be somewhat believable. And for me, there were just too many unbelievable things for me to swallow.