ARC provided by the Publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn't able to read this book in time to give a proper review.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

There’s a cautionary tale at the core of Hunt’s second installment of the Alpha Security series: don’t opt for a one-night stand … that you pick up in a rural Thailand bar. It’s never as unencumbered as you’d think, particularly with the daughter of a US Senator is swept up in an intimidation scheme affecting her father. And when your one-night stand is Tray Hanson, the man hired to guard your back.

Trey Hanson is sexy and sweet at the same time. He thinks he found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. The problem - she disappears after a hail of gunfire and he later finds out she's his next assignment.

Elle Monroe has been a pushover for most of her life, so to escape, she works as a nurse in underdeveloped countries. Unfortunately, she is brought back because of circumstances relating to her senator father and must be protected by the alpha team.
Together, Trey and Elle have explosive chemistry. Surrounded by his team makes situations very comedic but not too drawn out.

There was a lot of danger and suspense that definitely kept me interested in the storyline. Although the bit with Elle's ex seemed a bit over the top.

This is the second novel to the Alpha Security series and it felt like it could be a standalone. Characters from the previous book made an appearance and made me curious about their journey but it did not take away anything from the story I was reading. There was a lot of action as well as some comedy. If you like these elements, I do recommend this novel.

This is not at all a book that I love. I think if you are into the action romance genre and you don't care about erotic content, this might be a good pick for you though.

Elle is supposed to be a character who has taken everything sitting down up until she has an epiphany in life and decides to take charge of her life. In futherance of her new and improved "take charge" mission, Elle volunteers as a nurse in Thailand. While on that trip she meets Trey and has the best most mind blowing night of her life. Trey is a big bad alpha hero who is sick and tired of one night stands. Even though he dives into bed with Elle the first day he meets her, somewhere in that first night he decides that he wants more than one night. But surprise! Elle is the one who wants just one night. She is in the middle of doing the morning after slip out when Trey catches her. He's in the process of trying to convince her to give him more than one night when things go crazy.

Suddenly Elle and Trey find themselves under attack. It turns out that Elle is being hunted by people seeking to influence her senator Father. As coincidence would have it, Trey is a part of the Alpha rescue squad that was sent to protect Elle. He didn't know that when he slept with her but Elle spends the rest of the book wondering if Trey slept with her just to get close to her for the mission. Elle and Trey are forced to remain together after returning stateside when Elle's life is repeatedly threatened. Trey takes the opportunity to try to convince Elle to give a real relationship a chance. Elle, however, can't have babies and she doesn't think Trey will want to be with her after learning that so she keeps ducking him.

Ok, several issues with this one. First, I hate an omniscient, omnipresent enemy. No matter how far Elle ran or where she went, the dude with the scar on his face kept finding her. Like, how are you being protected in a hidden mountain compound and crazy stalker dude still finds you? Second, there is no sex in this book and I do NOT understand that. This book gives you all the sexy vibes and constantly tells you the characters are getting it on but then nothing. No naked, sweaty, bumping and grinding, just nothing. Also, Elle and her refusal to consider a relationship starts off noble and then gets super tiring. Trey is too much of the bossy alpha male, to the point where he's more of a caricature. And, did I mention there is no sex?

I found a lot of the action in this book tedious because it didn't help move the relationship forward. It's not a bad book, but it just didn't have enough of what I look for in my action romance reads.

New to me author, Ms. Hunt slings me into a world of political intrigue and betrayal. Elle is the proverbial dutiful daughter to her powerful father, a Senator. Intimidated by him, she follows his rules as if they are law, even down to the husband he picked for her. When a life changing event shows Elle just how little she means to both her father and finance, she decided she's had enough. Instead of being the perfect airhead socialite, she puts her nursing degree to good use and volunteers in 3rd world countries. She will make a difference. Unfortunately for her, she may leave her father and ex-fiance behind but they don't agree.

This story kicks off hard and fast with Elle doing the morning after dash after a spectacular night of sex with a stranger. Unlucky for Elle and the stranger, Trey, they were supposed to meet up. Not for the horizontal mambo but for Trey to protect her from threats. When it comes out Trey is supposed to be part of Elle's protection detail, the story hits a hotter sexual tension. Elle's temper is a slow fuse but when she finally hits her limit, she explodes. Exploding Elle is a fun Elle as long as her ire is aimed elsewhere.

The characters in this story are fun. I liked both Trey and Elle. I did find their hang ups to be a little overplayed. As in, I didn't understand why they wanted certain personal information kept quiet. I didn't find it shameful or embarrassing, but then again, I'm a honey badger, not some young single female with self image issues.

The conflicts in this story are well done and tie in nicely together. Ms. Hunt does a good job of starting with one main thread only to split off into to different subplots and then tie it all back together in the end. I liked it. After reading this book, I am definitely on the look out for more Ms. Hunt books. She reminds me of Maya Bank's KGI series. This romantic suspense is recommended to all romance readers.

I have chosen to DNF this title. I appreciate the access to the title and apologize that this was not one I was able to finish. I really liked Trey, but Elle was annoying to me which made it difficult to relate to her as the heroine of the novel.

I look forward to the next title I read through your company.

Laura

After the great fun I had reading Holding Fire, I definitely will seek out the Alpha Security series. April Hunt has offered readers a really well balanced story, the ratio of action/sex/romance is really spot on. I appreciated that the hero and heroine were both strong, independent characters in their own rights, and that they were so layered and well drawn. The story itself was an easy read, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time ith April Hunt and the Alpha Security team. I look forward to more.

This is an interesting book in that it reads a lot like some books by Lexi Blake, or Maya Banks... what with the alpha men who used to be military who are now into security thing. It's a trope that's been done to death and back, and I enjoy it still. Where this was a little bit different was that the alpha character, Trey, wasn't quite as alpha, dominant, or an asshatt. But that's really about it as far as story and plot and characters go.

One other thing that was different is that there is almost no on page sex. They have a lot of steamy foreplay that leads to sex, but the majority of it, really until the end of the book, all happens off page. For the first few scenes it took me off guard. There was all this build up for something super sexy, only to shift completely and I'd end up in a whole new scene. It tended to take me out of the moment. I'm not one who needs to have all kinds of sex in her romance, but when there is that much build up, I expected more.

But, I did like this a lot. It was a predictable plot line and I knew what was going to happen fairly early on. It was just easy to read, you know? But it was a lot of fun, nonetheless.

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting and complicated suspense/action plot, sweet and perfect love story. I love bodyguard stories, and this was no exception.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

Alpha Security operative Trey Hanson is ready to settle down. When he meets a gorgeous blonde in a bar, and the connection between them is off the charts, he thinks he's finally found the one. But after their night together ends in a hail of gunfire and she disappears in the chaos, Trey's reasons for tracking her down are personal . . . until he learns she's his next assignment.

Elle Monroe never expected to see Trey again. The night they shared was incredible, but the last thing she's looking for is a relationship. Now that it's clear she's being targeted, though, she has no choice but to trust this man she barely knows with her life. And Trey's not just determined to keep her safe . . . he's determined to win her heart.

Review:

I was hooked from page one!

This was an exciting romantic suspense story, where after spending one extremely passionate night together Trey finds out Elle is the one he has been hired to protect. From that point on the sexiness and the action keep ratcheting up. I won't give away any more of the plot, but I will say there are a lot of twists and turns, action and super sexy.

This is my first time reading this Author and I loved her style. She wrote engaging and interesting characters. Trey and Elle were both strong and caring which made them super appealing. The sexy scenes had the right amount of heat without being over the top. The story was fast-paced and there were no slow points. I loved the little surprise at the end of the book.

4.5Stars

*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book provided by the publisher.*

What’s it About? Trey Hanson spends the night with Elle Monroe and thinks he may have found someone special but when chaos and a gun fight break out, Trey loses Elle in all the chaos. As an Alpha Security operative, Trey is good at finding people and protecting them and when he finds out that Elle is his next assignment he sees it as an opportunity to convince her to give them a chance at a real relationship.




Overall reaction to the story? April Hunt is yet another new to me author that wowed, dazzled, and had me vowing to come back for more. The pacing was perfect for a romantic suspense, and the characters were delightful.


Describe the hero in five words: Strong. Intelligent. Fun. Sexy. Stubborn.

Did you like him? Yes.

Why? Trey is all alpha but at the same time the guy has a soft, gooey center that was just waiting for the right woman. The author really made Trey seem like a realistic character. He wasn’t too “macho” but he wasn’t incompetent at his job either. He was fun but he could also be intense. I just loved how charming this guy could be and sure, he could be a bit bossy but I could forgive that in light of the situation he and Elle found themselves in. I should be so lucky to have a one nighter with a guy like him!


Describe the heroine in five words: Determined. Intelligent. Sassy. Stubborn. Caring.

Did you like her? Yes.

Why? I’m so picky about romantic suspense, I need the heroine to be something special, a cut above the rest and Hunt delivered. When Elle is introduced she’s basically trying to find herself and her inner strength after having dealt with some big time jerks in her life. I liked her, she wasn’t perfect but that’s what I liked about her. She was determined to do things her own way but she wasn’t so stupid as to think she could do a better job of protecting herself than a trained professional. She did have one or two moments where I wasn’t too pleased with her as a character but other than that she was a pretty neat heroine.



Let’s talk about the romance: Holding Fire had a nice role reversal between Trey and Elle, he was ready to settle down, she wanted to cut and run. It added a different tone to their dynamic and honestly I liked it! It was nice to see the guy, especially a guy like Trey who was a total badass show his softer side. The chemistry rocked my socks BUT I found it so frustrating that there would be such a sexy buildup between them and you think the sexy times are going to be explosive but then you blink and it’s the next day already. Ugh, that was just not good. I don’t like teases in real life and I definitely don’t like them in romances. It didn’t happen all the time but it did happen enough to kind of bug me. I could understand if this book was on the “Sweet” side of the romance specter because I would be prepared for that but to build up the tension with some really great scenes and then not follow through? Nope. Not something I enjoy.



Click It or Skip It? Even with the closed door scenes, Holding Fire delivers on action, romance, and likable character. I’m definitely a fan.

4 stars

Holding Fire is the second title in the Alpha Security Series, and is a fast paced romantic suspense with elements of action, intrigue, suspense and drama. Although this title can be read as a standalone the characters that feature in the first title appear throughout this book, and it's nice to understand their backstory.

I thoroughly enjoyed Holding Fire, and found the characters to be complex, dynamic and endearing. Holding Fire has everything I look for in a romantic suspense, heat, steam and a strong alpha, and just as strong feisty and sassy heroine. This story line is sexy, fun and suspenseful.

Trey is the hero an alpha through and through, former military, strong, handsome and used to having his directives followed. Elle is strong, sassy and feisty and desperate for her independence. I loved the strong chemistry and connection between this pair, it's quite believable and the love scenes are quite hot and steamy.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, but in my mind the author has developed and this book is better, whilst still not a completely unique story line, it is fun and entertaining and the twists and turns kept me engaged and turning the pages until the very end.

The secondary characters are fabulous, not only adding depth to the story line, but also elements of humor that had me laughing out loud. I really look forward to the next additional titles in this series, to see the other members of Alpha Security find their happy ever after.

An action-packed, sexy, and full of sinfully sexy alpha males that will have your panties dropping and your heart racing. April Hunt is one of my GO TO authors when it comes to romantic suspense. Her books are written perfection while her heroes just make me SWOON every single time. And Holding Fire contained one alpha male that I absolutely fell in complete and utter LOVE with! Trey is a definite favorite of mine. And I adored Elle's fierce personality and soft spots. Trey and Elle had such incredible chemistry. Their passion was HIGH OCTANE HOTNESS!

Holding Fire is and was unforgettably entertaining! The action was non-stop and had my heart pounding at every turn. I give this book a FANTASTIC FIVE SHOOTING STARS! Its wildly sexy, and fierce. I loved it!

We met Trey in book one of the series as Penny's brother, in every way that counts. Since watching Rafe and Penny find love and happiness, Trey has been thinking more and more about finding some love for himself. The appeal of the hook up is loosing it's fizzle. When Trey sees the beautiful blonde in the bar, she catches his eye. The more time they spend together the more he thinks he needs to get to know this woman and more than the smooth beautiful parts of her body. When he finds out that Elle is his detail and his first job it to protect her. With the muddied lines in the sand, will he be able to hold back, will she even let him in now?

Elle is so tired of letting people dictate her life and what she does with it. That is how she finds herself in Thailand. The last thing she expected to find while there was the hot guy one night stand. When she finds herself running from stray bullets, she might be in over her head.

In a whirl wind of events and close misses Elle looses any feeling of family she might have had with her father. She quickly finds a replacement with the Alpha security team. Can they keep her safe while finding out who is after her? Will Trey and Elle get a change to see if there is room for love and happiness in their lives?

This is a fast paced read that keeps you on edge, wanting to know what happens next. The bond that the Alpha Security group have is something not many find. The banter and exchange between them keeps some humor to lighten the impact of the threat. I look forward to Charlie and Vince's story.

*** Advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review. ***

One night stands are meant to be uncomplicated, but when Elle Monroe chose the fierce looking badass across the bar in Thailand for one night of fun at the urging of her best friend, she had no idea what she was in for!

Trey Hansen and his team of Alpha Security are in Thailand awaiting the full details of the protection job they have been assigned, so they decide to let off a little steam at the local watering hole while they wait. At 34 years old, Trey has been starting to feel the need to settle down rather than engaging in a continuous string of meaningless hookups especially since his sister got engaged to one of his best friends. When the petite blond beauty approaches him in the bar with a promise of a fun night in her eyes, he decides to take her up on it even as he feels like she could be something more. He has no idea how that decision will complicate his life in the near future!

Elle has lived her life under the controlling and domineering thumb of her father, a US Senator who is more interested in what everyone can do for him, including his only child, than in how he can serve the people he was elected by. For years she played the part of the Stepford daughter, but when she catches her hand selected fiance with his pants down in the company of his secretary and she is told to just deal with it, she finally snaps. She calls off the engagement, enrolls in nursing school and takes a job halfway across the world defying her father and all the expectations placed on her. The intensity of the man she chooses for a night of fun both thrills and scares her, but she is determined to live her life with some independence giving no man that much control over her ever again. When the world goes crazy around her and she is held at gunpoint by a would-be kidnapper, she is stunned to see Trey coming to her rescue- but that shock is quickly replaced by anger and annoyance as he starts barking orders without any explanations as he hustles her into a car and out of the area with one of his friends. Betrayal rapidly follows when she realizes she is a job to him and he kept that fact from her when they hooked up... despite the fact Trey had no idea she was the object of their protection mission at the time.

And let the struggle begin! Trey has his work cut out for him convincing her that he is not like every other man she has known including her father and her ex-fiancee (who doesn't want to take the hint about the "ex" part by the way). Elle wants to trust him but his alpha tendencies automatically grate on her nerves out of pure rebellious instinct and she has to work to lock down that reaction. Penny and Charlie, the only two females at the Alpha Security headquarters, quickly take her under their wing and it is not long before they are encouraging her to give Trey and the team a run for their money and sanity!

Trey and Elle have a chemistry that is palpable, and despite the constant push and pull Elle initiates they were a lot of fun to read about. Trey is a genuinely good guy at heart, and when it comes to alpha dominant and protective instincts, he has them in spades. The danger to Elle is real and the whole team has to focus on discovering the source, but Trey finds a way to give Elle some lighthearted and fun moments even as he keeps chiseling away at the walls around her heart. She has a reason for putting those concrete barriers in place though and she is certain that Trey will run the other way as soon as he finds out her secret.

Holding Fire was one of those books that flew by as I flipped the pages and I read it in the space of just a few hours. I love the whole Alpha Security team and I am absolutely dying to read Charlie's story! She is snarky and able to hold her own in the boys' world she operates in, but for all her bravado I am betting she goes down hard when she finally gives into the chemistry between her and one of the other team members. In the meantime, if you are looking for some hot, sexy fun amidst action packed moments, then grab yourself a copy of Holding Fire and buckle in for the ride!

*thank you to the author for providing an arc*

April Hunt nails romantic suspense!!! She does not disappoint with her newest installment in her Alpha Security series. Trey and Elle will grab you from page one and won't let go till the end. Holding Fire needs to be on your TBR list!

Trey is part of Alpha Security and loves every minute of it, not only is it his job but it's his family. Elle is a nurse trying to find her place in the world. When they meet in Thailand, there about to change everything.

Trey has one amazing night with Elle. While he is trying to extend their time together, Elle can't wait to get out of there. Just when Trey thinks he won't see her again, he finds out she is his newest assignment.

After a close run-in at the airport, Trey decides that Elle needs to be at his side at all times. As they spend more and more time together they start to learn that maybe trusting each other might not be such a bad idea.

Elle also starts to find her place in Alpha Security and she sees what it means to be part of a family who cares about each other.

As Trey and Elle grow closer and begin a relationship on Elle's terms, will they be able to keep to them? Will Elle let fears and secrets come and keep her from following what she wants? Or will they be able to trust each other and follow their hearts?

Get ready for a wild ride with the guys and girls from Alpha Security!!!!

Another great romantic suspense story from this author. I really enjoy her writing style. There is a great blend of action, suspense, romance, and humor. This group of security operatives is more like a brotherhood than a business. There's lots of funny banter, sexy times, and high level action. In this story Trey Hanson, one of the Alpha Security operatives, meets Elle Monroe one night and their chemistry is off the charts. The have one night of passion but rather than waking up to an awkward morning after, the night ends in a gun fight and Elle simply disappears. Trey can't get her out of his head and tracking her down is not an option because of that alone. Add in the fact that she is actually his next assignment and finding her become priority one. When he finds her not only will he need to keep her safe but also convince her to open her heart to more. With him!

Great read and one you don't want to miss. I highly recommend it.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

3.75 Hearts I did not read the first in the series but all in all I don’t think you need to but it may work best to have read it so you have the back story.

Trey is alllllll alpha. If you are not into books where the guy takes control to keep the damsel in distress safe then this is not the story for you. Trey is full on protector who really is a good guy who will do anything to protect the woman he is starting to fall for.

The bit of a change in this book is Elle is the “broken” one. She came from the bad home, she doesn’t want to fall in love, she is the one who to be independant and not depend on anyone ever again. Which is all honesty is usually the man’s perspective in books anymore. So the change was appreciated.

This book is truly enjoyable. I wouldn’t say it was a beach read but it is sure a cuddle up on the couch read with adventure, hot sex and characters who are well formed and enjoyable to read about.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.