An exciting, and action-packed last book…

This is the fourth and final book in the Red-Hot SEALs series that can be read as a stand-alone. There’s an involved underlying storyline that carries across the series but the author provides a good recap and a list of the many characters.

The New Ruling Order killed Amy Chastain’s husband six months ago, he was an FBI agent investigating the group. Along with her two sons she’d been kidnapped and held hostage to blackmail her husband. They were saved by the rogue SEAL team 7 but her ordeal didn’t end then, a dangerous experimental drug that enables GPS tracking of a person anywhere was injected into her sons, without an antidote they will soon die. Amy needs assistance to save her sons and the only person she feels safe with and that she totally trusts is the Commander of the SEAL team who rescued her family and took them to a place of relative safety in the Alaskan mountains. Working together they’re racing against time to save two young lives, the growing feelings they elicit from each other were unexpected and have to be dealt with gingerly considering the nature of the trauma Amy has been through.

Hiding within a secret military base belonging to the Native American Indian nation, Commander Jace (Mac) MacKenzie and the remainder of his team are still considered wanted, guilty of treason by their own country. Their mission has been to clear their names but they must also now stop the NRO’s grand design which when it’s uncovered is a diabolical conspiracy that will affect all of mankind. Mac is drawn to the woman his team rescued and her children who are still in grave peril and are embroiled in the fight against the NRO. His team has seen many strange things that are hard to believe and already survived so much, they won’t stop until they’ve achieved their goals. They’ve lost their country’s resources yet find even greater resources amongst the Indians that shelter them.

In this exciting, and action-packed last book we get the answers to the complex conspiracy that was spread across the globe. The men of the SEAL team have evolved from this harrowing experience, the paranormal/mystical is now a part of their lives, accepted for valid reality. They’ve learned to do what needs to be done regardless of consequences, justice has a greater importance than the law when the enemy is cold and calculating and has no morals. Great characters and multiple points of view help the reader ponder the myriad enigmas, the suspense continued throughout with more betrayals but not from whom you would expect. I liked the technological advances within the story that may or may not be in the realm of science fiction as it’s not inconceivable that they could become reality, a realistic progression from what is known. This reader would have liked more closure on two things: Wolf and Jillian are left at an impasse and one is left hoping they find their way, and how were the underlying pieces of the NRO finally dismantled after the heads of that hydra were taken down.

An advanced reading copy was obtained from the publisher via NetGalley.

A very generous 3 stars if I'm very honest. I have dipped in and out of the series and was hoping for a great ending to the series. I was left disappointed. Mac is lacklustre as a hero and basically stuck to his misogynistic traits, only making allowances for his beloved and a few other "worthy" females!

Then the heroine is a bit of a doormat. She seemed to allow her husband to ride roughshod over her and her feelings, making excuses for him when all he seemed to do was belittle her before his "heroic" death. I did sympathise and even empathise with her streak of revenge when her children were targeted but other than that she left me feeling kind of "meh"

I felt the characters could have been so improved dammit!

Four stars

A complex story with many moving parts and characters with lots of action and emotion.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

I think this is kind of a Marmite series, you either love it or hate it. On paper I should hate it, and yet its weirdness works for me.

The series follows a team of Navy SEALs (Team seven) who have got accidentally involved in a secret cartel's deadly agenda to rid the earth of 90% of its population - the cartel call themselves the NRO or New Ruling Order. Made up of a group of eight super-wealthy men and one woman the NRO have subverted high ranking individuals in the FBI and law-enforcement and have framed SEAL Team seven.

As I said in my review of book three, this series merges the paranormal (think woo-woo rather than vampires) with spec ops. If visions of future events, psychic healing and telepathy aren't your thing, walk away now. After the events of the last three books SEAL Team seven are holed up in Alaska, near Denali National Park in Shadow Mountain with an elite group of Native American warriors known as the Shadow Mountain warriors, the three girlfriends of the SEALs from the previous books and Amy Chastain and her two young sons who were injected with an isotrope which enables the NRO to track them anywhere (except Shadow Mountain). If you are still reading then this could be the series for you.

As this is ostensibly the last in the series I don't recommend starting with this book, even with the handy cast of characters and 'Sitrep' at the start of the book it took me a while to get back into the story.

In some ways this reminds me of a Robert Heinlein book (Lost Legacy, I think) in which humans with psychic abilities battle the evil group who want total world domination. There's genius scientists who create amazing machines, which are then subverted by the NRO for their own nefarious purposes. There's a grumpy SEAL Commander who has a secret longing for Amy Chastain, despite his typical (fictional) SEAL belief that he doesn't trust women, doesn't need a woman, and nothing can ever come of it. There's secret training facilities, experimental helicopters, superyachts and more psychic abilities than you can throw a stick at.

It was absolutely barking mad and I loved every second of it!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Wow! Powerful ending to the series, at least I think it's the end by the way everything was wrapped up. This is not a standalone story, each book follows a couple but the situation continues from the previous book. You will be lost without the other books. Crazy billionaires with a ridiculous plan have infected Amy's sons with a terrible serum and Mac is overwhelmed with the need to find the cure. Lucky for the team they have the help of the Shadow group, with special talents in healing and telepathy. A well thought out story with lots of angles, viewpoints and deals. My review was written voluntarily after reading an early copy.

This is a DNF not because of the book, as such, but because of me. This series has been on my TBR pile for forever and for some reason I've just not got round to it. When I received this ARC i thought great I'll read this and then make a start on the rest. No. Thank you Trish for the SitRep at the beginning, it helped, but it just wasn't enough, I'm still lost. So i'm going to make a start on the series and then I'll continue this review when I've finished.

It was intriguing and holds your attention Another great read I enjoyed it would recommend reading it and giving the series and author a try

I received this book from Net Galley for an honest and voluntary review. I honestly thought I'd read all the previous books of this series, I've read 3, but quickly realized that I missed one, and missed a lot. (There are two "in between the books" novellas, and I read one of those) I can't really say that this book is a stand alone if you haven't read the whole series. Ms. McCallan tries to catch you up with a "SitRep" at the beginning of this book, but I felt often that I missed something. Not sure if it was because I missed a book, or if it's been six years since I started the series, and let's be honest I've read A-LOT of books in that time.
The premise is built on suspense, paranormal and conspiracy theories. I've seen a lot of books and movies of late where millionaires are wanting to save the planet from destruction being caused by man kind. Essentially "reboot" the planet. Of course they are picky about who they deem "the right people to save" It's up to our heroes to save the world from these fanatics that want to play God if you will.

This was such a good end to this series! It was a very enjoyable and entertaining read for me. Great connection between Mac & Amy. You could really feel it! This is one of my favorite romantic suspense series. Sorry to see it end.

This is the last book of the series and not having read the other books i was a little lost. The story moves quickly giving readers of the series books a satisfying ending but leaving this reader wondering the purpose of this series.

Forged in Ember is the final installment of the series, one that's been seven years in coming. Now, I don't mind long intervals between books in a series. Not saying I don't feel impatient, but there will never be a time I complain that an author takes their time to craft a quality story. The overarching action/suspense plot is one that has kept me firmly hooked, as I wait to find out how everything comes to a head. How will the heroes of the SEAL team vindicate themselves? Will Amy's sons find an anecdote before the tracking isotope injected into them becomes irreversible? How will the evil NRO be taken down before their "doomsday device" is completed and detonated? I was READY.

Here's where it fell short.

#1: The hero.

Jace “Mac” Mackenzie, commander of the SEAL team, leaves a lot to be desired. I'm talking from book one. His main fault being his extreme prejudice and misogynistic attitude towards women. He's always been my least favorite person of the group, but I had faith that he would eventually see the light and realize how damaging his attitude was. Unfortunately, insufficient time was spent on Mac's personal growth and inner reflection.

At roughly 80% into the book, his warped perception of women has not budged one iota. He recognizes that these women are trustworthy, brave, and good people. Yet, the conclusion he draws is that it's only because they're rare to their gender. I wanted to bash him over his THICK SKULL. Look, I get it. Both of his parents are worthless human beings who scarred him emotionally. Mommy issues are understandable. (Though, why not an issue with men too? His father was a drunk who neglected him and failed to provide even the most basic needs since he was a child.) I wanted to like Mac more, but unfortunately the author failed to convince me that he had become a better man. He did endear me more than I expected, but his growth was a big fat failure.

#2: The romance.

It. Was. Rushed. Granted, pretty much all of the books were rushed in this aspect, but because of certain PNR elements added in, some couples made me a believer. This was most definitely my least favorite in regards to romance out of the bunch. Let's face it, the author had her work cut out for her. Not only was she dealing with Mac's prickly personality and prejudice, but the heroine has a SLEW of problems hindering their relationship. After being kidnapped with her sons, raped, and her husband murdered months prior, she's not someone you would picture fighting feelings of attraction and lust over someone. But that's exactly what happens six months after being rescued and widowed.

Honestly, there was literally no grief shown by her, no mourning. The woman propositions him for sex because she didn't want her rapists to have control over her sexuality. I can understand the sentiment, but when you're googling PTSD in order to prevent triggers and flashbacks, that's not working for me. The first time went smoothly with no touching, the second attempt worked completely. Simply by using google. Her method of pushing away her feelings rather than dealing with them, combined with the amount of time that her life had been completely turned upside down, made for a very unbelievable romance. Amy's feelings of love seemed to have been plucked out of thin air, because I couldn't find a natural progression. I actually felt no sexual tension or attraction between them, which was a disappointment to say the least.

When Mac returns from a mission, he marches himself to Amy's room to reveal to her that he loved her, and all it did was make me roll my eyes. There's alpha, and then there's Mac. A man who doesn't have an ounce of tenderness in his bones.

#3: The resolution to the entire series.

As previously mentioned, the NRO is a demented group secretly plotting to annihilate the population. They've been temporarily foiled by the SEAL team, but in return made them wanted men by the US authorities. The majority of the action sequences in this book were minor missions as they raced against the clock to obtain information that would save Amy's children, and locate and take the NRO down for good. For me, there were too little of these moments. The action doesn't remotely compare to the nail-biting, non-stop suspense of the previous books. They were edgy, they made my heart pound, and my excitement rush. Personally, I felt that it wasn't matched on that level, and that was the main attraction of the writing for me.

The only way I could describe the final confrontation would be underwhelming. After being shown time and again how powerful and sinister this group is, I was expecting one hell of a fight. It all seemed way too easy and uncomplicated when everything was said and done. I felt deflated.

To sum things up, this was a disappointing finale overall for me. While I can't say that I hated it, it certainly wasn't what I waited so many years for. It was just okay. Wolf remains one of my favorite characters, and I'd be intrigued to read his and Jillian's story. A spin-off series about the Eagle Clan and the Shadow Mountain warriors is not beyond the realm of possibility after the epilogue. I love the fact that the paranormal gifts would carry on into that series, because that is one of the big draws for me with the Red-Hot SEALs. I love Trish McCallan's style of writing, so I'm hoping that there will be more to come in the future.

Forged in Ember is the 4th and final book in the Red-Hot Seals series, to be honest you will not need to read the previous books (but you will want to !) There is a quick catch up of characters at the start of the book which is helpful and the story is so good and full of excitement you'll soon immerse yourself in it.
The New Ruling Order (NRO) are still ruthlessly determined to wipe out most of Earths population to cleanse it of pollution and undesirables and so rule the world.
Amy Chastains husband has been killed, she was captured and gang raped and her sons have been injected with an isotope that is slowly killing them, all these horrific events the work of the NRO.
Navy seal commander 'Mac' is determined that he and his team will bring down the NRO and find an antidote for Amy's sons. Both Mac And Amy have feelings for each other but both have many personal issues to deal with.
A great story, full of action, thrills and romance, a rollercoaster of a book, plus a very satisfying finale.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for opportunity to review this book honestly.

Forged in Ember is the fourth romantic suspense book in the Red Hot SEALs series written by author Trish McCallan. Thanks to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for the advance copy.

I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in exchange an honest review.

I entered this series with this book, which was not a good idea. I was lost in trying to piece together everything that happened in the previous books. I would definitely recommend reading the series in order instead of jumping in at the end. I think I would have enjoyed the book a bit more or appreciated some of the characters if I had read the previous books.

This series has a fantasy aspect to it that I was not expecting. I was a little thrown off by the healers and the mental connections. I liked the couple characters- Amy and Mac. Mac was a big teddy bear deep down and Amy was very strong and level headed. <spoiler>I liked them together even though I thought it was a bit off that her husband died just 5-6 months before. </spoiler> I'm happy that they were able to work through everything with each other.

The story had a lot of action and the characters were interesting. The big bads weren't super intriguing though and I feel like there could have been more narrative on that end. Overall though, not a bad read for a rainy weekend.

One of my favorite romantic suspense books is Forged in Fire. I read it when it published way back in 2012. In fact, I bet I've read this book four or five times. Books two and three were good and I've been waiting and waiting for book four. At last, Forged in Ember is here!

This book features Amy Chastain. I wanted her story and I'm so happy with the author for this book! Amy is a woman with an incredible inner strength. She is fierce. I feel like I should underline and boldface the word fierce, because I kind of picture her like Sarah Connor from the Terminator movies. Amy experienced terrible things: she lost her husband (who betrayed his country for them), she was raped while being held hostage, and worst of all - her two precious boys have been injected with a mystery substance that seems to be intended to kill them. Amy wants her children safe and she wants vengeance. She also is attracted to Mac, the leader of the team in these books, which is a relief to her because she didn't know if she would ever feel those emotions again..

Mac is tall and deadly. He and his team are hiding in hidden compound with characters from a previous novel, which is also where Amy and the kids are hiding. They are all searching for a cure and for the group who are working to end the world. I didn't feel the chemistry between Amy and Mac that I expected, but I did appreciate how Mac was sensitive to the rapes that Amy experienced and let her take the lead on any intimacy. The scenes with Mac and Amy's boys were some of the best scenes in the book.

The characters from the previous novel are prominent in this book and I anticipate that they will be featured in future stories. The mystical healings and supernatural aspects didn't really work for me, but maybe if they are fleshed out in future books, those components to the story will make more sense to me.

As a series ending, I am satisfied. Amy didn't quite get the kick-butt opportunities I wanted to see, but maybe I was channeling Sarah Connor too hard. We get plenty of "guest appearances" from the other books in the series, see the "bad guys" brought down, and a happy-ever-after for the characters we've grown to appreciate from the other books. I look forward to the next series from Trish McCallan.

Book review at www.ReadingObsession.com

#Montlake

It'd been a while since a book came out in this series and I had to do a quick review of the past books. I thought that this one wrapped things up in a good way. I liked that the bad guys were defeated and in a great way. Liked the romance between Mac and Amy. I loved how gentle Mac was with Amy, that he knew she would have triggers and did things to put Amy at east. Mac was also great with Amy's boys and there for her when the boys were in peril. The ending to this one was great, loved the gathering and how Mac was adjusting to all the changes coming at him.

Driven by hate, Amy Chastain seeks vengeance for her children who have been used as scientific subjects. She’s not the only one part of the collateral damage when a flight was hijacked months ago, though that critical event has made it obvious that there are bigger things at play. Smack in the middle of the instability are new bonds that are made (though not without much friction in the process) and with a revelation of a Dan-Brown-type conspiracy, 4 SEALs manage to fall in love along the way. That, in a nutshell, is how far we’ve come.

‘Forged in Ember’ closes the whole series as the bad guys are dispatched, only with a loose thread or so left hanging so that there’s room for a sequel. There’s also a helpful recap of the entire story-arc in the beginning, which makes ‘Forged in Ember’ a passable standalone, but the odd bits of paranormal activity, coupled with the suspense, would probably mean that the rest of the books in this series are best read in order before tackling this one.

There’s no bigger relief than this—to see the final book in Trish McCallan’s ‘Red-Hot SEALs’ series appear, especially since the wait time for it has stretched an excruciating number of years. But I’ve held out, unable to forget that the series contains an odd but good mix of conspiracy theories, military suspense and paranormal happenings that form a cocktail potent enough to keep me constantly lapping at the pages. That McCallan’s writing style is exactly what I go for in this particular genre for doesn’t hurt either.
I’ve always been intrigued by the tension between Jace McKenzie and Amy Chastain after their very unusual meeting (in rather tragic circumstances) in the first book, anyway, and ‘Forged in Ember’ finally tells their story. Amy Chastain has always stood out like a beacon of unflagging courage and fortitude—the horrors of what she’d suffered from the first book have made me want her story from the start, as McCallan pairs a woman whose strength can’t afford to waver with a rough-hewn, temperamentally impulsive commander who’s as brutish, gruff and blunt as they come. Still, their coming together is more muted that I thought, hindered many times, by the race to save her son.

As a result, the HEA in the uneasy aftermath feels like shaky foundation on which this book ends. McCallan’s SEALs get their happy rides into the sunset, banished as they are from active duty as they know it, reinstated into another secretive order that will probably see the light of day again. There are things that I thought somewhat bizarre and out of place—the large insertion of native Indian tribal rites and rituals, the super-secret, well-stocked military base off the official lines, the influence of the supernatural here—which also takes a great amount of the suspension of disbelief. Or that paranormal abilities, which defy all attempts at rational explanation anyway, conveniently pop up at times give a deus-ex-machina cop-out to prevent more characters from dropping dead like flies and help save the day.

The final novel in the Red-Hot SEAL series finally answers the mysteries. Amy Chastain is a desperate mother trying to find out who murdered her husband and targeted her two boys by injecting them with a dangerous, experimental chemical that will kill them if they can't find an antidote. She feels she can only trust the ex-commander of SEAL Team 7 to help her.

Jace "Mac" Mackenzie and his SEAL Team are on the run from the same people that targeted Amy's kids.

Things really heat up between Mac and Amy. But in addition to their race against time the team also uncover a diabolical plot that threatens on a global level.

I have to admit that the main reason I jumped on FORGED IN EMBER, the long-delayed conclusion to Trish McCallan’s four-book Red-Hot SEALs series (weren’t we originally supposed to have the whole series by 2012 or 2013, considering the first book was published in 2011??), when it came up for review on NetGalley was because it was on the homepage and seeing it reminded me that I was pretty sure I’d enjoyed the series up to that point. I’m a completionist by nature and wanted to close the loop on the series (even if I barely remembered what it was about), and knew if I let FORGED IN EMBER drop from my immediate awareness, I wouldn’t remember it existed or would go buy it on Amazon. And that’s pretty much how reading it went… I couldn’t remember enough from the rest of the series, since I’d read it so long ago, to recall how I’d felt about Mac (SEAL Team 7 commander and hero of this story), Zane, Rawls, or Cosky or who the antagonists were and what they stood for, or what they’d done (in any great detail)-- despite the brief attempted recap of the story arc. But I also didn’t feel compelled to re-read the series to reacquaint myself with the Red-Hot SEALs universe, which made FORGED IN EMBER pretty ho-hum (though I did end up enjoying Mac’s secret heart of gold and Amy’s fortitude) and the conclusion to the series pretty anticlimactic. Though I’m sure fans of the series who’ve been waiting for its denouement with bated breath will find it a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying experience (there’s nothing glaringly bad about it, mind… and I don’t even really like paranormal elements in my books).

**ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley

While I haven’t read any previous books in this series, I didn’t have trouble reading this as a stand-alone. Having. Arecap beought me up to speed. I enjoyed this book and look forward to going back and reading the previous ones.