MIDNIGHT RESCUE (KILLER INSTINCTS #1) is a book with intrigue and suspense along with some romance that is set mainly in Colombia but also in the United States.  We meet Jim Morgan who is the leader of a team of deadly mercenaries. We also meet those he has recruited from all different military backgrounds and whom are under his command.  They have joined forces to rid the world of some of the worst types of evil while not under the constraints of the rules governing them if they were still in the military.  Noelle's chameleons, a group of female assassins, join them at times.  This book introduces us to a multitude of characters, some involved in the extraction of Abby Sinclair, one of Noelle's chameleons, from her captives and others just alluded to or mentioned.

Kennedy's MIDNIGHT RESCUE is Kane and Abby's story and is filled with lust, loving, arguments, secrets, betrayal, trust issues and hints at their backgrounds which have molded them and reveals to us what made them what and who they are and why they respond the way they do.  Kane is Morgan's second in command and doesn't want to lose anyone or have anyone hurt under his watch.  The descriptions of the personalities, homes, compounds - whether those housing Morgan and his group or those with evil intent, the mountains and other settings, the towns, planning involved, weapons, skirmishes and rescues were very vivid and made me feel that I was there.  There were those in charge of the good guys - Morgan, Kane and Noelle - along with Blanco and Devlin, who were in charge of the bad guys.  We learned about each of them and what makes them tick and they were all multi faceted.  There was nice closure and loose ends tied up but I know we'll meet up with them all again in the other books in the series.

Kennedy is a new to me author and I look forward to reading the other books in this series before book six, MIDNIGHT CAPTIVE, is released in June.  I also plan to add her other books to my always growing TBR pile.

Midnight Rescue is the first book in the Killer Instincts series. I have read a later book in the series, so I have had Midnight Rescue on my TBR forever. When I saw it was in the Audible Romance package, I decided to give it a shot via audio.

I made it through about 28% of the audio. The narrator was not working for me at all. Her attempts at the various male voices were unconvincing and overdone. But, I was liking the story enough to continue reading on my kindle. Yay for whisper sync!

Abby is a mercenary who was sent to kill a guy named Blanco. However, she ends up discovering a sex slave ring and is determined to save the innocent girls. To help her she relies on Jim Morgan's group of mercenaries and most especially, Kane. These guys are super badasses. Abby is no slouch either though! She is tough and capable, so don't think this is a damsel in distress story. Abby works for Noelle, a woman with her own group of female mercenaries/chameleons who are all incredibly deadly. To start the story, this book has to introduce a LOT of people. It can be difficult and another reason I don't think audio was the way to go. Once the plot and characters is introduced, the story focuses more on Abby and Kane and the plan/attempt to get into Blanco's compound and save the young girls. However, the story jumps from Abby/Kane to Trevor/Isabel, and occasionally even Devlin, the psychopathic stalker and it really keeps you on your toes and engaged in the story. There is no 'down time' for the reader. Trevor and Isabel are the focus of book 2, and I am certainly interested in getting more details about them as individuals.

Midnight Rescue is dark in many ways. First, you have the man planning to sell the girls as sex slaves. Second, you have Abby, who was abused (physically and sexually) in the past and her attempts to deal with that aspect of her life (with Kane's help). Next, you have a near rape of Abby in the beginning of the story. This is NOT a light romantic suspense read. Its dark and deals with real life issues that many people don't think about on a daily basis but exist in the world.
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Another well-written, fast-paced suspense from Kennedy, though I had a little trouble connecting with Abby Sinclair. The circumstances of her life made her a hard person, and though it's admirable as a woman she could take care of herself, I felt a lack of emotion I typically search for in the romance genre.

This series, yall, it's something. A band of female assassins heading off against a team of male mercenaries. And their bosses...who cannot stand one other. Damn inconvenient when their operatives start meeting and falling in love. Damn it all!

The Gist: Abby blew her cover. Got herself thrown in a torture chamber and well and truly fucked. But she had her reasons. 13 of them in fact--young girls about to be sold into sex slavery. She just needed to get close enough to them to mount a one woman rescue. Which got all blown to hell when her boss tapped a group of mercenaries to rescue her. Oy! Now they'll all have to figure a way to get back and save the young ladies before it's too late. 

Abby and Kane. Goodness these two. Abby's life has been hell and it's left her dead inside. She doesn't form connection, emotion doesn't factor into things, doesn't trust. She's an assassin and damn good at using any means necessary to eliminate a target even if it's her body. It was hard watching her realize that maybe she needed more and how uncomfortable she was in regular situations with people. Seeing choices she made because of fear.

And Kane. He's a good guy. All alpha yumminess and patient as all get out. I enjoyed him and that he pushed back when needed but was also gentle and understanding with Abby and her issues. 

There's some steamy sex scenes, some heartbreaking admissions, painful betrayals. They go through a lot of turmoil in their short time together. They're a good couple but the romance does take a back seat to the mission and getting to know the teams as a whole. 

And the mission. Gah! Yeah, it had my hands sweating a couple times. It's ugly and gritty and Kennedy didn't hold back from showing the damage all the way around. Or the struggles each of the characters has gone through and continued to go through due to their past demons. 

All in all, excellent romantic suspense. It was fun getting back to the beginning-- I started mid series-- and meeting all of the characters for the first time. Seeing where they started. A good time was had. My only issue-- other than no condoms, really yall?-was I personally prefer a little more romance in my rom-suspense. But really it still worked out quite well.

I'm a dolt who thought this was a PARANORMAL romantic suspense, but it clearly isn't, and I am unable to post non-speculative reviews on the blog.

*copy provided by the publisher for an honest and unbiased review*

I've never read this series before, so when offered I was so glad to start something new. and I'm so happy I did. I really liked this book. some of it was a little too drawn out and some things got a little repetitive, but all in all I did really think this was a good book. 

after all Abby's been through I really liked her relationship with Kane and how he made her realize and learn why she didn't like sex. I also liked how he taught her how to *cough* like sex and losing control. not too bad, Kane, not too bad at all. 

not only that, learning more about this diverse group of mercenaries and how they're willing to take such a risk for this mission made this so much more interesting. when the guys interacted, with Abby or Isabel or Noelle, or just them, it really adds so much more to the story. they aren't just mercenaries anymore, they're brother, men, fighters. they really are the good guys. 

though,,,, what ever happened to that key?

any way. then you have two villains like Blanco and Devlin and how can your blood not boil at these two men? anytime these two men were in a scene I felt twitchy. like I wanted to jump into my kindle and write myself in as some bad ass ninja, just so I could get a few swings in on that asshole. cause let's be honest, Devlin may be the truth  villain of this story. Blanco is just a really bad guy. 

with that being said and everything Kane and Abby reveal to one another, I was kind of really disappointed in her. I can't help it. hearing about how she can't trust anyone started to get a little redundant and old. but ... on the other hand, with her past trust would be hard.

Midnight Rescue is unlike any books I have read lately!  It not only has romance, but also A HUGE AMOUNT of action!!  I sat on the edge of my seat almost the entire book.

This book is the first book in an 8 book series.  It starts out with Abby Sinclair, a deadly BAD ASS assassin, going undercover to expose and eliminate a truly evil group of men.  She intentionally blows her cover to be taken captive and get closer to freeing innocent victims.  Abby's boss is very worried about her safety so she reaches out to an awesome group of mercenary men to rescue Abby.  Little did they know, that was only the beginning of a dangerous mission.

I have to start by saying I freaking love that Elle Kennedy gives us such bad ass women that can kick some serious ass and are fiercely independent!!  These are my favorite heroines to read about.  I also loved Kane.  He was so sexy, strong, and about his business.  GAHHHH you know the man made it on my book boyfriend list.  I truly enjoyed getting to know all the men in the mercenary team and all the women on the assassin squad.  The sexual tension is undeniable as always with Elle Kennedy!  

I am rating this book 4 stars because it was a great action-pack, suspenseful story that had me staying up late to finish it.  I can't read the rest of the books in this serious.  I can only imagine it getting better and better as we get to know more about all the characters!

It's wonderful to revisit Abby and Kane once again. Their connection was palpable from the very start. And while Abby might not be my favorite heroine in the series (the honor goes to Noelle), her story as well as her romance with Kane, not to mention the suspense had me invested in this book and started my journey with this series.

I read this book a few years back, but have since lost the paperback. I was psyched when I could get the ebook to refresh my memory prior to reading Midnight Target, and I cannot believe how much I missed this crew! Loved it!

So. I missed reading the first book in the series. You guys ever do that? Know what’s cool, though? I didn’t miss not reading the first book, mostly—because Ms. Kennedy slips in these little reminders about what happened when it’s important. I really like this because sometimes I forget the important details because I don’t think they’ll BE important, which makes Kennedy a fabulous storyteller.

I just finished reading the last book in the Killer Instincts series and Jen brought up that I hadn’t read/reviewed the first one, so here we are! 

There was one thing that bothered me as I was reading—Abby was injured at the beginning of the story, and the elapsed time didn’t give her time to heal a broken bone. While it was periodically mentioned, I would’ve thought the injury would’ve figured more prominently. That’s really my only hmmmm thing. But, it didn’t bother me enough to stop reading, nor did it detract from the story except for making me occasionally wonder how she was able to do something without aggravating the injury.

I’d always wondered about Kane & Abby’s story. We do see them in subsequent titles in the series, and we would get hints here and there about them. 

Reading.Their.Story.Was.Worth.It. Every single word made me giggle and grin about things that would happen in future installments of the series—things that were set into motion IN THIS BOOK. 

I really loved the character growth of both Kane and Abby in Midnight Rescue. While both characters come to the story with some serious baggage, I was amazed at the change they both endured by the end of the book. 

Abby, one of Noelle’s chameleons, has lived her life by the motto: I can do it myself—better, stronger, faster. She’s kind of like the Six Million Dollar Man that way (oops…I may have just dated myself…). She’s only really been able to rely on herself, and she’s grown into a highly self-reliant woman. Which makes her the perfect option for a deep-cover assassin, right? 

Yeah. Until she meets her match in Kane.

Now, Kane really isn’t all that screwed up. He’s had some crap luck in the romance department that’s made him clam up when it comes to women—nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? That all changes when he meets Abby, though. 

As far as the plot went—I loved it. It seemed like Abby was definitely allowed to be who she is by most of Morgan’s team and they respected her for the professional in their field that she is. Look for the knife-throwing lesson. I loved it! But, while Kane obviously wants to protect what he views as his, he still respects Abby and where she came from. I think this is SUPER important—when we see romantic suspense with women who have mad skillz, oftentimes the guy seems to gallop in on his shining steed to save the day. While I don’t mind stories like that, it was great to see that Abby wasn’t devalued for the sake of love. 

Readers need to be warned that this story deals with sex trafficking and there’s a sociopath with an ax to grind. 

I really liked reading about Morgan’s men first meeting Noelle and how they all—pretty much—almost peed themselves. ☺  Seeing the beginning of it all was almost sweeter when reading at the end of the series. I know what happens with Kane and Abby—but seeing their beginning? I definitely loved the story.

A great start to this series. I enjoy romantic suspense and Kenndy made things interesting

I’ve been meaning to read the Killer Instincts series for awhile now. I wish I wouldn’t have put it off, because this series seriously rocks it.

Abby Sinclair is a heartless assassin. Or so she thinks. Deep undercover, her job is to bring down an arms dealer that dabbles in sex trafficking. Until she blows her cover to try to save a handful of girls that are about to be sold into the black market. Abby thinks she has everything under control, but her boss disagrees. When the Queen of Assassins thinks you’re in trouble, nothing stops her from doing what needs to be done.

Jim Morgan and his mercenaries are called in to go to Columbia to rescue Abby. That doesn’t happen a moment too soon. What they don’t expect is after they get her to safety, she wants to go right back. No one can talk her out of it, not even Kane Woodland. Her rescuer and the man she is reluctantly attracted to is someone she can’t trust even though he seems to be on her side. Abby learned a long time ago that men aren’t to be trusted. The only man she ever trusted was her adoptive father and he went and died on her.

Kane thinks Abby is crazy, but he knows there is no way to stop her from going back to Columbia. He’s all in. He doesn’t even try to fight the attraction he feels for Abby. He knows that she’s not the the person for him. She doesn’t trust at all. She’s completely closed off emotionally. Or so he thinks. It doesn’t take Kane long to see Abby for who she truly is and that’s not the heartless assassin everyone thinks she is.

Still, Abby’s secrets might drive Kane away and ruin the fragile connection they have. While I liked Abby, she wasn’t my favorite heroine. I appreciated what she went through as a child and how she became strong. I even understood how she couldn’t get over it. I wouldn’t have gotten over it. It was just that Kane was so open and honest and she couldn’t return it even to him. It got annoying. Still, the supporting characters and the storyline were good enough for me to move forward with the series and I’m glad that I did.