I remember when I first read this book that it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t my favorite and it made me question the rating and review , maybe because I just finished reading another book that was fresh on my mind. But for some reason I recently went back and read it again and to my surprise it was much better read than the last time. It had a perfect mix of romance and action/suspense that hold my attention much better than last time. If you read it and didn’t like it maybe try one more time before giving up and if you love it I get it now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the review copy of this book.

Preface - I originally requested this book as an ARC years ago, before I even really knew how NetGalley worked. It was one of the first ones I requested. I never got around to reading it back then.

That being said, I think this book had the perfect blend of suspense with romance mixed in. The beginning was a bit confusing to me with it skipping back and forth between the multiple POVs. However, it did hold my interest and left me wanting to read the next one due to the 'cliffhanger'.

I think this book may have/has/had an identity crisis.

WTF do I know, though? All I know is I was confused by what it wanted to be.

Let me explain.

For over 50% of the book, the "romance", and I use that term loosely, was at best an afterthought. The action/suspense was the star of the show complete with acronyms galore and obscure spy craft references. It really was a decent story and I actually thought the whole romance storyline could easily be deleted altogether.

So, hypothetical question: say your lover/significant other vanishes and is presumed dead but NINE years later you discover it was all a ruse, what would your reaction be?

Mine would be:



With a side of:



Not Maddox, though. It's almost like she takes it in stride which I just couldn't identify with at all. Cole responds in equally baffling ways by almost gaslighting her into thinking faking his death is no big then being a douche to her.



Confusing people are confusing.

Then they doubled down on the confusion in the second half by flipping the script and turning the whole thing into more romance than suspense which did not work for me. At all.

Mostly because these two have as much chemistry as a bar of soap. I'm told they're in love and crazy about each other ad nauseam but...



So uninspired they were that the albino alligator equivalent of reading events happened at Casa de Cupcake - I skimmed the seggs.



I found it awkward and strange and the bizarro unexplained personality transformation from salty spies into sappy lovebirds was too much for my brain to compute.

Overall, I found the writing to lean more purple than I would've liked. I also was fussy about the plot twist that was left dangling. Undoubtedly, it was meant to entice readers into the series but considering it took me 3 years to finish this one I'm not going to be one of those people.

My opinions, as always, are my own and YMMV.

A copy was provided by NetGalley. Thank you!

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

This book is the perfect mix of romance and suspense. I always enjoy stories about black op units and this one is no expection. The story holds your attention and keep the tension up so that you always want to turn the next page.

This book is the first book in the Final Hour Series. This is a race to stop a bioweapon. Maddox calls on the one person she knows can help her. Unfortunately, that is her ex. Will the sparks between them ignite or get in the way of stopping the bioweapon from being deployed.

While there were, interesting themes of, bigotry, mental illness, miscarriage etc in this book, I just couldn’t get past a graphic torture scene. I feel it’s totally uncalled for with everything in the World today that’s scary. We’re living through a Pandemic & the Storyline in this book made it worse.

I didn’t, actually wasn’t able to finish this book because if the torture.

I appreciate NetGalley giving me an ARC of this book to read in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #EveryLastBreath

Did not think I wanted to read about a pandemic during this time, however, this storyline was done in a way that had me captivated from the very beginning.

Loved the characters and the storyline was very interesting.

I know that everyone loved this book but I could not get into it, I do love thrillers but I don't think I got what this was.

Loved what I've read of this series , as well as the characters,and can't wait to read the next 2 books

Stupidly I let this book sit on my TBR shelf for too long. This is fast paced, nonstop action with some romance and sex scenes in between. The major plot is solved at the end but there is a cliffhanger that left me wanting more. A fun summer read.

A fast-paced and original romantic suspense full of action and steamy chemistry between the two leads. A fun read!

Every Last Breath is the first in a new series from author Juno Rushdan and the first of her work I’ve read. Well, after being on the edge of my seat reading since I first picked up this book, I can assure you I’ll be following the rest of this series. This book was awesome!

There was so much I loved about this book. To start, Maddox is one amazing kick-ass heroine with a past that shaped who she is today. It’s a past laced with heartbreak and loss and a past that haunts her every day. I loved her. Cole has an equally messy past that, we find early on, intertwines with Maddox’s in a family drama way that I couldn’t way to dive into. It was deliciously messy and scandalous and added a layer to their current reunion that broke my heart. Together, the sexual tension between them filled the pages and made the dangerous task at hand even more tense. Oh man, how I loved all of it!

Adding to these two dynamic characters is a whole cast of super-secret special ops badasses I have no doubt we’ll be seeing more of all of them as the series continues.

Filled with twists, turns, action, smoldering sexual tension, and one helluva cast of characters, this story was incredible from start to finish. Thank you, Ms. Rushdan, for a fabulous read! I can’t wait to see what’s in store!

This was incredibly entertaining and an enjoyable quick read. Fast-paced and romantic with a kind of frenetic energy, which was totally the point. I had fun and would recommend!

I love getting to discover new authors. Every Last Breath was such a fab read! Love all the suspense, action and sex and that cliffhanger ending has me reaching for the sequel. A great edge of your seat thriller, Every Last Breath is a great into to Juno Rushdan's writing. 4 stars.

It was interesting and fast paced but not very realistic. I did like it but I did not love it. It is a quick read. I can suggest it if you are looking for an escape from reality. Oh but wait, we are in the middle of a pandemic. LOL

This book has it all...suspense, danger, romance and good tale.
Ebook from netgalley and publishers with thanks. Opinions are entirely my own.

A great romantic suspense series needs to be able to balance romantic tension and pulse-pounding action, sustaining the momentum throughout the whole book, while crafting a believable resolution to both the intrigue and the romance. Juno Rushdan’s Final Hour series, packed with spy-thriller staples, secret installations, high-stakes interventions, coupled with fascinating characters and intense plotting delivered a great adrenaline rush and romantic punch. It is rare to be as invested in both the romantic and action story-lines as I was when reading the Final Hour series, but neither the action and romantic tension ever flagged.



The series is not for the soft-hearted, as the MCs cross many bright moral lines, engaging in torture and violence without much in the way of oversight or regrets, as officers for the Gray Box, a secret black-ops off-the-books government-sponsored agency authorized to act nationally and internationally where other agencies can’t.

As romantic suspense can often feel like an overwhelmingly white genre, I was pleasantly surprised by the racially- and neuro-diverse cast, which substituted the typical band of brothers for a more inclusive found family set up, where emotionally scarred officers have found common purpose and companionship. Despite the assumed identities & deadly work, they share baked goods and meet for beers, at least until it becomes evident that a traitor or traitors has infiltrated the team and they must uncover the mole and their hidden agenda.


The first book in the series, Every Last Breath, star-crossed lovers, Cole, the white prodigal son of a Russian mobster and Maddox the biracial daughter of a CIA agent who always meant to bring her into the service are unexpectedly reunited. Each thought each other lost, one believing himself betrayed, the other convinced she was responsible for his death and in order to work together they must unearth painful memories (familial rejection, racial bigotry, traumatic miscarriage) while reexamining their life choices. Struggling to trust each other, they try to infiltrate a secret auction in order to stop a deadly pathogen from being sold into the wrong hands. They have to grapple with both what happened to them as a couple and the people they have become as a result of the trauma they both experienced.

I really loved that neither Cole or Maddox is quite sure just what they want from each other. They ruthlessly investigate each other and treat each other as dangerous assets while at the same time trying to grapple with their wounded feelings. I enjoyed the sexual tension and emotional confusion they experienced as they try to figure out what happened to them and whether there can be anything more than closure for them.

CW: torture, violence, bigotry, past trauma miscarriage, mental illness



As soon as I finished Every Last Breath, I sought out the next book in the series. I loved how seamlessly Rushdan had introduced the rest of the Gray Box cast, setting up rivalries and tensions in a way that made me eager to read more about these characters without stealing focus and momentum from search for the pathogen. I didn’t care who in the Gray Box I followed next, I knew they all would be super interesting.

In Nothing to Fear, Willow Harper is a brilliant neurodivergent hacker analyst who must go on the run with the emotionally scarred, widowed operative Gideon assigned to investigate her after he becomes convinced she is being set up and he won’t risk her being scapegoated and killed. I loved that Willow is shown to be an incredibly capable person including being her sick father’s primary carer, despite her autism. The pressures she feels to mask her autism in social and work settings are an added pressure, but she is consistently shown to have agency even when on the run. In the end it is Gideon who more clearly struggles communicating and acknowledging his feelings.

There is a very graphic torture sequence in this book as Gideon uses his black site training to try to break a henchman of the big bad. Willow’s acceptance of his choices and refusal to reject him as he is expected is a pivotal moment, but I wished I skimmed the scene more successfully as it is, I am not sure I am able to accept it as heroic.

I also didn’t love the depiction of his late estranged wife as resentful and shallow when he abruptly opts not to pursue a career as professional athlete and instead becomes a secretive CIA assassin, a move that would naturally shock and upset, if their communication and relationship had been strong, which it never was. I would have loved if that whole story thread had been eliminated.

CW: torture, violence, ableism, grief, past trauma: death of family member





In the final book of the series, Until the End, Castle, Maddox’s brother and former Navy Seal with more than a passing resemblance to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has longed been groomed to be one of the future leaders of the Grey Box, finds his loyalty and principles tested when their leader Bruce Sandborn makes him choose between protecting Kit, his mission target or surrendering her to the Gray Box.

Kit Westcott, is a caretaker and cultivator of talented hackers. Driven by the tragic loss of her brother she has dedicated herself to caring for her found family, until her group the Outliers are brutally killed. Kit is desperate to protect their work while finding out who set them up to be killed despite being handicapped by serious chronic heart condition.

Kit and Castle’s instalove relationship is a departure from the norm, as the previous couples had pre-existing relationships. Kit, with his lone-wolf whispering ways, gets through to Castle in a way no one outside the Grey box has ever been able to do, making her a target and threat to those who have long been able to depend on Castle to do as he is told.

At one point in the book I found myself very troubled by the tone and behavior of a secondary point of view character, but I was gratified to discover as the book unfolded that it was an authorial choice and foreshadowing, and not odd characterization. However, the ending was somewhat unsatisfying in that the heroes of the Gray Box, instead of fully renouncing and recoiling from the misguided choices that lead to the tragic twists in the series, instead seemingly continue the work, sure that they will not be corrupted as the villain was, which is probably true to life. I was curious that the book did seem to leave it set up for further books.

CW: Murder, PTSD, pathogens, medical procedures, drugging, abduction, stalking, past trauma: domestic abuse, suicide.




Juno Rushdan’s Final Hour series was an intense ride through the dark hearts and minds of the officers and agents ensuring global threats are eradicated in the shadows. Her characters are morally dark, but unflinchingly devoted to their companions and principles, as they face dilemmas that test their commitment to proper protocol. I would never want to be face off against the Grey Box’s operatives, but I would welcome their rescue and I cheered as each one stepped a little ways out of the darkness for the sake of love.

***

I really enjoy spies and romance, so this book seemed right up my alley. However, I think it was made too complicated at some points and dragged out too long. It had potential, but lacked the follow through.

I've had this ARC for almost a year now. I had to stop and restart this book several times. It was an okay book, but not really my style.