Whew! Zanetti's Deep Ops series was a blast when I read book 1 and I've been eager for book 2 ever since. Taken straddles the in-between and serves as a great introduction to Raider's character. While the Deep Ops team is involved, this is not a Deep Ops operation.

This is a painful second chance romance mixed with heart pounding frustration and moments of absolute hilarity. I loved seeing some of the team members - Wolfe, I'm looking at you! - along with the absolutely hilarious four footed team members. But the story centers on Hunter and Faye, Raiders brother and sister. Yes, that does sound suspect, but they are all foster siblings.

The plot is a chase (and race) against time to rescue/save Hunter's blood brother (they share a father) from a kidnapper. Of course, said kidnapper is his teacher and it's a case of lurve. Ripped from the headlines as it is, it takes an even darker turn because of the teacher's backstory. Heartbreaking but still, not ok to go killing random people because of it.

I loved the deep emotion and was happy to get a glimpse of Raider before his own book. I was less enthused over a cross-over event. I've loved that Zanetti keeps all her worlds separate but she added a tiny cross-over here that also served as a deus ex machina. While I know other fans will be thrilled to death over it, I really didn't like it and I'm hoping it doesn't happen again in Raider's book.

Aside from that, it was a quick read that packed a punch and totally sets up Fallen .

Zanetti is one of those authors I easily fall into. No matter what she writes I fall in love with the story. She's my comfort author. Whenever I run into a string of not-so-good-books, I pick up a Zanetti novel and all is right again in the world.

The first thing you have to know about Zanetti is that her sex scenes are hot and off the charts. Probably because she makes her characters fit so well together. As much as I admire the action and romance in Zanetti's novel I must confess it's the Easter Eggs in the novels that have me hooked. "Taken" packed a good punch with a big surprise! THANK YOU Rebecca Zanetti! I don't know how you managed to weave in this Easter Egg, but I want you to know this girl was hollering with joy at 2am. The neighbor's dog joined in the fun too.

Oh, and one finally message to Rebecca Zanetti....PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I need a book about Wolfe!! Because..."You're pretty. You dating anybody?" has got to be my favorite quote!

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book, so I could give an honest review.

Taken was an awesome second chance romance. Hunter Holt and Faye Smith had a powerful connection. I was totally rooting for them from the start. Their love story was very sweet and felt real. This read was a novella, but it didn't feel rushed or thin. The action was spot on, the romance well developed, and the plot was intriguing. I loved every minute of this book. Faye and Hunter made a cute couple. Jackson stole my heart. Raider has me waiting impatiently for his story which is coming in September. Can't wait for Fallen! I loved getting more of Wolfe again. He was my favorite from book 1 and I can't wait for him to get his own love story. I also have to say there was a Dark Protector cameo that had me losing my fangirl mind. Overall a great read and I'm really enjoying this series!

3.5 STARS

Confession: I am not a fan of novellas and will usually skip them unless it's a favored author/series. Obviously, my adoration for Zanetti far outweighs my indifference to short books. Overall, this is a solid addition to the series. The storyline is fast paced and action packed. I enjoyed seeing all the characters from Deep Ops again. Everything occurs at lightening speed, but I wish there had more time to fully develop Hunter and Faye's storyline. The chemistry seems a little too forced, and the off the pages backstory deters from my usual 4 STARS rating of Zanetti's work.

If you're a fan of the series, give this a read. It has an interesting plot line, and is pertinent to the overall flow of the series. I can't wait for the next, full length installment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zebra for my advanced review copy!

A complete standalone among a new series. Without reading the first book I dove into Taken, completely captivating my interest for two hours. A tight group of foster kids, all grown up, have regrouped because their former foster mom requested it. One was a Marine, one with Homeland Defense and the other a former shrink. Definitely a past with this group and a romance between Hunter and Faye, second chances are always a favorite. There is a chemistry that's exciting, especially trying to track the criminals they've been summoned to find. A great read that has my interest piqued, need to go back and read the first. My copy was given through Netgalley, review was voluntarily written.

I’m already in love with all the members of the Deep Op team, including Roscoe, but this novella introduces us to a few characters in Raider’s life that also shines a light on his past. And I loved them just as much as the rest of the team.

It’s been five years since Faye has seen Hunter. She’s been sent to find him and inform him of some surprising news as well as a serious development that requires their attention. Their attraction is immediately resurrected, although it never died in the first place.

I loved that this couple had a past so a connection was already established. While they weren’t eager to open up about what the cause of their separation was, they also didn’t completely shy away from it. I totally understood the reasoning behind it and the deep emotional pain that led them to it.

”He’d never been given real trust. Neither of them had. Unconditional trust and love. Everyone wanted love. It was the trust they’d never been able to even ask for – from anybody.”

This has everything you could want in a full length book, great characters, humor, passion, danger and excitement. And along the way were a couple of surprises that delighted me. The chemistry is amazing, and their decision to heal the break between them was totally satisfying. Add in an excellent epilogue that had me choking up a bit and I’m one happy reader.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by NetGalley and Kensington Books. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the first book in this series and wanted to see more of Deep Ops guys. This didn't disappoint. Although, a little more background on Hunter and Faye and why they broke up. I was kind of floundering with that. But I enjoyed the story.

This novella length second chance romance will grab you and keep you turning pages. Hunter and Faye walked away from each other five years ago but now they've united to find Jackson. Jackson is Hunter's much younger half brother and he's gone missing with a woman he thinks he's in love with. Not a good idea. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a good and quick read to tide Zanetti fans over and also a nice intro for others to her work.

Wow! This book packs a lot of punch in a short amount of time! This is a second chance romantic suspense. Hunter and Faye are strong willed and emotionally damaged. The chemistry between the two is strong but not as strong as the live. There is a lot of action suspense in this book. I enjoyed it very much! I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Faye and Hunter have loved each other forever but where driven apart by circumstance on both sides. Now there joining forces with there foster brother Raider to save the brother Hunter never knew he had before its to late.Funny,suspenseful,and sexy this short story has it all. Definitely leaves you wanting more of the Deep OP'S series. You get a small dose of Angus and Roscoe the alcoholic high heel steeling German Shepard.That dog is a trip!! I absolutely love Wolfe and Kat. I cant wait until he gets his own book. You even have an encounter with Dage and Talen from the Dark Protector series. Raider and Brigid's book is next in September at least we don't have to wait to long for the next adventure.

A novella with a fairly developed story line. This comes after the first book in this series, Hidden. I missed that one and felt the need to go back and read as I missed backstory and world building. Still a interesting story with some great characters. Will be watching to see what comes next.

If you thought Hidden was good then you must read Taken!!

Taken a short novella by Rebecca Zanetti that will leave you wanting more. I totally fell in love with both Hunter and Faye. What I love about this story was the character building, the author gave you enough back story on the two characters to draw the conclusion that we were dealing with damaged people. I love reading about these types of characters.  These types of characters to me, are more compelling, more believable. Rebecca Zanetti did an awesome job of making Hunter and Faye more real, made reading the suspense of finding a lost sibling a wonderful story to read.

This is the second book in the series that I have read and I really enjoyed it! This book had a good combination of romance, suspense and intrigue. I enjoyed the recurring characters from "Hidden", especially the drinking German Shepherd! I like the feeling of camaraderie throughout the story. I look forward to reading the next book!

2.5 Stars

This spin-off to Zanetti’s “Deep Ops” series centered around Raider Tanaka’s foster family (Raider is one of the Deep Ops member) and a couple of the team along with doggie and kitten mascots made appearance in the book. I quite enjoyed the first book in the series, but for me this novella fell short of the mark. Considering the two lead characters, Faye and Hunter, were actually old friends and old sweethearts, I thought the background story was done poorly to give voice of what really transpired in their past. Sure, I got an inkling from bits here and there, but not enough to have the whole picture. On top of that, after a prolonged suppressing the still-alive-and-kicking attraction between them, they suddenly decided ...oh, what the heck we still loved one another and won’t let the other go now wasn’t really convincing to me!! It felt too abrupt, like the author suddenly ran out of time (or pages) and better wrapped it all quickly.

On the other hand, it wasn’t all a miss for me. The appearance of the Deep Ops operators (I included Kat and Roscoe in this count) was some of the uplifting moment of the story. The fact that this novella touched on subject, such as child abuse, statuary crime, as well as the impact was something that give food for thought. But again, just like the case with Faye and Hunter, the approach to this element of the story felt rather offhanded to me. Taking into account I’d love to know what Raider and the rest of (Deep Ops) team would get themselves in, of course I would still following this series, sadly this novella just barely be an okay spin-off for me ...thanks to Kat and Roscoe.


Advanced copy of this book is kindly given by the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Brand new series from this author and it was perfect! You don’t get the back story of Hunter and Faye’s life until you are knee deep in the story. Faye has seemed Hunter out because Miss Angelina asked her to and Faye has been in love with Hunter her whole life. Both have suffered but now Hunter finds out he has a brother who is missing and is in a Bonnie and Clyde situation. Hunter along with Faye, Raider and a bunch of colorful characters race against time to stop anymore bloodshed. Very quick read but she gives all the best parts and it works perfectly.

Another great story from the series. The story is packed with such strong emotions combined with great humor and action. This is a second chance for Faye and Hunter who are after Hunters halfbrother. Trough the story we see why did they split in the first place and that the emotions are still going strong. Faye stronger and sober is ready to fight this time for her man. The characters are well developed and likable. This novel is a page-turner and before you know it the pages are gone and I soo want mooooree. Can't wait for the next book.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

Rebecca Zanetti always provides readers with the perfect amount of action, thrills, mystery and intrigue. But TAKEN also reveals the heartfelt emotions that go hand in hand with unresolved issues and a second chance at happiness that was inexplicable lost.

Basically, TAKEN is a wonderful gap filler while readers await the next full length Deep Ops story, but with a fabulous plot and cameos from some of our favourite characters, this story has everything that keeps the pace fast and furious. This is another page turner and totally addictive tale that is sure to be a winner with the readers.

I really enjoyed this novella, which focused on main characters outside the team, but gave us some big insight into Raider Tanaka, leading into his full-length book, Fallen, which is up next!

Hunter Holt is an ex-marine, and now leads fishing expeditions on the Cumberland River, in addition to living in a cabin out in the wilderness. He likes his space, and hasn't really wanted anyone else in it in a long time. Not in about 5 years, to be exact, when he and his first, and only, love broke up. They both had alcoholic, abusive fathers, and they both ended up in the same foster home with the only woman who ever really cared about them, Miss Angelina, and their two other "brothers", Raider Tanaka (of the Deep Ops team), and the youngest, Mark. Both Hunter and Faye were too broken to fight for what was between them in the end. He was struggling with PTSD after leaving the military, and the death of Mark, in combat, was the final straw between them. They should've dealt with it together, but instead they walked away. When she shows up on his land with some startling information, saying Miss Angelina sent her, he knows he can't walk away again.

Faye Smith grew up in Miss Angelina's home after finally being taken away from her monster of a father. She became a psychologist, but mostly she was only trying to figure out her own experiences. She found the job wasn't for her, especially after one of her patients committed suicide, and she didn't deal with the fallout well, at all. After Mark died, it was all too much and she walked away from everything, including Hunter. But she's never stopped thinking about him, or loving him, and when Miss Angelina calls her for help, she's all in. She doesn't know what will happen when she sees Hunter again, but she's ready to find out.

Hunter and Faye had a young, pure love that stood the test of time, even if their actual relationship didn't. They were each other's person, in a way no one else had ever been for either of them. When they come back together, you can easily read that the chemistry between them is stronger than ever. I loved their intense connection, even when one or the other of them was fighting it. That connection informed every move they made, whether they realized it or not, and I loved when they discovered that they really couldn't live without each other anymore.

The suspense plot here was fascinating, and involved a lost foster kid, a runaway from Miss Angelina's home. He happened to be Hunter's younger half-brother, whom he never knew existed. The 16-year-old kid was kidnapped by his teacher, who was having a relationship with him, and now she's on a robbery/murder spree. Hunter knows they'll need help to find the kid, and he calls in their brother Raider to join the case, in his official capacity as a federal agent. Raider brings another friend from his team, Wolfe, and we get to see a glimpse of a few of the other hilarious characters from the Deep Ops team. (That dog is a menace, and I can't wait to see what he gets up to next!)

Obviously this is a short novella, so we can't have all the detail we might get with a full-length book, but I wish I had known a little more about Hunter and Faye in the past. Even a flashback or two could've been great. I wanted to understand more about why they walked away from each other, and what they've done in the interim to solve those issues so they can definitely make it work now. But their connection was palpable, and I loved watching them fall back into each other again. I also loved that Raider let them know how stupid he thought they both were for not working it out sooner.

This was a nice little detour away from the main crew, and it really helped us to know more about Raider, and his history, and his loyalty to his family. I'm sure that will be important for Raider's book next, and I'm very much looking forward to it!

This review was originally posted on <a href="http://booksofmyheart.net/2019/04/17/taken-by-rebecca-zanetti/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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Review copy was received from Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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<strong>Taken</strong> is a novella between books 1 and 2 in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/227577-deep-ops" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Deep Ops series</strong></em></a>.  We don't see the main couple from <strong>Hidden, </strong>but this is a background setup for Raider who is the hero of book 2,  <strong>Fallen</strong>. It's a bit disconcerting because for the beginning as there is little connection to the world we know.

Things move quickly, as it is a novella,  in Henry and Faye's story. They are childhood friends with Raider and he steps in, bringing his team, to help with their problem. Henry's unknown, young half-brother is in a world of trouble.  So we do see Angus and Roscoe, Wolfe and K.A.T. for brief comic relief and connecting up the series.

Action-packed and sexy, I like seeing smart planning and execution on an op. I don't know how much we will see of Henry and Faye in the future, since they are in Kentucky or Tennessee, and not on the team.  I'm enjoying the series and look forward to more with Raider in September.

I always love Rebecca Zanetti's books! This one, while quite different from the vampires and shifters that I'm used to reading from her, still delivered! There were moments of romance, intrigue, and heart-pounding action! I love it!