As I've learned to expect, a beautifully written and fun read. Mello writes wonderfully believable stories with flawed but truly good heroes and heroines

Reunited by the Badge is a romantic suspense story by a new-to-me author, Deborah Fletcher Mello. It's a second chance romance that serves up a healthy dose of danger for its main characters, Simone Black and Dr. Paul Reilly.

Simone and Paul actually get back together much more quickly than I was expecting here--somewhere in the 20% mark, if I remember correctly--but their reunion is far from a sure thing for the bulk of the book. Simone has all kinds of reservations about them being able to make it as a couple this time around, and then fate sends them one heck of a curveball in the second half. Not to mention the people that are actually shooting at them, not once but multiple times in the story...

Yeah, there's a lot going on there ;)

Ms Mello did a good job of keeping the reader reading, since her characters seemed to be in danger more often than not. Simone's very close family also played a pretty big role here, and seeing her siblings and parents give their (often unsolicited) two cents about what was going on was pretty amusing. The plot to a future book is heavily hinted at near the end, and fans of the series will definitely want to pick that one up as soon as it is released.

Reunited by the Badge is the third book in Ms Mello's To Serve and Seduce miniseries, but it worked just fine as a standalone.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars / C+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I recently bought a new kindle after my old one broke. For some reason I was unable to download this title from the cloud onto my kindle, therefore I will be unable to review this title. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Reunited by the Badge is the 3rd installment in the To Serve and Seduce series.  When Dr. Paul Reilly discovers a major pharmaceutical company is illegally passing on drugs that has been rejected by the FDA.  It’s when his patients start dying that springs him into action.  Careful not to bring too many people into this theory, due to safety and trust, he enlists his ex, Simone.  He trusts her to keep his confidence and to know which steps to take to expose this company.

Paul and Simone take us through it with their back and forth. The things I enjoyed most in this one was the family characters and their interaction with each other and the subject matter the chose to tackle in this title. You get just the amount of romance, suspense, and twists to keep you turning the pages.

It didn't go unnoticed that the matriarch and patriarch of the Black family drops a smoke bomb that left us wondering and expecting another book. I am looking forward to more as well as catching up with Oliver and his new love interest.

Reunited by the Badge was the very first book by Deborah Fletcher Mello I read, but it will not be my last. Nail-biting, compelling, passionate and absolutely fantastic, Reunited by the Badge is a must-read for fans of romantic suspense everywhere.

Dr Paul Reilly regrets the day his relationship with Simone Black came to an end. Paul still cares about Simone and despite the fact that he has tried to move on with his life, nobody has ever come close to Simone – which is why when he suspects that a megacorporation has started killing patients, he realizes that she is the only person he can turn to. When they clap eyes on one another again, the chemistry between them is off the charts and feelings which they have tried so hard to bury for so long resurface with a vengeance. Although they simply cannot agree on anything and they seem to spend most of their time bickering and arguing, Simone and Paul know that they will have one another’s back regardless of what happens – and they are going to need all the strength and support they can muster as the two former lovers are being stalked by dangerous criminals with vengeance on their minds.

With gunshots round every corner, Simone and Paul know that they can only rely on one another as they track down whoever is tampering with the medications. Yet, the closer they get to the truth, the closer they come to danger. With their every move being followed, Simone and Paul realise that they only way they can be safe is if they spend as much time in one another’s company as possible – which further complicates the relationship between the two of them.

Can Simone and Paul manage to defeat the enemy keen to silence them permanently and spend the rest of their lives together? Or is their relationship simply not meant to be?

Deborah Fletcher Mello’s Reunited by the Badge is a fantastic romantic suspense novel I devoured in a single sitting. With its expert blending of passion, suspense and intrigue, Reunited by the Badge features two terrific characters that I absolutely loved.

Simone and Paul are brilliant characters. Simone is strong, sassy and intelligent and sexy Paul is sure to make readers swoon.

A fabulous read from a writer I’ve added to my auto-buy list, Deborah Fletcher Mello’s Reunited by the Badge is not to be missed.

Who are Simone, Paul, Tom, Jerry, Mrs. Pippin, Oliver, Armstrong, Davis, Ellington, Parker, Vaughn, and Vivian? How do all of these folks know one another or what are their relationships if they do not know one another? I love Mrs. Pippin! What has gotten Paul into some hot water? What is going on in his mind? What bombshell is dropped on him after he gets off his flight and turns his phone on? Where does Paul end up going? Why? Oh, I love Smone's mother and father's senses of humor!!! Who has the relationship with Vivian and what is it exactly? When she shows up at the hospital, what does she try to do? As Paul is gearing up for a press conference, what happens? Why? Read and see what happens and how harrowing things get and for whom.

RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin' With M. Brennan.

This is an action packed, contemporary, romantic suspense with two great families with starring roles. 

Dr Paul Reilly volunteers to work in mission hospitals abroad although his normal role is in a Chicago hospital. He suspects that one of the medicines he has been prescribing has had a detrimental affect on his patients and sets out to investigate why, sending samples back for his brother to check. When those samples and the results are stolen, they suspect the drug company are endeavouring to thwart their investigations. Concerned about what he's getting into, Paul calls up the only person he can trust to advise him - Simone Black, the woman who broke his heart. As the two meet, they discover that others are after them and so begins their desperate race to find the evidence and stop more people being killed by the rogue medication. Can they keep themselves safe and stop the pharmaceutical company selling unsafe medicines? What will happen as the two work together again? Can they give their love a second chance?

You just have to love the Black family and the Reilly brothers! They're a superb group, each with their own quirks but all filled with love and determination to support and protect as well as tease each other. This story is fast paced and full of suspense but also has some laugh out loud moments, too. I really enjoyed reading it and have no hesitation in highly recommending it to anyone who enjoys contemporary romantic suspense. I'm really looking forward to reading more in this series in future!

Many thanks to the publishers for gifting me a copy of this book (via NetGalley) which I have chosen to read and this is my honest review after doing so.

Very good second chance romance with some intriguing suspense to complicate matters. Paul and Simone have been an on-again-off-again couple since they were in college. Two years earlier, they split up when Simone refused to accompany Paul on one of his medical mission trips. When Paul discovers that medications from a particular company are contaminated he knows that Simone is the best person to help him.

The book started with a bang as Paul returned to Chicago from Africa to find that the samples he sent to his brother Oliver were stolen, along with the compiled data. Tension increased when two suspicious characters showed up at the restaurant where Paul was meeting Simone. Simone spotted them, and I loved how she handled it. When someone shoots at Paul and Simone as they leave the restaurant, Paul realizes they need to get somewhere safe.

I liked the rekindling of the relationship between Paul and Simone. It is evident from the start that there are still feelings between them. Both are independent and stubborn. We get a good look at the emotions of both of them in the first chapter, as each reflects on what went wrong in the relationship. Each is honest in their self-examinations, but both have trouble communicating their feelings. I had some trouble liking Simone because she was so melodramatic at times. Her volatility and short-fuse irritated me because she had a habit of exploding when she should have shut up and actually listened to what Paul had to say. As they holed up in Paul and Oliver's house In the Canadian woods, Simone and Paul had the chance to reconnect. It wasn't long before their old chemistry burned as hot as ever. However, though they admitted they still loved each other, there was still a lack of communication between them. Just as Simone starts to make progress in coming to terms with her fears life throws her a curveball that stirs everything up again. I loved how steady Paul was in his love for Simone, and how determined he was to make their relationship work. I loved his conversation with her father. It took a near-tragedy and an illuminating discussion with her mother for Simone to overcome her fears. I liked that they took time to finally talk to each other and work out their future together. The ending was terrific.

The suspense of the story was good. The subject of big pharma was right out of current headlines, and I enjoyed the way the author handled it. I could feel Paul's frustration and anger as the problems with the medication became apparent, and his determination to do something about it. The tension as the first set of samples disappeared was magnified by the attack on Simone and Paul. They and Oliver fled to the house in Canada to use the backup samples to reconstruct the results. I liked the realism of the process taking weeks rather than days. I felt the anticipation build as they came closer to their goal. That progress also put them in danger, as those responsible became more desperate to stop them. Paul's conversation with the drug rep and the attack at the news conference ramped up the tension. The final confrontation was a nail-biter as Paul put himself in the bulls-eye to bring the perp to justice.

This was the first book I have read by this author, but it won't be the last. I will go back and read the previous books in the series. Simone's family is fantastic, and I can't wait to read more about them. I loved their closeness and support of each other, as well as the loving teasing that went on. I especially liked Mingus and his way of getting things done. I look forward to the next book and seeing what happens with the bombshell that their mother dropped at the family dinner.

Exhilarating read! REUNITED BY THE BADGE is book three in Deborah Fletcher Mello's To Serve and Seduce series and the return trip into the Black family's world did not disappoint! The intrigue rose quickly and carried throughout the book, and even once the main protagonist was dealt with, we got a tidbit of a new mystery that's going to carry forward into the series going forward that sounds really exciting. Can't wait for a return trip!

Simone is a character that does not disappoint. Throughout the series she's been strong-willed and steadfast in her devotion to her family and her ability to live life the way she wants to.

Paul is a character that grabs our attention quickly as the mystery he's trying to solve heats up and more lives are in danger than ever. He brings a certain softness out in Simone that she doesn't show for anyone else.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to read a fast paced story filled with non-stop action, close-knit family connections and a reuniting of former lovers. You can't go wrong with any book in the series!

This one was just middle of the road for me. I've read worse, but I've read far better romantic suspense. The romance was barely there and the suspense was missing completely. Paul and Simone are a second chance couple and I'm always a sucker for second chance romances, but this one fell flat. Simone was difficult to like, at best, and when they were together she was either starting a fight or moaning about how he can't leave her to go do his mission trips. Then they'd hop in bed and everything would be fine for a few more hours. If you're looking for romance you aren't going to find it here.

The suspense plot was good. I really liked that part of the story, but the bad guy was revealed so early in the book there wasn't a lot to hang on for. There were some tense moments in the end, but since you knew who it was, you couldn't get too worked up about it.

I found the secondary characters to be interesting, especially Mingus and Oliver. I want to know more about them and I also want to find out the information that was left open at the end (Obviously for the next book). However, the excessive amount of exclamation!Points!That!Were!On!Every!Page! will probably keep me from reading another book in this series. By 70% it became so distracting I wanted to give up. The characters were constantly yelling at each other with exclamation points and much of it made little sense because they shouldn't have been.

All in all, I liked the plot and the idea that drug manufacturers could be poisoning us and we'd never know it. If you like low key romance and suspense mixed with a large family of interesting characters then you'd enjoy Reunited by the Badge.

Dr.Paul is noticing a disturbing deadly trend when some of his patients are ending up dead after using a certain supposedly life saving drug. Now he needs the help of an ex Simone Black who can help him build up a case and find who is behind this. Not only with will things heat up between the two but as they dig further its clear someone is willing to do anything to stop them.

If you like a good mystery suspense you'll like this book. I loved seeing all the pieces they were putting together to build the case and how everything worked out in the end. Then there was the romance as they spend more time with each other clearly things were bound to heat up. I loved how I kept wondering when and if something would happen. It is a large company doing some shady dealings and clearly someone is not going to want people to know what they are up to, so there are going to be moments that surprise readers. Overall this was a pretty good book I really enjoyed it.

This is the third book in the To Serve and Seduce series. It features Paul and Simone, who broke up because of Paul’s work outside of the country. Although they are not together, both still acknowledge that they never stopped loving each other. The romance needed a little umph. There was a lack of chemistry between the two characters. To be exes, I just wasn’t feeling the connection they kept saying they had.

Simone seemed very immature. She wanted things her way all the time and got mad and in her feelings over everything. Their bickering over nonsense was a little exhausting to read. Her feelings of inadequacy when it came to him, just didn’t jive with the strong willed, take no charge personality. It felt like just an excuse.

The suspense in this story was good, I was highly invested in who was after Paul and Simone. The pharmaceutical plot line really carried this book. The resolution was a little quick but answered all the questions.

Another family issue was introduced at the end of the book, and it was an unexpected twist. Looks as if this series is not over yet.

ARC received from NetGalley for an honest review.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When he discovers his patients’ lives are threatened, Dr. Paul Reilly can turn to only one person: Simone Black. She will have his back, even if they don’t agree on much else. But as the former lovers work together to track down the evildoers who are tampering with medications, they rediscover unexpected feelings for one another…even as an enemy wants to silence them permanently.

I wanted to like this book so much – a romantic suspense with no guns on the cover, no SEALs, no former military of any kind – a physician and a lawyer trying to take down an evil pharmaceutical company. There is a lot to like in the book, but it is so messy that I ended up feeling frustrated.

I’m breaking this review into The Good, The Messy, and The Bad.

The Good

Paul and Simone were good characters. They had a long relationship that had never quite gone where they wanted it to and they broke up for reasons that had nothing to do with either being a bad person. Paul wanted to go on international medical missions and Simone had a career at the Chicago AG office. The conflict over what they wanted from their lives was compounded by communication issues. It made sense to me that Simone would be the person Paul would call when he needed advice about how to proceed, which meant that their being on the run together made sense. I loved that in their time apart they had thought about what they wanted so that when they came back together, they talked about it before falling back into bed.

Most of the characters were great. I loved that Paul and Simone came with family relationships and those relationships were integral to the plot. Both Simone and Paul get heaps of grief from their families about, well, everything, and it is a delight. I would 5 star a book of just siblings heaping grief on Simone and Paul’s heads.

The Messy

So much plot. So many things happen that I got confused about what was happening now and why. By the end of the book Simone and Paul are together (not a spoiler, it’s a romance, they get an HEA), but so many things had happened that I couldn’t remember if Simone and Paul had really resolved the issues in their relationship or if we are to assume that one of the spoilery plot points was a magical fix. In fact, Simone felt like she had been back-burnered in the last quarter of the book, leaving me feeling less invested in the resolution to the romance.

The Bad

I personally hate the evil, slutty ex-flame character. In this case I think it was both annoying and harmful to the plot. Vanessa is only in the most technical of terms an ex-flame. Paul kinda sorta went out with her once or twice after Simone left him. The problem with Vanessa is that she is a caricature in a book full of characters and her evil, slutty ways defang the whole evil corporation plot. Instead of an evil company, it becomes one evil woman.

Reunited by the Badge is the third in an ongoing series. I’m going to check out the second book, which focuses on Simone’s brother, Mingus, at some point. I liked him a lot and I likes Fletcher Mello’s writing enough that I want to give her another try.

I'm such a sucker for a pretty cover. I'm not looking for much in a romance novel. Just fun characters who have sizzling chemistry and keep me entertained from start to finish. The beginning was interesting with our couple on the run. But being on the run was so boring from there! They quickly settled into the same mundane routine and it didn't even feel like there was impending danger. And I feel like they got back together too soon despite having been broken up for a few years. There was no push and pull that makes these stories work.