This one had a lot of twists and turns inside a game of espionage. There was history between this team getting back together to do another mission. But there was someone behind this mission and the last mission that resulted in an agent's death. The two mcs were very opposites attract coming from very different backgrounds and they had a slow burn that ignited pretty quickly once they stopped denying their interest.

So, I dove into this book with moderate expectations, unsure of what to anticipate from this political thriller with a dash of romance.

Characters? The characters were interesting, each with their motivations and quirks. I appreciated the complexity woven into their personalities, especially considering the political landscape they navigated. The protagonist's journey felt authentic and relatable.

Plot? The political intrigue kept me turning the pages. The story delved into the intricacies of power, conspiracy, and the often murky waters of politics. It struck a balance between the suspenseful elements and the romantic subplot, creating an engaging and entertaining narrative.

Writing style? Under her pen name, Selena Montgomery, Stacey Abrams demonstrated a solid grasp of storytelling. The prose was clear, and the pacing kept the narrative flowing smoothly. The author's background in politics added a layer of authenticity to the political aspects of the plot.

Romance? The romantic elements added a nice touch without overshadowing the overarching political drama. It was a subplot that complemented the main story, contributing to the character development and offering a bit of escapism.

Ending? The resolution felt satisfying, tying up the main plotlines while leaving room for the characters' futures to unfold. It struck a balance between closure and the open-ended nature of real-world political situations.

In summary, "Rules of Engagement" delivered a solid political thriller with a touch of romance, offering an engaging read that delves into the complexities of power and love in politics.

A fun romance novel with many twists and turns that were unexpected. With the rerelease of this novel I expect to see an uptick in readers expanding their reading habits into genres the previously would not have explored.

I liked the plot and idea, but the actual story felt chaotic. I am not sure if it was the writing or editing, but there were many times I felt a bit confused by the story. Things bounced back and forth, and there were a lot of extra descriptors that felt unnecessary.

I also didn’t quite but into the relationship between Raleigh and Adam. They hated each other but were also in love?

Basically, this was just enough to keep me engaged and wanting to know the end. But it wasn’t the best.

I adore Stacey Abrams for her political affiliations. As a Georgia resident she has a place in my heart. That is why I requested this one. I wanted to love it. I think others will devour it....but it was simply too heavy for me. I like/need the fluffy romance. I am learning that I need to be in a specific mood for books such as this.

I will try to pick it up again in the future.

Not my favorite from this author, but definitely an engaging read. There were some consent issues that I would've appreciated to be addressed.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn't. I'm not sure if it's because I read this in 2022, TWENTY ONE YEARS after it was released. It didn't feel relevant, I couldn't connect with the characters, and I just didn't enjoy it.

I wanted to love this book, but couldn't fully get into it. The jumping POV didn't help. I'm hoping I'll like Stacey's more recent releases more.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
M/F Mystery, Romance

Raleigh, aka Chimera, is part of a covert government agency, ISA. With a new mission on the horizon, she needs the help of a former operative in order to get her desired outcome. That person is none other than her almost lover, Adam, aka Merlin. She knows it's going to be an uphill battle to get Merlin to help because she knows that he believes she's the reason his best friend, Phillip, is dead.

Adam is doing what he does best. Keeping his company in the black. He's a brilliant businessman and even better with technology. When he's pulled back into ISA's operations, he does so with a chip on his shoulder and cynicism in his heart.

When the operation finally starts to move along, which does take a while in my opinion, the book clips along at a fast pace. However, to get to that point, I felt, was a little tedious. There is a lot of background that the reader needs, but it felt almost repetitive at times.

As Chimera and Merlin play their parts in this new operation, secrets and loyalties will be tested. Truths are uncovered and some truths are buried. It will take all of their skills to complete this mission and even more to heal their hearts again.

This is a fairly quick read, and I did enjoy it. The spy games were very fun to read.

Ever since I heard that Stacey Abrams was Selena Montgomery, I've been really curious about her books. Romantic suspense? That's my jam. Unfortunately, this one wasn't my favorite but I understand that this is a re-release so maybe her more recent writings would be something I'd enjoy more--I look forward to trying those out.

My thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Selena Montgomery/Stacey Abrams for access to an e-ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a re-release of a book Stacey Abrams/Selena Montgomery published in 2001. The book showed its age in a few spots – such as when the FMC checks her answering machine messages. I enjoyed the story overall. Raleigh and Adam – former lovers and spy partners – must reunite and work together to complete their incomplete former mission to stop technology from falling into the hands of terrorists.

The narrative jumps POV sometimes in the middle of a paragraph. One minute you’re in Adam’s head and then all of the sudden it’s Raleigh’s thoughts. It was jarring. Also, because they’re spies, they all have several code names, and they use them interchangeably. It took me out of the story from time to time. The way they talk about the past, at first, it seems like it’s been decades since their failed mission and the death of Adam's best friend. I mean, Adam doesn’t even recognize his Raleigh -- the former love of his life -- when he meets her again for the first time. Eventually, however, we learn that it's only been THREE years. The motivation of a couple characters and some of the spy elements were a little far-fetched and required some suspension of belief.

The book gets 3 stars from me. The story and romantic elements kept me reading and there are a few twists I didn’t see coming.

3.5 stars for this re-release. One can get a glimpse of how far Abrams has come in her writing style. I had thought there would be more suspense but there’s more romance. The present and past storyline got somewhat confusing at the beginning but the ending was very good.

This book was great for those who love a steamy romance with a sexy thriller twist! I enjoyed Abrams's previous novel, which was a political thriller, and decided to give this a try. And while I probably won't be reading any more of her books written as Selena Montgomery (romance really isn't my genre), I will absolutely be recommending this to people who I know would love it. It was fast paced, incredibly smart, and not your average dippy romance novel.

I did not realize that this was a re release of one of her earlier books and it reads as so. I didn't think they needed to bring this book back. It is an earlier book so I know authors grow as time goes. My expectations were higher since i read WHILE JUSTICE SLEEPS

Raleigh Montgomery is working on a secret government assignment. She is assigned to work with Adam Grayson to retrieve the technology. However, the two don’t necessarily trust each other after a friend of theirs died. Can they survive being around each other long enough to complete the mission?

The beginning of the book lured me right in. there is so much going on to set up the story for what is to come. However, the connection with the characters and some over-the-top plot points gave me a hard time loving this book. I switch back and forth between my like and dislike throughout the story.

The romantic element of the story needs to be tightened. I didn’t understand their relationship. They had the hate thing down but also the love thing as well. Adam is not as trusting of Raleigh which is expected because of their rocky past. Raleigh kept her cool demeanor towards him as well. Yet, they were all over each other when they got the opportunity. The transition from being pitted against one another to falling in love didn’t flow as smoothly as I had hoped.

The storyline is overly complicated and I got lost a few times while reading. I’m not sure if the author wanted to dive deep into this world but it got lost in translation at times. I found myself questioning what was going on.

Overall, this may work for those who like wordy stories. I need to try another book by this author to determine how well I like her romantic suspense novels.

~ Samantha

Rules of Engagement by Selena Montgomery was covered in my Fall Book Preview, where I share a curated list of the season’s hottest new titles including the books I’ve most enjoyed, the ones I’m most looking forward to reading, and the ones the industry is most excited about. I am excited about this re-release of her books that will reach a wider audience.
Our Fall Book Preview event is exclusively for members of our MMD Book Club community and What Should I Read Next Patreon “Book Lover” supporters. Our communities also received a printable of all the picks with Rules of Engagement's publishing info and release date included.

First, I could tell RULES OF ENGAGEMENT was written in the early 2000s. It just gave those vibes and the writing style reflected the time period.

I really wanted to like Raleigh and Adam’s story and I was looking forward to the CIA-esque premise, but it just fell short for me.

Raleigh and Adam are searching for some lethal technology that has been stolen by the bad guys, and of course they will have to avoid (or not so much) falling in love with each other.

The action at the end of the novel had me hooked and I wanted to read more about Raleigh and Adam taking down the mole, but goodness, I felt the middle 2/3rds of the novel just DRUG BY SO SLOWLY.

I also had a hard time following back and forth between the present tense and when it would jump back in the past for Raleigh, Adam and other characters. It was just confusing.

This is a rerelease of this novel, now that Stacy Abrams is out there, but yeah, unfortunately it just didn’t live up to the hype I’d expected!

Thank you to @berkleypub and @prhaudio for my copy of this novel- the audio narration was well done!

In this romantic suspense novel, the brilliant chemist Dr. Raleigh Foster, an agent for a top-secret covert government agency, agrees to go undercover to penetrate the terrorist group Scimitar. With the help of a mole, they’ve stolen nanotechnology that can scrub toxins from the environment, but can be repurposed to deploy deadly weapons. Adam Grayson, CEO of the company that developed the technology and a former operative himself, is assigned as Raleigh’s partner. Together, they’ll travel to Jafir as lovers, ingratiate themselves with Scimitar, identify the mole, and neutralize the threat.

Both Raleigh and Adam, though, have secret agendas. Each has a former partner, killed earlier in Jafir, and without informing the other is set on revenge even if they have to disobey the orders from headquarters. Their red-hot attraction to each other, one that is developing into a relationship of trust despite Raleigh’s best efforts, is complicating both their official and unofficial business.

I was so excited when I learned Berkley was reissuing 𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 originally published in May 2001. About the reissue, Abrams said, “The characters and their adventures are what I’d wished to read as a young Black woman — stories that showcase women of color as nuanced, determined, and exciting.”

I admire Stacey Abrams so much and am impressed with her vision, passion, and commitment. Reading this novel, one she conceived when in college, makes me feel closer to her, and I’ll no doubt read the others when they are released. I did like the book best when it focused on the espionage/spy elements of the narrative, though I found some of it a little confusing. The romance was steamy, but there was a little too much back-and-forth for my taste as the love interests quickly and repeatedly shifted between love and hate. But moles and double-crosses are always fun, and in Zeben, the book has an all-too-creepy and love-to-hate villain!

This book is fantastic!! Stacey Abrams is an excellent author and I’ll definitely be seeking out her work again.

Thank you to @netgalley @berkleypub and @berkleyromance for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @prhaudio for a free download of the audiobook. And thank you to @berittalksbooks and @dg_reads for including me on this buddy read.

This is my first book by Stacey Abrams and it I enjoyed it. It kind of gave me Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes is that two people clearly attracted to each other are pitted against one another to fish out the real bad guy. There were twists and turns and dead people suddenly being alive! The two main characters also had some serious electricity between them

I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it was more on the suspenseful side and less focused on the steamy romance. I do think the characters had complex layers and the backstories were well laid out.

4 stars