So today at The Never Ending Book Basket I have a 2 for one special for you! Two reviews for the price of one. And lucky for you, there’s no price! Covertly Strong and Bait were both beyond fabulous, and I LOVED them both. Below you will find my review for Covertly Strong, and at the bottom of this post you’ll find a link to my review post on Bait. Be sure to check out both for all the fun because I HIGHLY recommend both of these books!!
Covertly Strong
Book One in The Strong Series
By N.A. Alcorn
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She can track down the world’s most dangerous drug lords, hack into any computer, and kill a man in fifteen different ways—but when she comes face-to-face with the only man who’s ever held her heart, it might be her most dangerous mission yet… Or is it?
Sloan Walker. Dr. Felicia Santora. Agent L-55.
Three very different personas, three very different names, but all have one thing in common. They’re all controlled, acted out, and lived by one woman.
Her past has been long forgotten. Ten years have gone by since someone remembered the girl she used to be. The young girl with the big-brown eyes and beautiful dreams of happiness, dreams of love. She now lives a clandestine life. A life filled with top-secret missions and covert assignments. Only a handful of people know the true nature of her job. Her safety is constantly being pushed towards the brink of life-threatening danger.
Then one day someone unexpectedly steps back into her life…
A man who once owned her mind, body, and soul.
A man who held her heart in the palm of his hand.
He remembers. He knows.
And this knowledge could threaten everything she’s worked so hard for. Nixon West is as intelligent as they come and his Navy SEAL training has made him one of the most dangerous weapons in the United States Military. The moment she reappeared into his life he promised himself that he wouldn’t let her go.
But the true question is…what extreme lengths will Nix go to for her?
She will soon face another mission.
And it will test everything.
Time never seems all that important until your life hangs in the balance.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock…
Just a little tease…
*****5 Kickass Stars*****
Do you ever start reading book, and immediately you know you’ve never read a book quite like it before? Let me tell you, that feeling is amazing.
Well, I got that feeling on about page 4 of Covertly Strong, and that is when I knew I was going to absolutely love this book.
That’s also about the time I fell instantly in love with one Nixon West.
Covertly Strong has everything that makes a book exceptional for me, yet it really was a book unlike any other I’ve read. Its got two strong badass main characters, with a new twist on a second chance love story. It also has a strong military aspect to it that just made this book so enthralling and exciting to read. I’m telling you, my heart was racing with adrenalin and excitement reading this book.
When I read NA Alcorn’s first two books, I immediately fell love with her laugh out loud hysterical humor, along with her fun loving and outrageously witty characters. I must admit that I was very curious to see how this book would compare to those since I knew the storyline and characters were going to be different, but I was thrilled to find I positively loved this book for the unique aspects it had. Those aspects through her so wonderful crafted writing made the book such a fantastic reading experience for me.
Basically, NA Alcorn just hit it out of the damn park with this one.
What was out of this world about Covertly Strong:
- Fiercely and oh so sassy Sloan. Sloan is a sassy as all get out character who instantly won me over with a highly memorable nerf game. That girl is something else, but I couldn’t get enough of how strong, sassy, and fierce she was. Sloan has some balls, and it was utterly fantastic to read such a truly strong female character who has the strength of 10 men put together. Her sassy personality shines through so wonderfully, and even in the toughest of situations she is herself through and through. Did I also mention she is a kick ass CIA agent? Major fist pump in the air for Sloan!
- One charming and badass Nixon West. Nixon West is just one badass man. He not only manages to be one of the strongest and most determined male characters I’ve read, but he’s also got so many well developed and heartfelt feelings that just made me swoon. Nixon is brash, and he’s tough, and he means business with everything he does. I loved that about him. It’s also not hard to imagine his swoon worthy self, which makes it all the more enjoyable to love his character. He’s also charming as all get out, so triple dog dare you to not love this hot Navy SEAL. (FYI, you’re gonna lose that dare.)
- Second chances are just the best. Sloan and Nixon are given a second chance at love in Covertly Strong. I love me a good second chance romance, and Covertly Strong just reemphasized that for me again and again. These two are thrust back together, and reading them try to make sense of all that while embracing their second chance together is just the best. The level of feeling and emotions and power behind their second chance will also just make your heart feel for both of them, and will have you rooting for them and cheering them on every step of the way.
- The level of kickassery. This book has an utterly fabulous level of kickassery. (Yes I made that word up, but that’s what this book has.) This book is just oozing the kickassery with a CIA agent and a Navy SEAL as the main characters. How could you not be kickass with a combo like that? Those two are also strong as hell, they bring out the best fierceness and fight in each other, and their banter is also pretty darn fantastic. This book also has a plotline that just takes charge and means business from start to finish. And don’t even get me started on the amazingness of Black Mamba. All of these aspects combine to make one helluva story you won’t soon forget.
- Young love. I absolutely loved how Covertly Strong gives you the chance to experience Nixon and Sloan when they were young and first met. It sets up their relationship and story so fantastically, and allows you the chance to see where it all began for them. You feel the ease and sweetness and magic that comes with their young love, yet you also feel the power it really has.
- The military aspect. I was beyond thrilled with the military aspects of Covertly Strong. I’ve never read a book that incorporated those kinds of aspects into a story, and I couldn’t get enough of it all. The jargon, the tenacity, the fight will all envelop you into that world so easily, and I easily felt like I understood everything that was going on within that world. This also adds a whole new dynamic to these characters and their story, making it all the more remarkable to read.
- The third person POV. I was kind of shocked by how much I loved the third person POV used in this book. This genre is well known for first person, but I was pleasantly surprised by what the third person POV added to how this story was told. This perspective allowed me to easily get into so many characters heads, and NA Alcorn did a magnificent job of going back and forth between them all seamlessly. It allowed me to know and love them all so easily. I honestly don’t think this story would’ve been the same without this perspective, as it just highlighted and exemplified every fantastic aspect of the book and characters.
- Adrenalin pumping moments. Covertly Strong is bursting with adrenalin pumping moments. Some of those moments result from the intense action of the book, but just as many are a result of the high level of emotion and love firing through the pages and characters. Those moments were exceptional. They also made every heart pounding moment, or pulse rate inducing character feel so real to me, and with each additional adrenalin pumping moment I connected more deeply to the story and Sloan and Nixon.
- Black Mamba for the win! There is no better group of guys to read, than the members of Nixon’s SEAL team, Black Mamba. I am more anxious than ever to get my hands on those guys. They are each different in their own way, but wholly engaging throughout, and I loved them all. You will get moments of them through this book that are highly memorable and will stick with you. These guys are hysterical and will leave you with one helluva smirk, but they’re also the strongest of brothers that will no doubt adhere themselves to your heart in an instant.
- The tenacious power of love. I can’t describe enough to you how powerful Sloan and Nixon’s love is. It grew when they were young, and it did a lot of things when they were apart. Covertly Strong explores what happens when these two and their utterly powerful love are thrown together again. The fight that their love brings out in them, their emotions, their feelings, and their vulnerabilities, will just have you feeling the tenacious power of that love, and you’ll realize over and over again why it’s so clearly worth fighting for.
Covertly Strong blew me away with everything it had.
This book brings two fiercely strong and determined characters together in such a way that will have you feeling the intensity of all that is between them, while making you want to fight like hell right along with them. You will love Nixon and Sloan. You will want to fight for Nixon and Sloan. You will love all the pages, all the heart rate inducing moments, and all the emotion and feeling you get to experience with Nixon and Sloan.
Covertly Strong has so many aspects that set it apart from other books you’ve read. These aspects make this book, its story, and its highly engaging characters wholly unique and truly enthralling to read.
I guarantee you’ve never read a book quite like this one, but remember, that’s what makes all the difference.
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N. A. Alcorn is the author of the best-selling in humorous fiction, Infamous Series. She is excited to take this leap into the Romantic Suspense genre and hopes that you enjoy Nix & Sloan’s story as much as she did writing it. She would love to hear from you!
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Email: authornaalcorn@gmail.com
Just click the link below and you’ll magically find yourself at my review for Bait by M. Mabie. Be sure to click that link because that will send you straight into Blake & Casey land, and that is a truly wonderful place to be. Trust me.
My review of Bait by M. Mabie
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