Cold Secrets by Toni Anderson Series: Cold Justice #7
Published by Self-Published
Publication Date: January 31st 2017
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 309
Source: Author
Format: eARC
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Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.
When an international ring of sex traffickers kidnaps an eight-year-old girl in Boston, FBI Agent Lucas Randall heads undercover. But his rescue operation goes disastrously wrong and Lucas barely escapes with his life. Now the ruthless traffickers are hunting him down, along with everyone else who threatens their operation.
Computer expert Ashley Chen joined the FBI to fight against evil in the world—evil she experienced firsthand. She has mad skills, and deadly secrets, and once she starts working with Lucas, she also has big trouble, because after years of pushing people away, she’s falling for the guy. The feeling is more than mutual, but as Ashley intensifies her online pursuit of the trafficking ring, her traumatic past collides with her present and suddenly Lucas can’t tell which side she’s on. And as the case escalates into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, it turns out Ashley isn’t the only one with something to hide.
If neither can trust the other with their secrets, how can they trust each other with their hearts?
Review
Gosh, Ms. Anderson knows how to rev you up from the very first page! COLD SECRETS is a winner, hands down! The story goes from zero to sixty in a flash and the speed just keeps ramping up and up all the way to the end. The subject matter is dark, distasteful and heartbreaking but the author handles it with the gravity it deserves without compromising the romantic aspects of the story. Even as the tension and suspense got almost too intense, I could NOT stop flipping pages because I did not want to miss anything.
The search for a missing little girl leads to the discovery of a sex trafficking ring and FBI Agent Lucas Randall has to go undercover as a patron to rescue the little girl. The operation goes bad really quickly and while he’s able to rescue the hostage, several law enforcement officers are lost among several others in the swift and brutal response from the criminals. The heat is now on to find and destroy the criminal enterprise and the FBI deploys a team of behavioral analysts to help.
Agent Ashley Chen is an agent in training, on rotation in the BAU but her real skills lay in cyber-crime. Ashley has a very big secret that has led her to lead a solitary life, but this assignment causes her new life to collide with the old and threatens to bring down everything she has built. And just at the time she finds the one man who tempts her to live just a little.
The chemistry between Ashley and Lucas is instantaneous but Ashley can’t afford more than one night, especially when she discovers the identity of the gang they are hunting. Lucas on the other hand, gets emotionally invested very quickly, both with the case and with Ashley and with the criminals always one step ahead, it’s time to consider that there may be a mole within the ranks.
If you geek out on all things legal or tech, then this book will really get you going because this story is layered with lots of that – cyber-crime, hacking, privacy concerns and how far even the good guys can push the boundaries to in order to bring down criminals.
I enjoy that with this book and the one before it, the author brought in some diversity and touched on the prejudices, prejudgments and stereotypes that exist for them, even in law enforcement.
The level of detail about EVERYTHING in this story indicates just how dedicated to her research Ms. Anderson is and I for one, am very grateful for that. This is a solid addition to the series and if you haven’ read any of it yet, I highly recommend rectifying that right away.
Excerpt
She walked toward him and he forced himself not to move. She was only a few inches shorter than he was which was a change from the women he usually dated. Her hands rested on his chest as she eased up to kiss him. Her mouth was soft and sweet, and tasted like bourbon.
He wanted to unwrap that shirt from her body and drag her off to bed. But it didn’t matter how long it had been, this was a really bad idea.
As she was about to pull away, he cupped her face and took the kiss deeper, feeling the surprise, followed by the searing heat of her response. Her breathing hitched as her tongue met his. He fitted her more closely against him, his calloused fingers rough against the slippery satin of her blouse. Her arms wound around his neck and her hands sank into the hair at his nape. She was hot—body, face, mouth. His body begged him not to pull away, not to stop, but he did it anyway, and stared down into her pretty eyes.
“What was that for?” he asked gruffly.
“Curiosity.” Her lips were reddened from their kiss. Her honey skin held a flush of scarlet. “I wanted to see if you tasted as good as you looked.”
His throat grew tight. “What’s the verdict?”
She pulled away and walked over to where she’d dumped her laptop and coat. Picked them up.
He made himself stand very still as she walked away. Made himself accept that the kiss had been enough.
She opened the door and looked over her shoulder. “Better.”
Then she closed the door, severing the connection. And he knew a kiss was never going to be enough.
About Toni Anderson
Toni Anderson writes award-winning, bestselling, FBI Romantic Thrillers. She is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, RITA® finalist, science nerd, professional tourist, dog lover, gardener, mom. Anderson's books have won the Readers' Choice Award, Aspen Gold, National Excellence in Romance Fiction, Book Buyers' Best.
Originally from a small town in Shropshire, England, Toni studied Marine Biology at University of Liverpool (B.Sc.) and University of St. Andrews (Ph.D.) with the intention she'd never be far from the ocean. Well, that plan backfired and she ended up in the Canadian prairies with her biology professor husband, two kids, a rescue dog, and a laid-back leopard gecko.
Toni started writing while pregnant with her first child and never stopped. Her greatest achievements are mastering the Tokyo subway, climbing Ben Lomond, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, and surviving fifteen Winnipeg winters (fingers crossed). She loves to travel for research purposes and was lucky enough to visit the Strategic Information and Operations Center inside FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. in 2016. She also got to shove another (police) car off the road during pursuit training at the Writer’s Police Academy. Basically she has way too much fun!
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