Customer Reviews

Code Name: Baby (Wheeler Romance)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Foxfire is a secret seven-man team. Few even know they exist. Each man has chip implants so Lloyd Ryker can track them and monitor their body functions. The men share special genetic technology, still experimental. The nanotech and bio-enhancements enable them to accomplish impossible tactical work under deadly fire. Each member has particular specialties. One member, Gabriel Enrique Cruz, mastered the ability to control animals. He was receiving new training when his mind snapped. Cruz went rogue. Then the worst possible thing happened, Cruz escaped.

Inside their individual containment units, Lt. Trace O'Halloran was the first to realize something was wrong. Trace's special ability allows him to set energy nets and carry out controlled psi sweeps with his mind rather than eyes. Trace alerted his commander, Wolfe Houston, via mind link. Trace's sweep informed him that Cruz was causing the chaos. This surprises Trace and Wolfe because Cruz supposedly died over a year ago. Trace's sweep is confirmed when Lloyd Ryker pulls them out of their containment units. Only a member of Foxfire could hope to hunt down another member. Trace cannot be on this mission because his sister, Kit, is involved. So Ryker sends Wolfe in alone.

Cruz's target is in New Mexico. Kit O'Halloran is a civilian dog trainer. Kit has eleven years experience training service dogs for law enforcement and military units. Her success rate is unmatched. Currently, she has four dogs undergoing training. Kit has no clue that these dogs are special. She has never even heard of Project Home Run. And she has no idea of the genetic technology within the dogs. These four black Labrador puppies are a team in every meaning of the word. The runt, Baby, is the obvious leader. Diesel, Butch, Sundance, and Baby can communicate with each other, plan and execute strategies together, and sense things other animals could not. Cruz intends to get his hands on Kit and the dogs no matter what it takes.

Wolfe is just as determined to protect them from Cruz. Like Cruz, Wolfe has a way with animals. Wolfe's ability with animals is not as good as Cruz's though. Wolfe can also create image displacements, meaning he can cast illusions and alter the memories of others. Since Kit already knew Wolfe, it made him the perfect choice to protect them. Wolfe must not reveal too much to Kit about the himself or the dogs while protecting them. At the same time, he must locate Cruz and bring him in. It should not be too difficult for Wolfe, except that Kit is no longer the same girl he knew. She has grown up and is now a huge distraction.

***** Author Christina Skye continues her stories of battle-honed Navy SEAL members ... and this one is the best to date! Foxfire is the team sent in when all the other elite teams fail, so you can only imagine the potential waiting for Skye to access. The possibilities are unlimited. This story starts out with a bang and ends with one too. You will have no time to breathe, much less stop and cook dinner. Non-stop action from cover-to-cover. My advice to you is this: take a few vacation days from work and order a lot of pizza. You are in for one hell of a ride! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I used to be a die-hard Christina Skye fan--I adored "Going Overboard" and have read it more times than I can count--but her new Code Name books left me feeling like something was just missing...but this last book was a HUGE improvement. It gives me hope that the old Christina that I used to love is back!

The Foxfire top secret Navy SEAL seven-man squad were all genetically changed using experimental nanotechnology and biological enhancements. Each has their own skills, but all are monitored by Lloyd Ryker from a distance. They work incidents that are impossible for normal people to survive.

One member Lieutenant Trace O'Halloran uses his mind to make sweeps of perimeters. He notices strange activity from a teammate Gabriel Enrique Cruz, who can control animals, but apparently lost control and has gone rogue. Trace's commander Wolfe Houston is stunned because Cruz died last year. Ryker sends Wolfe to track down Cruz whose target apparently is Trace's sister Kit, a law enforcement dog trainer based in New Mexico, who is working with four special Labrador puppies that unbeknownst to her have been genetically altered so that they work strategically as a team. Cruz wants to become the leader of Baby, Diesel, Butch, and Sundance. Wolfe and Kit know each other so his assignment to capture Cruz seems easy except that his friend's baby sister is an adult that he desires with all his heart; a distraction he cannot afford if he is to protect her and the canines.

The latest Foxfire tale (see CODE NAME: NANNY and CODE NAME: PRINCESS) is a fast-paced romantic thriller that never slows down hooking the audience from the moment Trace realizes what is going on. The story line is action-packed, but the key protagonists and the canines seem genuine even with the genetic modifications. Baby the pack leading runt steals the show in many ways as fans of the series will appreciate this strong tale as Christine Skye makes her cast, human and canine, seem like real people and dogs just having extrasensory skills.

Harriet Klausner

Those who have taken the time to read through most of my reviews know my views on romance novels; that is, I don't like them. However, having read this one, I make an exception - this was a really fun book and I actually quite enjoyed it! Maybe it is because there wasn't a lot of the "I hate you, you're a jerk, let's go to bed" type of "dynamic tension" that so many romance novelists seem compelled to create between their leads (since Kit already had a crush on Wolfe, and since Kit is gorgeous and Wolfe only resisted due to professional reasons for a very brief time ...). Or maybe it is because of the very personable title character, the dog named Baby, along with the other black Labradors that Kit is training under government contract. Whatever the reason, this WAS a fun read, and receives a thumbs-up from this reader. Perfect for a weekend away on a sunny beach or a nice evening in a bubble bath or whatever you personally do to relax.

Third book in the Code Name series.

World renowned dog trainer Kit O'Halloran lives alone on the family ranch in New Mexico. Her parents are dead and her older brother is a Firefox operative. Firefox is an ultra-secret government experiment. Wolfe Houston grew up near the O'Halloran ranch and lived there when he couldn't tolerate his abusive parents any longer. Wolfe is a former Navy SEAL and the current Firefox leader. Kit is training four black lab puppies (Baby, Diesel, Butch and Sundance) to be military service dogs. But she doesn't know how "special" they really are. The puppies - and Wolfe and his men - have been bio-engineered with microchip technology to be faster, stronger, tougher. Wolfe can project images. When the previous Firefox leader goes rogue and is a threat to Kit and the puppies, Wolfe is the only one who can handle it. Puppies, lots of action, puppies, interesting twists, puppies and PUPPIES! But I felt like I was missing something at times . . . because I didn't read the first two Code Name books? Maybe.

of romance. I found myself skimming the book frequently, looking for the good parts. I don't like sci-fi, so the 'enhanced' male character, I actually found freaky and scary, not sexy! I had a hard time suspending disbelief at the many off the wall happenings and I feel that the scenes towards the end of the book weren't written to be understood, at all, really. Prior books were good, fun and a must read.

I was really not impressed with this latest installment of the code name: series. While I liked the earlier novels, princess and nanny, baby left a lot to be desired. It was hard to connect with the characters and the psychic dog angle just really didn't seem to be working. Kit and Wolfe were sort of interesting, but it would have been nice if they spent less time arguing and getting injured and more time on character and relationship development. Maybe I missed something, but compared to the last two, I had a really tough time slogging through this novel and the conclusion felt generally unsatisfying. I think that we need Izzy's story, and then to just retire this code-name franchise.

~* 2.5 Stars *~

Kit O'Holloran is a renowned dog trainer. She's currently working with four exceptional young dogs on her ranch in New Mexico. The pups are more exceptional than Kit realizes, though. Genetically and technologically enhanced superdogs, they're slated to be the next cutting edge weapons of the special Foxfire military unit. They're highly valuable and at the top of the top secret pile.

So is former Navy SEAL Wolfe Houston.

One of Foxfire's top operatives, he's just as technologically and genetically enhanced as the dogs and his skills far exceed normal human parameters. He's Kit's brother's best friend and he grew up with Kit, even spent some time living at the ranch with her and her brother Trace and their parents when they were kids. That's why, when a rogue operative gone way wrong escapes from captivity and heads towards New Mexico after the dogs, Wolfe is sent home to protect the dogs and catch the rogue agent, Cruz. Even if it means using the gorgeous and brave Kit as bait.

And no matter how much she stirs emotions he thought long dead.

This was my first experience with Skye's Foxfire books and I wonder if that may be part of the reason I had so many problems with this book. There wasn't enough world building or exposition to explain Foxfire or give me a good handle on the scope of the unit, nor lay groundwork for the characters and their abilities. I felt like I was lagging a step behind through most of the book because of it, not really able to connect to anything going on in it.

That wasn't the only problem, though. I thought the plot and characters lacked depth - especially Kit, who I never warmed up to. Some attempts were made to provide them added dimension, and Kit's debilitating degenerative disease and Wolfe's tragic childhood were good concepts, but neither plot point was really given much room to impact the story or the characters' development. There were also some stylistic issues with abrupt and awkward transitions that hurt the narrative. I loved the dogs, though. They were the best characters in the book. Unfortunately, that leads me to another problem.

There weren't many explanations offered or answers found in this book, so the entire reading experience felt a bit like a secret mission above my pay grade. What were the dogs capable of? Would what happened to Cruz happen to the rest of the group? If not, why? How, if Cruz has been in roughly the equivalent of solitary confinement in the bowels of a secret facility for the past two years and considered dead to his former teammates, did he find out about the dogs or make the contact with buyers? And how would he know to look for Wolfe's service record before he'd been assigned to guard Kit? Why was Izzy able to willfully defy the head of Foxfire without repercussion?

So many questions, so few answers, and not enough compelling me to continue the series to find out if they're ever answered.

The romance wasn't bad, though the pacing was a bit odd in places. I enjoyed parts of it very much. There was an abrupt jump to HEA at the end that seemed to come out of nowhere given the previous scene that had both Wolfe and Kit in it, but honestly, the romance and the dogs were the best parts of the book.

I still think that had I been around since the beginning of this series, I may have had a more favorable reaction to this book. The problem now is, I'm not sure there were enough good points in this book to motivate me finding out for sure.

Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.

I have read most of these books for sheer fun, really enjoy them, this one had a couple story lines with the specially trained dogs that made it extra special, since I love that breed. All in all a fun book with some action and steamy sex thrown in. Rob

(2 & 1/2 starts to be exact) This book is the beginning of a series within a series. Skye's "Code Name" books all involve romances with Navy Seals. Starting with this book, the Seals are part of a surreal group with psychic-ish abilities stemming from microchip enhancements. In this book one of these special Seals is protecting a woman who trains very special dogs that will be used on missions. The woman also happens to be the sister of the Seal's friend and fellow member of his team. Sparks begin to fly between the trainer and the Seal. Like in Skye's other Code Name books, the chemistry between the two leads is set up well, but romance part of the story ends rather lamely. The dogs, however, make quite charming characters themselves and make this book more enjoyable.