Customer Reviews

Hard to Hold: (Hard to Hold Trilogy Book 1)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Get ready for a thrilling new Navy SEAL trilogy by Stephanie Tyler debuting with HARD TO HOLD by Bantam Dell (Dec. 2009). At Navy SEAL headquarters in Virginia, Lt. Jake Hansen thought he'd never see Dr. Isabelle Markham again after rescuing her from the African Congo. Isabelle was there working for Doctors Without Borders but had been kidnapped, raped and nearly beaten to death by the ruthless mercenary, Rafe, who she now thinks is in prison. However, Isabelle is determined to put her skills as a plastic surgeon to good use by returning to the Congo and joining the military. Their second meeting on base is awkward since Jake revealed his darkest secret to Isabelle about his terrible childhood during their dangerous time together that he never talks about to anyone. However, their immediate attraction is still there and when Jake is ordered by his CO, Admiral Callahan to guard Izzy, he must keep it a secret from her. Isabelle feels smothered by her high powered Senator mother and Uncle Cal, so when Jake invites her to stay with him in his large house's guest room, Isabelle agrees. Jake also shares the house with his two SEAL brothers, Nick Devane and Chris Waldron, who were all raised together since their teens by Chris' father, a rock band manager with second sight. At the house things really heat up between Jake and Izzy and they both discover they have a common bond of either physical or emotional scars. However, when Izzy discovers Jake has been ordered to protect her, she feels betrayed and wonders if he really cares for her, so she decides to go with the FBI instead. Will Jake be in time to rescue Isabelle from the evil, Rafe and convince her he truly loves her? HARD TO HOLD will hold readers in thrall from first page to last with its intricate romantic suspense plot and pulse-pounding romance! Romance fans will be clamoring for brother SEALs, Nick and Chris' books and luckily won't have long to wait for TOO HOT TO HOLD (Jan. 2010) and HOLD ON TIGHT (Feb. 2010). Add to that a steamy secondary romance that deserves its happy ending in a future book.
Brava Ms. Tyler for the superb beginning of such a great new military romance series!

The story opens in the jungles of Africa where Navy SEAL Lieutenant Junior Grade Jake Hansen and his team have been forced to scatter to complete their mission to secure missing equipment and the intel it contains. Under the cloak of darkness with rebel gunfire erupting all around a wounded Jake and his best friend and teammate Ensign Nick Devane are making their way silently through the jungle to the rendezvous point. They receive a call through their communication devices that the rebels have reported a female hostage north of their location. The woman, Dr. Isabelle Markham is believed to have been kidnapped 72 hours previously and is Senator Cresswell's daughter. Dr. Markham's reported location requires the SEALs to retrace their steps and takes them back toward the line of fire. They do find Isabelle inside an abandoned hut naked, bound and gagged, lying face down on the dirt floor, very badly injured.

After stabilizing Isabelle to the best of their ability Nick is forced to go ahead to bring back help as their communication devices have failed. Isabelle is conscious and as the rebel forces move closer Jake carries her into the jungle to hide and await help. Terrified and in shock, Isabelle turns to Jake for comfort and shares a dark secret with him. Jake, uncharacteristically, tells her something about his past that has haunted him since his youth, after all, he never expects to see Isabelle again. During that brief time lying in the jungle hidden and waiting for the rest of the SEAL team to arrive an unlikely bond is forged between these two people.

Dr. Isabelle "Izzie" Markham is a Harvard educated reconstructive plastic surgeon, and instead of staying safely in America, setting up a practice and marrying her former fiancé, she chose to volunteer with Médecins Sans Frontières a.k.a. Doctors Without Borders. This is one feisty, strong, brilliant and stubborn heroine who despite being betrayed and brutalized by her bodyguard in Africa, prevails. All had been well during Izzie's previous stints serving with Médecins Sans Frontières until her strong willed and controlling mother was elected to the Senate. Then threats against her life started and Izzie was forced to accept "security" while volunteering in Africa.

Jake Hansen (like all highly trained men who serve on SEAL teams) is focused, stubborn, deadly in combat, fiercely loyal to his teammates, and accustomed to assuming control under the worst of circumstances. He is, however a tortured hero, having endured extreme hardship and abuse as a youngster until he was taken in by the Waldron's. Jake lives in a big house off base with fellow teammates Nick Devane and Chris Waldron. These men share the special bond that is inherent as SEAL teammates, however they are also brothers, not biological but Chris's father and mother adopted Jake and Nick and raised all three boys. Each one of these men knows the other better then they know themselves and Ms. Tyler wrote subtle sarcasm into the dialogue shared between the guys that had me chortling with laughter on a number of occasions. Let me tell you, these guys are hot, drip charisma, just magnetic.

It takes 2 months for Isabelle to recover from her ordeal to the point that she can consider resuming practice again. At that point, with the help of her "Uncle Cal", who is an Admiral, signs on as a civilian consultant for the Navy and is assigned to the same base where Jake and Co. hail from. Isabelle needs to see Jake again to thank him for saving her life. There is however more to what she feels for him than just gratitude.

Jake is none to happy to see the stubborn and irascible Dr. Markham again. He fights his attraction to Isabelle because of his position as a SEAL. He also believes that she is attracted to him as a result of the harrowing circumstances when they met. In addition, Isabelle was brutalized and violated and is dealing with the aftermath of that horrific experience.

However, when Admiral Callahan approaches Jake and orders him to guard Isabelle because the man who kidnapped her is still at large, and has threatened to take her again he has no choice but to agree. Jake handles things his way, first by enlisting the help of a mercenary in Africa to track the infamous "Rafe", Isabelle's previous bodyguard turned tormentor. Then, against his better judgment, he offers her an apartment in the upper story of the guy's house so he can keep a close eye on her.

What I loved about this story is not only the characters, which are well developed, and complex, but also the progression of the relationship between Izzie and Jake. Their emotional connection grows over the course of the story and is believable. Jake knows Izzie is not ready for a physical relationship even though there is a powerful sexual attraction between them. In a setting of danger, intrigue, and an underlying conspiracy that involves people closest to Isabelle a smoldering attraction ignites into a bond fire of passion that smokes up the pages of this novel.

Readers are given insight into the rigors of SEAL training and what is required of these men to stay at the peak of physical shape and adept at the variety of skills that are required of them to complete their missions in the worst of circumstances. It was quite an eye opener for me and I think well researched.

Ms. Tyler wove a romantic sub-plot into the narrative involving Sarah Cameron, an African photographer who is essentially a lost soul, and `Clutch', a mercenary who works for a mysterious clandestine group in Africa. Theirs is a harrowing tale as they travel through the jungle in search of the `ghostly' and deadly Rafe at Jake's request.

The climax to Isabelle and Jake's story is heart in the mouth riveting. Ms. Tyler infused a number of plot twists and turns, and surprises into the narrative.

The best way I can describe "Hard To Hold", is a total RUSH. I read this book over the span of 2 days and could barely put it down. I can say without hesitation that "Hard To Hold", will be one of my favorite reads of this year. If you enjoy romantic military suspense, you may like to give it a try.

The other reviewers have given a great synopsis of this book, so I won't duplicate. However, I will say, if you like authors like Cindy Gerard, Christy Reece, and Suzanne Brockmann, then you will like this book. Can't wait for the next one!

I'll say at the start that I enjoyed this book, and if you like a story with romance, suspense, and a military angle you should certainly read this. However, as other reviewers have pointed out, this book is not without it's flaws. The story between the major characters, Jake and Isabelle, is not one of them. It's riveting and emotional and definitely holds your interest. Had the story stuck strictly to them it would have been fantastic. The problem with the book is that there are so many secondary characters the main plot gets bogged down. It's particular problematic because of the way the novel is structured. It is not uncommon within a single chapter to jump to the storylines and points of view of several different characters. It can be confusing and certainly feels disjointed, especially as the author often leaves off in the middle of a scene to jump to completely different people in a subplot of their own leaving you waiting impatiently to find out what happened where you left off with the main characters, which were the most powerful for me and the ones I was the most interested in reading about. This distraction holds increasingly true for two secondary characters in Africa, Clutch and Sara. The main action is repeatedly interrupted to jump to them, and I found myself skimming and flipping through the pages of their sub-story just to get back to where the author left me hanging with the main characters. Clutch and Sara's story could have been more interesting to me if it was offered in a less distracting manner - perhaps they get a chapter, then the main characters. At least then the reader knows what to expect, and it's not breaking things up in the middle of the action. Preferably though, the author should have just given them their own separate book if she felt their tale really needed to be told and limited their action in this one to what directly pertains to the Jake and Isabelle plot. I still liked this book and the overall story in it. It just reminded me of an ensemble film that could really benefit from dropping a minor character or two.

In the Congo, Navy SEAL Lieutenant Jake Hansen arrives to rescue Doctors Without Borders plastic surgeon Dr. Isabelle Markham from a ruthless mercenary Rage who kidnapped and raped her and left her for dead. Jake finds her barely alive without a stitch of clothing. He gets her out of Africa but a connection from the moment they met is evident.

When Rafe escapes captivity, Admiral Callahan assigns Jake to keep Izzy safe. He has mixed feelings about the assignment because he told her some things about himself he told no one. However, he would die to keep her safe, but feels bad that he has been ordered to conceal the truth about Rafe who is believed to be stalking Isabelle. When she learns the truth she leaves, but Rafe has been patient.

This is an exhilarating romantic military suspense thriller with the emphasis on the love story line over the dark SEAL operations. The lead couple makes the tale fun as each fall in love with the other but share in common relationship issues to overcome. The support cast that includes his SEAL mates (stars of future tales) and the man who took two of the Naval officers into his home when they were teens (the third is his son) add depth to the suspense and even more so the romance. Fans of SEAL romances in which the thrills of the coupling supersede that of the enemy actions will want to read this enjoyable tale.

Harriet Klausner

I loved the plot idea--heroic SEALs, rescue of a Doctors Without Frontiers surgeon etc. Unfortunately, the little details got in the way for me....and they just added up to too much distraction.

Many have mentioned the 15 year old joining the military is suspect. Yes, it happened in the 'old days', but in the modern era of computerized records, clearances etc, not so likely. Not to mention a 15 year old is just not physically or mentally an adult yet...(and this 15 year old went straight to BUDS???).

Not enough concept of military structure. At the most basic, I really could not see that the author knew the difference between the enlisted community and the officer community. Too many references to 'enlisting' to go to OCS (Officer Candidate School). Um no. Not really. Yes, there are the some that go from being enlisted to an being officer, and will indeed make that jump, but that is not common. I find it unlikely all three brothers 'enlisted' and one is an Ensign and one is an LT, while the third is a Senior Chief. At age 26 if I counted right. Wow. It really sounded like there was the thought it was part of the normal promotions.

Little things like how the LT was, even on a mentoring level, overly familiar with the Admiral. Who inexplicably got Isabelle a job in the base clinic by 'pulling strings'. I guess there were no GS (or whatever it is these days) or contractor positions involved. No opening the job to all applicants. Pushing for his protege to get a job on the taxpayer dollars. Nope, no invitation for an IG complaint there. Not to mention getting a plastic surgeon credentialed to do primary care. That seemed odd too.

Oh and calling Marines (that is with a capital M) soldiers. Don't do that. Please. And it REALLY sounded like the SEAL team was hanging on a Marine base, and Marines were going through SEAL training and/or BUDS. Marines are not SEALS. They are Force Recon last time I checked. And they most certainly aren't soldiers!

Egads, I am ranting. Can I just say though, that despite my annoyance in the details (and this author is NOT alone in making these kinds of mistakes) I really loved the whole idea and bought the next two books in the series, as well as the two related books. I enjoyed the idea of them...and unlike some others, I find the borderline paranormal aspects fun--what's wrong with a little intuition and delivering babies! The Midwife SEAL.

So, still a read, and I hope the research gets better....lots of potential here!

JTG

This series was wonderful. I know that some have commented that the facts are a stretch but people it is fiction. Yes I know there should be some fact checking when you are using well known entities but if it was just straight fact we could read it in the newspaper. So all that being said if you are looking for a series that is jam packed with adventure, suspense, action, and some romance give Stephanie Tyler a shot. I loved all the books in this series as well as the Shadow Force series that is loosely tied to these books.

I absolutely love this trilogy. Jake's book is a great start as it wets your appetite for the other two. I really like the heroine and her ability to understand and give Jake what he needed without losing her intelligence or strength like so many do in this genre. Isabelle was tough, smart and strong. Stephanie Tyler is definitely one of my new favorite authors.

I was happy enough when I was reading it, but a week later I can barely remember anything about it. Super tough macho ball of steel SEAL Jake Hansen rescues fairy princess, whoops no, doctor selflessly working for Medicine sans Frontiers (which is an excellent organization which I support) He kisses her, she kisses him, kisses are exchanged, and then he saves her and never sees her again, because he knows that rescuing has a psychological impact and isn't true love. Except... she still has the malevolent impossible to catch villain after her, so has to guard her, without letting her know why, so she starts to think.. what, that he likes her? that they could be friends?

It was all a bit too crazy. The three seals were like teenagers in their rage and testosterone, and all too perfect in their cool heat. Isabel, the heroine, was better, in that she was more real and more relatable and frankly more fun. The sexual tension worked. but this is a library loaner, not a keeper, and I don't think I'll take it out to reread again. So I rate it a B -

When it comes to military romance, especially Navy Seal stories, Suzanne Brockmann is my gold standard. I now think Stephanie Tyler is right up there with Mrs. Brockmann. The writing is great, the plot is fast paced and action packed, and as for the flashbacks and "not knowing what is coming" as another reviewer wrote, I thought it added to the suspense. I love the different story lines. I like when there are multiple story lines, I feel like I'm getting more for my money! Can't wait for the next book. Bottom line, if you like romantic suspense with a military twist, you won't be disappointed.