Customer Reviews

Naked Truth (Dragon One, Book 1)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ms. Fetzer has now become one of my all time favorite military/action romance authors!!! This lady can create a world that is so enthralling that you will be loathed to put down the book until the final page! Trust me nothing happened while I read this book!

Alexa Gavlin is in a lot of trouble. She's used to this since she is a deep cover op for the CIA. What she's not used to is waking up in a cane field with no memory of how she got there or...why. To make things worse her contact is lying dead next to her with her knife in his chest. This can't be good. Knowing that she must find out what has happened to her she heads back to civilization but runs into more guns, shoot outs, and one sexy man that is sent to "retire" her from duty.

It really stinks that Killian Moore can kiss like no ones business and all she really wants to do is let go with him. But, she can't since she doesn't know what took place in her life for the past month. She is a danger to national security and Killian will stop at nothing to get her secure. Even if it mean following her half way around the world to Hong Kong. Will Alexa allow herself to trust the one man that was sent to kill her?

Killian Moore wants his life back. His military career has a large blot on it and he is thought to have played a very large role in a DEA operation which, left many men dead. He is given the chance to find the mole that killed his career. Alexa Gavlin. What he doesn't expect is the instant attraction, or her spunky, sassy ways. She is one lady not afraid to die. This scares him the closer her gets to her. Will he be able to save Alexa and himself...or will terrorist get them in the end?

One word sums up this read. AMAZING!!! I loved it from the very beginning. I can only hope that there will be more where this came from. I'd like to see stories for Killian's team. They were great sexy secondary characters that truly brought heroism to this story. The chemistry between Killian and Alexa was hot but at the same time sweet. Alexa was a very complex character and I truly enjoyed reading her romance. This story was packed with action, and exotic locals. I truly highly recommend this read if you want some excitement in your romance read!!!

Official Reviewer for Romance Designs

CIA Operative Alexa Gavlin has a policy of trusting no one so when she wakes up in a field naked and another operative dead beside her she knows that she's on her own. It's even worse when she realizes that she's lost a month of her life. She can't remember where she was or what she has done. Killian Moore is a former Marine who, with a group of friends, has gone into business for himself. When the CIA contacts him to either find and retrieve Alexa or to retire her he refuses. Until he is told that Alexa is the mole who sold him and his unit out years ago, causing the death of several of his men and he left him being blamed and in disgrace. Now he's hot on her trail determined to find her. Only when he finally does he comes to realize that both he and Alexa are pawns in a game where only Alexa's missing memories hold the truth. The longer that Alexa is with Killian the more she finds herself trusting him and falling in love with him and Killian finds himself breaking rule after rule to protect Alexa. Now the clock is ticking and if they are to survive then they have find out what happened to Alexa during the month she was missing and why everyone from the CIA to arms dealers are looking for her.

I have been a fan of Amy Fetzer since her early Silhouette days but with Naked Truth she delivers her best romance to date. Alexa is strong heroine who although she is rescued by Killian is more than able to stand on her own and Killian is an awesome hero who readers will adore. Naked Truth is a wild ride that starts off running and doesn't slow down until the final page. Sensual and loaded with action I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Melissa

Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I didn't think I'd find any action-romance that would get me this excited but I did with Fetzer's Naked Truth. If you are (or *were*, more likely) a Brockmann fan, you'll find Naked Truth outshines anything else out there, except for Gennita Low.

Is Naked Truth perfect? Of course not but I'm reading it all over again inspite of having just finished it because I want to savor it slowly the second time around. It moved so fast, it left me breathless and while I generally prefer more pages given to action than to romance, I felt this book could do a bit more space given to Killian and Alexa's romance, go a bit slower with the sex. While that was hot, it was too much of a wham-bang-thank-you-ma'am event. Before Alexa has recovered from her orgasm, she is escaping from Killian again.

That said, no one else but Gennita Low and Amy Fetzer are able to combine action and romance the way they do. Don't take my earlier comment to mean that Naked Truth is light on the romance. It is not. The romance element is strong, not subtle. The sexual tension is palpable and when Killian and Alexa get it on, it is explosive. It is because of this that I wanted MORE!

Most romantic suspense authors have either crossed over to straight suspense or have so little romance their books can't be classified as RS anymore (like Catherine Coulter's FBI series) or they are too light on the suspense and action and overdo the romance such that it becomes unrealistic - hard not to roll my eyes when the author keeps telling me about the hero's perpetual erection everytime the heroine is in sight or they are mooning over their feelings for each other every other page when they will be dead meat if they don't get their butts moving.

Fetzer knows what she's writing about, having a family full of Marines so you can sit back and enjoy the fantasy knowing she's got the lingo and facts right.

Former marine Killian Moore worked deep undercover in Colombia and was forced out of his job under allegations of being a mole, resulting in the death of his squad members. He's now an independent contractor, and Deputy Director Price of the CIA is knocking on his door with a new assignment. He's asked to bring in agent Alexa Gavlin dead or alive (Price seems to prefer dead). Killian only agrees once the Price reveals that Alexa was the mole who caused the deaths of his friends. Alexa woke up in a field with her contact lying dead next to and she has no memory of the last month. Her assignment was to get close to drug and arms dealer Zarek who'll stop at nothing to possess her. When Killian finds her and attempts to take her into custody, he discovers that they're both pawns in a huge government cover up probably helmed by Price. The two have a deep attraction to each other, but both are suspicious by nature of their jobs, and have to come apart before they can come together. Learning to trust will be the key to their success in dealing with Price and Zarek.

Fasten your seat belts as Fetzer takes the reader on a highly sensual, exciting, and breathtaking ride! Excellent writing, plotting, dialog, and the perfect amount of pent up passion explode off the page making this a dynamic cover to cover read. Fetzer's plot and use of recurring characters is similar to what you find in a Suzanne Brockmann novel, with the sensuality on steroids and upped several notches - Fetzer holds nothing back. Guaranteed hot read with an awesome plot.

If you've watched the fast paced tv show '24', that's what this book reminded me of. Non stop action, mystery, a lot of suspense, and some romance. Undercover operatives, special forces, terroists, CIA big wigs, US senior military -- you name it, it's in there.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. It has an intricate plotline with lots of twists and turns. I read in the bio that the author is a miltary wife, which shows. The book seems very well researched and realistic. I think my husband would even like it.

Only areas for improvement is I would have liked a bit more development of the relationship between Alexa and Killian--hard to do when everyone is gunning for them. And the cover and title were so cheesy--that's the publishers fault, not the author's.

This book was well written and I think could have been on bestseller lists if it had been released as a mass market suspense thriller, rather than a trade 'contemporary romance'. It seems mis-marketed. This is my first book by this author and I definitely plan to check out more of her work.

4.5 stars.

This is my first book by Amy Fetzer, and I have to say I enjoyed it very much. It was close to perfect in terms of the type of novel I look for - those with strong female leads and lots of action. The romance was appreciated but not necessary. A major plus was a female lead that didn't go limp and weak and needy in sight of the male lead.

The plot was believable, and unusually, all of the characters were likeable. Except the bad guys who weren't supposed to be, of course. And they all were easy to accept in their designated roles - Black Ops warriors, Intelligence Operative, Drug Lord, Arms Dealer, violent Henchman, etc.

Fetzer's action sequences rivaled those of my favorite action writers, like Lee Child, Barry Eisler, Greg Rucka, and Laurell K. Hamilton. I must admit, I was often on the edge of my seat with much of the book.

However, as I mentioned, the novel is *almost* perfect. If I had to fault Fetzer in anything, it would be in the romance area. I definitely felt the heat and attraction between the two leads, but I just didn't really "feel" how they fell in love. The physical was definitely there, but I'm not even sure I got that the two even really liked each other. Respect of abilities, yes. Like, much less love, I'm not so sure. At the end, I was seeing a relationship that wouldn't last. It was one forged in the heat of battle, so to speak. I really couldn't imagine them living happily ever after.

Another thing that rang false to me was Alexa's reaction to falling in love. In certain respects, her responses seemed better suited to a giddy, teenage girl. I suppose that's a valid way to write it, except within paragraphs, Alexa was also depicted as being rather sexually "comfortable", if not "experienced" (there wasn't much provided on her relationship history). And I found the dichotomy rather jarring. Perhaps if there had been more exploration of her emotionally - in regards to how she felt about Killian outside of her mistrust then trust - it would have been less noticeable.

My final criticism has to do with the plot. There's a fine line between complex and convoluted. Fetzer just manages to stay on the complex side of that line. The plot had many twists and turns and details whose connections were not easily apparent. The worst offense was introducing a series of minor characters and points of view late in the story (post page 200). As a result, the story is about 50-100 pages longer than it needs to be. A good part of which is dedicated to advancing the romance which remained weak anyway. The loose ends were tied up, but some elements remained unnecessary to advance the overall plot. (Notably, one kidnap and torture and rescue sequence.)

Additionally, the story often got bogged down by her use of military jargon and bureaucratic acronyms. Many of which aren't explained until much later, if at all. I think it's very valid to use this in spoken dialogue or in the characters' internal dialogue. But having it in the narrative description without explanation added confusion and slowed down the story. I found myself having to re-read several passages. By the end of the novel, I was skimming.

All in all, the good outweighed the bad because the good was very, very good.

I loved this story. I hope she continues in the story line with others in the same unit. A disgraced former marine and his buddies run a company that specializes in 'retreivals' of kidnapped or missing people. A missing undercover CIA operative has lost all memory of the last month and is being tracked down to be eliminated. The two together provide sparks. Trust is not a commodity that either has a lot of.... it provides a great tension and the plot involving gun runners and drug lords covering Colombia and Hong Kong lends a terrific backdrop. I truly enjoyed this book. Whether it is believable or not really does not matter.... it is possible and it was a great read.

This book kinda reminds me of Suzanne Brockmann's stories. But I think think I like it best because of all the covert action. Once I started reading I could NOT put it down..Lots of HOT ROMANCE and Sizzling Action. You will absolutley LOVE the ex-military group of HOT-HOT-HOT guys. Hope she continues a story for each and every on of them. Definitely recommend to All who like a fast action read. Absolutely LOVED IT!!

Amy Fetzer's Naked Truth is a pulse pounding tale of intrigue and soaring passions.

Alexa Gavlin is a deep undercover agent. She wakes up naked in a field with no memory of the last month. Alexa must use her wits and charm to stay on step ahead of the bad guys until she can clear her name. When she comes in contact with the man sent to bring her back to the US Alexa is shocked to find herself attracted to him.

Killian Moore has been hired to bring this rogue agent in dead or alive. Killian has been led to believe this agent could be responsible for him losing his military career. With each encounter with Alexa Killian is starting to question what really is the truth about her.

The sparks between these two are some of the hottest I have read. They are scorching. Whether its planning their next step to keep Alexa alive and safe or between the sheets.

Naked Truth is a masterful story of the evil plans of terrorist and the men and women trained to stop them at all costs. This story kept me clued to it from the get go. I hope Killian's fellow teammates get their own stories soon.

Undercover secret agent Alexa Gavlin has lost one month of memory somehow chemically erased, but has no idea why though she is confident that she knows who. She knows that her peers branded her a traitor and are coming for her. Alexa trusts no one as her only objective is to survive until she can prove she did not betray her country and name who set her up for the fall.

Former marine Killian Moore wants nothing to with his former world of black operational retrieval, but he is an expert so has been ordered to take Alexa back in custody dead or alive. Although he believes she cost him his career he still wants to refuse the mission, but is given no choice; he must retrieve her or else. When he catches up with Alexa, she is nothing like he expected. His beliefs are destroyed and he wants her to be innocent, but he wonders if he is thinking with the wrong head as he knows she is the best con artist in the government. Alexa knows he has come for her and should run from him, but her heart wants to trust Killian with her life and her soul.

NAKED TRUTH is a thrilling espionage romantic suspense that never slows down whether the heroes are undercover or under cover. Alexa and Killian have reasons to distrust one another and no logical argument to rely on each other except for their attraction, which both believe is undependable yet keeps them together. Fans of action-packed non-stop thrillers with a critical romantic subplot will enjoy the female spy alone in the cold until love joins her.

Harriet Klausner