Customer Reviews

Show No Fear (Navy Seals Book 7)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lucy Donovan is a scrappy fighter with the ability to infiltrate enemy lines and consistently get the job done in her capacity as a trained CIA operative. Lucy does not do helpless and she absolutely has no time for complicated emotions. Lt. James "Gus" Atwater is a Navy Seal working as part of an elite CIA support and he has no time for anyone that does not understand the meaning of teamwork. What these two don't know is that none of their training or covert operative experience is going to help them when they meet up again after many years apart and have to face all the demons that a past relationship has, especially one where there are unresolved issues.

Gus and Lucy knew each other in college and had shared many secrets and desires as young lovers, but grown up plans pulled them apart and adult aspirations kept them away from one another. Now though they must face each other as both of them are called into service by the CIA and have to stand up to terrorists that have no interest in anything but money and revenge. Their mission is one of hostage rescue in a third world country while posing as a married couple under the guise of UN diplomacy. They will work with negotiators in close quarters and tight spaces trying hard to ignore the pented-up feelings toward each other that never went away while they get the job done. Trying to keep things professional and uncomplicated while terrorists are surrounding you is easier said than done because love comes in the strangest places under the most dire of circumstances. The love burns strong between them and the emotions are fueled by not only love but fear that this might be the only time they will ever have together again. They both want to think of tomorrow but how can they when the thought that this is the last day on earth is surrounding them.

But as with all great plans this one comes apart very quickly and Lucy and Gus realize that not only do they need to understand the meaning of teamwork they have to rewrite it. The Columbians suspect them of being spies, the other "negotiators" don't trust enough to reveal all the details of the trips and Lucy's fear that she is falling back in love with Gus is not a match that should make for happy endings under good times but in the jungle with terrorists how is it possible.

This amazing book cannot be summed up with one word or another because it is so many things all at once. It is a wonderful romantic story with Lucy and Gus working through old feelings and new emotions, as well as, adventuresome with the trip through the jungle and detailing sophisticated spy gadgets. It is also an underlying story of survival with the hostage victim's plight being explained and a feeling of true sadness at their blight. It is a great author that can draw all this out in a book and this series has shown that the storyline can continue, the drama unfold and romance still survive under any circumstances.

I love Marliss Melton's books. I should say this right off so people won't think this is a negative review although I think it could have been better. I am one of these people that absolutely hates when a romance authors describes her male lead character as a "Navy Seal" and thats it. They get away with throwing the name out and their lack of research by saying "well I try to be accurate to the "spirit" of the SEALs" and yet they then cast their male lead as a "rogue SEAL." To me it is just irritating and I think, ultimately, it is insulting to the men who are actually SEALS, or in other Special Ops.

Marliss Melton doesn't do that. She actually understand and accuarately writes about the training, the military mindset, lifestyle, the weapons used, the toll Special Ops can take on the men physically, mentally and emotionally and how a mission is completed and the tactics used to complete that mission. The fact that she does this makes her books richer and more entertaining.

Unfortunately, she doesn't always take that attention to detail and apply it to whatever Latin American country she is setting her novel in. She tends to try to shove the country into her novel as opposed to actually learning about the country and its history and sometimes, her mistakes make me cringe. For example, in one part of the novel, Gus they find a map that is in code, Lucy gets all excited and starts asking, "Is it in Incan?" "Is this Incan?" The answer is No Lucy (and Marliss) it isn't and never could have been written in the Inca language because the Incas didn't have a written language. There are some "written" languages that date back to Pre-Colombian times but they used by other Indigenous groups and they are in hieroglyphic form. Both Gus and Lucy should have known...and in real life..would have known..that it could not have been Incan. I think Marliss wanted to try to show she knew something of the region but she just kind of dropped the ball by introducing the Incas in the story given the fact that she didn't do her research and didn't understand the culture she refers too even briefly. Those little mistakes really sour the story. Although she did get the FARC and its ideology correct.

Secondly, I agree with another poster when she says that we should have known more about Lucy's and Gus's previous love affair. I think it would have been very sweet part of the story. Also, it would have been nice to have a little bit more interaction with the SEALS only because after reading all of her books, I have a vested interest in finding out what happens to them. I want to know if they live "happily ever after."

So, I give the book 4 stars. It still is a really good book. I just hope that in her next book, she researches the country/history better and she treats us to the boys more.

Dena:0)

Lucy Donovan, an exceptional CIA agent, barely survived her last mission and is still battling with the trauma she was put through but months later she is already eager to get some action again. But this time she is not alone but has to play wife to Navy SEAL Gus Atwater on a mission to rescue two American hostages held by the FARC in the Columbian jungle.
Gus is the SEAL that rescued Lucy months before and he is also the man whom Lucy was in love in college. Years ago she broke up with him after something shocking happened to her but it's clear that there is still unsolved business between them. To survive their mission they have to work together and especially have to trust in each other once more. Deep in FARC territory they soon get close again but to really have a future they first of all have to survive the cruelty dealt to them by the terrorists.

"Show no Fear" by Marliss Melton is a great book which I enjoyed reading a lot. I'm very sensitive about books that use extensive torture, rape scenes every few pages and I'm very happy that Marliss Melton doesn't write that way. She never crosses the line about what is too much for the heroine and hero to deal with. Normally I'm reading only straight romances but for Marliss Melton I'm making an exception because I just enjoy her books a lot.
Lucy is a great heroine that realizes after years of self-doubt that life is worth living and that there is no need to feel guilty about being a survivor. Gus is there for her from the first moment they meet again and I loved reading how they got together again. Gus is the kind of hero you have to love. He's a strong man with deep feelings who will do everything for the woman he loves.
I also enjoyed meeting the rest of Gus's SEAL team again and can't wait to read the next book by Marliss Melton.

Never did I think I would rate a Marliss Melton book this low! It took me four days to read this and at the time I was laid up with a broken leg so I had A LOT of reading time. Just couldn't get into this one.

Lucy Donovan is a CIA agent. On a mission she meets up with her old college boyfriend, Gus, who is now a Navy SEAL. They're partners on the mission. There was no explanation of their previous relationship and why and how they broke up. What exactly happened with the bombing of 8 years ago? What were their lives like over the past eight years? I never got a feel for Gus or Lucy's personality or character because they were cardboard. I've read all the books in this series and "Forget Me Not" is one of the best books I've ever read hands down. I figure this book was a fluke.

Author Marliss Melton has spent a lifetime in military and intelligence communities. She grew up overseas, attending American and International schools, becoming a foreign language teacher, and marrying a U.S. Army Captain. Ten years later, following his sudden death, she published her first historical romance which became a RITA finalist for Best First Book. Then she found her soul mate: a twenty-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, who she married and who adopted her two sons. Other titles include: Too Far Gone, Don't let Go, Next To Die, Time To Run, In The Dark, and Forget Me Not.

CIA agent, Lucy Donovan has survived hundreds of death-defying missions, but the one that haunts her was before her career, when three of her good college friends were killed in a terrorist attack while vacationing. Being the sole survivor has changed her, causing her to take some often unnecessary risks. Weighed down by trying to hide some post-traumatic stress, her new mission seems to be just what she needs to get over it. That is until her boss tells her she is going undercover with the only man she ever loved, the man she had to let go. Navy SEAL Gus Atwater wasn't pleased about this assignment or working with Lucy again, especially because it's about to bring them deep in the heart of the Colombian jungle and face-to-face with some of the worst terrorists they've encountered. In an attempt to extract two of their men held captive, pretending to be married was risky enough, but now the clock is running out and Lucy's past could very well out them. Confronting their past, the mission soon turns from desperate to deadly, and fear has a way of getting you killed.

I only have two minor criticisms for the book. One, the cover seems misleading, leaning toward paranormal when it's a romantic suspense. And two, the epilogue was a tad lengthy.

The author's military past made for an accurate and fast-faced thrill read with this book. Part of the Navy SEAL series, I believe this is book seven, following the Navy SEAL Team Twelve. Literally unable to put this down, readers will delight in the realistic and flawed characters, the well-paced plot, and the steamy love quandary amidst the constant action. With a great eye for detail and setting description, you feel right there with them through every challenge and heart-pounding scene. Keep an eye out for this author!



Kelly Moran,

Author and Reviewer

4 1/2 stars
The seventh in Melton's SEAL series. This book follows Lt. James Augustus "Gus" Atwater and CIA Agent Lucy Donovan. Gus and Lucy dated in college, but she ended it when she decided to join the CIA and wanted to focus on her career.

The initial introduction of Gus and Lucy is actually in Don't Let Go (Navy SEALs, Book 5). It was a brief glimpse of their meeting from others' perspectives. The prologue recounts the meeting from Lucy's perspective. Gus is part of the team that "rescues" Lucy from a Venezuelan warehouse.

Months after meeting again in Venezuela, Gus and Lucy are teamed up by the CIA to rescue 2 CIA operatives from the mountains in Columbia. Both are concerned their feelings will keep them from being professional, but believe they can work together anyway.

Once I got into this book, I did not want to put it down. Although this is a romance, it was so intertwined in the story that it blended right into it and didn't overwhelm the story. I was engrossed in the story of the jungle and Gus and Lucy working to keep their cover.

I didn't initially like Lucy. She was a little too cold. She denied her PTSD and it made her seem cold and stand-offish. By the end of the book I warmed to her. She wasn't my favorite character, but I liked her.

In my opinion, this book is a complete stand-alone book. Although it is part of a series and includes a few of the other heroes (Harlan, Luther, Vinny) from previous books, this one stands by itself. I could have read this and none of the others and not missed a thing.

I liked this book, the story, but have some problems with the heroine, Lucy. The suspense is good, the settings vivid. The hero, Gus, is a sweet hottie and I liked him very much. Lucy, however, is too...much. She's too hard, she's too relentless, and until the end of the story, she's too selfish. I didn't like her in DON'T LET GO for those same reasons.

However, I wish there were more stories in this series, follow-ups on the main characters previously introduced, and I really think Drake Donavan deserves his own story.

If you haven't read Ms. Melton's Navy SEAL series, you're missing out on some good entertainment.

Shelley Dawn, author of Sweet, Sweet Jessie and Dark Nights

CIA agent Lucy Donovan barely made it out of Venezuela on her last covert mission and is suffering from PTSD. Rather than cop to any weakness, she immediate gets back to work and is assigned to work a case with her college boyfriend, whom she left behind to work toward world peace. Gus, now a Navy SEAL, was a promising architect but gave it all up after 9/11, when his father was killed in the towers. The two are thrown together on the latest mission, much to their dismay. Their assignment? Pose as married UN relief workers on a peace-keeping mission to bring US hostages back home. But their rekindled passion and Lucy's past has caught up with her and could pose a threat to the mission.

I will admit that I would read toilet paper ads if they were written by Melton - she has a way with words and dialogue, and tense and believable plots are her strength. I read this in a day but in comparison to her other novels, it is probably the weakest. I would've liked to have seen more back story between Gus and Lucy when they were in college and so in love. And for a supposedly fearless and tough agent, Lucy did some pretty stupid stunts that were guaranteed to get them caught. I had to laugh that the CIA would send in a buff SEAL and put a pair of glasses on him and expect the insurgents to believe that he was a geek. And don't get me started on the passion in the tent - shared by the rest of the relief team. It was hot, but inappropriate with the team so close. So yeah, there were some holes in the plot, but even an okay Melton novel is better than most of the stuff on the book stands.

I'm so glad that Ms. Melton wrote Gus and Lucy's story! After having been introduced to the two briefly in Don't Let Go (Navy SEALs, Book 5), we now have Gus and Lucy's story to enjoy.

Gus and Lucy are reunited and set to work together on a new assignment that has them posing as a married couple. Gus and Lucy will have to set the past aside to complete the assignment to get out alive. Gus is smart, sensitive, and completely devoted to keeping Lucy safe and maybe try to rekindle the relationship the two had shared eight years ago. Lucy is fierce, dedicated, and no matter how much she wished she were immune to Gus, she's drawn right back to him and it was great to read.

I took off half of a star because while the book is exciting and the characters enduring, it didn't explore too much of Gus and Lucy's past together, so you don't see where the bond came from. It's eluded to that they were madly in love, but you never really saw what they use to have that they were fighting so hard to get back.

Overall, I would highly recommend this great book.

I am sorry to be giving this book only three stars, as I am a fan of Marliss Melton's earlier six books in the series. This title was an automatic buy for me because the earlier ones were so enjoyable. I don't need to summarize the plot as other reviews on the site have already done so....just felt I needed to mention that this latest entry in the series was the first book of hers to disappoint me. It really dragged and had none of the sparkle of the other ones. I kept reading, expecting it to pick up as I went along, but somehow it just never got going. The only saving grace was the last little bit when the other SEALS in Gus's team finally showed up and got into the action. I was startled to be so luke warm about this particular offering by Melton...she had always been entertaining in the past.