The Spy Who Saved Christmas (Harlequin Intrigue) [Mass Market Paperback]

Dana Marton (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harlequin Intrigue | Publication Date: October 12, 2010

In one unforgettable moment, Lara Jordan broke all the rules in her play-it-safe handbook and spent an incredible night with Reid Graham, a practical stranger. But before she even had time to bask in her fearlessness, a suspicious fire stole him away and left her pregnant, heartbroken and alone. Until now.

Walking back into Lara's life after two years was never on the operative's agenda. Unfortunately, remaining "dead" was no longer an option once their baby boys were kidnapped. Now, Reid had to convince Lara she could trust he'd sacrifice his own life to bring their children home for Christmas— without admitting the mission might just come to that.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Spy Who Saved Christmas is an amazing read. It is filled with suspense, romance, genuine feelings, some laughter, and some heat. I loved the characters. They started to pull on my heartstrings from the beginning of the book. Reid and Lara have to go through a whole bunch to get their kids back as they also discover that their feelings have only grown and are continuing to grow. Reid is continually surprised that Lara has been able to hold up and keep up on the chase to get her kids back. The characters and their feelings are genuine, though at times keep you guessing. This book is full of surprises, action, and romance to keep you guessing and turning the pages. This novel is hard to put down once you start reading because you will want to know what is going to happen next. -- Night Owl Reviews TOP PICK

Reviewer Comments: Lara Jordan has always lived by the idea that one should always live life to the fullest. When she takes over her uncle's butcher shop, she does things her way. She has a one-night stand with the amazingly hot baker next door never expecting that later that night his shop would explode burning down both their businesses and leaving her alone and pregnant with twins. Despite this, Lara believes her children are a blessing and she has done the best she can to rebuild her life and to move on even though she can't seem to get over her lover. Imagine her shock when she goes out to dinner with a date and sees the man she thought was dead at a nearby table! She doesn't know what to think and then the world explodes and life is no longer as she knows it. Reid Graham has lived his life undercover. He doesn't know another way to be. Then he meets Lara and his life seems to take on new meaning. He never planned to sleep with her although the instant attraction made it hard not to dream. When he had to leave, he felt some relief that he wasn't going to have a messy good-bye to contend with. When he sees her at the restaurant, his only thought is to get out before she blows his cover. He is so close to infiltrating a terrorist organization and learning of their impending plan. Reid has no choice, but to take Lara with him after she follows him out of the restaurant and into a hail of gunfire. When he learns that he is a father and his twins have been kidnapped, his mission takes on a whole new meaning. From the beginning of this book, I was pulled into the story of Lara and Reid. I felt for her being left alone and pregnant and admire her courage in making a life that works for her and her children. Ms. Marton's vivid description of Lara's emotions when she sees Reid again made me feel what she felt. At the same time, I could also understand how Reid felt when he had to leave her the first time and his reasons for keeping his identity a secret. The suspenseful aspects of this book are also well done. We travel with Reid and Lara as they try to figure out who took the twins and how they are going to get them back. Despite her inexperience with this kind of thing, Lara's insistence on going with Reid as he searches for the toddlers makes sense. What mother would willingly sit back and let someone else search for her children if she thought that she could help in anyway? Realistically speaking, the FBI and the police officers would not have let Lara join them on the search for the kids, but it works for the story and Reid's job as a covert operative without official ties gives him more leeway. I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. It was hard to put down until I knew what happened to the twins, how they were found and how Reid and Lara were going to work out their many differences. This is definitely one to add to the must-read pile! -- SuspenseRomanceWriters.com Rating: 10

Readers are launched like rockets straight into the action when past and present collide for commando Reid Graham and girl next door Lara Jordan. On loan to the FBI, Reid is trying to smash a homegrown terrorist ring when he runs into his past, in the form of Lara. Lara thought Reid had died in a fire, and had grieved and borne his twin sons in the past year. When bullets start flying, she and her children are placed in a safe house. Before they can reconcile their new situation, the children are kidnapped. Reid and Lara are on their own to find the twins, take down the terrorists and stay alive. -- RT BookReview Magazine

About the Author

Dana Marton is the award-winning author of 25 romantic suspense novels. She's the recipient of the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence and a RITA Award finalist. Her books are published in a dozen languages, all over the world.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (October 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373695020
• ISBN-13: 978-0373695027
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,495,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

DANA MARTON writes fast-paced action-adventure romances that take her readers all over the globe. She is a RITA AWARD finalist and the winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence. She loves writing stories of intrigue, filled with dangerous plots that try her tough-as-nails heroes and the special women they fall in love with. Her books have been published in seven languages in eleven countries around the world.

--Okay, the above version is the glamour version for press releases. The truth is that my path to publication was nothing but unglamorous. I wrote for 13 years and completed 4 books (as well as having others in various stages of completion) before I finally received a call from a Harlequin editor. I was beginning to wonder if I was being tenacious or just too dense to know when to quit.

But it all worked out at the end! I love, love, love writing and would spend all day in front of the computer if I could just break my family of the habit of wanting to eat and wear clean clothes. What's up with that? But I must get up from the desk now and then, if only because my Internet connection goes down or my ancient PC overheats. Then I do enjoy cooking, knitting, hunting for treasures at the flea market, our Beagle, Peanut the Destroyer, and gardening.

I'd love it if you picked up one of my books and emailed me to tell me what you thought of it. I've been known to name characters after readers. Just ask Princess Judi.

Please visit www.danamarton.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Book Obsessed Reviews: The Spy Who Saved Christmas, October 4, 2010

By 

Book Obsessed "Tasha" (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spy Who Saved Christmas (Harlequin Intrigue) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lara Jordan, a single mother of twins, finally agrees to a date with a nice, although boring, man after the death of her first love two years prior. While out on this date she comes face to face with the man she believed was dead, Reid, who just so happens to be the father of her two year old twin boys. Over the course of the night things go from bad to worse when their twins are kidnapped. From that point forward, Lara and Reid are on a mission to save the twins.

The Spy Who Saved Christmas is a fast-paced, action packed romance. There didn't seem to be a single second when there wasn't some sort of action going on. This is not one of those so-called romantic suspense's where the action seems like it's an afterthought. The action in this book stayed front and center.

Reid is your tortured romantic lead who doesn't believe he's deserving of love or a family because of things in his past. Lara is your strong devoted single mother who will do whatever it takes to get her sons back. I felt that neither of them ever stopping loving the other, although neither would admit to it. What I really enjoyed about this story was the fact that it kept you turning the pages just to see what would happen next. I liked Lara and Reid together, although I didn't always agree with some of the stunts Lara pulled in trying to get her sons back. I still feel that they were well written characters. Even one of the secondary characters, Cade, was so well written that I found myself wanting to know more about him and his story.

Overall it's a good well-paced suspense just in time for the holidays.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended by The Romance Reviews, February 12, 2011

By 

Michelle (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spy Who Saved Christmas (Harlequin Intrigue) (Mass Market Paperback)

Fast paced, pulse pounding, and hard to put down when my kiddos came in wanting to play.

If you are in the mood for some nail biting suspense and action to go with your romance, this is one to check out. It was a nonstop barrage of "oh my gawd" that kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what they would do next and how in the world these two would work their issues out. I have to admit, I think the title is hokey. Honestly, the author had an uphill battle to wage for my favor starting with those five words. But it didn't take long for me to sink my literary teeth into the drama and suspense. Yummo!

Two years ago Lara Jordan gave up her virginity for an adventure with the bad-boy baker, Reid, who owned the shop next door. After her inhibitions came down, her world soon followed as she was awoken to a call informing her that her store as well as the bakery next door had burned down and a body had been recovered.

Now, two years later after grieving Reid's loss and giving birth to his twin sons, Lara is trying to move on. Out on a date for the first time, she looks across her table to see the ghost of the man who haunts her dreams. Unconsciously, she gets up and walks to him, unaware that she is revealing the operative's true identity and putting the entire restaurant in danger. Bedlam ensues and through a series of unexpected twists, their boys end up being kidnapped as ransom for the information Agent Reid has uncovered.

The story constantly surprised me. The action plot didn't follow what I expected, and I didn't predict his denial of the boys or how he would come to accept them. The author created a realistic back story for both characters that added to the believability of the attraction between the two and the choices they made. Most significantly, the story of Reid's previous wife added to the credibility of his turmoil over being a father. All of the sudden, his reluctance to act on his lust made sense. The whole idea of how the first marriage came to be was a great concept that helped me root for Lara instead of creating sympathy for the sadly victimized first wife.

I would have enjoyed hearing Reid's inner debate as he came to terms with his desire to be part of Lara and the boys' lives. Throughout all the initial drama around the kidnapping, he held onto the belief that he was a danger to those he got close to. Yet, after rescuing his sons and walking away from his family, his opinion seemed to turn on a dime in the finale rescue scene and last chapter. I wonder, what exactly helped him make the choice to grab a hold of his own happily ever after?

The book ends on a high, albeit tad confusing note revealing the road the couple chooses to follow and where they find themselves three years later. If there were a series about the other agents who were based in the new headquarters with Reid, I would absolutely read them. For those wanting to know more about the mysterious best friend, Cade and Bailey's story was revealed in Marton's book, Tall, Dark and Lethal and it is already downloaded to my Kindle queue. Enjoy!

4.0 out of 5 stars The Spy Who Saved Christmas by Dana Marton, October 27, 2010

By 

A. Schreiner "smexybooks" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spy Who Saved Christmas (Harlequin Intrigue) (Mass Market Paperback)

Christmas reads are fun. You can sit by the fire, pour yourself a little eggnog, cuddle up and read about terrorists who steal babies, people getting their ears blown off, a heroine who is a butcher (she kills someone with a cleaver!), and a sexy spy (surprise you are also a daddy! To twins!) who is there to save the day. Welcome to the world of Harlequin Intrigue. Oh my - this is my first, and I'm seriously in love. The Spy Who Saved Christmas is such an entertaining read.

Reid Graham is an undercover agent who has spent time in the Middle East but now finds himself back in the States. Two years ago he was undercover as a baker, trying to break into a terrorist ring. Lara, who inherited a butcher shop from her uncle, has always wanted an adventure and decided to have a one night stand with the sexy baker. Nine months later, Lara delivered twins. Reid was not there to share in the joy of the birth, because he burned in a fire that one fateful night. OR DID HE?

Two years later, Reid is still undercover, and still trying to take down this terrorist group that have a something against the country. They have planned a bio-attack, and Reid is desperately trying to gain the inside intel. Out to dinner one night with a suspected member, Lara walks in the door. She recognizes him, and of course wants to talk with him since she thinks he is dead. Once his cover is blown, all hell breaks loose. These terrorists mean business and soon, they track Lara down. Her toddlers are kidnapped, and now that Reid knows he is a father, he will do anything to get them back.

The suspense in The Spy Who Saved Christmas is ramped up and what I really loved about it is it was gritty. The hero breaks people's necks and others die around him. Although a bio-terrorist plot in a small Pennsylvania town may be a little out there, the actual violence and risk that the characters are put in was very well done.

I loved the heroine's reaction when she loses her kids. It all felt very real. The time spent between Reid and Lara give them opportunity to get to know each other - the real them, and start a foundation for a relationship. There is just enough sexual tension between them, taking into consideration their mental status as they are trying to track down their kidnapped children. I'm a sucker for an alpha who is lethal, sexy, and undercover. I am always drawn to them, and Reid fits that description perfectly for me. I also liked that Lara herself is six feet tall and described as having a sturdier butcher's build - a nice change of pace from your typical petite heroine. The sexual tension in this one is just all sorts of hot.

Reid does go rogue at one point, and may have bended the "rules" rather liberally with his pursuit of the bad guys. There is a double ending in this one, just when you think a happily ever after is on the next page, Dana Marton really makes Reid prove he is a superior spy ;)

This book really delivers a suspenseful, sexy, entertaining read. Totally over the top and I loved it.