Amazon.com: Wild Card (Elite Ops, Book 1): Lora Leigh: Books

Review

“Leigh writes…tempting, enchanting romance[s] that readers are certain to devour.”
—Romance Reviews Today

“Leigh’s pages explode with a hot mixture of erotic pleasures.”—Romantic Times BOOKreviews

"an evocative, powerful novel of enduring strength, love and redemption." --A Romance Review on Wild Card

Product Description

It was supposed to be simple. All Navy SEAL Nathan Malone had to do was rescue three young girls from a Colombia drug cartel, then allow himself to be captured just long enough to draw out a government spy. That was before his mission went disastrously wrong…and before his wife, Bella, was told that Nathan was never coming home.

Bella’s mourned her husband’s death for three long years. But she has no idea he’s still alive. Forced to assume a new identity, the man Nathan was is now dead. If he can get back to his wife, can he keep the secret of who he really is…even as desire threatens to consume them? And as danger threatens to tear Bella from Nathan’s arms once more?

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Product Details

Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (August 26, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312945795
ISBN-13: 978-0312945794
Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (56 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,017 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
lora leigh, swollen folds, sexual crisis

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Noah Blake, Nathan Malone, Mike Conrad, Grant Malone, Elite Ops, Gaylen Patrick, Duncan Sykes, Rick Grayson, Diego Fuentes, Sabella Malone, Chuck Leon, Delbert Ransome, Kira Richards, Ian Richards, Black Collar Militia, Wild Irish, John Vincent, Travis Caine, Admiral Holloran, Rory Malone, Sienna Grayson, Elite Operational Unit, Homeland Security, Jordan Malone, Border Patrol

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Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	63% buy the item featured on this page: Wild Card (Elite Ops, Book 1) 4.5 out of 5 stars (56) $7.99
	11% buy Maverick (Elite Ops, Book 2) 4.0 out of 5 stars (42) $7.99
	9% buy Dangerous Games (Tempting SEALs) 3.6 out of 5 stars (58) $7.99
	9% buy Hidden Agendas (Tempting SEALs) 4.2 out of 5 stars (31) $6.99

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Customer Reviews

56 Reviews

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (56 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love that withstands all trials, August 26, 2008

By	Jennifer Ray "Reviewer for Wild on Books (www... (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Nathan Malone lived a nightmare in prolonged captivity at the hands of a Colombian drug cartel. Pumped full of an experimental drug designed to stimulate the victim's libido to an uncontrollable level, he never broke his commitment to his beloved wife Bella, although the pain was torturous.

Once rescued, he knew he could never return to Bella, else he would put her in danger from the villains that nearly destroyed him once before. Her only chance is if they believe him dead.

And so Noah Blake was born. With a new face and a new name, he can operate under the radar as part of an Elite Ops unit to bring the cartel down.

Now danger threatens Bella regardless of Nathan's absence from her life. To save her, he must go undercover as Noah Blake, sticking close to her side even while trying to keep his emotional distance, knowing they can never be together again. Easier said than done...

Lora Leigh launches her brand new book series, ELITE OPS, with lead character Nathan Malone/Noah Blake, best known for his appearances in the TEMPTING SEALS stories she has published. ELITE OPS is the start of a new saga, but is very much connected to the SEALs books Leigh's fans know and love. They even share a mission similar to the Durango team from those previous books, but with a different team of special agents, all of whom have left their previous lives for an existence based on complete anonymity.

The men of ELITE OPS have lost everything - family, lovers, anything to do with their previous lives. All of them have assumed new names, and none of them form emotional attachments.

Yeah, right. *grin* This wouldn't be a Lora Leigh romance if they didn't have emotional attachments, now would it? LOL

OK, so they aren't supposed to have relationships. That doesn't stop them, though, it only provides delicious obstacles to the happy ending we all know will be at the end of these tales. And so readers enjoy watching men who have steeled themselves against love fight a losing battle as they come face to face with the women who not only complete them, but challenge them, meeting them as equals in this battle of hearts.

The romance between Bella and Nathan/Noah in WILD CARD is all at once heartbreaking and uplifting. Nathan is a man who loves so absolutely that he can never be with a woman other than his Bella, no matter that her love is forever lost to him. He'll do anything, sacrifice everything, just to keep her safe and happy, no matter the cost to himself. His heart and soul yearn for the woman he loves, until what little resistance he had mustered crumbles beneath the weight of their mutual desire.

Bella is just a beautiful character. I'm not talking about looks, although obviously she is lovely, judging by the description of her in the book. Her personality is what really makes us believe that a man like Nathan could not only fall in love with her but forsake all other women in favor of Bella. Of course, she has done the same thing for her Nathan. No matter that she has been told he is dead, somehow her heart never quite believes it, and she cannot move on - until Noah Blake appears on her doorstep.

What ensues when these two are finally reunited are some emotionally charged, scintillating love scenes that will have you squirming in your seat even while you are reaching for tissues to dry your eyes.

Over the years, Lora Leigh has developed into an author adept at playing readers' emotions as easily as she might a musical instrument, and never has this been more evident than in the heart-stopping romance in WILD CARD.

**Courtesy of Wild on Books**

Connected Stories:
Honk If You Love Real Men
Dangerous Games (Tempting SEALs)
Real Men Do It Better
Hidden Agendas (Tempting SEALs)
Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs)
Rescue Me

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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sex with a small side of plot, September 29, 2008

By	Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Readers familiar with Leigh's "tempting seals" series will remember the character of Nathan Malone, who remained true to his wife while enduring the most horrific conditions imaginable when held captive by a drug lord who had him so doped up on an aphrodisiac (think PCP mixed with Spanish Fly) that he opts to remain dead to his family rather than return half a man with sexual issues brought on by the many months of captivity and restraint.

It's been six years since Nathan "died" and he now works for a clandestine group knows as the Elite Ops, going by the name of Noah Blake. When a white supremacy militia group in his hometown has engaged in murderous "hunts" and now is targeting his former business as a place to launder their ill gotten gains (thus endangering his wife Sabella), he is reluctant at first to take the case. But in the end he does and comes face to face with the independent woman that his wife has become (or was she always like that and he just didn't see it?) He discovers that she has never really gotten over the loss of her husband, and has dated infrequently, while her home is still a shrine to Nathan. He suddenly finds that he is jealous of ... himself? Working undercover at his garage, he's in a position to investigate and protect. But just how deep is the organization in the small town that he loves? As much as Bella fights her attraction to yet another alpha man, she notices some similarities between her new lover and her husband.

Leigh had me hooked and hungering for a story about tortured SEAL Nathan. But unfortunately, this story just did not do the character of Nathan justice. When is too much sex too much? Well, in Leigh's case, it's when the sexual passages outnumber the rest of the plot to the point where they detract from the story. While I usually love Leigh's passionate storylines, this one was just ridiculous - I finally started to skip them altogether because they were so numerous and redundant. I felt like I was reading a horrible Shannon McKenna novel which are virtually plotless. And all that dirty talk just made me want to tell them to hush already and get it over with. The plot itself was pretty interesting (what little there was of it), but all the licking, sucking, talking, nipping, tugging, petting, talking, growling, mewling, talking, spanking, and other assorted verbs just subtract from the flow of the story.

� Tracy Vest, September 2008

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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Blue Ribbons!, July 25, 2008

By	Natalie S "ns65" (Nashville) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Dead men stay dead. At least that is the motto of the six `dead' men of the Elite Ops. WILD CARD is the first book of this new series and features Nathan Malone, who readers first met in Lora Leigh's HIDDEN AGENDAS.

Nathan Malone died at the hands of the sadistic drug lord Diego Fuentes. It is in the files and it is public knowledge. The funeral was planned and held and his widow grieved. Six years later Noah Blake roars into Alpine, TX on the back of a Harley. Bearded, blue eyed, and alpha to the bone, Noah is on a mission - to find the murderous faction of a white supremacist group hunting illegal aliens, and to connect with one Sabella Malone. Not necessarily in that order.

Sabella Malone loved her husband Nathan with every single beat of her heart and every breath she ever breathed. When he died six years ago on a mission she thought she would die with him so great was the pain she felt. For years nothing mattered; but when her world didn't end, Sabella slowly learned to live again. Dating men but not allowing them close to her heart, Sabella is stunned at the heated attraction she instantly experiences with the new mechanic her brother in law hired behind her back - Noah Blake; blue-eyed Noah Blake.

Noah rides into town under the deep cover of his mission. His eyes are looking for the only woman he has ever loved and when he finds her under the engine of an automobile, he recognizes that Sabella has changed. What he doesn't realize is that the Bella he knew is not the Sabella of today. Intrigued and unable to contain his desire, Noah sets out to insinuate himself in Sabella's life - at least for a little while - because once the Elite Ops' mission is complete, Noah Blake will have to disappear.

While reading HIDDEN AGENDAS, also by Lora Leigh, my heart hurt for the Navy SEAL so abused but still so steadfast in his wedding vows to his wife. I yearned for his book and for his happy ending. Not one word of this highly emotional and addicting novel, WILD CARD, has disappointed me. Noah Blake, while a changed man, continued to be true to his wife and though six years had passed, almost three of them spent recovering; Noah still honored his wedding vows. A more perfect character I have yet to meet.

WILD CARD is an intoxicating first installment of a brand new series. The words flow, the emotions are raw, and love is in the air. Add in the danger of Noah's mission and I could not have asked for a better book. I can't recommend WILD CARD enough. It is ultimately one of the most satisfying books I have ever read penned by this prolific and talented author.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good
Really liked this Nathan / Noah charater. Only draw back was that it took 'years' and some sort of immediate danger to his wife for him to wake up. Read more

Published 10 days ago by Kay Dault

5.0 out of 5 stars Lora Leigh Always Delivers
Lora Leigh delivers again. Wild Card whets a reader's palate all the more. I couldn't put this book down and can't wait to see where she takes the ELITE OPPS after following her... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Chasity Carter

4.0 out of 5 stars Can a book have too much sex in it? Yep!
SYNOPSIS:
Sabella Malone was only 20 years old when her Navy SEAL husband left on a mission and never returned home. Read more

Published 2 months ago by myotherself

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Card
Wild Card picks up with the rescue of Navy SEAL Nathan Malone. The problem is that Nathan has been tortured and drugged so long will he ever completely recover? Read more

Published 2 months ago by M. Nix

5.0 out of 5 stars Walk on the wild side
Yum. This book has some delicious erotic naughtiness in it. The book is a fun read with interesting characters. Read more

Published 2 months ago by cynister

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Winner...
Can this woman ever have a bad day...this book was exciting from beginning to end! I mean there was the right amount of everything, sexual tension, possession, great hero and... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Cords

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved This Book
This one is a keeper. One of those books that you can't stop reading and then find yourself sad as you approach the end because you don't want it to be over. Read more

Published 2 months ago by J Bug

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't see the attraction!
This is the second Lora Leigh book I have read and I really was hoping this was better than the first,(Wicked Pleasures)but unfortunately, I can't say that it was. Read more

Published 3 months ago by denak

2.0 out of 5 stars Worst Lora Leigh book period
couldn't finish, nathans a complete moronic jerkoff and bellas the most spineless excuse for a woman ive ever read about in print. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Michael B. Gibbons

3.0 out of 5 stars Intense but ultimately not gripping...
Elizabeth Lowell used to do it so well - that kind of manic intensity, where the hero can do the most awful things because he believes it in the heroine's best interest and while... Read more

Published 4 months ago by amf0001

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