Books & Spoons Review SEIZED by Kaylea Cross

She’s strictly off limits. 

Carmela Cruz has wanted the same man for over a year, and now that he’s finally free, he’s fair game. But just when it seems like everything is about to click into place for them, he puts on the brakes. For her, the decision is simple. He either wants her or he doesn’t. She’s tired of his mixed messages and done with waiting for him to make up his mind. An unexpected, all-expenses-paid luxury cruise to get over her broken heart sounds like just what she needs—until her vacation turns deadly. 

But some rules were made to be broken… 

HRT member Sawyer Vance wants Carmela more than anything. There’s only one problem—she’s his best friend’s sister, and that makes her officially off limits. He’s already learned the hard way the disastrous consequences that come from breaking that rule. But when she’s caught up in the biggest terrorist attack to hit the West Coast and her life is in imminent danger, the truth hits home hard. He realizes too late that nothing should have kept him away from her. When the terrorists begin killing hostages, Sawyer and his team must take the ship back at all costs. Now they’re in a fight for their lives against an enemy willing to die for its cause, and time is running out to save the surviving passengers. 

Including Carmela…if she’s still alive.

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​A riveting and enthralling story, filled with high emotions, danger, and such an irresistibly compelling love story it had me glued to my kindle until 'the end'. What a beautifully crafted tale, I am still in awe. 
And no, this wasn't my first book by the author, far from it. I have them all and I'm catching up on these couple last books of this series. Yet every story Ms. Cross writes is so fresh, authentic, and real they always manage to pull me in and give me the wow effect at the end. 
Carmela and Sawyer, I met them in the previous stories, and I was looking forward to their HEA, they so deserve it. Yet the depth of the emotions, the raw feelings, the honesty and strong, basic attraction between them left me breathless. The first time they are intimate together, it is a scorching hot scene, seductive and sexy, yet so sweet, tender, and loving, so delicate, it is just beautiful, and I couldn't help but fall in love with these two. 
I also love that the author has put multi-racial main characters into the story, I have wondered it before, how 'white' the romantic suspense books are, and Ms. Cross just made my day with a black man as a cowboy and a Puerto Rican heroine. The way Sawyer's childhood struggle with the bullies was told just broke my heart with the reality of it, the truth behind the scene.
The danger and action are acute and eerily real, repeatedly giving nail-biting moments, where I was holding my breath, with fear and despair, hoping for survival. The scare and concern in the life and death situations while facing the terror was actual and true. The moments when Sawyer is praying for Carmela to be alive just broke me down in tears. Yes, the story brings all the emotions to the front and center and kept me captivated throughout the book, making it impossible to put it down.
I also enjoyed the teasers to Adam and Summer's story coming up, I hope. I can't wait to get to read more about them, and see if they can salvage the marriage. 
When a story is a mix of seamless teamwork, the brotherhood that comes when serving together, the importance and meaning of family and friends, undeniably dazzling love story, and suspense that has you on the edge holding your breath, fearing for the life of the characters,  it definitely deserves
~ Five Spoons

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