Under Fire: A Love Over Duty Novel

Under Fire by Scarlett Cole Book #1: Love Over Duty Series Source: Netgalley and Purchase My Rating: 5/5 stars My Review: Louisa North, thanks to a life-long struggle with pathological shyness, craves the order and solitude of her perfectly controlled world. Her lab has only one other employee and is organized to the point of perfection and her home is her solace. She has dedicated her life to her research, been reasonably successful in her efforts, and has had few regrets. It isn’t until her peaceful and ordered world is disturbed that Louisa begins to think there may be more to life than just work. Louisa’s last round of experiments and samples were proving to be quite promising right up until the treacherous side effects cropped up. With nothing left to do but start again, Louisa stores the samples and prepares to move forward with the next round of testing. In a secure facility with strict rules and regulations, Louisa expects her work to be safe. That expectation is shattered the morning Louisa notices one of her stored samples has been tampered with and another is missing. Though she goes through the proper in-house channels to report the disturbance, Louisa quickly discovers it isn’t enough, she’s being lied to, and her life is in danger. Helping individuals like Louisa North isn’t at all what Six’s new security firm is meant to do. Staffed with highly skilled, well-trained ex-military, Six’s firm is meant to work on overseas ops and protection details; things the regular military isn’t always able to do and less skilled firms can’t handle. From the moment he meets her, Six knows Louisa is different and he can feel her fear, anger, and discomfort over her missing sample. Bound and determined to help her, Six calls in his crew and though they don’t initially think her case is one they should take on, they become convinced when she begins using phrases and words like “biological weapon” and “weaponized.” As the situation continues to escalate, Six and Louisa are drawn closer together until each realizes their respective worlds just weren’t complete without the other. If they survive the awful, there may just be a future for the two of them. The Bottom Line: Well, this is one of those reads that makes me angry about having to have a real job and responsibilities. You know, things that take me away from reading a damn good book 😊 I got sucked into this on page one and the book didn’t let me go until the very end. There’s something for everyone here including a team of hard-bodied, highly-trained, dangerous men led by Six and his best-friend, a scary let’s kill a lot of people with a biological weapon plot, just enough action to warrant some seriously intense naughty bits, and a slightly damaged woman whose life is turned upside down. With all that being said, my favorite part of this entire read is Cole’s treatment of Louisa. Louisa has a legitimate issue which has kept her from living a totally full and rewarding life. I LOVE that those issues don’t miraculously disappear when Louisa starts getting some! Six doesn’t cure Louisa, he loves her, supports her, and gives her more tools to work with her issues rather than hide from them. Louisa grows as a character yet still must deal with the hand life has dealt her; it’s just a bit easier now that Six is in her life. In all, Under Fire is an excellent start to an exciting new action-packed contemporary romance series by one of my favorite authors. If you aren’t reading Scarlett Cole, you need to be and Under Fire would be an excellent place to start!

I really enjoyed this first in the new Love Over Duty series by Scarlett Cole. Sixten was ex-military and all alpha as he and his partners set up their new security firm. He was comfortable in what they were doing, excited even, as intel, bullets and catching the bad guys was what he knew and loved. He and his partners were brothers in arms and they had a good vision for success. Louisa and her problems were not on their one-year plan but then she wasn’t on Six’s life plan either. A chance meeting meant a surprise connection that would lead them down an unexpected, scary path… I don’t mean shop of horrors scary though the danger Louisa was facing was real. Reaching out to Six for help meant Louisa had to give up some control, hard to do in her organized life, but thank goodness she did. He was there when she needed him, even if keeping their professional and personal lives separate was increasingly hard… There was a lot of friction as the suspense built and so did the chemistry between them. The storyline may not have been particularly new, but I couldn’t argue with its execution. Heat, emotional pitfalls and a lot of action made for a great romance ride… I am looking forward to more! *Reviewed for 1-Click Addict Support Group **Thank you to NetGalley

Under Fire pushed all the right buttons, romance, characters and character development, pace, action, suspense, plot and story. I loved every single thing about this story! Cole has definitely outdone herself with Under Fire! I was mesmerized from start to finish, and the action started basically on the first page. All buttons to make this a favorite read were ticked, and I almost didn’t manage to sleep because I’d rather spend my time with Louisa, Six and the guys from Eagle Security. It was a fast-paced story, with a lot of danger, but Louisa’s logical mind as well as Six’s strength and ability to get a good overview kept things on the right side of safe most of the time. I’ve always found intelligence sexy, and seeing a guy like Six agree with that made both him and Louise even more enticing in Under Fire. He was able to see behind her shyness, and she saw him as more than hired muscle from the beginning as well. And the way the mystery unfolded with so much suspense just gave me goosebumps. Louisa being so shy could have been a turn-off, but instead, it made her extremely endearing. And the way Six just got her, and didn’t push or do anything he thought would make her uncomfortable made him irresistible. One of the things I loved the most about Under Fire was that while it was Louisa and Six’s story, the other characters were also well fleshed out. I got to know the guys who work in Eagle Security with Six, and also Louisa’s mom and some of her co-workers. This not only made the story balanced, it made me even more eager for the next book in the Love Over Duty series. Also, because Louisa signe on Eagle Security to protect her, the romance between her and Six became forbidden, and that made it even sweeter 😉 Written in third person point of view, past tense and with a narrator that is close to omniscient, the pacing was perfect for the kind of story Under Fire is. And through the food choices, dialogues and action scenes, I felt like I got to know the characters really well. The problems Six and Louisa had to deal with weren’t swept under the carpet, but dealt with in small doses, where the pace slowed down a little bit to help me catch my breath. If there is one book you’ll get this summer, you should make it be this one!

Title: Under Fire (Love Over Duty #1) Author: Scarlett Cole Publisher: St. Martins Paperbacks Edition: Kindle Amount of Pages: 319 Genre: Military, Suspense, Romance, Contemporary Date Read: 11-03-2019 - 15-03-2019 Favorite Quote: “I don’t know where I am going to end up when this is all over, but I hope it’s with you.” Review: I was looking forward to reading this book. I've been really into military books lately. After I read Fractured Heart by the same author I dived straight into this one. I could really connect to Louisa, I have social anxiety as well. Maybe not as severe as she does but I could relate to her, relate to what she was thinking and feeling. I liked Six, he is a good guy. I do feel like the mystery part could be better. There was allot of build up but the end was wrapped up rather quickly. Overall I enjoyed reading this book Rating: 3 1/2 I liked it Stars

Can somebody please tell me why it has taken me so long to read this book? I am kicking myself for not doing so sooner. Once I have finished reading the Love Over Duty series, I will have read everything published by Scarlett Cole. I need this book on my bookshelf – I loved it that much! However, it seems I can only purchase this series pre-owned. Not to worry, I shouldn’t have waited so long. Under Fire is not only Six and Louisa’s fabulous journey, it also introduces us to Sixten’s business partners Cabe and Mac, and I cannot wait to read their stories. It seems military/bodyguard romance is my kryptonite. These ex-SEALS are *chef’s kiss* and witnessing them in action is rather hot! Sixten Rapp stole my heart almost immediately, so it is no wonder that love develops quickly between him and Lou. Intelligence is something I admire in a person so I would wish for Louisa and I to be good friends. Her focus and commitment are commendable; however, it is witnessing the developing relationship and the effect that Six and Lou have on each other that is a definite highlight of this story. I would have devoured this story in one sitting if real life had allowed. I highly recommend Under Fire to you to read. 5 stars

I went into Under Fire by Scarlett Cole with no expectations whatsoever - despite loving all of Scarlett’s previous novels (from the Second Circle Tattoos and Preload series) - as romantic suspense has been a genre that I just haven’t connected with in the past. Well, I’ve now learnt that when it comes to a fantastic story, it’s all about a talented author, because often the genre doesn’t matter as long as the writing is great!! And I have to say, I am now looking forward to reading more in this genre as I know that if it’s written by an author I love, it’ll be a story worth taking time for. The first book in the Love over Duty series, Under Fire introduces us to Eagle Securities - a firm set up by three former Navy SEALs: Mac, Cabe And Six. This is Six’s story but we are getting books for the other two men as well and I cannot wait! Six is an interesting character - he’s in denial about suffering from PTSD, he’s new to the working of Eagle Securities as he was the last to be discharged but he’s definitely ALL Alpha male and you can’t go wrong there. His love interest is Louisa - a super intelligent researcher who suffers from a severe case of shyness that almost cripples her when Six and Louisa first meet at a charity dinner supporting Louisa’s work. What I love about these two is that Six and Louisa bring comfort and support and a sense of safe to one another, at a time when it’s desperately needed. Now as romantic suspense, there is a big chunk of book dedicated to the action and drama surrounding the main conflict. And I have to say it was written brilliantly. Often I’m skipping the non-romance or character building bits in these sorts of books, but I thoroughly enjoyed the action scenes. They are written with realism and using all the correct terminology, and I felt so connected to both Louisa and Six that I desperately wanted to know that they’d survive all the drama that was thrown their way! This is an outstanding book by Scarlett Cole - not that I would expect anything less - and I’m very much looking forward to reading Mac’s book when it releases in a few days time.

Why haven't I read this until now? I've had the paperback on my shelf for so long now I knew it was time to get myself into this series at long last and I'm so glad I did. Louisa is a scientist looking into research into a cause that's very close to her heart and when she starts to notice things happening there's only one person she can trust in her shy state. Previous SEAL Six has set up a new business with mates Mac and Cabe and cant believe his luck when Louisa turns up on his doorstep. Love these guys together... they had the struggle of not being together as they were working together but the chemistry took over and they couldn't resist 😉 Didn't want to put this down once I started and it leads you up to make you want to jump into book 2 asap!

When Scarlett Cole promised the start of a new series, I couldn't wait. Having read and loved the Second Circle books & loving the Preload books, I knew it was going to be worth the wait. Under Fire is the introduction to the world of a group of ex Navy SEALS starting afresh in the civilian world. Under Fire is Sixton & Louisa's book. Louisa a quiet scientist working on a significant breakthrough. Sixton meets Louisa and connection is instant. Then Louisa finds herself in danger and swiftly she becomes the client. Under Fire takes you on a fast paced read, perfect plot and hot - did I mention HOT! If book one is this good - can't wait for more!!