After a tragic incident in Afghanistan leaves Master Sergeant Nathan Ryker the only man standing in his tight-knit team, he spirals into an alcohol-and-sex induced escape. A call from his lifelong buddy pulls Ryker from the shadows with a request for help with his stunt company’s latest blockbuster. If Ryker can survive the next three weeks of leave and get back to his remaining men, he might just be all right. But a sexy woman who can take his mind off his trauma is too hard to resist, and when he hooks up with Renegades’ sultry, snarky office manager, his sanity takes a backseat to his first glimpse of a future he isn’t sure he deserves.
Still reeling from a bitter romantic betrayal, Rachel Hart wants nothing more than an uncomplicated hookup. So when the mysterious Nathan seduces her with a little dirty talk and one delicious kiss, Rachel drowns all her good sense in a Mandarin and soda and gives herself over to a night of sexual bliss. But her memories tarnish in the morning light when Rachel discovers his real identity and his link to Renegades. Her job and her friends are the only thing holding her life together, and she won’t be ruined by one sultry night with this damaged and dangerously sexy man.
Ryker sipped his Rockstar, trying like hell to keep his mind in the moment. Seeing her again just made his thoughts travel backward to relive their night together moment by luscious, mind-blowing moment.
His gaze roamed over her again, over the simple white dress that framed her her narrow waist and the curve of her breasts. As a whole package, she was country-girl fresh and apple-pie sweet with a streak of Tonka-truck tough. Underneath, she hid a siren, a temptress, a woman who liked things edgy.
She fascinated him.
But he already missed the intimacy they’d developed last night. The easy way they’d talked and laughed together. The comfort of lying quietly while they caught their breath.
Yeah, he’d really fucked up good.
She returned to her desk, slid her glasses back on, and plucked a pencil from a Renegades coffee mug. Dragging a legal pad from beneath a stack of papers, she started writing. “Are you sure there’s no one but Josh?”
“I’m sure,” Jax said. “We could try another company, but I want to get Ryker past Precision. Cinematic prefers Precision.”
Rachel put two fingers against her temple with a sigh. “Everything needs to be seamless to make this work.”
Ryker’s brain slowly returned from a fantasy of Rachel on her knees, those librarian glasses still perched on her nose while she took his cock deep into her mouth. “Look, I’ll talk to you guys about anything you want. I’ll give advice. I’ll even hang around and watch, make sure everything is safe and kosher, but you sound like you’re—”
“Hear us out,” Troy said, annoyance clear in his voice. “I wouldn’t have brought you here if there wasn’t something in it for you.”
Reflexively, Ryker’s gaze darted back to Rachel. If she was the prize, he might reconsider…
“Not her.” Troy slapped Ryker on the back of the head. “Use that flabby muscle between your ears for a change.”
Ryker gritted his teeth and braced his forearms on his knees, glaring at Troy over his shoulder. “Do that again, and the gloves come off. And the brain is not a muscle, idiot. It’s an organ.”
“What-the-fuck-ever.”
“You should have told me what this was really about.”
“Gee,” Rachel said, “sounds like we’ve got a theme going.”
“Listen,” Jax said. “I’ll give you the scoop, you tell me if you’re interested. No pressure.”
“Criminy,” Rachel muttered, covering her eyes. “No. No pressure.”
Ryker didn’t understand where her pressure was coming from, but 50 percent of his was sitting beside him on the couch. Another 50 percent came from his desire to get closer to Rachel.
Okay, more like 10-90.
“Go,” he said, inviting Jax to talk with an open gesture.
“We’re finishing up the next Bond film, and the last scene—” Jax started.
“Bond?” he said. “As in—”
“James Bond,” everyone in the room said in unison. The question had obviously been asked before.
“Okay.” He shrugged. “Go on.”
“The last scene with big stunt work is the climax,” Jax said. “The script calls for a car racing across a bridge with Apache choppers in chase, Hellfire missiles raining down. Normally, we’d do all the explosives with computer graphics, but we’re under a really tight budget, and, I know it sounds crazy, but blowing up a real bridge is way less expensive.”
At some point during that explanation, Ryker’s jaw unhinged and his mouth hung open, his mind trying—and failing—to envision how anyone could possibly pull off the stunt they’d described.
“What we need is an explosives expert who can take down the bridge in the most cinematically dramatic way possible, while maintaining a safe environment for crew and location.”
“Wait…” Ryker glanced at each face and found Rachel tracing the eraser of her pencil over the wood-grain pattern on her desk. Then he met Jax’s gaze again. “This doesn’t sound like consulting.”
“It was when Troy first called you, but as I told Rachel, we just lost our blaster. We’d like you to take the lead on this. So.” Jax stretched out his legs and dropped one ankle over the other, just kicking back as if what he’d proposed was as simple as the rock climbing he’d been doing earlier. “What do you think?”
An absurd scrap of laughter huffed out of his mouth. “I think you’re all certifiably in-fucking-sane.”
Let's think back to my reviews of the previous Renegades novels... remember how I waxed poetic and I was all around thoroughly obnoxious about my love for them? Sad to say, that this review will be no different. In fact, I may just get a little sappy and a whole more obnoxious. This series keeps getting better and better. The emotions are heightened, the connections get deeper and the sex gets dirtier. And I fall a little bit more in love with each of the Renegades every time they open their smart mouths.
Ricochet centers around a brand new hero, in every sense of the word, Master Sergeant Nathan Ryker. He's back from overseas and in a bad way. Then he happens upon a hot little number while stranded at the airport. Said hot little number is none other than the Renegades' glue of their operations Rachel. She has been such a pistol all throughout the series and I'm so glad I was able to read her book. So they meet, identities were hidden, truths weren't divulged and the sex was had all over a hotel room. Yes, Ms. Jordan you have my full attention, continue. Of course, Rachel being the put together woman that she is has never indulged in this manner before an escapes before the awkward morning after can come to play. She chalks it up to a drunken endeavor and moves on. Until said sexy one-night stand shows up to do his buddy a favor. A buddy that just so happens to be Rachel's co-worker and best friend. Long, and fabulous story short, Nathan and Rachel are thrown together in the closest of quarters until their pasts come back to haunt them.
It's a game of ping pong with their relationship- it's just sex, it's more, it's ruined, etc. I just want them to be happy! But, Ms. Jordan makes you work for it. Rachel and Nathan are so good together and they can't even see it. They have preconceived notions about their lives at the moment and the other was not in their plans. Yet as their demons haunt them separately, they force them together. They find a comfort in one another that they've never been able to find anywhere else. It's funny, with this series I can't see the end coming. The author fully submerges me in the story and I refuse to poke my head out until I'm finished. Suffice it to say, Rachel and Nathan held my attention in lock position from beginning to end. Their emotions gutted me, their connection was envious, and their humor blended in perfectly. Ricochet delivered on the emotional turmoil without putting me in a deep dark hole, which I appreciate so much. I love a book that can weave the light and dark together so effortlessly. Not just with the story line, but with the characters too. Nathan would have his moments of hilarity and "aww"s among his moments of sadness and fear. While Rachel would have her sweet and endearing moments amidst moments of anger and disappointment. And when they would come together it was one big mindf--k but it was well worth it. I say this every time I read a book in the Renegades series, but I don't know how a series can get better than this. It truly felt like a breath of fresh air while I was reading it. It's new and exciting and a whole lot of sexy. Simply, all around wonderful. I HIGHLY recommend!!
Happy Reading!
*ARC provided by the author in exchange for and honest review*
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Meet Skye:
Skye Jordan is a pseudonym for New York Times bestselling romantic suspense author Joan Swan.
Skye's novels are about enjoying that little wild streak we don’t let out often enough. About those fantasies we rarely get the opportunity to indulge. About stretching limits, checking out the dark side, and maybe even acting a little naughty. They’re about escape and fun and pleasure and romance.
And, yes, even love, because while wicked-great sex is good, happily ever after with wicked-great sex is even better.
Skye (aka Joan) lives on the central coast of California in the heart of wine country with her husband and two daughters. As often as possible, she retreats to a hotel with critique partners for a power-writing week where much drinking, laughing, and yes, even working, ensues. When she’s not writing, Skye goes to breakfast with her hubby, attends her daughters’ barrel races, and spends a lot of time with her own horse, Riddle…while her two dogs, Paxton and Indie, tag along. She also loves to read, knit, craft, row, ride, and dabble in photography.
Connect with Skye:
OTHER TOUR STOPS TODAY
What’s A Nice Girl Like You Doing On A Blog Like This? (Excerpt 9)
Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance (Excerpt 10)
The Smutty Kitty (Excerpt 12)
