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Code Name #7
Code Name: Baby
Battle-honed Wolfe Houston is on a mission of national security: protect valuable government assets targeted by hostiles. But tracking down four genetically enhanced service dogs and guarding their furry backs 24/7 is going to take all of Wolfe's tactical skills.
The dogs' unsuspecting civilian trainer, Kit O'Halloran doesn't know that deadly mercenaries are determined to kidnap her charges. With puppies to find and bullets to dodge, there's no time to waste -- so why is Kit pressed against an adobe wall by moonlight, reveling in the hot magic of Wolfe's slow, skillful hands?
Wolfe is fascinated by Kit's devotion to her puppies, especially Baby, the incorrigible runt of the litter. But two other civilian trainers have died under strange circumstances -- and a foreign government has just posted a staggering bounty for Kit's capture. Before Wolfe can explore their burgeoning attraction, the two are on the run, forced to guess which of their secret contacts is friend . . . and which is deadliest foe. Only Baby can lead them through the storm to safe haven in each other's arms. Good dog!
The dogs' unsuspecting civilian trainer, Kit O'Halloran doesn't know that deadly mercenaries are determined to kidnap her charges. With puppies to find and bullets to dodge, there's no time to waste -- so why is Kit pressed against an adobe wall by moonlight, reveling in the hot magic of Wolfe's slow, skillful hands?
Wolfe is fascinated by Kit's devotion to her puppies, especially Baby, the incorrigible runt of the litter. But two other civilian trainers have died under strange circumstances -- and a foreign government has just posted a staggering bounty for Kit's capture. Before Wolfe can explore their burgeoning attraction, the two are on the run, forced to guess which of their secret contacts is friend . . . and which is deadliest foe. Only Baby can lead them through the storm to safe haven in each other's arms. Good dog!
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
42 people are currently reading
463 people want to read
About the author
Christina Skye
61 books338 followersAKA Roberta Helmer
Roberta Helmer is an American writer of Chinese art and culture and as Christina Skye is a best-selling USA Today and Publishers Weekly writer of over 23 romance novels. Her romance book have been translated into 8 languages.
Roberta Helmer was born in Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A., an is a descendant of Revolutionary War hero Adam Helmer. She attended the University of Pennsylvania and obtained a doctorate in classical Chinese literature at Ohio State University, where she learned to speak fluent Chinese, French, and Japanese. Later, she worked as translator and as a consultant to the National Geographic Society and the American Museum of Natural History. She lived in on the western slopes of McDowell Mountains in Arizona.
Roberta Helmer is an American writer of Chinese art and culture and as Christina Skye is a best-selling USA Today and Publishers Weekly writer of over 23 romance novels. Her romance book have been translated into 8 languages.
Roberta Helmer was born in Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A., an is a descendant of Revolutionary War hero Adam Helmer. She attended the University of Pennsylvania and obtained a doctorate in classical Chinese literature at Ohio State University, where she learned to speak fluent Chinese, French, and Japanese. Later, she worked as translator and as a consultant to the National Geographic Society and the American Museum of Natural History. She lived in on the western slopes of McDowell Mountains in Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
August 4, 2015
The first books in this series were light romantic-suspense. As it progressed it got a little more intense and the last book had touches of bizarre. This book is just outright bizarre. Genetically and technologically enhanced humans and animals. You need a score card and even then you can't tell the good guys from the bad. My favorite character, Izzy Tegue, has a role playing the awesome tech guru. I really wish he would get his own book.
Wolfe, a genetically and technologically enhanced navy SEAL, is part of an ultra secret government special project called Foxfire. He is sent to protect a friend from childhood, Kit, who is a dog trainer currently training four genetically and technologically enhanced dogs. Of course, she has no clue and just thinks these dogs are just real good. A rogue agent from Foxfire, Cruz, has escaped and is after Kit and the dogs. They are a valuable commodity with a value of over $10 million.
Wolfe, a genetically and technologically enhanced navy SEAL, is part of an ultra secret government special project called Foxfire. He is sent to protect a friend from childhood, Kit, who is a dog trainer currently training four genetically and technologically enhanced dogs. Of course, she has no clue and just thinks these dogs are just real good. A rogue agent from Foxfire, Cruz, has escaped and is after Kit and the dogs. They are a valuable commodity with a value of over $10 million.
May 10, 2021
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. There are some definite plot hole, the ending is a bit too convenient, and the romance was mostly just ok, but the action was fun, I liked the little sci fi aspect, and, of course, the dogs were the best part.
October 23, 2018
OK. (2.5 stars)
This book is about a Navy SEAL, Wolfe, with nanotechnologic enhancements, 4 genetically enhanced labs and a dog trainer.
Kit, the dog trainer, is unaware of the special capabilities of the dogs she is training and equally unaware that there is someone out to kidnap them. Wolfe must protect both Kit and her dogs from one of his teams enhanced SEALs gone rogue.
This book is about a Navy SEAL, Wolfe, with nanotechnologic enhancements, 4 genetically enhanced labs and a dog trainer.
Kit, the dog trainer, is unaware of the special capabilities of the dogs she is training and equally unaware that there is someone out to kidnap them. Wolfe must protect both Kit and her dogs from one of his teams enhanced SEALs gone rogue.
June 22, 2020
Federal Agent Wolfe is sent to look after civilian Kit and her biology enhanced dogs. They all end up going on the run after a bunch of mercenaries want to get their hands on the dogs. This is another one of those guilty pleasures of mine. The story is fast paced, well written with mystery, humour and romance.
February 22, 2019
Why are all the actions at the end?!
June 14, 2019
The 'sci-fi' nature is a bit weird but I still find the books enjoyable.
August 24, 2019
This one was slow and too unrealistic/sci-fi for me. Everything happened at the end with not very interesting build-up throughout the book.
August 9, 2022
Soo bad, plot jumped awkwardly and was hard to follow.
The romance was forced as was the concept.
The romance was forced as was the concept.
April 7, 2023
One of the first romance novels that I read in high school. I absolutely adored it. Enough that I still remember it by name over 14 years later.
October 29, 2023
4 lab puppies, the trainer Kit O'Halloran plus a Navy SEAL Wolfe Houston
June 1, 2024
Two and a half.... just a little odd with maybe a little too much gratuitous sex....which could be a draw for other readers, lol.
December 25, 2016
I enjoyed this book with a dog hero in addition to the manly one.
January 31, 2011
~* 2.5 Stars *~
Kit O'Holloran is a renowned dog trainer. She's currently working with four exceptional young dogs on her ranch in New Mexico. The pups are more exceptional than Kit realizes, though. Genetically and technologically enhanced superdogs, they're slated to be the next cutting edge weapons of the special Foxfire military unit. They're highly valuable and at the top of the top secret pile.
So is former Navy SEAL Wolfe Houston.
One of Foxfire's top operatives, he's just as technologically and genetically enhanced as the dogs and his skills far exceed normal human parameters. He's Kit's brother's best friend and he grew up with Kit, even spent some time living at the ranch with her and her brother Trace and their parents when they were kids. That's why, when a rogue operative gone way wrong escapes from captivity and heads towards New Mexico after the dogs, Wolfe is sent home to protect the dogs and catch the rogue agent, Cruz. Even if it means using the gorgeous and brave Kit as bait.
And no matter how much she stirs emotions he thought long dead.
This was my first experience with Skye's Foxfire books and I wonder if that may be part of the reason I had so many problems with this book. There wasn't enough world building or exposition to explain Foxfire or give me a good handle on the scope of the unit, nor lay groundwork for the characters and their abilities. I felt like I was lagging a step behind through most of the book because of it, not really able to connect to anything going on in it.
That wasn't the only problem, though. I thought the plot and characters lacked depth - especially Kit, who I never warmed up to. Some attempts were made to provide them added dimension, and Kit's debilitating degenerative disease and Wolfe's tragic childhood were good concepts, but neither plot point was really given much room to impact the story or the characters' development. There were also some stylistic issues with abrupt and awkward transitions that hurt the narrative. I loved the dogs, though. They were the best characters in the book. Unfortunately, that leads me to another problem.
There weren't many explanations offered or answers found in this book, so the entire reading experience felt a bit like a secret mission above my pay grade. What were the dogs capable of? Would what happened to Cruz happen to the rest of the group? If not, why? How, if Cruz has been in roughly the equivalent of solitary confinement in the bowels of a secret facility for the past two years and considered dead to his former teammates, did he find out about the dogs or make the contact with buyers? And how would he know to look for Wolfe's service record before he'd been assigned to guard Kit? Why was Izzy able to willfully defy the head of Foxfire without repercussion?
So many questions, so few answers, and not enough compelling me to continue the series to find out if they're ever answered.
The romance wasn't bad, though the pacing was a bit odd in places. I enjoyed parts of it very much. There was an abrupt jump to HEA at the end that seemed to come out of nowhere given the previous scene that had both Wolfe and Kit in it, but honestly, the romance and the dogs were the best parts of the book.
I still think that had I been around since the beginning of this series, I may have had a more favorable reaction to this book. The problem now is, I'm not sure there were enough good points in this book to motivate me finding out for sure.
Kit O'Holloran is a renowned dog trainer. She's currently working with four exceptional young dogs on her ranch in New Mexico. The pups are more exceptional than Kit realizes, though. Genetically and technologically enhanced superdogs, they're slated to be the next cutting edge weapons of the special Foxfire military unit. They're highly valuable and at the top of the top secret pile.
So is former Navy SEAL Wolfe Houston.
One of Foxfire's top operatives, he's just as technologically and genetically enhanced as the dogs and his skills far exceed normal human parameters. He's Kit's brother's best friend and he grew up with Kit, even spent some time living at the ranch with her and her brother Trace and their parents when they were kids. That's why, when a rogue operative gone way wrong escapes from captivity and heads towards New Mexico after the dogs, Wolfe is sent home to protect the dogs and catch the rogue agent, Cruz. Even if it means using the gorgeous and brave Kit as bait.
And no matter how much she stirs emotions he thought long dead.
This was my first experience with Skye's Foxfire books and I wonder if that may be part of the reason I had so many problems with this book. There wasn't enough world building or exposition to explain Foxfire or give me a good handle on the scope of the unit, nor lay groundwork for the characters and their abilities. I felt like I was lagging a step behind through most of the book because of it, not really able to connect to anything going on in it.
That wasn't the only problem, though. I thought the plot and characters lacked depth - especially Kit, who I never warmed up to. Some attempts were made to provide them added dimension, and Kit's debilitating degenerative disease and Wolfe's tragic childhood were good concepts, but neither plot point was really given much room to impact the story or the characters' development. There were also some stylistic issues with abrupt and awkward transitions that hurt the narrative. I loved the dogs, though. They were the best characters in the book. Unfortunately, that leads me to another problem.
There weren't many explanations offered or answers found in this book, so the entire reading experience felt a bit like a secret mission above my pay grade. What were the dogs capable of? Would what happened to Cruz happen to the rest of the group? If not, why? How, if Cruz has been in roughly the equivalent of solitary confinement in the bowels of a secret facility for the past two years and considered dead to his former teammates, did he find out about the dogs or make the contact with buyers? And how would he know to look for Wolfe's service record before he'd been assigned to guard Kit? Why was Izzy able to willfully defy the head of Foxfire without repercussion?
So many questions, so few answers, and not enough compelling me to continue the series to find out if they're ever answered.
The romance wasn't bad, though the pacing was a bit odd in places. I enjoyed parts of it very much. There was an abrupt jump to HEA at the end that seemed to come out of nowhere given the previous scene that had both Wolfe and Kit in it, but honestly, the romance and the dogs were the best parts of the book.
I still think that had I been around since the beginning of this series, I may have had a more favorable reaction to this book. The problem now is, I'm not sure there were enough good points in this book to motivate me finding out for sure.
May 2, 2013
Having enjoyed the first two Code Name books, I went into this one eagerly, but was quickly thrown for a loop. The hero, Wolfe Houston, a military man as are the heroes in the previous books, is part of a very elite group who all have some sort of psychic ability. I was not expecting that touch of the paranormal and it took my mind a bit to adjust to it. However, I then got involved in the story pretty quickly, for awhile anyway.
Kit is a dog trainer who contracts with the military, and is currently working with four Labrador pups. The dogs are very quick and incredibly intelligent, and while sometimes Kit wonders to herself stuff like how in the heck did he move so quick, it of course would never occur to her that the dogs have been genetically enhanced.
Wolfe has also been genetically enhanced, as has Cruz, the villain of the story. Cruz had gone crazy and Wolfe and the rest of his team were told he died, but now Wolfe has learned that Cruz is still alive and has gone rogue. He is sent to protect Kit and the dogs, but his real mission is to capture Cruz.
Conveniently for our story, Wolfe lived on the ranch with Kit and her family as a teenager, when Kit’s mother took him in to help him escape his own abusive home. He looked upon Kit as a younger sister, but she’s had a crush on him ever since. Now of course Wolfe is very attracted to Kit, but in his chosen career a relationship is out of the question, and he has to force himself to remain detached and impassive.
There are lots of descriptions of Wolfe using his enhanced psychic skills, Cruz using his own powerful enhanced psychic skills, Kit angsting over Wolfe being back in her life, Wolfe angsting over his attraction to Kit, the dogs being cute and amazing, etc.
When Cruz and Wolfe finally have contact with each other, Cruz keeps saying that the experiments and testing performed on him had caused his breakdown, and that the same thing would happen to Wolfe and the rest of his team. I thought that this would become an important plot point, and that perhaps in the end Wolfe would even discover this to be true or would at least try to investigate it further. Since the team members are forbidden to be involved with a woman, cannot have families, it would have provide the perfect resolution for Wolfe and Kit to be together in the end. But it was glossed over, and while of course they got their HEA, or at least an HFN, no explanation was really given for how Wolfe is suddenly allowed to deviate from the rules against relationships.
The story just didn’t appeal to me the way the previous books did. I liked Kit and her fierce devotion to the dogs, but I never really connected with Wolfe. By the final quarter of the book, I was just wanted it to be over and get to the HEA/HFN already. I think the psychic components, the genetic enhancements, just weren’t my cup of tea. At one point Kit falls asleep watching “Casablanca” on TV, and Wolfe picks up the remote control and begins playing with it, marveling at it and the high tech television set. I realize he’s been living in isolation with the military for awhile, but a remote control and a TV should not be that fascinating to an elite military man. And he’d never seen, or in fact seemed to have heard of “Casablanca” – that’s just too unreal.
Kit is a dog trainer who contracts with the military, and is currently working with four Labrador pups. The dogs are very quick and incredibly intelligent, and while sometimes Kit wonders to herself stuff like how in the heck did he move so quick, it of course would never occur to her that the dogs have been genetically enhanced.
Wolfe has also been genetically enhanced, as has Cruz, the villain of the story. Cruz had gone crazy and Wolfe and the rest of his team were told he died, but now Wolfe has learned that Cruz is still alive and has gone rogue. He is sent to protect Kit and the dogs, but his real mission is to capture Cruz.
Conveniently for our story, Wolfe lived on the ranch with Kit and her family as a teenager, when Kit’s mother took him in to help him escape his own abusive home. He looked upon Kit as a younger sister, but she’s had a crush on him ever since. Now of course Wolfe is very attracted to Kit, but in his chosen career a relationship is out of the question, and he has to force himself to remain detached and impassive.
There are lots of descriptions of Wolfe using his enhanced psychic skills, Cruz using his own powerful enhanced psychic skills, Kit angsting over Wolfe being back in her life, Wolfe angsting over his attraction to Kit, the dogs being cute and amazing, etc.
When Cruz and Wolfe finally have contact with each other, Cruz keeps saying that the experiments and testing performed on him had caused his breakdown, and that the same thing would happen to Wolfe and the rest of his team. I thought that this would become an important plot point, and that perhaps in the end Wolfe would even discover this to be true or would at least try to investigate it further. Since the team members are forbidden to be involved with a woman, cannot have families, it would have provide the perfect resolution for Wolfe and Kit to be together in the end. But it was glossed over, and while of course they got their HEA, or at least an HFN, no explanation was really given for how Wolfe is suddenly allowed to deviate from the rules against relationships.
The story just didn’t appeal to me the way the previous books did. I liked Kit and her fierce devotion to the dogs, but I never really connected with Wolfe. By the final quarter of the book, I was just wanted it to be over and get to the HEA/HFN already. I think the psychic components, the genetic enhancements, just weren’t my cup of tea. At one point Kit falls asleep watching “Casablanca” on TV, and Wolfe picks up the remote control and begins playing with it, marveling at it and the high tech television set. I realize he’s been living in isolation with the military for awhile, but a remote control and a TV should not be that fascinating to an elite military man. And he’d never seen, or in fact seemed to have heard of “Casablanca” – that’s just too unreal.
June 18, 2011
Parts of this book were ok. Other parts I didn't like. And it seemed to DRAG ON and ON because of this. I got this book at the library sale, because I LOVED Christina Skye's Draycott Abbey series. And I thought wow!, a Christina Skye book with dogs! What more could a romance reader and animal LOVER want? I liked Kit and Wolf. And of course loved the 4 Black Labs; Baby, Diesel, Butch and Sundance. (Especially LOVED Baby and Diesel!)...Wish Christina would've delved MORE into Wolfe & Kit's relationship as kids though. Especially Kit's childhood crush on him. Also, WAY TOO MUCH 'SUPERNATURAL' stuff for my taste. With Wolfe and the dogs :-( With the chips implanted into Wolfe to make him faster, stronger, able to do mind control, ect. And some of the stuff the dogs did was just UNBELIEVABLE! I just couldn't get into it. At least with like 'The Twilight' series those books are SUPPOSED to be 'SUPERNATURAL'.
December 30, 2016
Baby To The Rescue
The story is full of suspense with some traces of romance and humor. Baby is not human, she is a dog. Baby and her companions steal the story and they are absolutely devoted to Kit. Kit is a respected dog trainer living on borrowed time. She doesn't let the crippling arthritis slowly working their way into her joints stop her from doing the work she loves. Things heat up for her when Wolfe, an old childhood crush shows up at her ranch. What she doesn't know is that Wolfe is there for a specific reason. Specifically to guard her and the special dogs she's training. The crap hits the fan when Kit finds out the real reason Wolfe came back into her life. Wolfe has to prove himself to Kit, knowing that if he doesn't then he lost the best thing that's ever happened to him.
The story is full of suspense with some traces of romance and humor. Baby is not human, she is a dog. Baby and her companions steal the story and they are absolutely devoted to Kit. Kit is a respected dog trainer living on borrowed time. She doesn't let the crippling arthritis slowly working their way into her joints stop her from doing the work she loves. Things heat up for her when Wolfe, an old childhood crush shows up at her ranch. What she doesn't know is that Wolfe is there for a specific reason. Specifically to guard her and the special dogs she's training. The crap hits the fan when Kit finds out the real reason Wolfe came back into her life. Wolfe has to prove himself to Kit, knowing that if he doesn't then he lost the best thing that's ever happened to him.
June 12, 2010
I couldn't get into it. I loved Code Name: Nanny and Code Name: Princess. But this felt outlandish. Which is odd coming from me, since I love paranormal and usually wouldn't have a problem with psychic spies and such. However, in this series, I was reading it because it had a sense of realism and it just felt like a big stretch to have people controlling animals with their minds, animals that are smarter than humans but still had loyalty to humans, and humans who can project visions and locked in containment training cells to hone their senses without food or water or human contact for weeks on end. And to have this totally hardened removed from the world character be not only our hero but the primary love interest, just not feeling it.
September 7, 2008
Light romance - a genetically enhanced Navy SEAL protects a female dog trainer woman and her genetically enhanced Lab puppies.
Said woman, Kit, is predictibly the sister of a fellow Navy SEAL, and the guy protecting Kit knows her from years ago.
The twist of the Navy SEAL and dogs being genetically enhanced, and the details (no spoiler) about the bad guy/s he is protecting Kit from put this a (cold) nose above the run-of-the-mill romance.
Plus, of course, the dogs!! *woof! Loved the Rotties & Labs :-)
Said woman, Kit, is predictibly the sister of a fellow Navy SEAL, and the guy protecting Kit knows her from years ago.
The twist of the Navy SEAL and dogs being genetically enhanced, and the details (no spoiler) about the bad guy/s he is protecting Kit from put this a (cold) nose above the run-of-the-mill romance.
Plus, of course, the dogs!! *woof! Loved the Rotties & Labs :-)
July 9, 2016
More like 3.5* I enjoyed this book and the reappearance of Izzy. However, the government developed super powers were a little over the top. I did like the relationship between Kit and Wolfe and that she finally got what she has been dreaming of with him. I adored the dogs, their superpowers were endearing and not over the top. I am still enjoying this series and look forward to the next story. I hope that since it will be about Miki, and I'm assuming Trace, that means that Kit and Wolfe will be making appearances.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2015
Another great book by Christina Skye. This one is about a group of men who have been trained and medically enhanced to be faster and stronger than the average military soldier. Wolfe Houston was just one of these men and he needed to keep safe the sister of one of his best friends in the program. He knew Kit O'Halloran since she was a kid but she had grown up and for the best.
Kit trained dogs for the military and was very good at her job but there were others who wanted these dogs for other purposes and it was Wolfe's job to protect them all.
Good book
Kit trained dogs for the military and was very good at her job but there were others who wanted these dogs for other purposes and it was Wolfe's job to protect them all.
Good book
August 3, 2016
Totally not working for me. DNF It's freaking me out that Wolfe (name!) and the dogs have basically had the same techn0-genetic upgrades. And there are way too many holes. Why did Cruz go crazy and why wouldn't everyone else - since they have been completely jerked with? I'm creeped out by the enhancements. I can see picking men with natural abilities -fast, good eyesight, empathetic, etc and training them to be better - but satellite chips are just way too tin-foil hat for me. I'd rather read about werewolves.
April 21, 2009
A somewhat entertaining read dealing with secret government projects. Baby is actually a black Lab, one of four super-intelligent puppies being trained by Kit at her ranch in the New Mexico desert. But Kit and the pups are in danger so enter in teenage love interest, now a government project himself, to protect her. But the real-life question is: Just what are those secret military stations up to?
May 5, 2013
**Spoiler alert** The whole premise of the elite trained to be telepathic with both animals and humans was a bit unbelievable especially with the animals. I could not finish this one and it is rare that I am unable to read a book. The relationship between the main characters and wanting to see how it progressed kept me interested but not for long. Once the hawk attacked the waitress and forced her to walk in front of a tractor trailer truck I was done with this bizarre book!
December 6, 2007
At first, I didn't think I was going to make it very far into this book, however I decided to read a few more pages.
I am so glad I made that decision. I really loved this book and I want to find some of the other books by this author. I really enjoyed the style of writing and the mix of adventure, romance, and a bit of mystery.
I am so glad I made that decision. I really loved this book and I want to find some of the other books by this author. I really enjoyed the style of writing and the mix of adventure, romance, and a bit of mystery.
April 3, 2012
I loved the idea of this book almost as much as the story itself. :) I love original stories and I have never read anything with "super" dogs that actually kept my attention. :P would loved to had more info about what was REALLY going on, but it's a romance book, not a bestseller. Loved it for what it was.
July 30, 2008
A lazy day excape kind of book full of suspense, action,and romance. Not all reading has to teach you something and this was a few hours of shameless endulgence in the un-reality.
This book was one of the great chic lit books that made it to me by the chain of women at my mother in laws work.
This book was one of the great chic lit books that made it to me by the chain of women at my mother in laws work.
August 16, 2009
I loved this book. This book is a continuation of the Foxfire, Navy Seal series. Wolfe Houston is the Seal and Kit O'Halloran is a dog trainer who starts training Foxfire dogs. When crazy former Seal Cruz escapes from custody, it is the start of a very intense plot. Great story!
May 11, 2015
Loved the puppies in this one. This is part of a series. It can be read alone, but reading the series in order is the preferred way to enjoy these books. The characters flow from one book to another. Hot guy, smart lady, tight plot, and adorable pups. What more could you ask for ?
January 11, 2008
I enjoyed this book! Alot of humor.
March 9, 2008
Cheesy and predictable but still a good read. Has this AMAZING sex scene in it. I read that part at the gym and felt pretty awkward!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews