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Ryan Brennan has worked plenty of jobs for the McCormack Security Agency, so going undercover at a couples resort to identify a pair of killers should be easy. Except his assigned partner-uh, "wife"-is Vicky Hastings. It takes all his willpower to keep their relationship professional, even when they're not sharing a secluded cabin.Finally out from behind her desk, Vicky can't wait to prove herself in the field. But with Ryan? Their office flirtation cooled when he turned her down after a scorching kiss at the office Christmas party. Working together while sharing close quarters certainly isn't making it easy for her to stop thinking about him.After a series of escalating "accidents," including Vicky's near-fatal fall from a tampered bridge, the two have to work together to wrap up this case fast, before more than hearts get broken.For more of the McCormack Security Agency series, check out Guarding Jess and Viper's Kiss, available now!98,000 words

273 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

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Shannon Curtis

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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Jenny.
2,353 reviews73 followers
May 11, 2024
For Her Eyes Only is book three by Shannon Curtis in the McCormack Security Agency series. Murder of a doctor and attack on his daughter, who was a friend of Vicky Hastings, who argued with her boss and the field agent in charge of this case, Ryan Brennan, to be able to go out into the field. However, Vicky Hastings got her wishes, but did she make the wrong discussion? The readers of For Eye Only will continue to follow Vicky Hastings and Ryan Brennan to discover what happens.

I have not found a bad book by Shannon Curtis. For Her Eyes Only is another fantastic book by her, and I enjoyed reading it. I engaged with the story and the characters from the first page, and it continued to the end. I love Shannon Curtis's portrayal of her characters and how they intertwine throughout this book. For Her Eyes Only is well-written and researched. I like Shannon Curtis's description of the settings of For Her Eyes Only, which allowed me to imagine being part of the book's plot.

For Her Eyes Only, readers will learn about the genetic disease Tay-Sachs, its symptoms, and the danger of revenge.

I recommend this book.
Profile Image for Helen.
2,936 reviews67 followers
January 3, 2014
This one grabed from the first page the edge of your seat suspense the banter between Ryan and Vicky and a very sensual best friends to lovers romance what more could you want. When Vicky goes out on her first undercover mission with experienced Ryan all he wants to do is protect his best friend but Vicky is determined to do well but acting as husband and wife brings a lot of truths out. This one will keep you smiling and turning the pages as Ryan and Vicky close in on husband and wife killers and it is great catching up with characters from the previous two books. Highly recommend this one.
Profile Image for Tracy.
933 reviews72 followers
July 27, 2014
Uneven Tone Hurts the Read
When the father of a good friend is murdered and her friend is viciously attacked, MSA operations manager Vicky Hastings is determined to have her first field assignment be the undercover investigation that will identify and catch the perpetrators. There's just one small problem. Her partner for the mission is Ryan Brennan.

Okay...the MSA agent and undercover specialist is not a small problem. Sinfully sexy problem, yes. Small, no. Unfortunately, the gorgeous but frustrating man sees her only as a friend and is completely dismissive of her talents and her contributions to the agency. He's none too thrilled with the idea of being her partner on this assignment, either.

Well he'll just have to suck it up and deal with it, because Vicky is determined to catch the killers and gain Ryan's respect as a valued member of the MSA team. She just hopes she doesn't die trying.

~*~

There were things I liked about this third installment of Curtis' McCormack Security Agency series. Despite a limited amount of exposition to set this book into the series and a perplexing setup for the plot conflict (why was a security agency doing what police are supposed to do?), the story starts with a vicious killing that sets the sort of dark, edgy tone that I like in romantic suspense, and there's no doubt that the killers are Bad Guys riding the Crazy Train. That worked for me, as did several crafty, well-conceived and executed plot points in the suspense thread. Overall, I was surprised and pleased by the big picture of the conflict when it's finally revealed late in the book as it reaches its climax.

There were also elements of the romance that amused and charmed, and the cute, sometimes goofy, sexy heat between Vicky and Ryan made up for some of the less favorable points in their relationship. Despite a hearty dose of emotional immaturity on both their parts, and the confusing, difficult-to-believe premise of friendship between them (I never bought that setup, no matter what they said), they sort of worked for me as a romantic couple.

Unfortunately, the lighter tone of their relationship was at such odds with the severity of the opening sequences and the seriousness of the suspense, that I found the two elements jarring when taken together in context. Instead of blending and weaving together cohesively, the suspense threads and the romance threads never came together for me and ended up feeling very disparate throughout the book.

And I'm sorry, but I have to vent. When you and your partner have just found a viciously assaulted young woman bleeding out and dangerously near death, then you have to toss the dying woman over your shoulder to race away from the scene before the bomb that was planted kills you all, the very last thing on your mind should be the fine bum of your friend/partner.

I think Ryan having to tell himself not to stare at Vic's ass mere moments after bearing witness to horrific brutality and nearly getting blown to bits was supposed to be cute, but to me, it was so completely inappropriate in the moment that it didn't give me much of a first impression of Ryan's character.

That situation wasn't helped by the borderline incompetence and lack of professionalism evidenced by Vicky and Ryan once they were undercover. The whole premise of them going undercover as a married couple was a pretty heavy-handed and overused romantic suspense trope to begin with. And once they've inserted into the scenario, they spent so much time bickering at each other and flagrantly one-upping each other with ridiculous cover story that the investigation got lost in the shuffle.

I was also a little unhappy with Vicky's naiveté, nerves, and discomfort with Ryan's proximity once they were under. For someone who fought so hard to get where she was, claiming over and over that she was ready and more than able to do the job, desperate to prove herself, she came off as a complete powder puff at crunch time, or worse, a very disappointing gender stereotype.

Truth is, though, for me it was really all about the tone. Because of how the story started, the lighter elements weren't as successful for me as they could have been. On their own and in a different setting, I could really have enjoyed the romance arc and would have had more patience for the characters and their quirks.

Had the lighter romance been more in line with the darker suspense threads, this could have been a very solid read for me. As it is, the disparate pieces just didn't quite fit right. There were good points for sure, just not enough of them to elevate the story as a whole.

Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Carina Press via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.
~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
Profile Image for Lexie.
2,066 reviews357 followers
March 24, 2016
Romantic Suspense and me have a rocky history. I used to read a lot of Harlequin's Intrique books (mostly because I loved Rebecca York's almost Soap Opera-esque "43 Light Street" series), but my interest waned as I became more involved in the Paranormal Romance lines. Something about this book's synopsis caught me though. I haven't read the preceding titles and I may not since what worked for me in this book was Ryan, Vicky and the "Maxwell" couple. If I was being totally honest it was mostly the Maxwells.

Let me explain.

A lot of suspense books I don't buy into the "suspense/mystery" part of the story. Too often it feels as if the author truncates that in order to deliver the romantic heat/relationship development needed in what is often a very short time frame. So we'll have killers (so very often killers) who have brief moments of actual menace before they become some sort of cardboard cut out.

The Maxwells though? They--in particular Jade--felt truly menacing. Curtis does a good job tossing red herrings as to who the couple could be masquerading as, plus what their motivations were. Several of the theories that the MSA/Ryan and Vicky postulate make sense for the couple. But the real bite lies in what they muse on oh so briefly and then toss aside because it doesn't fit the Maxwells current pattern of behavior.

As individuals Ryan and Vicky got a little bit annoying to me. If Ryan wasn't brooding about how Vicky was 'so special' to him and 'had to be protected' constantly, he was angsting about his lust for her. If Vicky wasn't emo'ing about how Ryan (and the team in general) don't take her skills seriously, she's angrily contemplating why Ryan refuses to ravish her. More then almost any couple I can think of these two had big time communication problems. Ryan's oblivious 'you mean everything to me...as a friend' conversations with Vicky and Vicky's hair-trigger temper when he tried to keep her protected got in the way of the time of them understanding the underlying reasons.

And after about a 100 pages of that it got old fast.

Drew, the "James Bond playboy" of the group (who I hope gets a book as I'd love to see him actually fall for a woman, Curtis sort of sets up this in the book to tragic results), is amusing as their backup support and the various couples at the retreats all have sordid scandalous lives they're trying to hide from their spouses.

But the real shining gem for me was watching Jade and Simon unfold their meticulous, patient and sociopathic plan. Because Curtis keeps us guessing right up to the end--and everyone is pretty suspicious--I as the reader was constantly trying to guess who they were posing as. Was it Kurt and Paula--who had suspicious drugs in their room? Or Deborah and Hank--who seem a little to cheerful? Jennifer and Elliot--who always seem at odds with each other? Or Margie and Jeffrey--who seem so 'in tune' with each other all the time? The reveal at the end was surprising, but looking back made complete and utter sense.
Profile Image for Nicci.
723 reviews228 followers
November 21, 2013
*Review Copy Provided in exchange for an honest review*

This book kicks off with a prologue that is really quite chilling... A very good start for a thriller, but this book is billed as a romance. Yes, from the synopsis you know it's romantic suspense but it was still a bit of a surprise for the opening scene!
A good surprise I guess...
I thought wow! This book is going to be gripping!
Unfortunately, the majority of this book dragged.
It was only in the last third that the story really started to pick up and I'll admit when the pace picked up I was hooked and wasn't putting it down until it was finished.
The mystery side was very well written. I'll admit that I don't read alot of romantic suspense, but with the books I read in the past I was able to work out the "bad guy" long before the reveal.
In this book, I had suspicions (which turned out to be accurate) but my suspicions only developed towards the end. Up until then I was genuinely oblivious.

The romance side of this story left alot to be desired.
I don't really have the mental energy to go into great detail about how tedious the romance got at times.

Ryan "has issues" and wont take his friendship with Vicky further as he doesn't want to lose her.
He is completely oblivious to how he feels for her (even though it's obvious - she is "home" to him) and he ends up constantly hurting her.
It took too long for Ryan to wise up and it dragged the romance side down.

Vicky comes across as a blushing virgin even when she is not.
She wants to be a field operative even when obviously isn't cut out for it - not because she lacks skills, but because she doesn't have the personality required for it.
She's loved Ryan for years but after one rejection (that she never spoke about or challenged him on) she never did anything about how she felt!
You just wanted her to grow some balls and smack some sense into him! I guess in the end she does!

The banter between the pair was good though.
There really was some funny moments while posing as a married couple.
Especially their "therapy" sessions.

The romance picks up a bit towards the end but overall, I just didn't feel it.
I liked them but I wasn't all that bothered as to whether they'd make it as a couple.
I guess from the ending they will.

If romantic suspense is your thing, I'd say give it a try. I liked it but I doubt I'll hunt out more of the authors work.
Not because of the writing etc but because I think at the end of the day, romantic suspense isn't my cup of tea and this book wasn't enough to make me rethink that stance.

www.where-did-the-sun-go.blogspot.co.uk
Profile Image for Ruby Johnson.
117 reviews5 followers
November 21, 2013
Ryan is a flawed hero with a terrible childhood. Vicky, a heroine has had just the opposite type of childhood with a big loving family. They both work for MSA. Ryan is an undercover agent. They were just friends who hung out together when he was in town until Vicky kissed him at last year’s Christmas party and he blew her off. Vicky would have liked the relationship to be more. As the operations manager, Vicky has finally convinced her boss to allow her to work undercover. All she wants is recognition for her work. Then she and Ryan are assigned to work undercover as a married couple at a marital coaching and therapy retreat to catch the couple who killed the plastic surgeon father of Vicky’s friend. They are assisted by Drew, another MSA operative.
The Hero and Heroine find themselves living in close quarters and having to show their feelings in counseling sessions as they looked for the killers. The author was able to keep this reader guessing about the identity of the killers as the tension escalated with the investigation and the hero and heroine discover their feelings for each other. All of the characters were believable and well crafted. The setting acted as a character with the weather-cold, ice, and snow. I read this in one day and didn’t want to put it down until I finished.
I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.
Profile Image for Emsy Van Wyck.
200 reviews3 followers
July 9, 2014
An adrenaline-spiking, page-turning, steamy read

I really enjoyed Shannon Curtis’ For Her Eyes Only, the third book in her McCormack Security Agency Series. Yes, I love romantic suspense and in order to give this a fair review I absolutely HAD to read the previous two store sin this series, Viper's Kiss (Book 1) / Guarding Jess (Book 2), right? Well, that was my excuse anyway and soon I was happily immersed in some adrenaline-spiking, page-turning reads. I really enjoyed this series and For Her Eyes Only is filled with plot twists and suspects, as well as some steamy scenes. Ryan, the hero, an operative with McCormack Security is paired with a desk worker at the security agency, Vicky. They once shared a steamy kiss, but then Ryan beat a hasty retreat, now however they are undercover (in more ways than one) at a couples resort where some unsavory things seem to be taking place. I’d highly recommend you take a look at all three books in the series, but if not, this story does stand on its own. A fun summertime read when the days are hot, as the winter descriptions may help you cool off.

(I received an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley for use in this review.)
Profile Image for Zarith dol.
221 reviews1 follower
November 19, 2013
ARC given by netgalley
The story start with a murder of plastic surgeon who is the friend's father of the heroine, Vicky. The hero, Ryan and Vicky company is hired to solved said murder as her friend is also attack and almost being blown up by the murderer. First time on the field, Ryan is concern about Vicky ability in undercover. Not to mention as they are BFF, her safety is his priority that could jeopardise the case. The clue lead to the up scale retreat for couples and they are paired up. The retreat is shadowed by the mystery as more body piling up and the killer couple is targeting our main.
Loved the plot, loved the characters, but as individual. Somehow as together, just not work with me. But i did loved all the murder plot and the intrigued in each scene until right the end I really didn't know who are the killer couple impersonate. i would love more interaction btw the main, coz i loved their interaction with other supporting character. Anyway, a good suspense romance just not for me.
Profile Image for Michelle.
2,069 reviews
December 18, 2014
I jumped right in to the McCormack Security Agency with book 3, For Her Eyes Only, and had no problem following along with all of the characters. Shannon Curtis is a new-to-me author but I enjoy a good romantic suspense so I was excited to try. Vicky has been working hard for McCormack Security for years behind a desk but she is ready to get out in the field as an agent. She’s given the perfect opportunity when Ryan needs to go undercover at a couple’s retreat, Vicky will work perfectly as his ‘wife’. Except that for years Vicky has been ready to move them out of the friend zone, in to something deeper. As they try to uncover the killer hiding among the guests they take their roles as husband and wife seriously and what begins as a cover starts to be something so much more. Soon the killer becomes fixated with eliminating them and the battle for the lives begin. As a first read from Ms. Curtis I really enjoyed this story. It had some edge of your seat action, maybe a few too many people killed for my tastes but otherwise, good read!
Profile Image for Angela.
207 reviews19 followers
November 7, 2013
This is my first book by this author and even tho this is part of a series it can be read as a stand alone. I do plan on reading more from this author.

I totally loved this story when i grow up i want to be vicki she is on determined woman who isn't afraid to try something new, i fell a little in love with ryan he is troubled about his past but seeing him deal with that makes him irristable!

I received a free copy from netgallery in exchange for a honest review
Profile Image for Briana.
162 reviews
January 4, 2014
This was an okay read. The main characters were a little stereotypical but it was still nice to read through it and figure out what happened.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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