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Devlin Group #1
72 Hours
Grace Nolan walked away from the Devlin Group carrying Alex Rossi’s child in her womb and his bullet in her shoulder. But a ghost from the past has kidnapped her son, Danny. The ransom—Alex Rossi. To get her son back, Grace will have to step back into the life she’d left behind and reveal her secret to Alex…
With vengeance for his mother’s murder nearly at hand and a deadly substance on the loose, the last thing Alex Rossi needs is to find himself at the business end of Grace’s gun. Now the clock is ticking as they race to save a child and stop a madman bent on destruction.
But Alex has a secret of his own, and it may be the ultimate betrayal.
With vengeance for his mother’s murder nearly at hand and a deadly substance on the loose, the last thing Alex Rossi needs is to find himself at the business end of Grace’s gun. Now the clock is ticking as they race to save a child and stop a madman bent on destruction.
But Alex has a secret of his own, and it may be the ultimate betrayal.
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2006
107 people are currently reading
975 people want to read
About the author
Shannon Stacey
141 books2,641 followersNew York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her favorite activities are writing romance and really random tweets when she’s not riding her ATV. She loves mud, books, football & watching way too much TV.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
May 10, 2020
Grace Nolan is an ex-secret agent trying to live a quiet life with her son Danny. Her life has been peaceful for the past nine years. But when Danny is kidnapped and Grace is told she must trade Alex Rossi, a member of the Devlin Group, for her son, Grace hurries to comply. Getting Alex to agree isn't going to be easy. He's the guy who shot Grace when a terrorist was holding her at gunpoint. He's also Danny's father...not that he knows about that.
This is the first story in Shannon Stacey's Devlin Group series. The characters felt like cardboard cutouts of many characters we've seen in romantic suspense books. I never connected with them. Alex has secretly kept tabs on Grace for years and is livid when he finds out that he has a son. Grace blames Alex for everything that has gone wrong in her life. There was a lot of melodrama that just made me roll my eyes. The suspense plot was predictable with no surprises. My rating: 3 Stars.
This is the first story in Shannon Stacey's Devlin Group series. The characters felt like cardboard cutouts of many characters we've seen in romantic suspense books. I never connected with them. Alex has secretly kept tabs on Grace for years and is livid when he finds out that he has a son. Grace blames Alex for everything that has gone wrong in her life. There was a lot of melodrama that just made me roll my eyes. The suspense plot was predictable with no surprises. My rating: 3 Stars.
November 13, 2009
Fast, easy read, sort of like a tv movie. Lots of action but no depth.
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April 27, 2017Kindle Freebie! 4/27/17
August 29, 2011
I decided to read this book because of the secret baby plot. I like them when done well, and I was led to believe the heroine's reasons for keeping her son a secret from his father were reasonable. What I was told was correct - her reasons made sense and allowed me to enjoy the story without anger at her for keeping her son a secret.
I really liked the chemistry and emotions between Alex and Grace. Their past history made the story more intense. I also liked the action scenes. Grace was a pretty kickass heroine. I especially liked that she was the one that rescued her son.
What didn't work as well for me was her insistence that she go after the bad guys after recovering her son. As a mother, I can understand her need to rescue him herself. I can even understand the need for vengeance and wanting to hurt the people responsible for kidnapping him. What I can't understand is leaving him almost immediately after rescuing him and putting yourself back in danger...especially without waiting to see what kind of emotional trauma he might be suffering.
Luckily - and this is reflected in my rating of the book - Grace realized she was an idiot and I felt like she learned her lesson. It came a little late in the game, but better late than never, right?
I am kind of disappointed that it was so short. I would have liked to see more with Alex getting to know his son.
In any event, I will be reading the next book in the series. Stacey managed to hook me.
I really liked the chemistry and emotions between Alex and Grace. Their past history made the story more intense. I also liked the action scenes. Grace was a pretty kickass heroine. I especially liked that she was the one that rescued her son.
What didn't work as well for me was her insistence that she go after the bad guys after recovering her son. As a mother, I can understand her need to rescue him herself. I can even understand the need for vengeance and wanting to hurt the people responsible for kidnapping him. What I can't understand is leaving him almost immediately after rescuing him and putting yourself back in danger...especially without waiting to see what kind of emotional trauma he might be suffering.
Luckily - and this is reflected in my rating of the book - Grace realized she was an idiot and I felt like she learned her lesson. It came a little late in the game, but better late than never, right?
I am kind of disappointed that it was so short. I would have liked to see more with Alex getting to know his son.
In any event, I will be reading the next book in the series. Stacey managed to hook me.
October 28, 2009
Grace doesn't look like a woman on the run. She tries (and fails) to bake cookies for her son Danny after school. The secret from her past - that she's a butt-kicking secret agent - catches up with her at the beginning of the book, when Danny is kidnapped and held in exchange for her former co-worker Alex.
Grace has a secret she must tell in order to get Alex to go along with her plan. Alex also has a secret that comes out in time.
Could I see the happy ending coming a mile away in this paint-by-numbers thriller? You bet. Anything unexpected? Nope, not really. It's a fairly interesting book that kept me turning pages, but as other reviewers have noted, Stacey is no Hemingway. Not even a Patterson or a Kellerman.
Grace has a secret she must tell in order to get Alex to go along with her plan. Alex also has a secret that comes out in time.
Could I see the happy ending coming a mile away in this paint-by-numbers thriller? You bet. Anything unexpected? Nope, not really. It's a fairly interesting book that kept me turning pages, but as other reviewers have noted, Stacey is no Hemingway. Not even a Patterson or a Kellerman.
January 16, 2018
3.5 stars. I think this was a pretty good start to a series. It was a short book and I would have liked to have seen it be longer and I think that would have helped some of the character development. The characters are interesting enough that I intend to continue with the series.
August 31, 2021
Some fast paced, high stakes, romance was apparently what I needed to read right now because this really hit the spot and I enjoyed it. It was short and without depth but well written. Rating five stars purely for entertainment/enjoyment value. I might even continue with the series.
March 7, 2016
I was in the mood for some fast-paced romantic suspense when I picked this book up and I got that. I also got danger, secrets, lies, and simmering sexual tension. Which is pretty much the yardstick by which I measure all books of this kind. So, YAY!
Grace and Alex have some things they need to work through. This is before she pops in to kidnap him and hand him over for her son's life. Needless to say, their relationship is a little on the complicated side. Grace is harboring a few misconceptions about Alex. Alex is keeping secrets from her. And from most everyone else, come to think of it. Things are decidedly bumpy when they come together after so many years. As one would expect them to be.
Normally, I'm not a fan of big secrets being kept--especially when the secret in question is a kid--but I get why Grace did what she did. She had a hard choice to make and she thought she was doing the one thing that would keep her child safe. I'm still not a fan of keeping those sorts of secrets, but... I get it in this case. I get it.
Bottom line: I was looking for something that hit hard and left a few bodies in its wake and I got that. I liked the characters. I liked the chemistry between Grace and Alex (sexy times after an assignment are always nice, amirite?!?!) and I liked the secondary characters we got to meet. *thumbs up*
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
Grace and Alex have some things they need to work through. This is before she pops in to kidnap him and hand him over for her son's life. Needless to say, their relationship is a little on the complicated side. Grace is harboring a few misconceptions about Alex. Alex is keeping secrets from her. And from most everyone else, come to think of it. Things are decidedly bumpy when they come together after so many years. As one would expect them to be.
Normally, I'm not a fan of big secrets being kept--especially when the secret in question is a kid--but I get why Grace did what she did. She had a hard choice to make and she thought she was doing the one thing that would keep her child safe. I'm still not a fan of keeping those sorts of secrets, but... I get it in this case. I get it.
Bottom line: I was looking for something that hit hard and left a few bodies in its wake and I got that. I liked the characters. I liked the chemistry between Grace and Alex (sexy times after an assignment are always nice, amirite?!?!) and I liked the secondary characters we got to meet. *thumbs up*
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
October 28, 2015
3.5 stars!! I wouldn't rated higher if not for a couple of things. 1. I wanted to see more of Alex with Danny and what happened after they all went home together. It didn't have to be long, just something to let me see them as a family. And 2. the constant changing of Danny's eye color...four different times in the book his eyes were described..twice they were called blue and twice brown?!?! Not big problems because I did like the book but a little extra and paying attention to details could've made it so much better!!!
July 11, 2014
The first book in the Devlin Group series by Shannon Stacey. A quick read. I probably will read more by this author. It was a good story I just felt it needed a little more of something. Maybe a little more back story or character development and a little more suspense. I felt it got "wrapped" up rather quickly.
February 28, 2013
Horrible. Sophomoric writing. I REALLY try to read a book through. At the halfway point, I decided I just couldn't do it this time. Character development was shallow. The book is filled with repetitive clichés.
April 29, 2015
This was solid romance and a decent suspense novel. Not sure I love the two together, but overall it was enjoyable.
July 2, 2021
I really loved this book as a kick off to a new series.
It's a quicker read at around 120 pages, yet Ms. Stacey was able to not only develop a plot line that starts on page one and doesn't let up until the last page, but she also managed to create four relatable and unique characters.
The story revolves around Alex Rossi owner and operator of The Devlin Group. The group seems to be larger than the four core characters featured in 72 hours, but these four are the backbone of the company.
Named for the pseudonym that his family lived under in Italy when he was a child, Alex is using his resources to not only assist governments and private corporations in protecting assets or cleaning up after potential international collateral damage; he is also using the group to draw his mother's murderer out from hiding.
72 Hours focuses on Alex's back story and his motives, but there are other key players in there as well. Grace is Alex's ex partner who left the Devlin Group after an "incident" in London. She now lives a clam yet boring life as a single mom who does computer security work on the side. It is boring until her son is kidnapped that is.
Grace returns to her old employer group as the kidnappers have demanded Alex in exchange for her son.
There are a lot of secrets hidden in this small group, and crammed into these short pages. I actually would love to see this book drawn out a little more, but that's just because I love military spy thrillers and these characters really engaged my interest.
The other folks we meet are Gallagher, Alex's best friend and right hand man. Gallagher is a tactical genius seeming to come with specs for impossible tasks in a matter of hours and with minimal resources. All the operatives are written as highly intelligent, fast thinking, critical characters.
With Gallagher we also met Carmen, or Carm. Alex's Girl of All Trades who is a whiz at stealth, intel, and poisons. Grace is his cool under pressure, adrenaline junkie who has a killer shot and lethal aim. The four of them together work to figure out who has Grace's son, why he was taken, and who is behind the plot.
Ms. Stacey also does a marvelous job of keeping her story line tight and her bad guys believable. There is a baddie from Alex and Grace's past, but the main target is an unknown to us until the very end. The end twist has a great reveal and solid backstory. While Alex's mother is mentioned throughout the story, his father remains a vague character. We know he was an undercover operative who mentally and emotionally fell apart after his wife's murder, but we don't get a full view as to where he is at the time of this story or whatever happened to the op he was working on that landed the family in Italy.
Carm and Gallagher appear enough in the book to give you a great peek into their personalities and how they work as people. Tantalizing pieces of their own back stories are dropped in here or there as part of the plot rollout. Little quirks and descriptions of work they have done in the past are pulled in to flesh out their roles. It's completed in a seamless and smooth manner. It also helps close what could have been plot holes or gaps.
Overall, I was really pleased with this book. Typically I find that suspense novels that are shorter than 200 pages can move too quickly, gloss over details, or drop plot points. None of those things happened in this novel. In fact, it ends at a place where you really want to dive deeper into the Devlin Group's work.
Which is a great place to leave off as there IS more to the Devlin Group - I can't wait to pick up book two of this series to find what is uncovered next.
It's a quicker read at around 120 pages, yet Ms. Stacey was able to not only develop a plot line that starts on page one and doesn't let up until the last page, but she also managed to create four relatable and unique characters.
The story revolves around Alex Rossi owner and operator of The Devlin Group. The group seems to be larger than the four core characters featured in 72 hours, but these four are the backbone of the company.
Named for the pseudonym that his family lived under in Italy when he was a child, Alex is using his resources to not only assist governments and private corporations in protecting assets or cleaning up after potential international collateral damage; he is also using the group to draw his mother's murderer out from hiding.
72 Hours focuses on Alex's back story and his motives, but there are other key players in there as well. Grace is Alex's ex partner who left the Devlin Group after an "incident" in London. She now lives a clam yet boring life as a single mom who does computer security work on the side. It is boring until her son is kidnapped that is.
Grace returns to her old employer group as the kidnappers have demanded Alex in exchange for her son.
There are a lot of secrets hidden in this small group, and crammed into these short pages. I actually would love to see this book drawn out a little more, but that's just because I love military spy thrillers and these characters really engaged my interest.
The other folks we meet are Gallagher, Alex's best friend and right hand man. Gallagher is a tactical genius seeming to come with specs for impossible tasks in a matter of hours and with minimal resources. All the operatives are written as highly intelligent, fast thinking, critical characters.
With Gallagher we also met Carmen, or Carm. Alex's Girl of All Trades who is a whiz at stealth, intel, and poisons. Grace is his cool under pressure, adrenaline junkie who has a killer shot and lethal aim. The four of them together work to figure out who has Grace's son, why he was taken, and who is behind the plot.
Ms. Stacey also does a marvelous job of keeping her story line tight and her bad guys believable. There is a baddie from Alex and Grace's past, but the main target is an unknown to us until the very end. The end twist has a great reveal and solid backstory. While Alex's mother is mentioned throughout the story, his father remains a vague character. We know he was an undercover operative who mentally and emotionally fell apart after his wife's murder, but we don't get a full view as to where he is at the time of this story or whatever happened to the op he was working on that landed the family in Italy.
Carm and Gallagher appear enough in the book to give you a great peek into their personalities and how they work as people. Tantalizing pieces of their own back stories are dropped in here or there as part of the plot rollout. Little quirks and descriptions of work they have done in the past are pulled in to flesh out their roles. It's completed in a seamless and smooth manner. It also helps close what could have been plot holes or gaps.
Overall, I was really pleased with this book. Typically I find that suspense novels that are shorter than 200 pages can move too quickly, gloss over details, or drop plot points. None of those things happened in this novel. In fact, it ends at a place where you really want to dive deeper into the Devlin Group's work.
Which is a great place to leave off as there IS more to the Devlin Group - I can't wait to pick up book two of this series to find what is uncovered next.
August 17, 2025
I read this because of the secret baby trope. It was a bit of a surprise to see how many years the secret baby was a secret baby...err...child. But I understood why the heroine did it so it worked for me. I also felt like the hero's reaction to finding out about his son was believable too. They were in the middle of planning out the rescue so he had to set the "confrontation" aside for the moment and get down to the business of rescuing their son.
I was a fan of the TV Show Alias, and the heroine in 72 hours made me think this is what Sydney Bristow would be like if she had a kid.
I thought it was cool when she was the one to swoop in and get her son and how he was in awe of her :)
One thing though, I thought this book was short but I felt like it was fine as is. I got all the good story without any additional padding.
Random: Sometimes little things in a book will stand out for one reason or another. In this one, there's a part where the hero asks the heroine for a picture of the child so they can send it to their friends who are helping them with the rescue (this is before he realizes it's his son). She has the picture in her hands and he pulls it from her grasp as he is walking by and talking. I think other writers may have had her handing him the picture but that little thing stood out to me because it is a real action that people do all the time. Told ya, totally random, huh?
I was a fan of the TV Show Alias, and the heroine in 72 hours made me think this is what Sydney Bristow would be like if she had a kid.
I thought it was cool when she was the one to swoop in and get her son and how he was in awe of her :)
One thing though, I thought this book was short but I felt like it was fine as is. I got all the good story without any additional padding.
Random: Sometimes little things in a book will stand out for one reason or another. In this one, there's a part where the hero asks the heroine for a picture of the child so they can send it to their friends who are helping them with the rescue (this is before he realizes it's his son). She has the picture in her hands and he pulls it from her grasp as he is walking by and talking. I think other writers may have had her handing him the picture but that little thing stood out to me because it is a real action that people do all the time. Told ya, totally random, huh?
March 17, 2020
Better Together!
Grace Nolan is devastated when her son Danny is kidnapped. The ransom, Alex Rossi her former lover and partner. Desperate she asks Sean Devlin for his address intending to force him to the rendezvous and then leave him to die in exchange for her son. What she doesn't know is Alex Rossi and Sean Devlin are one and the same. After a failed attempt to take him prisoner Alex discovers that Danny is also his son. The betrayal cuts deep but nothing will stop him from hunting the kidnappers and rescuing his boy. But can he also rescue his relationship with Grace. If he can't convince her that they are better together will he be doomed to be always alone. I really enjoyed this romantic suspense full of action, secrets and lies and enough sexual chemistry to set a Kindle on fire.
Grace Nolan is devastated when her son Danny is kidnapped. The ransom, Alex Rossi her former lover and partner. Desperate she asks Sean Devlin for his address intending to force him to the rendezvous and then leave him to die in exchange for her son. What she doesn't know is Alex Rossi and Sean Devlin are one and the same. After a failed attempt to take him prisoner Alex discovers that Danny is also his son. The betrayal cuts deep but nothing will stop him from hunting the kidnappers and rescuing his boy. But can he also rescue his relationship with Grace. If he can't convince her that they are better together will he be doomed to be always alone. I really enjoyed this romantic suspense full of action, secrets and lies and enough sexual chemistry to set a Kindle on fire.
August 31, 2021
Contains: Gun violence, death, and a secret baby plotline.
Genre(s): Action and Adventure, Romance
Summery: When Grace discovers she's pregnant she walks away from her G.I. Jane career and disappears into obscure motherhood until one day her son is kidnapped and she's forced to return to her former employer/lover to get her son back.
What I enjoyed about this story: Well written fast paced action scenes, lovable team of kick ass characters, and a reasonable plot.
What I didn't enjoy about this story: Grace's whole reasoning behind why she kept the pregnancy quiet and walking away from the baby's father was valid, but even after that misconception gets cleared up she still gets back on her bullshit of wanting to runaway and hide again. It annoyed me.
Official rating: 5 stars
Genre(s): Action and Adventure, Romance
Summery: When Grace discovers she's pregnant she walks away from her G.I. Jane career and disappears into obscure motherhood until one day her son is kidnapped and she's forced to return to her former employer/lover to get her son back.
What I enjoyed about this story: Well written fast paced action scenes, lovable team of kick ass characters, and a reasonable plot.
What I didn't enjoy about this story: Grace's whole reasoning behind why she kept the pregnancy quiet and walking away from the baby's father was valid, but even after that misconception gets cleared up she still gets back on her bullshit of wanting to runaway and hide again. It annoyed me.
Official rating: 5 stars
February 5, 2018
Grace walked away from Alex when she thought that he had betrayed her but for years she's been hiding a secret from him and she can no longer keep him in the dark. When her son is kidnapped she has no one to turn to except for Alex and when it's revealed that he's the father, he will stop at nothing to bring Danny home. As the truth comes out between them feelings that they tried to forget become harder to forget but can a covert operative find happiness with a woman trying to give her son the most normal childhood as possible. A really great, fast paced, sexy read to start the Devlin Group series. Fun read!
April 25, 2020
Welcome to the Devlin Group
Love this new series! Fast paced and action packed with lots of steamy moments. Imagine retiring from a job with a black ops and trying to live your life as a single, suburban mom, then being forced to take down the father of your child...the black ops leader. That’s where Grace Nolan finds herself. Grace has secrets...and so does her ‘baby daddy’, Alex Rossi. First they have to rescue Grace’s son.
Love this new series! Fast paced and action packed with lots of steamy moments. Imagine retiring from a job with a black ops and trying to live your life as a single, suburban mom, then being forced to take down the father of your child...the black ops leader. That’s where Grace Nolan finds herself. Grace has secrets...and so does her ‘baby daddy’, Alex Rossi. First they have to rescue Grace’s son.
May 8, 2017
Good book
Loved this book. Full drama and intrigue. From the first page I was hooked. It has a bit of everything, action drama and love kept me entertained even though it's only a novella.
Loved this book. Full drama and intrigue. From the first page I was hooked. It has a bit of everything, action drama and love kept me entertained even though it's only a novella.
January 4, 2022
A fast-paced action adventure romance. First in a series by Shannon Stacey, 72 Hours is about Grace Nolan, former agent, whose son is kidnapped. She returns to her former team to help get him back. Alex Rossi, aka Sean Devlin, has secrets too…
March 11, 2017
Brain candy--
May 12, 2017
It was fine. Pretty predictable and not a lot of depth.
May 12, 2017
Was okay, but just didn't grab and pull me in. A whole lot of suspension of disbelief in a few things, like the setup, the procedure. Was an okay quick read.
February 2, 2018
A kick butt heroine and an equally dangerous hero. Oh, and a cute kid. Throw in some danger and hot sex. I'll definitely read another.
March 10, 2018
Not my favorite by her.
April 7, 2018
absolutely loved it!
April 10, 2019
Great read
Loved everything about this book. You feel like you’re there in the moments with Grace and Alex. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series
Loved everything about this book. You feel like you’re there in the moments with Grace and Alex. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series
April 9, 2020
A very quick read with lots of actions, but the characters were not really deep or complex. An excellent read to complete when walking the dog or cleaning the house.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews