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Code: Warrior SEALs #2
Her Secret Spy
From New York Times bestselling author Cindy Dees—a thrilling new romance with a sinister edge
Lover. Trickster. Villain. Hero. Which of these is undercover spy Max Kuznetsov? Despite her psychic gifts, Lissa Clearmont isn't sure. All she knows is the gorgeous guy saved her life outside her New Orleans curio shop. And now they're fighting brutal Russian mobsters…and feeling extrasensual passion.
Although he's protecting her, Lissa knows Max keeps his darkest self—and true mission—hidden. It pains her when Max doubts the powers that have already cost her a normal life. But when Lissa foretells inescapable danger, Max and his team of SEALs must believe in her…or the dead people she sees will be all of them.
Lover. Trickster. Villain. Hero. Which of these is undercover spy Max Kuznetsov? Despite her psychic gifts, Lissa Clearmont isn't sure. All she knows is the gorgeous guy saved her life outside her New Orleans curio shop. And now they're fighting brutal Russian mobsters…and feeling extrasensual passion.
Although he's protecting her, Lissa knows Max keeps his darkest self—and true mission—hidden. It pains her when Max doubts the powers that have already cost her a normal life. But when Lissa foretells inescapable danger, Max and his team of SEALs must believe in her…or the dead people she sees will be all of them.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2016
13 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Cindy Dees
173 books1,955 followersCindy Dees started flying airplanes while sitting in her dad’s lap at the age of three and got a pilot’s license before she got a driver’s license. At age fifteen, she dropped out of high school and left the horse farm in Michigan where she grew up to attend the University of Michigan.
After earning a degree in Russian and East European studies, she joined the U.S. Air Force and became the youngest female pilot in the history of the Air Force. She flew supersonic jets, VIP airlift and the “C-5” Galaxy, the world’s largest airplane. She also worked part-time gathering intelligence. During her military career, she traveled to forty countries on five continents, was detained by the KGB and East German secret police, she got shot at, flew in the first Gulf War, met her husband and amassed a lifetime’s worth of war stories.
Her hobbies include professional Middle Eastern dancing, Japanese gardening and medieval reenacting. She started writing on a one-dollar bet with her mother and was thrilled to win that bet with the publication of her first book in 2001.
After earning a degree in Russian and East European studies, she joined the U.S. Air Force and became the youngest female pilot in the history of the Air Force. She flew supersonic jets, VIP airlift and the “C-5” Galaxy, the world’s largest airplane. She also worked part-time gathering intelligence. During her military career, she traveled to forty countries on five continents, was detained by the KGB and East German secret police, she got shot at, flew in the first Gulf War, met her husband and amassed a lifetime’s worth of war stories.
Her hobbies include professional Middle Eastern dancing, Japanese gardening and medieval reenacting. She started writing on a one-dollar bet with her mother and was thrilled to win that bet with the publication of her first book in 2001.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 3, 2016
Good book with a heroine who is a bit different than the usual. Lissa has come to New Orleans after inheriting her aunt's curio shop. Both Lissa and her aunt were known for their psychic abilities, but Lissa wants nothing more than to escape hers. One evening as she is leaving the shop, Lissa is attacked and Max comes to her rescue.
Max is a CIA agent who has been on an extended leave of absence in order to pursue an investigation of his own. He has been undercover for two years, infiltrating the local Russian mob. Convinced that the curio shop and its owner have a big part in it, Max has been keeping watch over it for the last two weeks. He can't stand by as Lissa is attacked, even if it might blow his cover.
I liked both Max and Lissa. They are two very different people. Max was raised by a man who was determined to train Max to be just like him, but Max had different plans. However, he learned his lessons well and they have contributed to the man he is today. He is very pragmatic and logical, and doesn't believe that psychic abilities are real. Lissa has had her abilities for most of her life. Most of her family doesn't believe either. Unfortunately for Lissa, her gift is attached to violence, and her propensity was locating dead bodies. She worked on and off for the FBI in New England from the time she was nine. But she got tired of the way people looked at her and came to New Orleans determined to ignore her abilities and try to live a "normal" life. Try as she might, she can't ignore what she sees when she gets there.
I liked the development of their relationship. Their initial meeting was intense, as Max rescues her from her attacker. Her abilities tell her that he's on her side, but she senses that there is something he's hiding from her. Max has been watching her place, believing that she is involved somehow with the Russian mob. Once he meets her and finds out who she is, he realizes that she is innocent of that. He is immediately drawn to her and finds himself quite protective of her. Lissa initially tries to hide her visions, especially since Max doesn't believe, but they are too strong to deny. Their process of getting to know each other was unique, as she would see or sense something and then try to get Max to talk about it. At the same time, Max was trying to reconcile his disbelief in her "woo-woo magic" with the truth of what he was witnessing. All Lissa wants is a man who will accept her for who she is, and Max's disbelief hurts as her feelings for him grow. Neither of them can deny their attraction, and when they give in to it the results are explosive. I liked seeing Max realize just how much Lissa has come to mean to him, and his astonishment when he admits he loves her. I loved the ending. His timing on his confession of his feelings was pretty amusing.
The suspense of the story is very good with plenty of action. Max has been trying to find out who the head of the local Russian mob is, because he believes that man is responsible for his mother's death. He has been watching Lissa's shop because he believes it to be an integral part of the setup. Lissa inherited after her aunt's death. Her aunt had called her a few days before, telling her that she was going to die and was getting her affairs in order. Max suspects that Callista was involved and that her death is suspicious. Meanwhile, his "boss" in the mob wants Max to stay close to Lissa and make sure she won't be a problem. Lissa's abilities have her seeing all kinds of things and she is soon the target of multiple attacks. I liked seeing how she trusted Max enough to protect her, and how he started to believe in her visions. It was interesting to see how being around him enhanced her abilities. Lissa and Max teamed up to see if they could get to the truth, and discovered that there may be a link between the head of the mob and Lissa. A close call had Max calling on his SEAL friends (Undercover with a SEAL) for help. The final confrontation was exciting, with an escape into the swamp and some interesting interactions with the SEAL team. While there was some resolution, there are still several unresolved issues. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.
Max is a CIA agent who has been on an extended leave of absence in order to pursue an investigation of his own. He has been undercover for two years, infiltrating the local Russian mob. Convinced that the curio shop and its owner have a big part in it, Max has been keeping watch over it for the last two weeks. He can't stand by as Lissa is attacked, even if it might blow his cover.
I liked both Max and Lissa. They are two very different people. Max was raised by a man who was determined to train Max to be just like him, but Max had different plans. However, he learned his lessons well and they have contributed to the man he is today. He is very pragmatic and logical, and doesn't believe that psychic abilities are real. Lissa has had her abilities for most of her life. Most of her family doesn't believe either. Unfortunately for Lissa, her gift is attached to violence, and her propensity was locating dead bodies. She worked on and off for the FBI in New England from the time she was nine. But she got tired of the way people looked at her and came to New Orleans determined to ignore her abilities and try to live a "normal" life. Try as she might, she can't ignore what she sees when she gets there.
I liked the development of their relationship. Their initial meeting was intense, as Max rescues her from her attacker. Her abilities tell her that he's on her side, but she senses that there is something he's hiding from her. Max has been watching her place, believing that she is involved somehow with the Russian mob. Once he meets her and finds out who she is, he realizes that she is innocent of that. He is immediately drawn to her and finds himself quite protective of her. Lissa initially tries to hide her visions, especially since Max doesn't believe, but they are too strong to deny. Their process of getting to know each other was unique, as she would see or sense something and then try to get Max to talk about it. At the same time, Max was trying to reconcile his disbelief in her "woo-woo magic" with the truth of what he was witnessing. All Lissa wants is a man who will accept her for who she is, and Max's disbelief hurts as her feelings for him grow. Neither of them can deny their attraction, and when they give in to it the results are explosive. I liked seeing Max realize just how much Lissa has come to mean to him, and his astonishment when he admits he loves her. I loved the ending. His timing on his confession of his feelings was pretty amusing.
The suspense of the story is very good with plenty of action. Max has been trying to find out who the head of the local Russian mob is, because he believes that man is responsible for his mother's death. He has been watching Lissa's shop because he believes it to be an integral part of the setup. Lissa inherited after her aunt's death. Her aunt had called her a few days before, telling her that she was going to die and was getting her affairs in order. Max suspects that Callista was involved and that her death is suspicious. Meanwhile, his "boss" in the mob wants Max to stay close to Lissa and make sure she won't be a problem. Lissa's abilities have her seeing all kinds of things and she is soon the target of multiple attacks. I liked seeing how she trusted Max enough to protect her, and how he started to believe in her visions. It was interesting to see how being around him enhanced her abilities. Lissa and Max teamed up to see if they could get to the truth, and discovered that there may be a link between the head of the mob and Lissa. A close call had Max calling on his SEAL friends (Undercover with a SEAL) for help. The final confrontation was exciting, with an escape into the swamp and some interesting interactions with the SEAL team. While there was some resolution, there are still several unresolved issues. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.
December 4, 2018
By and large, I'm not a fan of thrillers involving psychic characters. More often than not, the psychic powers are vague and inconsistent, and only seem capable of revealing all sorts of information other than what the psychic actually needs to know. It's frustrating.
This book followed that trope to a T.
Lissa is a psychic and has taken over her dead aunt's shop. Her aunt was also a psychic. She apparently had ties to the Russian mob, which is why Max is covertly surveilling the shop. He's a CIA agent who has infiltrated the Russian mob in an effort to discover the identity of its top dog. He's the son of a Russian spy himself, and thinks the mob is responsible for his mother's death. Lissa gets dragged into his mission when he rescues her from a serial killer.
This was just dumb. Lissa's powers can let her see the past and the future. She can see and talk to dead people. She can be alerted to the movements of others to enable her to save her own life. But know what her psychic powers conveniently can't tell her? Whether her aunt was murdered and who murdered her, or who the head of the Russian mob is. Yeah, right. Please! Her powers can tell her EVERYTHING ELSE KNOWN TO MAN except that? I wanted to bang my head against the desk.
Other than that, I was mostly bored. I didn't feel much suspense, because the identity of the head of the mob is completely and utterly arbitrary and has no impact on anything. We never find out if Lissa's aunt was murdered, or who murdered her. We never find out for sure if the head of the mob murdered Max's mother. The finale, with a rash of hastily introduced characters, was a suspense free snore. By the end, I'd forgotten why the mob even wanted Lissa dead.
If only I had psychic powers that could warn me against dull, silly books like this!
This book followed that trope to a T.
Lissa is a psychic and has taken over her dead aunt's shop. Her aunt was also a psychic. She apparently had ties to the Russian mob, which is why Max is covertly surveilling the shop. He's a CIA agent who has infiltrated the Russian mob in an effort to discover the identity of its top dog. He's the son of a Russian spy himself, and thinks the mob is responsible for his mother's death. Lissa gets dragged into his mission when he rescues her from a serial killer.
This was just dumb. Lissa's powers can let her see the past and the future. She can see and talk to dead people. She can be alerted to the movements of others to enable her to save her own life. But know what her psychic powers conveniently can't tell her? Whether her aunt was murdered and who murdered her, or who the head of the Russian mob is. Yeah, right. Please! Her powers can tell her EVERYTHING ELSE KNOWN TO MAN except that? I wanted to bang my head against the desk.
Other than that, I was mostly bored. I didn't feel much suspense, because the identity of the head of the mob is completely and utterly arbitrary and has no impact on anything. We never find out if Lissa's aunt was murdered, or who murdered her. We never find out for sure if the head of the mob murdered Max's mother. The finale, with a rash of hastily introduced characters, was a suspense free snore. By the end, I'd forgotten why the mob even wanted Lissa dead.
If only I had psychic powers that could warn me against dull, silly books like this!
May 16, 2018
This is the 2nd book I read by Cindy Dees. I'm sorry I stopped reading this story at chapter 3 because it didn't hold my interest.
May 27, 2016
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:
When I picked up HER SECRET SPY, with its typically suspense-romance cover, I wasn't expecting to be reviewing it for All Things Urban Fantasy; but it turns out that the main character, Lissa, has psychic powers and runs an occult curio shop. Suddenly, it was surprisingly up my alley! It also helps that the writing was better than the average Harlequin monthly.
I really enjoyed how her psychic gift was used throughout the book. Although it was used to advance/accelerate their plot, it was also used to realistically discredit Lissa for the first part of the story. Max believes she is a fraud, an excellent cold-reader, and then even potentially his enemy, as she reveals things she shouldn't know. Lissa has worked with the FBI before, and although she has been successful at finding bodies and killers, no one ever respected her for it. Starting over in New Orleans, after inheriting her deceased aunts curio shop seemed like a good idea at the time.
Max was another winning character for me: he was tough and mysterious, but was also an art dealer with an eye for remodeling. He wasn't the typical Alpha-hole a lot of these books tend to feature, possessive and aggressive. His reaction to Lissa's accidental probing into his secrets was also refreshing. He didn't believe her right away, but he run either.
This novel does follow the conventional suspense novel format, where as girl and a boy will meet, get in trouble and need to call local the SEAL/FBI/werewolves/whatever team (that manages to include the characters from the previous and future books in the series) in to help. Still, it was well done, with developed characters and no superfluous name-dropping.
HER SECRET SPY was a surprisingly fun, suspenseful quick read with just enough paranormal twist to spice things up. Definitely a lighter read, but still a hoot.
When I picked up HER SECRET SPY, with its typically suspense-romance cover, I wasn't expecting to be reviewing it for All Things Urban Fantasy; but it turns out that the main character, Lissa, has psychic powers and runs an occult curio shop. Suddenly, it was surprisingly up my alley! It also helps that the writing was better than the average Harlequin monthly.
I really enjoyed how her psychic gift was used throughout the book. Although it was used to advance/accelerate their plot, it was also used to realistically discredit Lissa for the first part of the story. Max believes she is a fraud, an excellent cold-reader, and then even potentially his enemy, as she reveals things she shouldn't know. Lissa has worked with the FBI before, and although she has been successful at finding bodies and killers, no one ever respected her for it. Starting over in New Orleans, after inheriting her deceased aunts curio shop seemed like a good idea at the time.
Max was another winning character for me: he was tough and mysterious, but was also an art dealer with an eye for remodeling. He wasn't the typical Alpha-hole a lot of these books tend to feature, possessive and aggressive. His reaction to Lissa's accidental probing into his secrets was also refreshing. He didn't believe her right away, but he run either.
This novel does follow the conventional suspense novel format, where as girl and a boy will meet, get in trouble and need to call local the SEAL/FBI/werewolves/whatever team (that manages to include the characters from the previous and future books in the series) in to help. Still, it was well done, with developed characters and no superfluous name-dropping.
HER SECRET SPY was a surprisingly fun, suspenseful quick read with just enough paranormal twist to spice things up. Definitely a lighter read, but still a hoot.
March 6, 2018
Compelling story, great tension between the Lissa and Max. Max was what I like in a hero: dark and brooding, very capable and always treats Lissa well.
It sounds a little funny to call this book believable since Lissa is a psychic, and a lot of the plot solutions depend on her psychic abilities, but the world Dees creates really drew me in. Her writing is strong enough to make me believe in this story--plus, it takes place in New Orleans, which helps.
It sounds a little funny to call this book believable since Lissa is a psychic, and a lot of the plot solutions depend on her psychic abilities, but the world Dees creates really drew me in. Her writing is strong enough to make me believe in this story--plus, it takes place in New Orleans, which helps.
April 9, 2022
This book is different than another romantic suspense. That's because the hero was not showing his overbearing, overpossesive and protective toward heroine but using his logic and accepting what heroine can do( pychic). Also i love the heroine because she was sweet, smart and accepting the hero since the first time they faced each other.
April 6, 2024
Interesting
This was a very different book from the previous books I've read by Cindy Dees. It was definitely a good read as well as interesting. I recommend this one!
This was a very different book from the previous books I've read by Cindy Dees. It was definitely a good read as well as interesting. I recommend this one!
January 18, 2026
Wowza!
Great Story! I love the paranormal aspect, and the romance is top notch. The cast of characters is great! Lots of danger, action and more action! Love the story.
Great Story! I love the paranormal aspect, and the romance is top notch. The cast of characters is great! Lots of danger, action and more action! Love the story.
February 12, 2017
What's the worse thing you can think of for an undercover CIA operative trying to infiltrate the Russian mob? A psychic who can see EVERYTHING.
Unfortunately for Max his dad's bad guy lessons didn't take, so when he saves Lissa from a serial killer while staking out her recently inherited occult shop he finds himself with a psychic sidekick who can see just about everything. Including the head of the Russian mob who is tied to both of their pasts and will do ANYTHING to protect his identity.
Unfortunately for Max his dad's bad guy lessons didn't take, so when he saves Lissa from a serial killer while staking out her recently inherited occult shop he finds himself with a psychic sidekick who can see just about everything. Including the head of the Russian mob who is tied to both of their pasts and will do ANYTHING to protect his identity.
Read
March 18, 2016"Strong storytelling, steady pacing and interesting characters will keep readers turning the pages" (4 stars @ RT Book Reviews).
Miniseries: Code: Warrior SEALs
Miniseries: Code: Warrior SEALs
February 15, 2016
3.5 stars
Enjoyed reading it. But it wasn't revealed who killed Max's mother which was actually why Max had gone undercover for.
Enjoyed reading it. But it wasn't revealed who killed Max's mother which was actually why Max had gone undercover for.
October 23, 2016
I liked this book
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews