Mike Rousseau works for Navy Intelligence, Kurt Halstead is a Senior Chief Petty Officer and a SEAL, and Maggie Degginger is an agent for Homeland Security. Mike and Maggie meet during an operation, and the resulting heat between them is scorching but brief. Shortly thereafter, Mike and Kurt are assigned to be working partners.
Then life throws them a curveball. Mike gets seriously hurt. Mike and Kurt finally give in to their attraction, but Kurt is double-crossed in-country and gets left behind, wounded. He manages to let Mike know that their chain of command is compromised. Mike needs help and reaches out to someone he knows in Homeland, who in turn assigns Maggie. One rescue mission, in progress.
Traitors aside, it isn’t that Kurt doesn't know about Mike's previous fling with Maggie. He does. So when the three of them get together, the heat is so high, they all three just might burn.
I was actually surprised by this - so many MMF books have really superficial/underdeveloped plots secondary to the sex. You could remove all the sex/relationship aspect from this book and have a truly enjoyable and engaging military suspense book.
I think the only thing I’d change is that Moler switched back and forth between first & last names for all the characters throughout the book. Usually military books just go by last or nicknames and then stick with it.
Moler also includes a nice foundation for a relationship between Mike and Kurt. The addition of Maggie feels a little rushed at the end - but this is a duet. It doesn’t really end on a cliffhanger, but more of an HFN for the three. Their story continues in book 2, In Danger and Falling Fast.
I vacillated between giving 4 stars instead of five because the book deserves 4 1/2 stars for poor cover art.
Maggie Degginger is described as...raven dark hair, dark eyes, and her skin tone is dusky enough for her to pass as a native Syrian. The woman photographed on the cover has a poorly done bleach job on her brown hair, light brown eyes and a pale complexion. The woman on the book cover is obviously Not Maggie. I assume authors get final approval of the artwork used on their books; so if this is true then A. R. Moler lost 1/2 star from me for book artwork.
I would have liked to know more about each character’s back story ( childhood, why was this line of work chosen, etc. ) but the intrigue, camaraderie, & sexual tension made the story compelling.
I bought part two which is called In Danger and Falling Fast. I look forward to reading part two of their story.