Thief of Always

Elite Operatives #2

by Kim Baldwin, Xenia Alexiou

Stealing a diamond to save the world is the easy part.

Mishael Taylor takes comfort in speed, racing from one mission to another as Allegro, one of the Elite Operative Organization's top agents--or from one affair to another, to avoid having to think about the things she's seen and done. Cocky, confident, and used to winning, Mishael confronts her greatest challenge when she's assigned to steal the priceless Blue Star Diamond from Dutch countess Kristine Marie van der Jagt. Not only must she win a high-stakes race with Arab terrorists and Neo-Nazis, she also has to contend with a target who has somehow managed to steal her heart.

Second in the romantic intrigue Elite Operatives.

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, LGBT, Crime, Action, Mystery, Lesbian Fiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

About the author

Kim has made her living as a writer for more than three decades, working as an Emmy-winning journalist in network news for twenty years before she began penning fiction. She resides in a national forest in Michigan, with few neighbors and a long drive to get to the nearest airport, movie theater, or ethnic restaurant. She never imagined herself a novelist, her first book, Hunter’s Pursuit, was written as a way to fight off cabin fever during a long winter and was sent off to a publisher at the encouragement of friends. The positive feedback she received from readers hooked her to continue writing more romantic lesbian adventures.
Travel is a major obsession. Kim first went to Europe at age fourteen, traveling with her parents on a five week excursion through a dozen countries. Four years later, she returned as part of a singing and dancing troupe, performing in town squares and castles and staying with local families.
The decades since have been filled with many more far-flung excursions... riding a camel at the Pyramids of Giza, crossing the U.N. green line at Cyprus, dogsledding above the Arctic Circle in Alaska, watching Paris awaken from atop Notre Dame Cathedral, motorcycling the Blue Ridge parkway, watching shuttles launch from a kayak near Cape Canaveral, skiing Whistler/Blackcomb, British Columbia, climbing Diamondhead in Hawaii. Her travels and journalism background provide great fodder for her novels. And her younger years in community theater have paid off in her new passion--narrating audiobooks.
Kim is a member of PAN (Published Author’s Network), Romance Writers of America, and the Rainbow Romance Writers, Chapter #217 of the RWA. She's also a 2008 Recipient of an Alice B. Readers Appreciation Award The Alice B. Medal: This award is given annually to living writers who have careers distinguished by consistently well-written stories about lesbians. The award is given once, only, in appreciation of career achievement. (from the author's website)

Reviews

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This takes place in Europe. It's a little bit mystery, a little bit heist, with a lovely romance thrown in. I had difficulty at the beginning with some jumping around in the time-line, but it settled down after the first few chapters.

[susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg

All I can saw is wow. I love how these women have this secret lives and that is all they know. But then they meet the women that make them start questioning everything and everyone. I love the thrill of their missions but then at the same time watch these women falling in love for the first time ever is great.

[Kexx · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think - hope? - this was just the wrong book at the wrong time. Just silly, worse, didn't mean to be.

[Tory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great second book of the series. It’s just as good as the first. I can’t wait to read the next book.

[Dide · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 star ratings
Still an exciting series to read. Luckily each of the books can be read as standalone. One of the reasons i really appreciate and like this series is because the authors have brought women as our Jack Reacher/007 kinda heroes and i love it.
So far i have read 3, 1, 4 and now 2 of the series and fortunately the first that i read have excited me enough to continue my exploration. So whilst 1 & 2 of the series did not elicit much admiration, I am consoled that as the writers add more to the series as the case with 4 & 3, they get better and better.

[Justina Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second book in the 'Elite Operatives' series is a blistering and heartwarming winner. I am certainly hooked into these books and hope that 'The Gemini Deception' was not the last one. Venice, the Netherlands, and Afghanistan are where most of the action takes place in 'Thief of Always'. There is a brilliant cliff hanger conclusion that had me glued to my Nook until all was resolved.

Allegro, aka Mishael Taylor but operating under the cover name of Angie (Angelica) Whitman, certainly operates at high octane with super acute well-trained instincts, arrogance, and smugness underneath disarming charm. I was subsumed and captivated by her from the moment during Carnival when she caressed and kissed the hollow of Kris’s throat, whispered “Sei cosi bella” (you are so beautiful), and disappeared into the shadows.

Kris, Countess Kristine Marie-Louise van der Jagt, is an elegant lady suddenly burdened after her father’s death with a monstrously huge debt. She rarely reveals her despair as she attempts to manage this responsibility. However, she is quite open and frank about Angie’s arrogance, smugness, and secretiveness. The sparks and electricity that swirl around these two heat up nearly every encounter. Their early sparring and intense run-ins with sexual overtones were wonderful counter-points to the constant risks, coming at Kris almost from the beginning.

The intrigue with death threats hovering from multiple angles while Angie and Kris sense huge attraction that is unparalleled in either of their past dalliances, kept the heat and tension at all-time highs nearly constant. This is not for the faint of heart, but definitely not to be missed. I found myself enraptured and I heartily recommend this book.




NOTE: This book was provided by Bold Strokes Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

[D. Omars · Rating 5 out of 5]

This new part in the series was much better than the first one, in the sense that it was more complicated for the main character, which makes it more interesting. The suspense was great and the romance was more complicated than the previous one. The action was better than the previous one, but like before, it was barely there or rarely seen. What I love the most about it was that it brings back some characters from the previous voulumes and the ending looks like the introduction to the next volume. It was better, I liked it and I can't wait to read the next one.

[Frank Van Meer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can see why this series was (is?) so popular, but I didn't think this was a good book.

The plot is paper-thin; to me, the book could have ended around chapter six, were it not that the lead operative is not doing her job and it involves a diamond that is never where it is supposed to be. It is all dragged out, the villains are cliché and made of cardboard and I could write an essay on everything that is wrong with the finale. I have never read something so utterly implausible as what the authors came up with for this book. I had to close my Kindle in disgust after reading that piece of nonsense.

I'll admit, I picked this book because the story takes place in my native country, and I wanted to see how it was handled. The main locations are Amsterdam and Haarlem, and the details were mostly correct, except the fact that you would not see cows outside in the middle of winter.

Oh, I completely forgot about how the authors kept pointing out that missing jawlines are indicitative of a Dutch heritage, I mean, really?

If this book is any indication of the rest of the series (and the first book wasn't that great either) I'm going to give it a pass.

[Annika · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love the book so much! this book is based on a boy named harvey, harvey was bored of his plain old life in the fog, when one day he met a guy named rictus, rictus was a strange man, not even fully man but harvey went with it cause he was that bored. after getting to this crazy place he had to walk through the fog to get in, but little did he know this place was trying to trap and kill him. once he was in the house he had met a few people named lulu, 3 cats, the secondary owner of the house and the "owner" who was actually the house who had brought them her to turn into one of the sad fish in the lake behind this amazing home. every day was really a year it went through all the seasons, and you got anything you ever wanted, so you would never question to leave until it was to late like for lulu she relized to late and had died.... after this harvey relized he had to get out asap he had many strugges to do so and he was even chased out by a horrifc monster but made it out alive and warned many about this childhood taker house.

[hubsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not as strong as book 1, as I couldn't get behind the massive amounts of cliches in this one. So many cheesy one liners took away the chemistry from the main couple, and the massive mistakes Allegro makes as a "thief" was totally puzzling. It won't detract me from continuing the series, but not the author's strongest work.

[Amelia]

it wasnt what i wanted

[Taelyn Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soooo, this is not the thief of always I read, but the one I did read was saurrrrr good. Go read the thief of always by Clive Barker

[Deborah Huntley · Rating 5 out of 5]

exciting read

The plot is high octane. The characters are compelling people. The romance is robust. I am hooked on this series.

[Paula Panther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as good as the first one in the series. I enjoyed the protagonist a bit more than the first one too. The suspense and intrigue kept me interested. I also like how the author carefully balanced the romance with action and suspense. I did feel like the suspense was winding down toward the end, where it really should have ratcheted up, but overall, it was a great read. I really like this author.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book on a lesbian romance list and thought that this was going to be primarily a romance story with a bit of mystery and excitement involved. What it actually is, though, is the opposite. Thief of Always is primarily an action adventure with a little bit of romance sprinkled throughout. The plot and overarching world were captivating and I found myself staying up far too late at night (and then waking up early the next day) reading this book. The authors writing style was pleasant and reminded me of the Fox and O'Hare series by Janet Evanovich; there wasn't a lot of depth to any of the characters - but they were still enjoyable to read about.

Unfortunately, I found some parts of this book to be a little be too intense for my taste. It always felt like you were on the edge of your seat worrying about what was going to happen next. I totally get that some people love that type of thing, but it just wasn't for me. Aside from that, I also felt pretty uncomfortable by the agency the spies are a part of - as it's basically the equivalent of a modern day slavery ring with women forced to do all sorts of dirty work or face the penalty of death. Combine those things with an unrealistic core relationship and a resolution that only sort of wraps up everything and you end up with a decent but not very cheerful story.

If you're wanting an easy to read book that's basically an action movie with a bit of lesbian romance thrown in then you should definitely consider this one. On the other hand, if you were hoping for some fluffy happiness or a realistic relationship that grows over time - you probably want to look elsewhere.

[Hud-c · Rating 4 out of 5]

DATE STARTED Jan 24
DATE FINISHED Jan 25

3.5 stars

I'm reading the Elite Operatives series this week and just started with the first like two days ago. Its sort of a refreshment for me and I need some easy read nowadays after poking my nose on some disturbing stuff.

I like this more than the first one. Mishael Taylor a.k.a Allegro has the cockiness in its right amount that I found endearing. There's so many scenes in here between Misha and Kris (the countess and heroine) which made me laugh out loud. Although the formula for this one is just almost the same from Lethal Affairs (Elite Operatives #1). Which is in its short version:

the hero [she's a girl here] has a dangerous secret and then met the heroine (she's a girl too] and the attraction was undeniable. But some sort of event or circumstances in both lives seem to stop the hero to pursue the heroine and vice versa or to act on the attraction. Unfortunately/fortunately, for the hero, something bad happens and the hero realize the importance of the heroine. After they admit they love to each other - they might end having sex or just kissing somewhere, some place extraordinary beautiful. In short a happy ending.

Despite the similarities in plot thread, this book excites me and made laugh buckets.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great second chapter in the Elite Operatives saga. More exciting than the first book and with more engaging leads, this is when this series really started to take off.

I liked Allegro more than Domino the lead from Lethal Affairs. She is somewhat impulsive at times, but she always feel strong and capable and her moral center seems to be more intact at the start of the book. I also really loved Kristine. She was very strong, as most of the romantic partners are in these, but she has her own style that I appreciated. One issue I had with this book that may not be an issue for everyone, was that there was only one steamy sex scene in this book and it was pretty short. Other people will have to decide for themselves if that's a flaw in the story or not, but for me I liked them together so much, I wanted a bit more of that between them.

Great continuation of an excellent series.

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't really like romance mixed with thrillers, spy or otherwise. Though I do seem to have read a lot of them. I know I gave the first book in this series a relatively high rating but this one fell into the trap, the reason I dislike romantic suspense. Most of the time it's because of the romance. This time the problem is mostly with the suspense part.

The annoyances just kept building to the point where I finally had to just stop reading. With 5% of the book left to read. Probably less as part of that 5% was probably after the book stuff (afterword, lists of other books by publisher, etc.).

[Lindsey Stock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is just as good as the first book. Don't worry if you haven't read the first in the series, this one could stand by itself and not be confusing to first time readers although the experience is more fun if you've read the first because they sort of cross over a tiny bit. Once again, it is a decent intrigue and the plot is not overpowered by steamy romantic scenes like in most romances (of course most romances don't actually have much a plot to begin with).

[Artemis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like! And I like even more that there're several more books in the series. I'm one lucky fan of badass women, seeing as I had hit upon the treasure trove.

Will go off to read the first and other books in the series now... er, after exams that is.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy this whole series. The characters each have very distinct personalities and skills. The story lines hold you right to the end.

[Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Look forward to reading book three.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one even more than the first.

[Heinerway · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romance, adventure, terrorists, good guys, jewels... What's not to like?