Mini-Reviews : Midnight Rescue, Midnight Alias & Midnight Games by Elle Kennedy

Summary (from Goodreads) 
Title : Midnight Rescue (Killer Instincts #1)
Author : Elle Kennedy
Publication Date : May 1st 2012
Publisher : Signet Eclipse
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Dangerous. Ruthless. Savage. And she's the good guy.

Abby Sinclair had a desperate childhood until she was rescued and adopted by a retired army ranger who molded her into a master of self-defense. Now, she's a cunning and fearless assassin thrust into assignment after dangerous assignment, using everything she has-nerve, resilience, strength, sex-to come out on top. Her only rule: trust no one.
Abby's latest assignment is in Columbia: go undercover and snuff out a dangerous arms dealer active in the underground sex trade. But when Abby purposely blows her cover in a last-ditch attempt to free the helpless victims, deadly mercenary Kane Woodland is recruited as back-up. His mission: get Abby out of that hell hole.

The last thing Kane expects is to feel a primal attraction for Abby. But when she convinces him to join her on her perilous mission, their newfound passion could put the lives of their whole team at risk.


Personal Thoughts

When I finished reading Elle Kennedy's The Mistake, I was going through some major Elle Kennedy withdrawals, so I decided to look further into her other books. Now, I'm usually one to shy away from romantic suspense novels with killer main characters, but I knew that if there was one author who could handle the subject matter, then it would be Elle Kennedy. Turns out, I was absolutely right! Midnight Rescue was one heck of a dark, gloomy and uncomfortable read at times. After all, it did handle a sex slavery ring and human trafficking. It's hard not to feel uncomfortable with that kind of story line, especially one as descriptive as in Midnight Rescue. The villain was an absolute scumbag who deserved to have his nuts pulled out. He's the kind of villain you love to hate because he makes you fear for the life of the characters. Speaking of characters, I loved both Abby and Kane, the main couple featured in this book. Abby is a part of a group of assassins and Kane belongs to a group of military operatives. Abby was a feisty, strong, badass and resilient heroine, who wasn't afraid to fight back no matter what situation she was in. At the same time, she had a more vulnerable side to her that made her very humane despite being a cold-blooded assassin. Kane, her love interest, was a little warmer than Abby because of how sweet and supportive he was. But he wasn't always a softie though. When necessary, he too could be absolutely badass. His and Abby's relationship was romantic and so very swoony. You can't help but root for these two characters to find their happily ever after together. While not without its obstacles, their relationship had me sighing in happiness! I was also engaged in a secondary couple's romance, Trevor and Isabel's and I couldn't wait to get my hands on their book. Overall, this was a fantastic start to a new series. I'm beyond excited to get to the rest of the books!

Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

Summary (from Goodreads) 


Title : Midnight Alias (Killer Instincts #2)
Author : Elle Kennedy
Publication Date : February 5th 2013
Publisher : Signet Eclipse
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She’s smart, seductive, and in way over her head.
He’s her only way out.

An undercover DEA agent has gone off the radar. Suspecting an internal mole, the government needs Luke Dubois and his elite team of operatives to recover their man, and the New Orleans native thinks he’s found his way inside the dark underbelly of Manhattan: Olivia Taylor, the girlfriend of a mob boss and the sexiest woman he’s ever laid eyes on. His new mission objective? Get past Olivia’s defenses and convince her to take a chance—on him.

All Olivia wanted was to finish law school and live a normal life, but that dream was shattered when one dangerous night put her deeply in a mobster’s debt. Now Luke and his team will help her escape—in exchange for intel on the missing agent. But Olivia doesn’t anticipate her intense attraction to the reckless Louisiana charmer or that she’ll be forced to risk everything—including her heart.

Personal Thoughts

Midnight Alias was yet another successful book in the Killer Instinct series! While I can't say Luke made much of an impression on me in the first book, my opinion of him changed by the end of this one. He was one sexy hero who charmed my pants off. He was quite the smooth talking hero and together with his protective side, it didn't take me long to fall for him. His heroine, Olivia, on the other hand, was harder to warm up to for some reason. While I admired her for working her butt off to help her cancer-stricken mother and went through law school at the same time, I never became fond of her as I did with Abby in the first book. I think overall she was rather unmemorable for me. I mean Abby WAS an assassin after all, so it was hard for Olivia to live up to that for me. That being said, I adored the chemistry between Olivia and Luke. They were hot together and there's no denying that. The plot too wasn't as intense as in the first book. This time around, Luke and Olivia, were dealing with Olivia's skeezy boss at the strip club she danced at, who was also in love with Olivia. The whole story line wasn't as engaging, but Elle Kennedy's writing was so addicting that I couldn't stop reading the book. Plus, I loved the glimpses we got to see of Trevor and Isabel and their brewing relationship. I'm honestly dying to devour their book next and I just know that their book will be a favorite of mine! Midnight Alias wasn't my favorite book in the series, but Elle Kennedy's writing and her swoony heroes makes the book hard to put down!

Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5

**Overall Rating : 3.5/5**

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Midnight Games (Killer Instincts #3)
Author : Elle Kennedy
Publication Date : August 6th 2013
Publisher : Signet Eclipse
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She wears a thousand deadly identities. He sees through them all.

A master of disguise, Isabel Roma spends her life pretending to be other women. Normally, her emotions are reined in tight—but sexy mercenary Trevor Callaghan has a knack for getting under her skin. The elite operative’s quiet strength and raw magnetism affect her in ways she’s never felt before, a distraction that can quickly turn deadly in their dangerous line of work.

After putting his tragic past behind him, Trevor is ready to focus on his future—and he damn well intends for Isabel to be in it. When their entire operation is thrown into chaos, Trevor enlists Isabel’s talent for deception. And as they attempt to save their team in a world where the stakes are high and the danger is grave, Trevor must convince Isabel that the woman beneath all the disguises is the one worth having...

Personal Thoughts

AHHHHHHHHHH!!! Finally! FREAKING finally!! I have been waiting for Trevor and Isabel's story for what seems like forever (not really. It was only 2 books), so you can imagine my excitement going into Midnight Games. Midnight Games wound up being my favorite book in the series so far. When the series first started, Trevor was so sheltered and isolated from everyone else, suffering through the pain and sorrow of his fiancee, Gina's death. I hated seeing him so tortured and wanted him to find that happiness again. In book two, we begin to see him open up a little more and by the end he was definitely a changed man. In Midnight Games, he had finally come to terms with Gina's death and was ready to move on. Along his side, was the feisty chameleon, Isabel. Isabel had grown up in a mob family and had encountered death too many times than a person should ever. While undoubtedly kickass, brave and confident, on the inside she was fragile and was dealing with an overwhelming amount of guilt. Throughout this book, we watch as she too finally grew with Trevor showing her how to by her side. Their romance was sweet and hot at the same time, a combo that made for some intense and passionate chemistry between the two of them. I couldn't get enough of them and I loved how they were a couple who pushed each other to talk about their fears. The plot in Midnight Games was also a lot more entertaining for me than the rest of the books. We aren't told who exactly the killer was, which made for some very suspenseful scenes that also had my heart racing. Elle Kennedy wasn't afraid to kill off some of my favorite characters and I was on the verge of tears when a beloved character died. Interesting revelations about Jim, Noelle and D were also made and I have to say, I'm very intrigued by D's character now and want to know what exactly his deal is. Too bad I have to wait until February 2016 to get his book! At least I have Jim and Noelle's book and the rest of the books to keep me company until then.   Bring on all the books, Elle Kennedy!

Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 5/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 4/5

**Overall Rating : 4.5/5**

Overall Series Thoughts

I don't think I've ever been as obsessed with a series in a long time as I've been with the Killer Instinct books. These books were phenomenal, you guys and I just couldn't help but read a book a day because of how addicting and entertaining they are. I'm not a very big romantic suspense fan, but this series has converted me. Besides the very very swoony romances, these books also feature friendship and bromances that will have you in a bubble of happiness. When you read these books, you feel like you are with these characters fighting whatever horrible villain that they are. I just can't recommend these enough. I want to end this review saying, watch out the blog for the reviews of the next three books and also, PLEASE GO READ THEM if you haven't!