Review: Hard to Forget

Hard to Forget by Incy Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

If you caught my update, you'll know I blasted through half the book in one night. The thriller plot of the story starts right away, Lowry a former black ops agent is having an art showing and Jack, her former commanding officer is there to warn her to keep a low profile because of her former agent status. The sparks fly between them, anger, hurt, betrayal, and attraction, their antagonistic relationship has that quality that keeps your eyes on them. At the art showing, Lowry spots the man who raped her and her flight or fight goes full flight, Jack chases her down and from there, the running and gunning is on. 

When I started this, I couldn't help feeling I had read it before, turns out I read the next in the series a couple years ago, probably why the group of Assassins that work at the Cube as part of the clandestine faction of the UK military/government sounded familiar. The third book I stated that I probably should have read in the books in order because I was lost in the world building. I read a lot of romantic suspense, so the general elements I could hang in there on this one but I still felt like I was coming into a story a few chapters late, or as this is second in the series, a book late. I guess, I'm saying, read these in series order. 

Lowry joining the Assassins but immediately not fitting in because of her attitude and convinced there were turncoats at the Cube, is covered in retelling/reminiscing, why you feel like you're coming into the story late. She goes off on a solo mission to try and get the evidence she needs to prove her theories right, she gets captured by the sex traffickers' and raped by their leader before Jack and his crew can come in and rescue, a rescue that has Jack shooting Lowry to save her. Again, this is all relayed by the characters reminiscing, some flashbacks in there. 

The retelling is happening while Lowry is trying to run to stay safe from the leader of the sex traffickers that raped her and Jack trying to get her to tell him the full story so he can help her. This is 90% suspense thriller, your romance comes in the form of Jack gritting his teeth and/or clenching his hands and Lowry finding Jack sexy but angry and hurt he didn't believe her about the mole at the Cube. If you read Anne Stuart rom-suspense, it's a bit like that. Lowry comes off a bit young and flighty at times and Jack closed off stoic, but they were still charismatic characters, separately and together. 

There were times I wanted things to slow down, so I could get a footing in the world but the pace was also what kept me reading. Not romancey romance but charismatic at the least.

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