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Romantic suspense author Shannon McKenna has her groove back in the latest of her series featuring very bad, very dangerous good guys and the woman who can’t help but fall for them.

I could not put down McKenna’s first book, Behind Closed Doors. It glued me to the pages until the final word. It was no surprise that I ran out and bought her second one as soon as it hit the shelves. It was okay, but not nearly the hotly suspenseful and erotically romantic novel I’d suspected. Her books went down from there, and I didn’t even bother to finish the fourth, Return to Me, because it was just so… UGH.

When I saw that McKenna had a seventh novel out, Extreme Danger, something told me to buy it. Call it intuition, or lust for a really great romantic suspense novel. I took a chance… and was not disappointed.

This story follows hothead, rock-hard muscle Nick Ward. He is still reeling from a mistake that left some of the McCloud clan (featured in McKenna’s previous novels) nearly dead. It killed someone else and left a little Ukraine girl lost in the sex trade. (At least that’s what they think.)

Nick is desperate to find the girl to right his past wrongs, and fulfill a promise to her dying father. He gets a lead to a notorious international trafficker and takes it, knowing that he likely won’t live.

But his mission turns passionate when jilted semi-bride Becca Cantrell shows up on Frakes Island, where Nick is working undercover. Their instant attraction sets off a dangerous set of events that puts them in danger. And just when it looks like things are looking up, they go to hell fast.

McKenna has her stride in Extreme Danger. It’s hot, sexy, suspenseful. She somehow manages to balance the nasty side of human trafficking with hot sex. That is not easy, people. Seriously. But she does it with amazing diligence and compassion. The book slowed just slightly in the middle, but it was not enough to bore me silly. It was the slow, uphill climb to the fall down of danger later on – sort of like a roller coaster.

Though I missed the last few novels in the series, I quickly got into the groove. McKenna adds bits and pieces, updating fans on relationships, and introducing readers to past characters. She makes it easy to dive in and get lost in the world of these dangerous men who use tough tactics to take down the bad guys. And boy are those guys BAD.

If you are like me and dumped McKenna, check her out again. Extreme Danger is worth more than look. It will likely remain on my bookshelf for a second read.

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