Red by SM West

March 4, 2017 Lily Book Review 0 ★★★½

Red by S.M. West
Published by SMW Books on February 6th 2017
Genres: Suspense
Pages: 273
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Red. The color of extremes.
Tate Conrad’s existence is annihilated. Destroyed by two men: one, her hero and the other, her worst nightmare. She has nothing to lose.
Determined to survive, vengeance feeds her. There are no limits, no boundaries, not even death, in seeking liberation.
*******
Rylan Wolfe is driven.
A stellar FBI agent close to breaking the case of a lifetime. It’s more than career-making, it’s personal. Tate’s the linchpin to it all.
They need each other to succeed.
For Tate, is he her salvation or ruin?
Warning: This book contains graphic language, explicit sexual scenes and violence.Recommended for readers 18+

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Smoothly lured into a false sense of security by a fun and warm start I was a tad disappointed imagining I was embarking on a sweet romance. Then the drama hit, I saw Red beyond what I had first imagined. It set a rhythm for what lay ahead, a blend of drama, suspense and stolen moments of freedom.

I began listing the characters, unsure who the Hero would be in the story. The character list was growing at a fast rate when I began to wonder when we would meet the Hero. Then he finally appeared. It wasn’t obvious at first, and my first thought that it was him was an assumption. He was subtle in a world where one wrong move could spell the end of the investigation, let alone their safety.

Tate finds herself a pawn, dragged from a carefree life into a sad, abusive marriage to an obsessed controlling criminal. Biding her time, she works patiently with the FBI to secure her freedom, the whole time living on a knife’s edge. At any point, there was the potential for the revelation of her betrayal. It made every step she took a risk, and you wondered how she was ever going to break free.

The plot pivots around dark scenarios, but there are numerous interludes of steamy tension that led to stolen hot sessions as they blatantly broke all the rules to let light into the stark story. Patience was of the essence to ensure sufficient evidence was gathered to get the convictions they needed to lock up her father and husband. Until the authorities were able to deliver what they promised, her freedom was a distant dream.

The focus of hope lay within the good guys, a bunch of alpha easy going but ‘don’t mess with me’ team of agents. Their friend/family circles were equally as impressive as the guys themselves. Red raised my hopes for future books in the Love in Color series. A dramatic announcement leaves the door open for the next book which I have added to my TBR list!

3.5 Breaking Free Stars