Cover Fire
by Jess Anastasi
Publication Date: June 19, 2017
Genres: Adult, Entangled: Otherworld, Paranormal Romance
BUY:
SYNOPSIS:
If the assignment is crazy, dangerous, or a little of both, Sub-Lieutenant Sebastian Rayne can’t help but take on the challenge. So when Command Intelligence tags him to fly one of their agents behind enemy lines, it seems like just another routine death-defying mission. Crash landing on the planet was a piece of cake, but the gorgeous agent he delivered safely to her meeting is now believed dead and he must return to retrieve her body.
After Agent Jenna Branson realizes her own people attempted to have her killed, she enlists the hot stick jockey’s help. His new mission? Sneak her back onto his ship to ferret out who wanted to get rid of her and why. But she fears her growing feelings for Seb have blinded her to his reckless insistence on helping her stay alive, and his rash behavior will cause them both to lose their lives.
SASCHA DARLINGTON’S REVIEW
In Cover Fire, Jess Anastasi has created a scorching romantic sci-fi thriller set on a ship in a galaxy far, far . . . well, not here at any rate. While Cover Fire is the third in the Valiant Knox (refers to the ship) series, it really can be read as a standalone as I didn’t feel that I missed a lot by not having read the previous two. However, I probably will and all the while hoping Sub-Lieutenant Sebastian Rayne, who is the hero of Cover Fire, shows up.
Yes, Seb Rayne is the perfect hero. He’s funny, good-looking, somewhat cocky, but he’s also honorable with a deep sense of loyalty. Really, Anastasi has created one of the best heroes I’ve come across in a while. I could read more books with him in them…oh, there was a heroine?
Kidding. While Agent Jenna Branson wasn’t as intriguing to me as Seb Rayne, she was still kickass and smart and very competent. As a highly skilled agent, at no time did she play the weak female card so I do have to say kudos to Anastasi for that as well. It’s nice to read about competent and strong women.
Cover Fire is extremely well-written with alternating points-of-view that ensnare the reader. It can be a pretty hard book to put down. There’s a load of action and a mystery that might be guessable to people who read a lot of mysteries, but still there’s surprises at the end.
The only hiccup for me, and I will say that this happens sometimes in romantic thrillers, is that the couple who are trying to escape and are hiding, decide to have sex and remove all of their clothes even though there is a threat of them being discovered. Obviously a malfunction in the survival gene.
But that was the only glitch, for me, in this otherwise engrossing story.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating: 
4 butterflies and a ladybug out of 5 butterflies
-EXCERPT-
“You could stay with me. After all, I know what’s really going on. I can watch your back. There’s probably nowhere safer on the ship.”
Jenna nodded, the movement seeming unsure at first, but then becoming more assertive.
“You’re right, there wouldn’t be anywhere safer. But opening up your home to me makes this a bit more personal than what you probably thought you were signing on for.”
Seb shrugged as the transit returned. “I had no idea what I was signing on for, really. So you could pretty much tell me I need to dress up in a tutu and sing soprano, and I’d believe you.”
“I’ll make a note of that for later in the assignment, maybe when I need some kind of distraction.” She grinned and glanced down. “I’m sure you’ve got the legs for it, too.”
“Hell yeah. Once you see me in a tutu, your life will never be the same.”
Jenna gave a short laugh as they got on the transit along with a few other people. He hit the button for the fourth crew level where his one-bedroom apartment was located. He had no problem camping out on the couch for a few days, since offering Jenna the bed was the gentlemanly thing to do.
Call him crazy, but he liked the idea of having her close by. If she went off to stay at a hotel on the gen-pop level, he’d spend the whole time away from her worrying that she was safe. This way was easier, plus it would give them a chance to get to know each other better and take care of any small wrinkles in their fabricated history.
Yep, his reasons were all entirely platonic and selfless, all for her safety and nothing to do with the way she’d felt up against him when they’d hugged before.
Definitely nothing to do with the weird, tight tingle he got in his chest whenever he looked at her now, seeing a gorgeous, down-to-earth kind of girl, and not a fake-plastic bimbo like he’d first thought.
Seb sighed as they arrived on crew level and his ID cleared the way for them. Maybe if he kept telling himself over and over to ignore those intriguing little things about her, eventually the too-interested part of himself might take notice. She sent him a grateful smile as they headed for his door, and the simple expression stabbed right through the middle of his chest.
Too late for caution, because maybe he was already a lost cause.
—
ABOUT JESS ANASTASI
Jess has been making up stories ever since she can remember. Though her messy handwriting made it hard for anyone else to read them, she wasn’t deterred and now she gets to make up stories for a living. She loves loud music, a good book on a rainy day, and probably spends too much time watching too many TV shows. Jess lives in regional Victoria, Australia, with her very supportive husband, three daughters, two border collie dogs, and one cat who thinks he’s one of the kids.
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That malfunctioning “survival gene” bothers me, too. With death looming, that’s not something I’d be doing. 🙂
Yep. I think it was in one of Darynda Jonses’ novels where her character said something like I want to really jump his bones, but I can’t afford to think about that now when I’m ABOUT TO DIE! I always give kudos to authors who remember that their character is in peril and south of the border isn’t where the character’s mind needs to be.