Love the Way You Spy

Masters and Mercenaries: New Recruits, Book 1

By: Lexi Blake

Narrated by: Ryan West

Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Tasha Taggart isn't a spy. That's her sisters' job. Tasha's support role is all about keeping them alive, playing referee when they fight amongst themselves, and soothing the toughest boss in the world—their father. Working for the CIA isn't as glamorous as she imagined, and she's more than a little lonely. So when she meets a charming man in a bar, she decides to give in to temptation. The night was perfect until she discovers she's just slept with the target of their new investigation. Her sisters will never let her hear the end of this.

Dare Nash knew exactly how his week in Sydney was going to go—attending boring conferences to represent his family's business interests and eating hotel food alone. Until he falls under the spell of a stunning and mysterious American woman. He doesn't trust easily, but it's not long before he can imagine spending the rest of his life with her.

When Dare discovers Tash isn't who she seems, the dream turns into a nightmare. She isn't the only one who deceived him, and now he's in the crosshairs of adversaries way out of his league. He can't trust her, but it might take Tasha and her family to save his life and uncover the truth.

Contains mature themes.

©2023 DLZ Entertainment LLC (P)2023 Tantor

Surprise how much I enjoyed this book 💕

This was a good book to listen to. Love the other mercenaries series, and this first book in the new series is great. Love Tasha & Dare; the Tagger family and all those that were associated with the family team. I can’t wait to listen to book 2.

Never disappointed!!

Best series ever!! Ryan West does an amazing job. So glad with all kids grown up we have more books to come.

the new generation is fierce

keep them coming Lexi
and never change the narrator Ryan, never change the narrator
he is also fierce

Another great one!

I love listening to all the masters and mercenaries along with the Bliss books. I am so looking forward to all the kids books. Hopefully TJ and Lou will be available soon.

Better than expected

I was a little skeptical about this series continuing. Would there really be enough story lines? Would they simply pair up all the kids from the previous books?
I was more than pleasantly surprised.
While there is a lot of foreshadowing about future books in this series and there may be a a bunch of pairing of kids, it does seem like it will be a very good continuation.

Great story and narration

It’s no secret that the Masters and Mercenaries series is one of my all-time favorite series. I love all the characters and the relationships that have evolved over the series. When I heard that Lexi Blake was releasing Masters and Mercenaries: New Recruits, the next generation, featuring the children of the original series I was beyond excited.
When I found out that this first book was set in Sydney, Australia, my home town, that was just an added bonus. Love The Way You Spy was everything I was hoping for and so much more. Even if you have not read the original series, you will be able to read this series as a standalone. However, the original series is great, and I would recommend you go back and read when time permits.
I think this generation are going to be just as entertaining, maybe even more so, as their parents. I absolutely adored Tasha Taggart and the man who captured her heart, Dare Nash. The story was complicated but what a journey it was. The camaraderie, banter and interference from Tasha’s family as the operation progressed had me smiling, laughing and shaking my head at times.
This was a well written, action-packed romantic suspense story with a good balance of romance and suspense. I was on the edge of my seat whilst reading such is Ms. Blake’s writing, she draws you in and will keep you invested from the first to the last chapter.
I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.
Ryan West’s narration was spot on. Not only is his voice easy to listen too but he does justice to the story that Ms. Blake wove.

Awesome next gen start!

It lagged a little in the beginning but being a lover of all masters & mercs I pushed through and so glad I did!

Never a disappointment!!

Lexi Blake and Ryan West are an unbeatable combination!! I love the Masters and Mercenaries series and all the spin offs!! Keep them coming!

The kids have grown up but the drama continues....

4.25 Stars 🌟

I have to admit right off the bat that I am a HUGE fan of Ms. Blake, and particularly the original series that started it all (Masters & Mercenaries) and all of the spinoffs. Reading the prologue, Ms. Blake mentions that she thought it might be weird writing about the kids - even though they are now grown up (because....). I also thought it might be weird to delve into this (because we all know that we are going to dive right into their sexual experiences and lifestyles...because...well, because we just were. It's what we do). So, yeah I thought it might be weird. Funnily (is that a word?) well, it wasn't.

Since this is the first book in this new series, there is the requisite world building that has to take place. If I'm being honest, there were A LOT of people thrown at us and I honestly has a really hard time keeping everyone straight (who belonged to who, who was who's kid, etc). Since I was listening to this on audio, I think that made it a bit harder. Then I felt really silly when I took a break from listening and started reading for a while and thought, "Hmmm, I wonder if there is a table of the kids and their families?" Then, wouldn't you know, there was a family tree right at the very beginning of the book. Duh, I felt a bit silly. But boy oh boy did it help. I did have a problem though with Zach. Was he new? Were we supposed to know him already and if so - where from?

Okay, I've already done a lot of typing and haven't even mentioned the book. So let's get to it. The kids have formed a new trial team working under Big Tag for the Agency and are given their first solo op. Wouldn't you know that Tasha happens to sleep with a guy one night in a bar and yep, the guy just happens to be their new target. Things even get crazier from there.

I loved this because I was already invested in the OG characters. Yes, it took a while to get used to the new dynamics of these newly grown kids (they were babies and young kids when we left them) and they are truly a living soap opera. Drama, drama, drama :) But the story truly took off when the parents got involved and I can not stress enough how funny Ian and Charlotte are when dealing with the kids. Truly hilarious. And yes, there is a case going on with some bad guys...so there is that.

One thing I want to mention and I don't want to give out any spoilers, but if you are a long time reader and you have also happened to read the Thieves series...there is a surprise cross over that knocked my socks off. We got a hint of this cross over in one of the last Thieves books and that character makes an appearance again in this book. It is not clearly spelled out and it is truly one of those IYKYK situations, but it made my jaw drop while at the same time making me smile so dang big. I also wonder if there are going to be any long term ramifications from this.....curious minds want to know?

BTW - Ryan West does his normally fantastic job as the voice of this series.

So - count me in as we start the new generation. I'm in.

Another great Lexi Blake book! A new generation. How exciting!!

The next generation of Tagarts with all the hotness and intrigue. I’m ready for more already!!