Wild Card

By: Lora Leigh

Narrated by: Clarissa Knightly

Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

It was supposed to be simple. All Navy SEAL Nathan Malone had to do was rescue three young girls from a Colombian drug cartel, then allow himself to be captured just long enough to draw out a government spy. That was before his mission went disastrously wrong… and before his wife, Bella, was told that Nathan was never coming home.

Bella’s mourned her husband’s death for three long years, having no idea that he was still alive. Forced to assume a new identity, the man Nathan was is now dead. If he can get back to his wife, can he keep the secret of who he really is… even as desire threatens to consume them? And as danger threatens to tear Bella from Nathan’s arms once more?

©2008 Lora Leigh (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

LOVE LOVE THIS SERIES !!

What made the experience of listening to Wild Card the most enjoyable?

THE CHARACTERS WERE INTENSE AND THE MYSTERY OF IT ALL WAS GREAT,

What did you like best about this story?

IT WAS INTENSE AND KEPT YOU WONDERING WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND YOU KNEW SOMETHING WAS....BUT WHAT YOU DIDNT QUITE KNOW.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

COULD NOT TURN IT OFF, DID MY CHORES, LAUNDRY, DISHES, EVERYTHING WITH IT ON.

15 HOURS OF PURE PLEASURE

If you know L.L.'s books then you know what to expect - fantastic writing, great plot, awesome characters and strong leading men that are hot hot hot. I think this has been ABSOLUTELY her BEST book that I've listened to - it was tender, thoughtful, touching, torturous, tense and totally addictive.

I thought I needed to sleep but this is one you just don't want to stop listening to but, at the same time, you're enjoying it soooo much that you just don't want it to end.

Worth a credit? Not just a YES but a HELL YES.

Could have been better

I loved the story and the main characters. This could have been sooo good. It may have been the narrator or maybe just the actual writing , but I did not find the sexy parts very sexy. I kept losing interest and wanting to get on with the story. The deep dark awful secrets and desires were pretty tame (which is actually my preference) but Nathan/whatever his other name was was kinda creepy during sex-- again it may have been the narrator. So this was just ok for me.

Hot, Sexy, With Substance

Narrator was good, story line kept you entertained another great one from Lora. This book in not for sexual prudes.

Wild Card is a Wild Ride

What made the experience of listening to Wild Card the most enjoyable?

The ultimate Alpha hero . . . they don't make Teflon nearly as tough as Nathan/Noah . . . nor a hero nearly as verbal. The mystery storyline interesting enough to be engaging. The "set pieces" aka sex scenes were more than graphic, detailed in brutally masculine terms, but this is Lora Leigh so you've been warned. Nothing's airbrushed, glossed over or implied in her stories. Definitely listen with ear buds only when around the children; blame any blushes on the thermostat setting.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Split . . . between Nathan/Noah and Bella/Sabella. The hero as we watched him become human again, and the heroine for her strength; she embodied the arc we women all go through in the natural evolution of a marriage/partnership, stumbling until we find our footing in the dynamic and ourselves.

What three words best describe Clarissa Knightly’s voice?

Paced, throaty, well-delivered. On a side note, I didn't necessarily care for the Ms. Knightley's interpretation of Bella/Sabella. Not dischordant, just heavy on the Southern accent. All the other characters I thought she did brilliantly.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No laughing or crying but the mole in the story really, truly caught me off guard, insidiously placed and totally surprising. Listening again, it was easier to pick up on the clues.

Any additional comments?

So far, this has been my favorite Lora Leigh story, period.

Bittersweet and haunting romance.

Lora Leigh's Elite Ops series gets off to a start with this haunting and bittersweet love story. Nathan Malone is a navy seal who is happily married to Bella. But you don't really understand that from the beginning, as the story unfolds after a harrowing event in Nathan's life has already changed everything.

Chapter one begins as a still grief-stricken Bella, years after Nathan was "killed" in action, struggles to keep her husband's garage in business. But the reader knows Nathan is not dead. A mission went terribly wrong. Nathan had been captured, and tortured and drugged for long months and came out a completely changed man after he was rescued. A long period of surgeries and recovery still left behind a man tormented in mind and convinced he could never be the man his beloved wife had married. Of all the things in this book, this particular plot development is the hardest to stomach. Why would someone who loved his wife so dearly, allow her to grieve his loss believing she was better off heartbroken than seeing how much he had changed? I never bought into that.

Nevertheless, the story progresses as Nathan, now known as Noah Blake, returns to Bella to protect her from the evil people who were responsible for spreading the dangerous drug that was used on Nathan while in captivity. Nathan/Noah gets hired on as a new mechanic in his own garage where he works undercover to try to identify the people who endanger everyone with the spread of the "whore's dust." Another stretch for our imagination, but we are to believe all his surgeries have sufficiently changed his looks and voice so his own brother and wife don't recognize him.

More flashbacks reveal the insidious nature of "whore's dust" and the evil bad guy, Fuentes. These flashbacks set up future story lines that we will see in books that follow in the series. And we come to see Nathan/Noah transform into a skilled killer in a shadow elite ops group in the time after his recovery. So when he finally comes back into Bella's life, we are to believe he is a very different man. What hasn't changed is his love for Bella.

The bulk of the remainder of the book is about Noah working to protect Bella, resist Bella, and ultimately beginning a new relationship with Bella as Noah Blake. There is intrigue, bad guys, danger, and sex. You have to read the book to find out more. The love between Bella and Nathan/Noah is so intense that you can just imagine her heartbreak when she believes she has lost him, and feel her absolute elation and anger when suspecting Noah's true identity. The narration by Clarissa Knightly is excellent, and makes this a compelling listen. I believe it is definitely worth one of your credits!

had potential for a good story....

way too many graphic sex encounters for this to be listed as an action or adventure novel. It's a 14 hour listen and it seemed like it was 8 hours of nothing left to the imagination porn.

HOT* HOT* HOT*

If you want an exciting, sexy, touching love story, this is the book for you. The love Bella had for Nathan brought tears to my eyes. Lora Leigh wraps this story tight in excitement and intrigue, but most of all hot, hot sex and the never ending love between two people that transcended all barriers.

I want Audible to offer the other 6 books in this series "Elite Ops" by Lori Leigh. I love a romance novel with tough, sexy Navy SEALS and Special Ops soldiers.
Worth the credit!

just ok

The story was full of sex and fun buy completely unbelievable when you want to portray it as a wife and family and friends who don't recognize someone so larger than life and special in all their lives.

Porn

This book did a terrible job researching how the SEALs really operate which puts this book in doubt from the get go. Couple that with extremely explicit sex scenes that make up 75% of this book and you get frustrated in many different levels.