Into the Crossfire

Protectors, Book 1

By: Lisa Marie Rice

Narrated by: Charles Constant

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Former Navy SEAL Sam Reston keeps to himself. His world is dangerous, uncertain, violent…and there is no room in it for the helpless and weak. Then the most beautiful woman in the world moves in next door to him.…Nicole Pearce's life is complicated enough - with an ailing father and a new business to worry about - and the last thing she needs is to get involved with a secretive, hard-bodied, hardheaded neighbor. Yet Sam leaves her breathless - her body tingling with erotic desire - and it takes every ounce of her fabled control to resist offering herself to him, no strings attached. What she doesn't know is that Sam Reston is on an undercover assignment…and she's about to step into the crossfire.

Never has Sam ached for a woman so badly, and he's never fallen in love before. Now that Nicole is in grave danger, he will become her shield, and guard the tempting body he longs to touch and taste. Because a terrorist plot hatched half a world away is heading to their doorstep - and it can only be derailed by one man and one woman.

©2010 Lisa Marie Rice (P)2014 Tantor

Live to Protect

Where does Into the Crossfire rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would say in the top 20 or 30

What did you like best about this story?

The protection angle

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration was steady

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

I didn't really like this story very much.

Don't miss this series!

This first audiobook in a series by Lisa Marie Rice, one of my favorite authors of all time, is captivating and suspenseful. The hero is a rough guy who started a security company with his two foster brothers after serving as a SEAL in the Navy. He's undercover getting info to bust a criminal organization when he first sees Nicole, who owns a small translation company. Their romance is turbulent and complicated by her dying father and a secret she didn't know she had possession of. Sam protects Nicole and they fall in love in the process. This is one hot and sexy story! Narration was excellent also.

It was ok

Any additional comments?

I didn't love this book. It was written the way I would feel a man would wrote a romance novel, and I don't mean that in a good way. Sam was super dominant and possessive and all manly man. A big strong tough protector, just like I love them, but Sam didn't do it for me. I can't quite put my finger on it but it just wasn't a fit. I feel like everything happened so fast that I didn't really get connected with their relationship. There were parts that I liked and parts that made me laugh or comment out loud but in general I found myself waiting for the story to end. I'm giving this story an extra star because I surprising liked the male audio voicer. I liked his character voice choices and he made them distinct and recognizable. He also was able to make the female voices sound realistic and not like he was making fun of the higher pitched tones.

Could Have Been Great - Average Overall

Lisa Marie Rice has books everywhere. It seems that one cannot do a 'contemporary romance' search without at least one of her books popping up.

I finally took the plunge and bought this book when Audible was having a $4.95 book sale. I'm glad I purchased it instead of using one of my credit.

This book had all of the ingredients that seem to be mainstream these days. Nicole meets a man, Sam, who is a retired Navy SEAL. Now he runs a security firm busting up bad guys.

Sam is working undercover when Nicole meets him. He's learning the ins and outs of young girls who are being bought and sold in sex trafficking. If Rice had stayed on this topic, I think it would have been a more interesting story line.

Instead Nicole has her own translation business and the bad guy wants to retrieve information from her computer. I won't go too much into the details, however Sam is forced to rescue her and they begin at torrid love affair. Their journey together includes descriptive, explicit intimacy.

Again if Rice had created a more intricate plot I think my rating would be much higher. It is a good book however it had the potential to be a great book – but for me it missed the mark.

There were many interesting aspects to the book that did not really seem to be relevant until the very end.

The narration was good, it kept me interested and the performance did not distract from the story at all.

Notes: mature themes, a few strong words and a bit of violence

Rating: R

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Stunning

I have been a fan of Lisa Marie Rice for a long time. So I actually read Into the Crossfire some years ago. Like any favorite book of mine I often went back to visit Sam and Nichole, rereading a great story! Then one day I noticed that they were coming out as an audio book! Oh happy day! Then panic... I love this book and these characters what if it's not the same?! What if the narrator sucks?!

No worries people! To tell the truth I wasn't sure which version I like more! The ebook or the audio book!

Ms Rice wrote such a intense and dynamic story coupled with the vocal talents of Mr. Charles Constant that you can't help but to be sucked into the story!

Good story- bad voice

Felt like I was listening to anchorman which made it feel more silly than serious. But otherwise I liked the book.

Into the Crossfire

Very good story-- I usually do not like a male to read romance except the parts from the male perspective. However this narrator did a very good job. It was an interesting story. It also had plenty of steam. I prefer one couple monogamy so I enjoyed this book.

Erotica this is sooo not !!

Good story but the sex scenes were blown by using peinus instead of cock, please

Just okay for me

Any additional comments?

Narration: It took me a while to warm up to this one. His reading was a little slow-paced and monotone. Not terrible, though.

Story/plot: Some of it just didn't fit. She's totally focused on her father, but spends the night with a man. (Well, maybe since she was in the middle of a dry spell. . . .) Also, the plot needed to be more fleshed out. This was more like a movie that leaves out everything but the action.

Sex scenes were great. However, in the last couple of books I've read, including this one, the characters use the word "c__t" several times. Maybe I'm a little too old-fashioned, but I don't find that sexy at all.

Military aspect: I didn't notice it (sometimes I miss things when I listen rather than read), but another reviewer commented on the author's lack of research regarding actual Navy SEALs, ie, calling Sam a soldier rather than a sailor.

MYSTERY/THRILLER BUT I DIDN'T FEEL THE ROMANCE

I know this story has got good reviews and I usually LOVE Lisa Marie Rice but sadly this just didn't 'do it' for me. I felt the romance between Sam and Nicole was very quick to develop... she agrees to go out with him, has hot sex with him, runs out on him and ignores his many phone calls over days, then she's saved by him, has hot sex again then does the stupid 'runs straight into danger' thing but is thankfully saved again by Sam.

There was no chemistry, no sizzling passion and no build up... yes there was a chilling terrorism plot to be thwarted and the villains to be uncovered (which carries over to book 2) but I felt it came in too soon... before the romance had ever been established.

Worth a credit? This book wasn't for me as I like love stories rather than mystery/thrillers so I have to say No to the credit and sadly I won't bother with the rest in the series.