BOOK REVIEW ~ FORGED IN STEELE BY MAYA BANKS

Title: Forged In Steele (KGI, Book Seven)

Author: Maya Banks

Release Date: June 25, 2013

Reviewer purchased own copy of paperback for review 

The Kelly Group International (KGI): A super-elite, top secret, family-run business.
Qualifications: High intelligence, rock-hard body, military background.
Mission: Hostage/kidnap victim recovery. Intelligence gathering. Handling jobs the U.S. government can’t…

Steele, a KGI team leader, is an enigma not even his team mates understand. His emotions are tightly locked down and nothing can break that icy exterior. Nothing except Maren Scofield, a doctor on a mission, a woman who has gotten under Steele’s skin and threatens to crack that unflappable cool he’s legendary for.

Steele is determined not to allow Maren past his carefully guarded defenses, but when she’s in danger, there’s no way he’ll allow anyone else to protect her. She’s hiding something. He’s sure of it. But he isn’t prepared for the shocking discovery her secrets reveal. Or how they will forever alter the course of his destiny. He has a decision to make. Hold tight and shut her out. Or take a chance on something more powerful than he’s ever faced. Love.

Book Review

Maya Banks is an auto-buy author for me because she writes such addictive characters, and the KGI series is my favorite of hers. She has created a world where romantic suspense meets sensual romance and combines to make an enthralling series. The men of KGI are sexy, hard-bodied, smart, and fiercely loyal to the women who love them. 

Forged In Steele is the story of how the man known as having ice in his veins, Steele, finally meets his match with Dr. Maren Scofield. Steele has had running fantasies about Maren for a while. She resides in Costa Rica, where she runs a clinic for those who cannot afford health care. She has also treated the men of KGI in the past and each incident with Steele has been brief, blunt, and almost emotionless. He cannot seem to get away from her fast enough.

But when Steele and another teammate are injured during a mission rescuing a young woman, the iceman melts and he finally gives in to the mounting sexual tension between Maren and himself. 

Banks shows us a more vulnerable and sensitive side to this enigmatic soldier. And I fell for the softer, yet very passionate side to one Jackson Steele. Maren, too, had no problem falling for his charm. But Steele isn't always suave, spouting poetic words of love--he still has that outer crustiness that attracted me to him in the first place. 

While Maren and Steele are separated after their night of bliss, both are trying to figure out if what they had can develop into something more. Steele has never visualized himself as a family man, like some of the other Kelly men, much less have a serious relationship with a woman. His life has always been his team and his job. Can he make such a commitment, knowing that his career has him taking off without notice? Not to mention the high level of danger makes the chances of him returning safe, if at all? 

Maren has her own issues when Steele leaves on another mission. And it's one that will affect her life drastically and could have Steele wanting to run in the opposite direction. She is pregnant with Steele's child, even though precautions were taken to prevent it. 

Shortly after finding out about the pregnancy, Maren is kidnapped and taken hostage by a deviant crime lord who has no plan of ever letting her go. He claims to want her medical skills while he recovers from plastic surgery that will greatly alter his appearance. But he also makes his more personal intentions known--he wants Maren in his bed. His delusional mind has him believing the baby Maren carries is his own. 

Steele and the men of KGI are now racing against the clock to find Maren--and an highly unexpected source comes to the rescue to aid in Maren's rescue.

Hancock. 

This man has made a small cameo in the KGI series and he has sparked my interest from the get go. He has his own secret agenda, working for an unknown boss, and walks the edge of the law. He makes no excuses for what he does, how he does it, and his mysterious ways has me wanting to know more about this sexy, unorthodox hero. 

But even after Maren is rescued from the mad man, her life still remains in danger. 

And Steele will do anything to protect this woman he has come to love. 

A gripping, sexually thrilling story that has easily become a favorite of mine in this series. Fans of KGI and Maya Banks will devour it.