The Transporter by Liz Maverick (Hudson Kings #1)
Released: August 1, 2017
Romantic Suspense
Montlake

Reviewed by Mandi

Blurb: Shane Sullivan, a.k.a. the Transporter, channels his need for speed into top-secret delivery runs for the Hudson Kings, an elite band of mercenaries. His precious cargo has never talked back—until now. He’s riding to the rescue of his fellow team member’s sister, who’s fleeing her abusive boyfriend. His job: steer clear of trouble and get her to New York City in one piece. But he didn’t count on her driving him to distraction. Now he needs to keep both hands on the wheel—and off his best friend’s sister.

Cecily Keegan has a poor track record when it comes to falling for charming bad guys. So although she’s grateful for this hard-bodied wheelman’s protection, she’s terrified of listening to her heart, which has been racing since she got into his backseat. But when she learns that the danger is far greater than a possessive ex, she has to trust Shane—and the strength inside herself—to deliver her from evil.

Cecily is happily going about her life, until her boyfriend, James, becomes abusive and hits her one day. Stunned, she turns to her brother, who lives across the country for help. Dex sends help in the form of Shane, a huge, muscled bad ass. Cecily, penniless and scared after running from James, takes one look at Shane as he pulls up and runs for her life.

Shane is not a bad guy though, even though he looks like one. After running her down and reassuring her that he is indeed her brother’s friend, Cecily gets in his beloved truck and off they go across the country to New York. Cecily loves her brother dearly, but she has no idea that he is part of The Hudson Kings, a black-ops group who takes government contracts and hunts down bad guys with their fancy weapons and stealthy computer skills. They all live together in a compound (I love when alpha men live together!) and Shane is in charge of getting Cecily back to New York safe. He is the Hudson King’s transporter – and he takes it seriously. Shane may be all muscled, abs, and dark jeans on the outside, but on the inside he is a bit of a softy. He starts to fall hard for Cecily, but keeps it in check since she was just hit by her boyfriend and is the sister of Dex, his good buddy.  When he realizes someone is following them, he slowly starts to tell Cecily who her brother really is – and that her ex boyfriend is a Russian spy, not the all-american boy she thought he was.

This is a fun, over the top suspense book that had a ton of action that kept me engaged the entire time. Brotherly camaraderie is my candy, and this book has plenty of it. The road trip across the country with just Shane and Cecily was my favorite part though. I love a silent, intense, hero who is capable of cutting down any bad guy that gets in his way. While Cecily is a bit naive about who her brother really is, her weakness for the big, bad Shane was fun to watch unfold. He is bossy, and arrogant, but then gives her hugs when it’s all too overwhelming for her.

Now, he sat in a chair across the room from the bed which Cecily sat wrapped in a hotel robe after washing a man out of her hair with some kind of epically fantastic orange-scented shampoo, and the most coherent thought he could keep in his head was: Not. Gonna. Touch. Her.

[…]

She smells like an orange. Never gonna look at an orange the same way ever again. I had an orange right now, I’ma take that orange. Gonna caress that orange, roll it between my hands. I’m going to peel that MOTHERFUCKING ORANGE and suck each and every part of it until her juice is running off my tongue and down my chin, and I can smell her scent all over me for days. I’m gonna–

“Shane?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re staring into space.”

Trust me, I’m not staring into space.

Once they get back to New York, Cecily gets quickly introduced to what her brother really does – and who her ex really is. He has followed her to New York, and this presents a danger to her. They all go into alpha  mode – with Dex and Shane squaring off over the fact that Shane has “touched” Cecily in a way her brother doesn’t approve of. There is a lot of grunting and harsh words…I licked it up.

My one complaint is about the suspense. Cecily’s ex boyfriend started dating her because he knew her brother Dex was part of the Hudson Kings and wanted dirt on them. After he hits her, and she runs to her brother, he follows. The Kings believe he still is in the dark about Cecily knowing who is who and they feel like their cover isn’t blown. It just didn’t make sense to me. If James is a Russian spy, I think he would catch on about the Kings, and I think they gave him too much leeway – leaving an opening for him to cause trouble to Cecily towards the end of the book. It was a little weak.

Overall the fun alpha Shane and his buddies sets up what I hope it a fun series.

Enjoyable, lots of abs, a hero who knows how to kiss:

A flash of sudden comprehension had Shane giving a small shake of his head: No. He looked mesmerized, his gaze pinned to her mouth.

Stop thinking, sweet boy. Let’s both stop all this thinking and just let it happen. She licked her dry lips with the tip of her tongue and leaned into him, feeling his cock press against her thigh.

“F-u-u-u-ck,” Shane whispered.

I’ll end with that ;)

Grade: B

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