Extreme Measures

Aegis

By: Elisabeth Naughton

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Being prepared for any scenario is the trademark of any good CIA operative, and Eve Wolfe is one of the best. But when her latest mission literally explodes in her face, she wakes up labeled a traitor and - even more surprising - in the custody of elite Aegis Security operative and ex-lover Zane Archer. Although she still secretly has feelings for Zane, he’s now demanding the one thing that she can’t give him: The truth.

When he caught her breaking the rules years ago, Zane let Eve walk away without an explanation. Now someone has not only sabotaged Aegis but also turned an American city into a war zone, and all signs point to Eve. Zane needs answers that can come only from Eve’s still-tempting lips, and he finally has the elusive operative right where he wants her - at his mercy.

The first book in best-selling author Elisabeth Naughton's new steamy romantic suspense series brings a spy in from the cold - and sets her heart ablaze.

©2014 Elisabeth Naughton (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Extreme Measures , I

Intriguing, very fast pass and full of action s all the way through!!

Extreme Measures

This was an enjoyable story, but indulged in one of my all time pet peeves when it comes to suspense stories. In order to ratchet up the tension, the author makes the heroine go into danger alone, even when she knows better, just so the hero can swoop in & save the day. Grrrrr. I also thought the resolution came in from left field. Thinking back over the story, I don't see any clues on who the bad guys turned out to be. I'd like to think I could've figured the mystery out if I'd just paid more attention, but there really were no warning signs. But I liked the world building & the characterizations, even the secondary, supporting actors. So, I liked it enough to keep going with the series.

As for the narrator, i guess she does a good job, but I personally don't like her voice. I've listened to a lot of Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series & this narrator does all of her books. I think I just OD'ed on her voice. I'll have to overlook it if I want to continue with this series, & I do. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in!

Pretty good start to the series :)

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story. I liked Eve and Zane and liked their story. This is the first story I've read by this author and I liked it well enough that I'm likely to read more of her work in the future.

Eve is a CIA operative. She lost a fiancee when she was in college and this prompted her joining the CIA. Her parents are dead and she has a sister but there are some difficulties between them, a lot caused by Eve being gone all the time and her sister not understanding why because she doesn't know about Eve's job.

Zane used to be part of the CIA but was a bit too much of a black and white (with no grey in between) type of person to be able to handle that job well. He left that job and joined up with Aegis security but when a job went wrong it messed up his head and he left to find the person he thought was responsible.

Eve and Zane were involved during an assignment years before. They fell for each other but Eve was freaked out by how Zane affected her (making her feel safe and forget herself) so she ended it and left at the end of the mission, never looking back. When Zane left the CIA and joined Aegis he had a hard time forgetting Eve. When a job went wrong and it looked like Eve might have something to do with it, Zane decided that she'd gone rogue and decided to go on his own to track her down and bring her in. When the story begins, Eve is in Seattle meeting a contact when the contact changes things by showing her a picture of her sister being held captive. Eve doesn't get the information she was trying to get and is left in a bad situation just hoping to get her sister out of the situation safely. Unfortunately, an explosion causes some problems and as luck would have it, Zane was tracking Eve right about that time and finds Eve unconscious after being caught in the explosion. Zane takes Eve away from the scene of the explosion to a place where he can tie her up and then dopes her up with truth serum in an effort to get the truth about everything out of her. The problem becomes that even when Eve tells Zane the truth, he's not really ready to be able to accept it.

The distrust between Zane and Eve causes some problems but they soon have more serious issues as they find themselves running from others that seem intent on killing them both. Eve plans to leave Zane when she can, figuring that she needs to find out what went wrong with her mission and she doesn't have time for Zane's crusade to "bring her in". When they get to safety, Eve plans to ditch Zane and move on but these plans change when she finds out that Zane has been blamed for the explosion and the authorities are looking for him. She stays to help Zane and work with him but she still has her reservations about being close to him because Zane tends to affect her brain in ways that aren't good for her concentration. Zane and Eve still want each other (even though they both believe they have good reasons for why it wouldn't work) and their close conditions and stressful situation just spikes the heat between them higher. Things aren't easy for them but Zane and Eve try to do their best to work together to figure out what's going on. Even once Zane believes Eve, there are still issues she has to get past in order for them to move on and the fact that she blames herself for everything that's happening doesn't help. With some help from Zane's co-worker, Zane and Eve do manage to find some clues and figure out who the bad guy is and clear Zane and Eve's names, leaving them free (once Eve comes to her senses) to come together for a well deserved HEA.

This was a pretty enjoyable story. I liked Eve and Zane despite their faults and was glad to see them work things out and end up together. The story was a good balance of romance and action and overall I liked it very much. The book set up things for Eve's sister in the next book and I'll probably be reading that one when it comes out. I'd recommend this book. :)

Suspenseful thriller and poignant passion!

This new novel by Naughton is gripping, intense, well-written, and passionate spy thriller. Enter the world of career spies, double crosses, terrorism, and two spies that try to find their way back to one another after devastating horrors and intrigue separate them years prior. Naughton does a great job in the pacing and slow unveiling of a realistic terrorism plot and how it affects the lives of so many, in particular the leads. She is setting up what looks like a perfect series.

The romance is top notch and will stay with you. I can't wait to listen to this again now that I know what happens, so I can better catch the clues. I admit I was off about who-did-it and I do not know why that creates reader delight, but it did!

We also meet a couple others whose stories will be auto-downloads when released. Hurry, Ms. Naughton.

This was an excellent audiobook, and Hilary Huber really added to the overall enjoyment with her narration. What makes this a double-whammy? At the bargain price of $7 and change, it is definitely like finding Lindt chocolates in place of your hershey bar.

Fans of Suzanne Brockman, Lisa Marie Rice and others of this genre will be delighted.
Get this book and settle in.

good story

It was a good story but it seemed too short so it was filled in with sex scenes over and over again 🙁

Solid Narration; Decent Story with Characterization Issues

I am a fan of Elisabeth Naughton's Eternal Guardians series, and decided to try this series through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Unlike some reviewers, I liked Hillary Huber's narration. (No, we're not related, as one negative reviewer accused of positive reviewers.) I thought she gave a solid performance, and had no trouble distinguishing characters. Only a couple characters were played with southern accents, and the text clearly stated their southern origins.

I saw potential in this story, and plan to read the next in the series, but did get annoyed with the female protagonist. Without giving too much away (I hope), she ran away to save the H from her alleged flaws a couple too many times. She's supposed to be smart. The last time felt too much like it was just a set-up for playing out the finale a certain way vs. what the character ought to have done given her training.

a very satisfying read,,

exciting and unpredictable, very well presented, keeps you in suspense from beginning to the end.

Action Packed Romantic Suspense @$7.34 Bargain!

Extreme Measures is the first book in the Aegis Security series by Elisabeth Naughton. It is a fast paced romantic suspense novel focusing on Eve and Zane. Eve works for the CIA and Zane works for Aegis Security. They have a history together that ended when Eve ran and Zane was left believing she was a traitor. After Zane is injured during a covert mission gone wrong he becomes obsessed with tracking Eve down and making her pay.

I really liked Extreme Measure. The characters are interesting and the plot is engrossing. It's the type of story that makes you think. About how right and wrong isn't always black and white and about the hard decisions some people have to make. Eve is a very complex character that is haunted by the things that she has experienced and the decisions she has had to make. I'm always a fan of kickass heroines and Eve was that and more. I admired her and I felt for her. Her romance with Zane helped to soothe her soul.

I liked how Zane struggled with what he believed as truth as opposed to what his instincts were telling him. He never got over Eve and he just wants to find out the truth about her but even when he hears it, it takes some convincing for him to believe it. Their romance is raw and explosive. The chemistry is hot and and so is the sex their feelings run deep. The suspense is woven tightly with the romance and makes for a gripping read. We are introduced to other characters within Aegis Security and seeds are planted for future stories. I look forward to the next book in this series especially at the bargain price of $7.34.

Another listener complained about Hillary Huber's delivery of the story. It almost most put me off buying the book. I am glad I took the chance because I think Ms Huber did a great job with the reading of the story.

Less romance please...

I really enjoyed this aluthor in till this book. There was just way too much detailed romance, if you get my drift. The storyline had such great promise if you could just get past all the romance.

Nowhere near as good as book 2

I'd read book 2 and really liked it so was looking forward to this one but was disappointed. I never felt anything for any character.
Perhaps the narration had a lot to do with that. The second book had a male, maybe they did that because they realized the problem. Even though he was hyper, it was conducive to the story. This narrator had a nice narration voice UNTIL she spoke as a character. Especially the male. TOO soft spoken and not as all masculine. It was also too soft spoken for scenes that needed emotion. Why did everyone have a southern drawl?
I like sex but these characters had no depth & only thought about it over & over & over. They were supposed to be professionals but sure didn't have much control of their thoughts. Halfway through I started fast-forwarding through those scenes because they were flat.