This is the first book I have read by this author. I have to say even though this is listed as book six in the series, I was able to jump right into the storyline. This romantic suspense novel features a second chance romance trope that at times felt slightly off to me. Basically, I just didn't connect with the characters so for me that spoiled the overall story.

Thank you so much Netgalley for the advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars for Turn Me Loose

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This was a nice and hot and very quick read for me and I think many will also enjoy if that is what they are looking for.

ARC received for review

I just didn't get the chemistry between Ian and Riva. They had some brewing 6-7 years ago, but it took forever to fan it into flames this time. Conn (from book 5) finally gets his name cleared, but we don't really see it in this book. It's kind of glossed over. Ms. Calhoun has set up book 7, but I can't find it anywhere.

Riva was at Kaffrend Coffee House and even though it was past midnight Riva was rereading her Econ assignment she figured another half hour and she could call it a night. Then Riva saw a guy come in looking for a place to sit. He was older than most of the people there. Two months into her college career and she was already had a reputation for providing quality product Pills to sleep or stay awake, a little weed, something for pain. She had made four quick sales tonight. She had good news when she reported in. The guy did catch Riva’s look a couple times maybe he wanted her and not her product. Riva got up and paid her bill and walked to his table realized he was even a little older then she had originally thought but she still said to him she had noticed him watching her.She introduced herself and he said his name was Ian Fallen and he invited her to sit down. Ian asked her about some E and then pot and she agreed to sell him some pot out back. Ian ends up arresting Rive for selling drugs as he is a undercover cop. Riva was given the choice ny Ian to go to prison or or being a confidential informant for him What Riva hadn’t told Ian was she worked for her father. But after she got arrested he turned hos back on her after she was arrested. With Ian and Riva working together they had an attraction going between them Seven years later Riva was surrounded by chefs, sous chef, and the nights hostess. She leaned against the prep table and each kids piece. T#hey were enrolled in East Side Community Centers Teen Cuisine Program and were getting trained on all aspects of a restaurant and all it’s operations. Riva’s dream was to eventually quadruple her greenhouse space enabling her to start planting earlier in the season and supply not just her restaurant but others in the area. One step at a time. Take it slow, grow organically and most important to not draw attention to herself. Rive couldn’t believe she’d made this herself , supervised the renovation, had done most of the interior work , and decorated herself by bargain shopping painted walls. and built tables Riva had come a long way in her business plan. The program for the ids was a simple one, developed in conjunction with the East Side Community center rav by Pastor Webber. Get kids had grown up in poor neighborhoods, teach them to grow their own food and cook it which enabled Riva to teach them about healthy eating. It also meant Riva could give back , pay for the mistakes she had made most the kids avoid the same mistakes. Most of the recipes were Riva’s own and waiting tables gave Riva feedback directly from customers enabled Riva to fine tune her recipes. Then a man stood in the shadow when he stepped forward it was Officer Hawthorn and he had been put in Riva’s section. She just wanted to get him served and and out. He was her past, this was her future. Riva had no relationships for more than a casual hookup because anymore would would make Riva talk of her mistakes or lie. She couldn't bring herself to do either. Then Riva has to make another deal with Ian for one of the kids in her program - Isaac - who Riva makes a deal to get her father if Isaac is let go. Isaac had been helping his drug dealing brother. Riva still feels anger and resentment for how Ian had used her but now she was putting herself in danger for one of hre kids in the program. Rivahad not forgotten how her father had got her mother addicted to drugs. Riva tells Ian that her father in the real drug ring leader. Ian also wants to convict the dirty cops who were paid to ignore the drugs and the dealers. Ian e=wants to get his captain stripes.bRiva says she knows how to get evidence to convict her father, Ian still feels guilty for all the times he put Riva in potential dangerous situations when she was younger and he had busted her. Ian will not let Riva go back to Chicago alone. Riva plans to get in good with her father again and see part of his operation to get the information she needs for Ian to bring her father down. . But Ian will not let Riva go alone and insists on going back to Chicago with Riva.On meeting Rory- Riva’s father Ian decides on a different plan as he is a sociopath, egocentric, conscienceless and intelligent man who thrives on being looked up to and playing mind games. Ian believes he can get close to Rory by being a acolyte to Rory. Ian is determined to keep Riva safe. Even if he has to be in danger to do it. Ian kbnows having a relationship with Riva could hurt his career.
I liked this book for the most part It was an enjoyable read but it did drag at times for me and I don’t particularly care for the use of flashbacks. Also the inner dialogue at times got annoying as well as bhoring. But i did like the plot. I also liked how Ian and Riva could be more honest and open with each other now. The author also handled Ian’s cancer and his anger realistically as far as I am concerned. I also enjoyed the suspense in this book This did keep my attention as I wanted to see what was going to happen next. I loved the slow burn of Riva and Ian’s romance I felt Rory was very evil getting Riva’s mother hooked on drugs and turning his back on Riva as soon as she got arrested while working for him. I liked the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend.

I really hate when this happens but I just couldn't connect with the characters. This book by Calhoun was well written just not for me. I will give her another shot at a later date but for now, I need to move on.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately in this instance,I didn't connect to the story. As I didn't finish reading, I will not be reviewing this title. Many thanks and I do look forward to picking up another read from this author.

If you like stories that are fast paced and get your adrenaline pumping then this is the story for you. I love how the author tied past events to what was happening now to give you a better understanding. Great read!

REVIEW: Anne Calhoun’s TURN ME LOOSE, Set Me Free
posted in Review by Miss Bates
I hadn’t read a romantic suspense novel in a long time and I wasn’t sure I really wanted to. Calhoun’s Turn Me Loose has a naked-chest-and-dog-tags cover that always turns me off. But, Calhoun: I’d heard a lot of good about her in the Twitterverse et. al. and wanted to give a new-to-me author a fighting chance. Turn Me Loose‘s introduction didn’t cover itself with glory and I came a hair’s-breath away from DNF-ing. But the writing was good, darn good, though I disliked the flash-back routine to the hero and heroine’s past. I recognized its necessity because it made it easier for Calhoun to segue into the present, but those, albeit not significant, parts of the novel never won me over. So, what did?

Let’s begin with a basic premise and characterization. Seven years before the present scene, undercover cop Ian Hawthorn arrested eighteen-year-old college student and petty drug-dealer, Riva Henneman. In exchange for her freedom, Riva agreed to act as Ian’s “confidential informant”. Ian and Riva spent a lot of time together in stake-out and/or drug busts, with Riva going in to dangerous situations as her drug-dealer-self to help Ian and the Lancaster Police Department make arrests. A resentful attraction seethes between them, but ethical lines and power differentials are not crossed. Seven years pass and Ian walks into Riva’s business, a farm-to-table restaurant operation called Oasis, that takes teens and young adults from food-impoverished neighbourhoods and gives them a chance at fair and engaging labour. The food is delicious, Riva is beautiful, and the attraction between them still sizzles and seethes.

When one of Riva’s precious teens from the Teen Cuisine Program is arrested, she and Ian are thrown together again. Because it turns out that the person the LPD is looking for, one making inroads to the community’s drug trade, is Riva’s father, the man who set Riva up in the first place seven years ago and now torments her mother. Once again, Riva and Ian go undercover, in Chicago this time, moving into her parents’ house in an attempt to gather evidence against Rory Henneman. Pretty standard RS stuff: protagonists in danger with time-outs for simmering-to-scorching love scenes (let’s just say that Calhoun’s leave major embers).

Except not. Because Calhoun does a lot more than what meets the blurb. Her romance narrative’s power lies in her characters’ complexity, especially Rory, who is more damaged of the two. Rory had a dream: like older brother Jamie, he wanted to be a SEAL. He was on that journey when a cancer diagnosis stopped him short and killed the dream forever. Being a cop was being second best, but Ian was going to be the best second best he could be … he was at the point in his life when he arrested Riva. Riva’s story is embroiled with her father, the man whose approval and love she craved so much, she would give up personal integrity and her mother, to win it. This is how she ended up being arrested by Officer, now Lieutenant, Ian Hawthorn, seven years ago.

Getting Rory and rescuing her drug-induced mother out from under Rory’s abuse, becomes Riva and Ian’s mission. Except this time, they accomplish something as equals. But navigating the delicacy of their past positions and figuring out how much of themselves to give away make this a challenging task. What of the complication of contending with feelings they’ve squelched, buried, and burned? What of physical attraction and how fraught with implications touch becomes? There they are, in a sociopath’s house, suspended in professional and personal precariousness. How to steer the past, when it had been like this, “his gaze flint against the tinder of her young, impetuous desire”? When Ian remembers “he’d turned her loose, knowing he had no right and no business staying in touch with her without being the worst kind of creeper”?

Calhoun takes on Ian and Riva’s power differential by doing something good romance writers do: equalizing them. Not in a cold, statistical, or protocol-based way, but by stripping them of their “official” status for a personal one. And, like all good romance writers, she does this in two arenas: the bedroom and the conversation. Romance works when the love scenes say what the hero and heroine can’t and dialogue works when the hero and heroine confess their most vulnerable truths, expose themselves emotionally as they do physically in stripping garments. (And THIS is why I’ve never fully enjoyed the closed-bedroom-door romance and never will, even when a beloved romance writer writes it. A kisses-only romance can do this, but closed-bedroom door can’t. Rant over.)

Again, like all great romance writers, Calhoun has to bring her hero and heroine to an elemental level. One of my favourite moments is this one, when Riva finally sees Ian as more than the man who witnessed her moral humiliation (which is interesting in and of itself; for Riva, it was never about power, it was about seeing her morally compromised that made her run as far as she could from Ian). What makes Riva able to love Ian now is that he has finally seen her as morally whole, uncompromised:

With every passing day the complex tangle of emotions Ian raised in her unknotted a little more. He became less her downfall, less her enemy, less her worst nightmare, leaving behind just Ian. Just a man … She let herself see him, the real him, the feral creature who lived, lived through cancer, lived as hard and ferociously as he could … She could handle this. Handle him.

And what of Ian? He can’t see Riva without seeing his own shameful secret: that he wanted her in a way that questioned his ability to be an honest cop, back then, when he first arrested her. Now, he needs her to choose him freely, so that their relationship can move beyond their past, his actions, and his hypocrisy. He’s “turned her loose,” so that she can return to him freely.

I thought Calhoun’s work was the best kind of emotional and moral conflict. I loved Riva and Ian and I came to the end believing in their commitment, fidelity, love, and future. I could’ve done with less of the characters from past books. At times, I thought Calhoun lost control over her prose when she tried to depict that moral and emotional complexity, but I give her full marks for the attempt if not the execution’s consistency. (I noticed there aren’t any new Calhoun books on the horizon and for that I’m truly sorry. I hope Calhoun’s not out there remaking herself in women’s fic guise. I’d like to have three-dimensional RS characterization to look forward to. Second rant over.) With the scandalized Miss Austen (okay, the love scenes are de trop for these two spinsters), I’d say Calhoun’s Turn Me Loose is indicative of “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma.

Anne Calhoun’s Turn Me Loose, sixth in the Alpha Ops series, is published by St. Martin’s Paperbacks. It was released on May 30th, 2017, and may be procured from your preferred vendor. Miss Bates received an e-ARC from St. Martin’s, via Netgalley.

(Miss Bates is aware she “dropped” the third-person conceit. It grew clunky and awkward and forced a formality she no longer felt for her blog. She’s still an impoverished spinster living with her mum, she’s just not an impoverished Regency spinster living with her mum.)

3.5 stars

A good series, this is the story of woman Riva who is trying to redeem herself from the sins of the past. At nineteen, she was trying to do something for her father and she comes to the attention of a young cop Ian. Now years later, danger surrounds the couple again. I like Ms Calhoun's writing and thought the story moved at a good pace.

The tension in the book was palpable throughout...the tension between Ian and Riva and if they would ever allow themselves to explore their attraction...the tension of how to solve the police case...it all came together in a way that wasn't cheesy or overly dramatic. A good book overall.

Although Turn Me Loose is the sixth novel in Anne Calhoun's Alpha Ops series, it's only the third title in the series I've read, and I'm happy to say, it's my favorite so far, and I give it 4.5 stars.

The novel opens seven years in the past at the Kaffiend Coffee House (loved the name!) in , where Riva Henneman, the heroine, a young college student, first spots Ian Hawthorn, and it's definitely a case of lust at first sight, but Riva is in for a rude awakening. She's been selling drugs to other Lancaster College students, and it's not long before Ian, an undercover cop, busts her for it. Ian offers her a deal, she can stay out of jail by working as his confidential informant, helping to turn in other local dealers--and it's a deal she accepts.

Fast forward seven years and Riva has certainly cleaned up her act. She's working with the East Side Community Center's Teen Cuisine program, teaching underprivileged young people the ins and outs of the restaurant business, and she does so by having them work and learn in her farm-to-table restaurant, Oasis. She owns the farm, and they learn absolutely everything from the first seed to hit the ground, to planting, harvesting, menu planning, meal preparation, to serving. She's completely turned her life around and is proud of her accomplishment, but one night, when she's working at the front of her restaurant, a new patron walks in, and it's none other than Officer Ian Hawthorn. She's shocked to see him there and Ian is just as shocked to see her. They make polite if chilly conversation and Riva asks him not to return but a short time later, one of her students who is also her head chef, Isaac, is busted for dealing drugs, and she's all Isaac has.

Trying to keep Isaac out of jail, this time around she's the one offering Ian a deal, using information she purposely withheld from him seven years ago--that she was dealing drugs for her father, Rory Henneman, a ruthless drug kingpin in Chicago, who's in the process of expanding his illegal drug enterprise into the Lancaster area. He's got cohorts inside the Lancaster PD, and Ian, wanting to earn his Captain's bars, see's this as the opportunity to bring the illegal activities to a halt and to catch the dirty cops in his department. Riva knows where her father keeps his records, and in exchange for Ian freeing Isaac, she'll help Ian by finding and turning over all the evidence he needs to put her father away forever. There's an added bonus in it for Riva--her father is an abusive sociopath and has been manipulating and emotionally abusing her mother for years. Riva suspects that he also has the poor woman on drugs and she desperately wants to free her mother from her father's influence. And that's just for starters.

What follows is a riveting, emotional, romantic suspense novel, with a healthy dose of heat between Riva and Ian, and it's rich with their backstories, told as flashbacks, something I've been harping on about since I wrote my first book review. These are fully-formed characters and their interactions are both tense and intense, and their complicated relationship makes it even more interesting. Riva knows that Ian is seeking to further his career with a promotion to Captain, and getting involved with her, a former confidential informant, would tank any chance he might have. Add the fact that Ian wants to protect her, and that Riva wants to protect him, and both are keeping their feelings for one another under wraps. There are more personal secrets neither they nor I will reveal quite yet, and their stories drew me in like a moth to a flame. I simply could not put this book down.

As I stated at the outset, this is the sixth novel in the Alpha Ops series, and the only thing that kept me from giving it a 5-star rating was that this novel worked just fine as a standalone read until the final chapter, when it seems that every character who ever appeared in this series shows up and if, like me, you've not read the entire series, I'm guessing you'll be as confused as I was by the long procession of characters you've never encountered and their interrelationships. Otherwise, this was an excellent, well-written, moving, intense and gripping novel, and I highly recommend it. Personally, I'll be backtracking to the previous novels in the series that I've missed, and I strongly suspect that you will too.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

Background: Riva was arrested when she was 18 for being the campus drug seller. Ian arrested her and they worked together as PD/informant. There was an instant unspoken attraction for both that was never addressed. Ian is pretty much a by the book kind of guy.

Fast forward to today: Riva runs a farm/restaurant and hires kids who've made mistakes and/or need help getting their lives on track. Ian is a rising star in the PD. Riva offers up her father, THE drug dealer, in exchange for saving one of the kids who works for her. Riva and Ian are back working together and the attraction is still there.

I enjoy Anne Calhoun's writing and her MCs. Don't get me started on how much I love "Liberating Lacy". Anyway while neither Riva or Ian does anything wrong individually or together, there was just "something" missing in the relationship and their chemistry. They went years without seeing or speaking to each other and as soon as they're "working" together again the relationship quickly progresses. It's probably more me than the writer but I didn't feel "IT" and felt like I missed a chapter or two in the development of the story and relationship.

That said I still give Anne Calhoun the benefit of the doubt and will try anything from her.

I voluntarily read an advanced reviewers copy of this book

This is the 6th book in the series and I have to say hands down my favorite of them all. Riva and Ian's story was great I loved how they both had these moments of power and then moments of utter weakness that simply took my breath away.

Overall very good book. I hope the rest of the series keeps up the momentum because I really want to read Ian's' partners story ASAP!

Turn Me Loose is one of those novels I can't really label this book correctly. It is almost a second chance except they never started up what they desired to. They are closer to enemies to lovers, but even that isn't exact because he certainly never hated her and she though she was angry with him she didn't hate him. The connection between Riva and Ian has been strong from the moment he walked into that diner when Riva was a college student and it only intensified when she was full grown.

Anne Calhoun has written a fantastic suspenseful romance with dynamic characters and an engaging plot. This romance will keep a reader flipping the pages as fast as their eyes will allow them. I highly recommend this romance to all who enjoy a fast paced suspenseful romance.

This is the 5th book I've read by this author and the only one I didn't finish.

I liked the premise of the story but my goodness was it slow. I stopped reading about 35% of the way through because I was bored. It needed to move faster or add a little more of a plot to keep my interest.

I loved the setup for this story, too. Ian Hawthorn and Riva Henneman were young when their paths crossed—but whereas Riva was a college student selling drugs on the side, Ian was an undercover police officer with an underlying anger at the world. He set her up as a confidential informant and battled with his attraction to her for years, forcing himself to keep his distance. When their paths cross again as adults, they’re both in very different places, and the power has shifted between the two. I love that both characters are flawed and so very human. This was a great story.

This is a series not to be missed. In the latest book, Ms. Calhoun gives Ian Hawthorn his book. The quiet and diligent cop mentioned in a few of the previous books is hot on the tail of a drug lord. Trying to figure out how all the drugs are coming into his city, his path once again crosses Riva Henneman's. The last time Riva and Ian were together, it was not good. They never dated because Ian used Riva as his CI to get what he wanted to close a case. Riva was ruthlessly placed over a barrel. To say their parting was poor is an understatement.

There is more than meets the eye in this book. Ms. Calhoun does an excellent job of showing how everyone has a story with a possible painful past. The ties of blood sometimes lead people down the wrong path. Sometimes it takes people to a place they do not want to go. The sheer cruelty and negligence bestowed upon family members in this book is jaw dropping. What is worse is that it is all very plausible in real life. What Ms. Calhoun demonstrations blow by painful blow shows up in newspapers, usually with an end result of death. It is sad to see brothers taking advantage of each other just as it is sad to see the toll of domestic violence. Ms. Calhoun does a lovely job of showing how it could happen and how people are trapped. With a bit of support and a helping hand, maybe people can make a difference. Riva is the one who wants to make that difference and break the cycle.

Ian's history is no walk in the park either. The disappointments he's experienced could have crushed him and turned him into a drug or alcohol abuser. It's nice to see how someone can still move on, even after their dreams have been destroyed. Pairing Riva and Ian up, two people whose experienced disappointment works out quite well. This kind of enemy turned to lover theme works because of their chemistry. That slightly forbidden fruit the two of them danced about the first time they met carries on into the second time they meet. Sometimes, it just takes a bit longer for the right person to be at the right time.

This story moves at a good pace. Sometimes it slows just a little bit and drags. Specifically when Riva is with her father, it seems to drag out the final reveal. This does give the story the suspense and build up to the final showdown. Overall, this is an enjoyable story and a lovely addition to the series. Recommended to romantic suspense readers.

My favorite book of June 2017 is Turn Me Loose by Anne Calhoun, the sixth novel in her Alpha Ops series, which was published earlier this year. It’s a difficult (for me) plot: two people that at one time were very interested in each other but who were separated by a major power discrepancy. To be clear, Riva Henneman committed a crime when she was a college student. The cop who busted her, Officer Ian Hawthorn, offered her Hobson’s Choice: become his confidential informant or go to jail.

They meet years later, the sparks are still sparking, but they’re on solid ground. Riva has built a great life for herself, Ian perhaps not quite so much. They team up to solve a crime together and just wow, suspense, a sizzling attraction, and two very likable people. Perfect book to read if you are all about “temperature rising.”

NB. Scroll down to see my review and note that TWO reviewers at Heroes and Heartbreakers choose Turn Me Loose as their favorite book of June 2017. That doesn't happen very often!