What an apt name. Spy Games is the newest book from Sidney Bristol the start of a new series Tarnished Heroes through Entangled Publishing. Just like the name suggests it is full of intrigue, double dealings, and plenty of subterfuge. Sarah and Rand are a friends to lovers romance. Each having a crush on the other but friendship and Sarah's older brother, Matt who is also Rand's best friend, kept them from admitting their feelings. Rand and Matt even enlisted together and were lucky enough to be assigned together, but then they hit trouble and Matt lost part of his arm Rand felt nothing but guilt and isolated himself from his friends and family. He didn't re-enlist and became a private contractor for the CIA.
Sarah job allows to travel quite a bit on the Asian continent, the CIA decided to use her as a courier to drop messages off at dead drops. Sarah does fine with her non-official job with the CIA until someone sells her out. Rand is asked to help secure the courier until they can extract her, Rand didn't realize his "courier girl" is his Sarah were one in the same and now protecting Sarah has become his number one priority, even after they get back to the states. The fact that Sarah was sold out and the briefcase she was transporting is missing means their is a mole, and they don't know how exactly they can trust, while Sarah and Rand run for their lives their CIA handlers are trying to make heads and tails of everything trying to track down the mole.

Rand and Sarah's romance come son hot and heavy. Rand has trouble trying to get past the guilt of the fact that he failed her brother and he's not worthy of Sarah no matter how much he loves her. While Sarah tries to convince herself that Rand isn't going to be long term and to not fall in love. But first things first they must survive and track down the mole and stop the sale of the documents that were stolen.

Overall, not my favorite of Sidney's but still a really good read. I didn't guess who it was until almost the end and the action is so good, very intense. and the romance, it is hot. Although I do get tired of Sarah and Rands inability to communicate at times. And I want to know more about Thailand and Matt and Emily!

For some reason I wasn't sure if I was going to love this book, but I definitely did. The spy elements were incredibly intense and compelling. The romance was equally entrancing and I really enjoyed the book. As an avid romance reader, I felt this book fell more on the suspense side as opposed to the romance, but that the romance was still featured, developed, and interesting to be considered a satisfying romance novel. I can't wait to read more from this author, especially in this series!

Spy Games by Sidney Bristol
A Tarnished Heroes Novel

Action-packed romantic suspense that grabbed me on page one and kept me reading all the way to the end. I enjoyed this friends to lovers story that started in Korea and moved to the USA with good thwarting evil in the end.

Rand Duncan works in covert operations as a contractor for the CIA. Sarah Collins is a courier for the CIA. When they were children Rand and Matt, Sarah’s brother, were best friends and Sarah spent a lot of time with them. After eight years apart little did they know that their paths would cross again when Rand is sent to get Sarah out of Korea – someone in the CIA has “burned” her cover and set her up for kidnapping. She must rely on Rand to help her get away and keep her safe. Not knowing who to trust, having Korean bad guys after them, needing to find and secure a case filled with protocols and dealing with the chemistry between them is a challenge but they are up for it.

I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them both. I am interested to find out what will happen in the next book and really want to know who the bad guy is AND who will have their story told next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

Rand Duncan had been best friends with Matt Collins since they were young, and Sarah, Matts little sister hung around them as much as they would allow. Once while playing Lincoln Logs with her Rand told her one day he'd build her a real house and marry her. Neither of them every forgot that promise. They grew up. Matt and Rand both enlisted and ended up in the SEALS together. During one mission, Matt was injuries and one arm below the elbow was amputated. Rand felt guilty, thought they should blame him and disappeared from the hospital and their lives. Instead of re-uping he becoming a contract worker for the CIA.

Eight years later, he is in Seoul, working with asset inside N Korea, a high level General in the Korean army who wants to defect, but with his whole family.

Meanwhile Sarah and her best friend Emily, who had been crushing on Matt, both worked for Wishing Well on a clear water initiative- working with water companies to create new treatment plants in Thailand. They had talked Matt to come with them, and when Emily was kidnapped, Matt rescued her. (This might have happened in another book, I'm not sure). Now they are married with 2 children.

Sarah continuing to work for Wishing Well, was approached by the CIA, to be a courier, and agreed, hoping maybe should would run into Rand some day.

That time has come. She had been in contact with him for the past year, but he only known her as Courier Girl. Now she is in danger. There is at least one mole who has betrayed her and if he doesn't get to her first the N.Korean MSS will grab her. Only she can open a briefcase containing the identities and locations of twelve other operatives and it has fallen into Chinese hands. When Rand finds out who Courier Girls, he is furious, but will protect her with his life.

I received a free ARC from netgalley.com for an honest review. I have read the author's Hot Ride books, but this one is more thrilling. Lots of action and intrigue. Who is the mole? Who can they trust? Will Sarah be able to forgive Rand for disappearing and trust him not to do it again? Will he realize that he can't give up the one woman who is the other half of his soul?

Okay.

The underlying love story and their back story were really interesting but the rest of the story was so confusing and hard to follow that I struggled to enjoy it.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

Rand Duncan is a contractor for the CIA. He has been working in South Korea for a long while. The only contact he has are the notes that he gets from the courier girl. He doesn't know who she is, just the places where she leaves his messages.
Sarah Collins travels all over Asia with her day job. That gives her the opportunity to do the little extra for the CIA as well.
Suddenly everything goes wrong, she is being followed.
Our heroine is in way over her head, she doesn't have a clue how to save herself and the package she should deliver.
Our hero is stunned when he realizes who his contact is. That is going to make staying professional much more difficult. He knows they have been betrayed ,but not who to trust. They are in grave danger .
A fast paced spy story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. A particularly nasty villain who enjoys his work far too much is hard on their heels. Which of our secondary characters is the mole ? This is part of a series but easily read as a stand alone. It does tease us at the end for the next book.

SPY GAMES was my first Sidney Bristol book, and I’m not sure whether I want to go back for more. Having spent a lot of time in Asia, the premise intrigued me, and the action was sufficiently fast-paced and intriguing to keep me turning the pages and finishing the book. But, jaysus, the hero and heroine annoyed the hell out of me: they were both whinging tossers with lots of physical chemistry but zero emotional appeal. Hard pass on both Sarah and Rand.

Good romantic suspense, and second chance romance. I enjoyed reading about Rand and Sarah, as with all good suspense stories I wasn’t sure whodunnit until near the end of the story.

3.75stars
This is a romantic suspense book with a lot of action and uncertainty. It is a story about Rand a CIA agent who had always had a secret crush on her best friend sister Sarah. And what are the odds that they are working years together not knowing until the job goes bad and they ended both on a run? There is not just a present job they have to worry about, there is also a past that didn't end well. Both Sara and Rand are a well developed interesting character. I don't know if I would ever accept the job that Sara had and not asking questions from my point of view that shows her a little bit naive. Rand is an ok guy I really liked him that he changed his priorities and saw that he made a mistake. I enjoyed all the suspense and romantic side of a book what bothered me was so many POV like I could go without the Chinese POV.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

The story centers around Rand Duncan , a CIA agent who is undercover in Korean and has isolated himself from everyone except the Company. He feels he’s committed too many sins and hurt too many people, amongst them Sarah Collins, her brother and her family. Sarah works on a part time basis with the CIA , but only as a courier. They recruited her since her main job takes her throughout Asia. She suspects that Rand is the one receiving some of the envelopes she has delivered. The two of them have a history. She is his best friend’s little sister. Her brother served with Rand overseas, but was injured and lost his arm. Rand felt responsible for that injury and left his friend and and everyone from his past in order to atone for his “mistakes”.
He is assigned to find and either save his “courier girl” or kill her so she doesn’t end up being tortured and divulging top secrets. At first he doesn’t realize that it’s Sarah, for whom he always had feelings. Feelings that Sarah also had for him.
An informant has “spilled the beans” and now both are running for their lives.
All that said, I have mixed feeling about the book. I never connected with the characters, I felt that they fell in bed within minutes of seeing each other and that there were gaps in the storyline. There is a reference to Thailand more than once, but no further explanation.
I was gifted this book by Netgalley. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

I received an ARC from Netgalley. This was quite the action packed romance and I enjoyed the reunion of Rand and Sarah. This book kept me guessing all the way through.

Romantic suspense fun. Rand Duncan is an angsty CIA operative who finds his former best friends little sister and his childhood crush is the courier who has been leaving him notes. But when she is burned it is up to him to keep her safe. Can he keep his heart safe?
Spy Games is high octane love and adventure. An exciting adventure that will keep you enthralled.

an intriguing and interesting plot. Solid writing and excellent romance

Who doesn’t love a Sidney Bristol book and when one comes out I know I won’t be getting any sleep tonight lol you just have to read it the very first time you get your hands on it and that is what I did. Just wow, absolutely wow. What a fantastic and amazing story by this brilliant and wonderful author. Not giving anything away with this book other than you have to get a copy ASAP. Your going to love it, as if you would be in doubt with Sidney Bristol writing it.

I love spy shows - Alias, Covert Affairs, Berlin Station. They have such interesting living-in-the-gray-areas characters, not to mention great action scenes. That's probably what inspired me to pick up Spy Games. I'm also a fan of a friends-to-lovers story, which is sort of what Rand and Sarah have, though it's also a second chance romance in a way.

Rand was Sarah's older brother's best friend but disappeared from their lives after Matt lost his arm in the Navy. Eight years later, Matt's married to Sarah's best friend and Rand is still blaming himself for the incident. There are several references to the way Matt and Emily got together and I'm sure that they have their own book, but I looked through Goodreads and couldn't find it. And Bristol's website lists Spy Games as first in a series so I'm confused about where this prequel might be. But I digress.

Though I liked the story, I felt like the pacing was off. It just dragged for me in spots. And I wish that there was more romance in the second half of the book. But my biggest issue is that it was obvious who the mole was in chapter two. Sure there were complications and red herrings along the way, but never enough to convince me that I had guessed wrong.

However, I was impressed with how many interesting characters Bristol introduced in this group of CIA agents and contractors. There are some damaged heroes who must have fascinating stories, as well as a budding romance between an older couple. I'm curious to see what happens to them if the series continues.

Such a good suspense romance book! Rand is working for the CIA and is shocked to find that his best friend's little sister, Sarah, is also working for the CIA and is in trouble. Suddenly no one knows who can be trusted, trying to find the mole who sold Sarah out. Sarah loved Rand ever since she was younger and now finds herself spending all her time with him as they try to figure out what is going on and Rand is her protector. Trying to keep it simple and just sex, Sarah realizes it's more than that but it can't be more. Readers know they will never be disappointed when reading a book by Sidney Bristol!

My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read.

I enjoyed Spy Games! This fast paced, romantic suspense is engaging and the character interaction dynamic which made for an overall great read. I would recommend this book

I really liked the plot of this one. It also kept me guessing; I certainly didn't figure out who was not to be trusted until everything fell into place. However, I had a lot of trouble staying riveted to this one in certain parts of the story. It just felt like the middle of the book dragged. I found myself often skimming long passages. I also didn't feel the chemistry between Rand and Sarah, even though I liked both characters just fine. So, this was just an okay read for me personally. I'm not sorry I read it, but it's not something I would read again. I would, however, read something else by this author; I may feel more of a connection with other characters, and the author certainly has a skill for coming up with interesting plotlines.

This is the first book I've read by this author, but it won't be the last. Fans of the genre will want to put this novel at the top of their TBRs. I'm adding the author to my must read authors' list and will work my way through her back list.
Spy Games, is full of suspense and steamy romance.

Love this book. Lots of twisted plots and turns you don't expect. Never know who is telling the whole truth and who may be lying.
Can you figure it out? Took me a good while through and lots of twists to finalize who the mole is.

Good luck!