This is one steamy novel. I felt a bit at sea occasionally but I now understand that's because this is a sort of spin off from another series. Amara and Rory certainly make a hot couple but this wasn't enough for me and I DNF. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I think it would have helped me if I had known what the heck was going on when the book began. This seems to start immediately from a prior book.

I think it also would help if more of the characters were someone I could like. The only one I did like was the grandfather in the story. The woman was fearful and whiny, and under the control of her overwhelming need for the hero. The hero was the rude alpha who sneers and demands. I’ve read too many tough alpha characters that aren’t jerks to care for Riordan, who is very much a jerk.

The plot is a confusing kidnap overthrow plot for a royal dynasty.

I find that there is a fine balance between steam and story. When the steam takes over the story it becomes more of a skimming and not so much entertaining for me. Most times Leigh hits the mark with that balance but its off in Collision Point making the telling feel choppy.

The fiery Amara and the bad ass Riordian were a perfect match. They do make the pages sizzle. This a great read for those who like lots of sexual tension and smoking hot reads.

I received this ARC copy of Collision Point from St. Martin's Press. This is my honest and voluntary review. Collision Point is set for publication Feb 27, 2018.

Look for a blog tour and giveaway coming 3/1/2018 @ http://tometender.blogspot.com

My Rating: 3 stars
Written by: Lora Leigh
Series: Brute Force
Sequence in Series: Book 1
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Date: February 27, 2018
ISBN-10: 1250110327
ISBN-13: 978-1250110329
Genre: Military Romantic Suspense

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Collision-Poin...
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coll...
Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/coll...

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There are not enough good things I can say about Lora Leigh. She is hands-down one of my favorite authors especially for military themed romance . I was so excited to finally read about Noah’s brother, Rory. I adored the point of view directly from Noah about how he and Sabella were doing. Read this book- heck read ANY of Loras books, she’s a wonderful author.

I thought this book was exactly what I was looking for; an intriguing romantic suspense that was a fresh series but as I was reading, it became abundantly clear I’ve missed the whole background of the characters. I didn’t know this was a spin-off and thought it could be read as a stand-alone and everything be great.

I had a hard time getting into it to enjoy the story.

Sorry it wasn’t for me as I hadn’t read the previous series.

https://www.amazon.com/Lora-Leigh/e/B001I9RQR2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl2&tag=stackingmyboo-20&linkId=759047ef05ee97b4838c815a5e47beea

Collision Point is noted as the first story in the Brute Force series. Many of the characters were created in a previous series called Elite Ops. As a big fan of the Elite Ops, I was excited to read Collision Point.

Amara Resnova survived a brutal kidnapping and rescue only to awake with a yearlong gap in her memory. Who can she trust? Is she still in danger? Will he keep her safe? And why does she have steamy dreams of Riordan Malone?

Riordan Malone was seriously injured rescuing Amara. Six months later he is back in her life with more questions than answers. Why did Amara lose her memory? Can he keep her safe and help her recover the memories that hold the secret to the attempts on her life?

If you enjoyed the Elite Ops series, you will certainly enjoy Collision Point. Leigh’s signature writing style is very similar here in the Brute Force series.

Lora Leigh has been one of my favorite authors for years, and this book is exactly why. Very few authors can capture the essence of a true alpha male the way she does. When reading a romance, I love a good story and characters I can relate to, but most of all I want to fall in love.
Riordan and Amara have a history.... but it's one she can't remember. After being attacked and kidnapped, Amara has blacked out the memories from the last year of her life, including the time she spent involved with Riordan. She may have recovered physically and is working on overcoming her fears, but she can't get past the frustration of not knowing what happened and why.
Riordan knows the key to finding out who kidnapped Amara is in her memories... memories she has locked down tight. There are things he can tell her, but knows it's better for all involved if she remembers them on her own. The one thing he won't let her forget is how much they meant to each other. Their chemistry is electric and he uses the sensual nature of their relationship every chance he gets. He may have her back in his bed, but he won't be satisfied until he is back in her heart.
When danger threatens again, there is nobody better to protect Amara than the man who loves her above all else.
I adored Riordan in all his overprotective, bossy, sexy playfulness. He knew when to push and when to pull back with Amara, and wanted nothing more than to recapture what they had before her attack. Amara was a tougher nut to crack for me. I couldn't quite get a grasp on who she was and sometimes I didn't like her very much. Overall, though, this was a great book by a reliable author.

Can we say HOT, HOT, HOT?!! Absolutely drool worthy. Packed with action, adventure, romance, drama, intrigue. Worth every penny. This book is 5 stars. I give it 10 if I could. Lora Leigh knocks it out of the park.

I felt awfully lost and like I was missing something for this to be first in a series. In fact, while reading I searched and found out this is a spin off of a another series. So, if you read this and feel like you are missing something, you are. The author really relies on the reader having read the previous series and understanding Nathan’s backstory and how the security company works. However, even before the questions I had about Nathan/Noah, the book starts with Amara’s rescue, then fast forwards six months. The way it jumps right in left me clamoring to catch up. I found the first few chapters confusing as I tried to figure out who was who and why she couldn’t remember anything. I don’t have the backstory knowledge so I really didn’t understand certain aspects of this book.

The story had a lot of potential, but fell short with me because the intros and circumstances were not easy to follow in the beginning. While it’s obvious Riordan and Amara were secret lovers, I’m not sure we’re ever led to understand why they were separated for six months. Also, Rory makes some comment during the rescue that he sat in a cell before coming, but that was never explained either. All the elements for a great story are here, but it didn’t have the cohesiveness and consistency to achieve that.

I love a good steamy story, but the love scenes got a little ridiculous - she finally recovers her memories and she knows who the bad guy is, but we interrupt this revelation to have sex. Afterwards, we now return to the regularly scheduled story. That happened a lot - we start toward some resolution or big action in the mystery and it’s all set aside for sex. The romance and suspense did not blend seamlessly at all.

I think this series could be good, but not if each book makes you feel like you need to play catch-up like this one. I’m not even sure I understand the key characters who would be featured in future books.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

DNF at about 55%

Beginning a story in media res is a tricky proposition. Done well, it draws the reader into an exciting part of the story, and discovering what came before and what follows becomes an intriguing journey.

This was not done well.

This new series is a spin-off of the Elite Ops series, and since I haven’t read that I already felt like I was missing something because I knew nothing of some key characters and their backgrounds. But that was a minor annoyance. My main problem with starting this story in the middle was that I never saw Amara and Riordan’s relationship develop so I had a hard time believing the characters’ feelings for one another. Consequently, I was indifferent to their being apart. After being kidnapped and tortured, Amara has retrograde amnesia but still feels drawn to Riordan and recalls snippets of their time together. Riordan remembers all but is frustrated by Amara’s blanking him out. Their major draw seems to be a boatload of lust, described in great detail on nearly every page. But hormones do not make a relationship, or at least not one I’m particularly interested in reading about.

Aside from my problems with the supposed relationship, I had difficulty relating to each as individuals. Amara supposedly was an independent, strong woman but she was totally controlled by her father even before the kidnapping. She is a grown woman but seems to have no discernable skills (outside of the bedroom) and is more child than adult. Riordan is a typical overbearing alphahole whose vaunted expertise with security is talked about but not shown. The great mysteries here are supposed to be finding out who kidnapped her and why, who on the inside might be involved, and why Amara has amnesia. Riordan at more than halfway through the book has made little attempt at finding out about any of these, though he has spent a great deal of time growling at and lusting after Amara.

I tried for nearly a week to get through this book but am no closer to caring about the unanswered mysteries. Time to admit it’s just not for me.

I don’t know what to rate this book, as I found it very underwhelming.

It took me a few times to even get past the first couple of chapters. Then the book sorta started to pick up, but it was mostly sexual tension, and not a lot of action/suspense. About 80% the book really picks up and I was fully invested and so excited... only to be dropped on my eager little head... the last probably 5% was just such a let down...

This book would have been vastly improved if the sex hadn’t been so frequent, and redundant. Sigh.

I can’t go into anymore detail about why I didn’t like this book, because it would give everything away. But I’m not inclined to read the next book, and probably wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, either.

3 1/2 stars.
I like Lora Leigh and have read some of her other Elite Ops and Breed series books but not that many. Luckily I did read Wild Card where Riordan "Rory" was first introduced as Noah's brother, so I at least had some information on him.
That being said, I do like this story but felt at times it was a little lost to the sex. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with sex in books at all, but when it overpowers the story sometimes it's tough for me to keep reading. I want more character development and more interactions of a vertical kind too, more guts and depth in a story. Riordan & Amara have some very hot and steamy horizontal times and the time they do spend bantering is really good just not enough of it for me. I think they are actually a perfect match!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Amara Resnova is in need of help. Someone is trying to kill her and nobody in her father's household believes her when she tries to tell them. She knows she can trust Riordan Malone so she goes to him for help. There are still feelings between them but first he has to keep her safe and then can see what happens between them. Her father seems ready to do as Riordan asks which is strange. Lots of back history here. How to find the one who wants her dead now. There are surprises to come.

This was a sultry, sensual, delicious story. One surrounded in mystery and suspense. Amara spends half the book trying to remember the last year, so that kind of perspective is unique. Especially since she can still feel the strong pull to Riordan. These two just couldn't keep their hands off each other! The action and bad things that happened were half in memory and half in the present. I also liked getting an idea of a couple other people's stories to look out for. The cover was eye-catching, and the story was interesting and intense at times. Enjoyable read for me.

I found myself having no connection with the characters which leads to lack of motivation to pick up the book. Maybe it's me maybe it's the book either way I'm putting this down for a while. I feel like even though this is a new series I'm missing a lot of background and even at 20% it hasn't all come together in a way I understand. Will try to read it again at a later date.

Received this book as an ARC for my honest review.

I didn't care for this book. I felt like it was set in the 1800's and it was a viking type story. Then on top of all of that there really wasn't a story it was all "50 shades of grey" up in it. Very disappointed and won't read another one of these books in this series. The premise could have been so good but it really lacked depth, character and substance.

It started out great. But after the prologue it got weird for me. I didn't like that they already had a romantic past. I had a hard time believing in her memory loss that spanned exactly one year and didn't happen until months after her initial capture. Finally, I just didn't get Riordan. He was all possessive and aggressive, but he initially walked away when told to do so. These may sound like spoilers, but they really aren't, they're basically the starting premise of the story.

I always feel bad when I can't be more positive of an ARC. But this is an extremely well known author in Erotica Romance. I had high hopes.

I love Lora Leigh and this book is fantastic! Grabs you by the seat of your pants and won't let go. Lot of action and so steamy! The hero is an alpha with a capital A. So hot and I so wished to be the heroine. I had so much fun with this book.

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Suspense
Book Length: Novel
Male Lead: Riordan is a sexy Irish cowboy/Bodyguard for a wealthy Russian mafia’s daughter. He’s tall with black hair and sapphire blue eyes.
Female Lead: Amara is the Russian princess of her father’s empire. She has lost the memory of her gruesome kidnapping and attack but knows her connection to Riordan is more than just mere attraction. She has short black hair and grey eyes.
Heat Level: Medium-High
Frequency of Sex (1-5): 3
Angst Level (1-5): 2
Standalone/Series/Cliffhanger: Standalone
Epilogue: Yes, but not of the H/h, which is quite disappointing.
HFN/HEA: HFN I guess. No indication of their future via epilogue.
Other Notables/Triggers: Some violence
Would I Recommend? Yes
My Review: I think sometimes with Lora Leigh’s romances it’s either you love ‘em or you hate ‘em. This one I actually loved. I’m a sucker for a second-chance kind of romance and this fit the bill because Amara lost her memory of the entire time she spent with Riordan. You get some flashbacks here and there that help fill in some pieces, but she has to learn to love and trust him again and it felt fairly genuine. I loved Riordan, he’s so alpha and protective and I’m a sucker for that as well. I’m curious to see where this series leads. I could see Riordan and Amara getting another book (and I hope they do), but the epilogue kind of sets things up for another character so I’m not too sure. In regards to Amara’s father Ivan’s mafia lifestyle, I must say it was the tamest mafia book I’ve ever read. I was expecting more grit and violence, but it was pretty benign in my opinion. All in all, I highly enjoyed Collision Point.
Disclosures: I voluntarily read a copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.