haven't read any of the Elite Ops series so I thought it would be a safe bet to start with the Brute series.

Unfortunately it felt like I was missing so much and that it was another SO book.

The story jumped all over the place and I never really knew where I was at. I dound myself skimming great chunks of it o to the end - I did nearly DNF it.

I didn't connect with either of the MAc which also made it hard to get into the story.

I did not connect with this story at all due to too many sex scenes and the story being to choppy. I guess I was expecting more suspense.

Rory Malone grew up and now he's a true growly Lora Leigh alpha dude. Just like his big brother from Wild Card. As hot and suspenseful as this was, Rory's (now Riordan, thank you very much) story just wasn't as compelling or romantic as big bro's.

Riordan apparently is cursed with madly monogamous Irish genes that cause him, like his brother Noah and dear ol' Grandpop Malone, to love once and for a lifetime. He was more than just a bodyguard to pampered Russian princess Amara; she was his everything. But poor Amara was kidnapped and beaten so badly that she can't remember anything about their past sexytimes.

The bulk of their story is Amara being all cutely defiant about not giving in to Riordan's pheromonal pull and Riordan threatening to spank her ass for it. Riordan wants to do the right thing for Amara as she heals from her abduction, but the dude can't think of anything other than just growling at her all the time. I was getting a wee bit bored by their standoff until Riordan learned of the full trauma Amara experienced in her captivity. Once Riordan vowed to himself to make things right for Amara, things picked up again.

The tension mounted as the Brute Force/Elite Ops guys tried to keep Amara safe while hunting down the identity/motive behind her abduction. But other than getting to see big bro Noah and Grandpop Malone (and some other familiar Elite Ops faces), the secondary characters were really over the top and didn't help matters. It looks like Crimsyn "Sin" Delaney might be the next Brute Force heroine. I have to admit, I snickered each time I read her name.

I think this may be a case of "it's not you, it's me" because I adored the over the top drama of Wild Card with young Rory. I was so excited to get Rory's story but was disappointed it was not quite as romantic or sexy. Still, I'm happy that Lora Leigh is going back to her alphas. Hopefully, the rest of the Brute Force dudes are up to the crazy standards set by the Elite Ops guys.

As I started reading this one I wondered if I had already read it, there was so much familiar about it. So I did a little research and found out this is a new series that was spun off the Elite Ops series. Once I knew that things made a bit more sense.

I was so so on the story. I hated what both Riordan and Amara went through, how they seemed to loose each other due to Amara being kidnapped and loosing her memory and Riordan being badly hurt. You would have thought things would have picked up when they came back together, but not so much, things were meh...at best. Things did pick up right at the end when we discovered who was behind what happened to Riordan and Amara, but even that was a bit anti-climatic.

I liked the story. I felt a little lost in spots. I hadn't read the previous series. I felt the sex scenes overshadowed some of the resolution to the story. Just as they were getting to some kind of breakthrough, they would have sex. Amara had a naïve way about her but other times seemed very worldly. Riordan was very alpha and bossy. Liked grandpops.

I received a free copy of this via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book was not for me. I disliked all of the characters and the author frequently used terminology in her sex scenes that were crude and offensive, not hot, steamy, or erotic. There is also a ridiculous amount of swearing that was simply distracting, not appropriate to the story.

The characters were flat and the plot ridiculous as well. Amara’s limited amnesia was truly one of the worst plot devices I can ever recall reading. It was unbelievable, as was the romance between Amara and Riordan. I wanted to bail on this book early on, but since it was a NetGalley read, I felt compelled to finish it. I want those 5 1/2 hours of my life back.

Lora Leigh is a good writer. Collision Point was full of well-developed characters and equal portions of suspense and romance. I always like a seriously tense situation to enhance the love story and this book delivered that well.

I didn't ever learn to love Riordan and Amara. I was almost there but couldn't quite commit. There was a very interesting hint of something extraordinary with their shared dreams that could have been further defined. The sexual attraction was smoking hot. I did want to see them get back together and felt great empathy for their shared grief over Amara's abduction and the loss of their unborn child.

I also got the feeling there was a lot of backstory I'd missed especially with Riordan's brother. I wondered if I would have understood more if I'd read previous books.

Having said all this, the book was still enjoyable and entertaining.

FINAL DECISION: The suspense and mystery really worked for most of the story, but the solution was a bit of a disappointment. I also wanted the connection between Amara and Riordan to be stronger but since they had a past, their relationship did not feel as immediate.

THE STORY: Amara Resnova has been having dreams and nightmares. Six months ago she was kidnapped by enemies of her father but she cannot remember anything that happened in the last year. But she dreams about Riordan Malone and knows that he was her bodyguard and her lover. Now fearing that someone is trying to kill her again, Amara turns to Riordan for help.

OPINION: This was a decent book that had the possibility to be much more. I really enjoyed the suspense in the story as Amara doesn't remember what has happened and she has much of the solution in her mind.

For about eighty-five percent of the story, I really was engaged in the suspense of the story, but the resolution disappointed me because there was no way to guess what had happened. While the resolution made sense and was in keeping with the rest of the story, I had thought there would be something more interesting or dramatic to explain Amara's abduction.

While I am perfectly willing to accept a less exciting personal story with a great suspense story, my disappointment with the suspense story also reflected a romance that was okay but not fantastic. The story had plenty of sex scenes, but lacked some of the excitement between Amara and Riordan. While I thought that everything was worked up well for most of the book, the ending was merely okay.

I would read the next book in the series because this book was okay even if it wasn't superlative.

WORTH MENTIONING: Nathan Malone from WILD CARD makes a significant appearance here.

CONNECTED BOOKS: COLLISION POINT is the first book in the Brute Force series. This series is a spin-off from Leigh's Elite Ops series and there are overlapping characters.

STAR RATING: I give this book 3 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to prepare this review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Review to be posted on February 27th.

Well it's not what I expected but I like how it turned out. I am a HUGE fan of Lora Leigh's Breeds series. It was one of the first books I ever read, I devoured them then and still love them now.
I have read a few other books from her outside that series but not many so I had no clue what I was getting myself into and to be honest I dreaded reading it after seeing some reviews.

Now I love an asshole alpha who's over possessive, all cock sure arrogant and bossy as hell. Riordan was all of that and more. Amara cracked me up with her sass and constant defiance to all of the men in her life. She had me in stitches when she was giving the lectures and the stink eye. She may be small but she's mighty!.

The story is well written and jam packed full of suspense. The author cock teases us mercilessly throughout the book with that slow burn drawn out heavy petting but no action shit.. when it finally happened I was singing halle-fucking -lujah thank you smut gods. There is a lot going on here and yes the amnesia part was a little cheesy but it draws out the desired emotions ... that ending was EVERYTHING.
I have no complaints! I liked the pace of the story, I loved the characters! And I just allround enjoyed the book.

I'm so curious about Ivan though!. Crimsyn..... she has me all kinds of curious to.

I kindly received this ARC from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

ARC for an honest review from St. Martins press......Not sure I could forget Riordan, but Amara does. She was kidnapped and he almost dies saving her and she forgets him.......but six months later she's dreaming about him, he's ready to pick up where they left off but is she?? Such a good book.....love Lora Leigh

Six months ago Amara was kidnapped and beaten. When Riordan and his team rescue her she watches as the love of her life is killed. When she awakens in the hospital she has no memory of her abduction or anything from the moment she first met Riordan. But the nightmares and memories are just a whisper and a dream away and she instinctively knows that she is still in mortal danger.

After retreating to his family’s home in Texas, Riordan is struggling to regain his strength even as his attempts to contact Amara go unfulfilled. She refuses to speak to him. Now she’s at his front door and it’s time he returns to the house where he found this amazing woman in an effort to not only help her to find her memories, but to protect her from the ones who would kill her.

I really enjoyed this couple and their struggle to wade through Amara’s memories, dreams and reality. Lora Leigh is known for some of the sexiest, steamiest scenes and she doesn’t disappoint here. Riordan is trying to keep himself in check knowing that Amara needs to remember him and not just a dream. Along the way he’s being tormented with the desperate need to protect her from someone that only she knows.

Riordan is the perfect possessive, protective alpha hero while Amara is a bit of innocence, fragility due to her memory loss, and determination. When the end comes down, she takes the adult and responsible approach of addressing it instead of making a ridiculous decision. I appreciated that her character was mature enough to do so.

While this has a slower pace it has a lot of layers of suspense and a bit of thriller. Plenty of secondary characters to help keep you guessing who the bad guy is as well. This couple pretty much wraps up at the end but the epilogue is setting us up for the next book. Hopefully, we’ll get a future look at Riordan and Amara along the way.

This is an honest review of an advanced copy provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: My first book by this author not sure if I will read more.

Check out author's other books? Yes
Recommend this book? Yes

Notes and Opinions: Although I do recommend this book it would have to be to this author's fans. For me, it was more of a 3 1/2 star but we don't do half stars so I just rounded up. This is a very sexy and steamy title. Although some of them seemed a little over the top and just a tad over done. The story itself was well paced and the characters were all well formed. The other issue I had was the introduction of another character during the end of the book. It just made the ending feel very weird.

The story did at times feel a little choppy but I pretty much kept everything together. It was a great premise of using memory loss and romance and a thriller all in one. I think I will check out the next one when it comes out though just because I did like it enough that I would like to see what happens.

Go Into This One Knowing: A little choppy at times, Over Done Sex, Great Story

The story had me entertained up to the end. Then it lost credibility. These people were supposed to be professionals and thorough investigators and none of them were able to figure who the kidnapper was? I was very disappointed.

Feisty heroine,macho hero,protective father what more could you want. A story that moves along and an unlikely villain.

I thoroughly loved reading the extraordinary first book in the Brute Force series. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of the story through NetGalley. Even though Amara can't remember her lover and bodyguard, Riordan, saving her life and almost dying himself, she feels closely connected to him and needs him to protect her again. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, full of romance, intrigue, and mystery, and riveting the reader to the storyline. Can't wait to read the second book in the series by the incredibly talented Lora Leigh!

Read this in one sitting, I love all of Lora Leigh’s books! This is the first book of the Brute Force series which is a spin off from the Elite Ops series. Our hero, Riordan Malone is the brother to Nathan Malone who is the hero in Wild Card, the first Elite Ops book. Amara Resanova is the daughter of a powerful man, a Russian ex-crime lord who became mostly legitimate for the sake of his daughter. Riordan is brought on as a Brute Force operative / bodyguard for Amara and sparks fly. Rory is sent away on a mission by Amara’s father and in his absence, she is abducted and tortured until Rory and the rest of the Brute Force team can rescue her. Rory is shot and almost killed during her rescue and taken away to recover for several months. When Amara wakes up in the hospital, she remembers nothing of the past year, which includes her past with Rory. When months of little incidents that can’t be coincidence keep happening and endangering Amara’s life, she decides to trust in the strange dreams she’s been having that push her to find Rory, to go to him for help. With the woman he loves back in his life, Rory won’t allow her to escape him again. He will do whatever it takes to protect her and stay strong when her slowly returning memories could destroy them both.

This novel opens up right into an explosive beginning and boy was I hooked. I loved Riordan and Amara and thought their relationship was intense and provocative. Their chemistry was fiery and their banter was just as hot. I could not get enough of this story!

Daughter of an alleged notorious crime lord Amara Resnova and Bodyguard/Special Ops Agent Riordan Malone have a history. Deeply connected as past lovers, they are both reeling after she was abducted six months earlier. Feeling guilt after what happened to her and her losing her entire memory of the kidnapping, they must now work together to find out who has been trying to kill her. But as they travel a road ridden by secrets and lies and hidden memmories, will they be able to lean on each other when danger arises?

I enjoyed this book and look forward to more books in this series. But while I thought this novel was fantastic, there were times I was confused and kept feeling like I was missing pertinent background details. All in all this was great and I look forward to book two in this series.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the SMP Romance team for an advanced copy of this book for an honest review. Bravo! 4 stars! ~Ratula

Having read and enjoyed several books by Lora Leigh, I was excited to see she was starting a new series. However, I hadn't realized this new series was actually a spin-off of her Elite Ops series, which I did not read. As a result, I really felt I was missing some of the background information and characters. While in some ways, that made me want to read to find out the full story of Nathan/Noah, overall it just hurt this story. So while I didn't hate this story, I am glad this isn't the first book I have read from this author or I probably wouldn't have ever read more.

Lora Leigh has done it again. She can suck you in from the beginning and keep you questioning what's going to happen next. Amara is the protected daughter of a somewhat shady businessman. But when she is kidnapped her entire world changes. She has no memory of the year prior to her kidnapping, which includes meeting and falling for Riordan. They both have healing to do and then it's time to get back what he's lost. Cause Riordan isn't the kind of man to walk away from the best thing that's happened to him. And finding out who was behind Amara's kidnapping and helping her get her lost memories are his to priority.

Thoroughly enjoyed Riordan and Amara's story. The Malone men are worth waiting for! Amara's memory loss was tied to other losses and betrayal making the gradual return of those memories fraught with danger and sadness. Well written, sexy story.