This may have been the second book in the series, but I dove right into the story without reading book 1. A lot of background is given at the beginning, which made for a bit of a slow start but didn’t leave me wondering who each character was or why they were there.

Action-packed and plenty of romance made this a very enjoyable read. Natalia and her role in the cartel kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering if she and her sister would make their escape.

Again, this was my first book by Elizabeth Dyer, but I found her writing fast-paced and descriptive. I will definitely be reading the rest of the books in the series!

In the second book of the Somerton Security series, Dyer continues to bring the perfect amount of action and romance. What I love so much about this book, and the previous one, is the writing. The author manages to keep the flow going while still being able to give her reader exactly what they want from the characters and the plot.

Relentless was an enjoyable read with a fast-paced plot and the return of some fantastic characters from the first book in the series.

After finding out a friend is being held captive by the Vega cartel, Ethan Somerton doesn’t hesitate to find a way to infiltrate the organization. Upon meeting Natalia Vega, Ethan knows he needs her help in his quest. What Ethan didn’t count on was needing Natalia for himself which goes against all the rules. Stuck in a dangerous situation, Natalia has survived by becoming someone even the cartel fears. Determined to protect her sister no matter what the cost, Natalia will cross any line. As Ethan and Natalia’s relationship escalates, the situation with the cartel turns bad and they’ll be forced to make a choice there may be no coming back from.

Ethan has a white knight complex which we see quite a bit of in this book. He has this need to save people and tends to be blind to the obstacles in his way of being able to do that. Natalia knows and accepts what she is, a killer trained by one of the most vicious cartels in the world. Natalia believes she is beyond saving but she’s determined to save her sister Ana Maria before it’s too late to do so.

When Ethan and Natalia meet, they’re both hiding a number of secrets that were surprisingly brought out into the open fairly quickly. One thing I will say about their relationship was that they didn’t hide the worst parts of themselves from each other. Unfortunately I ended up having a problem with Ethan’s handling of Natalia being a killer. She told him from the start who and what she was and he claimed to accept it but after witnessing her in action, he acted completely blindsided by her true nature. I didn’t like how judgmental he was about the situation and I also feel like he didn’t sufficiently make up for it before the book ended. I will say the make up scene between the pair was very sweet and had there been more groveling on Ethan’s part, I would have been much more on board with their relationship.

There are a number of scenes throughout the book where Ethan is at Somerton Security which meant we got to see Parker and Georgia, the couple from the first book, again. I love how their relationship has continued to develop after their book and how we get to see those changes in this book. It’s still so obvious how much those two love each other and I hope we get more of them in the third book, which I would think we would since it follows Georgia’s brother.

While I didn’t like Relentless as much as the first book in the series, Defenseless, I did still find it to be an enjoyable read. I will definitely be picking up the third book, Fearless, soon as I’m looking forward to finally reading Will’s story.

This was a great continuation of the first book with lots of action from start to finish.

Ethan was a great character and I am glad that we got more of him than we did in the first book. I love the team he has assembled, and I can’t wait for more books in the series! He was willing to do whatever he needed to do to find out if Will was still alive and find out his location. He never gave up the hope that he could rescue him.

Natalie was such an amazing character as she is so much more than what we think she is. She is tough because she had to be in order to survive after her father is killed and her mother is gone. She lives to protect her sister, Ana Marie. But through that her sister is her greatest weakness and those around her know that they can get Natalie to do whatever they need of her because of Ana Marie.

I loved watching Ethan and Natalie grow to trust each other and how their relationship developed and changed as things happened in the story. I was definitely shocked at some of the twists that occurred and I was not expecting some of the revelations for sure.

I was totally freaking out at the end with what Natalie did and my fingers were crossed at how everything was going to turn out.

The very end was good but with no news on a certain front there will definitely be more in the series and I am really looking forward to some more answers!

Relentless is the second excellent romantic suspense book in the Somerton Security series written by author Elizabeth Dyer. Thanks to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for the advance copy.

First, my apologies as I should have sent this a lot sooner and just realized that a number of titles I had marked as not reading were not also cleared off of my NetGalley page.

In this case, I was not able to connect with the storyline, and chose to not read farther than the 26% mark in the book.

As always, I appreciate the opportunity to read and review and I look forward to the next title.

Thank you,
Laura

Relentless is the second book in the Somerton Security series, and this time we are dealing with the big boss man himself, Ethan Somerton. This book does follow on from book one, so I would definitely recommend you read them in order, just so you get the most enjoyment out of them!

Ethan has a hard job to do - he needs to go undercover for a cartel, which could (most likely) get him killed. However, he is prepared to do that if it means he is giving a friend he thinks of like a brother a chance at living. They may have a friend on the inside though, as someone has been leaving tips for the various security forces, trying to help. Parker's program says one person, but Ethan is convinced it is someone else. Someone who sets his blood on fire, but has more walls than he does, and with very good reason. With a little bit of stubbornness and luck, they may just have a way forward.

This book is raw and gritty, and makes no bones about it. Ethan and Natalia have a hard time of it, both of them needing to trust the other, when trust is the hardest commodity to come by. I loved catching up with Parker and Georgia, and seeing how they are making it work, even when they are so different. Ethan is a tough man, but he certainly has found his match in Natalia. She has gone through things no one should, and survived.

With no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow, this book was a brilliant read, and I certainly look forward to reading more in this series. I really need to know what happened at a certain time with a certain someone ;) If you like #Romance #Suspense, then I can pretty much guarantee you will love this series. Absolutely recommended by me.

Oh. My. Goodness. This author can write! With Relentless, I was pulled in right away, sucked into the pages, and I didn’t ever want to put it down. In book 1, I was so intrigued by Ethan. I could not wait for his story. Ms. Dyer made me a very happy reader!

I am so in love with these characters. Strong, yet vulnerable at times, well-developed, and absolutely perfect together. The chemistry between Ethan and Natalia was off the charts, smokin’ hot. Sparks flew when they were near each other. I could feel their connection immediately.

So many moments had my heart pounding, whether it was from a suspenseful, nail-biter of a scene, or from a steamy, toe-curling one. This well-written, intense story gave me all the thrills I love.

If you are a fan of the first book, I’m positive you’ll enjoy this one, too. So good! I can’t recommend it enough.

I didn’t realise when I started that this book was the second in a series so I had to go back and read the first.

I felt Ethan’s character developed more in this book and this is when I really started to care for him. I loved Natalia too, she is super switched-on.

I don’t want to ruin the ending , but boy was it a surprise! Can’t wait to read the next in the series now.

I would definitely recommend both the first and second book.

I received a copy of this ebook from the publisher and author via NetGalley but this has in no way influenced my opinion or review.

Dyer's setup is like crack for me: ex Navy SEAL and cartel daughter? I am, after all, a child of the 80s and my entertainment tastes been shaped by Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Willis. RELENTLESS was exciting and a good suspense, but there were a couple of pacing issues, and a little too much introspection for this to be perfect, for me. I look forward to reading her next book!

Nothing says tension like a former Navy SEAL, government security operative and the cartel daughter. Talk about a conflict of...everything. Relentless has tension in every lust filled encounter. A sense of loyalty and an overwhelming need to succeed drive both toward their goals but what happens when everything you never wished for is standing in your way?

Relentless is what happens. And boy am I glad i stubble onto it! I loved the push and pull from Ethan and Natalia. I think that my biggest draw was Natalia's drive to do anything necessary, flawed or not, she would do anything for her sister. Let's not mention her particular skill set is intriguing in her world and unusual for a woman. Let's just say that Natalia is full of surprises.

The second book in the Somerton Security series and one book that ensures I will definitely be following this series from now on. I received this copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was looking forward to this book after how much I enjoyed the first book and I'm happy to say it did not disappoint.

Ethan Somerton, in the first book, was more than a little annoying. I found him a bit smug, a bit up himself, and so I was looking forward to his book to see him grow and change and be taken down a few pegs. And I got that so much. In Relentless, Ethan has to infiltrate the cartel that has Will held captive and try to find out where he was so they could go and get him. He immediately sets his sights on Ana-Maria, who apparently sent the tip about Will, only to immediately have Ana-Maria's very over-protective sister stop him. Natalia and Ethan meet and sparks fly.

There were a few things that I really enjoyed in the first book of the series and they came up here once again. One was how I cared just as much about the suspense plotline as I did about the romance plotline, which is not normally a thing that happens to me. I normally find myself caring about one or the other, especially when it's obvious the author cares about one more than the other (although typically I would end up caring for the opposite plotline to the one the author liked so ugh), but not so with this book. I couldn't stop reading it (or listening to it rather considering I listened to half of it on audiobook) as I was swept up in the next big thing. Dyer has this habit of bringing you all the pieces and leaving you trying to figure out how everything was going to work out for the characters. They were trapped in a space and I didn't know how it was going to be resolved. And then I was still surprised, the ending completely blew me away.

Another thing I like about these books is that both the hero and heroine are competent. Both of them can hold their own in a fight and they had both had to survive against all odds, Natalia more than most. I liked how they were different enough but still complementary to each other and how their relationship grew and developed. They were both interesting characters in their own right and it was good to see them come together as they grew and developed as characters. I have to say that I thought Natalia had the stronger character arc as she has to come to terms with looking at a future for herself and I wish the book had focused more on that, rather than Ethan's white-knight syndrome (although I really loved Georgia showing up to say to Ethan 'I told you so' after all the flack he gave her in the first book). I loved what happened with Ana-Maria. Quite frequently, innocent, protected little sisters in fiction are there to be perfect and everything that is good in the world, and it was great to see that subverted.

However, the ending really surprised me, but not in a bad way. Not only Will but also Natalia and Ana-Maria. While for Natalia's character, the ending was probably the best way to get her to put herself and her dreams first. I liked how everything came together in the end and I really can't wait for the next book in the series and see how the two couples are doing. 4.5 stars!

Relentless was suspenseful with well-developed characters. There were a few times when they pacing slowed and a few places where I felt as thought Dyer "told" me rather than "showed" me but overall Ethan and Natalia's story served as a good introduction to Dyer's writing.

What Worked:

*Premise
Ethan, feeling guilt and a lack of control, must ingratiate himself with the Vega family in order to save a member of his team. The target is Natalia Vega and Ethan would do well not to take her at face value. Ethan has his team at his back as he works against the clock to win Natalia's trust - and maybe more? - and gain the intel he needs. The premise hooked me and kept me turning the pages.

*Characters
Dyer created a great cast with Ethan and Natalia at its center. She deftly conveyed the type of people Ethan and Natalia are - loyal to a fault, fearless, strong, smart - as well as demonstrating the close relationships they each have with the friends and family. I was particularly fond of the snark and wit shared between Ethan and his friends/team members, Parker and Georgia. These interactions served to illustrate Ethan's ability to trust whereas Natalia's interactions with her sister and others showed her intense lack thereof. Of course, her family runs a cartel so it was understandable.

*Romance/Suspense
I lumped these two together because as this is romantic suspense, they were inextricably linked. And Dyer did relatively well in developing the romance in a way that amped the suspense. Wondering if Ethan and Natalia could build on the intense chemistry they felt while also moving toward their goals, wondering what would happen if they had to make difficult choices, kept me turning the pages. The dual POV, delivered throughout the chapters rather than alternating, also worked well in conveying the romance and the suspense.


What Could Have Worked Better:

*Pacing
There were points in the story where the pacing slowed...not something you want in romantic suspense. Most of these places occurred when Dyer "told" me what Ethan or Natalia was thinking or feeling where actions would have "shown" it more succinctly and would have kept the pace moving.

*Romance
While the chemistry between Ethan and Natalia was evident, I felt that their feelings occurred rather rapidly and mostly in their heads. If they'd spent a little more time together the romance would have felt more genuine.


Relentless, although #2 in the series, can be read as standalone. I was drawn into this world and these characters' lives deeply enough that I want to go back and read #1 as well as continue the series.

Review: RELENTLESS (Somerton Security Book 2) by Elizabeth Dyer https://wp.me/p3d0RZ-aKU
Publication Date: June 12, 2018
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Reviewed by: Reading in Pajamas/ Donna
Rated 4 Stars

The second installment in the Somerton Security series managed to keep the life or death edge from book one. It is a bit heavy on the narrative and I would have liked more dialogue, but the story moved quickly, and it gave a clear understanding of motives. I liked Natalia right away and wanted her happiness, Ethan was the perfect choice for her; he was her white knight that enabled her to save herself. Overall, it was a hot romance full of intrigue and danger. I liked it!

*Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

~*~*~*~

Kindle $3.99 https://amzn.to/2y6s4fE

Book 1: DEFENSELESS (Somerton Security Book 1) by Elizabeth Dyer
Review 4.5 Stars: https://wp.me/p3d0RZ-avL | Kindle http://amzn.to/2BoFyzM

A man wants to get back his best friend from a cartel. A woman wants to protect her sister and get out. Can they work together and bring down the cartel and still fall in Love? They're Relentless in their pursuit of each other and the cartel. Elizabeth Dyer continues her Somerton Security series with Relentless the story of Ethan Somerton and Natalia Vega and how their journey through the dangerous world of a drug cartel affects their lives and the people around them. The story picks up a few months after the first book in the series Defenseless.

Ethan is on the down hill side of his recovery from being shot. When Parker interrupts his rowing exercise trying to talk him out of his next mission because it's too dangerous to infiltrate the Vega cartel. The people who have Parker's future brother in law and Ethan's best friend for the past year. He can't be talked out of going undercover as an accountant for the cartel. At a party to be introduced to the local cartel leader, he flirts with the 2 Vega sisters and is drawn to the oldest and knows he'll have to be extra careful around Natalia. Natalia doesn't trust Ethan and thinks there is some thing about him. She is also caught between keeping the promise to her father and trying to keep from being abused or killed by her uncle who is the head of the Vega cartel in DC. When her mentor comes to town looking for the accountant that stole money from the uncle she plays word games with him. Natalia and Ethan are very attracted to each other and try to fight it. She goes looking into Ethan and finds who he really is and decides she can trust him and Ethan does the same. They begin a physical relationship. Ethan goes to work for the cartel by finding the information about the old accountant's activities. Meanwhile Ethan and Natalia get closer and they are brought in to watch the interrogation of the old accountant and he reveals some startling information. Ethan finds out what Natalia does for the cartel which puts a wedge between them. Natalia has always known that there is a chance she'll never escape the cartel. Ethan with the help of friends figures out his feelings for Natalia. Natalia gets warned about the future of her uncle from her mentor. Ethan with the help of Natalia is on the verge of finding his captured friend, with. Ethan looks into the information that the former accountant revealed and comes up with a surprising culprit. Natalia is informed of the information and confronts the thief asking for help, which they won't give. Natalia asks Ethan to keep his promise to protect her sister while she buys time. Ethan confronts the sister and they devise a plan to get Natalia back. A deal and a sacrifice is made that pulls Ethan and Natalia apart. With help from his friends, Ethan is talked into going and fighting for Natalia and keeping the other promises that he made. Natalia is trying to adjust to her new life. Ethan asks for forgiveness and declares his love and a proposal is made. Forgiveness is given love is declared and a Yes is the answer. The captive escapes and disappears into the jungle.

Relentless keeps you on the edge of your seat to see what will happen to Ethan, Natalia. Will they be able to take down the cartel and save their loved ones while doing so. Will the information uncovered keep them apart or will they come together and love conquers all. Where is Ethan's best friend. Who is the next to become entangled in a situation and find love from the Somerton Security Agency. I look forward to finding out into the next in the series and see where Parker & Georgia's lives are along with Ethan & Natalia too.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
4.5 stars of shimmering hope

This is the second book in the series, and whilst you could read it as a standalone, I do believe you would have a richer experience if you knew Ethan better (who wouldn't?!). Now, I have to confess I am not a huge mob romance fan, but given how excellent Defenseless was, I didn't want to miss out. I made an excellent decision; whilst there are elements of mob life, this concentrates firmly on the top of one family, and what it has wrought on one woman in particular.

Natalia is a very well written character, as she acts totally out of loyalty to her dead father, and a promise she made him. This has rendered her blind to a very key fact – as we discover through the book. I found that element of the plot to be engaging, enlightening, and entertaining. It is also tragic, given how much she may have sacrificed without need. But pity is not something which Natalia courts, for sure! The growth of her as a person, thanks to the influence and love of Ethan, is entrancing.

Ethan is a man on a mission and little did he expect to find the woman who would change his world when he went undercover in the Vega organisation. He is all too aware of how Parker fell for Georgia and is intelligent enough to recognise that he too is utterly gone for Natalia. He trusts her when he knows that protocol says he shouldn't. I love how both of them act together in spite of themselves. so strong is the attraction.

There is a decent underlying plot, a lovely chemistry laden, complicated romance with some clever and tragic twists in this very readable book – do pick it up and enjoy!

The was a well written and enjoyable romantic suspense.

This is the second in the Somerton Security series and was a lot darker than the first. The protagonists were Ethan Somerton, owner of the firm and former special forces who is trying to rescue a friend and employee being held by a cartel, and Natalia Vega, a daughter of the cartel who has done unconscionable things in an effort to protect her younger sister. At first they appeared to have little in common, but as the story progressed they came to trust one another and the tension really began to build!

I really liked Ethan and Natalia and I loved seeing some of the other members of he Somerton Security team (especially Parker and Georgia!). Dyer built the tension and suspense beautifully and by the end I was turning the pages hoping that they could somehow find a HEA!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher*

You know the overused line that says something like "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"? That is this book. Riveting story, terrible ending.  Read on for my explanation.

Authors amaze me sometimes, with the way they can craft a scene that makes me feel the tension, horror, and bitter regret felt by the character. The prologue to Relentless is such a scene; any reader will be drawn in and hooked, even if mafia-type stories aren't their norm.

Natalia is a woman unlike most that I read - she's an assassin for her uncle. She does what she does so she can keep her sister safe, at least for as long as her uncle suffers her to live. She lives on a knife-edge, waiting for a single misstep to end her life. She hates her life, but she has kept the promise she made to her murdered father: protect Ana Maria at all costs. Dyer created a woman who is filled with rage, determination, and an inner softness that she dares not expose. Her uncle made her lethal, but love kept her sane.

Ethan goes undercover to find a missing friend who he learns is being kept hostage by the cartel. He meets Natalia of course, and she immediately spots that he isn't what he claims to be. He, on the other hand, is blown away by his reaction to her. After a short investigation where she learns Ethan is an agent, Natalia realizes he could be her only hope in saving Ana Maria for good (although how she figured that out and not a single one of her uncle's people did is a little implausible). The romance is sexy and surprisingly sweet, the danger creates tension throughout the story, and I loved it!

SPOILER --- That is, I loved it until the end. For me, if a book has a sucky ending, then it's ruined for me. Maybe Ms Dyer has a way to fix this in book 3, but I have to say that the ending invalidated every abhorrent action and sacrifice that Natalia had to do since her father died. It broke the "author trust" that I feel like I build to get a happy story; this is why I like romance. When I read the last word, I felt like I had wasted my hours of reading because the purpose for the everything that happened in the book had served no point.

The ending brought a five star book down to a 3 star book. I won't read it ever again.

I don’t know what has inspired authors lately/this year to write kick-butt and lethal female leads but Elizabeth Dyer just added herself to the list. Add that with some major cartel action and I am one hooked reader. This book is this perfect blend of romance, suspense, and action (yes friends BOTH kinds). I did not read the first book and although I would love to go back and read it I didn’t feel like I was missing anything with the characters.

Natalia Vega is one tough and rigid woman. Her fierce need to protect her sister was nothing short of amazing. She comes off as hard, calculating, and cold but her character really shed her skin through falling in love and let us see the toll the cartel has taken on her and her true self. Although I love her tough ways, seeing her fall apart in Ethan’s arms rounded her out perfectly.

Ethan is my favorite kind of guy. Looks great in a suit and tough as nails. The idea of a male character running a security company isn’t new but the idea of him working with the government is pretty awesome. He is loyal and straight-laced, and determined. Loving a quasi enemy definitely shook up his world. Really the fact that both character shook each other to the core is what makes the suspense more intense, the love more melting, and the lust more enticing.

I also wanted to mention this book is in third person. Normally I struggle with it but this book had me so involved I often forgot.

This book is for those who love a little action/suspense in their romance books. This book is for readers who love chemistry that is off the charts. This book is for anyone who loves a strong female character and a good hearted male character.

Somerton Security #2, While this is part of a series and part (a miniscule part) goes back to the first book this can be read as a standalone. I'm not much for mafia tropes but this was Ethan's book and that I really wanted to know what happens with that miniscule part connecting this book to the first one. I really liked this one, I love me some strong female characters and you don't get stronger than Natalia. Ethan is a bit of a tarnished white knight and instead of getting the damsel in distress he falls for the black knight, Natalia. This book was intense, fast paced and well written. The chemistry between Ethan and Natalia, wow, their repertoire was intelligent and very telling; their first conversation with each other gave away more than they intended but both Natalia and Ethan are very intuitive. I absolutely loved them together.

Natalia and her sister watched as their uncle, Hernan, executed their father right in front of them. Natalia swore to protect her sister, Ana Maria, and shortly after their father's murder Natalia proved her worth to Hernan by killing the man meant to kill her since then Hernan has had the perfect leverage against Natalia; threaten Ana Maria and he can get Natalia to do just about anything. Natalia deals with quite a bit emotionally she's not as detached as she should be since the Vega Family's own sicario trained her and Hernan liked that no one would suspect such a deadly weapon in such a beautiful package.



Will Bennett was presumed dead after a mission gone bad a year ago, it was recently discovered that he's still alive and being held captive by Hernan Vega. The only way to find out where Will is being kept is to infiltrate the organization and hack into the network. Ethan is posing as their new accountant but what he finds is so much more than just Will, someone besides the old accountant was stealing from the Vega Family. Ethan's only way to find Will's exact location is with Natalia's help. Ethan feels responsible for Will's predicament and he is willing to risk everything to find him, Natalia knows this and if it comes to it she doesn't want Ethan to have to choose between her and Will.



Overall, such a good read. I really hope that there are going to be more books because Elizabeth Dyer is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Both Ethan and Natalia are wonderfully tortured souls and fall so hard in love they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the other's goal. This is one of those books I can easily see being made into a movie.