Just how much would you put your life in danger to take down a bad guy?

Truly a romantic suspense but interesting and a quick and fun read. Although there is some implicit sex in this book, I can’t say I did any blushing. That’s saying a lot for me since romance is not really my genre. Did it add to the story? Well, I’d say yes in this sense. You see, this is one of those plots where there are good guys and bad guys, people you want to be gone and others you want to stay side by side with forever. Add to this the thought that you will have to hide for the rest of your life. No matter how you try to change your location, your appearance, your work, your walk, the way you swing your arms, someone always seems to find you. Then add a really A-one security company and a former SEAL as a bodyguard. Can that help?

These were interesting characters, ones described well enough that you can picture them which always makes for a good read. It didn’t hurt to have a beautiful resort with sandy beaches in the middle of nowhere. Maybe it was mid-winter when I read this. Maybe the author is absolutely great at descriptive writing or I just needed to be at this beautiful, luxurious place. I think maybe it was both. Nonetheless, for this reader it was a suspenseful page-turner book and a great dreaming of vacation type book all rolled into one.

A Deadly Business is Book 3 in a 3-book series titled Vigilance. Desiree Holt has many books published and I can’t find even one that isn’t rated highly. Check them out.

A sexy and fast-paced suspense/romance. Justin and Marissa are thrust into a situation they might not live through. I was on the edge of my seat from the very beginning. A definite page-turner.
5 stars!

When Marissa's cover is blown, she's whisked away to safety to a small town on the Florida coast. She's careful and cautious and continues to look over her shoulder but her past finally catches up with her. Can her new friends at Vigilance keep her safe? or does she have to disappear and reinvent herself again?
Marissa is dispatched to a remote luxury island off the grid with vigilance operative Justin to keep her safe until the CIA and Vigilance can figure out their strategy to neutralize the crime lord gunning for her. Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire when said crime lord shows up on the island gunning for some of the other guests. Marissa of course is an unexpected bonus.
Marissa and Justin find their idyll interrupted as luxury resort and all the guests are taken hostage. Since they're off the books, they find themselves free to move around the island and disrupt the proceedings. It almost feels like the movie "Home Alone" as lights flicker and air-conditioning goes on and off and guards dispatched to handle the matter disappear. The author makes all the improbable coincidences fun and exciting.

Marissa was meeting with Valentin Desmot again even though she could not stand the thought of being near himat their weekly dinner but it was part of her job. - she was undercover for the CIA. Desmet had a cruelty in his eyes that Marissa didn’t miss. Eventually he finally referred Marissa to Maes. Marissa had told the CIA she would do whatever was needed to bring down Maes who founded the terrorists and fermented revolutions in Third World Countries.Marissa had been doing this for three years now, playing a part, cozying up to Desmet - in a very professional way. Dealing with Maes who was evil personified.. But at least after three years it was paying off after three years in the high- energy financial waters of London’s Canary Wharf district she had almost enough for the CIA to arrest Maes, One more piece she needed- the people Maes dealt with. Lately Marissa had an itchy feeling she was being watched. She also felt there was a slight change in Desmet at dinner. It was time for her to meet Craig Jaffrey who had been her handler since day one, she both liked and respected him . Marissa had two thing to give to Craig tonight- a flash drive with critical information on Maes accounts and the tidbit Desmet dropped today. Marissa knew what would happen if Maes ever had an inkling of what Marissa was doing. Maes was vicious with no conscious or soul. He destroyed people as some lives as easily as some people killed bugs. If someone gets i Maes way and anyone they are connected with become his victims. Once she met with Craig he told her he had a feeling all wasn’t right . But Marissa thought if she could have just one more week then they could pull her out. Craig had given Marissa two burner phones - one for any communication they may need to have and one with only his number in it. If Marissa ever had a real emergency , if her work was discovered and a trap set all she had to do was press one button on that phone and the operation would shut down and she was to get out and go to the place for her extraction. As Marissa got back to her apartment after meeting Craig that special phone rang and Craig told her that her cover was blown. Two years later Marissa was at Arrowhead Bay . Marissa was taking a self defense class from former SEAL Justin Kelly- she had just taken her fourth lesson. Who worked for Vigilance- an elite private security agency that had made its home in Arrowhead Bay. had offered group and private classes in various forms of self defense. Avery was the owner of Vigilance urged Marissa to take some classes as Avery said you never know when you’ll need it. Marissa had one of the most dangerous men in the world had her on top of his hit list. Stefan Maes reach- even after losing a lot of his empire, was still extensive. Marissa knew he would never give up on getting his hands on her. For the most part Narissa isolated herself from social situations. Her situation could blow up in her face at any time. She had never stopped looking over her shoulder . Marissa didn’t think she would ever be able to let her guard down again. This was the third time Marissa had made a new life. Justin had been with Vigilance five years after being a SEAL. Marissa felt safe with him and couldn’t get better protection than that. She also fantasized about Justin and she sensed she was having the same effect on Justin. Marsa knew Justin would never make a move on her if she didn’t let him know she was open to it. Marissa just kept reminding herself daily letting down her guard could be fatal for her. Marissa had never felt the same crackle of electricity with another man before. The same hunger. The same throbbing in every one of her pulse points. She had no idea what to do with this hot sexual growing attraction between her and Justin. Marissa runs a small art gallery- Endless Art- on Arrowhead Bay. It was the week of the fourth of July and the town was already filling up for the holiday weekend. It was Wednesday and a couple was waiting for Marissa to open the shop. Marissa's spidey senses sent a chill up her spine and she didn’t know why. Then she went have lunch with Avery and Justine and another couple and she saw the couple sitting with two men who reminded Marissa of those in London involved with Maes. Avery noticed Marissa was spooked and took her back to the Vigilance office to check things out and that couple were trouble and Avery had Marissa and Justin go to a very exclusive private resort on a small private island. Justin was with her for however long it tolke and they were presented as Mr and Mrs Kelly.
I loved this story it was great. I loved the pace and the plot. I loved the action, drama. Mystery and intrigue of this book but also the romance. I loved the twist or two in this story. I loved Justin and Marissa together and how they interacted. I loved how Avery made sure Marissa was O K even when she sent ehr to “ a safe hiding place at the exclusive resort.” This had my attention form the first page until the last and I didn’t want to put it down. Happily I could find nothing to criticize in this book. I loved the characters and the ups and downs of this book and I highly recommend it.

Desiree Holt was one of the first authors I read when I got my Kindle years ago, so I have a soft spot for her. A Deadly Business was good, but it was a little slow to start, and the pacing was a little sluggish.

A Deadly Business is book three in the Vigilance series.
Marissa has her life in her version of a normal pattern, at least as normal as can be for an ex CIA operative currently in hiding. But given the circumstances she is lucky to be where she has made friends and even has a flicker of attraction for someone. Yet even when things seem okay everything can go wonky. And when Marissa is forced into hiding with the only man to create a spark in the last five years were bound to get flames.
Justin is a protector by Nate, former Navy SEAL with multiple tours behind him, he's the best for the job. And it doesn't hurt that Marissa gets him hotter than any women in his past. When the threat escalates they are forced to take action quickly, but will their budding relationship survive?

A fake life lived overseas for 3 years. A life lived in hiding today. Still, it's a really nice life that Marissa Hayes has in Arrowhead Bay. Until the day she's discovered and her life is put in danger. Justin has been fighting his feelings for Marissa and he's pretty sure she's been doing the same. Then, she's assigned to him to protect and they are spirited away to a couple's paradise. Things could be a lot worse. Ooops. Sexy time gets interrupted when the man who is hunting her decides to crash the island during his payback rampage on his buddies that turned their backs on him when Marissa took him down while living her fake life overseas. Unbeknownst to our bad guy (for awhile anyway), everyone he wants to kills is right there on the island.

Anything more would just be spoilers and we can't have that. This was an amazing book that I literally could not put down. It flew by and so did the hours of real life but when you have a book THIS good, it's pretty tempting not to care. It's a great thing there are crock-pots or my kitchen would be in flames. Desiree Holt is an absolute genius at taking a story and weaving it all around you until you are completely caught up in the world she has created.

Thank you to Desiree Holt, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for allowing me the chance to read this book and share my thoughts and opinions with others.

Even this is a third instalment of the series it is perfect as a standalone too.
The characters from the first 2 books are making their appearances shortly but the book is only for Marissa and Justin. I loved the story and the main characters kept my attention and I stayed late reading it all the way to the end.

Marissa isn’t who she used to be… literally. Two years ago she was Lauren, accountant to one of the wealthiest (and dirtiest) businessmen in London. Recruited by the CIA from the world of high finance to bring Stefan Maes down, she did her job almost too well - and yet not quite well enough. Maes lost most of his billions, but didn’t go to prison, and now Lauren is top of his hit list. Changing her identity and hiding out under the protection of Vigilance, she’s sent into hiding on a tropical island with Justin, a Vigilance agent with whom she’s been doing a bit of a romantic tap-dance for a little while.

This is apparently the third in the Vigilance series, and it stands perfectly well alone. Characters from the previous two books appear only briefly, and are certainly not integral to the story.

I liked the way it was made clear Marissa and Justin had spent quite some time getting to know each other as friends, and that though Justin had made it clear he was interested, he then stepped back and waited, for as long as it took, for Marissa to make the next move. That showed genuine consideration and gentlemanly behaviour.

Other than that, unfortunately, Justin came across as pretty cookie-cutter for the hero in this sort of romantic suspense. The usual he-man type who balks at letting a perfectly competent woman actually do her job, in other words. Though I liked his and Marissa’s romance and the progression of it, when it came down to the dramatic finale he regressed back to a chest-beater and managed to irritate me intensely in the process. Which was a real shame, because up to that point I’d really enjoyed the book. Marissa’s fear for her safety and future was eloquently expressed in a lot of small ways and felt very real and immediate, and the slow, careful lowering of her defences as she came to trust Justin was well done.

However, because I didn’t like Justin’s failure to remain respectful of Marissa’s capability and right to make her own choices at a critical juncture, I’ve got to knock this down to four stars.

A Deadly Business is an adrenaline pumping and thrilling romantic suspense read that keeps readers hanging on the edge of their seat. Marissa Hayes is a former CIA operative hiding from a powerful enemies with terrorist ties and Justine Kelly is the Vigilance man that has to keep her alive.

These two strong, gripping characters are easily connected to and pulls readers into their story with ease as they fight to stay alive while trying to keep a handle on the exquisite and excruciating passion that is rising between them. Because of Marissa’s life and her past, she is quite reluctant to embark on a serious relationship and Justin knows that he shouldn’t mix business with pleasure if he wants to keep her alive, but the passion burns hot and fast throughout the story adding to the intensity of the dangerous thrills of the plot and making it extremely hard for this couple to fight their attraction.

The plot is fast paced, smooth flowing and filled with a passionate romance and an exciting fight for survival against an enemy that will stop at nothing to bring down everyone in his caught in his crosshairs. Surprising twists and high tension events keeps readers glued to the pages and ensures that there is never a dull moment.

I couldn’t quit turning the pages of this thrilling Vigilance read and I found that this particular story in this series had an overall realistic feel to the way the characters reacted and handled the intense situation that they found themselves in which made the story even more enjoyable and I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Action packed romance

I've enjoyed Desiree Holt's Vigilance series and A Deadly Business was a great addition to that series which can easily be read well as a stand alone.
I liked that Marissa was a strong woman and thought she and Justin had serious chemistry.
The action kept me on the edge of my chair making me anxious to see what would happen next. I've been reading Desiree Holt literally for decades and she always delivers an excellent read.
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley.

Romantic suspense done right. Sizzling hot chemistry and a bad guy who just pushes all of the evil buttons. Will survival be guaranteed? will justice reign supreme? Will a HEA be assured?

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

I have read the other books in the Vigilance series and enjoyed each one. This book can be read as a stand alone as there are only a few mentions of the previous characters and a great deal of explanation so you are not missing anything if this is your first book in the series.

Marissa is hiding out in Arrowhead Bay after her CIA mission is ended when she is exposed as an agent. She has been working with Justin to keep up on her self defense skills and fighting an attraction to him.

When she is exposed, again, she needs to leave and Avery sends Justin along to keep her safe. The hide out on a Caribbean island for the elite wealthy people which you would think would keep them safe!

The drama was filled with suspense and romance when their island is "invaded" by the bad guys, and that is the only part of the book that I find questionable- the very island that they go to hide out is the island where Maes goes to get his revenge against his "friends" that shunned him after the CIA stripped his money away from him.

If you love actions and suspense along with the romance, then you will enjoy this book!

Marissa and Justin really had the absolute worst luck in this book, and were put through the ringer. The plot was engaging, albeit a little bit far-fetched, and the characters were somewhat interesting. I enjoyed the book while I was reading it, but it was somewhat forgettable.

A Deadly Business is the perfect title for this addition to the Vigilance family. Former CIA operative Marissa Hayes has been living in Arrowhead Bay since her cover was blown as she took down a cruel criminal mastermind. She isn’t a femme fatale or super soldier she is great at finances and that is how the CIA took all his ill-gotten gains. He is not a happy camper and has vowed revenge. Former SEAL Justin Kelly knows she is hiding something but like a true hunter he has patience and will wait for her to feel more comfortable before he takes their friendship where he wants it to go.
When Stefan Maes finds her once again the action is accelerated to a fever pitch and will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end. Like any romantic suspense this is filled with action, adventure and love. Sketch out some time you won’t be able to put this one down.

a deadly business is a wonderful romantic suspense story. when justin kelly is assigned to protect marissa hayes from a big, bad terrorist. she's been in witness protection since her cover was blown the last time the cia tried to bring him down.

since he's known her, justin has been drawn to marissa. when he learns the extent of her bravery he's even more attracted to her. and he'll also do anything and everything to keep her safe. when she's made by two customers at her art gallery, marissa is forced into hiding with justin.

when their hiding place coincidentally ends up being the one place the big bad shows up to, justin and marissa must engage in a mission to save their lives as well as all the other innocent lived with them on the private island.

this suspense story offers some genuine tension and action while justin and marissa play a ame of cat and mouse with the big bad on the island. it's just a really fun read.

**a deadly bisiness will publish on august 21, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy o fnetgalley/kensington books (lyrical liaisons) in exchange for my honest review.

Romance, suspense, Caribbean island, elements that makes for light reading on a pleasant summer day. Not too invested in the H/h, nice individuals who got their HEA. I was more intrigued by the despicable villain. Would recommend as an OK read to friends
I was provided a complementary copy of the book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the book but I wasn't in love. The story was interesting enough to keep me reading but I didn't respond to the characters. I never felt an investment in them but I did want to see how the story concluded so I think that speaks to the strength of the author's storytelling. While I would recommend the book it wouldn't be one I myself would be compelled to re read.

Loved this book. I love anything Desiree Holt writes. She really knows hot to bring her characters to life.

What a solid well-written hot story by Desiree Holt. I liked the premise and enjoyed the story. Overall solid writing.