Code Name: Libra (Zodiac Tactical 3) by Janie Crouch-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 17, 2022.

My code name is Libra. The stars say I’m charismatic, intelligent, charming.

The one with the easy smile.

Zodiac Tactical has been the biggest part of my life for the past three years. We guard, protect, rescue…eliminate the threat when nobody else can. And I’ve always been at the front lines—first to help in whatever way was needed.

Until I took a bullet to the chest.

Now everybody’s worried about me. So I’m sent on what’s supposed to be an easy mission—gathering intel about some potential bad guys while on a tropical island for a wedding. Lay low, blend in, catch a little tan while getting the job done. Can’t be too hard.

Until I defend the bride’s adorable sister against some cruel cattiness and the next thing I know I’m mentioning I’m her fiancé.

Surprise.

When the mission takes a turn for the much more dangerous, and my fiancée finds herself in the middle of it, I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. My wounds may have knocked me down, but a Navy SEAL, even former one with a couple extra bullet holes, always gets back up.

My code name is Libra. Don’t let the easy smile fool you.

••••••

REVIEW:CODE NAME: LIBRA is the third instalment in Janie Crouch’s contemporary, adult ZODIAC TACTICAL erotic, romantic suspense series-a spin off from the author’s LINEAR TACTICAL series. This is former US Navy SEAL Landon Black, and bakery owner/chef Bethany Thornton’s story line. CODE NAME: LIBRA can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Landon and Bethany) CODE NAME: LIBRA follows six months after the near-fatal shooting of our story line hero. Landon Black is desperate to get back out in the field. Working the desk for six months was driving him insane but as luck would have it, the team at Linear Tactical needed Landon to work undercover at a wedding, at an island resort, undercover as a baker’s assistant for the sister of the bride. Enter Bethany Thornton, and the woman with whom Landon will fall in love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Bethany and Landon, as Landon must remain undercover in the hopes of locating the leader of a human trafficking ring.

Bethany Thornton hasn’t been close to her family for a very long time. As the black sheep, she has been ostracized for what she does, and how she looks but a call from her sister to bake the wedding week treats means a chance to place her bakery in the spotlight but Bethany never expected to be working side by side with an unknown, a Landon Black, who stirs something deep within our story line heroine. Everything was going according to plan but Landon found himself falling for the sister of the bride. Landon was on assignment, and a relationship with Bethany might compromise his position, a position that quickly turned into a fake-engagement and relationship with our story line heroine.

The relationship between Bethany and Landon begins as an job when Landon is assigned to work undercover to track down a suspected ring of human traffickers but as the black sheep of the Thornton family, Bethany is often the target of ridicule and disdain, and Landon refuses to allow any personal attacks against our story line heroine. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including former US Navy SEAL and CEO of Zodiac Tactical Ian ‘Aries’ DeRose; fellow Zodiac Tactical member Tristan Zimmerman; Bethany’s sister Christiana and her fiance Simon, their parents Oliver and Angelique Thornton, as well as several security, extended family, and island residents. The requisite evil has many faces. Tristan’s story line is next.

CODE NAME: LIBRA is a story of secrets and lies, family and friendships, trust and misunderstanding, acceptance and love. The fast paced premise is captivating and consuming; the romance is seductive and provocative; the characters are energetic, colorful and appealing.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Code Name: Aries
Code Name:Virgo

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

USA TODAY bestselling author Janie Crouch writes what she loves to read: passionate romantic suspense. She is a winner and/or finalist of multiple romance literary awards including the Golden Quill Award for Best Romantic Suspense, the National Reader’s Choice Award, and the coveted RITA© Award by the Romance Writers of America.

Janie recently relocated with her husband and their four teenagers to Germany (due to her husband’s job as support for the U.S. Military), after living in Virginia for nearly 20 years. When she’s not listening to the voices in her head (and even when she is), she enjoys engaging in all sorts of crazy adventures (200-mile relay races; Ironman Triathlons, treks to Mt. Everest Base Camp) traveling, and movies of all kinds.

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