MIND GAMES (Harp Security #2) by Laura K. Curtis-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 17, 2015

The daughter of a schizophrenic, Dr. Jane Evans prioritizes order, control, and—above all—her work in a psychiatric research lab. When an attempted kidnapping threatens to derail the project she’s on, her boss hires a bodyguard. He’s everything Jane is not, and if she can survive, she may even learn to like the difference.

Eric Sorensen owes Jane a debt he can’t possibly repay. Without her tutoring, he would not have made it through college, would not have the life he does. But none of his memories of college Jane prepare him for adult Jane. When she suddenly disappears, he follows her trail to a secret lab in a cartel-controlled Mexican jungle. Rescue seems impossible but Eric’s not the type to give up, even if it means trading his own life for hers.

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REVIEW: MIND GAMES is the second installment in Laura K. Curtis’s contemporary, adult HARP SECURITY romantic suspense series focusing on the elite security team at HARP Security. This is security specialist Eric Sorensen, and scientist/researcher Dr. Jane Evans’s storyline. MIND GAMES can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Eric and Jane) MIND GAMES focuses on the hunt for the people trying to kidnap Dr. Jane Evans. As the deadline approaches to reveal the latest drug for schizophrenia and mental disorders, threats and kidnapping attempts against Jane, as the lead researcher on Project Calm, begin to escalate. Enter Eric Sorensen-HARP security specialist-and a former acquaintance and college mate of Jane Evans. What ensues is a storyline that finds Jane abducted, imprisoned and forced to work on a designer drug for the Mexican cartels.

The romance aspect of the storyline finds Jane as the aggressor. She is a woman who wants something from Eric, but Eric isn’t open to a one-night stand, and his ‘job’ places everyone he loves in danger. The $ex scenes are limited without the use of graphic sexual imagery but I thought something was missing between Eric and Jane: perhaps it was the fact that our couple were separated for a good portion of the storyline.

MIND GAMES is a storyline with a very large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several of Eric’s fellow security specialists-all former military personnel-as well as HARP Security owner Nash Harper. We are also introduced to a number of Jane’s fellow researchers, including Dani-a young, twenty five year old woman who has gone missing in the days preceding Jane’s abduction; and Clive Handler-the man in charge of Project Calm. The requisite evil comes in many, many forms as Jane finds herself in the middle of the Mexican jungle running from drug lords, guerilla super-soldiers, and a human trafficking ring.

The world building focuses on several plot lines wherein our heroine attempts to uncover the truth, run for her life, and save the lives of several other victims of the Mexican cartels. A good portion of the storyline finds Eric and his comrades searching for Jane; and Jane stalling for time hoping for someone to come to her rescue. Jane’s questioning of the guards finds our heroine retrieving insider information that may come in handy to take down the people involved. There is a bit of a twist with the reveal but it wasn’t difficult to deduce the person behind the attempts on Jane’s life.

MIND GAMES is an action-packed story of suspense with a little science fiction via the development of a super soldier through drugs and hypnotherapy. The premise is entertaining and intriguing, if somewhat over the top; the characters are numerous, colorful and animated; the romance is a slow build to a happily ever after. I will add that I miss Mac Brody from book one ECHOES-there was a definite negative vibe between Nash and Mac, and I was hoping for some information or resolution to their tepid relationship.

Copy supplied by Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy